《Lifeblood Chaos [LitRPG Apocalypse]》 Chapter 1: Towerfall Ray leaned his head back against the headrest of his seat, letting the usual sights and sounds fill up his mind. The same faces he saw on the Hop every time he took it in the morning. There was the spiky-haired woman at the back rocking out to music, the muscular guy near the front who had the air of a veteran, the old lady keeping a tight hold on her little poodle¡¯s leash. Then there were the same noises, melding into a droning melody. Muted music from the back, the tiny dog¡¯s occasional yips, and the constant churn of the streetcar¡¯s engine. The familiarity of it all comforted him. Something he would need in his upcoming unfamiliar situation. Ideally, Ray would have tried to get some shuteye right about now. But the prospect of starting a new job added a strong tinge of nervousness and anxiety, held together by turgid resignation. The hiring manager had joked Ray was an ideal recruit if only because of the Hop. Milwaukee¡¯s newest streetcar¡ªwhich Ray had ridden a lot during his old occupation¡ªwould deposit him straight on the doorstep of Golden Windows Corporation¡¯s office on Ogden Avenue. That he lived a two-minute walk away from the boarding station was an added bonus. All of a sudden, he found the woman with the headphones and the messy, punk-girl-from-nineties hairstyle staring at him. And¡­ he realized he had been staring at her while he had spaced out. Ray mentally berated himself and looked away. The window faintly reflected his slightly tired face back. He took solace from the fact that his beard was neatly trimmed short, that the few unruly brown locks of his hair were easy to ignore, and his shirt and tie looked fine enough. First impressions were important. He had to be serious. Ray had to look like he was taking this job seriously. He really couldn¡¯t get fired again. Fired for getting bitten by a dog, fired for assisting an injured protestor lady, fired for the dumb shit one of his old coworkers had pulled¡­ Ray gave his head a little shake. No more getting fired. He had to keep his head down, act sensible, and avoid any trouble. A distant glint of growing white caught his eye. Whatever it was got interrupted by strange words, white on a floating screen of blue, popping into existence in front of his face. [System Integration] Integration of Omniversal System on Instance 213C, local title ¡°Earth¡±, has been initiated. Root Locus of Tower of Forging set at local coordinates 45¡ã44''16.6"N 87¡ã04''23.7"W. Bounds of Tower of Forging set to expansion rate of local speed 1.97 miles per minute. Radius of Bound from Root Locus set to local distance 290.7 miles. All unintegrated Omniversal Denizens, prepare for impact. Ray stared. ¡°The hell?¡± Was he hallucinating or something? Sure, he hadn¡¯t had a full six hours of sleep last night, but it shouldn¡¯t be this bad. He¡¯d had sleepless nights before. None of them had induced visions of floating, senseless sentences. He moved his hands through the screen. The words shimmered but didn¡¯t disappear. They reminded him of dialogue boxes, but a bit stylized like how they appeared in video games. ¡°Anyone else seeing this?¡± he asked. No one answered. Ray looked around, and as he did so, the floating screen and its weird words disappeared. ¡°Wait, what?¡± He waved his hand before his face. ¡°Come back! I wasn¡¯t done with you.¡± No one was paying him any attention. Probably a good thing, since he was acting like he had gone insane. But the reason behind why no one was staring at him like he had lost his marbles¡ªwhy nobody was looking at him at all¡ªturned out to be even more concerning than the words themselves. Ray followed everyone¡¯s gaze to look out through the streetcar¡¯s windows. The distant shimmer of white had turned into a wide bank that covered the entirety of northern Milwaukee. Worse, it was growing. It was like someone had decided to pull the Aurora Borealis down to earth and turn it the colour of pasteurized milk. ¡°What in good God¡¯s name is that?¡± the brawny vet from in front asked in a gruff voice. The woman at the back had pulled off her headphones. ¡°I got no clue, but it¡¯s too early in day for this shit,¡± she muttered. Other people were speaking too, raising their voices in concern. The wall of light was closing in with the speed of an avalanche. Ray frowned. What was that? Was the city admin testing a new kind of lighting? Surely, they would have warned people if it had been something of this scale. Ray unlocked his phone to check the web for any information, but there was no signal. What? The streetcar¡¯s speaker crackled. Maybe the government had sent out some sort of warning. But the speakers died as soon as they started up. They got nothing. Ray¡¯s heart skipped a beat. He sat straighter. And of course, because things weren¡¯t troubling enough, all the lights in the streetcar went out. Great. Perfect start to the morning. Everyone was talking with rising anxiety now. Several people had gotten up, some going ahead to get to the driver. The streetcar was still moving. Someone was shouting at no one in particular to let everyone out. Ray turned to the window. The wall of light had almost reached them. Beyond it, the world was simply gone. No, not gone. Not completely. There was something beyond it. Something huge. His breath caught. Some sort of titanic pillar towered into the sky, as gargantuan as the veil of light in front of it. No, he was wrong. It wasn¡¯t any pillar. It had to be that Tower those words had mentioned. ¡°Ah, crap,¡± Ray said just before the light wall struck him. He grinned before it did, though. ¡°I better not get fired for this before I even start my job.¡± Then everything went¡ªpredictably¡ªwhite. *** When Ray could see again, he wasn¡¯t sure where he was or what he was doing there. How had he been transported from the streetcar to¡­ wherever this white-tiled room was? Also, why was he naked? He looked around. Peered around, actually. No sign of any hidden cameras or anything in the seemingly blank tiles around him. Nothing overhead save for a swirl of the same white light that he assumed was what had somehow brought him here. The sensation under his feet made him think of ceramic tiles. Panic and confusion were starting to rise side by side. There was nothing here. No windows. No doors. How? Hold on. Was he¡­ dead? Ray took a second to centre himself. No, he didn¡¯t feel dead. His chest still rose and fell as he breathed, and it stung when he pinched himself. The latter also meant he wasn¡¯t dreaming either. So what in the world was going on here? ¡°Uh,¡± he said to the emptiness before him. ¡°Hello? Anyone there?¡± There was no answer. Ray didn¡¯t know how long he remained that way, just standing there in white nothingness. He couldn¡¯t tell how many feelings ran their course through his head. Panic, desperation, restlessness, fear, all claiming their respective times before a dreary listlessness was all that was left. And then Ray got an answer. Sort of. [New Denizen Initiation] A new Denizen has been inducted into the Omniversal System. System will begin reviewing Denizen¡¯s history, processing character information, and calculating aptitudes. Reviewing history, pre- and post- moment of gaining ability to interact with locality, local terminology ¡°birth¡±¡­ New Denizen, please wait until initiation is complete. Finally! Something to change the monotony. They were the same style of words, white on a blue screen, just like he had seen before the blinding light had struck. ¡°Uh¡­¡± Ray wasn¡¯t sure who¡ªor what¡ªhe was speaking to, but the words helped ground him. ¡°Can I get some pants?¡± No response again. But as though to mock him, the words on the screen changed. [New Denizen Initiation] Reviewing history, pre- and post- moment of gaining ability to interact with locality, local terminology ¡°birth¡±¡­ Reviewing history¡­ calculating aptitudes¡­ The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Reviewing history¡­ calculating aptitudes¡­ Reviewing history¡­ calculating aptitudes¡­ ¡­ New Denizen, please wait until initiation is complete. ¡°Error?¡± That didn¡¯t sound good. ¡°If you don¡¯t have pants, that¡¯s alright. I can make do with some shorts too.¡± The list continued expanding with the same message. Error after error after error. Something was wrong, and Ray had a bad feeling it was something wrong with him. Or maybe that was just his past talking. He waited for a while. There was nothing else he could do in this blank nothingness. But with time on his hands, his thoughts started to trail back. Started to poke and prod and question. Ray shook his head. It wasn¡¯t worth questioning things when he wasn¡¯t going to receive any answers. It also wasn¡¯t worth forming any hypotheses when he didn¡¯t have even the most minimum of information to make any logical conclusions. Towers? Denizens? Systems? Off the top of his head, those meant next to nothing to him. But he could remember what he had seen. He recalled what he had read before that rapidly expanding wall of white had struck the streetcar. Prepare for impact¡­ Impact with that wall of white? Was it his lack of preparation that had led to him ending up¡­ where this place was? What sort of preparation was one even supposed to take for something like that? No, this was just another stupid wall he was hitting. Not worth pondering. The other thing had been that tower. What had the words called it? The Tower of¡­ Forcing? No, Forging. Ray found himself swallowing a little, a nervous smile creeping up on his face. The Tower of Forging sounded ominous. He was pretty certain it wasn¡¯t referring to the smithing kind of forging. Not literally, that was for sure. It had been the Tower expanding. He was certain of that much. A Tower that had grown to cover all of Milwaukee, no all of Wisconsin at the very least. Probably even more too. Hadn¡¯t it said a radius of nearly three hundred miles? He didn¡¯t know where exactly the centre was that this radius was being measured from, but that was huge. Ray laughed. ¡°Oh, we¡¯ve got the Yoopers and the Canadians in on this too, huh?¡± It was almost refreshing to realize he wasn¡¯t the only one involved in this madness. Hopefully. A strange table and stool appeared before him. They were literally just a small white block in front of a much bigger one, but the pointed arrangement could be nothing else. Ray supposed if he wasn¡¯t getting pants, a seat was better than nothing. Ray looked around. He saw no one. Besides, that disembodied voice had come from everywhere. It was strangely also impossible to tell whether it had been male or female. ¡°Um, hello? Can someone please explain what in the absolute fuck is going on? And I¡¯m still waiting for some mercy on my privates. I¡¯ll take a speedo at this point.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve got some nerve talking about covering things¡­¡± Ray muttered. He didn¡¯t raise his voice, though. Finally. Some long-awaited answers. ¡°Omniverse?¡± Ray asked. He wished he could ask for a timeout and take like an hour to just absorb everything that had just been said. ¡°Not universe?¡± Ray felt a little bit faint. He wasn¡¯t a slouch about stuff like parallel dimensions and whatnot. Ray had read and enjoyed his fair share of superhero comics with their wild, dimension-breaking crossovers. But enjoying it in reality was a whole different bag of beans. ¡°And this true potential business? What¡¯s that?¡± Towers connecting the different planets that bore life in space. Ray shook his head. Wild. ¡°Why Towers?¡± Ray stared ahead of him where the same words kept repeating on the screen. Error. Error. Error. ¡°My true potential¡­ you think you know what that is?¡± ¡°But I asked you.¡± Error, error, error. ¡°Except, apparently, my aptitude.¡± Ray could start a philosophical discussion on how ¡°unknown¡± and ¡°undiscovered¡± were the same, but he didn¡¯t want to argue semantics with¡­ ¡°Are you this Omniversal System?¡± For some reason, he got the sensation that whoever he was speaking with was smiling. The more Ray conversed with this entity, the more questions spilled through the hallways of his mind, but he clamped down on them for the time being. Something momentous was awaiting him. He could hear it in the System¡¯s voice. ¡°I am.¡± [Manual Initiation Override Activated¡ªStep 1: Class Selection] Please review the following choices for your Ascension Class. [Common] Ascension Class options: Warrior [Tier 1], Rogue [Tier 1], Mage [Tier 1], Cleric [Tier 2], Arcanist [Tier 2]¡­ [Uncommon] Ascension Class options: ¡­ Due to insufficient aptitude, Ascension Class options of higher rarity are unavailable. Calculating aptitude for Path¡­ New Denizen, please expand and review your Ascension Class options. Ray stared at the words for quite a while. ¡°Wow. I know the screens looked familiar, but I wasn¡¯t expecting this to turn into a full-blown D&D session.¡± He looked through the options again. Only Common offerings. Forget Rare and Epic classes¡ªas he expected them to go, with how rarity rankings he had seen in other places¡ªhe hadn¡¯t even received an Uncommon option either. That was a little disappointing. ¡°If my aptitude had been calculated, instead of getting these errors, would I have received better starting options?¡± Ray asked. Ray sighed. Accomplished? He had been too busy jumping from one thing to another to accomplish anything. Well, there had been that time in college when he had won first place at a research conference for a presentation¡­ Hold on. Was that why he had been offered this Arcanist class? For having done research? On biomechanics? And the Cleric class. That was there because¡­ he supposed he was helpful, in general. That injured protestor he had helped¡ªand got fired for¡ªcould attest to that. Accomplishments, the System had said. ¡°Step one,¡± Ray read at the top of the screen. ¡°What¡¯s step two, then? How many are there?¡± He could feel that strange sensation of the system smiling again. It didn¡¯t feel malevolent, like an evil grin, but he wasn¡¯t going to call it benevolent either. ¡°That¡¯s different from my class?¡± ¡°I¡­ that¡¯s a very vague explanation.¡± Ray was tempted to shake his head again. This whole thing was too complicated for one conversation to cover. He resisted the urge to squirm. Heh, cover. ¡°And it¡¯s this Path business giving me errors.¡± Ray¡¯s breath caught in his throat as the words changed. [Manual Initiation Override Activated¡ªStep 2: Path Assignment] Reviewing early history¡­ Peak Attribute: Variance [57%] New Denizen, please wait. A strange sensation filtered through his head. Like a cool breeze gently wafting through where his brain should have been. It was so unexpected, so unfathomably eerie, Ray didn¡¯t even know how to respond. But he was sure about one thing. The System was combing through his memories. First came the memories of boyhood. Then his teenage years. Then college and getting his first job. Then all the way to the day his streetcar had been struck by that shimmering white wall. And through it all, Ray could tell what exact conclusion the system came away with. Variance. He had earned top grades at school, only to move away and start again at a different place because his parents never stayed at one location for more than two years at a time. In college, his GPA of three-point-five was marred by the big ¡°Transferred Credits¡± letters on his transcript. As an adult, he had always been steady at his jobs, until something unfortunate happened to knock him off balance. Helping the bookstore he had been hired at rake in the biggest profits in years, only to be fired in an unfortunate incident when he had helped a protestor. The poor lady had been injured. Who was he to know that rioters and cops would barge in and trash the whole place? Kicked out of a beautiful apartment because his roommate had secretly been growing weed, fired from the delivery job he had been excelling in because some guy¡¯s dog had bitten him and someone else had run over the rottweiler¡ªRay still had the scars¡ªand the owner had tried to sue the delivery company¡­ Every time his life had been on an upward trajectory, some wild shit always happened to chop him down to a stump. the System said. The question remained implicit. What did Ray want? Apparently, that was going to give him an idea about his Path. [Manual Initiation Override Activated¡ªStep 2: Path Assignment] Reviewing recent history¡­ Peak Attribute: Variance [75%] Reviewing recent history¡­ Peak Attribute: Variance [86%] Reviewing recent history¡­ Peak Attribute: Variance [93%] New Denizen, please wait. What did he want? He could ask for everlasting wealth. He could ask to never need to work again. He could ask for no more unforeseen disasters to strike his life. But, nice as though it would have been to have all of those, did he really want them? [Manual Initiation Override Activated¡ªStep 2: Path Assignment] Reviewing recent history¡­ Peak Attribute: Variance [96%] Reviewing recent history¡­ Peak Attribute: Variance [98%] New Denizen, please wait. The answer came to him then. What he was truly looking for. ¡°I want control.¡± [Manual Initiation Override Activated¡ªStep 2: Path Assignment] Reviewing recent history¡­ Peak Attribute: Variance [98%] Calculation complete¡­ Peak Attribute percentile in eligible population: 94th percentile Congratulations. You have unlocked a Path with greater power and potential than 94% of Denizens eligible for Paths. New Denizen, please review your Legendary Path. Ray stared. Then smiled. Those words¡­ New Denizen, please review your Legendary Path. Chapter 2: Transported Eagerness bubbled up inside Ray. His fingers turned jittery, and he was having a bit of difficulty staying still on his seat. He almost laughed. Look at him, acting like a schoolkid who couldn¡¯t wait to get his grubby hands on the latest NFS title. The screen changed, new words rippling across the blue surface. [Manual Initiation Override Activated¡ªStep 2: Path Assignment] Path: Lifeblood Chaos [Legendary] The divergences in your life have aligned your soul with the direst Aspect in the abyss of the omniverse. Flickers of virulent energy embed themselves in your soul, seeping into your flesh, blood, and bones. The crucible of chaos has taken root at the seat of your spirit. Channel it, and mould life itself in your palms.
  • Reputation Bonus at Evolutions: [+50 Chaotic]
  • Perk: Riotous Life [Primary stats boosted by 20%]
New Denizen, please complete Step 1. Interesting as that description was, it wasn¡¯t a lot to go off of. Chaotic energy of life. How exactly was that going to translate to¡­ whatever he would be capable of. ¡°I have a lot of questions,¡± Ray said. the System said. For now, Ray agreed. There was still that Ascension Class thing he needed to take care of. But he resolved to get some details out of the disembodied entity before this was over. [New Denizen Initiation¡ªStep 1: Class Selection] Please review the following choices for your Ascension Class. Warrior [Common] [Tier 1] With a mighty swing of their weapon, the warrior charges into battle, drawing the attention of all foes. Focusing on indomitability, warriors seek to crush foes with powerful blows. Courage is your shield, determination your sustenance.
  • Starting Reputation: [+20 Tenacious]
  • Primary Stats: [Strength, Vitality: +3 per level]
  • Potential Tier 2 Evolutions: Berserker, Vanguard, Paladin
Rogue [Common] [Tier 1] Swift and silent as the night wind, the rogue moves undetected through the shadows. Focusing on stealth and subterfuge, rogues navigate the world with cunning and guile. Strike from the darkness and harness the ability to turn the tide of battle with just a single, precise blow.
  • Starting Reputation: [+10 Cunning, +10 Tactful]
  • Primary Stats: [Strength, Agility, Resilience: +2 per level]
  • Potential Tier 2 Evolutions: Ranger, Assassin, Bard
Mage [Common] [Tier 1] Employing the spiritual energy of the universe, the mage weaves spells of unfathomable might. Focusing on their connection to the arcane, mages rely on the forces they call upon to render their foes helpless. Clarity and control are the keys to turning your magic into a weapon unmatched by anything else.
  • Starting Reputation: [+20 Possessive]
  • Primary Stats: [Intellect, Spirit: +3 per level]
  • Potential Tier 2 Evolutions: Warlock, Elementalist, Necromancer, Arcanist, Cleric
Cleric [Common] [Tier 2] Walking under the light of the divine, the cleric wields holy might to repel foes and shrouds allies with hope and healing. Clerics channel blessings to mend wounds, cast buffs, and support all who walk the same path as them. Steadfast resolve and undying compassion are the true hallmarks of your power.
  • Starting Reputation: [+20 Benevolent]
  • Primary Stats: [Spirit: +4 per level, Intellect: +2 per level, Resilience: +2 per level]
  • Potential Tier 3 Evolutions: Heavenly Apostle, High Priest
Arcanist [Common] [Tier 2] With great mastery in the mystic arts, the arcanist wields esoteric secrets to carve out a foothold in reality. Employing ancient magic learned from tomes and scriptures, arcanists are beacons of knowledge, power, and authority in a wondrous world rife with unknown dangers.
  • Starting Reputation: [+20 Knowledgeable]
  • Primary Stats: [Intellect: +3 per level, Spirit: +3 per level, Vitality: +2 per level]
  • Potential Tier 3 Evolutions: Archmage, Grand Enchanter
Due to insufficient aptitude, Ascension Class options of higher rarity are unavailable. New Denizen, please pick an Ascension Class. ¡°So I can finally make a proper choice,¡± Ray said. He understood the other important thing that had gone unsaid. All these Paths and Asension Classes and whatnot were supposed to supply him with the tools he would need to climb the tower. ¡°I do have questions I need answered before I can make the right choice.¡± the System said. It sounded a bit too airy. Focus, was it? The only thing there for Ray to focus on were the words themselves. So he squinted at the spot where it detailed the stat information for every class and imagined they actually explained what they were saying instead of assuming he had been an avid gamer. Lo and behold, more information did indeed pop up. [Information Request] Below are the primary stats all Denizens make use of and their exact descriptions. Vitality Determines how much health a Denizen may recover upon sustaining damage. The higher the Vitality, the more wounds and other debilitating conditions can be healed. Low Vitality can only be used to heal a small cut, but very high Vitalities can restore entire lost limbs. Resilience Determines the flat damage negation, from most sources, that a Denizen can negate before sustaining any damage. Low Resilience will provide little to no defence at all, relying on the Denizen¡¯s natural physical durability and constitution, but high Resilience can shrug off an avalanche. Strength Determines how much physical power will be generated by the Denizen when performing any interaction. Higher levels of Strength will allow greater control of the power generated. The main determinant of damage for physical classes. Agility Determines the physical speed with which the Denizen can perform interactions. Higher levels of Agility will allow greater control of the Denizen¡¯s speed. Intellect Determines the mental acuity of the Denizen. The main determinant of damage for casting classes. Higher levels of Intellect increase the speed with which the Denizen¡¯s mind can process stimuli. Spirit Determines the spiritual connection between the Denizen and the Omniverse. Higher levels of Spirit increase the capacity for Mana, the usable form of spiritual energy, and attunes the Denizen to the Omniverse more closely. Ray huffed a breath. Alright, most of that looked familiar. He wasn¡¯t unfamiliar with RPGs¡ªKOTOR was still his first gaming love¡ªbut he had wanted to make sure this System meant the same thing when it had started talking about stats. While most of that looked familiar enough, Ray was still certain he would be better off when he could test certain things. Just what level of a wound he could recover from and how much damage he could negate, and the like. Especially because he was pretty certain he wasn¡¯t picking any of the Tier 1 classes. Control. How better to control a battlefield than as a caster who could pelt whatever spell he wished? But first, he focused on one other aspect of everything he had been shown so far. [Information Request] Reputation If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Points earned through achievements accumulate different reputation metrics. The Denizen is rewarded for crossing certain thresholds in any metric. Ray frowned. It didn¡¯t clarify what exact kinds of rewards he would be receiving, but he supposed that would be clear enough in time. the System said. Ray pressed his lips together for a moment. Only Common offerings. Forget Rare and Epic classes¡ªas he expected them to go, with how rarity rankings he had seen in other places¡ªhe hadn¡¯t even received an Uncommon option either. That was a little disappointing. ¡°The decision was easy. Not a lot of great options.¡± Ray snorted, focusing on Arcanist. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°But not the least?¡± [New Denizen Initiation¡ªStep 3: Vocation Selection] Please review the following choices for your Vocation. Your Vocation will be your guide during your journey. It will form the basis of your Objectives and will provide you with a roadmap for your ascent. Calculating Available Vocations based on aptitude and choice¡­ Tower Climber [Common] Tower Settler [Uncommon] Tower Cartographer [Rare] ¡­ Secret Vocation unlocked: Tower Conqueror [Epic] New Denizen, please select a Vocation. Ray breathed in sharply. There was no further information about any of these Vocations. Even when he focused on them, no new words popped up. Interesting that it talked about Objectives. Were those like quests? ¡°Let me guess, more information will be revealed about them later.¡± the System said. There it was again. The same question. As though he was a rat in a Skinner experiment and questions about his desire were his trigger phrase. But the damn System was right. It was giving him exactly what he wanted. What better way to exert control over the world he was about to end up in than by conquering it for himself. Although, that did beg the question¡­ ¡°If I conquer this Tower of yours, instead of simply climbing to the peak, will I be responsible for everything within it?¡± That smiling sensation emerged again. Ray laughed. ¡°You sound like I¡¯ve already made my decision.¡± ¡°I might have,¡± he admitted. ¡°But that still depends on a few answers.¡± Ray sat straighter. It helped that the jittery excitement at seeing his Path had faded for now. ¡°From everything I¡¯ve seen, it looks like not everyone is going to get the same experience as me. Denizens who are eligible. And then you mentioned picking me specifically. My questions is, does that mean only specific people will end up in the Tower? Or will everyone?¡± ¡°Then I think I¡¯ve got all I need to decide. I pick Tower Conqueror.¡± The more Ray had conversed with this entity, the more questions rushed to the tip of his tongue, desperate to come out. The Tower of Forging. Everything he could want would be there, according to the System. Truths included. ¡°Then I guess I¡¯m ready for¡­¡± He hesitated. All the emotions that had seeped out of him during his interview now slowly began rearing their heads. The slight jitteriness returned. A sign not of excitement this time, but of a heavy anticipation. ¡°For the Tower.¡± [New Denizen Initiation Complete] Congratulations. Your initiation into the Omniversal System has now been completed. You have been assigned starting gear and are now ready to face any challenges that lie ahead of you. Please note that your Character Status is ready for your review. New Denizen, prepare to be transported to the Tower of Forging. Character Status? Ray really ought to check that, but everything was disappearing again. His heart began to pitter-patter, and he swallowed. Time for the Tower. But as all the white faded to black, he realized he had no idea when he would be able to speak to the System so candidly again. The same intuition from before told him that he wouldn¡¯t have access to it in quite the same manner he¡¯d had in this room. Now or never, for all Ray knew. So he blurted out the question that tugged him the most. ¡°System,¡± he said. ¡°Are you in control of¡­ of everything that¡¯s going on? Or are you being controlled by something?¡± That smile he felt from the System was back again. But this time, it turned into laughter. Ray snorted. ¡°Well, that¡¯s one way of saying I¡¯ll probably never have the same level of control as you.¡± The whiteness disappeared. So did the words, and the strange blocks under and before him too. Ray wasn¡¯t sure how or when, but he found his feet resting on what felt like solid rock, its uneven, grainy surface contouring the soles of his new sandals. Ray blinked in the darkness. Other sensations had returned too. An earthy odour in his nose, the feel of a slight draft across his face and hair, the weight of cloth on his shoulders and arms. Hurray for not being naked any longer. He couldn¡¯t see much, though. Everything was dark. [New Denizen Tutorial] Welcome, New Denizen, to the Tower of Forging. You have been transported to a tutorial zone at the edge of the First Floor of the tower. Please review your objectives and proceed as you see fit. Calculating objectives based on [Path of Lifeblood Chaos] and [Tower Conqueror]¡­ Objective 1: Defeat 20 Feathered Imps [0/20] Objective 2: Earn a Map Fragment [0/1] Objective 3: Exit the Marauder¡¯s Caves [0/1] Hidden Objective 1: Defeat the Feathered Fiend [0/1] Personal Objective 1: Obtain a Talisman [0/1] WARNING: Due to your possession of a [Legendary] Path, you have been placed in a [Tier 7] tutorial zone. New Denizen, go forth and begin your conquest of the Tower of Forging! Ray blinked his eyes a few times. Tier 7 tutorial zone¡­ Well, that was hopefully less of a death sentence than it appeared at first glance. At least most of his objectives made sense, more or less. Although, he wasn¡¯t sure what a Talisman was for. Capital ¡°T¡± Talisman. Sounded important. It was starting to settle in that this was real. That everything he had experienced so far¡ªwas still experiencing¡ªwas his new existence. Ray was almost tempted to laugh. If he thought about it from an outside perspective, it seemed so insane. Teleported to a white room where he had been able to pick strange abilities that he could now supposedly use? Talking to an entity calling itself the System? Being inducted into an omniverse of all things? Wisconsin, and the rest of the Earth, being converted into a bunch of sky-high towers? The fuck? Speaking of abilities, Ray recalled that he had access to a Character Status. He was about to take a peek at it when a noise made him go still. Ray could only describe the sound as a crackling snap. Like something with a hard beak was snapping its mouth rapidly. It reminded him of a shoebill¡¯s clacking call, just not as loud or machine-gun-like. The noise was loud, close, but also not in his immediate vicinity. Whatever was making that sound wasn¡¯t at his exact location. That meant he had a bit of breathing room to check his¡ª All Ray got was the briefest sensation of air shifting over his head. Then his assailant was on top of him. A distraction. The noise had been a distraction to fool him. Ray was thrown to the ground, sharp claws piercing through his robes and digging painfully into his skin. The creature had landed on him with the force of a falling cupboard. Its staccato clacking cry was right in his ears, ringing in symphony with its brethren¡¯s a little farther off. The first slash across his face made him freeze for a millisecond. The danger. It was real. He could die. Ray struggled instinctively. It was abundantly clear the monster was trying to bite his face off, so he closed his eyes and slapped his hands over his eyes and mouth. The skin on the back of his hand started tearing apart under the assault. His robes were shredded, blood spraying out of dozens of cuts and gashes from a storm of claws. The push that threw off the creature was thoughtless. So was the scream. Visceral as the pain running livid over his body. Ray was on his feet in a heartbeat. His heart was jackhammering so fast, he could have suffered a stroke. The creature scuttled and cried, ready to attack again. What were his options? What could he do? This asshole hadn¡¯t even let him¡ª With a piercing shriek, the monster flew at him. He still couldn¡¯t see well but his attacker¡¯s form was a blur of deeper darkness in the gloom. He dived to one side. The monster collided with the rocky wall just behind him. Had it come for his face again? Ray didn¡¯t understand much of what was going on, but he got what he had to do. The creature had recovered already. Was once again attacking, its vicious clacking preceding its violent charge. Heading straight for his face to the exclusion of all else. He socked it with an uppercut, sending it flying back. Ray wasn¡¯t much of a fighter. He had no martial arts training, and what little he knew of fighting was from watching silly kung-fu movies and wrestling matches. But some things were ingrained in a person in a life-or-death situation. The need to live, to survive, gifted the simple understanding of how to beat back danger. Plus, the way he had thrown the creature off earlier proved that it wasn¡¯t too big. Strong, evidently vicious as a bear on drugs, but not too big. Thankfully. The monster was already recovering, but Ray jumped on it this time. There was no time for thought. All he could do was act. So he rushed the creature before it could recover and began stomping as hard as he could. Ray¡¯s mere sandals weren¡¯t the best for stomping something¡¯s head in. But that didn¡¯t mean he was going to baulk. Even when the sole broke, when the monster¡¯s struggles started tearing through the skin of his legs. Even when it bit off one of his toes. Ray screamed. He kept on stomping, though, cutting off his pained shriek. Survive. Survive. If he stopped too early, he¡¯d be signing his death warrant. He hadn¡¯t claimed a fucking legendary Path just to end up dead in the first minute of his tutorial. It wasn¡¯t working. No matter how much he stomped, the monster just kept clawing and biting at him. Why wouldn¡¯t it die? Ray growled at it. It clacked back, just for a second, before he stomped his foot down on its head again. That skull was too durable. Frustrated, he tried a different tack. He jumped. An instant later, he landed with his kneecap bashing the monster in the head. It should have cracked its skull. The monster was clearly in pain, going by the way it continued howling. But it still wasn¡¯t dead. Then the creature pushed him off. It was coming at him, again. Relentless in its viciousness. Determined to claw his life out through his face. Ray found himself grappling with the creature. They twisted and turned, clawed and fought. He had no idea how many wounds he suffered. The pain was a whirlwind of agony all across his body now. But so long as he didn¡¯t let the thing reach his vitals, he could survive. At some point, Ray managed to get the creature in a headlock. It helped that he was fighting an animalistic beast, not another human being. He squeezed. And squeezed. Even as the creature¡¯s shrieking threatened to burst his eardrums, as the skin on his arms was peeled off, as flesh and blood dripped off his limbs. He squeezed as hard as he could. To survive. To not die. Ray was still squeezing when the notifications came in. [Enemy Defeated¡ªFeathered Imp] Tier 6 Monster: Feathered Imp [Level 3] x1 Essence: +180 [Level Up!] Reward
  • +3 Intellect, +3 Spirit, +2 Vitality, +4 allocatable free stats.
  • New Spell: Basic Perception [Tier 1] [Utility]
  • Basic Perception has been converted to Lifeblood Sense by Path of Lifeblood Chaos.
Essence to Level 3: 80/150 [New Personal Achievement¡ªFirst Kill!] You¡¯ve killed your first foe! Ensuring survival sometimes needs drastic measures, and you¡¯ve proven you won¡¯t shy away from them. Reward
  • New Catalyst: Talisman of the Otherworld [Tier 2]
  • Reputation: +10 Tenacious
Ray fell back, covered in blood, racked with eviscerating agony, barely able to breathe. So close to dying, but at least he had already completed one Objective. He would take the win. Then he got his second achievement. Despite the pain, he smiled. Chapter 3: Not Alone It seemed the achievements weren¡¯t done with Ray. Not that he minded. He needed a little bit of time to recover from the ordeal. Needed some distractions from the boiling pain at too many places on his body. [New Personal Achievement¡ªUnderdog Triumph!] You¡¯ve killed a foe a few levels higher than you. Good thing to realize is that discrete levels aren¡¯t always what determines the winner in combat. Although, if the disparity is too great, hopes of an upset will be slim. Reward
  • Reputation: +15 Tenacious, +10 Indomitable
[Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 25-point threshold, your Tenacity has raised your Vitality by 5. Ray groaned. The pain was making it hard to think. Hard to do anything, in fact. He couldn¡¯t even be bothered to throw the corpse of the Feathered Imp off himself. Weirdly, a part of him felt like it was a long day at work. He wanted to go home. To lie in bed, with the covers pulled over himself, and not get up unless some disaster forced him out. He snorted. Well, this probably counted as a disaster. A jolt of pain grounded him to the reality of his situation. He had to do something about the blood loss. Ray was thankful to himself for checking the stat descriptions before picking his class. He knew now that he could use his Vitality to heal from wounds. Question was, did he have a high enough Vitality to heal up a mangled toe? Focus, the System had said. That was how one controlled the various functions the System allowed. So, Ray focused. He imagined his Vitality filling up some sort of healing pool, the energy reaching out to his worst wound and reconstructing his body there. The pain in his toe started to fall. It took about a minute, but soon enough, the wounds everywhere else felt far more intense in comparison to the state of his toe. Ray was pretty certain the injury he had directed his Vitality to wasn¡¯t fixed completely. But it had worked enough to make it not as debilitating as it had been before. One small toe, and even that wasn¡¯t fully healed. He really needed to check his Vitality. For the first time, Ray opened his Character Status. [Status] Raymond Dominick Race: Human Ascension Class: Arcanist [Common] [Tier 2] Vocation: Tower Conqueror [Epic] Path: Lifeblood Chaos [Legendary] Level: 2 [80/150] Mana: 80/80 Recovery: 0/120 Perks: Riotous Life Gear Raiment: Basic Robe [Torn] Footwear: Plain Sandals [Half Destroyed] Armament: Talisman of the Otherworld [Tier 2] Stats Vitality: 6 [+6] [Tier 1] Resilience: 4 [Tier 1] Strength: 4 [Tier 1] Agility: 4 [Tier 1] Intellect: 7 [+1] [Tier 1] Spirit: 7 [+1] [Tier 1] Reputation Knowledgeable: 20 Chaotic: 20 Tenacious: 25 [Vitality boost: +5] Indomitable: 10 Spells Shatterclaw [Offensive] [Tier 1] Mystic Knowledge [Passive] [Tier 1] Arcane Aura [Passive] [Tier 1] Lifeblood Sense [Utility] [Tier 1] Skills - Ray found himself sitting up, his back propped against the rough wall of the cave. Alright, that was a lot of information. Seriously. He had four spells and he¡¯d been forced to kill that monster with his bare hands? Granted, only one of them was offensive, and granted, he had been attacked before he could have checked his Status. Still, it felt slightly annoying. He was really hoping the rest of this Tier 7 tutorial wasn¡¯t going to be like that. Wasn¡¯t a tutorial supposed to a safe-ish place where he could learn stuff at his own pace? The only thing Ray had learned so far was how easily he could have died. Anyway, spells. Something told him that, even if he had known about them before the attack, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to cast most of them anyway. Most didn¡¯t look castable. Only the offensive one, Shatterclaw, looked like something he could actively use. Oh, and that last spell too, he supposed. Ray focused on his abilities, willing the System to grant him more information. [Information Request¡ªSpells] Below are the spells you currently possess. Shatterclaw [Offensive] [Tier 1] A primal spell that uses arcane energy of the omniverse to craft ethereal claws that inflict elemental damage. At Tier 1, this spell crafts three claws per cast with a maximum range of five meters and consumes 10 Mana. Can only be cast with a Talisman. Mystic Knowledge [Passive] [Tier 1] A mystic ability that preternaturally fills the caster¡¯s head with the exact knowledge about any spells in their repertoire, as well as any Mana-borne abilities being used on the caster. At Tier 1, this spell provides the caster with all intuitive casting knowledge of all Tier 1 spells, and all Mana-borne abilities being cast on them, regardless of Tier. Arcane Aura [Passive] [Tier 1] Signature ability of Arcanists. A passive enchantment that boosts all the Arcanist¡¯s primal sorceries and supresses the spells and abilities of enemies that use Mana. At Tier 1, boosts spell damage dealt by 10%, and reduces incoming Mana-borne damage by 10%. Lifeblood Sense [Utility] [Tier 1] A perception spell with the Lifeblood Chaos affinity. Allows the caster to sense all nearby sources of life. At Tier 1, the radius of effect for this spell is 10 meters. Ray took some time absorbing the information. It was a handy distraction from the little torturous spikes needling him all over his body, and the darkness of the cave that now seemed so sinister. He was going to have to test Shatterclaw. Although, the fact that it consumed Mana meant he couldn¡¯t use it willy-nilly. Especially since he had no idea how quickly his Mana regenerated. The other spells were all interesting in their own right. Mystic Knowledge was definitely working as intended. Somehow, Ray knew exactly how he was supposed to use Shatterclaw. He also instinctively understood that he would need to cast Lifeblood Sense like his first spell. The only difference was that it being a low-Tier utility spell negated any Mana costs. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Ray also understood that wasn¡¯t the case for all utility spells. He was just lucky with this specific one. What Mystic Knowledge didn¡¯t tell him was whether this spell came from his Arcanist class, or if it was a basic spell any spellcaster received. Basic Perception certainly didn¡¯t sound like something an Arcanist would specialize in. But if his Path had affected it, then why hadn¡¯t it touched the rest of his spells? He was pretty certain Lifeblood Chaos hadn¡¯t touched them. His stats also didn¡¯t make total sense. The numbers were fine, but why did the stats have Tier assignations to them as well? It felt redundant. There had to be some other reason they were indicated that way. For now, he assigned all his free stats to Intellect. Getting more damage out of his spells was his main priority for now. Mystic Knowledge indeed confirmed it was his main damage stat. Then there were his Reputation points. His Vitality had almost been doubled by the bonus he had received. Would the other categories boost one of his other stats once he crossed a threshold for any of them? He supposed he¡¯d have to wait and find out. Wait, and survive. Oh, and then there was his gear. The Status helpfully described everything he had upon his person, including his latest acquisition. Ray looked around and found what he was searching for in a small pool of blood beside his dead assailant. ¡°Woah.¡± He whistled softly in appreciation, reaching over to pluck the Talisman from the murky puddle. The Talisman was a small, flattish disc, dark gold in colour. It had the symbol of an open, beastly maw superimposed over an eight-pointed star. Nifty. Ray gasped a little. Gleaming chains of black-red energy slithered out from the edges to wrap around his hand and between his fingers, pressing the plain side of it into his palm so that the maw with the golden fangs was facing him as he looked down. Oh, alright. So he wouldn¡¯t need to hold it while he was casting. That was convenient. Interestingly, the ethereal chains were slightly chilly. Comfortably cold, was the best way he could put it. A quick focus brought up a handy description. [Information Request¡ªTalisman] You hold a spell catalyst in your hand. Different spellcasting classes require different catalysts to cast spells. For Arcanists, this is a Talisman. Talisman of the Otherworld [Tier 2] A Tier 2 catalyst that boosts primal spells by 10%. Draw upon the boundless power of unseen realms to tear through the battlefield, trailing devastation in your wake. Not bad. Better yet, he had one of his Objectives accomplished. Now to get the rest of them done¡­ After a moment, Ray decided to actually do something about his pain. He tried to direct his Vitality to some of the other wounds he had suffered. But the bleeding gashes on his arms and chest didn¡¯t close up. Right, of course. It had to be that Recovery stat he had used up to heal himself partially. Now he had to wait until his Vitality-gifted healing pool regenerated to fully fix himself up. Sighing, he went about it the old-fashioned way. Since this flimsy robe of his provided next to no protection, Ray tore off a few strips and began binding his more serious injuries. He bit down on a curse as he took care of his foot first. The sandal was practically destroyed, so he simply wrapped his whole foot with the cloth strips. Would make walking awkward, but it would be less painful, at least. Hopefully. Once Ray wrapped up his arms in the same manner, he got to his feet. He wobbled. Well. Looked like he was going to need to get used to this. It made one thing quite clear. He wasn¡¯t going to survive another head-on brawl with these monsters. Speaking of which¡­ ah, crap. Why was this cave so dark? Ray still couldn¡¯t make out much of the Feathered Imp he had managed to kill, even when it was no more than a couple of feet away from him. He got the impression of a child-sized body, humanoid like a goblin¡¯s, but covered with scratchy feathers and sporting a head that was both avian and reptilian. There was no option to loot the creature. Even when he focused on it, he got nothing. Maybe high-difficulty tutorials didn¡¯t allow loot till the end, or maybe this little grunt carried nothing worth looting. He inspected the body physically for a moment, but there was nothing to take. Not unless he wanted to rip it apart, which he didn¡¯t have the strength or tools to do anyway. Whatever the case, Ray wasn¡¯t going to bother scrounging desperately. He had to get a move on. The tunnels twisted as he began traversing through them at a careful pace. Ray used Lifeblood Sense as he moved, keeping one hand on the craggy wall beside him. There was only one direction open for him. Forward. His heart clenched with every shuffling step. Even his breaths sounded too loud. All he could imagine was another trap waiting for him. That clacking in the distance he had first heard had gone silent. It only made him wary. He might have killed the Imp, but it had left him too shaken. When he used Lifeblood Sense, a staticky sensation spread outwards from him, crawling over the cave walls and suffusing the air. It remained in his surroundings for about thirty seconds, so far as he was able to keep track by counting. The spell didn¡¯t pick up any sign of life in ten meters. Ray assumed that if it had, there would be some sort of break in the static. At least, since a strange sort of ¡°sense¡± extended out to the bounds of the static field, a break in the field would alert him to the presence of any other living things. Well, he hoped it would. Ray found the answer a few steps later. Since it didn¡¯t cost Mana, he could keep casting it as soon as it ran out. On the third cast, he detected a presence. A monster on the wall. A few meters ahead, situated close to the ceiling if he was judging the break in the static field correctly. Ray¡¯s breath caught in his chest just as his heart started beating harder. Lifeblood Sense didn¡¯t give him much of an idea of what sort of creature awaited him, besides a sensation that he could only describe as intensity. Somehow, the intensity from the creature he sensed was familiar, but tinged with urgency, desperation, and danger. Another Feathered Imp. He was certain of it. Lying in wait to ambush him as the first one had. Not on his watch. Mystic Knowledge told him just what he had to do to take care of the little demon trying to jump atop him. Five meters for Shatterclaw. Ray scowled a little. This was going to be close. He strolled towards the location of the monster. His heart pounded, the sound of his breathing and his footsteps fading as blood rushed past his ears. As much as he tried to appear nonchalant and not overly cautious, he couldn¡¯t help every muscle tensing like drawn bowstrings. He really didn¡¯t want another life-or-death struggle on his hands. Once he was close enough, the Feathered Imp attacked. Just as he had suspected. Ray sprung into action at the same time. With the Talisman in hand, Ray focused on Shatterclaw. He felt a surge of energy rush through him. Was that Mana? The spell activated with a burst of black and red energy, the same shade of colour as the chains leashing the Talisman to his palm. The Imp¡¯s vicious cry was cut short. Ray had timed it just right. Three burning black-red slashes materialized over him. He swiped his arm, the ethereal claws mimicking the motion at the same time as though he was remotely controlling them. All three slashes crashed into the Imp and sent it flying back, black blood raining down around him. It should have been enough to kill the monster, but the Imp¡¯s clacking cry didn¡¯t fade. The monster was flying at his face a breath later. Ray cursed as he involuntarily stepped back. He had thought one good cast of Shatterclaw would have been enough to kill the monster. Tier 7 tutorial zone, he reminded himself. Of course the monsters inside these caves weren¡¯t going to be killed so easily. That first one had nearly cost him his life, hadn¡¯t it? Plus, there was the Tier difference too. A Tier 1 spell against a Tier 6 monster¡­ Just as the Imp reached him, Ray slashed his arm again. Shatterclaw appeared. This time, he focused on the cast and tried to hold it. When the black-red claws caught the Imp, he used the ethereal arcs of energy to slam the monster against the wall. He continued the cast, dragging the shrieking monster along the rough, rocky surface while forcing the claws to dig deeper. Ray only stopped when the Imp fell to the ground in three separate sections of bloody, chopped-up bits. [Enemy Defeated¡ªFeathered Imp] Tier 6 Monster: Feathered Imp [Level 3] x1 Essence: +180 Mana Restored: +30 [Level Up!] Reward
  • +3 Intellect, +3 Spirit, +2 Vitality, +4 allocatable free stats.
  • New Spell: Soul Sorption [Utility] [Tier 1]
  • Soul Sorption has been converted to Chaos Chymify by Path of Lifeblood Chaos.
Essence to Level 4: 110/230 Ray let his hammering heart calm down as he assigned his free stats to Intellect again. He sent out another pulse of Lifeblood Sense to make sure there were no more monsters near him before checking his new spell. [Information Request¡ªSpells] Chaos Chymify [Offensive] [Utility] [Tier 1] A primal spell that drinks in a portion of the target¡¯s soul. Absorbed soul portion grants information about target to the user. If target dies, caster has the ability to select which portion of the soul will be added to the collection of souls in the Crucible of Lifeblood Chaos. At Tier 1, this spell¡¯s range is limited only by caster¡¯s sight, grants basic information about the target, and consumes 5 Mana. Can only be cast with a Talisman. That was a lot to take in. A Crucible of Lifeblood Chaos? The spell description was strangely vague about it. Even when Ray focused on it, no further information appeared. Hmm. Perhaps he would find out more when he actually used the spell. Information would be handy, though. A little disappointing the System wasn¡¯t willing to grant him any easy or convenient skills where he could just look at a target and glean information about it. Oh well. Ray was looking forward to seeing the other parts of the spell take effect when he met his next Feathered Imp. Interesting that he had received a portion of his Mana from killing the creature. Two casts of Shatterclaw should have spent less Mana than the amount he had recovered from his kill. Ray grimaced. He had dragged out the second cast, however, so overall, the balance turned out even. Besides, it wasn¡¯t like he could hold more Mana than his capacity. Could he? Maybe he could check later. Also interesting the monsters were granting so much Essence per kill, Ray was levelling up rather quickly. Seemingly low levelling requirements for now, though he could see it blowing up as he grew more powerful. Point being, Ray would probably come out of this tutorial at a pretty decent level, if these caves were as infested with the Imps as he was starting to think they were. Ray decided to move on. As he walked past the monster¡¯s corpse, however, he paused. The body¡­ it looked¡­ He wasn¡¯t a stranger to gruesome sights. Working in a biology lab had toughened his stomach against upending its contents at the slightest sight of gore. But this wasn¡¯t any regular gore. The bile was definitely trying to climb up his oesophagus, but Ray couldn¡¯t look away. Not when he had a clear vision, even in the low light, of what his power was actually capable of. The places where those ethereal claws had struck had twisted the very life matter there. Flesh had bubbled and turned somewhat liquid-y, bones had deformed into pretzels, blood vessels had hardened into spiky thorns spraying their congealed fluid. Ray didn¡¯t recognize the organ underneath all that, partly because the organ had been reduced to a puddle of ooze. Well, he was glad he wasn¡¯t on the receiving end of that. Ray got going. Still no looting involved, but that was fine. His goal was to make his way out of the cave. Loot could come later. Ideally, somewhere along the way to the exit. Continuous uses of Lifeblood Sense guided him forward. A handful more monsters came up. He managed to kill them without too much difficult since the monsters acted alone. Small blessings. By the time he reached his first fork in the road, he had killed six of the little bastards in total. Four more Imps had taken him to level 5, nearly halfway to level 6 too. His enemies were strong, but at least they yielded hefty Essence when killed. As his level had increased, and his stats alongside them, it got a little easier to kill the monsters. His rising Intellect really was pumping out extra damage. More importantly, one of his last level ups had also granted him the Map Fragment he was supposed to have earned. It wasn¡¯t very decipherable. To Ray¡¯s untrained eye, it looked too squiggly. He would need a bit of time to study it. But hey, at least that was another Objective complete. The draft was coming in from one side of the fork, which was where the exit was likely to lie. A few twisting lines on the Map Fragment also confirmed it. It could also be a trap, but since he had a spell to rely on, that wasn¡¯t as dangerous as it might have been. In fact, as Ray took the leftward path for a while, he came to a stop when he found the trap awaiting him. His tunnel opened up to a wider, taller chamber. Tall ledges hung on both sides. Feathered Imps were resting on the walls, but there were a group of them on the ledges too. Even if he managed to deal with the wall-hanging ones, the monsters on the ledges would attack immediately and turn the odds in their favour. A fight over there would be suicidal. They would crowd around him, outnumber him in one fell swoop, and make short work of him. Those little bastards were tough. But it wasn¡¯t just the obvious trap that had stopped Ray from acting. He realized it might not be a trap at all. Not for him, at least. [Warning!] Mystic Knowledge indicates your presence has been detected by Total Perception [Tier 3]. Arcane Aura has been nullified by the presence of a stronger aura, Sylvan Pride [Tier 3]. Someone else was obviously there. Even worse, someone who was clearly significantly stronger than Ray. His skin crawled, like a magnifying glass was focusing the sun¡¯s heat on him and scouring it over his entire form. Ray was too far away to use Lifeblood Sense to detect whoever¡ªor whatever¡ªit was. Who in the world was over there? And more importantly, how was he supposed to find out? He couldn¡¯t have come across the Feathered Fiend this soon, right? No way. Going in straight held too much danger. He had no idea what awaited him. But he had another option he could potentially try. Huffing in a quick breath, Ray turned around, resolving to discover just what lay ahead. Via a different route. Chapter 4: Hidden Objective Ray didn¡¯t have an easy way of discovering who¡ªor what¡ªwas awaiting him in the chamber beyond. Not if he wanted to scout out the situation first before walking in directly. So, he went back to the fork and headed in the other direction. Quick pulses of Lifeblood Sense alerted him to the presence of singular Imps in his path. He made as quick a work of them as he could. Quicker than before, actually. The improvement was definitely noticeable. He didn¡¯t have to drag them with the ethereal slashes of Shatterclaw or find some other creative use. All the points going into Intellect were helping. Ray still needed two casts to kill each Imp, but the procedure was simpler now. The first strike opened wounds and sent the Imps flying back. The second dug into the injuries, then ripped the monsters apart. So long as he ensured they didn¡¯t crowd him and he could maintain his distance, he would be fine. Three more Imps down, and Ray was able to level up again. [Level Up!] Reward
  • +3 Intellect, +3 Spirit, +2 Vitality, +4 allocatable free stats.
  • 1 Tier Point
Essence to Level 7: 260/800 He paused, making sure there were no other Imps nearby with Lifeblood Sense, before focusing on his rewards. As he had done earlier, Ray assigned the extra points to his Intellect. Oh yes, his spells were certainly growing stronger. Especially now that he had a Tier Point to spend on ranking up one of his spells. His assumption was proven correct. As soon as he focused on the Tier Point reward, he was immediately shown a list of all his spells. Intuitively, he understood he had to focus on whichever ability he wanted to see hit Tier 2. The choice was easy. Ray was relying on his only main offensive spell to get him through this tutorial zone. It was a no-brainer to get Shatterclaw ranked up so it was dealing more damage. If he was lucky, Tier 2 would let him one-shot the blasted Imps. The little bastards wouldn¡¯t know what them. Once he saw Shatterclaw turn to Tier 2, Ray eagerly focused on it to bring up its description. [Information Request¡ªShatterclaw] Shatterclaw [Offensive] [Tier 2] A primal spell that uses arcane energy of the omniverse to craft ethereal claws that inflict elemental damage. At Tier 2, this spell crafts five claws per cast with a maximum range of ten meters and consumes 25 Mana. Can only be cast with a Talisman. Ray clicked his tongue. Okay, so five slashes instead of three now, plus twice the range. That was great. The sharp increase in Mana cost was not so great, but it wasn¡¯t a huge problem. A quick look at his Status confirmed that he had 190 Mana now. Every level up was boosting his Spirit by three points, and every point increase added another 10 Mana to his total capacity. At level two, with 70 Mana and a Tier 1 Shatterclaw, he would have had seven consecutive casts in the tank. At level 6 and 190 Mana, he still had seven, but with a bit of extra Mana left over. But, if he could kill his foes with one blow now, then the overall Mana consumption would be significantly better. Especially since killing an Imp would refund more than he spent. In other words, Ray really needed to test out the skill. Good thing he was coming up on just the scenario to do so. The problem, Ray considered as he moved, was that he couldn¡¯t tell what his real target was doing. He had been sensed long before he could get close enough to use Lifeblood Sense and suss out whatever it was out there. The unknown creature¡¯s status was¡­ unknown. For now. But as he wended his way through the tunnel and continued using Lifeblood Sense, brief flickers of life registered. A life that was different from the Feathered Imps. There was no information attached to the sensation. It was just another blot that broke the staticky field of Lifeblood Sense. But this blot was bigger than the Imps. Significantly. Hmm, maybe if he got within range, he could try out Chaos Chymify and see what that told him. Though, he wasn¡¯t keen on antagonizing the unknown entity unless it was necessary. As he moved, he assigned some of his Recovery to the wounds he still had left. His increased Vitality had regenerated enough of his Recovery that he could now heal his toe fully. It was good as new. He sighed in relief. Now he could walk normally again. Thank goodness. Ray¡¯s reading of the map of the cave system turned out to be true. They were indeed a jumble of massive tunnels twisting in on themselves. The second path in the fork he had taken ended up returning to the exact chamber he had retreated from, the one where the Imps had laid a trap. The one that had to hold the creature that had sensed him. But¡ªas he had hoped¡ªhis tunnel opened above the first one he had exited. The chamber was much larger than the tunnels. Ray¡¯s passage opened high up on one of the walls, spreading out to a ledge spanned by a thin bridge of stone to connect to another ledge on the other side. Another ledge, with another opening for a different passage. Looked like the Marauder¡¯s Caves was an absolute warren. Ray had come to a stop at the ledge. This was in part because he was now over the Imps that had been waiting to jump down on their unsuspecting prey. He had also stopped because his ears picked up a surprising noise. Crying. The noise was so out of place, so human, he almost forgot where he was. No way that could be another person though. Ray¡¯s assumption was proven correct when he crept over to the edge of the ledge to look down. Cursing the dark, Ray squinted down. The figure was humanoid, but what little he could make out of it was nothing like any person he had ever seen before. He got the impression of long hair, though the hair reminded him of lapis lazuli instead of thin filaments of regular keratin. Those curving growths at what appeared to be the top of the head had to be horns. The body itself was thin, gangly, curled over something like the figure was crouching. The old researcher in Ray was already interested in potentially taking blood samples and figuring out its skeletal structure, its musculature, and the like. If it was shaped somewhat like a human, would it move like a human too? Those thoughts slithered away to nothing as his heart thudded louder. He was now in his target¡¯s vicinity. If it decided to do anything, well, Ray was close enough to feel it. It had sensed him earlier, but something told him it hadn¡¯t moved from the position it had been in when it had first perceived him. There was definitely something strange going on. But why wasn¡¯t it doing anything? The Imps had gathered dangerously close too. The little monsters could jump on it any second now and start tearing it apart. And if that creature was stronger than Ray, then surely it had enough power to tear the Imps apart. It remained still, however. Sniffling ever so slightly, focused on what it had curled itself around. Even as the Imps drew near enough to spit on, the creature¡¯s focus remained inwards. Maybe¡­ maybe it was just so strong that it didn¡¯t matter. None of them mattered. Neither Ray, nor any of the Imps. Maybe they were all insignificant in the face of the entity¡¯s power. It wasn¡¯t unfathomable. This was a Tier 7 tutorial zone, after all, though that begged the question of what that thing was doing here in the first place. Ray was distracted by a clacking noise. Ah, crap. One of the damned Imps had spotted him and was now climbing over. A prickle of sweat dotted Ray¡¯s brows. If he was attacked now, his cover would be blown. Not that it mattered. He had to remind himself that the thing beneath him could sense him. It already knew he was here. Still. He had come here to scout things out, perhaps find a different path towards completing his Objectives, not get drawn into the mess. Well, at least he had a willing subject to test his spells on. As the subject of his experiment approached, Ray got to his feet and fired a quick bolt of Crucible Chymify. Mystic Knowledge told him how exactly he had to wield his Talisman while focusing on the spell. It was pretty different from Shatterclaw. A slightly spiralling bolt of black-red energy shot out of his palm, striking the Feathered Imp right on the head. The monster cried out and remained stunned in place for a moment. Then it continued climbing to his location. Huh. He recalled the effects of his Lifeblood Chaos on the other Imps. One of the effects had reduced an internal organ to mush. If Ray focused, could he liquify the Imp¡¯s brain, essentially killing it in one, focused blast of magic? This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Well, it clearly hadn¡¯t worked this time. Unless the Imps were brainless to begin with. Chaos Chymify wasn¡¯t as strong as Shatterclaw, especially when the latter was now at Tier 2. [Partial Soul Sorption Complete] Feathered Imp [Monster] [Tier 6] at Level 3 Goblinoid creature that hunts for anything that shines and sparkles. Tends to reside in dark caves, where the gleam of their thefts is bright enough to blind. Feisty and tenacious but is wounded easily. Even after the Everair empire fell, the guardians of their wealth endured, safeguarding their former masters¡¯ possessions where none would find them. Full Soul Sorption not possible without target¡¯s death and Lifeblood Crucible. Oh, now it made sense why they were always coming for his face. It wasn¡¯t that Ray was too ugly. His eyes. They just wanted to pluck his eyeballs right out of their orbits and add it to their hoard of shinies. The information about the Everair would have intrigued him if he hadn¡¯t been in such a life-or-death scenario. Something to ponder later. Also, the name irked him a little. There was Lifeblood Sense, Chaos Chymify, Lifeblood Chaos¡­ this System really had to find a better naming scheme. By the time the monster had climbed onto the bridge, Ray was ready. It clacked at him as it charged, but all it got to take was one single step. Then it was blasted back as five ethereal slashes materialized and sent it rocketing backwards to the other ledge. It struggled for a second, and Ray¡¯s breaths went hushed in expectation. Then it stayed down. [Enemy Defeated¡ªFeathered Imp] Tier 6 Monster: Feathered Imp [Level 3] x1 Essence: +180 Mana Restored: +30 Excellent. One blow from a Tier 2 Shatterclaw had killed the Imp. He frowned. Unless¡­ Well, Ray could test his fears soon enough. The rest of the Imps were now making their way over to him. ¡°Aw, come on,¡± he muttered. ¡°You have a target perfectly happy to comply down below!¡± They didn¡¯t listen. Instead, they clacked and cried as they climbed to the bridge, ready to avenge their fallen comrade and tear Ray apart. The sheer audacity. Strong as his new and improved Shatterclaw might have been, Ray had no intention of letting them crowd him. So, just to be sure, he angled his next uses of the spell a little. Enough to send the monsters flying off the bridge to crash down at least twenty-five feet to hit the ground hard. There were quite a few of them, but their deaths kept refunding his Mana. Perfect. By the time Ray had flung every single Imp that had tried to climb his bridge, he had levelled up again. [Level Up!] Reward
  • +3 Intellect, +3 Spirit, +2 Vitality, +4 allocatable free stats.
  • New Spell: Spirit Warren [Passive] [Tier 1]
  • Spirit Warren has been converted to Lifeblood Crucible by Path of Lifeblood Chaos. Conversion has removed one significant restriction on spell usage.
  • Synergy discovered: Crucible Chymify + Lifeblood Crucible.
Essence to Level 8: 360/1,200 After checking to ensure that his quarry was still sniffling down below, Ray plugged in his free stats in the same manner as before and checked out the new spell. [Information Request¡ªLifeblood Crucible] Lifeblood Crucible [Passive] [Tier 1] A passive primal spell that creates a simulacra of the Primordial Crucible of Chaos within the caster¡¯s soul. This crucible holds all the primal forces of life in its virulent mixture. Careful control allows the caster to channel the aspect of any soul stored within the caster¡¯s spirit. At Tier 1, caster can store a single Soul Aspect using Chaos Chymify, regardless of target¡¯s Tier [Tier restriction removed]. However, manifested Soul Aspect will always be at the spell¡¯s Tier. Alright, wow. That was a lot to take in. Ray read over the description a couple of times. So he had some sort of soul storage within him now, and to store these souls, he would need to use Crucible Chymify on his enemies. That was likely the synergy the System was talking about. Well, not souls themselves. Aspects of souls. Hmm. Ray peeked over the edge of the bridge, seeing if there were any more test subjects still alive. No Feathered Imps still alive¡ªand he was pretty certain the process wasn¡¯t going to work on dead bodies¡ªbut there was a small surprise awaiting him. The strange creature who had been crying was now slowly getting to its feet. Ray blinked, as intrigued as he was anxious. His hearts stuttered, but so did his mind. Had that thing been afraid of the Imps? Was that why it was standing up now? ¡°Ah, I see you¡¯ve finally de¡ªdealt with the Imps, new Denizen.¡± Ray shouldn¡¯t have been surprised the creature could talk. It certainly appeared intelligent enough. What did surprise him was the voice itself. It was difficult to even categorize it as a proper voice. If someone snuck a message into the pattern a windchime sang, like a weird, audible morse code that Ray somehow learned to decipher, that was what this felt like. But it also sounded like someone forcing themselves to act normal, to talk normal, despite still wanting to cry. The smallest of sobs hidden within the pauses between each syllable. ¡°Will you remain there?¡± It was looking up at him now. ¡°I suppose it is cleaner on top.¡± Ray looked down at the creature. Its face was strange. Long and sharp, slanted eyes, a nose that was almost flat like the nostrils of a snake. All that besides the horns crowning its forehead. Still humanlike, much as the rest of its body, with the placement of the two eyes, the nose, the mouth, and so on. He was clutching something in his hand. Probably whatever he was crouching over earlier. ¡°I¡¯ve got no reason to trust you,¡± Ray said. ¡°Then why did you assist me?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t. The Imps attacked me.¡± Ray crossed his arms. Just because the alien was acting polite, acting human, didn¡¯t mean he was going to be taken in so easily. His toe still itched where it had been bitten off by that first Imp. He was not letting himself get that close to dying again. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you kill them yourself?¡± ¡°I was¡­¡± Its voice grew small. ¡°Distracted by something I found. I would have dealt with them, if they were foolish enough to disturb me. But they went after you instead.¡± Because I¡¯m the weaker one. ¡°Glad I could be of service. But since you¡¯re now no longer in any danger that was never a danger to begin with it, thanks to yours truly, I figure you now owe me one.¡± ¡°Owe you one?¡± The creature looked confused for a moment. Then it blinked. Ray suppressed a shiver. Its eyelids closed sideways instead of vertically like a human¡¯s. ¡°Ah yes, you mean I am now in your debt. The System¡¯s translations are sometimes a little faulty.¡± He began sniffling a little again. ¡°You would truly exact a favour from me at this time?¡± Ray stared. ¡°If that¡¯s your attempt at manipulating me with grief¡­ it¡¯s kind of pathetic.¡± The creature blinked at him again. ¡°Ah. The System informed me that your kind are normally quite sensitive to the emotions of others, so I thought I would make it clear I was experiencing distress.¡± It sniffled, just to add to the effect. ¡°I suppose, since you must be a rare breed for being here, you may have evolved beyond that disability.¡± Ray stared. Did that thing just call experiencing empathy a disability? He shook his head. ¡°Alright look. I¡¯ve got no clue who you are, so do you mind explaining who you are and why you¡¯re here? Also, why do you keep referencing the System like it¡¯s telling you information about¡ª¡± He cursed. Of course. Ray should have figured that there was some sort of System shenanigans going on here. An alien creature wasn¡¯t speaking to him in English. That windchime like sound. That had to be what it was actually saying. He could just somehow understand it, the noise automatically filtering into his ears as words in the language he was most familiar with, thanks to the System. If the System could act that integrally, why wouldn¡¯t it also be capable of providing aliens with information about humans? That was a bit unfair, though. Where was Ray¡¯s helpful little guidebook about elfin humanoid creatures who talked like they had little bells for a larynx? ¡°I am, in your language, Kredevel,¡± the alien said. It¡ªhe?¡ªhad recovered enough that he no longer sounded weepy, but his very next words were accompanied by fresh tears. ¡°I came here looking for my lord¡¯s lost hound. I was told there would be no new Denizens here, as this is a high Tier zone, but it seems my information was wrong.¡± ¡°Are you¡­ crying for the lost pet?¡± The alien looked down briefly. When he looked back up again, his eyes were positively swimming. ¡°The hound and I have cherished each other for ages. I have known it since it was a mere pup. And now, it¡¯s gone.¡± Ray felt himself softening. Poor guy really did sound heartbroken. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for your loss.¡± ¡°Ah, so the System was right. You are unable to contain your empathy.¡± ¡°It¡¯s an emotion, it¡¯s not something you control.¡± He just had to control how much his emotion affected his judgement and actions. ¡°These Feathered Imps are vicious. I¡¯m afraid your lost puppy might not have survived.¡± That really wasn¡¯t the right thing to say to someone who was grieving their beloved little animal companion, but it was the truth. Plus, it might throw off the alien from constantly trying to evaluate Ray and his empathy. ¡°I fear as much,¡± Kredevel said. He sniffled, then wiped his nose with the back of his hand. Ray wasn¡¯t sure why, but the alien felt like a guy to him, though he was curious if whatever race Kredevel belonged to even subscribed to the idea of genders. ¡°Regardless of the situation,¡± he said. ¡°I am to locate it, dead or alive. That is my lord¡¯s will. However, your presence complicates matters. The only reason I was sent here was because no humans¡ª¡± ¡°Are supposed to be in a Tier 7 tutorial zone, I get it. Let me guess, you¡¯re not supposed to be interacting with humans like me. So now you¡¯re stuck. You¡¯re in trouble if you¡¯re seen meeting a human, but you¡¯re also in trouble if you don¡¯t return with this puppy of yours.¡± Kredevel buried his face in his hands. ¡°That¡¯s quite the apt summary.¡± ¡°How about we make a deal? I¡¯ll find your puppy for you, and in return, you can tell me a few things I¡¯d like to know.¡± Kredevel looked up again. His eyes were glimmering and¡­ greenshot? Was that a word? ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ I¡¯m not supposed to be talking to new Denizens. In fact, it would be easier if you just died here, and I could pretend I came across your corpse.¡± Ray licked the inside of his mouth, clutching his Talisman tighter. ¡°Well, isn¡¯t that a delightful line of thinking. No deal, then?¡± Kredevel made a fluttering noise that Ray instinctively understood was a sigh. ¡°I will go look for my poor, lost hound. But if you come across him, please do let me know. I miss him dearly.¡± He started walking away, still sniffling a little. Ray blinked. His whole body was still tense from that second last comment from the alien. Kredevel didn¡¯t act like some big, tough alien butcher, but the warnings from the System and his sheer nonchalance regarding any danger within a Tier 7 zone were strong enough indicators for Ray to remain wary until he was gone. [New Denizen Tutorial] Hidden Objective has been discovered. Objective 1: Defeat 20 Feathered Imps [14/20] Objective 2: Earn a Map Fragment [1/1] Objective 3: Exit the Marauders¡¯ Caves [0/1] Hidden Objective 1: Defeat the Feathered Fiend [0/1] Hidden Objective 2: Find the lost Brighthorn [0/1] Personal Objective 1: Obtain a Talisman [1/1] That Brighthorn had to be the hound Kredevel was talking about. And oh, nice. He was over halfway done with the first objective. Ray got moving. Since Kredevel had continued on the lower path, he decided to keep going across the bridge and take the passage on the other side. A quick look at the pretzel of a cave system on the Map Fragment that it wasn¡¯t the last he had seen of the al¡ª The cave rumbled. [Warning!] Mystic Knowledge indicates a wide area-of-effect ability has been activated. The effects of Tectonic Theft [Tier 4] are devastating at your level. Please take shelter. Shelter? Shelter? All Ray could do was scream and dive as the bridge under him collapsed. Chapter 5: Crucible Ray was barely able to grab onto the ledge before plummeting. He struck the cave wall hard, his fingers gripping the crumbling edge of the rocky shelf while his feet scrabbled against the stone. No. He was not going to fall. Ray would¡ª He screamed. The whole place was crumbling apart, and a chunk of the ceiling crashed down to hammer into this leg. It had nearly quashed his ankle against the rock wall before hitting the ground almost thirty feet below. Ray held onto just enough of his concentration to send his Recovery there and fix up his injury. Ray cursed. He was too heavy, and his grip too insecure, to heave himself up to more solid ground. Not that the ground was stable by any means. The whole ledge was going to break off any second now. Desperate times called for desperate measures. More of the ceiling fell around him, striking his shoulders and back. It hurt. With a grunt, Ray used Shatterclaw. He aimed it above him, sinking the black-red claws into the rocky ledge in an effort to drag himself over the lip. It was all he could think to do. The ethereal slashes didn¡¯t have any direct physical connection to his body, so he wouldn¡¯t have been surprised if they failed to do anything more than leave some gouges in the ground. But Mystic Knowledge informed him that his intuition was correct. Even if the claws summoned by the spell were ethereal, they obeyed the laws of physics, to some degree. It was why channelling the spell needed the correct, corresponding motion of the caster¡¯s arm too. They were connected. Maybe not visibly. Maybe not in the tangible, physical world Ray occupied. But there was definitely enough of a connection for him to pull himself up. As much as Ray would have loved to lie flat on his back and just breathe, he forced himself to his feet and ran. It was dangerous to go into a tunnel when everything was collapsing but staying out in the open had turned untenable. Ray was pretty certain the entire chamber he¡¯d been in was seconds away from being buried completely. Blood streamed down the side of his head as he hurtled on. It wasn¡¯t blocking his sight, though, so he ignored it and the pain for now. He would need to conserve his Recovery for actually debilitating wounds. He was right about the tunnel being dangerous¡­ but he also wasn¡¯t. The passageway that continued on the other side of the bridge was cracking apart too. Little chunks of it kept falling on and all around Ray. But it wasn¡¯t shattering entirely as the large chamber had done. The tremors grew less intense the further he went. It just made him warier, his skin prickling like he was being led to some kind of trap. Tectonic Theft. That was what Mystic Knowledge had called the ability. Ray could tell that the skill was stealing away the very earth from all around him, ruining the structural integrity of the cave system to make it collapse. But a Tier 4 skill¡­ He had thought it might have been Kredevel. The alien guy certainly hadn¡¯t appeared as though collateral damage that ended up killing Ray would bother him. But then, Ray had seen his ability in action. Total Perception. That had been at Tier 3, if he was remembering right. Unless Kredevel possessed abilities at higher Tiers¡ªwhich wasn¡¯t at all an impossibility¡ªthen Tectonic Theft had been unleashed by something else. In fact, Ray¡¯s biggest suspect was the Feathered Fiend he was supposed to kill. Not that he wanted to believe the monster was responsible for the entire cave breaking down. More importantly, he didn¡¯t want to believe that his ultimate target possessed a Tier 4 ability. At level 7, Ray possessed a single spell at Tier 2. That suggested the Feathered Fiend was several orders of magnitude levels stronger than him, at the very least. Unless there was something else going on. The walls of the tunnel started cracking apart faster. Almost as though Ray¡¯s thought about the Fiend had pulled its attention upon him. That thing seriously better not have a skill that alerted it to anybody thinking about it. Ray did his best not to stumble as he kept on moving. At this rate, the passageway would bury him alive, he had to reach the next open area. Fast. He used Lifeblood Sense as he moved and¡ªa crack exploded to his left. With a shriek, one of the Feathered Imps burst out of the wall and launched itself at Ray. He was too surprised, too shocked, to react in time. It got to him, crashing hard enough to slam him against the wall. Ray was briefly stunned. But his instincts kicked in, and he swung his arm even as the back of his head hit the wall. Slashes of blackish-red energy partially crashed into the Imp and sent it careening to the other side of the passage. The monster was stunned for a second, but then it was charging at Ray again. It wasn¡¯t dead. Shit. Taking full advantage of his stunned condition, the Imp rushed in to claw up his body and stab its beak at his eyes. Ray managed to duck and prevent turning blind. Damn monster struck him where he already had a wound and took off his ear to boot. He screamed, as much in pain as in sheer annoyance, as he slammed in another Shatterclaw. Ray himself was thrown back as the claws collided with both him and his assailant. Good thing he maintained enough balance to use Shatterclaw one more time. ¡°Die!¡± The monster didn¡¯t get up from the third strike. [Enemy Defeated¡ªFeathered Imp] Tier 6 Monster: Feathered Imp [Level 5] x1 Essence: +300 Mana Restored: +50 Ray breathed in and out, wincing and shaking along with the entire passageway. He used some his Recovery to fix up his ear. Had that Imp taken two hits of Shatterclaw to go down, or three? Ray couldn¡¯t say for sure. He had been too focused on gutting the little fucker. Although, on closer inspection, it wasn¡¯t as little as the ones he had faced so far. It was level 5, to be fair. Maybe they grew in size as their levels increased. And maybe they also gained the ability to secret themselves inside walls and burst out when some unsuspecting mook like Ray passed by. What the fuck? Ray forced himself to move on. He stuck closer to the centre of the tunnel. His caution, and continuous uses of Lifeblood Sense, was rewarded when more of the monsters burst out of the walls with startling cracks. Good thing Ray was prepared to deal with them now. Two uses of Tier 2 Shatterclaw. It took two direct hits to kill the level 5 Imps. It was getting annoying dealing with them, though. For one, he was expending as much Mana to kill them as he was earning by killing them. That meant it was difficult to keep himself topped up with Mana. More than that, the tunnel kept falling in chunks on him, and he had to keep warding them off his head. His shoulders were already a mess and his back ached with little jolts of agony whenever he moved to suddenly, like when an Imp burst out the walls. It was a terrible distraction, occasionally letting a lucky Imp get in a good hit he had to heal up with his dwindling Recovery. Ray had no idea how long he would be able to keep this up. He checked the Map Fragment. There was another open-ish chamber somewhere up ahead, but the twisted scribblings made it hard to tell how far ahead. He wasn¡¯t even certain he ought to go in there. Wouldn¡¯t Tectonic Theft just make it collapse on him? Was he going to end up buried alive no matter where he went? The claustrophobic threat of being entombed here made his thoughts turn disarrayed with panic. He had to get out of here. He had to leave. Where was the fucking exit? At least he had levelled up to cross level 8 now. More points to all his stats was going to help. He even plugged half the free stats to Vitality just so he could allow himself to heal up a few more of his wounds, and half into Spirit to get more Mana. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Ray¡¯s next use of Lifeblood Sense provided a new warning. There was a foe underneath him. Of course. He should have known they could change things up. If they could come from the walls, they could from the floor or the ceiling too. The monster burst out of the geound with frightening speed. Ray bit down on a shriek as the flesh on his legs was torn apart, but he managed to slam down a Shatterclaw. Too close. The Imp was flattened, but Ray was flung back by the impact too. He was going to use another Shatterclaw, but then a different idea popped up in his head. Instead of his Tier 2 spell, Ray used Crucible Chymify. The slightly spiralling bolt of red energy bordered with black struck the rising Imp in its face. It screamed out as it fell back. After a moment of struggling, where it tried to get back to its feet, it fell back and died. [Enemy Defeated¡ªFeathered Imp] Tier 6 Monster: Feathered Imp [Level 5] x1 Essence: +300 Mana Restored: +50 [Lifeblood Crucible Activated] Crucible Chymify has stolen the soul of a defeated Feathered Imp. Please select which Aspect of the targeted soul to retain. Soul Aspects
  • Minor Claws: Hardened claws of the Imps that also boost physical damage [Tier 6]
  • Shinesight: Sharp eyes of the Imps that makes darkness decipherable [Tier 6]
  • Feathered Glide: Shroud of Imp feathers that allows gliding for short distances [Tier 6]
  • Earth Immersion: Digging ability that allows one to pass through solid rock [Tier 6]
Ray stared at the options. He didn¡¯t understand what the point of showing the Tier was when the earlier description had stated that his actual summoning wasn¡¯t going to be higher than his spell¡¯s Tier. As in, even if Ray picked one of the Tier 6 options, they would only manifest as Tier 1, since Lifeblood Crucible was at Tier 1. He also didn¡¯t understand how exactly he would use the Soul Aspect. Lifeblood Crucible¡¯s description made it clear it was only a storage. How could he pull out anything it stored? Mystic Knowledge came to the rescue. [Mystic Knowledge¡ªLifeblood Crucible] Lifeblood Crucible is a storage spell. Learn a summoning spell to use the power stored within the crucible. Next spell to be learned at level 9. Okay. So he needed a summoning spell to summon¡­ claws? Or the ability to glide? That wasn¡¯t how he would have assumed summoning would work, unless this was some sort of self-summons thing. Ray supposed it did store Soul Aspects, not entire souls themselves. But the main point was that he needed another level. That meant killing more of the Imps. Since the tunnel was still shaking threateningly, Ray kept moving. He also wasn¡¯t sure which options he ought to go with. Claws he already possessed thanks to Shatterclaw. Gliding sounded neat, but not in a cave. The other two had some utility¡ª Lifeblood Sense raised more warning flags. Ray was distracted when more Imps came bursting out of the walls. Even as he had been considering his option, he had kept an eye out for more ambushing monsters. Thankfully, he was now able to regain more Mana than he was expending to kill them. He just had to make sure the first strike with Shatterclaw sent the Imp flying a good distance from him. At least twelve or so feet, by his best estimate. Then he could blast the monster with a Crucible Chymify to end the Imp before it could reach him. As if the crashing rocks and ambushing Imps weren¡¯t bad enough, things had to take a turn for the worse. [Warning!] Mystic Knowledge indicates a wide area-of-effect ability has been activated. Lifesteal [Tier 4] is stealing your Recovery. Exit its area of influence as soon as possible. Arcane Aura lessens the impact. The description was pinpoint accurate. A quick look at his Status confirmed that his Recovery was ticking down. One point every thirty seconds. He had less than 150 left after healing up his last few injuries. Ray didn¡¯t even have an hour left before all his Recovery would disappear. Just great. How in the world was he supposed to get out of this Lifesteal ability¡¯s area of effect when he didn¡¯t even know the bounds? Ray wondered if raising Mystic Knowledge¡¯s Tier would provide whim with more specific details such as the radius of the indicated ability. Something to test later. For now, he had to get out of here. Several more Imps later, the passage suddenly shook terribly. Ray almost fell again as the whole tunnel sloped downwards. His breath turned shallow. Up ahead, he could see the opening. The exit of the passage that would bring him into the next chamber. And from there, hopefully the exit out of this forsaken shithole. But as Ray scrabbled down, his heart slowly climbing in apprehension, he forced himself to stop at the edge. Lifeblood Sense brought up the exact situation that he had been afraid of. A trap. The whole place was a gigantic trap. Shit. There were Imps waiting above him too. He couldn¡¯t shoot down at them from up on high like he had in the chamber with Kredevel. The easiest option would be to find a different way to go. But where? It wasn¡¯t like he had come across other openings, other paths he could take. More importantly, he needed the kills. Going by his Status, he had to kill at least another Imp before he could reach level 9. Before he could actually use Lifeblood Crucible. If only all the Imps that had attacked him recently been at level 5 instead of a mix of levels 3 and 5. Ray closed his eyes for a second. There was no time to waste. He had to keep moving. Straight into death? No. He needed some other solution¡­ His eyes opened. The idea came to him. Ray was pretty certain he had been led here by the Fiend causing the Tectonic Shifts and Lifesteal, taken straight to this trap where its minions could finish him off. It believed Ray, as a mere human, would be forced to navigate its maze of tunnels. But thanks to his spells, there was another option to take. He just had to level up one more time. So, Ray rushed into the chamber with the trap. One more kill. That was his target. Lifeblood Sense told him the exact positions of the nearest Imps. It caught nine in the chamber as far as its search radius went. Since the chamber was significantly larger than just ten meters, Ray was certain there were dozens more of the Imps waiting to kill him. But all he needed was one. ¡°Come at me, you bastards!¡± he yelled, halting himself with a sudden jerk a few feet in front of his passage¡¯s opening. The Imps attacked at once. Several burst out of the ground to charge at him. Ray didn¡¯t concern himself with those. They were far enough away that he could avoid them. His plan revolved around the quadruple throwing themselves right on top of him from above. Ray jumped back. A second later, the Feathered Imps crashed down where he had just been standing. They collided with the ground and against each other, falling into a heap of feathers and limbs. Ray smiled. Perfect. He used Shatterclaw on them all at once. After they had grouped up together so nicely, he couldn¡¯t let the opportunity to take them all out at once pass him by. The first set of five claws appearing together slammed in from above, crushing all four Imps to the ground with piercing shrieks. Ray repeated the motion. His next use of Shatterclaw smashed the life out of them all. [Enemy Defeated¡ªFeathered Imp] Tier 6 Monster: Feathered Imp [Level 5] x2 Tier 6 Monster: Feathered Imp [Level 3] x2 Essence: +960 Mana Restored: +160 [Level Up!] Reward
  • +3 Intellect, +3 Spirit, +2 Vitality, +4 allocatable free stats.
  • New Spell: Occult Summons [Summoning] [Tier 1]
  • Occult Summons has been converted to Primal Summons by Path of Lifeblood Chaos. Conversion has removed one significant restriction on spell usage.
  • Synergy discovered: Crucible Chymify + Lifeblood Crucible + Primal Summons.
Essence to Level 10: 840/2,700 The notifications didn¡¯t obscure his entire sight, thankfully. The blue screen was translucent and covered less than a quarter of his right-hand view. He could barely pay attention to the words. More Imps were almost upon him. Ray turned and ran, adding his free stats to Intellect. The Imps were faster. The nearest one reached him, clawing at his legs and sending vicious shots of pain down his back. Their clacking cries were driving him mad. He flung a Shatterclaw behind him. As he had entered the tunnel again, the narrow passageway was allowing him to throw all his pursuers back with a single cast of Shatterclaw. Talk about Mana efficiency. Somehow, one of the Imps managed to jump atop him. He crashed down with a yell, his face smacking the rocky ground hard. It was all he could to turn his head to not break his nose. Before the beady-eyed monster could stab in with its beak to peck out his eyes, Ray used his new spell. [Lifeblood Crucible Activated] Chaos Chymify has stolen the soul of a defeated Feathered Imp. Please select which Aspect of the targeted soul to retain. Soul Aspects
  • Minor Claws: Enhanced claws of the Imps that boost physical damage [Tier 6]
  • Shinesight: Sharp eyesight of the Imps that makes darkness decipherable [Tier 6]
  • Feathered Flight: Shroud of Imp feathers that allows gliding for short distances [Tier 6]
  • Earth Immersion: Digging ability that allows one to pass through solid rock [Teir 6]
Minor Claws. His breath caught in his throat. This had to work, or he was dead. Mystic Knowledge said it would work. A quick cast of Primal Summon sent Mana surging through him in a very different way, compared to Shatterclaw. His body was overtaken by a blot of darkness. Ray focused intensely even as more monsters reached and attacked him. A shimmer of red glowed somewhere behind his back. Then the Imp on his back went flying with a cry. Ray twisted around, kicking back the other imps trying to reach him. Perfect. Primal Summons had brought up the Minor Claws right where he needed it most. At his under-attack back. He could feel it being squeezed between his back and the ground now that he was facing forward. So weird. But that wasn¡¯t what he was truly looking for in this situation. Another use of Shatterclaw, followed by a Chaos Chymify, and Ray had killed one more Imp trying to claim his life. That brought up the Lifeblood Crucible activation again, allowing him to pick another Soul Aspect. It was a little sad he could only store one, but he would work on that later. Ray selected Earth Immersion. There. His real pick. Darkness blotted him out from the world again, and with it came a sudden rush all over his body. Something strange was occurring along his fingers, his hands, his skin all over, a slight pressure coating him everywhere. A weird impulse ingrained itself somewhere deep in his mind. Taking heed from the spell, from everything he had seen, and from what he had to do to get out with his life, Ray dug into the earth. Chapter 6: Finally, Loot Digging was what Ray needed. If those monsters could swim their way through the earth and jump out at him like sharks from monster fish movies, then he could use the same trick to get away from them. More monsters rushed in, but Ray was already excavating his way out of there. Giving the Imps a taste of their own horrible medicine. It was strange. The rocks parted as though they were soft, packed sand. He had to expend more effort than swimming, but it was a very similar sensation. Unlike water, they didn¡¯t squeeze in from all sides, which he was thankful for, though the shifts caused by Tectonic Theft were definitely worrying. The Imps tried to follow him into his hole, but Ray managed to swipe his arm back with another Shatterclaw. It flung the Imps back and collapsed his entry point to boot. Double win. Then he kept digging. Ray¡¯s breaths came in sharp and fast. He might have been dealing with a bit of claustrophobia ever since he had entered the Marauder¡¯s Caves, but this was something else. It was almost laughably ironic. He had been so worried about being buried alive that he had gone on and interred himself inside the earth on his own. Breaths. That was right. Inhaling and exhaling was getting harder. His lungs rebelled at the lack of air. Ray dug, faster and faster. Strange how the skill made the earth part like it was soft clay. Ray didn¡¯t feel as squished as he ought to have. Maybe the skill just granted natural proclivity to being a mole. Tectonic Theft got worse. Maybe because he was nearing the epicentre. The Map Fragment confirmed it. Ray was digging through the earth in a direction that led to the largest open area within the cave system. Was that where the Fiend would be? With his Recovery so low thanks to Lifesteal, he couldn¡¯t afford to take care of any of the wounds. They weren¡¯t serious enough. At least he could bless the fact that none of Imps burst in on him while he was digging through solid rock. He really didn¡¯t want to be fighting while he was already fighting himself to keep going. The lack of air was burning his chest from the inside. Ray¡¯s consciousness was starting to dim a bit. He couldn¡¯t pass out. Not yet. He wasn¡¯t going to make it to the big chamber. Shit. A quick look at the Map Fragment confirmed that there was a smaller room nearby. It didn¡¯t matter what was there. Didn¡¯t even matter if it was jam-packed with Imps like action figures on a toy store¡¯s discount shelf. Ray needed to breathe. His hands broke through to open air. Lifegiving breath filtered in through his lungs. Ray sucked in hard, letting his lungs climb back down to normalcy. He was alive. He was conscious. Everything else came second. He could keep going. That was all that mattered for the time being. As his thoughts turned away from immediate survival, Ray realized he hadn¡¯t checked his new spell yet. [Information Request¡ªSpells] Primal Summons [Summoning] [Tier 1] A summoning spell that calls forth primal energies to bring up Soul Aspects stored by Lifeblood Crucible upon the caster. Each Soul Aspect integrates directly upon caster¡¯s original body. At Tier 1, summoned Soul Aspects are also at Tier 1 and last 1 minute, and the spell costs 50 Mana. Ah, so Ray could only hold a Soul Aspect for a minute at a time, until he upgraded the spell. He must not have been digging for that long. Panic must have caused him to lose breath early. Ray¡¯s attention turned to what lay ahead of him. He sent out a pulse of Lifeblood Sense. Crap. The chamber was inundated with more Imps, just as that other one he had run away from had been. Thankfully, they were all positioned in such a way as to leave him free to strike them down from above. It was too dark to see, when Ray pressed his eye against the hole he had dug, but Lifeblood Sense told him their exact position. There was also a glimmer at the very bottom of the room¡ªaround thirty feet below him, as far as he could tell. Quite a few glimmers, in fact. What was that? Oh. He blinked. That description had stated something along the lines of the Imps being thieving creatures that liked to steal anything that shone and glittered. Could that be a pile of their thefts? A hoard of treasure Ray could possibly find something useful in? Definitely worth investigating. With a decent helping of care, Ray dug around himself to make the hole bigger. It was a lot harder now that Primal Summons had run out. But eventually, he had room to manoeuvre better. He grinned down at the unsuspecting monsters. A heady sensation of control possessed him. It was silly, stupidly so, but it was exhilarating to understand that, if he performed everything correctly, he wasn¡¯t going to suffer any damage. Forget taking damage, he wouldn¡¯t even have to spend much effort. ¡°It¡¯s over, you little Imps,¡± Ray said. ¡°I have the high ground.¡± The range of Shatterclaw was ten meters. That was almost exactly thirty feet, which was the lowest point of the chamber, as far as Ray could tell. There were no Imps that far down anyway. Lifeblood Sense assured him of that. In other words, all his targets were well within reach. Heart beginning to pound hard with a mixture of excitement and anticipation, Ray began. He leaned his arm through the hole and slashed. A Shatterclaw managed to knock down an Imp before the rest of the group was aware of him. The one he had hit wasn¡¯t dead¡ªit had to be the level five variant¡ªbut Ray shot a bolt of Chaos Chymify to end it. The other Imps started coming after him. Several climbed along the walls in an attempt to reach him. Others jumped fruitlessly. Idiots acting ineffectively. Ray was tempted to whistle as he took out another of the Imps. The continued deaths kept his Mana filled up. Things got a little hairier when they started to dig through the walls. His Shatterclaw pot shots had flung the climbers off the rock wall. The monsters had finally come around to one way they could reach Ray directly. Digging through the rock. He tutted. There had been a faint hope that they would be too stupid to recall their digging ability before he took out all of them, but it seemed he wasn¡¯t that lucky. Tectonic Theft was shaking everything again, and the entire chamber started to crack apart. Ray was almost vibrated out of his little hole. He was ready for it, though. Plus, the next step of his plan required him to get out of the hole anyway. Ray dropped down to ground. It was pretty big fall, but a quick use of Shatterclaw along the wall slowed his plummet down enough for the landing to not injure him. He bit down on a scream anyway. His leg was already wounded. Just before he had escaped the other Imps, they had scratched and torn through his feet and shins. Curse those ankle-biters. There was only one of the Imps left nearby. The rest of those that had survived his initial onslaught were attempting to dig through the rock wall to get to him. Ray killed the monster with one Shatterclaw. The two in the wall reversed course, but they were slow. As they emerged, they got a Shatterclaw to the face, before falling victim to Chaos Chymify. One of the Imps actually managed to clamber out to leap at him, but his spell combo took care of it long before it reached him. [Enemy Defeated¡ªFeathered Imp] Tier 6 Monster: Feathered Imp [Level 5] x2 Tier 6 Monster: Feathered Imp [Level 3] x3 Essence: +1,140 Mana Restored: +190 Essence to Level 10: 2,280/2,700 Ray stood there and breathed, declining the Lifeblood Crucible prompt. His racing heart slowly calmed down. Even Tectonic Theft was receding. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Nearly at the next level too. Good. He still had his Objectives too. Surely, he¡¯d be getting some Essence as a reward too, when this whole tutorial was cleared. Were there other sources he could take advantage of later? He¡¯d have to see. The more interesting fact was that Mystic Knowledge was once more acting up. He looked ahead. Ah, right. At least some of the items glimmering in that hoard had to be using Mana. [Mystic Knowledge] Mystic Knowledge indicates there are items nearby interacting with Mana. Some of these items can be looted and added as gear.
  • Bronze Ring of Physicality: Boosts Strength and Agility by 5% [Tier 3]
  • Gold Mana Infuser Ring: Allows raising spell Tiers with Mana infusion [Tier 5]
  • Bronze Fur-lined Shield: Reduces up to 80% physical and 80% cold damage [Tier 3]
  • Leather Dimensional Bag: Dimensional storage with 4 large slots [Tier 4]
  • Silver Old Arcanist¡¯s Finger Band: Boosts Talisman in the same hand by 20% [Tier 4]
  • Iron Manaforged Sword: Deals extra 20% Soul damage [Tier 2]
  • Gold Wyvern¡¯s Helm: Raises Resilience by 30 [Tier 5]
  • Dried Mana Fruit: Consume to replenish your energy
  • Mana crystal: Crush to replenish 200 Mana [Tier 2]
  • Mantle of Despondence: Inflict Minor Despair upon foes engaging you [Tier 3]
Ray whistled softly. No need to alert anyone nearby. Although Lifeblood Sense confirmed that no one was within ten meters, whistles could carry farther. But more importantly, could he take everything in that little pile that had Mana? Ray decided to methodically go through everything he could put on himself. The dragon-head-shaped Wyvern¡¯s Helm fit snugly around his head, like it was custom-made for him, as did the rich blue mantle. Much nicer than his torn robes. Next came the rings, bedecking three of his fingers. Nice. Now he could flip things off in style. A few more and he could start pretending he was a pimp. [Warning!] As you are still under Level 10, you may only equip one Accessory. If you have equipped more than one Ring, all but a single, randomly-chosen Ring¡¯s effects will be nullified. Ray tutted. Seriously? The System didn¡¯t want him becoming overpowered with a few pieces of equipment. Muttering some unsavoury curses under his breath, Ray decided to pick the Old Arcanist¡¯s Finger Band since it was boosting all his spells by improving his Talisman. Everything he couldn¡¯t use went into the Dimensional Bag. As the description stated, it was indeed like a pocket inventory that allowed him to hold up to four pieces of loot. Ray put both the sword and the shield in there. Both were way too heavy. He couldn¡¯t swing the sword fast enough, and just lifting the fridge-door-sized round metal shield was barely possible. He also put in the Mantle and the Mana Infuser Ring. If there was loot, there had to be some sort of currency and market system in place. He ought to be able to get something decent for the things he couldn¡¯t use. Ray picked up the Mana fruit as well. It looked like an overlarge chili that was indeed really dried. He got the feeling it should have been bright blue, but it was dull grey now, the hints of former cerulean barely visible. Replenish energy, huh? Now that Ray thought about it, he did feel hungry. And thirsty, and weary, and¡­ yeah, this was why people didn¡¯t run around in caves being chased by monsters. Ray wasn¡¯t sure if there would be any negative fallout from eating it, especially since it looked kind of rotten. But there was no bad smell, so he took an experimental bite. And immediately felt better. His hunger abated, his thirst receded. Much of the aches all over his body lessened in intensity too. Miraculous. Ray quickly ate up the rest of the fruit. Incredibly, it really did as exactly as the description had stated. He felt refreshed. Energized. There was still a lingering sensation of fatigue in his muscles, but he had a feeling even that would have disappeared with a fresh fruit. He kept the Mana crystal tucked in his hand for now. There might be an emergency situation where he¡¯d need an instant injection of Mana. There were other things in the pile, of course. As they couldn¡¯t interact with Mana, Mystic Knowledge failed to provide any information about them. Not that Ray was going to disregard them just for that. Hell, even for half the items he had just looted, he couldn¡¯t tell how they used Mana. Did the Ring of Physicality need Mana to boost the stats it indicated? The problem was that he was lacking any sort of identifying skill, or something along those lines. No tooltips popped up. There was nothing that helpfully described what the massive halberd on the ground or the pair of boots detailed with wings would do. It would have been helpful to explain a lot of what he had read. How did a solid metal shield block only up to a percentage of damage? Would even a regular arrow pierce through and hit him with twenty percent of its original potency? No way. That was ridiculous. There were other similar questions that popped up in Ray¡¯s head, but he got the feeling he¡¯d have to test things to get his answers. [Warning!] Mystic Knowledge indicates you have been detected by Hoard Defence [Tier 4] for stealing from the hoard. The wielder is now heading straight towards you. Ray¡¯s heart started hammering again. Hoard Defence. Shit. Was that a skill by the Feathered Fiend? He looked around, panicking just a bit, while continuously using Lifeblood Sense. Still nothing. Just a set of clacking noises getting ever louder. There was still time. He quickly pored over the Map Fragment. The chamber he was in was very close to the main chamber he had seen earlier. Which meant the Fiend would be here any second now. But where was he supposed to go? There were no paths, no tunnels, nothing connected to his chamber besides the main room. The one where the Fiend had most likely taken up residence. Maybe he could dig into the walls and make a getaway. He was supposed to defeat the Fiend, but the level difference between them might still make that impossible. Then Lifeblood Sense picked up his enemy¡¯s signature. There was no time to run. Ray had to act. Now. The Feathered Fiend rounded the corner into the chamber on blisteringly fast clawed feet. Ray had only a second to take it in. Basically a larger version of the Imps, except with what looked like a cloak of dark feathers streaming off its back and a huge spear in its hand. It screeched at him so fiercely, he physically recoiled. [Warning!] Mystic Knowledge indicates you have been inflicted with Marauder¡¯s Curse [Tier 4]. Your movement speed will be slowed down so long as you hold any item from the hoard. Arcane Aura has reduced the impact. As if things didn¡¯t look bad enough. Now he couldn¡¯t even run properly from the monster. He pulled his arm back¡ª [Warning!] Mystic Knowledge indicates Lifesteal has reduced to [Tier 3]. Your Recovery is drained away at a slightly slower pace. You have no further Recovery to lose. What? This wasn¡¯t the effect of Arcane Aura reducing Lifesteal¡¯s effect on him. No, the ability itself had suddenly gone down in strength for some reason. Ray had no time to ponder as the monster screeched at him. Was it him, or was just the noise it was making shaking everything around them? Surely it wasn¡¯t so stupid as to put itself in danger of being buried using Tectonic Theft. The Fiend charged at him. Fast. So damn fast. It made the Imps look like snails in comparison. Ray barely managed to dive to one side in time. As he got back to his feet, he switched up the rings on his finger. No more of the Old Arcanist¡¯s Finger Band. Instead, he pulled on the Mana Infuser Ring. Now that he had no Recovery at all, he couldn¡¯t risk suffering any damage. One hit from the Feathered Fiend and he¡¯d probably be down for the count. Another screech rebounded off the walls. Ray staggered but held his ground. Then he shoved as much Mana as he could into Shatterclaw. With a growl, he pulled his arm back. The Feathered Fiend charged. At the same time, Ray unleashed Shatterclaw. A Tier 6 Shatterclaw, in fact. It wasn¡¯t just five random slashes joining together to form a clawlike shape. The spell now had at least a couple dozen of the black-red slices of energy mushed together at the head of a frothing, truck-sized torrent of the same colour. The entire mass rocketed out of thin air in front of Ray, slamming into the Fiend hard and crushing the monster against the chamber wall. Shatterclaw was now so strong, Ray himself was flung off his feet. He flew backwards into the cave¡¯s main and largest room. He quickly righted himself, breathing hard, his blood dancing in his veins. Dust exploded out of the chamber he had been a second ago, the crash of rocks confirming that Shatterclaw had more or less destroyed the whole room. Ray had buried the Fiend. It wasn¡¯t dead though. He would have received its Essence otherwise. He shook his head. Unbelievable. A Tier 6 Shatterclaw and that thing had still survived. Hoard Defence. Something told him that the Fiend¡¯s ability was what had allowed it to tank that spell head on and still come out alive. Ray grimaced. He didn¡¯t have much Mana left. The hope had been that he would have ended the Fiend with one strike after raising his spell¡¯s Tier high enough. Things had turned a lot more difficult. He looked around. The main room held a much larger hoard than the side chamber Ray had popped into. Mystic Knowledge was trying to give him information about the interesting stuff he could potentially make use of, but there was no time. He pushed the notifications aside. Lifeblood Sense informed him that the Fiend was clambering out of the rubble to kill him. That was when he found it. The puppy. Kredevel¡¯s lost dog. Ray blinked. That had to be it. It looked so much like a dog, yet so alien, that it had to be Kredevel¡¯s pet. Well, his lord¡¯s pet. Whatever. The little ¡°dog¡± looked more like a monitor lizard, but with longer, canine legs, though still covered in black scales and spiky ridges like a little dinosaur. For its head, it was as if someone had chopped off the actual skull and stuck a facehugger there. Holy crap, that thing was a monster. He almost didn¡¯t regret that it was dead. With a screech, the Fiend reappeared. It was mad now. Ray¡¯s attack had left heavy wounds all over it, and it was determined to pay him back. He stared. The wounds¡­ they were healing. What in absolute¡ªdid it possess some sort of healing ability? Wait, no. That was Vitality. That birdbrain had stolen his Recovery, had probably added it to its own store of Recovery. Alright, now Ray was pissed. Although being pissed wasn¡¯t going to help. He needed to find a way to subdue the monster somehow. The Fiend shrieked at Ray, forcing him back again. Arcane Aura once more reduced the debuff from the noise. But before the monster could attack, a different notification popped up. [Warning!] Mystic Knowledge indicates your presence has been detected by Total Perception [Tier 3]. Arcane Aura has been nullified by the presence of a stronger aura, Sylvan Pride [Tier 3]. The popup was immediately followed by a loud wail. ¡°No!¡± Kredevel stood at the other end of the large chamber, staring at his dead dog. Even in the gloom, Ray could see he was devastated. ¡°Brick Licker! How could you leave me alone in this world?¡± Brick Licker? Ray decided not to even internally comment on the name. Kredevel was an alien. For all he knew, naming anyone or anything Brick Licker was one of the highest possible honours. He focused on the real problem of the Feathered Fiend. How was he going to deal with that¡ª Apparently, the monster that had been so bent on killing Ray had now switched its target to Kredevel. Made sense. He was clearly a lot stronger than Ray. The Fiend would be better off taking out the real threat. Except, when it attacked its new target, Kredevel fought back. Furiously. For a little while, Ray was tempted to just stand in awe at the sheer ferocity on display from both combatants. If he had been thinking of somehow fighting the monster head on before, those faint thoughts died pretty quickly. There was no way Ray would stand even a shred of a chance against the Fiend. Unless¡­ His head slowly swivelled to the dead dog. His mind recalled the way the Fiend¡¯s Lifesteal ability had changed Tiers. Hoard Defence. Ray grinned. Maybe, just maybe, he had found a way to kill off the Feathered Fiend. Chapter 7: Strategy for The Fiend Before Ray could kickstart his plan, he had to make sure of one thing. Could Kredevel actually hold the Fiend for a little while? Ideally, he would have planned the whole thing out with Kredevel. Of course, there was always the chance¡ªa big chance, if he was being honest¡ªthat his unintended ally would decry Ray¡¯s intentions. He might even go so far as to stop Ray instead of fighting off the Fiend. Ray didn¡¯t know how alien minds really worked, but he wasn¡¯t encouraged by their last interaction. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that he hadn¡¯t had the chance to tell his idea to Kredevel. After all, Ray needed nothing more than a head-start. Which was exactly what Kredevel was providing at the moment. First, Ray crushed the Mana crystal to restore much of his total capacity. Then, trying not to be distracted by the fight, he crept towards the corpse of Kredevel¡¯s pet. A brief glance showed that, despite clearly possessing what Ray could only call ¡°some cool shit¡± since Mystic Knowledge wasn¡¯t forthcoming on anything not affecting him directly, Kredevel was falling back. A shimmering aura had enveloped him, outlining his form in purple light. He fought with a curved silver sword flickering with the similar amethyst hued energy. Ray¡¯s honest and rather uneducated opinion was that it looked powerful. Kredevel looked powerful. But the Fiend was stronger still. The monster blocked all of Kredevel¡¯s blows with its spear before counterattacking. Each of its stabs and slashes forced Kredevel back, step by step. It was faster, stronger, better in all the ways that counted. Slowly but surely, it would overwhelm Kredevel. Not if Ray could help it. That was where stealing the dead body of the alien dog came in. The way it had been placed, Ray was pretty certain the Fiend considered the corpse the capstone of its hoard. Just stealing a few pieces of loot from the pile in a side room had drawn the Fiend murderously towards him. If Ray stole the dog too, he was pretty certain the monster would disregard everything else to come hounding after the thief. Exactly what he needed it to do. Just to be certain his plan would indeed work, Ray fired off a Chaos Chymify at the Fiend¡¯s back. It cost him half of the last of his Mana and did next to no damage. That was for the best. Ray had been counting on his inability to do any substantial harm to the Fiend to keep its attention on Kredevel. [Partial Soul Sorption] Fathered Fiend [Monster] [Tier 7] at Level 15 Hob-goblinoid creature that guards treasure hoards with great devotion. If any treasure is stolen from its hoard, it will pursue the thief to retrieve the stolen loot for great distances. Possesses the biological traits of Feathered Imps, but with greater strength and intelligence. The Everair needed a marshal to corral the Imps, and what better creature to control them than a being that had the vestiges of the Everair themselves. Skills: Hoard Defence [Tier 4]: Raises the strength of all other skills and all stats up to the Tier of this skill, so long as user remains close to a hoard. Tectonic Theft [Tier 1]: Steals the structural integrity off the earth to cause it to collapse. Lifesteal [Tier 2]: Steals target¡¯s Recovery. Marauder¡¯s Curse [Tier 1]: Inflicts a curse on the target that penalizes target for stealing. Winged Spear Wielder [Tier 2]: Proficiency with flight and spear wielding grants access to special spear skills. Full Soul Sorption not possible without target¡¯s death and Lifeblood Crucible. Ray ignored the warning at the bottom. He had found what he was looking for. It was just as he had thought. Hoard Defence was boosting the Fiend¡¯s power greatly. In other words, Ray would need to drag the monster away from its precious treasure. ¡°Sorry about the desecration I¡¯m about to perform, Brick Licker,¡± Ray said as he grabbed the corpse and began hauling it onto his shoulder. It was thankfully not too heavy. ¡°But rest assured that you¡¯ll be helping someone who loved you a lot.¡± As Ray got to his feet, he found his eyes meeting that of Kredevel¡¯s. He had been pushed back to the very rear of the chamber, near the opening he had rushed through. The Fiend disengaged from him, perhaps sensing that its main hoard had been disturbed. But an understanding passed between Ray and Kredevel. A silent message of what they both intended to do. Kredevel attacked the monster with the same fury as before, hauling its attention back to himself. Giving Ray the perfect chance to hightail it out of there. He would have loved to take his pick of the various loot that Mystic Knowledge was trying to indicate, but there was no time. His main priority was the Fiend. If needed, Ray could return later. It was worth considering, he supposed, why Mystic Knowledge was happy to give him information about Mana-related loot. The ones he had taken from the side-chamber hadn¡¯t exactly been affecting him. At least, not until he had taken possession of them. Unless¡­ being in their vicinity counted as having possession of them. Or more importantly, their effect. Something to test later. For now, Ray ran. He cursed. It was actually noticeable how he was slower than before. The culprit wasn¡¯t the weight he was carrying. Brick Licker wasn¡¯t too much of a burden. No, this was that shrieking debuff from the monster. What was it called? Oh right, Marauder¡¯s Curse. Arcane Aura might have reduced its impact, but it clearly wasn¡¯t doing enough of that. Though, that cleared up as Ray began putting some distance between him and the main chamber. There had been another tunnel connecting the main hoard to who knew where. The lightest of drafts confirmed that it wasn¡¯t a dead end, so Ray had hurtled into it. And now that he was getting further away from the Fiend¡¯s chamber, he was slowly moving faster and faster too. It wasn¡¯t because of Ray¡¯s own distance from his previous location. It was the Fiend. [Warning!] Mystic Knowledge indicates that Marauder¡¯s Curse has decreased in strength to [Tier 3]. Your movement speed will be slowed down so long as you hold any item from the hoard. Arcane Aura has reduced the impact. At the same time as the notification popped up, a loud, clacking roar echoed through the tunnel. Oh yes, Ray was about to be hunted. The Fiend had to be charging after him. Now that he had stolen the pinnacle of its thefts, the monster must have disengaged from its fight against Kredevel and rushed after Ray as soon as it had discovered that its precious canine corpse was missing. Just what Ray wanted it to be doing. The tunnels were shaking. Soon enough¡ª [Warning!] Mystic Knowledge indicates a wide area-of-effect ability has been activated. The effects of Tectonic Theft [Tier 3] are debilitating at your level. Please take proper defensive measures. Ah, yes. There it was. The Fiend was intent on stopping him. Even if it meant all the tunnels collapsed, as they were threatening to do now, the monster was determined to stop Ray. Still. Good to see that it had decreased a Tier. Ray¡¯s supposition and the proof he had discovered using Chaos Chymify was correct. The monster¡¯s power was indeed decreasing the farther it was removed from its hoard. Soon enough, it would be in position. Ray tried not to shake too much as the earth trembled around him. He cursed as he swerved past falling rocks and debris. A chunk of the ceiling hitting him on the head would be the worst possible timing. But while he was wary of the rocks, Ray was looking forward to the other kind of obstacle that soon presented itself. More Imps. Perfect. Ray wasted no time crushing the first Imp that burst out of the nearby wall with a Shatterclaw. He killed it with one blow. Clearly, a level 3, variant, not one of the level 5 ones. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. No time to stop. He had to keep moving. The shrieks of the Fiend were getting closer. Damn monster was too fast. When the next few Imps came in, Ray didn¡¯t kill them just then. He just moved on. Fast. His feet thumped on the hard ground, throwing up broken rocks and dust as he ran. It was a minor blessing he didn¡¯t trip and fall with how broken everything was thanks to Tectonic Theft. Not killing the Imps was posing problems, though. He wasn¡¯t always swift enough to evade them fully. They left bleeding gashes wherever they could reach, their sharp beaks and curving claws lacerating Ray all over his body. He had no Recovery with which to heal up the wounds, so the blood loss and building pain definitely made themselves felt. He grunted and forged on. Faster. Faster. The Fiend wasn¡¯t far behind. Its shrieks continued echoing through the tunnels, hammering into his ears. Promising death if he slipped up. No staggering. No slowing down. Chased by a small squadron of Fathered Imps determined to gut him, Ray ran on. He stomped on the brakes as soon as he burst out into a larger chamber. There were more Imps waiting for him there, but that was fine. The more the merrier for his Mana regeneration. It wasn¡¯t too difficult to manoeuvre himself around when the new Imps tried to attack him. A little evasion and rotating allowed him to position himself in relation to his enemy just so. His back faced the chamber and the bridge just behind him. All the Imps were gathered a few feet in front, their backs to the tunnel he had run out of. A second later, the Imps chasing him tumbled out, distracting several of the ones standing on front of him. A distraction that Ray used to pounce. He activated a Shatterclaw. A powerful one. Mana Infuser allowed him to take it to Tier 4, even if he had to spend almost all the Mana he had gathered so far. It was worth it. The claws grew larger and turned more numerous, infused with so much black-red energy that, as soon as Ray slammed the claws down upon the Imps, they exploded outwards from the impact point. Ray hadn¡¯t been expecting that powerful of a reaction. The force definitely took him aback. [Enemy Defeated¡ªFeathered Imp] Tier 6 Monster: Feathered Imp [Level 5] x3 Tier 6 Monster: Feathered Imp [Level 3] x4 Essence: +1,620 Mana Restored: +270 [Level Up!] Reward
  • +3 Intellect, +3 Spirit, +2 Vitality, +4 allocatable free stats.
  • 1 Tier Point
  • Barrier Spells Unlocked! You can now learn barrier spells.
  • New Spell: Sigil Shield [Barrier] [Tier 1]
  • Sigil Shield has been converted to Mottling Membrane by Path of Lifeblood Chaos.
Essence to Level 11: 1,200/3,800 Ray pushed the notification aside. He did put the free stats to Intellect again. Ray¡¯s initial impulse was to assign the Tier point to Shatterclaw as before, but he had the Mana Infuser ring to boost its Tier. He would be better off spending that upgrade on something else. Lifeblood Crucible felt the most reasonable choice. Ray wouldn¡¯t be locked into a single Soul Aspect at Tier 2. Or at least, he hoped the upgrade would increase the number of¡ª A rippling growl drew him away from the progression considerations. The Fiend was almost here. Heart-pounding exhilaration possessed Ray, skittering over his skin, making his thoughts feel like hair next to a Van De Graaff generator. Now or never. The Fiend charged out of the tunnel Ray himself had used a moment ago with a stupendous clacking roar. Just the sound alone made the whole place shake and threaten to fall apart. Ray turned and ran. That he had done all that while still carrying the corpse of the alien dog was honestly amazing. When the System rewarded him for completing the Objectives, it had better note his dead-dog-carrying handicap. Ray¡¯s heart plunged into his guts as he hurtled across the stone bridge, the rocks underfoot shifting as the bridge threatened to fall. Shit. But also, this was great. This was going to speed up his plan. He was nowhere near fast enough to outrun the Fiend, of course. Despite having been drawn away from its hoard, where Hoard Defence was no longer elevating its innate power, it was still too quick. He was never going to make it to the other end before getting caught. Good thing Ray had never intended to do so in the first place. Halfway across the bridge, Ray twisted, then threw himself off. Just in time. The Fiend barrelled through the spot he¡¯d been a second ago, crashing nearly to the other end of the bridge. The fall would have been bad for Ray. They were pretty high up. Almost thirty feet, if his estimation wasn¡¯t off. He would have broken an ankle at the very least, if he was landing normally. Without any Recovery to instantly fix it up, he¡¯d be screwed. Exactly why, as Ray¡¯s feet left the bridge, he used Primal Summons. The last time he had used Chaos Chymify to kill an Imp, he had switched up Soul Sorption to pick a new Soul Aspect. Feathered Glide. With a heavy loud flutter, the black energy encasing his form sprouted a storm of feathers all over him. That alone probably wouldn¡¯t have been enough. But Ray spread his arms wide, letting the feathers stretch out to their full span all over his back, like he had a hang-glider on him. Ray grinned. He could fly. Well, not really. The feathers slowed his fall just enough so that when he hit the wall and crumpled to the floor, he was fine. Mostly. His leg spasmed with pain, but he would survive. Ray had lost his dead burden, but that was part of the plan anyway. It had even fallen at the right location too. How lucky for him. He looked up. The Fiend was wasting no time leaping down. That mane of feathers he had thought was some sort of cape were actually wings now unfurling to their full length. Ray¡¯s whole body tensed. Now or never. As the Fiend came screeching down at him, Ray wasted no time slashing his arm as he activated Shatterclaw. He missed the Fiend, of course. The monster was too fast. But his true target hadn¡¯t been his enemy to begin with. Not directly. Ray quickly threw himself back. The Fiend crashed down where he had been a breath ago, its spear impaling the earth next to the dog¡¯s body. In the next heartbeat, the bridge came crashing down upon the monster. It was impossible to keep the grin from splitting his face. The Fiend squawked in outrage as it went down. Rocks and debris pummelled it to the ground, keeping it locked in place as dust took to the air. The whole chamber shook, and Ray had to keep a hand on the rock wall next to him so that he didn¡¯t fall too. He waited until the rain of rocks had slowed down and the dust had dissipated a little before stepping forward. His grin never dipped for a second. The Fiend was trapped. It was trying to break free of its stony jail, futilely attempting to push out from under the rubble. The monster made no progress. There was too much weighing it down. This far from its hoard, it couldn¡¯t summon up enough strength to free itself. ¡°You¡¯ve kept me trapped in this little shithole of a cave for long enough, pal,¡± Ray said, raising one hand as high as he could. ¡°It¡¯s time we ended this.¡± When he brought his arm down, the motion was accompanied by Shatterclaw. A Shatterclaw boosted to Tier 5. A Shatterclaw that crashed down with so much power, it sent all the debris flying off his target, shooting off like little meteors trailing back-red flames. When the dust had cleared once more, the top third of the Feathered Fiend¡¯s torso had been obliterated. A new corpse to join the old one that Ray had dragged away. [Enemy Defeated¡ªFeathered Fiend] Tier 7 Monster: Feathered Fiend [Level 15] x1 Essence: +1,050 Mana Restored: +150 Essence to Level 11: 2,250/3,800 Ray slumped. Great. Everything was accomplished. He finally had some time to check on the new things he had gained. Mottling Membrane? Now that was one crazy name, if Ray was being honest. He quickly brought up information about his latest magical acquisition. [Information Request¡ªSpells] Mottling Membrane [Barrier] [Tier 1] A barrier spell that erects a shield of chaotic energy all around the caster at a radius of 3 meters. Direct negation of physical damage is reduced in favour of greater defence against Mana-based abilities. The mantle of Lifeblood Chaos infusing the shield causes any living matter passing through it to rupture, receiving considerable damage. At Tier 1, this spell blocks up to Tier 2 Mana-based abilities and costs 30 Mana. Ray had baulked a little at seeing the fact that the barrier¡¯s physical damage negation had dropped, but reading to the end made him blink. Okay, so he could essentially create a shield of chaotic energy around him. It wasn¡¯t hard at all to remember just what kind of damage those who had been hit by his spells suffered. Apparently, with his latest spell, any attackers would be forced to suffer the same kind of body-deforming damage just to reach him. Neat. He supposed it wouldn¡¯t stop determined, powerful attackers. If the Fiend had still been alive, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to stop it for long, since he was pretty sure that monster hadn¡¯t been one to shy away from pain. But Ray could already see potential uses for his newest spell. Once activated, would it move with him? The description said the damage was considerable, but just how much would it hurt? He could imagine the sheer benefit of an Imp rushing at him only to stagger in pain as it passed through the barrier, giving him an opportunity to retaliate. [Lifeblood Crucible Activated] Chaos Chymify has stolen the soul of a defeated Feathered Fiend. Please select which Soul Aspects of the targeted soul to retain. Soul Aspects
  • Soaring Wings: Mane of streamlined Fiend feathers that allows flight [Tier 7]
  • Hoard Defence: Raises the strength of all other skills and all stats up to the Tier of this skill, so long as user remains close to a hoard. [Tier 4]
  • Tectonic Theft: Steals the structural integrity off the earth to cause it to collapse. [Tier 1]
  • Lifesteal: Steals target¡¯s Recovery. [Tier 2]
  • Marauder¡¯s Curse: Inflicts a curse on the target that penalizes target for stealing. [Tier 1]
  • Moderate Claws: Long, hardened claws of a Fiend that also boost physical damage [Tier 7]
  • Shinesight: Sharp eyes of a Fiend that makes darkness decipherable [Tier 6]
Ray grinned a little as he peeked through his options a few times before coming to a decision. It was kind of ironic how he was about to steal the abilities of a monster that had been so against anyone else stealing its shit. He focused on his actual options. Most of those wouldn¡¯t be of use to him. They were too conditional, too reliant on the specific¡­ theme¡ªit was the best way he could put it¡ªof thieving and hoarding. Soaring Wings sounded intriguing. Who wouldn¡¯t love the ability to actually fly? Although, it did bring in some questions. Why would a creature buried inside a cave system need the ability to soar? Ray was also curious about Shinesight. But how much help would a third eye actually be? Before he selected anything from his list of options, he checked Lifeblood Crucible to make sure it really was at Tier 2. [Information Request¡ªLifeblood Crucible] Lifeblood Crucible [Passive] [Tier 2] A passive primal spell that creates a simulacra of the Primordial Crucible of Chaos within the caster¡¯s soul. This crucible holds all the primal forces of life in its virulent mixture. Careful control allows the caster to channel the aspect of any soul stored within the caster¡¯s spirit. At Tier 2, caster can store two Souls Aspects using Chaos Chymify, regardless of target¡¯s Tier [Tier restriction removed]. If the stored Aspect is of a higher Tier than the spell¡¯s Tier, manifested Soul Aspect will be up to one Tier higher than the spell¡¯s current Tier. The first half of the description was mostly the same flavour text that he had read the first time he had pulled up the information request. But everything after Tier 2 had changed. Ray could now store two Aspects instead of just one. That meant he could absorb two of Fiend¡¯s abilities instead of just one. Even better, if the Aspect was of a higher Tier than his spell, it would manifest at a single Tier above his spell¡¯s. That meant up to Tier 3, depending on which ability he picked. Ray palmed the helmet on his head, fingered his ring, and looked down at the corpse of the dead alien dog-monster. Oh, yes. Now that Lifeblood Crucible had been upgraded, his choices were quite clear. Chapter 8: New Gear The Fiend had provided Ray with no better options than flight and an easy way to boost all his stats and spells. A bit of a no-brainer to pick Soaring Wings and Hoard Defence. If Ray¡¯s idea worked, he basically had a way to make himself a lot more powerful than he already was. He wished he could have taken the eye and seen what it actually offered, but since Ray couldn¡¯t redo his choice, he had gone with the others. Now all he needed was to test his idea somehow. Ray reached up to scratch his head but only met the Gold Wyvern helm. Taking it off made his head feel free. Decompressed. Ah, freedom. It also made him consider his stats. After he had put on his helmet and acquired the extra Resilience, he had felt that tiny bit solider. Like he had put on an infinitesimal amount of weight that grounded him more to the world. More importantly, he had noted how much stronger he had been against the Imps¡¯ attacks. His skin hadn¡¯t broken as easily to their claws. Then there was that leap with the feathers. Where he normally would have broken a bone or two, all Ray had suffered were a few ugly bruises, despite basically crash landing. Did he need his Resilience to be even higher, though? And there were his other stats. Strength was entirely useless to him, but Agility could help. The description had said that it would raise his attack speed. That certainly sounded useful, in the right context. So far, he had relied on using timed, singular casts of Shatterclaw to take down the monsters. Even when he had needed multiple, he had been able to find some time to use it again. And again, when needed. No, no it was looking like the kind of fighting style Ray had gravitated towards had no need for more Agility. [New Personal Achievement¡ªPunched Up!] You¡¯ve killed a foe far stronger than you. With devious ingenuity, you exploited your enemy¡¯s weakness and now you stand victorious. In this moment of glory, you¡¯ve proven yourself a master of adaptation and strategy. Reward
  • New Skill: Goliath Eater [Tier 2]
  • Reputation: +20 Cunning, +15 Chaotic, +10 Knowledgeable
[Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 25-point threshold, your Chaos grants your attacks a 5% buildup of Insanity with every hit. Insanity causes sentient foes to temporarily lose their mental faculties. For reaching the 25-point threshold, your Knowledge has raised your Intellect by 5. Ray stared. Then laughed. He was starting to feel like he was a getting a little too much. A new skill? A new status thing he could afflict any monsters with? He was going to need some time and practice to keep all that in mind. For now, he checked his first ever skill. [Information Request¡ªSkills] Goliath Eater [Conditional] [Buff] [Tier 2] A multi-effect buffing skill that only works when the wielder is facing one or more foes a level threshold stronger. All spells and skills, minus this skill, are raised by (an) additional Tier(s) equal to the Tier of this skill. The user¡¯s stats are raised by 25%, with an additional 5% for every level difference above the threshold. Successful defeat of adversary grants user a guaranteed Tier point. At Tier 2, this skill¡¯s level threshold is 1.5 times the wielder¡¯s level, costs 75 Mana, and lasts one minute. Ray had to read through that a few times. If there was one thing he had noticed, it was that the system loved information density. Basically, Ray was going to both get stronger and guarantee himself a good reward if he won. So long as he was fighting someone significantly stronger than him. Like that Fiend. Specifically, Goliath Eater needed his opponent to hold an advantage of at least¡­ 1.5 times his level? That was not going to scale well as Ray got stronger. Maybe level differences mattered less when at higher levels. Maybe the threshold would decrease if he upgraded the skill with a Tier Point. Right now, Ray wasn¡¯t super sold on it, though he did like that it gave him a good means of fighting stronger foes. [Stat Tier] Your Intellect has advanced to Tier 2. Your Path can now affect your stats. Thoughts are a vital expression of life. Path of Lifeblood Chaos allows your mind to rise above any pandemonium that threatens you, allowing you to think through the situation no matter what. You body can now adapt to 50% more stimuli at the same time, regardless of emotional state. Ray blinked at that description. Fifty percent more stimuli at the same time sounded like a lot. For all that he had researched biomechanics, he hadn¡¯t ever looked into the hard numbers about the human brain. He couldn¡¯t tell what sort of situations would leave him overwhelmed, at least in terms of too many stimuli¡ª Oh, hold on. Ray could figure out a way this would be useful. Funnily enough, it was his work in research that had reminded him. Ability to handle more stimuli from the body meant that his brain could handle more signals at the same time. The nervous system was finely tuned to handle the regular streams of information. Two legs, two arms, two eyes, two ears, all the skin on his body and every other sensory input were what filled the natural capacity. But if that capacity was raised, could he handle more? Could he wield three arms now with the same effort and efficiency as the two he had already? Would a third, separate eye expand his field of view? And what about the wings he had just taken from the Feathered Fiend? Ray shivered, feeling a little excited. There were things he¡¯d have to test and check. This could be a lowkey game-changer. All thanks to taking his Intellect to Tier 2. It made him wonder what sort of bonuses he would gain once his other stats crossed a certain threshold. Good reason for him to put his free stats to his Spirit for now. Interesting, the notice that he had crossed a Tier had only arrived now. Had it not appeared earlier because he had been embroiled in the fight against the Feathered Fiend? Ray could appreciate the System¡¯s forbearance in life-or-death situations. Ray stretched a little. He ought to have felt tired and hungry now, but that Mana fruit had done wonders. Well, he had better get moving. With everything else done, all that was left for him to achieve was to find the exit of this cave system. And probably returning the dog¡¯s corpse to Kredevel along the way if he saw the alien somewhere. Speaking of which¡ª [Warning!] Mystic Knowledge indicates your presence has been detected by Total Perception [Tier 3]. Arcane Aura has been nullified by the presence of a stronger aura, Sylvan Pride [Tier 3]. Ray picked up the dog¡¯s body so it didn¡¯t look like he had dropped it. Kredevel walked in, looking a bit stiff all over. ¡°Hello, there,¡± Ray said. Ah, crap. That had come out too cheerful. Just because Ray was enjoying a little dose of dopamine thanks to all his rewards from the system didn¡¯t mean he could be insensitive to someone else¡¯s grief. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I ran off like that, but I needed to kill that Fiend, and this was the only way I could do so.¡± This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Kredevel didn¡¯t reply. He took one look at the crushed corpse of the Fiend, then at the body of his lord¡¯s pet in Ray¡¯s arms. That¡¯s when his face broke. ¡°Ah, Brick Licker.¡± Slowly, Kredevel dragged his feet to Ray¡¯s location. ¡°How could this have happened? How could I let you suffer something like this?¡± Wordlessly, Kredevel took the dog¡¯s body from Ray and knelt on the ground. His head was bowed in grief. Ray waited patiently for a while, but after a moment, his impatience caught up to him. ¡°I¡¯m going to give you some time to grieve,¡± he said. He began backing away. ¡°Take as long as you need. I¡¯m going to check something.¡± Kredevel didn¡¯t reply. Ray hoped he wouldn¡¯t just up and leave once he was done mourning. The alien owed him. Ray meant to collect on that debt. But first, he had to head back to the main chamber where the Fiend had been. The trek wasn¡¯t bad. Ray didn¡¯t have trouble recognizing where exactly he had killed the Fiend on the Map Fragment, and he was able to backtrack until he had reached the main chamber again. Tectonic Theft had made some of the passages break apart, but some squeezing and shimmying got him past the debris in his path. More importantly, he didn¡¯t find any Feathered Imps blocking his path or trying to kill him. Lifeblood Sense occasionally located one within its range, but they never approached him. It was almost as though killing the Fiend had removed their aggression. Ray reached the main chamber soon enough. He came to a halt and smiled. So much here was his for the taking. If he¡¯d had room, he could take everything. Of course, Mystic Knowledge was only guiding him to the items that interacted with Mana one way or another. Not exactly a bad thing. As an Arcanist, he ideally wanted items that could interact with the main source of magical power¡ªMana. Still. He had come here with a game plan after his last experience with looting. Now to see if it worked¡­ After about fifteen minutes of careful searching, Ray had narrowed his choices down to the following options. [Mystic Knowledge] Mystic Knowledge indicates there are items nearby interacting with Mana. Some of these items can be looted and added as gear.
  • Gold-Chased Shaper Raiment: Boasts high physical and non-physical damage negation. Converts all flanking attacks from the caster into critical hits, which deal twice the damage as normal and proc status afflictions twice as much. All movement boosted by 25%. [Tier 5]
  • Drakescale Robes: Boosts non-physical damage negation by 50%. Converts every fifth non-physical attack upon the caster into Mana for the caster. Applies Tier 1 Intimidation to all enemies in a 5-meter radius, briefly freezing enemies in place. [Tier 6]
  • Silver Breastplate of the Cataclysmic Battlemage: Sturdy defence for any caster. Allows conversion of Recovery into Mana. [Tier 4]
  • Drakescale Scholarly Boots: Grants 3 Knowledgeable Reputation for every enemy vanquished. [Tier 5]
  • Golden Ancient Golem Greaves: Heavily penalizes all motion in return for making the caster invulnerable for ten seconds. Countdown begins as soon as the first attack from an enemy reaches the caster. [Tier 5]
  • Diamond-crusted Ring of Temporal Evasion: Once per day, freezes time everywhere but the caster¡¯s mind for 15 seconds as soon as an attack is directed at the caster. [Tier 6]
  • Jade Ring of the Phoenix: Once per day, convert a fatal strike from any source to a complete refill of all your Recovery and Mana. [Tier 7]
That was all Ray had been able to gather that was worthy of poring over and taking a bit of time to decide. He had found a few other things as well, but the choices there had been no-brainers. The alternatives hadn¡¯t been anywhere near as worth considering as they were for his main raiment, legwear, and the potential rings. Ray¡¯s idea had been that if he could acquire another bag of holding, he could have put some of the stuff his Mystic Knowledge had highlighted into it, then shoved the second bag of holding into the first. It was only fair that he played Russian nesting dolls with the meagre inventory the system provided. Unfortunately, his plan had been foiled. No matter how much he had looked, all he had found was a simple Tier 2 Ring of Storage. That could hold two large items, effectively increasing his bag of holding¡¯s total capacity from four to five. Better than nothing, but still a bit meh. Still, Ray wasn¡¯t going to turn it down. In the end, it meant he was still going to have to choose. All his main raiment choices provided him very different fighting styles going forward. The Shaper Raiment reminded him of something that could benefit rogues. Boosting movement speed, flanking one¡¯s enemy to land critical hits, inflicting higher status with each critical blow. That last one was what had intrigued Ray. Considering he could now proc Insanity thanks to crossing the Chaos threshold, the Shaper Raiment could be very useful. It also looked pretty fashionable. A regal red uniform that had a somewhat eighteenth-century European military style, edged with hints of gold and with a white flourish to boot. Ironically, it felt like the breastplate and the robes had switched what benefit they should have provided. The breastplate, clearly an armour piece for someone who often found themselves in the thick of battle allowed him to cast more spells at the cost of his Recovery. Conversely, the robes provided extra defence and Mana, while also intimidating nearby enemies. Ray supposed the latter had indicated the attacks had to be non-physical. Most spells would be ranged, so it would be helpful if he remained distant and was only in danger from enemy spellcasters and other long-range ability users. That intimidation effect could be helpful. Even just a moment of petrification for any opponent would potentially allow him to get a guaranteed hit in. Combined with Mana Infuser¡¯s ability to raise the Tier of his main offensive spell, there was the possibility of one-shotting almost anything he faced. Though, Ray suspected stronger enemies would have defences against the intimidation effect. He¡¯d have to test and see. For his legwear, Ray could definitely see the potential use cases for the greaves. Ten seconds of invulnerability would be tremendous. Recent experiences had shown him just how long ten seconds could be in the heat of combat. Taking no damage for that long would let him obliterate enemies without worrying about his own safety. It almost felt broken. But then he had actually tried on the greaves. Penalizing movement, he realized, was an extreme understatement. Ray felt like he had just attached an uppity ninja¡¯s training weights around his shins. Holy shit, just taking a single step forward made him grunt with effort. He could barely move. Running? Impossible. Ray was basically in molasses with these on. He still saw the potential uses for something like this, but not without an easy way to equip and unequip it. Right now, Ray was still having to tug on his new garments like a regular, powerless human being. Surely the System would have some quality-of-life interface to make it simple and easy. If there were any, Ray clearly didn¡¯t have it. That left the Drakescale boots as his only choice. He had found a couple of other footwear around the main hoard indicated by Mystic Knowledge, but they had been low Tier options without great benefits. Definitely not worth considering when he had a Tier 5 pair of boots that granted him extra Reputation points that would boost his Intellect even higher in time. Plus, they also looked rather rad. Tiny black scales covered the entirety of the boots, glimmering like they were freshly polished. He had to admit they went rather well with the Drakescale robes. The choice of rings was a little harder to make. The rings were definitely strange. The Ring of Temporal Evasion seemed powerful but was also niche. Only his mind would be unfrozen, and that too until he came to a decision. And once per day. In other words, Ray would need to make the most of it at the very beginning of a fight. Hmm he¡¯d have to test and see. Meanwhile, the Jade Ring of the Phoenix negated any damage that was going to be fatal, instead converting it all to Mana and Recovery. On the surface, the latter sounded a lot more useful than the first. But it would only be useful when things turned very dire. A situation Ray didn¡¯t foresee letting himself get into. On the average, the time-slowing ability of the Temporal Evasion ring would be more useful. But when the latter ring worked, it would work tremendously well. This was where his new Ring of Storage would be very useful. Ray was going to need both rings, especially once he levelled up enough to have three rings equipped instead of just two. The Mana Infuser ring would remain his permanent second, now that he had reached level 10. For now, Ray put on the Shaper Raiment. He was looking forward to the greater mobility and status procs. It would synergize better with the latest addition of wings into Lifeblood Crucible. He would just need to get a proper handle on how to use those wings. Chucking out the sword, the shield, and the old Mantle in his Bag of Holding, he put the Golem Greaves, Drakescale Robes and the Ring of Storage in their place. Before placing that, he had stuffed the Jade Phoenix ring into the storage ring. Ironic, how he was storing a ring within a ring. Besides the ones he had taken some time to consider, there were a couple of other interesting gear he had come across. Some of those, Ray had equipped already, which made it easy to pull it up their descriptions with an info request. [Information Request¡ªGear] Supple Gloves [Tier 3] Supple gloves of leather and velvet that draws in the natural energy of the world. Mana gravitates towards your grip, refunding the cost of your last used spell every minute. Valorous Back Shield [Tier 3] Seemingly plain shield for those who stride with valour in their hearts. Meant to be strapped to the wielder¡¯s back instead of being wielded with one arm. Ensures wielder will never suffer a backstab and is impervious to all damage from behind. However, switching around to present one¡¯s back to foes will double the damage inflicted upon the user. The gloves sounded like another fun tool for Mana efficiency, but it was the shield that had really intrigued him. Ray¡¯s first impression upon reading the initial description had made him think he could turn around quickly in the middle of a fight and tank basically any hit. Another little broken-sounding mechanic to exploit. And then he had read the rest of the description. It had elicited a heavy groan. ¡°What a party-pooper,¡± he muttered. Still, protection against all backstabs and blows from behind sounded tremendously useful. Considering it was a wooden shield, it didn¡¯t weight him down too much. Satisfied with his pickings, Ray decided it was finally time to head back. Once more, there were no signs of any of the Feathered Imps. Humming to himself, Ray found his way to back to the spot where he had killed the Fiend. He quickly pulled his runaway mouth to a halt. For all he knew, Kredevel might still be grieving his dead dog. It would be highly insensitive if Ray popped in while whistling to himself. It tuned out there was no sign of Kredevel or his dead dog either. The alien was gone. ¡°He better not have hightailed it out of here¡­¡± Huffing a little, Ray picked up his pace as he continued through the tunnel. The draft he had felt earlier was getting stronger. Yes. This had to be it. The way out of this twisted little cave system. It seemed the Map Fragment¡¯s directions were fine. Bright light bloomed not far away. He smiled, his breaths coming in quicker and quicker. Finally. A few moments later, Ray finally walked out of the dark Marauders¡¯ Caves. Straight into the First Floor. A floor filled with ruins. [New Denizen Tutorial¡ªComplete] Congratulations, New Denizen, for completing your tutorial. The First Floor of the Tower now lies open for your conquest. Objective 1: Defeat 20 Feathered Imps [40/20] Objective 2: Earn a Map Fragment [1/1] Objective 3: Exit the Marauders¡¯ Caves [1/1] Hidden Objective 1: Defeat the Feathered Fiend [1/1] Hidden Objective 2: Find the lost Brighthorn [1/1] Hidden Objective 3: Conquer the Marauder¡¯s Caves and subdue the Imps [1/1] Personal Objective 1: Obtain a Talisman [1/1] Calculating rewards based on objective completion¡­ Chapter 9: Rewards Ray¡¯s notification was still up, calculating his rewards, but he couldn¡¯t pay much attention to it. Not when he had the innards of the Tower of Forging opening up before him. The ground was the colour of an ugly bruise. Ruddy and peaty for the great majority of what he could observe, but at certain locations it turned a ruined purple. Here and there, leafless, black-barked trees twisted out of the earth in the distance like strands of unruly hair. Ridges, pits, and craters dotted the land almost everywhere he could see. Was this a tower, or was he walking on the skin of some hideous giant? Then there were the ruins. Strange architecture dotted the landscape, built in a style he had definitely never seen. They were broken though. Remains of a long-lost civilization. A light haze covered the distance, preventing Ray from spotting much beyond a mile or two ahead of him. He could make out what looked like a spire rising in the vast distance. Huh. A tower within a Tower. Whoever had come up with the architecture in this place was obviously pretty warped in the head. The tower in the distance did have a similar architectural style as the rest of the ruins. It was made of the same kind of pale gold material. But at least the tower was a structure he recognized. [New Denizen Tutorial¡ªComplete] Objective 1: For defeating forty out of twenty Imps, you have earned 800 Essence. Objective 2: For locating a Map Fragment, you have earned 100 Essence. Objective 3: For discovering the exit to the Marauders¡¯ Caves, you have earned 200 Essence. Hidden Objective 1: For defeating the Feathered Fiend, you have earned 1,500 Essence. Hidden Objective 2: For locating the lost Brighthorn, you have earned 400 Essence. Hidden Objective 3: For conquering the Marauder¡¯s Caves and subduing the Imps, you have earned 2000 Essence. Personal Objective 1: For obtaining a Talisman, you have earned 200 Essence. Rewards
  • 1 Arcanist¡¯s Grimoire Page. As you exceeded the required number set by your first Objective, Arcanist¡¯s Grimoire Page has been converted to Grandmaster Arcanist¡¯s Grimoire Pamphlet
  • 1 Spell Synthesis Point
  • 1 Tier Point
  • 1 [Selectable] Tier 3 Talisman
  • 1 Tower Node of the Marauder
  • 1 Skill Token
  • +20 to any [Selectable] stat
[New Personal Achievement¡ªOverachiever!] You have ignored the limit set by the System itself and outdid what was expected of you by a wide margin. An effort deserving of recognition. Reward
  • Reputation: +30 Thorough
[Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 25-point threshold, your Thoroughness grants all your attacks the ability to pierce through defences up to 1 Tier higher than your attack¡¯s Tier with no negation. [Level Up!] Reward
  • +3 Intellect, +3 Spirit, +2 Vitality, +4 allocatable free stats.
  • 5 Mana Crystals [Tier 1]
Essence to level 12: 3,650/5,000 Wow, alright. That was quite a lot. The rewards seemed deceptive. Other than the first one, none of Ray¡¯s other prizes had received any special boosts or descriptions. In fact, the System definitely hadn¡¯t explained what in the world a Grimoire Page or Pamphlet was. That was fine. All that he had earned was materializing before him. Ray grinned almost shivering in anticipation. He couldn¡¯t wait to dig in. It turned out the Grimoire Pamphlet was exactly what it said on the tin. A thin booklet materialized in front of Ray, floating in the air before him until he reached out and took a hold of it. [Information Request¡ªGrimoire Pamphlet] Spellbook [Tier 3] Pamphlet created by plagiarizing a part of the old grimoire of Arcanist Grandmaster, Deckles, of the Fifty-three Stars Faction. Contains a mere fraction of his magical prowess, which is so volatile that the process of learning even a single spell from the pamphlet will cause it to spontaneously combust. But where a page contained only the information of a single spell, at least a pamphlet allows options to pick from. Oh, good. A pamphlet was definitely better than single page. Instead of potentially getting a spell he didn¡¯t like or didn¡¯t fit his style, he could now pick from a few options. He would retain control. That was important. Ray opened the little booklet. Instead of reading off the pages within, that crinkled like dry parchment, another information-filled screen popped up in front of his face. [Spell Selection] Otherworldly Hammer [Offensive] [Tier 3] Gather arcane energy into your fist and strike down. Causes a shockwave of magical spikes to radiate outwards from the point of impact. At Tier 3, this spell creates a shockwave for a 10-meter radius. Can only be cast with a Talisman. Arcane Construct [Utility] [Tier 3] A primal spell that converts any targeted element into a semi-intelligent construct that obeys the caster¡¯s wish. Shape and abilities of construct depends on targeted element and the Tier of the spell. At Tier 3, the construct¡¯s effective range is 20 meters from the targeted location. Can only be cast with a Talisman. Occultic Apparition [Utility] [Tier 3] A utility spell that untethers the caster from the physical plane, enhancing the caster¡¯s mobility and making the caster more difficult to spot using regular senses. If the caster is spotted, the spell enhances the ability to proc status afflictions. At Tier 3, movement speed is boosted by 9% and status afflictions proc 6% faster. Can only be cast with a Talisman. Interesting. So Ray was being provided with a complete set of offensive, defensive, and utility spells. That was cool. He pored over the spells¡¯ specifics again. Occultic Apparition would work great if he was trying to use the Shaper Raiment. Greater mobility would synergize well with being harder to spot. It would also further boost his Insanity affliction. Arcane Construct would obviously be quite useful. Ray had to wonder if he could synergize it with Primal Summons or Lifeblood Crucible somehow. They were all different flavours of the same kind of ability. A glorified summoning spell. Definitely worth considering. Powerful as Otherworldly Hammer sounded, Ray wasn¡¯t certain he needed it when he had Shatterclaw. Sure, it sounded stronger, but it also sounded more¡­ involved. Like he was going to have to be face-to-face with an opponent to use it properly. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Shatterclaw¡¯s range was rapidly improving with every increase in Tier. A ten-meter maximum range was nothing to scoff at. Clearly, the first option was the least appealing of the trio of offerings. Ray found that he could close the small booklet and make the screen disappear. When he opened it again, they reappeared with the same choices as before. Oh, good. His heart had leaped into his mouth when he had instinctively closed it as he had begun to think. He had almost been afraid that he had accidentally waived the ability to get a new spell. That would have been a tremendous bummer. Thankfully, that wasn¡¯t the case. In other words, he could take some time to think it over before making a decision. Everything else he had received needed him to make choices too. That meant more thinking needed. The Spell Synthesis point combined any two of his spells to form a new one that had a mix of the previous two¡¯s abilities. It would also be one Tier higher than the strongest constituent spell. Neat. He had to think about his Tier point too. No way was he wasting it on a spell only to combine that spell with another using the Spell Synthesis option. Ray supposed he could get a single, significantly powerful spell by exploiting that. He wanted to be a little more rounded out, though, so it didn¡¯t appeal much. Being overly reliant on any one spell would make it difficult to tackle situations where said spell wasn¡¯t useful. What dominated Ray¡¯s thoughts, however, were the choices he was offered for his new Talisman. [Talisman Selection] Talisman of the Scourge [Tier 3] A Tier 3 catalyst that boosts primal spells by 15%. Attacks deal additional pain, worsening all status afflictions by 20%. Channel the primal forces of the world to become a scourge of all those who would oppose you. Talisman of Focused Fury [Tier 3] A Tier 3 catalyst that boosts primal spells by 15%. Build up all the charges within the Talisman to unleash the last used spell once more, without any Mana cost. At Tier 3, this Talisman needs seven charges to activate. New Denizen, please pick wisely. Great. Ray was supposed to pick between two great options. Not fun. Couldn¡¯t he pick both? Why couldn¡¯t he pick both? Ray decided he¡¯d make the hard decisions later. He wasn¡¯t indecisive. It was just that, the more he found out about his different options, the more his plans for how he wanted to conduct himself in future fights changed. For instance, with the new Talisman options, he could see an even greater potential for synergizing with one of his other options¡ªOccultic Apparition¡ªand the Talisman of the Scourge. They would go well together. On top of those, there was the Shaper Raiment to boost the status afflictions, movement, and possibility of Insanity even further. Ray would be silly to ignore the combined benefits of them all. The only reason he hesitated was because the Talisman of Focused Fury would enhance his current fighting style of smashing enemies with Shatterclaw. Ignoring the ¡°build¡± he had grown familiar with over the course of the tutorial would be foolish. He gripped his hair with both his hands and gave his head a hard scratch. ¡°Argh.¡± Ray decided to look at what this Skill Token was supposed to provide him. [Skill Token] Life-Cycle Breaths [Tier 3] So long as you breathe, you shall never fall. Your Recovery regeneration is now tied to your breathing rate. Dual Wield [Tier 3] It¡¯s easy to take up two of any weapon and start using them at once. What isn¡¯t easy is to enhance both weapons while dual-wielding. The latent effects of both your weapons are now applied via both weapons. New Denizen, please pick wisely. Oh. Oh. There it was. Just what he had been waiting for. One little blessing to make his choices a little bit easier. Maybe. He picked Dual Wield with a jittery nervousness and¡ª [New Personal Achievement¡ªSpecially Specialized] You¡¯ve obtained a skill that clashes against your archetype. A mage with two catalysts? Who ever dreamt of such a thing. Reward
  • From now on, in every armament selection, you can pick at least two options.
Excellent. Ray immediately went back to his last options. Two Talismans. When he focused, he found he could select both, which was exactly what he proceeded to do. Like the pamphlet, they materialized with a shimmer before him, floating in the air before he grabbed them both. The Talisman of the Scourge was a circular seal of reddish-brown metal, sort of like rusted iron. It was embossed with a shape of twisted vines or knotted snakes. He wasn¡¯t certain. It was definitely a lot more ambiguous than his other one. The second talisman, the Talisman of Focused Fury, held a lot more in common with his first talisman. Shaped like an eight-pointed star with three slashes carved along its interior. ¡°Goodbye, old friend,¡± he said to the Talisman of the Otherworld on his right palm. ¡°You served me well, but it¡¯s time I moved on to greener pastures.¡± Will. That was all it took to get the old Talisman to remove itself from his palm. It fell to the ground. Ray¡¯s hands were too busy holding the other two talismans to catch it. He placed each of his new catalysts in the centre of his two palms. Like with the first, little ethereal red chains snaked out from their edges to wrap around the back of his hand, holding them in place. ¡°Excellent,¡± he said. Ray picked up the old talisman, not sure what to do with it. He had no inventory space left, but just throwing it away felt wasteful. Also, it was hard to not feel like he was littering. He had been brought up to never just junk things outside their designated trash cans. Some things were hard to unlearn or ignore, even when transported into a fantastical Tower that held nothing of the old world¡¯s rules. There were very small pockets on the Shaper Raiment. Big enough to hold coins and whatnot. He stuffed the old talisman there for now. Unfortunately, it looked like the lucky break with the talismans was all Ray would be getting. He would still need to decide which spell to pick. Ray thought for a moment. He considered how he had fought so far, what spells he already had, and most importantly, how he wanted things to go from here on out. Did he want to keep running around in between his foes and fight them head-on? Wings. Primal Summons could bring up wings. Ray went with Occultic Apparition. For some reason, Lifeblood Chaos didn¡¯t change it immediately. He supposed that wasn¡¯t completely surprising. It hadn¡¯t affected Shatterclaw, Mystic Knowledge, or Arcane Aura directly either. It turned out his Path couldn¡¯t directly affect every single thing in his repertoire. He wondered if he could learn Arcane Construct later via some other means. If he received another Grimoire Pamphlet, or maybe naturally as he levelled up. It would definitely be useful, but at the moment, it would detract from the fighting style he was rapidly becoming familiar with and fine-tuning, of the build he was¡ªfor lack of a better word¡ªbuilding. The Spell Synthesis went to Mystic Knowledge and Arcane Aura. Ray¡¯s instincts were right in combining the two. Information request revealed a new, powerful little spell that combined the best aspects of both, which had surprisingly been converted by Lifeblood Chaos too. [Information Request¡ªSpells] Presence of the Primordial [Passive] [Tier 2] A passive primal spell that boosts all other primal spells and shields the caster from Mana-based debuffs and afflictions up to this spell¡¯s Tier. Nothing escapes the glance of a primal caster, so within the spell¡¯s effective range, the caster can see into the soul of all creatures, abilities, and items. At Tier 2, this spell¡¯s effective range is 10 meters. Well, alright. That was definitely a hefty upgrade. This was going to be tremendously useful going forward. All that was left was assigning the extra stats from levelling up. He put half into Spirit to reach the threshold faster. But with his latest choices, Agility was one he could get more use out of. His latest spell, talisman, and raiment acquisitions were all geared towards fast movement. Two points in Agility was the way to go. He was tempted to put the Tier point into Shatterclaw, but since that was strong enough already, he placed it into Primal Summons for now. Oh, he had almost forgotten about the extra 20 stats. Funnily enough, just as Ray began wondering, he was informed by Presence of the Primordial that those stats weren¡¯t going to count towards any Tier thresholds. In other words, putting them all into Spirit wasn¡¯t going to make it break into Tier 2. Bummer. But handy how his new spell had the information that he himself lacked. He¡¯d remember from now on, though. Despite the free stats not affecting Spirit the way he wanted them to, Ray put them all in Spirit anyway. Reason being, he was going likely going to get good bonus growth on his Intellect through his Knowledge Reputation. If his boots were going to give him 3 Knowledge for every monster killed, he could see himself crossing Knowledge Thresholds pretty rapidly once he got into the meat and potatoes of the First Floor. Basically, Ray¡¯s Intellect growth was assured. Now, with his Spirit this amped up, he wouldn¡¯t need to worry about running out of Mana as often either. A good, complementary balance. Lastly, and the one Ray had no clue about from just a glance, came the Tower Node thing. [System Artifact¡ªTower Node] Tower Node of the Marauder With the Node of the Marauder, you can now lay claim to the entirety of the Marauder¡¯s Caves. Call forth the strength of Feathered Imps and raise your Feathered Fiend to guard your Hoard. But beware, excessive use can alert the Marauder himself, and the attention of a Paragon is rarely pleasant. What? Ray stared at the ceramic crystal appearing before him. It was plain, unadorned. White, a little shiny, but that was about it. Hard to believe this was some all-powerful artifact. Could he actually use this thing to basically command all the Imps that had been trying to kill him? That was.. a little bit insane. Ray wasn¡¯t certain how to process that. He supposed it went with his Vocation of Tower Conqueror. One wasn¡¯t really a conqueror if one couldn¡¯t claim some measure of control over what one conquered. Questions was whether he wanted to control a bunch of bloodthirsty, semi-intelligent, beaked-and-feathered monkeys. Controlling a mini army of monsters couldn¡¯t hurt. Right? Ray tried to use it, but all he got was a warning. [Warning!] Activating a Tower Node uses True Mana. You are currently unable to access True Mana naturally. Forced usage of True Mana without proper preparation can overburden the caster¡¯s Mana conduits and damage the Mana Core. Usage of True Mana can be substituted with a vast amount of regular Mana, Would you like to proceed? [Yes]/[No] True Mana? Huh. Ray wondered what exactly he had to do to gain access to True Mana, and how it differed from the Mana he had been using so far. Were there even more kinds? Sounded like his current Mana conduits wouldn¡¯t be able to handle True Mana. Also, he had a Mana Core? The hell was that? Ray would have to explore that later. He tried calling up an information request for True Mana, but nothing appeared. Strange. Anyway, even if he could replace the True Man requirement with regular Mana, he likely didn¡¯t have enough. ¡°Vast amount¡±, the System had said. He wished there was a number attached to the description. The Tower Node sounded like something that was more of a last-resort option. That made sense. For now, he declined the option. Although, the Node itself raised so many questions for Ray to ponder. Could he actually control what the Imps did when he summoned them? How in the world was he supposed to ¡°raise¡± his own Feathered Fiend? What constituted a ¡°hoard¡±? Also, what in the world was a Paragon? Once more, Ray was tempted to scratch his head. He was distracted by another warning. [Warning!] Presence of the Primordial indicates your presence has been detected by Total Perception [Tier 3]. Presence of the Primordial has nullified the enemy aura, Sylvan Pride [Tier 3]. Apparently, Kredevel had finally decided to show up. Chapter 10: The Real First Floor Ray turned his head to right. Just as the warning from Mystic Knowledge¡ªno, his new spell, Presence of the Primordial¡ªhad stated, Kredevel was walking over. It was strange that he could finally take the time to properly observe the alien. Kredevel was just as tall and gangly as he had appeared in the caves, but he was a lot more¡­ pretty, was the only to describe him. Ray could see him posing on the cover of Vogue with ease. If the editors didn¡¯t mind faces that were a little too thin, a complexion that was paler than milk, and hair that looked like strands of lapis lazuli. Or the horns. No way could one forget the curving, crystalline growths around his head, and every other important joint. It was the robes that really caught Ray¡¯s attention. They were somewhat reminiscent of the kinds martial artists preferred, but sort of shiny, like they were metallic. Or perhaps silken. They were also a glossy, royal purple. Ray had to wonder if it was Kredevel¡¯s favourite colour, considering that was the same shade of his horns and his eyes to boot. ¡°Thank you,¡± Kredevel said, as he approached. He was a lot calmer now. Ray idly wondered where the dead dog was, but it was probably too personal to ask. ¡°I admit I was surprised that you kept your end of the bargain.¡± ¡°Do you have that poor of an opinion of people like me?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Hmm, do you mean people like you human beings, or people as in new Denizens?¡± ¡°The latter.¡± Ray blinked. ¡°Unless you¡¯re going to tell me you¡¯ve met humans before.¡± ¡°I have not. You¡¯re my first. For both cases, actually. New human, and new Denizen.¡± The way he talked, it sounded like meeting a new human wasn¡¯t as novel an experience as Ray would have thought. Which meant that even if Kredevel hadn¡¯t met other human beings before, he knew of others who had. Considering that this was supposed to be the first time that humanity had been inducted into the System, that should have been impossible. But if that was true, then it brought up a whole new level of complication Ray wasn¡¯t certain he wanted to bash his head against just then. ¡°I sense I¡¯ve given away something rather vital,¡± Kredevel said. Ray shook his head. ¡°I hope you don¡¯t regret it. Cause you¡¯ve got your end of the deal to keep, right?¡± ¡°True enough. You wanted information, yes? Ask away.¡± Ray smiled. ¡°Great¡ª¡± ¡°Though, I will warn you that I cannot answer every single question you pose to me. I have a job to do, and if anything you ask jeopardises that, then I¡¯m afraid I will decline answering.¡± Ray¡¯s smile dipped but didn¡¯t fade fully. ¡°What if I ask you what this job of yours is?¡± He grew more serious. ¡°You¡¯re not at all the only one of your kind here. What exactly are you doing here? What do you want from this place? From us?¡± Kredevel breathed in deep. ¡°Many questions at once. I am not surprised. But listen closely, as I answer. We are the Sylvans. Our civilization originates on a different world, but through the Omniversal System, we have gained the power and ability to spread far across the universe.¡± ¡°And if you can do it, I¡¯m going to guess there are other civilizations out there that can do the same.¡± ¡°Correct. The Sylvans are the not the only race you will meet, should you be able to progress higher up the Omniversal System and its Towers.¡± ¡°What are these Towers? Why did the System suddenly decide that Earth was a good place to set them up? Why now?¡± ¡°Many factors are taken into considerations, but once a civilization reaches the peak of its¡­ ascendancy as we will call it, the Omniversal System decides to integrate that civilization into the rest of the fabric that drives all other sentient civilizations.¡± ¡°Ascendancy? Do you mean like, in terms of evolution? Or is it something else?¡± ¡°Biological evolution is one factor, yes. And other factors, including accurate predictions of how much longer your civilization will last at its current state, how far you have advanced socially, technologically, and various other metrics.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± Ray wouldn¡¯t have minded taking some time to wrap his head around all that. The System had definitely not been forthcoming about itself during his time in that white room. Back then, he had been the sole focus. But now wasn¡¯t the time to get lost in the weeds of the System¡¯s lore. ¡°Alright,¡± Ray said. ¡°But what¡¯s your¡ªand the rest of the Sylvans¡¯¡ªrole in this? Why did you pick Earth of all places? Why you and not some other civilization? And what in the world do you and the System gain by doing all this.¡± ¡°The crux of all this is quite simple.¡± Kredevel held out a hand. ¡°Mana.¡± There was the tiniest flicker on the Sylvan¡¯s palm before silver and purple energy started coalescing on top of each other. Soon enough, a strange amethyst growth was forming about an inch over Kredevel¡¯s hand. Ray stared at it. He was about to ask what was the point of whatever Kredevel was doing¡ªother than showing him weird shit with Mana¡ªbut he froze. The Sylvan¡¯s ability finished. A miniature replica of Kredevel was now walking on his palm, a one-to-one copy that was perfect down the last strand of hair. ¡°Mana,¡± Kredevel said with the air of someone who was dispensing the wisdom of the ages, ¡°is the reason why we are here. The construction of a Tower means the generation of Mana within the Tower, and we are here to harvest that Mana. It drives our civilization, our way of life. Calling it a valuable commodity would be a severe understatement.¡± Ray could understand that. Humanity went to such great lengths to secure sources of electricity. If Mana worked the same way for Kredevel¡¯s civilization, then no wonder they were here. ¡°So let me get this straight. You¡¯re allowed to come into these Towers to harvest Mana in return for doing a certain task for the Tower, right? At least, that¡¯s what I assume is going on.¡± ¡°Your assumption is correct. In exchange for cultivating the Mana and any other resources we deem fit, the Tower makes us oversee its operation, the main function of which is to provide adequate challenges and guidance to new Denizens.¡± Somehow, he had a feeling the challenge part was of greater importance to Kredevel and his faction than any sort of guidance. Considering the Sylvan wasn¡¯t even allowed to talk to him, strictly speaking. ¡°Challenge and guidance, is it?¡± Kredevel caught his scepticism. The purple in his eyes flickered a little. ¡°Unfortunately, you are correct again. The challenge is of more import.¡± ¡°So¡­ could you tell me what this challenge is?¡± ¡°You will find out soon. You should receive a new Objective soon. It will have all the details you need.¡± ¡°Yes, but it won¡¯t tell me how to meet that Objective. Don¡¯t suppose you can give me any hints or anything of the sort¡­¡± Kredevel looked mightily uncomfortable. Ray felt a little bad at putting him through some sort of mental tug of war, but this information could be vital. ¡°You mentioned the Handler earlier,¡± Ray said. ¡°Is that the guy you work for?¡± Slowly, Kredevel nodded. ¡°He will be the one assigning you your challenges on this Floor, yes.¡± Stolen novel; please report. ¡°So there¡¯s a different challenge per Floor, each given by a different person.¡± ¡°Each Floor has its own Floor Lord, yes.¡± ¡°And they¡¯re all related to your Faction?¡± ¡°They are all appointed by the Tower Lord, who is a Sylvan like myself.¡± Interesting. Very interesting, if Ray was being honest. ¡°A Handler that allows his charge to run into a cave and get murdered by a bunch of monsters¡­¡± Kredevel¡¯s face twisted. Ray wondered if he was right in assuming that the Sylvan held a bit of resentment towards his superior for allowing his beloved pet to come to harm. It was probably mixed in with a strong dose of guilt too. But maybe, that was overridden because of this Handler¡¯s policies. After all, Kredevel being barred from interacting with new Denizens was what had prevented him from entering the Marauder¡¯s caves initially. ¡°He does not expect most new Denizens to survive the challenge,¡± Kredevel eventually said. ¡°It is¡­ difficult.¡± He still wouldn¡¯t say what the challenge would be, which was a bit annoying, but Ray wasn¡¯t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. ¡°But not impossible,¡± Ray said. ¡°In fact, you know the way to win it, don¡¯t you?¡± With jerky motions, Kredevel twisted his hand so that his palm was facing up. A light shimmer later, what looked like a collar materialized on it. A familiar looking colour. Ray blinked. ¡°Is that from¡­?¡± ¡°This is Brick Licker¡¯s.¡± His face twisted with brief grief. ¡°Was. You might find a better use for it, now that its original owner has passed away.¡± Ray accepted the leather band with a leash at one end. There was a small cinch where he could open the collar to put it back on. He was also starting to get an idea of what the challenge was going to involve. ¡°Thanks,¡± Ray said. He smiled, trying to project some confidence. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure to put it to good use.¡± Kredevel nodded. ¡°I have no doubt that you will.¡± ¡°Is he that much of a big shot?¡± Ray asked. Kredevel stiffened as he realized Ray was asking about the Handler. ¡°You seem¡­ well, no offence, but you seem way too wary of him.¡± Another riot of emotions twisted across Kredevel¡¯s face. Were all Sylvans as expressive as he was, wearing their hearts on their sleeves and letting the whole world witness their genuine emotions? It felt too vulnerable to Ray. Look at him. He was on the verge of manipulating Kredevel. Plucking the strings of the emotions the Sylvan displayed to get the information he wanted. It felt wrong. Someone less morally lax could easily have started twisting the direction of Kredevel¡¯s thoughts. Ray didn¡¯t want to take advantage of his somewhat-ally. ¡°I have a goal here,¡± Kredevel said. ¡°And achieving that is not easy.¡± ¡°What is your goal?¡± ¡°To reach the top of the Towers.¡± Ray laughed. ¡°Dude, same.¡± ¡°Why do you laugh?¡± ¡°Because I was thinking how different you Sylvans are from us humans. But hey, look at that, we both want the same thing in the end.¡± Kredevel stared at him. ¡°Don¡¯t all Denizens want to reach the peak of the Towers? You were granted this information in your tutorial, yes?¡± ¡°Right, right. But it¡¯s not just the goal. It¡¯s everything about the goal, you see. Look at it this way. You want to reach the top of this Tower the same as I do. And to do that, you¡¯re willing to slog through your own set of challenges, just like me. Sure it¡¯s not the same kind of Objectives I¡¯m probably going to get, but it¡¯s effort nevertheless, right?¡± Kredevel took a moment to consider, before he eventually cracked the first smile Ray had seen from him. ¡°I suppose you make a valid argument.¡± ¡°Look, I don¡¯t know who your Handler is or what exactly he¡¯s capable of, but hear me out, okay? This isn¡¯t advice, because you look like someone who already knows his shit. Just take this as a friendly reminder. You¡¯re a good guy. From everything I¡¯ve seen so far, your superior sounds like a nasty piece of work. You deserve better. So, if you can, go get it.¡± ¡°How could you possibly know that I¡¯m good?¡± Ray recalled how Kredevel had cried for his Brick Licker. He smiled, trying to keep the sadness from it. ¡°Someone who loves their pet dog that much can¡¯t be that bad.¡± After a bit of hesitation, Kredevel nodded solemnly. ¡°I should be going,¡± the Sylvan said. ¡°I will need to report all that has occurred here. Although, I don¡¯t think I ever got your name.¡± ¡°Really? I thought I told you already. But anyway, the name¡¯s Ray.¡± He smiled. ¡°Hope you won¡¯t report to your superiors about me.¡± ¡°Nothing I can say will do you any harm, Ray. May you be graced by the Tower¡¯s benevolence.¡± Ray tried to think if there was anything further he could ask, things that Kredevel wouldn¡¯t be barred from telling him. Actually, there was a ton Ray could just sit there and learn about. Unfortunately, he had a feeling Kredevel didn¡¯t have the time. ¡°You make it sound like the Tower is alive.¡± Kredevel smiled again. One last time. ¡°Perhaps it is. Perhaps it isn¡¯t. Do you believe the System is alive, per se?¡± Without waiting for an answer, Kredevel was already walking off. Ray waved at his back. He smiled. It was almost like he had made a friend. Friends¡­ For all the while he had been in that cave system, he hadn¡¯t once stopped to consider how everyone else might be doing. Mrs. Myers, the recruiter at Golden Windows. The weed-loving college student in the studio opposite his own. Andy from the local Pick ¡®n Save. What about his old mom way out in the boonies near Sheboygan? Were they even alive in this place? He hoped so. So long as their tutorials hadn¡¯t been anything even close to his. Ray couldn¡¯t tell where everyone else might have been sent to. Their own tutorials, most likely, but where exactly would those be physically? The Tower of Forging had taken over Wisconsin and its surrounding locales, but this looked like anything but his lake-ridden, heavily-forested state. It was impossible to tell if the Marauder¡¯s Caves was in Milwaukee or not. He realized he was starting to get hungry and a little tired as well. The effects of the Mana fruit he had found was starting to disappear. He would need some more fuel to go on, eventually. Resolving to find out more, Ray headed out. He took a single step forward when the new set of objectives appeared. [Floor I] Welcome, New Denizen, to the First Floor of the Tower of Forging. Here, you can hone your strength and stake a true claim upon your place in the Tower. Please review your Objectives and proceed as you see fit. Calculating objectives based on [Path of Lifeblood Chaos] and [Tower Conqueror]¡­ Objective 1: As mandated by the Floor Lord, bring one Brighthorn alive to the Floor Lord [0/1] Objective 2: Defeat a Duskshell [0/1] Objective 3: Defeat 5 Windbanes [0/5] Objective 4: Defeat 4 Irebolts [0/10] Objective 5: Clear three dungeons [0/3] Hidden Objective 1: Find a Tower Node [0/1] Personal Objective 1: Meet new Denizens [0/10] Personal Objective 2: Secure 5 Mana Fruit [0/5] New Denizen, go forth and continue your conquest of the Tower of Forging! Ray looked over his Objectives with a critical eye. None of them felt like unrealistic targets. Food? Yes, please. Finding other people? He would have attempted to do that anyway, if it didn¡¯t take him too far out of the way. Reaching the Floor Lord to deposit the doggo he was supposed to capture? Sure, why not. Though, speaking of which, his initial assumptions had been correct. No wonder Kredevel had left him with the collar. He had to catch one of those crazy monster-hounds. Something told him they weren¡¯t going to be good boys. Ray wondered what those other monsters were going to be like. The Windbanes, the Duskshells, and the Irebolts. Clearly, if he was going to have to defeat them, then they wouldn¡¯t be friendly? Right? With his new Objectives securely placed in the back of his mind, Ray got going. The Marauder¡¯s Caves was set on the side of a mountain, craggy and grey and towering into the hazy sky so that its peak was lost to cloudy whiteness. More mountains ranged on either side of it, forming the wall of the Tower of Forging. Ray got the sense that the mountain range ringed the entire floor. He had to wonder if that would be the case higher up as well. Well, he was going to find out eventually. As he descended into the valley, the earth turned softer. It didn¡¯t change its ugly colour though. Nor did the ¡°trees¡± look any better close up. They still reminded him of giant hair follicles, just frayed and torn like they had been gnawed on by some creature. He would have blamed the dogs, but they weren¡¯t big enough to reach that high up the trees. Well, he hoped they weren¡¯t. Ray had been continuing to use Lifeblood Sense over and over as he headed out. If anything came close enough, he would sense it. Although, the valley was mostly open enough to let him see pretty far, until the haze grew too thick. Farther than his spell¡¯s range, that was for sure. Eventually, after walking for what felt like half an hour, the first little spot of interest appeared up ahead. A Mana fruit. Strangely, it was on one of those trees. The sinuous, black growths spiralling out of the ground to tower about twenty feet over the top of Ray¡¯s head. If the Mana fruits actually grew on these trees, why was this one the only tree that had any? What had happened to the rest? Ray was forcefully reminded of Kredevel¡¯s words. Harvest. Of course. It would make sense of the other Sylvan¡¯s had simply taken the fruits from the other trees. Had they missed this one, then, or had it grown after they had already scoured this area? Ray had no clues to tell. The ground was soft, but it didn¡¯t look trampled. The trees did exhibit signs of tampering, though, with their cracked bark and broken branches. As he got closer to the tree with the fruit, he realized it was a little different. It¡ª A wet, screechy howl ripped through the area. At the same time, a pulse of Lifeblood Sense detected something was approaching. [Warning!] Presence of the Primordial has nullified the Intimidating effects of Wild Howl [Tier 2]. Ray turned, froze in surprise, then grinned. He gripped the collar he had been gifted tight. Excellent, his chance had appeared. The Brighthorn was rushing straight for him. Chapter 11: Challenging Objective Ray considered congratulating himself. He wasn¡¯t one to arrogantly praise himself for every victory, but he had been right about quite a few suppositions recently, and the way the new Brighthorn was charging at him confirmed yet another recent assumption. These things were not friendly. This Brighthorn looked exactly like the dead one from the cave. A facehugger of a head, the body that was a strange mix of a giant lizard and a wolf. Those ridges and spines along its back that were supposedly the horns definitely didn¡¯t glow, so he couldn¡¯t tell where exactly the name came from. Ray quickly made sure he was wearing the Diamond-crusted Ring of Temporal Evasion. Time to test his new gear. His new spell activated as the Brighthorn got close enough. [Presence of the Primordial] Brighthorn [Monster] [Tier 3] Lupine creature revered as an infamous pet for the Sylvans. With claws that can cut through metal and a jaw capable of boring straight through flesh, they are prized for their ability to dominate a battlefield. However, great care is needed to ensure they do not turn wild. The more numerous they are, the more difficult to control. Skills: Rending Claws [Tier 1]: Build up power to unleash a furious strike that can penetrate defences. Boring Bite [Tier 1]: Lunge forward to rip apart the foe¡¯s flesh. Pack Hunt [Tier 2]: Raise all stats by 5% for every member of the species present in the vicinity. Wild Howl [Tier 2]: Inflict Tier 1 Intimidate to all who hear the howl and negate enemy Fear and Intimidation effects below this skill¡¯s Tier. An interesting list of skills. There was Wild Howl too. It had to be that screeching cry Ray had heard a little while ago. Good thing his trusty new spell had blocked it. Despite the Brighthorn rushing at him, Ray remained still. He still hadn¡¯t formulated a plan how exactly he was going to get the collar on the Brighthorn, or if it was even going to help in any way. First, he had to focus on subduing the creature without killing it. The monster charged at him. Its spines had started to glow a bit, a soft white light emanating from deep within. Did these things only live up to their name when they were out for blood? Ray forced his body to remain still. Any second now¡­ As soon as the onrushing Brighthorn was close enough, everything froze. The world lost its colour, everything appearing turgid and petrified. Even Ray himself couldn¡¯t move. The ring had activated right when the Brighthorn had been about to leap at him. If Ray decided dodging was the best option, he¡¯d have time to do so as soon as time unfroze again. Huh. So, this was the effect of the Ring of Temporal Evasion. But time was ticking down. Fifteen seconds. That was all Ray would get. And he had squandered a precious few already. He had to figure out how to go about this encounter now. The stray thought that the monster¡¯s head was actually big enough to bite off his whole head flashed past Ray¡¯s racing mind. He couldn¡¯t tell if the monster actually felt itself freezing in mid-air, or if the time-slowing effect was for him only. As the timer trickled down, he knew what he had to do. He used Primal Summons to bring up the wings of the Feathered Fiend on his back, ordering them to take him to the sky. Time unfroze. As the Brighthorn flew at him, Primal Summons pulled up a cloud of black-red energy on his back. Wings sprouted in the next instant, throwing Ray skywards. Just in the nick of time. The monster sailed through the spot where Ray had been a second ago, then collided with the tree behind him, stunned. Ray grinned. It was incredible to fly, all the more so because it felt natural. Like the wings had always been a part of his being instead of a foreign appendage hastily tacked on. All thanks to raising his Intellect to Tier 2. He twisted his wings to turn him around so that he was facing the alien dog. Despite the naturalness of his new wings, the motion and perspective would really need some getting used to. It was somewhat reminiscent of being on a rollercoaster, though thankfully less intense. His increased Agility was definitely helping too. Not only had he escaped the dog¡¯s lunge¡ªwhere the evasion was boosted by his Shaper Raiment¡ªit was also allowing him to get a better handle of his fast, jerky motion. The g-forces were distracting but thankfully not debilitating. Unfortunately, weaving around in the air wasn¡¯t the best state to be in when trying to target one¡¯s opponent with a ranged spell. Especially when said target was still moving. Since the Brighthorn was of a lower Tier than the Imps he had been fighting, he didn¡¯t want to accidentally kill it in one shot with a Shatterclaw. That spell might be too strong for this little dog. Instead, he tried to send bolts of Chaos Chymify at the Brighthorn to subdue it. Problem was, he kept missing. The monster was too fast. Too agile He couldn¡¯t keep this up for long. Primal Summons would last only a minute at a time. Sure, it didn¡¯t seem like it had a cooldown, but he didn¡¯t want to be vulnerable in the moment he was re-activating it. The facehugger-dog still tried to reach him, using its Rending Claws skill to ingeniously shoot itself higher than a normal leap would have taken it. ¡°Oh, wow.¡± Ray was genuinely impressed. ¡°Who¡¯s a smart boy?¡± Thankfully, his wings took him clear of the maximum height the Brighthorn could reach. He couldn¡¯t get in a hit, though. Both of them were moving too erratically. This was getting annoying. He had already wasted almost 50 Mana. His total was pretty high right about now, but still. Ray had to admit it was a little fun to be using both hands to shoot at his target. When the bolt of chaotic black-red energy shooting from his right hand missed, he waved his left immediately afterwards to send another little blast flying at the monster. Mangy mutt kept dodging. Damn that thing. Excitement was mixing with anxiety. Primal Summons was going to end soon. It hadn¡¯t been an issue before, when he hadn¡¯t needed his summoned powers for long. But here¡­ Well, he didn¡¯t want his face to be chewed off by that thing. Oh, right. Ray considered smacking himself over the head. He hadn¡¯t activated Occultic Apparition. That would be the perfect solution to his issues here. Activating the spell made his Mana feel as though it was expanding, causing a whirl of pure black energy to swirl around the hand he had used to cast it. Presence of the Primordial guided him through the actual application process. He closed his fist and tapped it against his chest. The black energy transferred to his body and soon had him covered completely. Primal Summons came to an end around the same time. The wings disappeared from Ray¡¯s back, dropping him to the ground. Pretty good timing, if he was being honest. Ray immediately began moving. Occultic Apparition¡¯s occluding effect would work best so long as he remained mobile. The monster dog hesitated, as though suddenly unsure of its own sight. ¡°Down you go,¡± Ray said. The next bolt of Chaos Chymify struck the monster right on its leg. All this time, it hadn¡¯t been dodging his attacks so much as trying to reach him. But now that he had made it pause, he could finally land a blow. A wound bloomed, flesh twisting as bluish-black blood spurted while bones deformed. The Brighthorn yelped in pain. Then it fell over. It was still struggling, though. Still attempting to get up and sink its lamprey-like mouth on Ray. Feisty little monster. Ray considered for a long while. How in the world was he going to muzzle that thing? He had to get close to put on the collar, and if he did so, he was liable to get bitten or clawed. Plus, he still had no guarantee the collar was worth it, though he wanted to believe in the solemn way Kredevel had gifted it to him. It didn¡¯t feel right, but Ray blasted another one of the Brighthorn¡¯s legs with a Chaos Chymify. The monster growled. Despite yet another wound, it kept threatening him, almost daring him to get close. Ray shook his head. This thing was relentless. He supposed it wasn¡¯t surprising, considering the description he had read thanks to Presence of the Primordial. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. He tried hitting it enough to leave it too injured to resist in any way, but it was like it was high on coke or something. Didn¡¯t matter how many bleeding, painful wounds dotted its body. So long as it drew breath, it was ready to murder Ray. Sighing, he killed the damn Brighthorn with a couple more Chaos Chymifies. [Enemy Defeated¡ªBrighthorn] Tier 3 Monster: Brighthorn [Level 2] x1 Essence: +60 Knowledge: +3 Mana Restored: +20 Essence to next level: 3,710/5,000 Knowledge to next Threshold: 33/50 [Lifeblood Crucible Activated] Chaos Chymify has stolen the soul of a defeated Brighthorn. Please select which Aspect of the targeted soul to retain. Soul Aspects
  • Brighthorn horns: Summon a range of spikey protrusions on your back. [Tier 1]
  • Rending Claws: Build up power to unleash a furious strike that can penetrate defences. [Tier 1]
  • Boring Bite: Lunge forward to rip apart the foe¡¯s flesh. [Tier 1]
  • Pack Hunt: Raise all stats by 5% for every member of the species present in the vicinity. [Tier 2]
  • Beady Eyes: Eyes that will always find a favoured food. [Tier 1]
Ray stared at the screen with growing distaste. Not only was killing the Brighthorn completely antithetical to the Objective he had been set, it also gave him an absolutely pitiful amount of Essence and Mana. Just lovely. Even its Soul Aspects weren¡¯t anything worthwhile. Though, he had to admit, Pack Hunt at least sounded interesting as an ability. Nevertheless, he was starting to see why Kredevel had said that this Objective was going to be difficult. Interestingly, there was that Knowledge gain per kill. He didn¡¯t exactly feel more knowledgeable after torturing and killing a weird alien monster-dog, but who was he to argue with numbers going up. Ray plucked the Mana fruit from the tree that looked different from the rest of its kind around them. This tree¡¯s trunk was more regular dark brown than the soulless black that the rest of its sinuous cousins exhibited. Although, as soon as he had taken the glowing blue orb from its branch, the tree wilted a little and turned fully black. Ah. So Ray had not only killed a dog, he had also potentially just the murdered the only living tree in the vicinity. Great. He could now square in another block on the evil-little-fucker bingo board. Maybe he¡¯d even get an achievement at this rate. [Warning!] Presence of the Primordial indicates you have been detected by Overworld Pulse [Tier 5]. Ray froze. Overworld Pulse? A Tier 5 ability? His immediate impulse was to look around and see if he could spot anyone coming in, but the name of the ability made him look down instead. Overworld¡­ did that mean the skill¡¯s user was underground? And again, it was Tier 5. Whatever had used an ability at that high a Tier had to be several levels stronger than him. Unless it possessed a similar ability to Hoard Defence, but how likely was that? Nobody with any shred of intelligence would put all their Tier Points into a detection or identification skill without first levelling up their other abilities. Now, there was no saying how intelligent monsters in general were, but Ray wouldn¡¯t have been surprised if all creatures possessed a natural acumen as to how best to upgrade their loadout. If instead the System itself created some monsters, unlikely though it seemed, it would be intelligent enough to make their ¡°builds¡± balanced. In other words, Ray would do best to get away from there before whatever was underground came above ground. As much as he would have liked to get a sense of what exactly was under the surface, he decided not to take chances just yet. ¡°I¡¯ll be seeing you later,¡± Ray promised. ¡°Mystery chthonic monster.¡± He moved on. As he did so, tried to come up with a viable strategy of getting one of the Brighthorns to the centre of the first floor alive. At least he now knew where he had to go, in a general sense. During that last fight, when he had taken to the air, he had once again seen the tower within the Tower in the distance. Ray had begun to suspect that was where the Floor Lord would be. For now, it would give him a direction to head towards. Although, the fact that he had seen the tower was concerning. Either it was closer than he thought, or it was huge. Considering the Tower of Forging was supposed to cover the entirety of Wisconsin and more, Ray suspected it was the latter. Ray didn¡¯t find too much of anything else that was of note. No more Brighthorns rushing him, no other monsters popping up close enough for Lifeblood Sense to detect. He did spot some in the distance. Strange deer that hopped like hares. What looked like a huge snake with a black flower bud for a head. They were too far away, though. It almost felt boring. He counselled himself that he ought to enjoy the peace while he could, but the way this land felt was anything but relaxing. His hunger got worse as he travelled. Ray was trying to be a little stingy, to not waste the Mana he regenerated by eating the fruit. That dried Mana fruit in the caves hadn¡¯t gifted him any Mana, which he had suspected was because it simply used the Mana the fruit itself stored to revitalize his physical body. But at the same time, Ray figured he might have been topped up with Mana so the fruit couldn¡¯t have gifted him any even if it had been capable of doing so. So now, he was considering waiting until he had a Mana deficit just to check. After all, if he came across more monsters, he could kill a few to regain his Mana, so long as he went about the killing with proper care. But storing the Mana fruit for a potential emergency wasn¡¯t going to help if he keeled over when he was famished. Hunger and thirst might distract him in a fight, which would suck. Plus, he was starting to feel a bit drowsy too. Besides that, he had those Mana crystals to gain some Mana in case of emergencies. So, without further ado, he swallowed down the Mana fruit. It was even more refreshing than the one he had swallowed in the caves. All his weariness, his hunger and thirst, even the need to use the bathroom, all disappeared. At some point, Ray might need to learn how to grow these things on his own. They were incredible. After about two more uneventful hours, Ray finally found something of note. His first dungeon. A wooded area stretched ahead of him, the entrance serenaded by broken pillars. There was a fallen statue too¡ªa humanoid figure sporting the head of a bird and lying on its side. [Presence of the Primordial¡ªDungeon] Everair Traversal Park III [Tier 3] To promote fast travel through the bounds of the empire, the Everair established various reservations that shortened vast distances with the clever application of Mana engineering. This Traversal Park incorporates an arboreal garden, now ruined, overgrown and infested with pests. Reach the end to clear the dungeon. Hmm. Ray¡¯s new spell was the one providing him information about the dungeon instead of a System notification. Did Presence of the Primordial override any potential notification, or were there none to begin with? What did that mean for anyone who didn¡¯t possess a utility skill or spell like his? That wasn¡¯t important in the end. Ray wasn¡¯t sure he wanted to enter and clear a Tier 3 dungeon. That interaction with the Brighthorn had proven that his high Tier tutorial might have left him a tad over-levelled for the average offerings on the First Floor of the Tower of Forging. A Tier 3 dungeon couldn¡¯t provide him with much Essence. But in the end, he had an Objective to complete. Ray might as well get it done. Plus, he was intrigued by the description. A dungeon that shortened distances? Would he cover ten miles just by walking one mile? If so, that would be wild. Ray went in. The arboreal descriptor was accurate. The whole place did remind him of natural parks, like Lake Park on the shore of Lake Michigan back home. A combination or urbanism and natural offerings. Except, everything was overgrown and ruined. The flagstones were cracked. The strangely tall benches were broken. Columns and pillars had fallen over the paths. The trees weren¡¯t helping. These were different from the ones bearing Mana fruit. Grey, their barks looking dried and flaky, their trunks and branches twisting around each other to form a contorted barrier that blocked off Ray from seeing much, and occasionally barricaded his path forward too. Disrepair. That was the main impression Ray got. A state of fallen ruin. He slashed through another thorny thicket with a Shatterclaw. ¡°Where¡¯s a basic fireball spell when you need one?¡± he muttered. It wasn¡¯t ideal he was using Mana without regaining it, but hey, there were the Mana crystals. Ray could panic when he ran out of them. He paused. For the first time since entering, Lifeblood Sense detected a blob of life somewhere in the distance. Presence of the Primordial acted on its own to reveal what lay a little ahead of him. [Presence of the Primordial] Raptor [Monster] [Tier 2] Dinosaurian monster that often acts in packs. They are fast and vicious, and despite not being capable of flight, their build allows them to jump and manoeuvre easily in the air. The researchers of the Everair, intrigued by their evolutionary traits, experimented with reversing the temporal progression of their race. One such product is the Raptor. Skills: Rending Claws [Tier 1]: Build up power to unleash a furious strike that can penetrate defences. Pack Hunt [Tier 2]: Raise all stats by 5% for every member of the species present in the vicinity. Aerial Adaptability [Tier 1]: Gain great manoeuverability when in the air. At Tier 1, this skill allows the wielder to change momentum while in air. Interesting. The monster had some of the same skills as the Brighthorn. They couldn¡¯t be related, since so far, nothing had suggested the Sylvans like Kredevel were related to this long-gone Everair race in any way. Unless they were descendants, or offshoots, or something like that. Maybe the System just termed similar abilities possessed by completely different beings the same thing. Ray cleared another thorny barrier of old wood before coming to a stop. There were the monsters. As soon as he had crushed the wood aside with a Shatterclaw, half a dozen hisses slithered over to him. Ray wasn¡¯t at all surprised to see small chicken-sized monsters littering the area. A dusting of dirty white feathers, snouts that looked more like beaks with serrated teeth, they had the whole Jurassic Park package. The strangest thing, though, was that some of them were already dead. Ray couldn¡¯t wonder about it for long as the monsters attacked. There wasn¡¯t a ton of danger. The monsters were fast, and they were indeed agile in the air, but Ray simply flew straight up with his Soaring Wings. It turned out that these little creatures were weak enough that even Chaos Chymify was enough to kill them with one shot. Wild. The level difference between him and the creatures here had to be huge. Which was proven true when Ray finished summarily ending them all. [Enemy Defeated¡ªRaptor] Tier 2 Monster: Raptor [Level 2] x4 Tier 2 Monster: Raptor [Level 1] x2 Essence: +200 Knowledge: +18 Mana Restored: +100 Essence to next level: 3,910/5,000 [Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 50-point threshold, your Knowledge has raised your Intellect by 10. Knowledge to next Threshold: 51/100 There was another notice for Lifeblood Crucible activation, but Ray dismissed it. There was nothing these Raptors had that could be better than the Soul Aspects he already possessed. More interestingly, he had crossed another Reputation threshold. A quick peek at his status confirmed that the original 5-point boost to his Intellect had been replaced with 10. Excellent. That was when he heard it. A scream. A very human scream. More people. People who were in trouble. Despite his wariness, Ray rushed in. Chapter 12: Other Survivors Weirdly, Maya was both ready and not at all prepared for when the world decided to completely turn on its head. She would be forty in a couple of months, and she rightfully believed she had seen just about everything life had to throw at her. But a gigantic tower claiming the entire city¡ªand later, the entire state, maybe even the entire country for all she knew¡ªhad walloped her estimations. When she bad been punted into the Tower of Forging, she had thought she had been living through a very vivid dream. It wouldn¡¯t have been something new. But then, other people had arrived in her ¡°tutorial zone¡±. Other people usually didn¡¯t barge into her dreams. Especially not people she knew. Especially not Carlo. Well, Carlo was dead now, as were about half the others she had come to know in that monster-infested dead forest on the mountainside. She was left with just Randall and Dory. They were basically kids compared to her. College age, or thereabouts. They were depending on her, especially now that everyone else who had been with them hadn¡¯t survived. They were counting on her. She might not be with her actual kid anymore¡ªno, she was not worrying about her family¡ªbut she couldn¡¯t fail these two. ¡°Keep running.¡± Maya was huffing. The other two weren¡¯t doing much better. They were being chased for too long. ¡°We¡¯ll lose them.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t keep going like this,¡± Dory said. The younger woman would have been at the very back of their little trio, but Maya held the backline. Her class was the only one that could stand toe-to-toe with those monsters. Vanguard was a Common class, but still Tier 2, compared to the Tier 1 Summoner and Tracker that Dory and Randall had taken up. ¡°You can,¡± Randall said, even though he had to gulp in exhaustion as he kept running. ¡°We have to. For everyone else.¡± Maya nodded grimly, trying not to let the sweat rolling down her face distract her. She really wasn¡¯t built for this kind of thing, but the stats of the mysterious System were helping. The chittering cries of the Raptors got too close. Maya yelled out a warning at the other two to continue on. She pulled out her shield as she turned, ready to hold her ground as long as she could. If nothing else, she could give her companions the opportunity to run. They might have killed a few of the monsters before, but they had been lucky not to face too many at once. No way could they take on a horde of at least twenty at the same time. But she could at least hold them off for a while. That was what her Ascension Class was built for. Randall and Dory came to stand on either side of her. ¡°The hell are you two doing?¡± she yelled. ¡°Get out of here!¡± ¡°We¡¯re not leaving you,¡± Randall said. Dory nodded. She just looked relieved at not having to run anymore. ¡°Three of us together stand a better chance than any of us alone.¡± Maya was about to argue, but the ugly little dinosaurs bounded in. So many. Her heart started hammering hard. Were they going to survive this? She froze when the dark angel landed. Black wings. Inky, brooding power. There was something strange about his appearance. Like she couldn¡¯t really make out his form, and if she looked at him from an angle instead of straight on, he would just disappear. Amazingly, even the feathered, bipedal monsters were shocked by his sudden appearance. For just a second, they were frozen too. The angel took full advantage. With one powerful swipe of his arm, several slashes of reddish black energy ripped through the air in front of him, cutting down most of the monsters in one blow. ¡°Ah, crap, I missed a couple.¡± The voice untethered Maya from her state of surprise. He sounded so normal. The juxtaposition of that voice and the dark-clad figure just unmoored her from the whole situation. Pretty soon, the last monster was dead. Their saviour turned around, smiling warmly. ¡°You guys alright?¡±
With the Raptors dead, Ray reviewed his System notifications only because he got a new achievement. [Enemy Defeated¡ªRaptor] Tier 2 Monster: Raptor [Level 2] x5 Tier 2 Monster: Raptor [Level 1] x5 Essence: +300 Knowledge: +30 Mana Restored: +150 Essence to next level: 4,210/5,000 [New Personal Achievement¡ªSaviour!] You¡¯ve saved your first living beings! A hero is always needed in these desperate times. Reward
  • Reputation: +15 Benevolent, +15 Heroic
Ray had already figured that certain Reputation types gave him bonuses to certain stats. But if there were stuff like Benevolence and Heroism involved, he would need to find out just what bonuses they granted him. Pushing away his notifications, Ray turned to smile at the first people he had seen since entering the Tower. ¡°You guys alright?¡± The middle-aged woman with frizzy hair and dark brown skin in front, wearing hardened leather leggings and a plain steel helm and breastplate, sank to the ground. ¡°We are now.¡± ¡°Thanks a lot for that,¡± the other woman said. Her garb was a robe like his, but plainer. She was young, younger than Ray too, most likely. As was the man in their little group. ¡°No clue if we would have survived that¡­¡± ¡°Of course, we¡¯d have survived that,¡± the man said, somewhat indignantly. Then he grimaced at the dead Raptors. ¡°Just maybe not with all our limbs intact.¡± ¡°Since we¡¯re all fine,¡± Ray said, looking over his new companions, ¡°more or less, let¡¯s finish clearing the dungeon. I don¡¯t want to stay here any longer than I have to. Sound good?¡± After a moment, the trio all nodded. They all got going. As they travelled along, they exchanged their stories. Their names were Maya, Dory, and Randall. Ray wasn¡¯t certain he¡¯d remember them, especially since he didn¡¯t really intend to stick with them for long. Not after he learned their main goals wasn¡¯t to complete the First Floor¡¯s main Objective. ¡°You don¡¯t want to climb to the top of the Tower?¡± Ray asked, trying not to sound a little dumbfounded. ¡°The Tower?¡± Randall shook his head like he was stupefied by Ray¡¯s question. ¡°We need food first. And shelter.¡± The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. They came across another clump of monsters then. The raptors were fearless. It didn¡¯t matter that there was a group of significantly larger Denizens who had clearly massacred their fellows. They would come rushing in for the kill. Ray stood back this time. Another thing he had discovered was that his new companions were weak. Their levels were less than half of his. They needed the Essence a lot more. It felt a smidge scummy, but he had peeked at their statuses with Presence of the Primordial. [Presence of the Primordial] Maya Volta [Denizen] Class: Vanguard [Uncommon] [Tier 2] Skills: Shield Wall [Tier 1]: Use your shield to protect yourself and allies behind you. While your shield is up, you are immune to Knockback, Stun, and similar afflictions so long as they are at or below this skill¡¯s Tier. Counter Strike [Tier 2]: Rebuff an attack with your shield, before launching a vicious blow. Has a high potential to apply Knockback or Stun. Tier of afflictions are at skill¡¯s Tier. Rallying Cry [Tier 1]: Infuse yourself and your allies with Mana to wash away all weariness. Randall Dorn [Denizen] Class: Tracker [Common] [Tier 1] Skills: Basic Trapping Craft [Tier 1]: Your innate talent to craft trapping implements and materials from anything shines bright. Creations are at the skill¡¯s Tier. Gutting Blow [Tier 1]: Apply a low strike to a trapped foe to apply severe Bleed at the Tier of this skill. Bleed drains foes of all health over time, the rate of which is determined by the Bleed¡¯s Tier. Entrap [Tier 2]: Craft an instantaneous bind that holds your foe in place, so long as your foe cannot overpower the trap. At Tier 2, this skill holds foes still for 10 seconds. Tracker¡¯s Mark [Tier 1]: Apply a mark on a target. Wherever this target goes, you can now track it. Camouflage [Tier 1]: Camouflage yourself for a moment so that foes with basic perception fail to see you. At Tier 1, the duration of the camouflage is 30 seconds. Dory Michaels [Denizen] Class: Summoner [Common] [Tier 1] Spells: Summon [Tier 2]: Call up a summons to serve your will. Summoned creatures are at the spell¡¯s Tier. Summoner¡¯s Call [Tier 1]: Call out to your vicinity to grant you the energy to fight off your foes yourself. Bestiary [Tier 1]: Learn about any creature that enters your vicinity. Last Burst [Tier 1]: Grant your summons a final burst of energy to carry on, should their health fall below a certain threshold. Interesting how their garb aligned with their classes. Maya had her metal armour, Dory was dressed in a long, monk-like robe, and Randall had a light leather tunic that reminded Ray of Robin Hood. He wondered if any of that boosted their stats or abilities. And he definitely wondered what kind of Reputation Points they had. Too bad Ray¡¯s spell didn¡¯t reveal those. Their skills weren¡¯t too bad. In fact, they actually worked well together. Dory¡¯s summons was a strange bird with fiery wings that could distract the monsters. Meanwhile, Randall could summon instantaneous traps to lock the Raptors in place. Both of which allowed Maya to rush in and kill the monsters with her sword. She didn¡¯t even use a skill half the time. Her innate Strength stat was high enough. Interesting that, despite possessing the higher Tier class, she had the fewest skills. Huh. With the monsters dead, Randall turned back to him. ¡°But yeah, as I was saying, we need to survive first, don¡¯t we?¡± Ray supposed that made sense. But to him, survival went hand-in-hand with climbing the Tower of Forging. ¡°You seriously beat a Tier 7 tutorial?¡± Dory asked, eyes widening in awe. ¡°That¡¯s pretty insane, dude. We were all in a Tier 2 tutorial zone. A Tier 7 one would probably have wiped us out in less than an hour.¡± Yeah, no kidding, considering how too many Raptors gave them trouble. ¡°Wait a second,¡± he said. ¡°You said you were all in the same dungeon? As in, all three of you.¡± ¡°There were more of us.¡± Maya, the oldest of the group, grimaced. ¡°But most of them didn¡¯t make it. The monsters there¡­ those Wind Sprites were something else.¡± ¡°How many in total?¡± ¡°We had eight in our group.¡± ¡°A Tier 2 tutorial taking out that many¡­¡± The other three looked rather despondent. Ray supposed he shouldn¡¯t have spoken that last bit out loud. They had survived this far. That was a positive. Though, to be fair, it wasn¡¯t a bad thing he had said it. If things continued in this manner, they wouldn¡¯t be alive for long. ¡°How did you survive a Tier 7 tutorial zone?¡± Maya asked. Ray thought back to everything he had gone through in the caves. ¡°That¡¯s a bit of a long story. But the basic summary is that I got a powerful Path, and I took advantage of that. I suppose I was a bit lucky I got the Path I did.¡± ¡°A Path?¡± Randall asked. ¡°It¡¯s something some people get,¡± Maya said. ¡°Andrew had one, though I don¡¯t know what or how strong his one was.¡± That must have been one of those in their group who had died. Her blue eyes sharpened on Ray. ¡°But it looks like if you get a good one, it can be super helpful.¡± ¡°It definitely can,¡± Ray confirmed. Dory came to a halt. ¡°Speaking of paths¡­¡± More twisted branches and thorns formed a barricade in front of them. But when Ray cleared it, the thicket just kept going. And going. And¡­ ¡°I think we need to find a new route,¡± Ray said after his third Shatterclaw. ¡°Hey.¡± Maya had cleared a different patch of brambles to reveal a section of twisted branches that formed what suspiciously looked like a tunnel through the branches. ¡°I think we can take this.¡± As they continued their journey, walking carefully on the uneven surface of the wooden branch, they continued talking. ¡°Kind of jealous of the powers you got, Ray,¡± Randall said. He laughed a little nervously. ¡°It¡¯s kind of weird I even managed to survive this far with the skills I have, but whatever, I guess.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t sell yourself short, Randall,¡± Maya said. ¡°Your skills are absolutely useful.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Dory said. ¡°It¡¯s what we¡¯re counting on!¡± Ray looked between the three of them. ¡°Oh? How¡¯s that?¡± They explained their plan going forward. Ray was relieved to note that at least they had a plan, instead of bumbling around and surviving any way they could. It gave him some hope. Randall talked about his Tracker¡¯s Mark skill like Ray didn¡¯t already know about it. Ray kept his face very neutral. If Randall imbued anything with a bit of his Mana via that skill, he could tell where the bearer of his Mark was no matter where they went. He would pair it with Dory¡¯s summoned bird to scout for other people nearby. ¡°My Mark is transferrable,¡± he said. Dory nodded. ¡°I can order my little bird to only touch another human. My summon can lead us to wherever it transferred the Mark.¡± That was pretty smart, though Ray could already poke some holes in it. ¡°What if the Mark transfers to a corpse?¡± ¡°I specified a living person.¡± ¡°Oh, okay. Well, what if it transfers to someone¡­. less than ideal?¡± They didn¡¯t have an immediate answer for that. The concern was legitimate. In this world that had taken over their old one, in this Tower where people had incredible, formerly-unbelievable power at the tips of their fingers, where lives could be spent far more easily than before, they could very well end up in the presence of unsavoury humans. ¡°We thought about that,¡± Maya eventually said. ¡°And we do have a contingency for that. But¡­ we¡¯re willing to brave that risk.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the contingency?¡± Ray asked. ¡°I ordered my summon to only look for people in groups of three or more,¡± Dory said. ¡°We figured people who¡¯re working together are less likely to be violent psychopaths.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ so that¡¯s why you missed me.¡± ¡°I know it¡¯s not ideal,¡± Maya said. ¡°But we won¡¯t know until we try and find out for ourselves.¡± Ray eventually nodded. It wasn¡¯t perfect. But until they could be sure they could take care of themselves, until they were strong enough to fend for themselves like Ray, it was better to find people they could trust and stick together. ¡°I¡¯m guessing you¡¯re going to head out to capture one of the monsters for yourself so you can go up the Tower?¡± Randall asked. Ray nodded. ¡°I will yeah.¡± He winced. ¡°Although, I need to figure out how to catch a Brighthorn without killing it so I can drag it to the Handler.¡± ¡°The Handler?¡± Ray explained how he had met one of the Sylvans and the information he had learned. He sighed. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure they expect most of us to fail.¡± Dory shook her head, eyes screwing up in anger. ¡°Then all the more reason not to go along with this dumb shit. We¡¯ve got lives to live. People to find. I¡¯m not trying to just survive. I want to know where my mom and dad were sent, and some of my friends too. They could be dead for all I know.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Randall said, sharing her anger. ¡°I don¡¯t know who this System thinks it is, but it can¡¯t just rip us from our lives and expect us all to adapt to this new shithole it put us in. Like, what the fuck, dude? This whole thing is insane.¡± Ray had to admit, if he took too long to think about things, everything was completely topsy-turvy. But sitting here, getting angry, and thinking too hard wasn¡¯t going to get anything accomplished. They halted when the thick branch came to a sudden end. Or rather, it continued ahead, after a wide break in the middle. Since the branch had been gently ascending all the while, they couldn¡¯t easily risk jumping cross it. Especially not when a gaggle of Raptors waited at the far bottom like piranhas on the hunt. ¡°The hell?¡± Dory stared at the gap like it had personally offended her. ¡°We can¡¯t fly.¡± She blinked, apparently coming to the realization that she wasn¡¯t correct. ¡°Actually¡­¡± Ray summoned his Soaring Wings. ¡°I can fly.¡± He was curious if he could bear all of them across with him at the same time. What was the total weight his wings could bear? It turned out that Ray could carry only one of them at a time with him. This was especially hard with Maya, considering her armour added a not insignificant amount of weight. Still. Ray eventually got them all across the gap without trouble. He thought he almost heard the monsters far below whine in disappointment. ¡°Yeah, go eat shit,¡± Randall said, flipping the Raptors off with his middle finger like he had personally saved them all. They moved on. If the monsters followed through some other path, Ray¡¯s group found no indication. After a while, the branch came to an end and they were walking on the ground again. They reached a large chamber, beyond which the tangle of twisted trees gave way to an opening that revealed the rest of the world again. Clearly, they had reached the end of the dungeon. But there was one problem standing before them. A Raptor that was clearly the final boss of this little adventure. It was resting on its side in the middle of the chamber ahead. Though its eyes were fixed on them, it didn¡¯t seem inclined to attack. But there was no doubt they¡¯d have to beat the monster to finish the dungeon. ¡°Uh, is it me, or is that thing as big as a car?¡± Dory asked. Randall swallowed. ¡°It¡¯s definitely not you.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Ray said. Presence of the Primordial indicated it was the same Tier of monster as the others, just at level 7 instead of 1 or 2. ¡°If you work together, you should be able to handle it.¡± All three of them turned to look at him. The question was quite evident. Wasn¡¯t he going to help? ¡°I¡¯ll jump in if things get too hairy.¡± Ray was smiling in encouragement at them, but he wondered if it looked too evil. ¡°Now go and have a crack at it.¡± With no small amount of trepidation, they strode ahead, Maya leading the group with her shield up. The Raptor got to its feet and roared. Then it lunged at them. Chapter 13: A Vendor in The Tower Ray wished he had some popcorn. It would have been a nice addition since he was spectating the fight up ahead. The trio were not finding their new adversary easy at all. Not compared to the monsters they had been fighting in the rest of the dungeon. ¡°Watch out!¡± Dory called. The Raptor had rammed its head against Maya¡¯s shield, the power behind its blow overpowering the woman and sending her sprawling back. It was immediately about to follow up with a lunging bite. That was what had prompted Dory¡¯s rather unnecessary warning. But then the monster froze. Randall had used his trapping skill. Thin golden threads had popped to life all over the creature, locking it in place. Just long enough for Maya to get out of the way. The Raptor broke free seconds later, turning its attention to Randall. Unlike Maya, he had precious little to protect himself with. That was when Dory¡¯s summons swooped in. The flame-winged bird-of-prey scratched at the Raptor¡¯s face, quickly dodging away when the monster tried to clamp its jaws around its much smaller cousin. The distraction allowed Maya to get a blow in. It joined the half-dozen other slashes she had left on the monster¡¯s flank. In that manner, the fight went on for a while. Bit by bit, the trio was wearing down the Raptor¡¯s health. It helped that early on in the fight, Randall had used Gutting Blow to set off a Bleed status on the Raptor, which steadily kept reducing its health. The whole battlefield was littered with red stains. Ray was impressed by their doggedness and how well they held themselves together. He also thought it was rather lucky the big Raptor hadn¡¯t called in a horde of its smaller versions as reinforcements. At times, it did get a little hairy. Ray was tempted to jump in when the Raptor kicked out and left a deep gash on Maya¡¯s arm. At another point, the monster veered off and rammed into Dory, throwing her back. She didn¡¯t get up, clutching her midsection in pain. Possibly a broken rib or two. Thankfully, the other two had managed to head off the monster before it landed a killing blow. Plus, they all had some amount of Recovery to reduce the impact of any damage they received. Finally, the trio executed a nice combo to kill off the Raptor. After trapping it for an instant again, Maya had been able to block the Raptor for a second and get off a Counter Strike. This stunned the creature enough that all three had been able to attack at once. Randall with his Gutting Blow, Maya with a heavy, jumping attack, and even both Dory and her summons attacking together. [Dungeon Cleared¡ªEverair Traversal Park III] Rewards
  • 1 Tier Point
  • Feathered Armband: Raises Agility by 5
  • +300 Essence
  • Reputation: +5 Cunning, +5 Cooperative
[Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 25-point threshold, your Cunning now adds additional 5% critical chance with every attack. At 5% critical chance, approximately every twentieth attack will be a critical hit. A critical hit triples damage and hastens the proc of any associated afflictions. [New Personal Achievement¡ªNo ¡°I¡± in Team!] You have worked together with others of your kind to accomplish an objective. United you stand, divided you may also stand, but with some more effort. Reward
  • Reputation: +15 Cooperative
Ah, interesting. Despite not being an official member of Maya¡¯s party, Ray had still received that achievement for cooperating. For now, he put the extra Tier point into Primal Summons. ¡°Whew.¡± Dory wiped off the sweat on her forehead, still clutching her stomach as she sat down roughly. The others followed suit, clearly relieved that it was over. Ray clapped as he walked over. ¡°Great job! Now, anybody want this armband? My accessory list is already full.¡±
They decided to rest once they were outside the dungeon through that rear exit behind the area with the large Raptor. There, as they finally took some time to rest up, Ray learned that they had all received slightly different gear rewards. Maya had gotten greaves. ¡°This is going to make walking a bit more of a pain¡­¡± She did accept Ray¡¯s new armband, just to help offset that. Randall had gotten new boots that silenced his footsteps while Maya had received an improved staff over the one she currently used. All in all, a decent haul for the trio. Ray hadn¡¯t received anything of note, but his expectations had been low to begin with. After everything he had had received in a Tier 7 tutorial zone, he hadn¡¯t expected a Tier 3 dungeon to provide him much. Even the Essence from the monsters Maya¡¯s group had killed was divided among all three of them evenly. In other words, if Ray had officially joined their party, then he would have received even less Essence. His growth was already too stunted. He needed to find a more secure way of advancing quickly. ¡°Well, one dungeon down.¡± Maya looked at her younger companions with a glint of pride in her eyes. ¡°We¡¯ve got some levels, so now we should be able to clear up even more.¡± The other two shared her growing enthusiasm. Ray smiled. Despite the fact that their earlier group had been decimated, these three had been determined to forge on, and with a little bit of help from him, they were succeeding. It was nice to see. Proper rest included some decent sleep, so they decided to get some shuteye in while each of them took turns keeping watch. Ray understood that, even if he didn¡¯t want to stay in a party, there were definite benefits of being in a group versus being alone. Maybe what he needed was some way to get the best of both worlds. Ray also learned a little bit about the others. When he was about to hand over watch duty to Dory, he struck up a little conversation as sleep lulled him in. He learned that both Dory and Randall were seniors, the former at UWM and the latter at UW-Whitewater. Or had been, before everything had ended. Dory had been looking forward to graduating and starting her real job, while Randall just wanted a break from studying. But it was Maya who had it the hardest. ¡°She¡¯s strong,¡± Dory said fondly. ¡°Despite getting separated from her family, she¡¯s trudging on, doing everything she can to keep us safe. I don¡¯t know if I¡¯d have been able to keep going in her place.¡± Maya had a kid and a husband. She had no idea where either of them was. None of them knew each other. In fact, not all of them were even from Milwaukee. Maya was actually from Chicago. It seemed the System hadn¡¯t cared about past locations or allegiances and placed them all in random starting tutorial zones. ¡°Maybe she wants to get back to her family more than anything,¡± Ray said. ¡°Yeah maybe,¡± Dory smiled at Maya¡¯s sleeping form. ¡°And I¡¯ll make sure that happens.¡± Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The next ¡°day¡±¡ªthere didn¡¯t seem to be any actual day-night cycles inside the Tower of Forging¡ªthey got a move on. Maya and her group wanted to see if they could find and tackle one of the Brighthorns now, especially if they were in a larger group. That had been their first encounter with the monsters, which was what had driven them away to get stronger in a dungeon. ¡°But won¡¯t your pet bird lose us if we move?¡± Randall asked. Dory and Randall had also enacted their plan to find other people. The little firebird was already off, Randall¡¯s Mark riding upon it. As soon as it found more humans, it would transfer the Mark and allow the trio to track down their new targets. ¡°It¡¯s magic, Randall,¡± Dory said, with a swish of her hair. ¡°My bird can find me no matter where I go. Although, its search radius will change if I move, so there is that.¡± ¡°That¡¯s also something I¡¯m concerned about. What if we¡¯re moving away from other people?¡± ¡°We¡¯re all heading in the same direction.¡± Ray pointed to the spire rising into the sky in the distance. ¡°And I have a feeling a lot of people will be heading towards that too. So if anything, you¡¯re more likely to run across people than less.¡± Satisfied with that, they got going. It was a bit sad they didn¡¯t have any sort of guidance for any specific locations to head towards. There was that central tower, sure. But what if they wanted to find another dungeon? What about a spot where those dark, sinuous trees grew and might hold a Mana fruit? How about a body of water? Ray¡¯s old Map Fragment was only good for the tutorial zone, but could they somehow find something similar for the First Floor? They resolved to keep an eye out. As it was, they still managed to reach one of the little groves of dark trees within a few hours. They spotted other monsters here and there, though nothing attacked or was close enough to consider defeating to gain some Essence. ¡°Look, we got some of those alien mutts too,¡± Randall said, pointing out where a group of five Brighthorns were patrolling the lone tree with the Mana fruit. Ray smiled at his new friends. ¡°I¡¯ll let you guys take this one again.¡± They looked dubious about that, just as they had in the dungeon, but they didn¡¯t argue back. And like in the dungeon, they were successful. Sure, they had to work for it, but after some careful execution of their teamwork, they had killed all the Brighthorns and taken the Mana fruit. It wasn¡¯t just their stats and skills improving with every level. They were also getting a lot better at working together. Every encounter they had, every opportunity that involved them combining their various skills, kept raising their ability to cooperate. They were turning into a well-drilled machine. ¡°You think it¡¯ll have the same effect even if we cut it up?¡± Maya asked, holding up the bright blue fruit sceptically. ¡°No idea,¡± Ray said. ¡°But it is a fruit, so¡­¡± It turned the fruit¡¯s power did indeed decrease if one consumed less of it. But that was still strong. Ray received one quarter, and he felt like he¡¯d had the old, dried version in the Marauder¡¯s Caves instead of the fresh one. Good enough. The same infusion of shivering energy coursed through him, relieving all his fatigue and slowly-building hunger and thirst. ¡°We¡¯ll need to secure a supply of these,¡± Maya said. Dory licked her lips like she couldn¡¯t get enough of the taste. ¡°I would definitely not say no to more of these Mana fruits.¡± ¡°Unless we find a way to grow other kinds of food,¡± Randall said. Ray looked around. The ground still looked pretty dead. But then, he was definitely no expert on soil fertility. ¡°Good luck on finding a farmer.¡± After taking some time to rest, they got going again. Their next target was either more people or another dungeon, whichever they reached first. But what they came across turned out to be neither. In fact, it was new even for Ray. ¡°Hello there!¡± the creature said, waving a short, stubby arm at them. ¡°Yes, you all! I¡¯m waving at you, yes. Please, come over. Virko the Halftyr¡¯s Emporium is open for business!¡± Ray sent out a few pulses of Lifeblood Sense. There were no other living beings in the vicinity except for this Virko. ¡°A merchant?¡± Dory hissed. ¡°Is this normal?¡± ¡°Pretty sure all our ideas of normal are way too warped by now,¡± Randall said. Ray started walking towards Virko. ¡°Let¡¯s go see if there¡¯s anything interesting we can find.¡± The others followed suit. [Warning!] Presence of the Primordial has been blocked by Galgatium Locket of the Void and Trade Secrets [Tier 17]. ¡°Jesus Christ,¡± Ray muttered. A Tier 17 ability? Also, what in the world was Galgatium? Sounded like a new material. Maya looked at him sharply, especially since his gait had slowed. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°This guy is loaded. I can¡¯t tell how strong he is, but I can say for certain he¡¯s got powerful items and gear with him.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound good.¡± ¡°Come, come!¡± Virko beckoned them all again. For a small guy, he definitely had a deep voice. ¡°I assure you, I pose no danger. Only opportunity!¡± ¡°I¡¯m all of a sudden not very sure of things,¡± Ray said. ¡°So be careful.¡± Virko reminded Ray of fauns. Or maybe satyrs. He wasn¡¯t sure what the difference was, but one of those goat-legged mythological beings with horns coming out of their heads. The only difference was that Virko was short. The top of his horn barely came up to Ray¡¯s chest. The merchant was also very well dressed. He wore a white silken tunic that was embroidered with silver, with a golden belt cinching it at Virko¡¯s waist. This guy was rich. ¡°Welcome again.¡± Virko smiled at them all like his dinner had just walked in and presented itself for his consumption. He waved a hand at the floating carpet next to him, which was filled to the brim with various odds and ends. ¡°Come take a look. I¡¯ve got the finest of nearly anything you could need. Provided you can afford it, of course.¡± ¡°Who are you?¡± Ray asked. Randall stepped up as well. ¡°What are you?¡± They all stared at him. ¡°What? It¡¯s a valid question!¡± Virko laughed shortly. It sounded almost like a bleat. ¡°I am a Halftyr. My original home is on Setsetayne-8, but now I¡¯m here, hoping to start a business on a new Tower. So please, avail yourself of my wares.¡± Ray wasn¡¯t sure that answered any of his actual questions, but he got the feeling that was the best he was going to get. ¡°How much for this?¡± Maya asked. She had pulled up a sword that looked like a stylized question mark, like one of those Egyptian khopesh. Ray blinked. It was pretty similar to the one Kredevel had used. ¡°Good choice! It¡¯s one of the prized heirlooms of the fifty-third regiment leader of the mythic Sylvan company, Golden Teeth. I think I can part with it for a very reasonable seven hundred and thirty Mana crystals.¡± He held out his hand like they could conjure up the required Mana crystals at a moment¡¯s notice. ¡°Mana crystals?¡± Maya asked. ¡°We¡¯ve got none of those. Are you open to bartering?¡± ¡°No Mana crystals?¡± Now Virko looked like someone had popped his birthday balloon. ¡°None at all? My, that¡¯s quite tragic. Aren¡¯t you aware that Mana crystals are the currency we use in our economy?¡± ¡°We¡¯re kind of new to all this,¡± Dory said. ¡°Hmm, I suppose you are new Denizens¡­¡± Ray smiled. ¡°No discounts for the poor, new Denizens who are way in over their heads?¡± Virko pulled on a regretful expression. ¡°I¡¯m afraid the cheapest thing I can part with will cost ten mana crystals. But since you have none, there is nothing I can do. However, perhaps we can meet again when you¡¯ve accumulated some wealth for yourselves.¡± Maya let the sword drop back on the carpet. If she was dejected by the fact that she wouldn¡¯t be able to purchase anything, she didn¡¯t show it. Instead, she offered Virko a smile filled with promise. ¡°Sure, I don¡¯t see why we can¡¯t do business later.¡± Randall eyed the pile of goods on the carpet with shifty eyes. Maybe he was thinking of taking something without Virko noticing. Thankfully, Dory bonked him on the head with her hand to make sure he didn¡¯t do anything stupid. Ray cleared his throat to make sure the merchant¡¯s eyes were on him. ¡°What¡¯s the thing you can sell us for ten Mana crystals?¡± Virko rummaged in the pile on his carpet and pulled out a little disc. For a second, Ray wondered if it was some kind of Talisman. Then he noticed there was a short chain extending out from the grey disc. A locket. ¡°This is a catalyst for Sorcerers,¡± Virko said. ¡°Pretty good, I¡¯d say, for Tier 1. It¡¯s got the special ability to raise the power of any spell if you raise the volume with which you cast it.¡± Interesting. So that confirmed what he had been suspecting already. Different spellcasting classes needed different kinds of catalysts to use their spells. Ray, as an Arcanist, had his Talismans. Dory used a Staff as a Summoner. Now it turned out Sorcerers needed¡­ a Locket? A Charm? Whatever it was, it apparently required the Sorcerer to actually call out the name of the spell. That seemed like a bit of a handicap, considering the name might give an intelligent opponent an easier time of coming up with a counter. But all that was besides the point. ¡°You¡¯re a merchant, right Virko?¡± Ray said, ignoring the catalyst. ¡°A businessman. That means you surely buy things from others in return for Mana crystals, yes?¡± Virko¡¯s eyes were definitely on him now. Evaluating. Critical. ¡°Do you have something to sell to me? Something worth purchasing?¡± ¡°It¡¯s worth a look, at least.¡± Ray pulled out the Golden Ancient Golem Greaves from his Dimensional Bag. Virko had a really good poker face, but Ray could detect the slightest hint of want in the Halftyr¡¯s posture. ¡°What do you think of this? It¡¯s Tier 5. Got a very interesting power too. Invulnerability, even if it¡¯s limited, is worth a look, right?¡± Virko made a show of inspecting it. ¡°So this is why you wanted to know what I had for sale for ten Mana crystals. To make sure I don¡¯t scam you.¡± He grinned at Ray, revealing a couple of teeth that were entirely golden. ¡°Smart.¡± ¡°Since these are Tier 5, I want a hundred Mana crystals for them. Fifty per boot. I think that¡¯s a fair enough deal.¡± ¡°Do you really think I¡¯m going to pay a hundred Mana crystal for just a pair of Tier 5 boots?¡± ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll cut down my asking price. But one condition. You tell me everything I want to know. In return, I¡¯ll give you both boots for fifty crystals. Sound good?¡± Virko stared at him like he was calculating the price of whatever information he could divulge in his disproportionately large head. ¡°There are certain things I simply can¡¯t tell you.¡± Ray chucked him one of the boots. It was kind of satisfying seeing the guy struggle with the weight. ¡°You got one boot. You¡¯ll get the other if I¡¯m satisfied.¡± There was so much Ray could have asked. His mind pulled him in a dozen different directions. True Mana, Paragons, Tower Nodes, more about the Sylvans, the First Floor¡¯s main objective, and so on. But he understood that he had to be careful. The questions he asked would reveal almost as much about him to Virko as he could learn from the merchant. And if Ray could buy intel off Virko, then so could anyone else on the Floor. Including the Sylvans. In other words, Ray needed to prioritize what sort of things he ought to ask for. But before he could get going, a loud chirp sounded high above them. Seconds later, the firebird landed on Dory¡¯s shoulder, where she scratched its beak affectionately. ¡°My Mark,¡± Randall said, sounding both excited and anxious. ¡°It¡¯s still on the bird.¡± ¡°It hasn¡¯t transferred?¡± Ray asked. ¡°What does that mean?¡± Dory looked up from her summons with a hint of fear. ¡°That means, for whatever reason, it¡¯s not safe to transfer the Mark.¡± ¡°Still,¡± Maya said, a little breathlessly. Expectantly. ¡°We¡¯ve found them.¡± Ray looked in the direction the bird had flown in from. Closer to the central tower. That¡¯s where they would find more of their kind. Chapter 14: Grim Discovery Ray and the others internally decided not to discuss too much in front of the merchant. It was the same concern he¡¯d had earlier. Best to give Virko as little information about themselves as possible. Stepping closer to the merchant, who had maintained a placid expression despite clearly noting away what the group of new Denizens had just said, Ray dangled the other boot. ¡°Alright, time to cough up what you know, rich guy.¡± Virko offered an exaggerated flourish of a bow. Ray wondered if that was normal wherever he came from. ¡°Ask and you shall receive.¡± ¡°You know about the First Floor¡¯s challenge, right?¡± Ray said. ¡°Capturing and bringing one of the Brighthorns to the Floor Lord. This Handler. Is it actually possible to complete the challenge, what with the Brighthorns being so¡­ uncooperative?¡± ¡°That I cannot answer. It depends entirely on a Denizen¡¯s ingenuity and other personal factors. I can confirm that the System would not allow any challenges to be set that couldn¡¯t be completed by at least some Denizens.¡± Well, that was more or less obvious. Someone could just be some sort of Tamer class and tame a Brighthorn to take to the Floor Lord. ¡°Are there any maps of the First Floor?¡± Ray asked next. ¡°A map? The Tower of Forging is far too new for any proper maps. Although, there may be a few cartography expeditions being carried out soon.¡± Ray pulled out the Map Fragment of his tutorial zone. ¡°So this must be pretty valuable.¡± Virko¡¯s eyes widened a little when he understood what that was. His little fingers twitched. ¡°I can pay a decent sum for that.¡± ¡°Sure. But I want some more information. If I wanted to get a specific kind of accessory, is there a way I can find it on the First Floor?¡± ¡°Dungeons. All dungeons have a certain theme or goal, and for many, the rewards they grant are also related to that theme. If you¡¯re targeting anything specific, it could help to find a dungeon that has a theme that¡¯s related to what you want.¡± ¡°Interesting.¡± Ray took a moment to consider what he had just learned. ¡°Now, do you know what the average level of people who complete the First Floor¡¯s challenge is?¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m a merchant, not a statistician, but I will say I¡¯ve dealt with Denizens of up to level 16 on the First Floor.¡± ¡°So, you¡¯ve done this before?¡± Maya asked from the back. ¡°In other Towers.¡± ¡°Of course! I have honed my business acumen across four different Towers now.¡± Four Towers, probably on four other worlds. No wonder he had a Tier 17 ability. That accessory of his had to be really high Tier one too. Ray was not about to ponder just how expensive something like that would be. But level 16¡­ Ray kept his smile to himself. That shouldn¡¯t be impossible, provided he could find a good way to gain more Essence. But to do that, he would need to gain a bit more information. ¡°And what about the dungeons and the monsters?¡± Ray asked. ¡°How strong do they get in Tiers and levels?¡± ¡°Again, I am no connoisseur of clearing dungeons and fighting off the monstrous beasts,¡± Virko said. ¡°But I have purchased loot from a Tier 7 dungeon once, and Tier 6 dungeons I believe five times? For monsters, I have acquired pieces of up to level 19 once or twice.¡± Ray blinked. That was good news. He had been suspecting over the last few days that the First Floor wouldn¡¯t grant him much after his tutorial might have left him a tad overpowered for the challenges present in it. But that assumption might just be false if Virko could be trusted. It sounded like it was more a matter of him finding these stronger monsters and dungeons. Sure, there was likely going to be differences in the Floors of different Towers. If Virko had received a Tier 7 dungeon¡¯s loot only once in all his four Tower jaunts, it could be that only one of them had possessed a Tier 7 dungeon in the first place. In other words, different Towers could possess different challenges and difficulties. ¡°We should get going,¡± Dory whispered. She was worried that the people they had found would move away, which was valid. Although Ray suspected they might be far off enough for that to not matter anyway. It had taken over a day for the bird to find the right target and return. ¡°Alright,¡± Ray said. ¡°One last thing. How strong are the Sylvans who run the challenge in this Tower?¡± Virko¡¯s eyes got a lot more calculating. ¡°Last I heard, the Floor Lord is pushing level 27. That was perhaps two cycles ago? I do know the Sylvans do not intend to remain stagnant in their prowess and will grow stronger in time. Just like any other driven Denizen.¡± ¡°What constitutes a cycle?¡± Randall asked. ¡°What you would call one complete rotation of your world.¡± ¡°Oh okay, so a night and day cycle.¡± The strongest new Denizen Virko reported ever seeing was level 16, and apparently, the Floor Lord of this Tower¡¯s First Floor was over ten levels stronger than that. Ray did his best not to grin. Challenges like that tended to make Ray feel alive like nothing else. They tended to also lead to the chaotic situations his life had been mired with, but this was different. This Tower, this new world and life of his, this would not be the same as his old life. Ray was going to make sure of that. Ray handed over the other boot of the Golden Ancient Golem Greaves and the Map Fragment, receiving three hundred Mana crystals in return. A hefty sum indeed. ¡°Good business,¡± Virko said, smiling unctuously at them. ¡°Remember, if you ever need me again, all you must do is crush a Mana crystal and focus on summoning me. May we meet again in¡ª¡± Ray handed a third of the Mana crystals to Maya. ¡°We¡¯re not done.¡± He smiled at his companions. ¡°I saw you guys checking some stuff out. I think a hundred Mana crystals should cover everything you need. Consider this a loan and suit yourselves up with better gear.¡± Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. A handful of minutes later, well-equipped with some new gear and very thankful to Ray, the trio joined him as they headed off. They continued their trek towards the people found by Dory¡¯s firebird. Ray was curious how she could keep it up for that long so indefinitely. It felt a tad broken. But her explanation helped put things in perspective. ¡°My total Mana is like, halved so long as my summons is up,¡± Dory said. ¡°Ah.¡± Ray pursed. ¡°Not great, if you ask me.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± ¡°If only it could have transferred my Mark,¡± Randall said. ¡°I knew I¡¯d fuck something up.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be hard on yourself,¡± Maya said. ¡°Since the bird didn¡¯t transfer the Mark, it means it couldn¡¯t do so, which also means we should be careful.¡± Dory nodded enthusiastically. ¡°Yeah, exactly. This just means that there¡¯s something going on, which we wouldn¡¯t have known without the Mark, Randall.¡± They were right. Something was going on with those people, and they would do well to be careful once they found their targets. Ray¡¯s assumption also proved to be correct. They were indeed pretty far away, so much so that they came across other monsters and Mana fruit groves. They even found another Tier 3 dungeon. While they ignored the last¡ªtheir priority was finding their target, and a Tier 3 dungeon would take too long while granting minimal rewards¡ªthey made short work of the few Brighthorns guarding the dark trees and more Mana fruits. It was becoming clear the Brighthorns tended to congregate wherever there were Mana fruits, which only seemed to grow from those weird sinuous trees. Ray wondered what exactly was the relationship between the monsters and the Mana fruits. They were yet to come across one of the Brighthorns eating them, so it couldn¡¯t just be food. Unless, of course, the lack of Mana fruits was only because most had been eaten by the Brighthorns. Perhaps, the few that were left were simply being guarded to serve as food for later. Who knew. Ray warned them about the monster deep underground, the one that was easily a lot stronger than any of them. Probably stronger than all of them together. They looked a little terrified that the dark trees might be connected to some chthonic beast. Rightfully so. The monster sensed them clearly, and if it rose, they could all be annihilated. Ray definitely didn¡¯t say that last part out loud, and with a little reassurance, they continued their excursion against the Brighthorns. They had considered coming up with some kind of plan to capture a Brighthorn to complete the main Floor Objective, but none of them had come up with a solid suggestion. Dory had suggested using food as lure, but since it looked like the monster dogs wanted to eat humans more than anything, that plan would be a little hard to execute. ¡°I can¡¯t make complicated traps, and I don¡¯t even know if they¡¯ll be strong enough to hold those things,¡± Randall said. ¡°It¡¯s hard to tell what¡¯s going to work since we¡¯ve got no clue how these Brighthorns even function, other than their general viciousness.¡± True enough. Even Ray¡¯s Presence of the Primordial didn¡¯t provide the kind of information that would have been handy in determining how to capture them alive. Ray was glad to see they could handle the monsters by themselves without too much difficulty now. Maya was especially good. Her class was built for fighting, and she was able to take good advantage of her skills combining with each other to deliver heavy, powerful blows to the Brighthorns, downing them in a few hits. She even levelled up as they were travelling. ¡°You¡¯re pretty good with those,¡± Ray had said at one point, looking appreciatively at the corpse of the Brighthorn at her feet. Maya took off her helmet and wiped away some sweat. Her brown skin had darkened with a flush of exertion, and her frizzy hair stuck to her face. ¡°It¡¯s kind of silly, but my husband and I used to go cosplaying before we had our kid. We even did some HEMA sessions. Weird how it fits here, huh?¡± Ray nodded, smiling. ¡°It¡¯s not silly. It sounds wholesome.¡± She smiled back, though her gaze went unfocused. He wondered how much she was worrying about her family. Could he have continued the way he was doing without driving himself insane with anxiety if he¡¯d had someone to worry about? Probably not. A blessing in disguise, then, that the most concern Ray could muster was a strong hope that his mother had found a good group she could stick with. Dory and Randall lagged a little farther behind and weren¡¯t as adept when it came to fighting. At least they got in a few kills each. Better than nothing. Any Essence was a positive at their level. ¡°What did you used to do?¡± Dory asked as they got going. ¡°Oh, didn¡¯t I mention?¡± Ray said. ¡°I worked at this place called Golden Windows¡ª¡± ¡°No, I meant like, hobbies.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Ray scratched the back of his head. ¡°I didn¡¯t do a ton at home. Some reading, some exercising, and uh¡­ lots of Showdown.¡± He paused, then quickly added, ¡°But I also liked touring some of the buffet places all over the city. I love Maharaja, Fushinami, Jing¡¯s, Casablanca¡ª¡± ¡°Hold up, hold up. Showdown as in Pok¨¦mon Showdown?¡± Ray felt his ears burning. ¡°Look, random battles are spectacularly fun without getting drawn into all the ladders and shit.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what everybody who can¡¯t actually climb the ladders say.¡± Randall joined in on the teasing with a mischievous smile. ¡°If we had computers and internet in this place, I¡¯d have been happy to give you some pointers.¡± Ray smiled and flipped them both off. Maybe it was him, but it felt like they all journeyed a little easier from then on. As though some invisible wall between Ray and the rest of them had been demolished. ¡°Can¡¯t believe it¡¯s taking us this long to find them,¡± Dory said after they had been travelling for another hour or so. ¡°I know we¡¯re not the most populated state ever, but geez.¡± It was a little surprising. But then, nobody stated the more sobering fact. So many of the trio¡¯s original group members had died in just their tutorial. It wasn¡¯t difficult to believe that the total population of people in the Tower of Forging had fallen by a huge amount. Maybe a half, or even more. Ray felt his face turning grim. That didn¡¯t bode well for the survival chances of his mom or anyone else he had known. That didn¡¯t bode well at all. At the end of what felt like that ¡°day¡±, they finally found more people. Ray wasn¡¯t the only one who cursed when they made the discovery. It wasn¡¯t a bright, fun reunion with more of their kind. Maya had been right. There was something terribly wrong. But what they found wasn¡¯t a gang of criminal scum or some other heinous group. This was much worse. The humans Dory¡¯s summon had found were captured. They noted it from a distance, careful not to get too close. Ray had already warned them that creatures here, including the Sylvans who ran the whole show, possessed strong perception abilities. ¡°Binoculars would have been so good here,¡± Randall said as he squinted off into the hazy distance. Ray had gotten close enough to see just enough of what was going on without giving himself or his position away. The others were doing the same, keeping their profiles low so as not to be detected. Yes. Those were people. Strange chains with shimmering links kept the captives bound, the Sylvans walking among them like shepherds herding sheep. ¡°They¡¯ve got some of the monster dogs with them too,¡± Randall muttered. ¡°I don¡¯t like this.¡± Maya made a short sound of distress in her throat. ¡°We need to free them. But¡­¡± ¡°But we don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on,¡± Ray said. ¡°Or if we even should free them.¡± Dory rounded on him. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t we free¡ª¡± ¡°Remember what I said about freeing people you might not want to free?¡± She had no further complaints. ¡°In the end, we need more information about what¡¯s going on,¡± Maya said. ¡°I suppose we can¡¯t just go up and ask.¡± Ray nodded. ¡°We do need to ask, but probably not like that.¡± He thought for a moment, trying to figure out how he would address the issue of their lack of information. They would need to be clever. More importantly, they would need to be prepared in case things went south. This whole saving venture would be pointless if they ended up getting captured too. Something told him those chains were suppressing Mana or something along those lines. Otherwise, why would people capable of powerful skills remain bound like that? ¡°I wonder where they¡¯re taking them,¡± Maya said. ¡°They¡¯re not heading in the direction we were going.¡± That was true. As the procession of captured humans and their Sylvan captors moved on, Ray and the others kept pace at a distance. He wished he could have deciphered the directions more easily. Ray knew he had been at the Tower¡¯s edge and had travelled more or less due straight from that point on. In other words, whichever cardinal direction the Marauder¡¯s Caves had been positioned at, relative to the Tower¡¯s centre, Ray was now headed in the opposite direction. The Sylvans and their captives were travelling essentially perpendicular to him and his group. So if Ray had been journeying due north, his captives were being led eastwards. ¡°What are we going to do?¡± Dory asked. Ray looked over at the woman, saw the bird summon that was resting on her shoulder. He wasn¡¯t an expert in birds, but it looked somewhat like a falcon. Apart from being on fire, of course. ¡°I think I¡¯ve got an idea. But we need to be careful about how we execute it. Here¡¯s what I¡¯m thinking¡­¡± Chapter 15: Versus A Sylvan Ray stood ready. The plan was about to unfold. His heart thudded in his chest. Things could go wrong so easily, but he kept his head focused on one objective only. Getting more information about what was going on. Dory¡¯s summons flitted by. The bird chirped, arrowing straight for the nearest Sylvan who was still distant enough to not have sensed Ray. It didn¡¯t take long before the warnings appeared. [Warning!] Presence of the Primordial indicates your presence has been detected by Total Perception [Tier 2]. Presence of the Primordial has nullified the enemy aura, Sylvan Pride [Tier 2]. If that nullification had made the Sylvan hesitate, the alien showed no evidence of it. Soon enough, Ray could take a peek at what the Sylvan was actually capable of using Presence of the Primordial. [Presence of the Primordial] Kaylithya Kel Twelve-spire [Denizen] Race: Sylvan Path: Path of the Wind Walker [Rare] Class: Acrobat Assaulter [Uncommon] [Tier 3] at Level 16 Skills: Wind Whip [Tier 3]: Craft a whip of compressed air that can slice foes from a distance. At Tier 3, the whips can reach a maximum of 20 meters. Can only be used with a curved sword. Pressure Block [Tier 4]: Pressurize air to create a defensive barrier that can block all attacks up to Tier 4. Can only be used with a bracer. Sylvan Pride [Tier 2]: Aura of astral projection that automatically refills Mana. This Aura manifests in the element of the wielder¡¯s Path, at a radius of 10 meters at Tier 2. Your extended presence will note the aura of other beings in your aura¡¯s vicinity. Total Perception [Tier 2]: Claim absolute detection of any living being within the spell¡¯s vicinity. At Tier 2, the spell¡¯s vicinity extends to 15 meters. Storm Dance [Tier 2]: Unleash a flurry of wind scythes to overwhelm your opponents and leave them at your mercy. Each scything blast of wind has the chance to apply Stun. Tier of Stun is equivalent to the Tier of the skill. Can only be used with a curved sword. Art of the Wind Walker [Tier 1]: Adopt the posture and flightiness of wind to raise your evasion. Your Agility is enhanced greatly. Turbulence Cloak [Tier 1]: Vastly reduces physical damage received by layering a blanket of turbulence over the body. At Tier 1, this blanket is 2 centimetres thick. Okay, wow. That was an interesting list of abilities for sure. The Sylvan even had a Path, unlike any of Ray¡¯s companions. He wondered if all Sylvans had them. That couldn¡¯t be right, though they were clearly a race who were familiar with the System far more than humans who were newbies to it. Maybe it was even genetic for them. Who knew. That might explain the higher Tier of class as well. They could have methods of gaining something like that¡ªand other System stuff¡ªthat humans like Ray didn¡¯t know about. Although, an opponent who was four levels stronger than him¡­ Ray held back his nervous grin. The prospect of a challenging battle was both slightly scary and shiveringly exciting at the same time. That blocking skill was at Tier 4. So much for his Thoroughness bonus of piercing enemy defences a Tier above his spell. He could start using the Mana Infuser ring to boost his Shatterclaw. But that was going to eat up his Mana reserve too quickly if he had to use it a lot. The Sylvan approaching Ray reminded him of Kredevel only in the gangly build, the presence of horns, and the shiny uniform. Where Kredevel¡¯s had been bright purple, this one¡¯s was dark. Almost black. Her face, thin as all Sylvan¡¯s, was grey-green instead of milky pale. Her eyes were dark completely, the pupils separated from the ¡°whites¡± by a burning golden ring. Honestly, if she didn¡¯t look like she wanted to rip out his guts with her bare hand, he would have said she looked pretty cool. ¡°Oh, so we missed one,¡± Kaylithya said. Her voice has a singsong quality to it, melodic enough that Ray would have found it pleasant to listen to in any other situation. ¡°Surrender, little human, and I will make sure to bring you in painlessly.¡± There was one bit of information to tuck away. Whatever the Sylvans were doing, they weren¡¯t so ruthless or inconsiderate as to start attacking him on sight. Or perhaps, this one was just intrigued to see who or what had nullified her aura. ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± Ray said. He was hoping they didn¡¯t have any sort of communication devices. If she called for backup, things would turn a lot hairier. Hopefully, his little insult should offend her pride just enough. ¡°You need me to come quietly? Why? Is it because you can¡¯t take on a little human?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t flatter yourself, puny human. I was simply being kind. But I suppose kindness is lost upon monsters like you. Your kind are all the same. You hardly deserve to be brought in quietly. I am merely adhering to decorum, not that you would understand.¡± Ray frowned. Had the captured group done something to personally offend the Sylvans? What could that have been? ¡°You sound extremely biased against my entire race for some reason. Surely you possess enough reason to understand that painting everyone in the same broad brush is stupid, right? There are exceptions to everything.¡± Kaylithya frowned. ¡°Hounds bite. Moles burrow. Duskshells sprout. Those are truths aligned to an entire species for good reason. In the much the same way, humans murder.¡± Ah. So a Sylvan had likely been murdered. More likely, some sort of conflict had erupted between the group of humans and Sylvans, which had led to the former¡¯s capture. ¡°I am done bandying words with a lowlife such as yourself.¡± The Sylvan drew her sword. Curved, just as her skills needed it to be, just as Kredevel¡¯s had been, tapering to a point. ¡°I will give you one last chance to surrender, human. Otherwise, you will pay with your life.¡± Ray spread his hands non-threateningly. ¡°How about we make a deal?¡± He was trying to think of some way he could gain more information from the Sylvan. They hadn¡¯t found out enough. Since he couldn¡¯t come up with some clever plan off the top of his head, he resorted to best method of improvisation¡ªkeep them talking. ¡°I applaud your audacity in thinking I would ever make a deal with an animal such as yourself,¡± Kaylithya said. Tension made his shoulders itch. He wasn¡¯t at all certain he could take her on in a fight. She had four levels and a better class on him. All her skills were at a higher Tier than most of his too. She also had to have some sort of bonuses and benefits from her equipment, much like the ones Ray enjoyed from his gear. Basically, he was outmatched on paper. But still. The prospect of a fight was making his heart pump harder and harder. Not with fear. With eagerness. Ray realized he wanted to match himself against this Sylvan. The Brighthorns ranging all over the First Floor weren¡¯t a challenge for him, and that underground monster might have been too powerful. But this opponent could be just right. It shook him a little, deep within, to realize that he was looking forward to the battle. What the hell was happening to him? It wasn¡¯t unnatural. He had gotten into fights before, had been fired from a job for it too. Ray wasn¡¯t a fighter. Not literally. But sometimes, when a challenge was begging him for attention, he couldn¡¯t suppress his confrontational side. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Not now. He had to focus on finding out more about what was going on, damn it. ¡°Well, you can at least hear me out,¡± Ray said. ¡°I¡¯m sure that¡¯s part of your decorum, isn¡¯t it?¡± She scowled. Ray almost wanted to laugh. Bull¡¯s eye. ¡°My proposition is this,¡± Ray said. ¡°You let me go. In return, I¡¯ll hand over the people I¡¯ve been accompanying. They¡¯re waiting at the back.¡± Ray flicked a glance behind him, near the little clump of dark, sinuous trees. ¡°I told them we¡¯d get into a fight, and then they could spring a surprise in the middle of it to take you unawares. But now you know, so¡­¡± Kaylithya¡¯s eyes flashed. Suspicion was strong there, but it wasn¡¯t overwhelming. It wasn¡¯t as strong as her distaste. ¡°You truly believe I would need your help to take down you and any other mongrels with you?¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± Ray¡¯s annoyance wasn¡¯t completely feigned. ¡°I¡¯m trying to be helpful here. Whatever everyone else might have done, I don¡¯t deserve to be pulled around like a dog on a leash. You have a ton of those already.¡± That was, apparently, the wrong thing to say. The Sylvan¡¯s eyes flashed with renewed anger, her nostrils flaring like Ray had just called her grandmother a hamster. ¡°No, you don¡¯t deserve to be leashed. You deserve to die.¡± She pointed the tip of her curved sword at his chest. ¡°Last chance, mortal. Come quietly, and I will ensure you¡¯re the last to be fed to a Brighthorn.¡± It was really, really hard not to act shocked just then. So that¡¯s where all the humans were being led to. Brighthorn feeding ground. And the humans were the main course. ¡°Well, I think I¡¯ve learned enough for now,¡± Ray said, squaring his shoulder and preparing for what was to come. The Sylvan recognized his fighting stance. A small smile danced on her lips. Oh, it looked like she was feeling much the same as Ray himself. They both wanted a good fight. Kaylithya launched herself as fast as her class and Path suggested. Her sword slashed in so quickly, its form blurred too hard for Ray to make it out. But time had frozen for a few seconds, thanks to the Ring of Temporal Evasion. He had a tiny window to figure out how he¡¯d be going about. Goliath Eater would have been great here, but was it going to work? 1.5 times his current level 11 was 16.5, not the Sylvan¡¯s exact 16. Did the fucking System round up or down? Up. As time unfroze, Ray tried activating the skill to no avail. He would not have access to Goliath Eater. Well, now this fight was going to be extra interesting. Thankfully, Ray was ready with all the other counters for the Sylvan¡¯s abilities he had in his own arsenal. He summoned up Soaring Wings using Primal Summons as Kaylithya rushed him. Dark energy wreathed his back, the wings erupting into being an instant later, flapping backwards hard to shoot him forward. Ray was fast enough to dodge the sword swing, but not quick enough to evade everything. Even as he edged out of being cut in half, he felt the aura around the Sylvan thickening. A cocoon of ripping, twisting air exploded outwards. One that tore at his raiment and left cuts on his exposed face. It might have shaved off some of his beard too if he hadn¡¯t used Mottling Membrane just then. The sudden barrier staved off some of the Sylvan¡¯s aura from hurting him, though the effect of the sharp, pressurized air still scratched him like an angry cat really didn¡¯t like the cut of his jib. More importantly, his growing barrier of chaotic energy had forced the Sylvan to leap back. Ray didn¡¯t waste a second. He used Occultic Apparition. The reddish black energy coating his back now overtook the rest of him. ¡°Interesting,¡± Kaylithya said. ¡°This is going to be more fun than I thought.¡± ¡°I was going to say the same¡ª¡± Rudely, she didn¡¯t let him finish. Kaylithya attacked again. Ray got off a blast of Chaos Chymify but that was easily stopped by Pressure Block from a silver bracer on the Sylvan¡¯s hand. The skill made the air compress into a translucent shield. He¡¯d have to note its use. The Sylvan¡¯s slash wasn¡¯t difficult to dodge, not when Ray had the Shaper Raiment and Occultic Apparition on. Even when she used Wind Whip to lash out at him Ray managed to evade without difficulty. She couldn¡¯t target him properly so long as he kept moving. His newest spell was doing great at making it hard to perceive Ray¡¯s form. Problem was, Ray couldn¡¯t land a blow either. He experimented with Shatterclaw a couple of times. The first time, she blocked it with no trouble. Then the second time, she just dodged into his attack, seeking to land a stab with her curved sword. Some quick thinking had taken Ray into the air with his wings. He couldn¡¯t keep it up continuously. Kaylithya almost looked like she was testing how long he could keep the wings on his back. She was waiting to run down his spell. Waiting for an opportunity when he was more vulnerable. The spell might not have a cooldown, luckily, but just activating it meant he wouldn¡¯t be able to use any other spells in the second he was using Primal Summons. Ray could use the other Talisman in his off hand, but he was saving it. One thing he had settled on before this whole operation had begun was that the biggest thing on Ray¡¯s side wasn¡¯t his spells or his equipment or anything else he possessed tangibly. At least, not directly. The biggest thing he had going for him was surprise. Ray had to make that count. He flashed around Kaylithya¡¯s back, hoping to get the flanking bonus. Ray unleashed another Shatterclaw. She blocked it with Pressure Shield again, but there was the tiniest stutter in the way she had brought up her arm to do so. A weird hesitation, like lag in a video. [Warning!] Insanity proc has bypassed Sylvan Pride [Tier 2] but the effects are reduced by Silver Clementine Armour. Well, Ray hadn¡¯t really counted on the Insanity proccing quickly. It would have been too good to be true. But it served as a good reminder that, like him, his enemies could possess powerful gear. At least he was certain that Occultic Apparition was speeding up the affliction proc. Ray grinned. He just had to wear her down. And then the Sylvan started moving. Ray had known she was fast and agile. He had seen it already. But everything he had witnessed so far had merely been the appetizer. Now, Ray was hit with the full course of her actual speed. Art of the Wind Walker apparently allowed her to zip through the air like a bullet fired from the gun. Even worse, it allowed her to take to the air. As her motion had gone on hyperdrive, easily matching Ray¡¯s movement, he had tried to create some distance between them. He had even succeeded, throwing himself back as soon as soon as his wings were out of commission. There was just enough time to call upon Primal Summons again, to recreate the wide, feathered appendages from his back to rise high. Except, Art of the Wind Walker let Kaylithya follow upwards. She was walking on thin air. He wasn¡¯t the only one with surprises, it turned out. That little exchange led to Ray suffering his first blow. A kick to his surprised chest that sent him crashing to the ground. He got over the stunned sensation in record time thanks to the wings reducing the impact. Ray rolled around in a flash, arms arcing to call in a Shatterclaw just in case the Sylvan had gotten in close to strike him again. She blocked it again. That Pressure Block skill was so annoying. ¡°You fight like an animal too,¡± Kaylithya said. She looked like she wanted to spit on him. ¡°I should cull you like the beast you are.¡± Ray didn¡¯t bother replying. He didn¡¯t have the chance to, anyway. Even as the Sylvan spoke, she was rushing at him to make her words a reality. Just before the Sylvan reached him. Ray levered himself straight up using his wings. Those summoned appendages were powerful. After all, if they could carry him around the air with such ease, lifting him shouldn¡¯t have been that difficult. Which proved true when Ray rose so fast that Kaylithya swooped through the spot he had been a breath ago. She whirled around, shooting out her Wind Whip from the tip of her curved sword, but it simply clanged off the shield on his back. Backstab negation was lowkey amazing. Ray took the briefest look at his Mana. Ah, shit. He had already used up over a half. He was going to have to be more economical. But if Ray had used up that much Mana, how much had his opponent burned through? Did she even have as much total Mana as him? He couldn¡¯t tell whether her class prioritized Spirit as a primary stat. Better to guess yes and act accordingly. That way, he would only be pleasantly surprised. He continued the previous method. This time, to conserve Mana, Ray only used Chaos Chymify to attack. It wasn¡¯t like Shatterclaw was leaving a dent on the Sylvan. All he was aiming for was to proc Insanity properly, and if he kept up the aggression, then he would¡ª She tanked one Chaos Chymify. They had fallen into a pattern where Kaylithya knocked off his spells with her Pressure Block before counter attacking, forcing Ray to dodge but giving him the opportunity to flank her and attack again. But then, she broke the pattern by not blocking Chaos Chymify at all, letting it hit her square in the chest. Where it did next to no damage. Ray hissed as she attacked directly, throwing himself back with the help of his wings. His opponent missed her swing, but the whip of wind blasting out hit him square in the chest. Once more, Ray was flung back, crashing hard on the ground. His shiny new robe had taken the brunt of that blow, but a band of rising pain was clasping his chest. He was hurt. Probably a broken rib or two. It was actually difficult to breathe. Ignoring his instinct to panic, Ray pushed some of his Recovery to the wound. Holy crap, fixing up the damage the Sylvan had dealt had eaten up nearly half his Recovery. Kaylithya scoffed. ¡°So predictable. Die!¡± She shot forward with blinding speed. Ray had gotten to his feet in time. He ducked under her swing, forcing his wings to push him forward. Just in time. Kaylithya unleashed Storm Dance. Blades of rending wind burst out from just behind Ray. He had managed to push himself out of the danger zone. Barely. The wings were still jutting out from his back, and they took the full brunt of the Sylvan¡¯s attack. Compressed air blades shredded them to pieces of flesh and feathers, completely destroying Ray¡¯s self-summons. The Valorous Back Shield came to his rescue again. Ray didn¡¯t suffer any damage whatsoever. It had said purposefully showing his back to his enemy wouldn¡¯t work, but it looked this specific instance didn¡¯t count. He supposed he hadn¡¯t meant to have his back facing Kaylithya. All he had wanted to do was dodge. Still. The skill was strong. Ray was thrown forward, landing hard on the earth. He turned around. The Sylvan was already closing in, sword raised high to deliver what she believed to be the final blow. And why wouldn¡¯t she? After all, Ray had tried keeping up with her and been outclassed every step of the way. But he grinned anyway. Surprise. That was what he had to make the most of. Ray dropped out all the items he had taken from the hoard in his tutorial. The rings, the other armour set, all the Mana crystals too. He let them all fall before him, even unlatching the Bag of Holding from around his waist. ¡°Meagre offerings will not save you from certain death,¡± Kaylithya said. ¡°Offerings? For you?¡± Ray shook his head, holding onto his smile. It was difficult to fathom just how fast his heart was racing in his chest. ¡°Nope, this is my shit.¡± Kaylithya frowned slightly, then flashed forward to deliver a downward blow. But her sword slashed nothing but air. Ray had dodged out of the way, faster than before. [Hoard Defence] Hoard Defence [Tier 2] has raised your stats by 25% and the Tier of all your spells to this Tier. Ray grinned. ¡°Sorry to tell you this, but the battle is only just beginning.¡± Chapter 16: Return of The Discarded Spell Ray had to wonder if Sylvan Pride informed its users of other spells and skills like Presence of the Primordial told him everything. There was a twisted look on Kaylithya¡¯s face that suggested she at least knew that Ray had just gotten a lot more annoying for her to deal with. In fact, at this point, he felt confident enough that he could take her on. He could win. With some luck, some careful but clever thinking, victory could be his. ¡°Silly tricks,¡± the Sylvan said. ¡°That¡¯s all you¡¯re capable of. Of course. If you believe that will secure your triumph, let me disprove that notion.¡± She slashed forward. Ray didn¡¯t need his wings to dodge this time. Hoard Defence had already boosted his Agility enough to let him evade her slash, opening her up for his counter. Ray threw a blast of Chaos Chymify at Kaylithya. She tanked it like all the others, charging at him all the while, but there was one key difference. His Talisman of Focused Fury¡¯s charge condition had been met. Ray had thrown out seven attacks. Now he got a free eighth attack alongside his seventh. A second bolt of Chaos Chymify materialized just behind the first. The Sylvan¡¯s eyes widened as the spell multiplied too quickly for her to react to. Ray grinned as the ball of whirling dark energy riddled with red collided with his enemy¡¯s face. She cursed out something he didn¡¯t understand, doubling over as she clutched her face. There. Now was his chance. Ray pounced. He slashed his arm, throwing out a Shatterclaw. Sharp arcs of red-black energy leaped to life before him, carving the air as they sought to carve up the Sylvan too. Except, Kaylithya leaped too. What? How much presence of mind did this Sylvan have? Ray reacted in time, twisting around as his opponent landed nimbly behind him. He was fast enough to dash out of the way as her stab came in again. Ray cursed too. The damage Chaos Chymify had left on her face was quickly being healed away. She had to be using her Recovery. It was clearly making her angry. The fact that she had been wounded by a mere human, that she had actually needed to use up some of her precious Recovery points because of him, had stung a lot worse than the injury his spell had delivered. Unfortunately, it looked like the Sylvan experienced the kind of cold, calculating anger that narrowed one¡¯s focus instead of ruining it. The swings of her blade almost seemed to sing as they slashed at Ray. Ray pulled back to create some space, crushing one of his Mana crystals. Blue sparks burst out the broken splinters of the crystal and shimmered around his fist before sinking into him. The rush of energy enlivened him. It struck straight through to his soul. He could do this. Ray kept moving as fast as he could. He added his wings to the mix a second after dodging one of the Sylvan¡¯s blows. They allowed him to evade even better, getting in those much-needed flanking hits. How had Insanity not procced properly yet? He had struck Kaylithya so much, her mind should have been scrambled twice over. Could it be that because most of his attacks were blocked, the status affliction was reduced too? That warning had stated her armour was reducing the affliction¡¯s effect. She was also dodging a lot of the bolts of Chaos Chymify too. Missed attacks wouldn¡¯t increase the Insanity afflicting her at all. And then it procced. Ray grinned. The condition actually kicked in. Ha! Finally. The Sylvan had been about to slash again, her curved blade wreathed with wind. But then she paused, her eyes widening as one hand shot to her own head, grabbing her hair and horns. She screamed. Ray had no idea how exactly it felt to experience Insanity. Could one even think under its effects? He swooped in to take advantage. Shatterclaw summoned up five slashes of black-red¡ª Kaylithya jerked forward, eyes open and alert, sword arrowing straight towards his guts. A feint. Fuck. At least his Shatterclaw was in place to somewhat block the blade. That was all that prevented Ray from getting his intestines turned into a shish kebab. Kaylithya slashed through the slashes of his chaotic energy, but Ray had already flapped his wings to take him up in the air, his momentum carrying him over the Sylvan¡¯s head. But she was too fast. Her sword arced over her head, leaving a burning gash across one of Ray¡¯s legs. He screamed out in pain, but somehow, he managed to stay upright as he landed. She was already rushing him to take advantage. Ray used another Shatterclaw to repel her, but Kaylithya simply blocked it Pressure Block while continuing to charge. But he already had a follow-up. He snapped his wings on her. They stopped her right in her tracks. He was almost tempted to laugh. She couldn¡¯t have seen that coming. Ray pulled his arm back, unleashing another Shatterclaw as he brought it forward. But the Sylvan slashed through his wings. She was still way too fast. The slices of dark energy from his spell didn¡¯t even get to materialize. Even as his fist flew forward, the Sylvan caught him. Her sword was still too busy slashing away his wings, but that was fine. She had one hand free to grip Ray¡¯s arm and judo-flip him right over her shoulder. ¡°Fuuuuuu¡ª¡± Ray¡¯s curse abruptly ended when the world stopped spinning and he was slammed down against the ground. The Back Shield took the brunt of the hit on his back, but the back of his head still struck the earth hard. Pain bloomed there, hot and vicious. The edges of his vision had gone dark too. He was pretty sure his skull was cracked. Not good. A quick application of the last of his Recovery fixed the wound, but that meant his leg was still in a sorry state. He tried to rise, but then froze. Kaylithya¡¯s grip on his wrist was tight as an iron band. The tip of her sword hovered inches from his face. ¡°I should carve out your guts right now,¡± she said. ¡°But I respect your gumption, human. You¡¯ve proven you ought to die with honour.¡± Ray¡¯s mind was travelling at a hundred miles an hour. His heart hammered, his skin flushed with prickly heat. What could he do? If he made any move then, she was going to slice him apart before he could execute whatever he had decided on. This couldn¡¯t be it. He had promised he would take control of his life. He couldn¡¯t die here. He wasn¡¯t dying here. ¡°Will you let me have some last words, at least?¡± he asked. Suspicion was strong in her eyes, but slowly, she nodded. The motion strangely reminded him of Kredevel. But now wasn¡¯t the time to wonder where his ally-but-maybe-not had gone. Now was the time to inhale, then say, ¡°Bird.¡± Kaylithya¡¯s eyes widened. She scowled as Dory¡¯s little firebird flitted in, harrying the Sylvan¡¯s head like an overlarge mosquito. Ray stared at it. Those guys had actually stepped in. Even after he had told them that they wouldn¡¯t stand a chance against a Sylvan at level 16. Ray hadn¡¯t been a match for her in the end. But they were still interfering. He smiled. He almost laughed. A quick slash with the curved sword killed the poor bird. Damn it. That Sylvan was too quick even for Dory¡¯s summons. ¡°Let him go!¡± Maya rushed in. She had her shield up, her armour seeming extra shiny and polished in the low light. Kaylithya growled something under her breath, then struck out with Wind Whip. The arcing vine of compressed air almost lazily flicked Maya on her shield. She went flying, landing hard almost twenty feet from where she had been. It was Ray¡¯s turn to growl. He twisted, not caring as the Sylvan brought her sword around to bear upon him. She froze an instant later. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Lines of bright white light capered all over her body, locking her in place. She was petrified. All thanks to Randall¡¯s Entrap. ¡°Insects,¡± Kaylithya yelled out before breaking free of the bind, shattering the lines of light into tiny splinters. Insects. Maybe they were insects when compared to sheer power that the Sylvan possessed. But even insects could be fatal when they struck right. Randall¡¯s skill had frozen the Sylvan for just long enough. Ray was able to jerk his arm forward to throw out another Chaos Chymify at Kaylithya¡¯s face. The charges of the Talisman of Focused Fury had completed again. A second Chaos Chymify materialized just behind the first. But that wasn¡¯t the important. What was important was the fact that instead of applying Insanity once, the two bolts doubled the total status affliction in one blow. Enough to finally¡ªfor real, this time¡ªproc Insanity. Kaylithya¡¯s scream was genuine. Ray could tell because there was a very different note to it compared to the last, fake one. A guttural quality, like it had been torn out of her throat. Oh, and his other hand had come free as well. That helped. Ray pulled his arm back and fired off a Shatterclaw aimed straight for his opponent¡¯s horned head. Even in the midst of the Insanity, Kaylithya was still able to block it. The sheer training and conditioning that allowed someone to respond to a threat while their brain was being scrambled, even if by instinct, had to be insane. But Ray had counted on it. As the Pressure Block of compressed air pushed aside his first Shatterclaw, he punced down with his other arm. He was using his second Talisman. Time to pull out all the stops. Surprise, plus boosting the Tier of the Shatterclaw with all his remaining Mana to Tier 5 using the Mana Infuser ring, finally broke through the Sylvan¡¯s defences. A dozen claws of black-red energy roared into being, each claw bigger than the Sylvan was tall. They struck point blank. Ray¡¯s aim was true. ¡°No¡ª¡± Her scream was cut short. The boosted Shatterclaw hit the Sylvan right in her head, their motion sending her crashing to the ground. A crackling detonation rocketed outwards as the claws connected with the earth, an explosion that sent Ray staggering backward. When the dust cleared, all he found was a crater big enough to park a sedan in. And the headless corpse of a level 16 Sylvan. [Enemy Defeated¡ª Sylvan] Acrobat Assaulter [Tier 3] Sylvan: [Level 16] x1 Essence: +600 Mana Restored: +160 [New Personal Achievement¡ªDenizen Killer!] You¡¯ve killed your first Tower Denizen! Your taste for blood grows. Horrors guised as monsters were only the beginning. Now the intelligent terrors are your target as well. Reward
  • Reputation: +30 Chaotic, +15 Ruthlessness, +5 Tenacious
[Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 50-point threshold, your Chaos now builds Insanity faster, and procced Insanity is now at Tier 2. At Tier 2, Insanity now inflicts heavy mental damage. [New Personal Achievement¡ªTeamwork Makes The Dream Work!] You have cooperated with a group for the first time to defeat a much stronger foe. The power of cooperation will see you through many challenges. United you stand, divided you fall. Reward
  • New System Function: Party Chat [Accessible without a Party]
  • Reputation: +25 Cooperative
[Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 25-point threshold, your cooperation now boosts all your stats by 5 when in a party or Faction. [Level Up!] Reward
  • +3 Intellect, +3 Spirit, +2 Vitality, +4 allocatable free stats.
  • 1 New Spell: Arcane Construct [Tier 1]
  • Arcane Construct has been converted to Lifeblood Construct by Path of Lifeblood Chaos.
Essence to next level: 110/6,400 Ray found himself lying on the ground, facing the sky, simply taking in the fact that he had done it. He had actually done it. Ray had killed a Sylvan. But not without help. ¡°You okay?¡± he called out. He was hoping Maya was alright so he wouldn¡¯t have to get up just yet. She groaned somewhere in the distance. Alive. Good. Ray could be one with the ground for a little longer. His heart needed to settle back in its proper place, and all the sweat and adrenaline needed to get going. Checking out all the notifications helped calm his body. Only 600 Essence didn¡¯t seem a lot, but it had said shared Essence. That meant the other three must have received a share of it too, and Ray suspected they had received the same amount as him. Which meant a Sylvan with a Tier 3 class and at Level 16 granted 2,400 Essence in total. Hmm, maybe Ray should go around picking fights with Sylvans who were dicks to progress faster. For now, he added half his free stats to Intellect, and half to Spirit. Compared to all the monsters he had faced so far, the Sylvan had granted a crap ton more Essence. She had been only one level higher than the Feathered Fiend had been. Yet, he had acquired¡­ what, over twice as much Essence? Insane. Did the System reward more Essence when the opponent was a sentient, intelligent creature? As in, a Denizen? That was the only plausible explanation Ray could land on. Interestingly, he had also received the spell he had neglected in the last spell selection from that Grimoire Pamphlet reward for completing his tutorial. Ray had imagined he might receive it eventually, as he levelled up more and more. He hadn¡¯t expected it to come this soon. Not that he was complaining. He¡¯d have to find some time to test it, though maybe not just yet. ¡°Are you alright?¡± Dory asked, having walked over. Ray tried to grin at her. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine soon.¡± He was waiting until he had regained enough Recovery to fix the wound on his leg. ¡°Is your summon scouting?¡± Dory nodded. Once her bird had attracted the lone Sylvan¡¯s attention, she had set it to scout around the area to see if more Sylvans came following in. If they did, Ray and the rest of them would have had to leave. No way were they taking on more than one Sylvan at a time. And now that their adversary was dead, Dory had resummoned her bird to set it to scout again. They¡¯d have advance warning if any other Sylvans came in to check for their missing compatriot. ¡°Can you check the body?¡± Ray asked. ¡°See if there¡¯s anything interesting any of us can use.¡± With another nod, she headed over to where the Sylvan¡¯s corpse had fallen. Ray detected a hint of hesitation about her. Maybe she didn¡¯t like the idea of grave-robbing. Really, she ought to see it as taking the spoils of war or something along those lines. Randall brought over Maya, who was leaning on him for support. She was in the same boat as Ray. Waiting till enough of her Recovery returned before she could finish healing herself. ¡°Did your shield survive?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Uh¡­¡± Maya brought her shield around. There was a big dent in the middle, where the metal had been punched by the Sylvan¡¯s Wind Whip. ¡°It¡¯s seen better days.¡± Her eyes sharpened on him a little. ¡°You were incredible, Ray.¡± He laughed a little. ¡°I¡¯d still have died without you guys.¡± ¡°Even if we did need to intervene. The three of us together wouldn¡¯t have stood a chance against that thing, but you gave it a strong run for its money.¡± ¡°Funnily enough, I was weaker than her. The Sylvan was at level 16, and I was still at 11.¡± He could only imagine how the fight might have gone differently if he had been at least at the same level as his opponent. ¡°But it wasn¡¯t because of the level difference that I almost lost. It was because she was stronger.¡± ¡°Stronger?¡± ¡°Well, stronger in the sense that she was just a better fighter. Better trained, better conditioned to win, more hardened, that sort of thing.¡± ¡°¡­oh, I see.¡± Bits and pieces of the fight still replayed in Ray¡¯s head, like a highlights reel after a televised match. Kaylithya working past the Insanity, knowing when to tank hits and when to block, actually possessing a rounded accoutrement of defensive, offensive, and evasive skills, and powerful gear to boot. And then there had been that feint. Perfectly executed, now that Ray could judge more objectively. ¡°Sounds like we might need to be an actual party, huh?¡± Randall said, raising his eyebrows. ¡°Especially since we have the party chat going on.¡± Ray grimaced. Despite the benefits of working together, he still wasn¡¯t sure working as part of a group was the right thing for him long-term. Ultimately, he really didn¡¯t want to have to depend on others, and a working in a party would inherently need that. ¡°I need to think about it,¡± Ray said. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s really for me. But that¡¯s not super important right now. You guys got some Essence, right?¡± Maya nodded tiredly. ¡°I hit level 9. The other two got a level out of the fight too.¡± ¡°I found some stuff,¡± Dory said, returning to them. ¡°Nothing useful for most of us, I think, but Maya should be able to make use of some of them. And yeah, I got a level too, plus a Tier Point.¡± It turned out the loot would indeed benefit Maya more than any of them. There was a ring that boosted Strength, a belt that raised Resilience, and apparently, the dead Sylvan¡¯s boots raised evasiveness a great deal. The chest piece, unfortunately, wouldn¡¯t fit any of them. Too slim at the shoulders, too constricted at the waist. Seemed that the Sylvans¡¯ body structure was too different, even if they looked humanoid. Once Ray and Maya had recovered enough, they decided to plan their next move. ¡°It would ideally be best if you guys could level up even more,¡± Ray said. The trio nodded back resolutely. They had just experienced a first-hand account of how important it was to be at a high level. ¡°I have somewhat of an idea how you could do it, but it¡¯s going to take time.¡± ¡°Time we don¡¯t have,¡± Maya said. Ray sighed a little. ¡°Right. We need to help those people. They don¡¯t have long.¡± He explained and reiterated everything he had deduced from the little he had talked with the Sylvan. It was pretty obvious they were going to kill their captives, regardless of how innocent or guilty they were. That was why Ray had decided to help them, why he felt urgent about it. If the Sylvan had been so keen on attacking Ray with no hesitation, he had a feeling everyone they had captured was in deep shit. ¡°We need to figure out how we can help,¡± Maya said. ¡°We can¡¯t take them on directly.¡± ¡°But how much time do we have?¡± Randall asked. ¡°They could be killed any moment now.¡± ¡°Not until they finish moving them.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I mean. We don¡¯t know their final destination. That¡¯s another thing stopping us from doing anything.¡± Ray closed his eyes. Ever since he had pretty much figured out the captured people were going to be massacred like cows in a slaughterhouse, the back of his mind had been trying to figure out what they could do against the seemingly insurmountable odds. Now, the first pieces of a plan were beginning to fall into place. ¡°Randall,¡± he said, opening his eyes. They stopped talking as he got to his feet. ¡°That Basic Craft skill of yours. Can it make paper?¡± The younger man blinked. ¡°I¡­ think so. I¡¯d have to double check. Why?¡± ¡°Because we need to send some messages.¡± ¡°Messages? How¡¯re you going to write anything on the paper? I for sure can¡¯t make pencils or pens.¡± Ray knelt down at and swiped up some blood from around his leg. He held up his finger, smeared red. ¡°We¡¯ve got our ink right here.¡± Chapter 17: From Beneath the Ground The others had thought that Ray would have tried contacting Kredevel¡ªor his ¡°alien friend¡±, as they had begun to call him¡ªbut that wasn¡¯t going to work. Ray had absolutely no idea where Kredevel might have been. Conversely there was no mistaking where exactly the people they needed to rescue were. There also wasn¡¯t a lot of time to waste. The other Sylvans would surely notice that one of their kind was missing. It wouldn¡¯t be long before they found Kaylithya¡¯s body, even after they did their best to bury the corpse with a little shovelling help from one of Randall¡¯s skills. Once the Sylvans learned that Kaylithya was dead, they would go on high alert. A state that might very well ruin the plan Ray had hastily created. Ray¡¯s plan idea always been to contact the captives. Ultimately, it would be a lot easier to free them if the beneficiaries of their rescue attempt could assist. ¡°Look.¡± Dory pointed to her right. Her summons was returning. ¡°We got another reply.¡± ¡°What¡¯s it say?¡± Randall asked. ¡°Hold your horses.¡± They waited as the squirrel scurried closer. Dory had upgraded her summoning spell to obtain a new kind of summon alongside her firebird. Ray had to admit that the fact Dory could literally experience in all five senses what her summon had experienced was rather overpowered. The more he learned about her summoning spell, the more he understood why she hadn¡¯t been able to learn any direct offensive magic naturally through levelling up yet. Dory¡¯s eyes opened. She had said viewing her summons¡¯ memories went better when her eyes were closed. ¡°The woman says they can break out of their chains. They just need a clear opportunity to do so.¡± Ray nodded. ¡°That¡¯s our last worry taken care of.¡± Though, he did feel it was quite convenient that the captives were actually capable of breaking out of their binds. If that was the case, why hadn¡¯t they done so already? ¡°Are you going to head out now?¡± Maya asked. Ray nodded. He had only been waiting for confirmation. Confirmation that their fellow humans weren¡¯t as helpless as the Sylvans probably thought they were, and confirmation that the idea of using summons to get in touch with the captives would work. It was definitely a blessing that Randall possessed a crafting skill that could create pages. Also convenient that he could create a shovel as well. They had already exchanged a few secret communiques with the captive Dory¡¯s summon had selected. Their contact was a woman at the rear of the group, someone who could talk without being noticed easily. The brief plan on how they¡¯d go about freeing the captured people had been established. The woman promised she would take care of things on the captives¡¯ side. Ray had wanted to ask how exactly she would do so, captured as she was. But that could come later. So long as he could provide the right distraction, their contact¡¯s promise would have to be enough. It probably helped there were a lot less of the Sylvans compared to the number of captured humans. Thirty people in total overseen by just five aliens. A six-to-one ratio in favour of the humans would have been fantastic odds, if not for the huge gap in power between the humans and the Sylvans. Still. It was odds they could make use of. They might just need a bit of assistance when things went haywire. Ray grinned. Considering his rising Chaotic Reputation, he was pretty certain things were heading in a direction he would be well-suited to take advantage of. ¡°The next step is finding another one of the monsters I sensed earlier along their path,¡± Ray said. He was definitely not forgetting the strongest creature he had sensed yet. ¡°The one underground. If there is, then we¡¯re home free. Tell the captives to stay prepared. Their opportunity is coming.¡± Dory nodded. They all wished him good luck as he headed off. It was strange to be alone again. Staying with the others, working with them, was starting to feel natural. Normal. Not good. As much as Ray wanted to be self-sufficient, he was pretty certain he was never learning a spell that could create paper. That was fine. Paper was only needed for an emergency here. What he really needed to focus on was finding a way to get stronger quickly. His power, at least, had to be great enough to let him take on and win against anyone. Then he could really be independent. Then he could be in proper control of his own fate. Ray focused on his current goal. Namely, making the first use of the Tower Node. When he had first received it, the description had stated that he would only be ablet to use it once per day. And with True Mana only. He had received no sign that he was capable of using True Mana just yet, but he focused on the Tower Node just to see its interaction with his Mana. The ceramic-like crystal appeared from thin air, glimmering slightly. It floated about two feet in front of his chest He received the same warning as last time, about True Mana being difficult for him in his current form. But it also indicated he could use his normal Mana as a substitute. He would just need a lot of it. Well, time to see just what the System meant by ¡°vast amount¡±. ¡°Hello there,¡± Ray said. ¡°Are you going to be nice and cooperate?¡± There was what felt like a tiny laugh somewhere in the back of Ray¡¯s mind. Did the Node find him funny? Did it even have a consciousness to have that sort of advanced thought? Was this thing living? But beware, excessive use can alert the Marauder himself, and the attention of a Paragon is rarely pleasant. That had been the warning from the Tower Node¡¯s description. But forget excessive, Ray hadn¡¯t even begun to use it. He couldn¡¯t have gained this Marauder¡¯s attention when he had barely touched the Node. Although, the way his skin crawled like he was being watched made him think otherwise. It was like a giant eyeball was floating overhead. Ray focused on the Node, feeling a strange energy¡ªit felt just as his Mana did when using a spell¡ªstirring within him. It swirled and sharpened, tiny needles trying to emerge from his chest. His Mana almost seemed alive. Ray felt the slightest of twinges within him, like he had been drained dry somehow. The twinge grew rapidly, making him feel lightheaded and tired. What in the world was going on? An inkling hit him, and he peeked at his Status. ¡°What?¡± His Mana was at zero. There was no Mana within him at all. It was as if connecting his Mana to the Tower Node had made the System Artifact suck away all his Mana in an instant. The hell was this thing? Ray still had no information about what exactly True Mana was supposed to be, but the warning from a while back had stated that he would end up expending a lot of regular Mana if he tried to use the Tower Node. Thing was, he had a ton of Mana crystals with him now, so that shouldn¡¯t be a problem. With the way the Tower Node ate up Mana, he was starting to see the sheer cost. Ray went through thirteen Mana crystals before the Tower Node began glowing. The constant Mana draining was leaving him jittery and exhausted. His muscles twitched, his legs trembled so much that he had to sit down, and his head pounded with a splitting headache. Another five Mana Crystals later, the Tower Node activated. Somehow, Ray¡¯s consciousness ended up back in his tutorial zone. He was once again submerged in the dark tunnels of the Marauder¡¯s Caves. No way would he fail to recognize those high ceilings, those craggy walls, and the soft draft of air flowing against him. He did not appreciate being there again, but Presence of the Primordial informed him that it wasn¡¯t physical transportation. Ray¡¯s actual body was still out there where he had activated the Node. Instead, it was his soul that had been teleported to the locale he now had control of, via the Tower Node. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Good thing he had left his bodily weariness behind too. Ray didn¡¯t feel much of anything at all. At least nothing physical. It was weird. As his spirit settled in, he found he was able to sense¡­ everything. Little sparks of life through the passageways and tunnels. Glints of what felt like Mana here and there within the chambers too. They struck his senses like thoughts brushing against his mind. Thoughts he could interact with. It didn¡¯t take long for Ray to understand. He was in control. His mind was present here at a level way beyond anything he was familiar with or had any idea of. But despite that, he got what was going on, in part thanks to Presence of the Primordial handily filling the gaps left by his assumptions. He knew what he could do. What he ought to do. The sparks of life were aware of his presence too. The Feathered Imps didn¡¯t seem surprised that he was there. That was another thing Ray had realized. Using the Tower Node, he could understand and communicate with those who inhabited the Node¡¯s controlled area. Ray was able to ¡°talk¡± with the Imps. Not something he would have ever guessed possible. But now, he understood what drove them. The description of the Imps he had first seen was spot on. ¡°You want shinies, don¡¯t you?¡± Ray wasn¡¯t sure who he was talking to, nor was he certain he was actually hearing himself talk. For all he knew, it could just have been his thoughts expressed against the surface of his mind. He went on anyway. It didn¡¯t matter whether he could talk or not. What mattered was that the Imps understood what he meant. ¡°Think of all the shinies waiting for you.¡± Technically, Ray didn¡¯t need to convince the Imps in the Marauder¡¯s Caves. With the power of the Tower Node, he could order them to do his bidding, to a certain extent. But since the Node was gifting him the ability to understand his ¡°subjects¡±, he felt he was better off trying persuasion first. ¡°Think of all you could gain.¡± Ray had already sent the impulse that he was hoping they would exit their tunnels. That they would join the upcoming battle that was sure to happen when his plan went into motion. Hell, they might even turn the tide in his favour, in case things went hairy. The Imps had initially been reluctant to comply. That was why Ray was trying to show them everything they could gain from the excursion. But he was striking up against a wall in the negotiations. An impassable barrier in their minds. It took a moment for him to understand what it was. Distrust. Of course. If he had been in their position, would he trust the man who had murdered dozens of his kind? No wonder they were reluctant to comply. ¡°Water under the bridge.¡± Being so cavalier wasn¡¯t going to help. Water under the bridge, but half the Imps had drowned in those waters. ¡°Understand that we don¡¯t need to be enemies any longer. I could use your help, and I am offering fair terms in exchange. It is up to you whether you accept.¡± Ray really didn¡¯t want to use forceful compulsion. As much as it might have helped with the upcoming situation, as much as it could benefit him, he didn¡¯t want to take the step into becoming a tyrant. Even against creatures who had tried to kill him not that long ago. He couldn¡¯t. If he went along those lines, he would be taking a step towards becoming exactly the kind of person he had hated. Asshole bosses. Executives who were almost cartoonishly villainous. People who were determined to extract every ounce of profit from those who were beneath them, dangling the salvation of survival in exchange for willing exploitation. A despicable tyranny of its own kind. Ray despised those kinds of people. So much so, he had come to hold an abiding distaste for leadership in general. Not a completely rational distaste, but who gave a fuck. That was why, when the System had granted him his Vocation of Tower Conqueror, he had been wary of what exactly that entailed. He didn¡¯t want to end up in a position where he had to be an asshole. Not to people who didn¡¯t deserve it, at least. For now, Ray left the Marauder¡¯s Caves with a last, abiding impression of what he needed. Of what was at stake. The Imps might have seemed mindless monsters out to kill him when he had been going through his tutorial, but it was clear that they possessed enough intelligence to process everything he had ¡°said¡±. Now it was up to them whether they would honour it. When Ray blinked, his spirit was back where he had activated the Node. The little ceramic diamond itself was gone. Ray caught its last vestiges. It was crumpling, collapsing in on itself and becoming smaller and smaller every instant. In a couple of breaths, it had squeezed itself into nothingness. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter if they come or not,¡± Ray said. Saying the words solidified them into reality. ¡°We can do this without them.¡± The next step of the plan involved digging. Shovelling, to be exact. Ray had to find another little forest of dark, sinuous trees stripped off all but one Mana fruit. It wasn¡¯t easy. The aftereffects of using the Tower Node left him feeling like he could have slipped into a coma. But the Mana fruit washed it all away. He already had one, thanks to the others saving up for later, but he ate the one he found then. Immediately, he felt almost fully refreshed. Somewhat insane how powerful those fruits were. Ray focused on digging. Hopefully, the Sylvans wouldn¡¯t change course and take some circuitous path to their Brighthorn feeding grounds. For now, he sent out a pulse of Lifeblood Sense to confirm that the monster he had sensed a while back was actually here. It was. The same beast he had fled from when he had killed his first Brighthorn lay deep beneath the earth. So far underground, it didn¡¯t need to concern itself with what occurred on the surface. Well, not for long, if Ray could help it. As he continued shovelling, he reached close enough that Presence of the Primordial could finally pick the creature up on its radar. [Presence of the Primordial] Duskshell [Monster] [Tier 6] [Level 19] Nocturnal creature that typically remains underground during the day, rarely venturing aboveground during the night. Undisturbed, they draw in Mana from the surroundings and grow trees capable of producing Mana fruit from their shells. Though they are slow to anger, once roused, they are capable of causing massive destruction. Skills: Jutting Jaws [Tier 3]: Thrust out one or more jaws with a massive bite that pierces through defences up to the skill¡¯s Tier. Shell Quake [Tier 5]: Leap high into the air to crash down with and set off a powerful shockwave, ripping apart the land and all upon it in a wide area. At Tier 5, this skill¡¯s radius of impact is 30 meters. Slumber [Tier 2]: Passively continue taking in Mana during prolonged intervals of rest, concentrating any Mana beyond capacity for offensive use. Mana Surge [Tier 3]: Send a surge of Mana in an eruption to shatter the surrounding area and all foes within it. At Tier 3, this spell¡¯s radius of impact is 15 meters. Impervious Shell [Tier 5]: Channel the power of your shell to create a defensive barricade that stops all incoming damage at or below this spell¡¯s Tier. Overworld Pulse [Tier 5]: Send out a pulse of scouring Mana that locates and identifies any creature standing on land. At Tier 5, this spell¡¯s range is 25 meters. Oh, yes. This was not at all a monster he ought to be messing with. Even if a part of Ray wanted to tackle it like an interesting problem to be solved, even if he felt like implementing whatever crazy idea he could come up with to take the monster down, he wasn¡¯t stupid enough to actually do it. Though, he did wonder how it¡¯s nocturnal-ness was affected by the lack of an actual night in the Tower. Ray wiped off some of the gathered sweat on his forehead once he was done shovelling. He glanced at the shovel appreciatively. Randall¡¯s creations with that Basic Craft skill of his were pretty sturdy. Ray: Monster freed. The captives will be able to incite it to act now. Maya: Great. We¡¯re headed your way. The party chat feature was quite nice, especially since he didn¡¯t have to form an official party or anything to use it. With that last bit done, Ray looked up his latest spell. [Information Request¡ªSpells] Lifeblood Construct [Summoning] [Tier 1] A summoning spell that calls forth primal energies to bring up Soul Aspects stored by Lifeblood Crucible upon the caster. Summoned Soul Aspects manifest externally, either individually or in combination. At Tier 1, caster can summon 1 Soul Aspect at Tier 1 which lasts 1 minute, and the spell costs 25 Mana. Huh. Lifeblood Construct sounded like the evil bastard brother of Primal Summons. Where the latter essentially grafted anything Ray summoned onto his body, his new spell worked closer to what a normal summoning spell ought to have done. Hmm, maybe he should call Primal Summons the evil bastard brother. But Lifeblood Construct would only be able to pull on what Ray had stored within Lifeblood Crucible. In other words, just the wings and¡­ Hoard Defence? How did one even summon the last one? Ray sighed. Oh yes, he would need to explore possibilities later For now, he headed back in the direction he had come from. The others were following the captives at a distance. Ray reached them before long, and together, they waited while maintaining their distance until the plan properly began. Soon, it would be time to act. Ray felt like there were about a hundred needles suspended about a millimetre over his skin. A wrong move here, and he¡¯d be poked with so many metaphorical holes, he would definitely turn into a pincushion. No. He had to believe in himself. He needed faith. As much in himself as his fellow humans. Randall, Maya, and Dory had stepped up when it mattered, hadn¡¯t they? Ray had to believe those people who had been captured could do so too. ¡°This is like waiting for your team to score after they¡¯re down a goal and it¡¯s almost full time,¡± Dory said, her voice as jittery as her body. ¡°I want to bite my nails.¡± Randall stared at her. ¡°Seriously? A sports metaphor? You couldn¡¯t come up with something better?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t hear you saying any metaphors.¡± ¡°Yeah, well, some of us don¡¯t need dumb metaphors to ease our stress.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t stress.¡± Ray tried to believe his own words. ¡°We have to believe they can do this.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a bit convenient to believe they can actually take care of the hard parts of this whole operation.¡± She was right. Freeing the prisoners and making sure they got away from their captors was undoubtedly the most difficult aspect of their endeavour. The woman they had been in contact with had promised she would take care of it. Could she really, though? That was what this whole plan hinged on. Ray and the others had done as much as they could have, besides suicidally rushing the Sylvans¡¯ position. Now, it was up to the captives themselves. ¡°We deserve some convenience after that last encounter,¡± Ray said. Dory nodded in agreement. ¡°That we do.¡± ¡°Look,¡± Maya said all of a sudden. They all tensed. ¡°They¡¯re shaking.¡± Ray needed a moment before he could see it too. The land in the distance was trembling. Even the air was vibrating, the haze breaking apart to reveal more of what was going on. The Sylvans had begun to scurry. They must have sensed the monster aiming for their position. A second later, the Duskshell erupted out of the ground. The sight was awestriking, despite Ray being almost a quarter mile far from the location. The monster was so big, he had little trouble making it out even at this distance. Its description had made him think of some sort of dark crustacean-like creature residing underground. He wasn¡¯t completely off-base. The juggernaut of a beast had an enormous black shell that reminded Ray of a turtle, but instead of a flipper, what it had coming out of its sides were the hairy legs of a tarantula. A dark vapour overtook the area it had burst out of. Ray couldn¡¯t make out its head until it attacked the figures trying to fight back. Jutting Jaws. The name was very appropriate. A massive head on a massive neck burst out from the front of the shell to crash into its foes, forcing everyone to dash away out of range. ¡°It¡¯s doing it!¡± Randall said. ¡°It¡¯s got those Sylvans right where it wants ¡®em.¡± ¡°Hopefully, the other people can¡ª¡± Maya didn¡¯t need to finish her sentence. The other humans were indeed running towards them. Ray called up his wings with Primal Summons. ¡°Let¡¯s go meet our new friends.¡± Chapter 18: Fruition of The Plan Ray flew as fast as his wings allowed him to do so, which was pretty damn fast. The wind whipped against his face and pressed his robes against his body. Thankfully, the effect of the wind¡¯s drag went down a great notch when he used Occultic Apparition upon himself. The blanket of dark energy rippling over him seemed to make him more aerodynamic somehow. It was strange. He had never properly considered the mechanics of flight before. Not with his summonable wings, at least. He knew how it worked in physics, but these ones he could pull up with Primal Summons definitely didn¡¯t need to comply with silly laws of the universe. His wings only looked like wings. They didn¡¯t flap periodically, didn¡¯t beat like hummingbird¡¯s wings to continuously keep him afloat. Nothing. It was almost as though he had jetpacks attached to his shoulder blades. Jetpacks that were mounted on actuators that could direct their imparted momentum in any direction he wished. Highly convenient for using, though. He¡¯d have to give them that. [Warning!] Presence of the Primordial indicates your presence has been detected by Total Perception [Tier 2]. Presence of the Primordial has nullified the enemy aura, Sylvan Pride [Tier 2]. Ray¡¯s thoughts trailed away as he neared the exact location where the formerly captive humans were. He grimaced. They were already being assailed by the Sylvans from the rear. Just three of the five. The remaining two were trying to contain the Duskshell in the distance. But three would be more than enough, considering how easily they were tearing through the new Denizens. Until Ray arrived to change the tide. He flew over them for the first exchange. No point in landing right in the middle of the brawl that had ensued. Ray didn¡¯t want any of the humans to get caught up in his attacks. His sudden appearance had just the effect he had hoped for. The Sylvans drew back from attacking the rear of the human group. They were wary of this unknown approaching them with such speed and power. Power that might not have been as great as theirs, even individually, but none of the new Denizens should have had the kind of power Ray was displaying. Ray landed about a dozen yards behind them. His heart thundered in his chest, his blood singing. He was ready for the fight. What was going to happen now? Would the alien trio decide to take him out together before rounding on the other humans? That wouldn¡¯t be ideal, but with the help of his wings and other skills, he was certain he could keep them busy while the others made their getaway. Or¡ª Ray swallowed. Or, they could leave one of theirs to deal with him while the others continued hunting the escapees. But that was fine. For Ray had landed at exactly the right location for the central Sylvan to decide to deal with him. The Sylvan who possessed the same array of skills and abilities as the one Ray had killed not that long ago. A Sylvan he had already figured out how to beat. ¡°I don¡¯t know who you are,¡± the Sylvan said as he approached, brandishing the same curved sword that tapered to a point as his dead comrade had. ¡°You¡¯re clearly not like the rest But you¡¯ll fall like all the other animals.¡± Ray: I only managed to get one¡¯s attention on me. The rest are still hunting the others. Maya: Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll take care of it. You focus on what you need to do. Ray: Good luck. Big words from someone who couldn¡¯t even come close to handling any of the Sylvans alone, but Ray tried not to think too uncharitably. If nothing else, Maya seemed like she at least had a big heart. Even if big hearts didn¡¯t win life-or-death battles. Plus, she was right. He had to focus on his fight. There was only so much one person alone, even at Ray¡¯s level, could do. The Sylvan charged him. Just as expected. Since he was so obligingly heading straight, Ray blasted him in the face with a Chaos Chymify. A Pressure Block easily stopped the blast, but that didn¡¯t matter. Ray wasn¡¯t looking to damage to his opponent directly. What he aimed for was to inflict Insanity. Ray knew the tactic he had to employ against the Sylvans. At least, the kind of Sylvans he had fought the first time. They were too fast. Their skills were well-rounded too, possessing powerful defensive, offensive, and evasive options. Ray couldn¡¯t overcome them with pure power. He couldn¡¯t outfight them directly. Nor could he keep up with their speed or strength either. Their stats had to be quite a bit higher than his. But if his last fight had taught him anything, it was that they had no counter to his Insanity. Apart from severe training and mental conditioning, of course. The Insanity he afflicted was now at Tier 2, however. That should overcome even the most rigid of training. Ray was counting on it to debilitate his opponent, opening the Sylvan up for a proper, Mana-infused Shatterclaw for the killing blow. To that end Ray didn¡¯t stop using Chaos Chymify. He didn¡¯t even bother hiding the fact that he was dual-wielding two Talismans. Twice the attack rate meant proccing Insanity twice as fast. That was aside from the fact that he had passed another Chaos threshold recently, which would hasten the affliction proc even more. In other words, this Sylvan was a goner. Of course, Ray¡¯s opponent realized what was going on pretty quickly. Just after the first couple of hits from Chaos Chymify that he had blocked, the Sylvan had begun feeling the effects of the Insanity. So, he attempted to dodge. ¡°Not so fast,¡± Ray said. Then he used his wings. The Sylvan¡¯s charge had brought him way too close to Ray. Close enough that Ray could slam down his wings on either side of his opponent, cutting off all escape routes save for a rearward retreat. With no other room to manoeuvre, the Sylvan could only retreat back. However, that kept him in Ray¡¯s line of fire. Just what he had counted on. So long as the Sylvan didn¡¯t dodge his attacks, the Insanity affliction would proc soon. Though, he ought to consider himself lucky that his opponent had decided to retreat instead of goring him through with that sword. Nevertheless, as soon as the Sylvan was out of the dark wings¡¯ range, he tried to dodge. But that was when the affliction finally set in. Ray¡¯s constant barrage of attacks had finally filled up the charges of the Talisman of Focused Fury. His latest Chaos Chymify multiplied into two, applying twice the Insanity in one blow. That did it. That was strong enough to finally make the affliction set in. It was rather terrifying to see the effects of Tier 2 Insanity compared to the Tier 1 Ray had possessed before. As soon as the affliction fully set in, virulent red sparks cavorted around the Sylvan¡¯s temple. He screamed, his hands immediately clutching his head as he contorted over himself. Spikes of red-black energy poked out all over his skull. Ray definitely didn¡¯t want to experience something like that himself, but he grinned hard. Now was his chance. He pulled back his arm¡ª The Sylvan managed to straighten. Even in the midst of clear pain, his training kicked in. An almost instinctive move that saved him from the ongoing agony he was lost to. With a quick flick of his wrist, the Sylvan pulled out what looked like a small capsule and shot it into his mouth. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. What? Ray wasted no time summoning up a Shatterclaw and immediately flinging it at his opponent. The spell connected, but even as it did so, his opponent threw himself back, making the follow-up Shatterclaw miss. ¡°This power,¡± the Sylvan said. His tone of disgust had an underlying note of fright in it. ¡°This is Chaos. Lifeblood Chaos. How in the world did you come to possess it, human?¡± He said human like it was the worst insult possible. But more than that, Ray was minorly intrigued that this Sylvan seemed to know his Path and the powers he possessed. Probably not a good thing. Which was why, instead of answering, he attacked. They exchanged quick, powerful blows. Ray¡¯s Shatterclaws crashed against the Sylvan¡¯s Pressure Block time and again. Conversely, he was forced to dodge the Wind Whips and the occasional Storm Dance whenever the Sylvan got close enough as well. But Ray was no longer making headway. He wasn¡¯t even standing on even footing. Just as with the last Sylvan, he was being pushed back. The plan he had attempted had been foiled. He understood how, of course. If Ray could hold and use Mana Crystals to regain Mana, then why couldn¡¯t there be consumable items that cured one of various afflictions? That meant he had to resort to Plan B. It was never a good day when it was time for Plan B. ¡°Looks like I¡¯ll just have to beat the answer out of you,¡± the Sylvan said. It was looking like he could do so. Ray was being knocked back, barely dodging his enemy¡¯s blows. He was on the back foot. There would be no companions to rush to his rescue now. In fact, the battle farther away tried to tug at his attention. Screams, the clangs and clashes of weapons, and stranger sounds¡ªprobably people using various skills and spells¡ªall tried to distract him. The screams were the biggest culprits. Especially the shrieks. The ones that sounded painful. They threatened to drag his thoughts and eyes to the fray. But Ray had to focus on the Sylvan attempting to kill him. Had to make sure he survived this encounter. Had to make sure his Plan B worked out. Plan B didn¡¯t involve proccing Insanity again. It wouldn¡¯t work. Ray could already see the Sylvan holding onto another capsule to ward off the encroaching Insanity even from the attacks that were blocked. But there was one more trick up his sleeve. A trick that was bolstered by the sudden rush of unexpected allies. The Imps were here. ¡°It¡¯s almost like being saved by weird, evil eagles,¡± he muttered. The first one cannonballed in from the right with so much force, it pushed the Sylvan back despite his use of Pressure Block. He countered, killing the monster with one slash of his sword. But then more arrived, harrying and harassing the Sylvan with next to no regard for their own safety. Ray almost wanted to tell them to take it a little easier. But he was more enamoured by the fact that he now had a distraction to make use of. Ray focused intensely. Get away from the Sylvan. He hadn¡¯t expected it to work, and if it hadn¡¯t, he would carry out his plan regardless of the Imps that got caught in it too. Surprisingly, they listened to his unspoken command. It appeared the effects of the Tower Node were still active to some extent. All the Imps rushed away. The ones that were still alive, at least. That left the Sylvan open for one small direct attack. Ray didn¡¯t use Shatterclaw just then. Instead, he called forth Mottling Membrane. The spell created a barrier of black and red energy growing outwards. Constructed of chaotic energy, the hemisphere expanded at a blistering pace. Ray wasn¡¯t expecting it to protect him much against the Sylvan. He definitely wasn¡¯t expecting to deal any significant damage either. Just to prove that point, the Sylvan barged through the membrane of crimson and dark power, the Pressure Block shield pressed against his arm. But when he looked to swing his sword and cut Ray in half, he paused. No one was there. For Ray had already jumped. One of the benefits of Mottling Membrane was the obscurity it provided. That hemisphere of energy would let no one on the outside see what was going on inside. As such, Ray had taken full advantage of that fact and thrown himself upwards, under the ever-rising ceiling of the spell. The Sylvan¡¯s swing missed wildly. But Ray¡¯s pinpoint accuracy could never miss. Not from this point-blank range. He crashed down on top of the Sylvan with a slam of his Shatterclaw. The first one was blocked easily by just shifting the shield of compressed air upwards. But Ray grinned as he fell. He twisted and slammed down his other hand as he reached the ground in front of his opponent, calling up another Shatterclaw. Then yet another, thanks to the charges of his Talisman of Focused Fury filling up once more. And this time, Ray made sure to put his Mana Infuser Ring to good use, sacrificing all his Mana into raising his Shatterclaw to Tier 5. The slam dunk of dual, empowered Shatterclaws finally broke the Sylvan¡¯s defences. That shield of compressed air vanished as a dozen conjoined slashes the size of large refrigerators smashed down. The Sylvan¡¯s scream was cut short as he ended up crushed. [Enemy Defeated¡ªSylvan] Acrobat Assaulter [Tier 3] Sylvan: [Level 16] x1 Essence: +2,400 Mana Restored: +160 Essence to next level: 2,510/6,400 Ray couldn¡¯t exult in his victory for long. There was no time to pat himself on the back for defeating the kind of opponent he had struggled far more against just a few hours ago. He could almost have claimed this victory for himself, but then again, he couldn¡¯t discount the help he had received from the Feathered Imps. With a quick twist, Ray turned around to see the rest of the battle. Was there a spot where he could dive in and lend a hand? Tired though he was, he could at least regain enough Mana with another crystal and try to help with his spells. The chaotic mess was going to make things difficult. But then again, maybe his assistance wasn¡¯t going to be necessary. The former human captives were making their greater numbers felt. Sure, there were a few too many people lying broken and bleeding around the Sylvans¡¯ feet. But it was obvious to even untrained eyes like Ray¡¯s that the aliens were getting overwhelmed. Different powers were coming into play all at once. Bursts of elemental damage from things like fireballs, waves of water, spikes of jutting earth, and more. Some people attacked directly. One person encased himself in stones and crashed into one Sylvan to knock the alien over. The alien arose too quickly, kicking away the brave man, but not before more attacked. The humans¡¯ rally had been helped by the Imps appearing out of nowhere and bolstering their efforts. All the Brighthorns accompanying the Sylvans would have made things a lot worse if not for the timely arrival of the Imps. They had come in and attacked both the Sylvans and their vicious pets, their habitual fury doing well to push back their enemies. Ray was sure he saw Maya, Dory, and Randall at different areas of the little battle too. Whatever power they might or might not have had, they definitely didn¡¯t lack for courage. The Sylvan on the right got overwhelmed soon enough. One too many people using their skills all at once, one too many counters being blocked using shields that didn¡¯t dent or break. The alien just couldn¡¯t stand against that many people. It was one on the left that was proving to be more troublesome. Ray considered lending a hand there, but he had to find an opening to do so. People kept rushing at the Sylvan, heedless of how many of them had fallen or been beaten back, retreating while licking their wounds and crying out in pain. Huh. They were almost like monsters that way. Like the Imps, who were relentless in their aggression. He supposed that¡¯s what happened when push came to shove. When there were no other choices save to survive by any means possible or die. The Sylvan continued its desperate fighting. People had left their mark on the enemy. The Sylvan¡¯s armoured robes were torn, with wounds bedecking its face and hands. Ah, so the Sylvan¡¯s Recovery had to be down and out for the count. Still, several of the humans were beaten back, creating some space. Enough space for the Sylvan to run. Ray jerked forward, ready to stop it, but someone else got there ahead of him. A familiar-looking woman in ragged clothing squared up in front of the Sylvan. Ray realized this one was armed with an axe. The blade was the same question-mark-shaped one that the curved sword sported, just bigger and wides and flatter, like an axeblade needed to be. The Sylvan swung, almost with impunity. So fast. The axeblade blurred as it sliced through the air. Despite leaping back pretty quickly, the woman was hit on her arm, blood spraying in the air. But she had done her job. The Sylvan had been forced to stop for long enough that other people could jump in to attack. They were summarily rebuffed and pushed back, some receiving vicious wounds for their trouble. All save the first woman, who leaped back into the melee. Who struck hard enough to make her fist punch right through an already open wound on the Sylvan¡¯s chest. Ray blinked. He hadn¡¯t really understood what happened. The woman¡¯s blood had quickly coalesced around her hand, like some sort of skill, and then she had jabbed him in chest. Her hand had rocketed forward too fast for Ray to catch. Even the Sylvan looked surprised. The woman just laughed. She kicked the Sylvan back and ripped her arm free of the chest cavity, coming away with a squelching chunk of part-fleshy, part-crystalline innards in her hand. Ray stared. Was that the alien¡¯s heart? Before anyone was aware, the woman crushed the organ in her hand. The Sylvan froze. Then fell to the ground, dead as a plank. And all of a sudden, the battle was over. They had won. [New Personal Achievement¡ªMonstrous Manipulator!] You made monsters do your human bidding. Your ability to manipulate circumstances to your favour and convince even creatures who don¡¯t share the same level of intelligence and thought process as yourself is extraordinary. Reward
  • Spell Upgraded: Lifeblood Sense [Tier 2]
  • Reputation: +15 Cunning, +10 Chaotic, +10 Ruthlessness, +5 Knowledge
Oh, excellent. And with those Reputation Point gains, he was certain he had just crossed certain thresholds. More things to gain, even if he hadn¡¯t reached the next level just yet. Chapter 19: Gritty [Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 25-point threshold, your Ruthlessness now boosts your damage dealt. All damage inflicted gets a 5% bonus, including damage from any afflictions. [New Personal Achievement¡ªGreat Saviour!] You¡¯ve saved a whole host of your own kind! When push came to shove, you stepped up and rescued those in need. Reward
  • Reputation: +20 Benevolent, +20 Heroic
[Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 25-point threshold, your Benevolence now refunds you the Mana cost of one spell every twentieth spell. Refunded Mana is equivalent to the cost of the twentieth spell used in a chain. For reaching the 25-point threshold, your Heroism now boosts all your stats by +5 when facing opponents who are stronger than you by even one level. Oh, there were more. Ray had thought that first achievement was all that he would have gained. But if this was the case, then did that mean a lot of achievements were scalable in that way? Would he gain fifty Heroism and Benevolence Reputation Points if he saved everyone on the Floor somehow? Ray would need to remind himself what other achievements he had earned. The bonuses were good. Heroism especially would be super useful. Ray might just have made it even easier for himself to gain a ton of Essence. If he wanted to go on a Sylvan-killing spree. His musings on his personal gains were cut short since he had to tend to the others. Farther in front of him, the people who had freed themselves from their captors were now looking somewhere between shocked and exhausted. Ray could sympathize somewhat. They couldn¡¯t believe the plan had worked. They couldn¡¯t believe they were free. Speaking of, just to confirm that they indeed were, Ray glanced back. The Duskshell was still fighting against the remaining two Sylvans. It was a good thing Ray had looked back. He was lucky enough to catch the enormous monster priming its scuttling legs like a cat about to pounce before leaping straight into the air. ¡°It¡¯s gonna blow!¡± someone screamed. Several others shouted in alarm. People began hurling themselves farther away, though that wasn¡¯t really a bad thing. Ah, yes. The delightful panic of the uninformed. ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Ray yelled over the rising chaotic hubbub. ¡°The impact won¡¯t reach us.¡± Presence of the Primordial had said so. Thirty meters. That was the range of the impact from the Duskshell¡¯s leaping skill. Shell Quake. That was what it was called, if he remembered right. Ray was proven right. When the enormous monster crashed down, there was definitely a powerful shockwave bursting outwards from the point of impact. It ripped up the ground and anything on it. If Ray squinted, he was certain he saw the Sylvans go flying too, which was very satisfying. He idly wondered if he would get Essence if the monster killed the aliens. No, that was probably wishful thinking. Just because he had caused the fight to happen in the first place didn¡¯t mean he had contributed to it like his companions had done to his first battle against a Sylvan. ¡°Still,¡± Maya said, walking through the crowd. ¡°We should get moving.¡± Her eyes were on Ray, like she was seeking confirmation. Like she was advising him, and he was the one to make the call. Ray bit down on a curse. Just what he was trying to avoid. ¡°We should yeah,¡± he said. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°What about the bodies?¡± someone asked. Ray glanced at the corpses of the Sylvans. It looked like some of the people nearby wanted to loot the bodies of their foes. Not an unreasonable request, but unfortunately, Ray had already promised them to the Imps. The little feathered gremlins were already gathering around the dead, ready to cart them off to the Marauder¡¯s Caves and do who knew what. ¡°Sorry, but let we¡¯re leaving them,¡± he said. ¡°Just leaving them?¡± It was the same guy who had asked the question, a tall man in what looked like a heavy gambeson and a spear in his hand. His beard was matted with blood. The expression on his face was so angry, it was as though Ray had suddenly revealed he was a Sylvan too and this was all an elaborate trick. ¡°These bastards just tried to murder us!¡± ¡°Yeah, what¡¯s the big idea taking my kill from me?¡± Now the woman who had brutally murdered the Sylvan joined in. She was still covered in gore. ¡°They turned us into slaves. You want¡ª¡± ¡°Slaves?¡± Ray scoffed. ¡°No buddy, these Sylvans were taking you to their dogs¡¯ pens, where you¡¯d have been fed to the Brighthorns. Probably while you were still alive.¡± The man was shocked enough to not argue, even if he looked even angrier at that revelation. Meanwhile, the woman slowly swivelled her head to the corpses like she wished they were still alive so she could tear them apart again. Hmm, so the Sylvans hadn¡¯t revealed their ultimate intentions to their captives. Maybe they were scared of causing the exact kind of revolt that had led to their deaths. Ray could understand their fear. That Sylvan he had killed first had possessed righteous anger, to a certain extent, but it wasn¡¯t the kind of rage that these people were filled with. Theirs wasn¡¯t anger on behalf of anything or anyone else. Theirs was a burning hatred that came from the core instinct of humankind. Survival. ¡°If you¡¯re worried about loot, we know of a couple ways we can get more,¡± Maya said. ¡°For now, let¡¯s get moving.¡± Smart of her to be conciliatory and appeasing, while still having a bark to her voice. Certainly a lot more effective than anything Ray could have summoned up. Despite a few grumbles, and no small a number of scathing looks at the bodies Feathered Imps were starting to carry away, they got moving. While Ray was allowing the Imps to cart off the dead Sylvans, he wasn¡¯t so foolish as to believe they could just give up everything useful. The effects of the Tower Node were still active. As such Ray impressed another command upon the Imps, though once more, he made them see the reason behind it so that they would comply of their volition. The Feathered Imps ultimately wanted shinies. There were only so many things they could take off the Sylvans¡¯ bodies that they would value. As such, Ray asked them to give up anything that was ¡°dull¡±. He impressed upon them the memory of the Sylvan using a small capsule to free itself from the effects of Insanity. The Imps had no use for such things. Tiny, plain pellets had no place among their wondrous, glimmering hoard. So, once they completed their looting of the bodies and divided up everything they found, Ray requested that all the things that didn¡¯t attract them should end up with the humans. Only time would tell if they would comply. There was no resistance from the Imps to his request, unlike the recalcitrance they had displayed when he had asked for their direct help against the Sylvans. It left him hopeful that they would comply in time. They walked fast, putting some good distance between them and the battlefield behind them. As they moved, Ray took a proper look at his Status after who knew how long. [Status] Raymond Dominick Race: Human Class: Arcanist [Common] [Tier 2] Vocation: Tower Conqueror [Epic] This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Path: Lifeblood Chaos [Legendary] Level: 12 [2,510/6,400] Mana: 432 Recovery: 362 Perks: Riotous Life Gear Raiment: Gold-Chased Shaper Raiment Footwear: Drakescale Boots Headwear: Gold Wyvern¡¯s Helm Handwear: Supple Gloves Accessory: Mana Infuser Ring Accessory: Diamond-crusted Ring of Temporal Evasion Armament: Valorous Back Shield Armament: Talisman of the Scourge [Tier 3] Armament: Talisman of Focused Fury [Tier 3] Stats Vitality: 26 [+10] [Tier 1] Resilience: 4 [+30] [Tier 1] Strength: 4 [Tier 1] Agility: 8 [Tier 1] Intellect: 58 [+22] [Tier 2] Spirit: 40 [+27] [Tier 1] Reputation Knowledgeable: 91 [Intellect boost: +15] Chaotic: 70 [10% Insanity (Tier 2) buildup] Tenacious: 30 [Vitality boost: +5] Indomitable: 10 Cunning: 40 [5% critical chance] Thorough: 30 [Pierce Tier 1 defences] Benevolent: 35 [Refunds 20th spell Mana cost] Heroic: 35 [+5 to all stats when foe stronger] Ruthlessness: 25 [5% bonus damage] Cooperative: 25 [+5 to all stats in a party] Spells Shatterclaw [Offensive] [Tier 2] Presence of the Primordial [Passive] [Tier 3] Lifeblood Sense [Utility] [Tier 2] Chaos Chymify [Offensive] [Utility] [Tier 1] Lifeblood Crucible [Passive] [Tier 2] Primal Summons [Summoning] [Tier 2] Mottling Membrane [Barrier] [Tier 1] Occultic Apparition [Utility] [Tier 3] Lifeblood Construct [Summoning] [Tier 1] Skills Goliath Eater [Buff] [Tier 2] Dual Wield [Tier3] Alright, damn. That was a lot to take in at a glance. His Status had grown. It was nice to see that his stats had improved, just as it was cool to see how his repertoire of spells had advanced too. Then there were the new skills he had earned, plus all the gear he could now call his own. Ray had come pretty far in just a few days. Though, it didn¡¯t look like the Status indicated anything about his bag of holding. It also didn¡¯t inform him about stuff like the Mana crystals or the Tower Node in his possession. Curious. He mentally pushed the Status away. In its place, Ray got his first good look at the members of the group they had rescued. Ray shouldn¡¯t have been surprised there were kids with them. Two children. A dark-haired boy who looked no more than ten and a blonde girl who might have been seven or so. Everyone on Earth had been transported into the Towers. That included children, even if they were far less capable of adapting to their new, frightening existence than full-fledged adults or even teenagers. Ray swallowed, trying not to imagine any child ending up in a Tier 7 dungeon like his. Neither child appeared to be one of Maya¡¯s kids, or she would have been with them. The way she soldiered on despite that disappointment and the whole host of other emotions she was no doubt dealing with said a lot about her character. Ray hoped, for her sake, that her family was alright. ¡°They were with us from the beginning.¡± He turned his head to see the woman who had killed the Sylvan with a punch was eyeing him with interest. Had he unknowingly gotten closer to her, or had she lingered a little behind the rest of the group to walk alongside him? The way she was looking at him, it made him think the latter. Or maybe it was the fact that she had recognized Ray before he could figure out where he had seen her. It was hard not to stare back. That would have been rude. But the woman was definitely striking. Spiky, jagged hair like she had chopped it short unevenly with a knife. A ragged tunic that also appeared chopped short to reveal her midriff. Even her damn pants looked like they had been artfully torn, sort of resembling ripped jeans. Tattoos decorated her arms and the side of her neck. Were¡­ were those tats of spinal cords? ¡°I promise I¡¯ll wash off the gore,¡± she said. ¡°Soon as we find a source of water, that is.¡± Ray laughed a little and shook his head. ¡°Sorry, I wasn¡¯t staring at the blood and bits of flesh you didn¡¯t bother wiping off.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Her dark eyes glimmered. ¡°You were staring at me then?¡± ¡°I was just surprised a nineties punk girl time travelled thirty years into the future, only to end up in the apocalypse.¡± She stared at him, then laughed. ¡°Oh boy, I knew you¡¯d be good.¡± ¡°Sorry?¡± Her eyes sobered up, her expression turning fierce. ¡°I want to know how you did it. How you killed one of those horned sons of bitches by yourself. How you did it alone.¡± Ah. So that was her angle. He had suspected they would all be curious how any human could measure up against a Sylvan all by himself. Since the moment the journey had begun, Ray had been entertaining surreptitious looks from basically everyone around him, whenever they thought he wasn¡¯t looking. It seemed only the woman here had been bold enough to come out and ask directly. Although, the way she had done so, with her eyes alight with murderous fire¡ªthe same kind of fire she¡¯d had when she had killed the Sylvan¡ªmade Ray really wary. ¡°Why do you want to know?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Are you kidding? You literally killed one of those Sylvans all by yourself. That¡¯s huge. A human killing one of these things¡­¡± She shook her head, clearly impressed. ¡°I want to know why because I want to kill them too.¡± She said it so casually, so normally, Ray almost tripped. Like he had showcased a skilful display of origami and she wanted to know how to make a fucking paper crane too. I want to kill them too. ¡°I got lucky.¡± Ray essentially resorted to the same reasoning he had given his original group. ¡°A powerful Path, a tutorial zone that helped me level up a lot. The important thing was that I took advantage of it. By the sounds of it, not many people got Paths to begin with, and even fewer still lived to make use of them.¡± ¡°No, not many did.¡± She paused to consider, looking away, and Ray was suddenly glad those burning eyes weren¡¯t on him any longer. This woman was scary. ¡°Hm¡­¡± He suddenly got the sense he was being evaluated. And not just in a judgmental sense. [Warning!] Presence of the Primordial indicates you are under the effects of an appraisal skill, Blood Tinge [Tier 1]. A section of your status is now available to the skill¡¯s user. Presence of the Primordial didn¡¯t just tell him that he was under the influence of a certain skill or spell, it also directed him to the person using it. In this case, it was the strange woman walking alongside him. Intriguing that she had the kind of skill no one else but Ray had shown yet. Interestingly, Presence of Primordial didn¡¯t block it either. Maybe it was because the evaluating ability didn¡¯t have any negative impact on him directly. Well, since turnabout was fair play, Ray used Presence of the Primordial directly on the woman. [Presence of the Primordial] Patricia ¡°Gritty¡± Colmire [Denizen] Path: Path of Broken Blood [Epic] Class: Sadist [Rare] [Tier 3] at Level 9 Perk: Blood Boon Skills: First Blood [Tier 2]: Wreathe your weapon with blood and strike out. When used at the beginning of a battle, this skill will always be a critical hit. Inflicts Bleed. Pain Tolerance [Tier1]: You are now immune to the distracting effect of status conditions, afflictions, and any attacks. Pain is your companion, not your adversary. At Tier 1, this skill only blocks the debilitating effects of Tier 1 status conditions, afflictions, and attacks. Rending Bond [Tier 3]: Create a bond between any part of your foe torn from the original body and the original body itself. Damage dealt to the torn part will also be inflicted on the main body. Excruciation [Tier 1]: Pierce through enemy defences and land a devastating blow. If defences are successfully broken through, the strike will always break the foe¡¯s flesh to land the blow upon the innards. At Tier 1, this skill can break through up to Tier 2 defences. Crimson Song [Tier 1]: The more pain you deal to your opponent, the more pain you can further inflict. At Tier 1, damage dealt increases by 2% for every wound on your foe. Blood Tinge [Tier 2]: A sadist always recognizes another. When anyone deals any damage to anyone else within the spell¡¯s vicinity, you can now learn their inner workings. At Tier 2, this spell¡¯s range is 10 meters. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but Gritty?¡± Ray said. ¡°The hell kind of name is that?¡± Patricia¡ªTrish? Gritty?¡ªdidn¡¯t even have the decency to flush. ¡°Don¡¯t judge someone¡¯s name, asshole.¡± ¡°Sorry, sorry. Filter broke. Been alone too long.¡± Gritty¡¯s face was a deadpan. ¡°We got teleported into this Tower barely a couple of days ago. Not more than three. You¡¯ve been alone for less than a week.¡± Ray¡¯s life flashed before his eyes. ¡°Yeah¡­ let¡¯s go with a week.¡± They didn¡¯t ask each other about their appraisal abilities. Just as Gritty had seen enough of Ray to know he possessed Presence of the Primordial, he now knew that she had a way of checking out others¡¯ capabilities too. Though, unlike Presence of the Primordial, it didn¡¯t come with the handy ability of telling her when someone else was using some sort of ability on her too. She just had to infer it as a possibility. ¡°You said the kids were with you from the start,¡± Ray said. He recalled how Maya, Dory, and Randall had all been in one tutorial together. The only survivors. ¡°Was that how they captured you guys? By taking the kids first?¡± Gritty¡¯s expression turned a little grim. ¡°Their parents are long gone, so our group more or less adopted them. Those bastards were a lot more devious than I thought.¡± The bastards in question had to have been the Sylvans. Gritty went on to explain how the humans had killed a few Brighthorns to get to some Mana fruit but had been spotted by some Sylvans while doing so. The Sylvans had then attacked, threatening to execute them for the ¡°crime¡± of killing the Brighthorns they were only supposed to be capturing. After a short fight, the Sylvans asked them to surrender. Some agreed, preferring to be punished instead of killed outright. That had led to them all being captured and bound. They hadn¡¯t been told their punishment would have been being the Brighthorns¡¯ next meal, though. ¡°And those chains?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Were they just normal ones, or¡­?¡± ¡°They were Mana-disabling chain. Made for prisoners, or so they said. But I can use blood instead of Mana, so you know, fuck the Sylvans.¡± Ah. He wondered if that was what her Perk was. ¡°Pretty cool you freed yourself and everybody else too.¡± Gritty looked a little smug. ¡°I just told them I was freeing myself, damn the consequences, and the rest scrambled to make sure they could all protect themselves.¡± Ray blinked. Well, that was one way of advertising that she probably had a lot of Ruthless Reputation Points. ¡°Was everyone in your group inside your tutorial zone?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Not everyone, but most of us,¡± Gritty said. ¡°A handful of them are people we met outside the tutorial zones, like we met your little group.¡± That made sense. There had to be people all over the entire First Floor. How many of them had banded together into groups just like Ray¡¯s? And how many had ended up dead? ¡°How far away is your tutorial zone?¡± Gritty asked with a little gleam in her eyes. ¡°Are we heading in its direction?¡± Ray tried his best not to look at her weird. ¡°I¡¯m not telling you where my tutorial zone is just so you can go murder all the Imps who just helped us.¡± She tutted in dissatisfaction. ¡°I¡¯ll be careful, promise. It¡¯s like, unchecked growth, you know? Like that thing of removing all the foxes, so the bunny population just grows and grows until the entire ecosystem collapses cause too many fucking bunnies.¡± She grinned. ¡°Literally.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Just think of it as me trimming the Imp population so they don¡¯t¡ª¡± ¡°Ray.¡± Maya was pulling herself to the rear of the group. Gritty clearly looked like she wanted to ask more, but the appearance of the other woman made her go quiet. ¡°Did you get the notification?¡± ¡°Notification?¡± It arrived an instant later. [Base Node] You can now be a member of a Faction. The Party has grown! Now that the 10-people threshold has been crossed, the Party can be upgraded to a Faction. A Faction enjoys greater communal benefits compared to a Party, such as creating Bases and assigning Communal Roles that. To upgrade the Party to a Faction, a Base must be established using a Base Node. Use 1,500 Mana from the communal pool to create a Base Node? [Yes]/[No] Chapter 20: Base Establishment Ray took a look through the notification a couple of times again. Ten people minimum to create a faction. A nine-person party sounded a bit large¡ªimagine managing eight different people in one group, Christ¡ªbut who was Ray to argue against the disembodied entity of the System. ¡°I hope no one has picked yes yet,¡± Ray said. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Maya said. ¡°Some of them accidentally did already, but as you can see, nothing¡¯s happened. From what I¡¯ve gathered, I think everyone in the potential Faction needs to accept yes and only then will we get this Base Node.¡± That was another thing that intrigued him. Base Node. Tower Node. Were there other sorts of Nodes? He had a strong suspicion most people weren¡¯t even aware of the Tower Nodes in the first place. ¡°You¡¯ve looked into it a lot already, huh?¡± Gritty said. ¡°Yes, I have.¡± Maya offered a hand. ¡°I¡¯m Maya, by the way. It¡¯s nice to meet you, Patricia.¡± ¡°Gritty.¡± She grasped Maya¡¯s proffered hand and didn¡¯t shake it so much as squeezed it like she wanted to crush it. ¡°Same here. Thanks for the assist.¡± Maya winced a little as she retracted her hand. ¡°No problem. I¡¯m just glad we found more people.¡± ¡°No, you don¡¯t get it. Now that there¡¯s someone like you to take charge, I can finally kiss this whole business goodbye and do what I need to.¡± Maya frowned. ¡°You¡¯re¡­ leaving? Right when we¡¯re actually making a Base and a Faction and everything?¡± ¡°Yep! All this ain¡¯t for me, chief. You¡¯ll be doing me a tremendous favour by taking them off my hands.¡± Gritty elbowed Ray hard. He winced, feeling quite sympathetic towards Maya. ¡°You¡¯re leaving too, wingman, aren¡¯t you? Don¡¯t lie. I can tell it just by looking at you. You don¡¯t want to be tied down. You don¡¯t want to¡ª¡± She grinned. ¡°Get your wings clipped.¡± Ray stared at her. Wingman? Maya turned her frown to Ray. Wild how she could make it look like he had gravely disappointed her, like she had raised him better than this. Like she really was his mom or something. But Ray understood Gritty¡¯s angle. He understood where she was coming from. Ray was actually surprised that she had stuck by her group¡¯s side all this while rather than going off and doing her own thing. Now that she had a ticket out of needing to manage a group of people, she wanted to cash it in immediately and fucking bolt. Honestly, he got it. ¡°We should set up the Base Node,¡± Ray said. ¡°But probably not here. We should put some more distance between us and the Sylvans and find a more defensible location before we establish a Base.¡± Maya didn¡¯t look satisfied with that answer, and Gritty laughed low. Ray tried not to glare at the latter of them. ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯ve been thinking too,¡± Maya said. ¡°We¡¯ll keep moving. But this communal Mana thing. We don¡¯t have communal Mana, do we?¡± Ray was a little perplexed by it too. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. But I have a feeling even if we don¡¯t have it, the System might just take it from our total pool of Mana.¡± ¡°Oh, that makes sense.¡± At least, that was what Ray suspected would happen. They kept moving. Gritty didn¡¯t trike up any conversation just then, which was fine with Ray. It let him observe the group a bit more, let him gather his own thoughts as he did so. The kids were being overseen by a couple of young adults who actually looked like a couple the way they acted. They weren¡¯t that young either. Maybe mid-thirties? Well¡­ maybe not exactly young adults any longer, then. Ray morosely wondered if they had lost their actual child¡ªmaybe even more than one¡ªand had volunteered to look after the only kids in the group. At least they seemed to be doing a good job. Maya wasn¡¯t ever alone. When she wasn¡¯t at the head of the group, she was being hounded by other members who always had something to say. Ray didn¡¯t catch everything they talked about, but he got the gist of it pretty easily. Ray: You guys know what they¡¯re saying? Dory: Anything and everything you can think of. Ray: That explains everything, thanks. Randall: They want to know how we¡¯re going to get food, where exactly we¡¯re heading towards, what are we going to do about monsters and Sylvans¡­ so basically what Dory said. Dory: Told you! Ray: Huh. Thanks. They didn¡¯t meet any monsters along their paths. Not directly, at least. Ray and a few others did see creatures that had to be monsters in the distance. A flock of huge, pterodactyl-like monsters flying off in the distance. A wild, thunderous grunt from somewhere far off none of them had heard before. Even the earth shook for a while, like something gigantic was passing under their feet. That last one had sent them scurrying away. Someone was even screaming at them to move diagonally and not make vibrations. Crazy. Interestingly, the group did recognize one set of monsters they saw in the distance. A familiar herd of kangaroo-like deer set them immediately moving in the opposite direction. Ray was curious about what exactly the problem with them was but all he got was that they were ¡°bad news¡±. He supposed he would have to find out later. Eventually, they reached another of the old ruins on a hill. Usually, they formed dungeons across the First Floor, so far as Ray had spotted, but this broken-down keep wasn¡¯t one. They found a location within that looked like a large, indoor courtyard. Everyone was a little tense, keeping an eye out to see if they really were alone. Maya started directing people to use skills similar to Ray¡¯s Lifeblood Sense and sending them off in pairs to check the entire edifice. After about half an hour, they were sure it was indeed unoccupied and mostly harmless. No traps, no secrets they could find. Nothing dangerous. Maya gathered everyone in the central courtyard again. ¡°Since we¡¯re more or less certain this will work, we¡¯ll be using this location as our Base. So please go into your System notification and accept yes.¡± They did so. Ray followed suit. Since almost half of his Mana proceeded to disappear, it was clear everyone else had done the same too. Gritty winced a little. ¡°Well, there goes my Mana.¡± ¡°How much did you lose?¡± Ray asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know, almost seventy percent? What about you?¡± ¡°At least half. A little more, actually ¡± ¡°Great, I¡¯ll need to get more Mana crystals.¡± More loot, for both items and gear they could use and for consumables, was definitely a concern. But that could wait until his Base business was done. The Node that appeared in the middle of the hilltop was familiar to Ray. The same diamond-shaped construction of pure white. He was really starting to wonder what material that was. It floated in the centre of the group, with everyone looking on it with differing levels of awe. They let Maya take charge of it. Ray was curious how it differed from his Tower Node, but at the same time, he wasn¡¯t willing to claim responsibility for the whole group. Besides, he could poke Maya about it in their party cha¡ª [Base Node] Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Your Party is now a Faction! Faction Title: [Available] Faction Rank: Tier 1 Faction Population: 30 Faction Leader: Maya Volta Faction Base: Sector 59 hilltop Faction Holdings: Sector 59 Faction Objectives: 0/5 Ray didn¡¯t get much information beyond that. He focused on the Faction Objectives out of curiosity but couldn¡¯t make it show more information. Huh. Well fine, all the more reason for Maya to deal with it as the Faction leader. [New Personal Achievement¡ªFirst Faction!] You¡¯ve joined your first Faction! A cooperative is far stronger than any individual could ever be. Unless, of course, said individual is ridiculously overpowered. Reward
  • New Faction Role available: Fist
  • Reputation: +15 Cooperative
For reaching the 50-point threshold, your Cooperation now boosts all your stats by +10 when in any group. Ray had crossed another Cooperative threshold, but unlike with Knowledge, the +10 wasn¡¯t added on top of the original +5 to all stats. It simply replaced the original. That wasn¡¯t really much of a bummer since he didn¡¯t see himself working with any parties for long. Although, throwing away that interesting bonus just because he liked the idea of working on his own didn¡¯t sit completely well with him either. Hmm, was there a way he could manipulate the System into giving him the bonus without needing an official party? Could he manipulate with Lifeblood Construct somehow¡­ Ray would need to test that at some point. Also, he had something called a New Faction Role now. Ray tried to focus on it, and a popup¡­ well, popped up to enlighten him. [Information Request¡ªFaction Role] Below is the Faction Role that has been made available for you to occupy. Fist The Fist of any Faction is often the strongest person in the Faction. It is the Fist who takes charge during battle, the Fist who drives the Faction¡¯s mailed gauntlet into the face of its enemies. A Fist gains a variety of combat bonuses in this role, as well as the ability to create and command a war party. Hmm. That was quite interesting, if truth be told. Ray was definitely intrigued as to what these combat bonuses were going to be, though he had a feeling they wouldn¡¯t be as beneficial as the ones he already had through his items and Reputation Points. Still, every little bit added up, and he wouldn¡¯t be averse to more bonuses. However, the threads of potential responsibility were already cutting against him. A role in the Faction itself meant he was an official part of it. Someone who had a job, Why would he take up yet another job again? Why would he pick yet another chore he was forced to complete day in day out, after this whole apocalyptic mayhem had given him an opportunity to just not deal with that shit? Come to think of it, had he even explicitly consented to being a member of the new Faction? The grin he got from Gritty to his right was all too knowing. Shuttering his expression, Ray declined the option to be the Fist. He wondered if Maya was going to be even more disappointed. Sure, he could have accepted the Faction Role, enjoyed the bonuses, then refused to do anything actually responsible with regards to the Faction. But he wasn¡¯t that much of a dick. If someone was going to take a Faction Role, they had better be prepared to work for the Faction. Even if Ray hated the idea of being responsible for them, he understood that there might be people who could fulfil that role within this new Faction. ¡°We need a name,¡± Dory said from somewhere farther ahead. ¡°Anybody got any cool suggestions?¡± That stared a hot debate among everyone gathered there as to what their official Faction Title was going to be. At least, for those who weren¡¯t too tired. A lot of people had decided to just plop down and take a break. Ray decided those people had the brighter idea. Now that they appeared relatively safe, he needed some rest and recuperation before he got going. A plan of action was forming in his head. Part of it was informed by what he had learned from Virko and part of it was what he himself needed next for his growth and forward journey. So for now, after excusing himself from Maya and the others, Ray found an isolated spot on the hillside where he could get some rest. Thankfully, no one, not even Gritty, followed.
The human screamed. Again. Kredevel sometimes wished he could reduce his ears¡¯ sharpness and sensitivity. Were human ears like that too? The Brighthorn ears certainly were, which was why most had left the Floor Lord¡¯s playing field, though the Lord¡¯s prized Brighthorn was too interested in playing to let the noise bother it. ¡°Fetch!¡± the Floor Lord shouted, chucking the forearm he had just ripped off the human far into the distance. The human¡¯s fingers danced as the torn-off limb soon disappeared into the distance, leaving a trial of raining blood. With a happy yelp, Stone Digger bounded off. At level 23, the Brighthorn was so big, it made the earth shake as it ran. The Floor Lord laughed in pleasure. ¡°Look at him go! Never gets tired, that one.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t do this to me!¡± the human wailed. Kredevel tried not to look at the man, but his eyes were inexorably drawn to the chained new Denizen. The human looked dead, yet alive too. His skin was pale as their corpses tended to be, his eyes shot with blood and drooling rather disgustingly, just as his nose and mouth were doing. The human¡¯s clothes were similarly dirty, robes that were now smudged with dirt, daubed with spittle and blood. Thanks to the Mana-disabling chains keeping the man tied to a cross-post, his struggles didn¡¯t have much effect. Having his arm reduced to a stump probably didn¡¯t help either. It was gushing copious blood to the ground. There was an enormous pool of it around the cross-post. Kredevel looked away. The man¡¯s first experience as a Denizen of the Towers was now filled with torture. That was a terrible introduction by all means. But then, he had seen the broken condition of poor Fruit Gobbler. The Brighthorn had been alive when the human had brought it in, but it had soon expired afterwards. Just thinking of the terrified, tortured state the poor hound had to have been in, all while being dragged by this idiot of a man, made his Clusters clench in his chest. Kredevel shook his head. His sympathy was limited. But despite that, Kredevel wasn¡¯t suited for this kind of thing. Harsh justice? No, this was vile torture. Had it been up to him, he would have made it clear to the poor human where he had erred, then would have had him executed. Death was preferable. Cleaner, for both the body and the soul. ¡°I succeeded,¡± the man choked out. ¡°I completed the challenge. I deserve to go to the next floor!¡± ¡°Of course,¡± the Handler said airily. He waved away the human¡¯s words with one big, meaty hand. ¡°As the Lord of the First Floor, it is my duty to let all qualified Denizens climb the Tower of Forging, should they prove themselves by meeting the condition of the challenge.¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± The man shook his chains. ¡°So let me go!¡± ¡°I will. Once I am done with you, you¡¯ll be free to head up and face the challenge of the Second Floor.¡± ¡°But¡ª¡± ¡°Nothing in my duties says I can¡¯t decide when your challenge is complete.¡± The Floor Lord¡¯s laugh sounded like axes chopping off heads. ¡°So long as you go face your next challenge in the same health you completed my challenge with.¡± With a snap of his fingers, spiral growths began shooting out of the ground. They snaked up and punctured the chained man¡¯s legs. He screamed some more. Though, soon enough, the shrieks gained a confused note. His arm was whole again, thanks to the horned roots of the Floor Lord feeding the man his Recovery. Of course, they all knew it wasn¡¯t over. ¡°If I hadn¡¯t stopped that thing,¡± the man said, the cadence of his voice growing shriller by with every word as his captor walked over. ¡°I would¡¯ve been torn apart by¡ª¡± The Floor Lord leaned down, and with a short tug, ripped off the man¡¯s leg below the knee. Their poor captive screamed. At the same time, Stone Digger returned. Its mouth was bloodied, but salivating. Kredevel smiled. Big old hound was hungry for its next treat. ¡°Ho, boy.¡± The Floor Lord chucked the torn-off limb far into the distance. His shimmering cape rippled as he did so. Sometimes, Kredevel envied the man¡¯s Strength. ¡°Fetch!¡± With a happy yelp, the enormous Brighthorn dashed off. ¡°It¡¯s nice we have a lot of these idiots running around,¡± he said, jerking his chin at the chained man wailing at his new wound. ¡°Makes harvesting the Mana fruits so much easier.¡± ¡°That it does, Lord Olgolair,¡± Kredevel said, keeping his head bowed, as was appropriate. ¡°Now then.¡± The Floor Lord turned his full regard on Kredevel. Kredevel did his best to keep his shoulders from tensing. ¡°I am disappointed in you, Kredevel. You actually failed to retrieve Brick Licker alive. Was a Tier 7 tutorial zone too tough even for you?¡± ¡°No, my lord. I wasn¡¯t expecting another new Denizen there, so I had to halt my original plan and¡ª¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want your excuses, Kredevel. A Brighthorn lies dead. Someone must take the responsibility.¡± Someone like Kredevel. ¡°Of course, my lord.¡± The Floor Lord turned away. ¡°Where was this again?¡± ¡°Sector 68, my lord. The Marauder¡¯s Caves.¡± ¡°I see.¡± He paused for just a moment. ¡°I want you to raze it to the ground. That will teach them a lesson they won¡¯t soon forget.¡± At that, Kredevel finally looked up. The command was a little too shocking. A little too strong. ¡°My lord, if we destroy the Marauder¡¯s Caves, then the Marauder himself will be notified. A Paragon¡¯s attention might not be something we wish to deal with.¡± ¡°What would you do instead, you fool? Allow them to get away with such a vile transgression? Never. Do as you¡¯re told, Kredevel. The Marauder is a new Paragon. Weak. This Tower is new as well, as is the tutorial zone. The chances of a Paragon being notified of a location that most would consider beneath them are miniscule. Destroy it.¡± A fool for considering all the implications of their actions? Kredevel didn¡¯t think so. Unfortunately, he wasn¡¯t the Floor Lord here. He was a mere instrument, a tool to be used by his ¡°betters¡±. You deserve better. For some reason, Ray¡¯s words rang clear through his head. Maybe Kredevel really did. But the only way to get his deserved better was by doing what he was told to the best of his capabilities. ¡°As you wish, my lord,¡± he said. Kredevel rose, ready to head out on his new mission, but the door to the play pen opened. The gate silently slid apart, revealing two Sylvans striding through. He noted them with a frown. Those two were assigned to the sixty-first sector, if he remembered right. But they looked quite harried for two Sylvans who were supposed to be in a relatively calm Sector. ¡°Apologies for barging in, my lord,¡± the one at the front said. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± the Floor Lord asked, clearly noticing their distress. ¡°We were attacked,¡± said the second one. Tension spiked through them all a that statement. ¡°We were killed.¡± The Floor Lord¡¯s lips thinned. ¡°Where?¡± ¡°Sector 62, my lord.¡± ¡°By whom?¡± ¡°Humans. And¡­ and Feathered Imps.¡± The Floor Lord¡¯s eyes cut straight to Kredevel. He shook his head, unable to fathom what in the world was going on. What in the Burgeoner¡¯s name have you done, Ray? Chapter 21: Across the Tower Kredevel stood silently as he learned the full story of what had happened. Apparently, when a group of his fellow Sylvans had tried to capture and corral a large group of new Denizens towards a pack of hungry Brighthorns, they had been interrupted. Somehow, the humans had not only freed themselves, they had also been able to call upon a Duskshell to assist them. ¡°If those fools could get killed by some humans, maybe they deserved it,¡± the Floor Lord said with a distasteful look on his face. The Sylvan in the lead, Airsten, looked a little horrified that their superior could hold such disparaging views of his own subjects. ¡°My lord!¡± Kredevel held himself back from shaking his head. These na?ve youth had no idea about the Floor Lord¡¯s reputation. ¡°Ha!¡± the human in chains shouted. ¡°That¡¯s what you bastards deserve! Death.¡± Instead of dignifying the retort with an answer, the Floor Lord walked over and started pulling out the man¡¯s innards. A thin tube that appeared a light red in colour stretched out as the man screamed. Lord Olgolair tore off a chunk of the tube, leaving the rest to dangle and drip blood, balling the torn-off length and throwing it hard for the large Brighthorn to chase. The man continued screaming. ¡°There is some factor you¡¯re missing,¡± the Handler said as he returned. ¡°I don¡¯t believe the excuse that the humans were diverse enough to possess a skill for both freeing themselves from Mana-disabling chains and calling upon a Duskshell of all things. At the levels that you report? Nearly impossible.¡± Kredevel had to agree with that assessment. That the humans had freed themselves entirely on their own would have been their only possible conclusion, but there was one detail that led to a different possibility. ¡°The Feathered Imps,¡± the Floor Lord said. ¡°You said the evidence of their presence was only upon the Brighthorn bodies?¡± ¡°No, my lord.¡± Airsten was not happy at all to be the bearer of bad news. He was fidgeting where he stood. ¡°It is the other way around. From our inspection, the Brighthorns with the group who had captured the humans were attacked and killed by the Feathered Imps. Nothing else.¡± The Floor Lord cursed. ¡°Monsters.¡± He flung another withering look at Kredevel. ¡°I want you to shift priorities, Kredevel. Don¡¯t destroy the Marauder¡¯s Caves just yet. I want you to investigate the whole situation and report back your findings as soon as you can.¡± Kredevel bowed stiffly. ¡°Of course, my lord.¡± ¡°What of us, my lord?¡± the last Sylvan, Vrayne, asked. ¡°You will take more Brighthorns. Set them to find these escaped humans. Make sure to corral the humans and subdue them if they dare to harm the Brighthorns.¡± Kredevel really wanted to point out that the Brighthorns would never be harmed if the Floor Lord didn¡¯t send them out. If he hadn¡¯t put them up to this insane challenge. No wonder so many of them were coming back wounded. Even dead. But Olgolair cared more about bringing his brutal fist down on the new Denizens than the wellbeing of their beloved Brighthorns. Their ¡°safety¡± was simply another tool for his sadism. Sadly, Kredevel was not yet in a position to make such thoughts known. One day, though. The other Sylvans excused themselves to see to their order. Olgolair retained Kredevel before he left too, however. ¡°Kredevel,¡± he said. ¡°You were about to make an excuse, yes? About meeting someone in the tutorial? And is it not this same tutorial from whence these deplorable monsters came and attacked us?¡± Kredevel had been trying to not to think too hard about that line of logic, but clearly, the Floor Lord had other ideas. ¡°Yes, my lord.¡± ¡°Then you know what to find. This is your objective, Kredevel¡ªfind the human who took this tutorial and bring his head to me. I can already see how that insignificant worm is going to harm our operations here. End him before he can cause further troubles.¡± He left the last part out, but Kredevel understood it all the same. Before he calls down a Paragon. Kredevel was still for a while. There was so much he wished he could have said at that moment. But Olgolair, Lord of the First Floor, was in one of his moods. There was no room except for blind obedience. Unless one wished to experience the same as their tied-up human a few handspans away. ¡°Of course.¡± Kredevel bowed. ¡°My lord.¡±
Derrick sniffed. He breathed in deep. Odours wafted into his nose. Sweat, blood, the burning of meat somewhere in the distance. Ah, the delightful smells of effort. He could live off just that smell. ¡°They won¡¯t listen to reason, sir,¡± Ken said. ¡°We kept telling them, trying to convince them, but they still think we¡¯re wrong.¡± Derrick snorted. Ken wasn¡¯t the tall, handsome guy¡¯s real name. Derrick didn¡¯t remember what it was anymore, and Derrick really didn¡¯t give a shit anyway. Ken looked like a pristine little action figure, and whether he had his Barbie or not, he was now ¡°Ken¡± to everybody in the Wild Tides Faction. ¡°You were trying to get them to agree?¡± Derrick leaned forward where he sat against the rock. Above him, the Base Node glowed with a white light, brighter than any of the fires his followers could ever light up. ¡°Even if they don¡¯t believe it?¡± Ken recoiled back. He looked he could shit himself any minute then. ¡°No, sir. Not at all. I¡ªwe were just trying to show them the right way forward.¡± Derrick held a hand up for silence. He had heard enough. These dumb fucks would never learn. ¡°I want you to round them up and bring them to communal fire after dinner,¡± Derrick said. ¡°We¡¯ve entertained them and their stupid notions long enough. Now, there¡¯s no place for them here anymore. And make sure you tell Bellamy to get the scaffolding ready. Got it?¡± Ken saluted, the end of his red armband flapping. His hand trembled, but it was a little less than yesterday. Some improvement. ¡°Got it, sir.¡± ¡°Good. Now get out. You¡¯re blocking my view.¡± Ken ran off. With that nuisance gone, Derrick was free to enjoy the vista before him. A wonderful sight where the whole ragtag little army he had assembled was slowly coming together. Dinner was brought to him soon. A round of monster meat with a side of blood sauce and some water they had purchased through the Base Node. Derrick enjoyed the meal and enjoyed watching everyone else in his growing band enjoying their meals too. They were going to need their strength for what was to come next. An army marches on its stomach. About an hour after dinner, a group of his personal guard brought over the dissenters. The captives were kind of hazy in his vision. Unformed. Barely real. That was the way things had always been. Things and people¡ªand in this case, these men could barely be called people¡ªwere never distinct to him unless they meant something. Unless they were worthy of his regard. ¡°You¡¯re going to fail, Derrick,¡± one of the tied-up men said. ¡°You can¡¯t fight and survive here like this. The System wants us to climb the Tower. This whole floor is inhospitable. It¡¯ll chew you up and spit you out. We need to move.¡± ¡°Shut up,¡± Derrick said. His voice was quiet, but he put in enough menace in it to make them stop their blubbering. He let them stew that way for a while. Just to put them in their place. They really thought they were worth his time? That they could convince him with their lies? Dumb fuckers. ¡°Alright, enough of this.¡± Derrick got to his feet. He tamed his long, dark beard with a stroke of his hand, then made sure his cloak covered him right. ¡°Bring them along,¡± he said as he got moving. His personal guard dragged the dissenters along behind him. They protested, vocally, but a few jabs from his guards shut them up real quick. Derrick didn¡¯t stop until he had reached the rise from which he always addressed his army. There was no night or day on this forsaken floor, so he would always be visible to his men and women. No one couldn¡¯t not look at him. Stolen novel; please report. He raised his hand high. ¡°Comrades!¡± he shouted, making sure he caught the last of the attention that were yet to fall upon him. His Projection skill magnified his words. ¡°Who are we?¡± The answers came in pieces, patchwork replies that weren¡¯t at all up to snuff. ¡°Louder,¡± he demanded. ¡°Altogether. What are we? Who are we?¡± ¡°We¡¯re the Wild Tides!¡± they all shouted back. Derrick smiled slowly. ¡°That¡¯s right. We¡¯re the Wild Tides who¡¯ll sweep this entire floor. Who¡¯ll flood and take over the Tower of Forging. And to do that, we need to believe in ourselves. We need to believe in our purpose. The purpose of ruling this Tower.¡± He paused for a moment, letting the reminder sink in. ¡°Now, why do we have this purpose?¡± The answers were again patchwork, but more than the words, it was the feeling he wanted to listen to this time. And that emotion was loud and clear. Evident in all his followers. ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Derrick shouted. ¡°If we don¡¯t take this Tower for ourselves, we¡¯ll all be eradicated. How many have we lost already? How many of our friends have already fallen to the monsters? To get us the food, the shelter¡ªthe Base¡ªthat we so enjoy freely? We cannot let their sacrifice be in vain. We cannot stray from our paths. We cannot fail.¡± He turned viciously to the dissenters who had been dragged in. ¡°These men here. They would have you forget your purpose. They would have us stray from our glorious paths. They are not with us. They are our enemies. Do you know why, my comrades?¡± The answer started slow, from only a few mouths, but then, they were all yelling it out. ¡°If you aren¡¯t with us, you¡¯re against us.¡± Derrick¡¯s smile was the widest it had been all day. ¡°Yes. If you aren¡¯t with the Wild Tides, you¡¯re against the Wild Tides. Simple as that.¡± He nudged his head towards the contraption a few yards away. ¡°Hang them up.¡± The guards complied. They knew by now not to hesitate. Otherwise, they¡¯d be replaced quicker than Derrick could say ¡°get out¡±. The dissenters all shouted and begged, of course, but Derrick had gotten quite good at ignoring the whimpering, pitiful noises. They were no more distinct now than their appearances were. Derrick didn¡¯t bother watching the stupid animals being strung up on their makeshift gallows. It worked. That was good enough. He would need to congratulate Bellamy for a job well done with its construction using nothing but giant monster bones. What Derrick watched instead were the faces of his followers. He noted the ones who looked away, the ones who grew pale, the ones who disapproved one way or another. Some weeding would be needed. After all, if they weren¡¯t with the Wild Tides¡ªin mind, body, and soul¡ªthey were against the Wild Tides. ¡°This,¡± Derrick said, his voice booming over the group. ¡°This is the fate of all who oppose us. The fate of all who would dare stand against us. We have sacrificed blood, sweat, and tears to build a life for ourselves, to construct a home for our future, and we won¡¯t let anyone stand in our way. If you aren¡¯t with us¡­¡± His followers, his faithful, dutiful, spellbound followers, answered, ¡°You¡¯re against us!¡± Derrick held his smile as he left. He didn¡¯t have to make any effort to do so. He was pleased. It came naturally. With the dissenters taken care of, hope filled him. Derrick knew his purpose. To guide the faithful flock to the peak and destroy everything in their way. That was what the Paragon had ordained. He couldn¡¯t fail. Not when he had an entire Tower to conquer.
Ray stretched when he awoke, feeling more rested and refreshed than he had in a long while. It was even better than when he had taken a break with Maya, Dory, and Randall. Maybe it was because there was a greater sense of accomplishment with his current rest. A fulfilling feeling, after having rescued Gritty¡¯s bigger group. But his good mood was soured pretty soon. ¡°Hey.¡± The call made Ray turn to see a familiar big, gruff man walking over with a spear in hand. He looked like he wouldn¡¯t have minded stabbing Ray in the guts with the spearhead. With a short start, Ray realized this was the guy who had first protested the Imps taking away the Sylvans¡¯ corpses. ¡°We¡¯re having a meeting. You¡¯ve been asked to join.¡± Oh, so that was how it was going to be. No introductions. No greetings. Straight business. ¡°Meeting?¡± Ray asked. ¡°For what? And who are you?¡± The big man frowned. ¡°I¡¯m Tyler, the Fist. And are you dumb? The meeting¡¯s for what we¡¯re going to do from now on, what else?¡± Ray stretched again. Ah, yes. That felt good. It made a small vein pop on the man¡¯s forehead. Even better. ¡°I think I¡¯ll pass. I¡¯ve got something I need to take care of, so I¡¯ll be heading out now. But I¡¯ll be in touch, in case you guys need anything.¡± The man¡¯s grip on his spear tightened. ¡°So you¡¯re just going to run, huh? Figures.¡± ¡°What¡¯s your problem? I said I have business to take care of¡ª¡± ¡°You think whatever stupid shit you need to do is more important than what¡¯s going on here? We¡¯re your fucking faction, man. The meeting we¡¯re having is the most important thing you could possibly be doing. No business comes before that.¡± Ray¡¯s hackles rose so high, he was pretty sure they were off the charts. This was exactly what he had hated about the idea of joining up with any Factions. People depending on him, relying on him, expecting things from him to the point of being stupidly entitled about it. People who needed to learn that he didn¡¯t owe them shit. People who needed to learn their place. With a deep, mastering breath, Ray turned away. ¡°Whatever, man. I¡¯m heading off. Like I said, I¡¯ll be in touch.¡± The hand that landed on his shoulder was heavy with undeserved authority. ¡°I¡¯m not done. You think scum like you can just show up, do what you want, and then run off and sell yourself to some other Faction? Is that what you are, huh? A mercenary? Don¡¯t you have any sense of loyalty?¡± Ray twisted around, shoved the idiot back with one hand, working really hard to stop himself from doing anything worse. ¡°Who hurt your sorry ass, pal? Stop taking out your trauma on me.¡± The man¡¯s face turned apoplectic. Before he could do anything stupid, Ray activated Primal Summons to pull up his wings. ¡°See you,¡± Ray said. ¡°Tell Maya I¡¯ll be back soonish. Actually, on second thought, I can do that on my own.¡± Without giving a single shit for what the man¡¯s response might have been, Ray flew off. He sent off a message through the party chat to Maya. Ray might not be a part of the meeting in the way she probably wanted, but he could weigh in on things all the same. Ray: Are you holding a meeting right now? It took a minute or so before she replied. In that time, Ray had put enough distance that the broken down keep looked like nothing more than a smudge in the distance. He dismissed his wings and walked on. No need to waste any more Mana. Maya: Yes. They¡¯re trying to come up with a name. Right now, everyone¡¯s settled on Insurge Faction. Ray: Insurge, huh? Sounds rebellious. Maya: Will you be joining us? Ray: Uh¡­ I¡¯m already gone, lol. Sorry. Another pause. Ray could imagine Maya sighing. Maya: I suppose it would mostly be too boring for you anyway. We¡¯re dealing with stuff like infrastructure, potential food sources, scouting missions, and so on. That wasn¡¯t exactly boring, per se, but Ray didn¡¯t want to be in charge of those things. Those were for the Faction to figure out. But he did have advice that might help. Ray: I¡¯ll take care of your food problem. We need Mana fruits, basically, and I think I might have a way of securing a steady supply of them. So long as we can keep our supply hidden from the Sylvans. Other than that, you should probably focus on getting stronger. Scout out nearby dungeons, see which ones you can clear. Maya: Oh, wow. I wasn¡¯t expecting you to come out and say, ¡°I¡¯ll take care of the food issue myself¡±. Ray laughed. Ray: Part of it I¡¯m doing for myself. That it helps the Faction too is a nice side benefit. Maya: Oh, of course. Regardless, I¡¯m grateful, and I¡¯m sure everyone else will be too. And we¡¯re planning on some dungeon runs too. Keep up a rotating mix of patrol, a guard, and a team focused on clearing dungeons to grow stronger. Ray: That¡¯s a good plan. Just let me know if you come across any more Sylvans. It took a little while before Maya replied. He supposed he ought to not to be disturbing her during the meeting. Maybe she was even telling everyone else the ¡°good news¡± that their food problem might not be a problem much longer. If Ray¡¯s plan worked out. Maya: We will. Good luck, and take care of yourself. Don¡¯t hesitate to call us if you need anything. Ray: Yes, mom. They cut off the chat. Good thing too. Ray was almost at a location he could sense another Duskshell. As he had chatted, he had surveyed the lands surrounding the Base to see if there were any of the gigantic monsters still alive nearby. A mixture of quick walking and a few bursting flights with his wings had led him over five different groves of sinuous, dark trees. Gritty: Ha, I finally figured this thing out. Ray: What the hell?! Ray had come to a record-scratch halt when the chat window had popped in out of nowhere. A part of him was glad he hadn¡¯t collided with a tree mid-flight. Another part was confused. Gritty: Did I surprise you? Ray: You could say that. Hold on, you¡¯re not coming after me, are you? Ray looked around, suddenly fearful he would see a blood-drenched punk girl burst out from behind a dark, undulating tree with a psychotic grin on her face. Also, was there a setting or something he could toggle to stop letting random people open a chat with him? Gritty: Oh, you¡¯re one of those shits who think the world revolves around them, aren¡¯t you? Ray: No. No, I¡¯m just suspicious of someone who barged into my chat with no warning. This is an entirely reasonable reaction. Somehow, he could feel her eyes rolling. Gritty: Listen. You¡¯ve left them, haven¡¯t you? Ray: So have you, I¡¯m assuming. Gritty: Correct. I got monsters to kill. More importantly, I¡¯ve got Sylvans to kill. Ray: But I bet me killing them for you is the last thing you want. So, what¡¯s up? Gritty: Well, if you¡¯d let me finish. I¡¯m going dungeon-hunting, right? Well, that ain¡¯t the only thing I¡¯m doing. I¡¯m people-hunting too. If you see anyone who runs away from you, don¡¯t let them get away easily, alright? Ray: What are you talking about? You¡¯re saying there¡¯s people who ran away from our Faction? Why? Gritty: Dunno. But I suspect they¡¯ve got ulterior motives that might be worth finding more out about. Before we ran into you guys, before we even got captured by the Sylvans, we had a couple of people leave our group secretly. Next day, we had Sylvans attacking us and threatening¡­ well, you know. Ray: Ah¡­ Gritty. Yeah. So, friendly warning. Keep your eye out for anyone you recognize. With that Gritty cut off the chat. If only Ray had received that warning before he had left the group. He could still pass it off to Maya, which he proceeded to do, leaving the implication unsaid. There were, potentially, people in their own group who were selling them out. If Gritty could be trusted. Though, that also reminded him of that Fist¡¯s actions. Tyler. Had he been suspicious of Ray for this reason? Sure, he had been dick, and Ray was of half a mind to not let any further dumb shit slide without proper reprisal, but he supposed there could be some logic behind his actions. Other than him being an idiot, of course. Ray continued searching for more signs of his target. It was interesting that not all the groves had a Duskshell beneath them. At the dozenth grove, he finally found something alive. Presence of the Primordial confirmed it. There was indeed a living Duskshell buried under the ground. There was also a single Mana fruit growing on one of the central trees. ¡°Sorry, buddy,¡± Ray said. ¡°But you have to go.¡± He used Shatterclaw to attack the tree with the Mana fruit. Ray wasn¡¯t sure it was going to work. It made sense. If the trees grew from the Duskshell, it stood to reason that the monsters might be alerted through the trees. But he had the shovel from Randall in case it didn¡¯t work. The slashes of dark-red energy scored deep grooves in the trunk, sending splinters flying and dark liquid splattering to the ground. A second later, with a guttural roar, the Duskshell emerged from the earth. Chapter 22: Duskshell Confrontation Ray¡¯s plan expected two results. First, killing the emerging monster to get himself a good deal of Essence. Since it was a powerful creature, he ought to be getting a decently hefty amount. Second, using a combination of Chaos Chymify, Lifeblood Crucible, and Lifeblood Construct to earn and use the same power that allowed the Duskshell to create Mana fruits. Ideally, it would have been more convenient to earn something like a Tower Node that he could use to perform that. Lifeblood Crucible and Construct were supposed to be for his personal use. For abilities that he could wield in battle and use to grow stronger personally. But if it ended up he had to store the Duskshell¡¯s Mana-fruit-producing power in Lifeblood Crucible, Ray didn¡¯t want to end up replacing Hoard Defence. He definitely didn¡¯t want to get rid of Soaring Wings. Thankfully, there was a way to avoid that. Ray used Goliath Eater. It was a little saddening the Sylvans hadn¡¯t been five or more levels stronger than him. As such, he still hadn¡¯t gotten to test the skill. But now, against a level 19 Duskshell, the skill finally activated. Ray was flooded with newfound power. His muscles felt both stronger and lighter. The world appeared just a tiny bit detached from him, like he didn¡¯t exist in the flesh as much as he used to and was a bit more of a ghost now. A weird feeling, to say the least. But more than all that, it was the Mana surging through him that made him feel alive. So much Mana. A ton more than he was used to. Thousands of little sparks shooting inside him, almost seeming to glow under his skin. It made him itch to use his power, to do something. Anything. Ray had turned into a veritable livewire of magic. It was strange that he had never felt this kind of change before, despite steadily having his Spirit raise his total Mana capacity continuously. Maybe it was because the increase was so sharp this time. A steep ascent, like the face of a cliff, rather than a gradual gradient as had happened so far in his progression. The Duskshell had fully emerged from the ground now. It turned to face him, its regard making his skin crawl. Even with Goliath Eater active, Ray understood just how much stronger this monster was. It scuttled forward. Fast. Good thing Ray had the Ring of Temporal Evasion on. Time froze for a moment. It seemed over a day had passed since his last use of it. Ray already had something of a plan of action, though, so he didn¡¯t even bother using the full time allotted to him by the ring. Time unfroze. For a beast the size of a movie theatre, the Duskshell covered distance like crazy. In less than a breath, one of its forward tarantula-like legs swiped forward to quash the human before it like a bug. Ray dodged away. For now, he kept Soaring Wings in reserve. He would use it if anything truly un-evadable appeared before him. He also used Occultic Apparition on himself. Boosted to Tier 5 thanks to Goliath Eater, the spell not only suffused him with chaotic energy, it also enhanced his movement speed even further Ray¡¯s Insanity affliction would be even easier to proc now. So long as he could hit the monster. Considering how big it was, that wasn¡¯t going to be difficult. As Ray backed up, he threw out a couple of Chaos Chymifies. The monster¡¯s girth was way too huge for it to dodge any of Ray¡¯s attacks. It didn¡¯t matter. There was a dark shimmer in front of the spot on its leg that Ray had targeted, and the bolts of Chaos Chymify smashed against it before disappearing. Leaving no damage on the limb at all. Ray quickly moved backwards even more before he was crushed by the very leg he had targeted. Despite his racing heart, his thoughts were still calm. This was expected. The monster¡¯s Impervious Shell skill blocked all damage from any abilities that was of a lesser Tier than Impervious Shell. Even with Goliath Eater active, Ray¡¯s Chaos Chymify was at a paltry Tier 3. Pretty bad matchup against a skill that was at Tier 5. No problem. So long as he kept avoiding getting crushed, of course. Ray summoned his wings, then got some good aerial distance from the monster. There. Now he was in no danger. Time for his Mana Infuser ring. One quick pulse of Mana into Chaos Chymify took it to Tier 4. Now it had to be enough to do some damage to that hulking turtle-spider from hell. Thanks to his Thoroughness Reputation points. Ray landed at a spot just behind the Duskshell. It had to turn around to face him again, which gave him just enough time to shoot off his empowered Chaos Chymify. This time, the bolt of black-red energy did indeed pierce through the shimmering, dark barrier set up by Impervious Shell. Thoroughness came in handy here. It allowed him to pierce through any defences no more than a Tier above his attack¡¯s Tier completely, which meant not a single bit of the damage he dealt would be negated. Yet, the monster¡¯s leg still didn¡¯t take that much of a hit. Ray started for a second as his bolt of Chaos Chymify left a rotten wound on the limb. Some hairs on legs wilted and fell away, others grew and strangled the limb. Beneath them, the chitinous covering melted away and the flesh sprouted outwards like a tumorous growth, blood spurting to the ground. It wasn¡¯t a terrible effect, but all it caused was a good deal of pain. Ray was pretty certain this was the first time he was building up Insanity on it too. If he remembered right, Impervious Shell protected its user from any afflictions from taking effect too. So overpowered. The Duskshell roared as it turned around. Its motion was way too fast, and Ray barely caught the tail whipping out to lash at him from his right. A good case for his wings. But the monster was so fast, he still took a hit. Even after he completed his summons and rose straight up, the swiping tail caught him in the leg. The hit was so hard, Ray lost all control of his flight. He screamed out. Crushing pain had possessed his right knee, and his body twisted in midair thanks to the momentum imparted by the tail swipe. His wings failed to correct his flight, and Ray ended up crashing to the ground, even as he instinctively sent a chunk of his Recovery to fix up the injury. He was on his feet in a second, using his wings fast to get himself some space. Much-needed, for the Duskshell had used Jutting Jaws. Ray could only blink at how fast its tank-sized head ejected out of the front of its huge shell, seeking to gobble him up where he stood. Even as Ray escaped, he could feel the air whipping about him. He was almost deafened by the crunch of its snapping-turtle-like jaws. The beat of his wings helped him regain his proper hearing as he threw himself farther out. That damned monster was way too fast for its size. Ray halted his retreating motion quickly, though. He shot forward instead, pulling his arm back before swiping it forward. Shatterclaw activated. As it was at Tier 4 thanks to Goliath Eater¡¯s boost, Ray didn¡¯t even need to use his Mana Infuser ring. It was already strong enough. Enough to pierce straight through Impervious Shall and land its multitude of sashes on the targeted hairy limb. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Ray had aimed for the same leg he had already left a wound on with Chaos Chymify. In fact, he even struck precisely on the gory wound. It worked out just as he had planned. Shatterclaw was far stronger in pure damage than Chaos Chymify, and the empowerment it had received from his Goliath Eater skill only took it up an even higher notch. The leg was slashed entirely apart, its bottom half falling away from the upper part with a welter of blood. Ray had created some distance as the Duskshell roared. Dark energy bubbled out from underneath the monster. Presence of the Primordial informed him it was part of the Mana Surge skill the Duskshell possessed. With the help of his black wings, he evaded the shots of dark energy. Ray flew up higher. The range of the monster¡¯s skill had to end somewhere. After what seemed like rising forty feet above that dark shell, the Duskshell finally stopped attacking from distance. ¡°Ha!¡± Ray said. ¡°Can¡¯t reach me now, can y¡ª¡± The Duskshell leaped. ¡°Ah, shit.¡± Ray was mostly prepared for the Duskshell¡¯s Shell Quake. If that was even the right name. Whatever. He had seen the other Duskshell use that same skill on the Sylvans, but it hadn¡¯t prepared him for just how fast the monster would be when it was shooting straight up. His wings and his raiment really came in clutch in helping him avoid getting hit by a thousand tons of pure, monstrous mass. Ray tried to put even more distance between himself and the Duskshell. As it crash-landed down, however, the shockwave from the impact struck like an oncoming truck. Like the time he had been struck by its tail, Ray once more lost control of his wings. He couldn¡¯t even curse as he twisted around in the air, in fear of biting off his own tongue. That would have been an utterly silly waste of Recovery, considering he had already taken off a third to fix up his leg. He didn¡¯t slam into the ground this time, at least. Though, with the timer on Primal Summons running out, Ray was forced to touch down on the earth anyway. Ray twisted to face the Duskshell. The monster was gathering more Mana, converting it all to that dark energy. It was storing it up instead of shooting them at Ray in focused blasts. Ah, right. He recalled the full description of Mana Surge. The proper use. At least it gave him some time to resummon Soaring Wings with Primal Summons. Just in time too. A moment later, a storm of blistering black energy slammed out from the Duskshell¡¯s location. Ther was no dodging something like that. The blast was hemispherical in nature, covering every inch of space from the earth to the air. Ray¡¯s only option was to block it. He pushed several infusions of Mana into Mottling Membrane then immediately blasted it out. At Tier 3 thanks to Goliath Eater, it would already block a crap ton of magical damage. Boosted to Tier 6, it was going to keep Ray safe almost completely from an ability two or more Tiers below the boosted Mottling Membrane. As such, Ray felt nothing as the storm of dark energy writhed over him. His barricade of black-red energy safeguarded him fully. Ray dismissed the spell as soon as the storm of darkness was past him, crushing a Mana crystal to replenish his Mana store and preparing another spell. Only to be faced with a gigantic maw would have put blue whales to shame. ¡°That¡¯s my fucking trick¡ª¡± Ray didn¡¯t even get to finish the sentence before the Duskshell¡¯s Jutting Jaws enclosed around him and gobbled him and the ground he was standing on whole. So rude. The fun thing about oversized monsters was that getting eaten by one didn¡¯t spell instant demise. There was just too much space. The Duskshell might have snapped him up, sure, but its teeth missed him as he ended up in the centre of its mouth, right on its tongue. At least, the fleshy surface he was on felt like a tongue. It was too dark inside the monster¡¯s mouth to be sure. Ray was assaulted by other senses too. His ears cringed at the groaning coming from behind him, at the monster¡¯s grinding motion against the ground. He was tempted to tear off his nose too. That the Duskshell¡¯s interior stank was an understatement of the century. Heavy monster saliva already coated him. Ugh. The tongue began pushing him upwards. There was roof of spikes on top, and it looked like the tongue was going to crush him against those. Or maybe impale him. Ray acted. Pulling both arms back, he fired off Shatterclaw after Shatterclaw with both Talismans. Dark slashes scratched all around the monster¡¯s mouth, spilling blood and gore everywhere. Ray aimed some overhead to break down those toothy spikes that might have crushed him. He shot some against the tongue too, forcing it back. A pained groan worked out from the gullet behind him. It was so loud inside the Duskshell. He would go deaf at this rate for certain. Despite the continuous wounds, the tongue was still rising to try and push him down the throat. The hell was it thinking even? That Ray would stop fighting back once he was being squeezed down its food pipe? It was easy to lodge himself against the entrance to its throat proper by using his wings. They stretched out on either side, locking him in place. A perfect position from which to continue to landing barrages of Shatterclaw. He had to use a Mana crystal to replenish his flagging store of Mana, but that was fine. Ray was pelting out enough Shatterclaws that he triggered the effects of his Talisman of Focused fury to shoot out even more. And¡ª Critical hit! Well, there was the critical hit as well. He had used enough of his attacks to even reach that. He looked up. If he attacked right, surely he would be able to carve a hole in its skull from below. Then he¡¯d be able to reach its brain and finally take it out. Although, he had no idea if it even had a brain, or if it did, whether it was on top of this ¡°head¡±. Presence of the Primordial suggested that the mouth was merely an appendage for sucking in food matter. There were no sense organs or brain attached to it. He continued attacking, nevertheless. Incredible that the monster was still thrashing out, still alive and kicking. Ray might be doused in a pool of dark blood and viscera, might be suffocating with all the tumorous, cancerous growths his attacks had left inside the monster¡¯s mouth, but he wasn¡¯t free. Until the Duskshell suddenly belched him out. His wings were held such that he wasn¡¯t sent tumbling backwards into the monster¡¯s guts. But that didn¡¯t save him when the force went in the opposite direction. Without warning, Ray found himself flying into open air. Free. He was finally fucking free from that horrid maw. His feet landed on solid ground. Jesus Christ, that had been horrible. Ray twisted around. He should have dealt enough damage by now to really make a mess of things for the Duskshell. Surely it would go down in a few more blows. But as he looked up, he found the monster retreating. It was still thrashing, even as it fell back. Ray frowned. What was going on? He could understand if the state he had left its mouth in had made it panic, but that thrashing seemed aimless. Almost mad. Oh. He had procced Insanity on the thing. Of course. After all those continuous hits from Shatterclaw inside its mouth, he had to have procced the affliction. That should have spelled good news for him. With the monster distracted by its own mental state, Ray could take advantage and finally deal a killing blow. But the Duskshell wasn¡¯t about to be so obliging. It wasn¡¯t just retreating away from him. The monster was digging underground. Rapidly. ¡°Hey!¡± Ray shouted out, trying to run forward. All the blood and saliva and slime covering him almost made him slip. When he tried to fly with his wings, he found them too , too heavy, and too slow for liftoff. ¡°Hold up! We¡¯re not done here, you bastard.¡± The monster, it turned out, didn¡¯t care. Maddened beyond reason, it dug into the earth at the same rapid pace it had demonstrated aboveground. Ray shot some Shatterclaws at it, but its back wasn¡¯t that vulnerable. It didn¡¯t care when he broke off a few more limbs. He was tempted to follow it underground. With how huge the creature was, he could fly right into the hole and get back to attacking. After a while, at least. But for one, the dug-up hole was unstable. Rocks and earth were falling everywhere The crater the monster left behind was already collapsing. For another, attacking from behind wasn¡¯t going to do Ray a ton of favours. That shell was more or less unbreakable, and just breaking off more limbs wasn¡¯t going to help. Ray would need access to its mouth again. ¡°Fuck,¡± he muttered as the big, enormous source of Essence just up and¡­ left. Ray kind of wanted cry. Just a little bit. He almost felt like the monster had cheated somehow. Weren¡¯t monsters supposed to keep attacking him until one of them died? It took a few minutes for the frustration to wear off enough to let him think clearly. No, no that was stupid. If Ray and any other Denizen could run away from a battle, then so too could monsters. He had just been led by silly expectations to believe otherwise. But the worst part was that it was Ray¡¯s own fault, in a way, that had led to the monster disappearing so suddenly. The Insanity affliction. That was what he believed had ultimately caused the Duskshell¡¯s abrupt exit. It hadn¡¯t retreated. Not really. Sure, the effect was a retreat from Ray, but ultimately, he wasn¡¯t even sure if the monster knew where it was heading, or why. He took a deep breath and sighed. Lesson learned, he supposed. ¡°Be careful about Insanity on monsters that can run away where I can¡¯t follow,¡± he said, solidifying the understanding and imprinting it on his brain. ¡°Got it.¡± Still. While the lesson was good, it felt awful to have wasted that much time and resources on hunting down such a monster, such a potentially great source of rewards, only to be left empty-handed. The frustration returned, almost twice as hard as the first time. Argh. Ray shook his head to clear his thoughts. Plan. What was his next plan? He was far from running out of his Mana crystals, but he wanted to replenish them all the same. Plus, he was hunting for another Tier Point, to improve Lifeblood Crucible some more and make use of Lifeblood Construct. How though? His thoughts halted when he noticed something approaching. Several somethings. He smiled. The Imps. They were here with the spare loot from the dead Sylvans. Chapter 23: The Price of Knowledge Ray didn¡¯t have to wait long before the Imps arrived. There were only three of them this time, carrying a small sack that with everything inside it jostling along thanks to their motion. He wished he could communicate with them. So many questions he could have asked. What had they brought him? What had they done with the bodies themselves? Why had they decided to bring,¡­ whatever it was that lay within that sack? Unfortunately, the Imps didn¡¯t talk. The only times Ray got any sense of their thoughts was when he was using the Tower Node. He didn¡¯t care enough to know their thought just then to do that. Not when it was likely going to call down the presence of a Paragon again. Ray could actually feel a vestige of it with the monsters there. Once more, he got the sense that it was a good thing the presence didn¡¯t have its whole attention upon him. Still. Ray was intrigued by what exactly a Paragon was, and how it connected to the Tower Node. ¡°Thanks,¡± he said as the Imps dropped the sack before him. ¡°Hold on a moment, will you. I might have something to give you.¡± For all that he couldn¡¯t communicate with them, they at least seemed to understand his verbal commands. Huh. Maybe there was a passive effect from the Tower Node that translated his speech into integral orders. The contents of the sack weren¡¯t anything too amazing. For some reason, they thought he could make some use of one of the Sylvan¡¯s horns. He did like the Mana crystals and the capsules at bottom. Presence of the Primordial didn¡¯t activate, so the tablets didn¡¯t work with Mana. Ray had seen how effective they were in battle, though. He was certain they were useful. There was no gear or anything like that. No rings, no armour pieces, no equipment or anything of the sort. Not surprising. Ray had seen that sort of stuff in the hoards the monsters kept in their caves. They wouldn¡¯t surrender them to him or anyone voluntarily. At the bottom, however, was something strange that his spell did latch onto. [Presence of the Primordial] Sylvan Heart Cluster [Tier 3] Cluster of minor Mana cores combined to form a heart for the body, mind, and spirit. The most vital organ of any Sylvan. Clusters contain the whole being of a Sylvan, a vaunted storage for their memories, their soul, and their famed Sylvan Pride. Considered highly valuable and used in rare but powerful alchemical processes. Huh. So he was holding an organ. Was this what Gritty had pulled out and crushed during that battle? He could ask her, but what did it matter, in the end? Intriguing as it was, Ray couldn¡¯t find any use for it. Although¡­ Presence of the Primordial indicated it was highly valuable. Maybe there was a use for it. Financially. ¡°Here goes nothing,¡± Ray said quietly. He crushed another Mana crystal but didn¡¯t absorb the Mana this time. Instead, he closed his eyes and focused his thoughts on Virko the merchant. Ray hadn¡¯t stuck around to discover the exact resummoning mechanic, but Maya and the others had explained that all he would need to do was think of doing business, and the trader would appear. Although, he wouldn¡¯t arrive until he completed any outstanding business he had. As such, Ray waited. Since it was taking a while, Ray sat down and tried to solidify his plans going forward. First, he chatted with Maya. Just to be polite, he enquired about how things were progressing at their Base but didn¡¯t linger on the information for long. He had more important questions on mind. Ray: You mind telling me about the functions in your Base Node? She did, which helped him a good deal on planning what to do with the Sylvan Heart Clusters. He also explained a bit more about his plans to secure them all a source of Mana fruit. Maya: Level 19?! I¡¯d tell you to back off, but it sounds like you have things in hand. Ray certainly had. He¡¯d just have to be a bit more careful about his own powers next time. With their conversation done, Ray closed off their chat. No Virko yet, so he continued pondering some more. He thought of what he had experienced with the Duskshell. Different threads tugged at his mind. The Objectives he was yet to complete, the growth he had to secure for himself. Ray had to reach his goals, that was for sure. But at the same time, he also didn¡¯t want to completely abandon the little settlement he had helped create and the people he had already worked alongside to some extent. They were still in a heaps of danger. The Sylvans likely still posed a threat, and that last message from Gritty had been worrying too. Other people¡­ that was a headache Ray would deal with when it came up. First, he needed to get stronger. Fast. If he wanted to reach the next Floor, then he couldn¡¯t count on simply finding a solution to this weird challenge set by the Floor Lord. He still had no proof it was legitimate. What if this Floor Lord¡ªthis Handler, undoubtedly another Sylvan¡ªfound some reason to stop him? He had to be strong enough to force the issue. Virko had said the Floor Lord had been at level 27 the last they had spoken. That had to be stronger than anything else on this Tower Floor. The most powerful being Ray had encountered so far had been these Tier 6 Duskshells at Level 19. A Sylvan stronger than that would be a crazy force to reckon with. Levelling up by killing random monsters would be too time-consuming. Ray wasn¡¯t completely opposed to doing so, but he had to explore all his options first. Plus, he couldn¡¯t ignore other means of growing in power. That meant achievements. That meant raising the Tier of his spells¡ªand hopefully, his skills as well¡ªvia other methods. ¡°You look deep in thought, my human friend,¡± Virko said. The Halftyr tradesman looked much the same as he had before. Rich boots, silken robe with the silver belt. His floating carpet with the neon blue lights at the edges still held a variety of wares. ¡°Hello,¡± Ray said. He kept his expression neutral. Good business was like good poker. Giving something away on the face would be detrimental. ¡°I¡¯d like to buy some stuff, if you don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°Of course! Halftyr Virko¡¯s Emporium is always open for business.¡± His grin was just as calculating as last time. ¡°So long as you can pay for everything.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the problem, isn¡¯t it? We always have to pay for everything, and I¡¯m not sure I have the money I need.¡± ¡°Oh? Wasted away all that you exsanguinated from me last time?¡± ¡°Exsanguinated?¡± Virko¡¯s smile grew marginally wider. ¡°I¡¯m sure we can come to some sort of agreement.¡± ¡°Is that right? Well good, because I don¡¯t want to give up my hard-earned Mana crystals.¡± Virko tutted, but he nodded and stroked his rather short, silky beard like he had expected it. ¡°Deals can be for a variety of stuff. But first, we need to figure out what you need, don¡¯t we?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care about what I need, if I¡¯m being honest. I¡¯m more interested in what I can get. What if payment wasn¡¯t the issue, Virko?¡± Ray grinned. ¡°What can you offer me? What can I earn?¡± Virko waved at his floating rug magnanimously. ¡°You know the spiel. Priceless artifacts? Legendary weapons? Armour worn by the great ancients? All is available at Virko¡¯s wares.¡± Stolen novel; please report. Ray affected a sigh. ¡°Don¡¯t give me your sales pitch, Virko. What¡¯s the best thing you¡¯ve got that I could use?¡± Virko understood what Ray meant. It didn¡¯t matter if the Halftyr merchant had a Tier 10 sword that ripped up space itself. Something like that wasn¡¯t going to help Ray and his fighting style. Although¡­ perhaps he would think twice about a weapon of that calibre. But the point remained that Virko had to offer something Ray could integrate into his current style. Virok shook his head slowly. The previously oily smile now turned into something more patronizing. ¡°Those boots you sold me wouldn¡¯t be enough to afford the best I have, my friend.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Ray leaned forward, smiling as widely as he could. ¡°My boots might not have, but what about these?¡± Slowly, he pulled out one of a Heart Cluster from the sack. Virko was confused for a moment. Then he actually recoiled, his face turning pale. ¡°Where in the blasted pits of Drakon did you get that?¡± ¡°Are you seriously going to tell me you haven¡¯t heard of the clashes between the Sylvans and the humans?¡± Ray could see the new calculations running rampant through Virko¡¯s head. There were too many things for the merchant to consider. How many Sylvans had Ray killed? Did he know a Heart Cluster¡¯s true worth? More importantly, what did he want? Ray got on the issue before Virko could. ¡°Listen, Virko. I¡¯m not interested in simple spells or Talismans or even any other priceless, overpowered artifacts you can sell me. I have a few other things in mind that I want. And if you can be useful in getting me those things, then we can have a deal.¡± ¡°I shouldn¡¯t even be talking to you.¡± Virko eyed the Heart Cluster in Ray¡¯s hand with a mixture of greed and fear. ¡°Walking around with something like that. You know how many Sylvans will kill you on sight?¡± ¡°All of them.¡± Ray paused, trying to think slightly more charitably as he recalled Kredevel. ¡°Almost all, at least.¡± ¡°Yes. Just as you would be a fool to have them upon your person, I would be a greater fool to trade them for anything.¡± ¡°But you still want them, don¡¯t you? I don¡¯t have any particular use for them, but in the right channels, I have a feeling you can make bank. And that¡¯s why you¡¯re hesitating. No risk, no reward, right?¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be just risking my license.¡± Virko pressed his fist to his chest. ¡°I¡¯d be risking my life.¡± ¡°Just like every other human on this entire Floor. Ironic, isn¡¯t it?¡± Virko looked like Ray had force fed him some disgusting medicine. ¡°Anyway, to cut to the chase,¡± Ray said, tossing the Heart Cluster up before catching it again. It felt hard and squishy at the same time. ¡°This thing is yours. But in return, I want five thousand Mana crystals.¡± The look on Virko¡¯s face calmed into something closer to his habitual oiliness, but then it soured as Ray went on. ¡°But more importantly, I want information.¡± ¡°Information? Last time wasn¡¯t enough?¡± ¡°No. Same deal as last time. If I¡¯m satisfied, then you¡¯ll have your Heart Cluster.¡± ¡°How in the world am I supposed to trust you¡¯ll keep your end of the bargain?¡± Ray grinned. Then took out another Heart Cluster. It made Virko¡¯s dark eyes turn as round as coins. ¡°For the first one, we¡¯ll do the original part of the deal. You pay me the Mana crystals I want. I hand over the Heart Cluster. But for the second Heart Cluster, I want my information first and I¡¯m going to make sure its legit before I hand it over.¡± ¡°That still needs me to trust that you¡¯ll keep your word.¡± ¡°I¡¯m selling you the first one at a loss, Virko. Don¡¯t mess around with me. I¡¯ve seen what it can go for. I¡¯d be lot richer if I put them up for auction through the Base Node.¡± Virko¡¯s face darkened. He was cornered. ¡°Alright then. Five-thousand Mana crystals for the first Cluster. For the second, you can ask me whatever you want. I can¡¯t promise I¡¯ll have satisfactory answers for everything.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m not going to ask you what the colours of your bloomers are.¡± ¡°Bloomers?¡± Ray ignored it and proceeded with the first part of their deal. The flood of Mana crystals would have been rather ridiculous if he hadn¡¯t been able to fit them all in his Bag of Holding. Just because he now had a crap ton of them, he used a hundred to get a better Bag of Holding off the trader. His new one had twice as much capacity for different items as his last one. ¡°Oh neat, I can fit in even more of the same thing over and over without needing more space,¡± Ray said. ¡°Pretty convenient. Now. Onto the actual questions.¡± Ray smiled. ¡°I want to know more about your adventures.¡± If Ray was certain of one thing, it was that the Halftyr trader had a much better knowledge of the First Floor than any of the humans. He had to know its ins and outs really well. Even more importantly, the fact that he had talked about other agreements and businesses suggested one very clear thing. This guy had met other people too. So, Ray took the better part of an hour learning about the different people on the First Floor. There was the New Nation Faction somewhere farther north, a group of people who were bent on creating a habitable settlement. Their true aim was to create a proper semblance of civilization, just as they used to enjoy back on Earth. Well, good luck to them with that. The Ascenders was a large collective of individuals who were working towards something Ray understood a lot better. Reaching the Second Floor. Then the Third, and so on. They were dedicated to the main objective that every single new Denizen had been given. Climb the Tower. Reach as high as you can. Claim the glory that awaited them all. Ray wasn¡¯t as taken in by what awaited him higher so much as his ability to control his own fate, but he knew he would need to climb. So did these Ascenders, it seemed. Lastly, there was the Wild Tides Faction. They were a strong, rapidly-growing group who wanted to take over the entirety of the First Floor. Ostensibly, this was so that they could protect themselves from all sorts of danger. Ray supposed he got the motivation. He had seen first-hand what the Sylvans and a Duskshell could be like. But if their motivation had led to a conclusion of needing to take over the entire floor¡­ then they were going to end up meeting and tackling the other Factions eventually. The idea of taking over did not settle well with Ray. It was kind of funny. Ray¡¯s vocation was called Tower Conqueror. If anyone was supposed to have intentions of taking over anything, it ought to have been him. But the very human idea of conquest, of subjugating and ruling where only his word mattered, didn¡¯t appeal in the slightest. No. What Ray wished to conquer was the Tower itself. In the end, he had to climb not just because he wanted to, but because the Tower itself was attempting to make him do so through implicit and perhaps some explicit means as well. He detested it. The reason behind his ascent should be his own. If he had decided not to reach the Tower¡¯s peak, he should have been able to do so and be just fine. Live just fine. But it wouldn¡¯t work out that way. Not with the things were currently. That was what Ray wanted to change. Conquering the people in the Tower? Nope, Ray¡¯s ambitions went much higher. ¡°Any particular people I should note?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Derrick Orden,¡± Virko said without hesitation, without even needing any time to consider. ¡°He¡¯s the leader of the Wild Tides. Then there¡¯s Mary Felds. She¡¯s with the Ascenders. And lastly, Joaquin Vasquez. Unaligned. Like you. They¡¯re the ones who¡¯ve traded the most with me and possessed the most Mana crystals.¡± He grinned. ¡°Now, you¡¯re on the list too.¡± That made sense. People who possessed that Mana crystals had to have come by them one way or another, and more likely than not, it was because they held some sort of power. Power Ray ought to be wary of. He already asked Virko about the monsters in his Objectives list, but the tradesman had little to no information about them. Monsters, he had said, weren¡¯t great businesspeople. ¡°Now do I get the last Heart Cluster? Virko asked. His hands twitched with avarice. Ray grinned. ¡°One last thing, and then I promise I¡¯ll hand it over.¡± Virko groaned. ¡°What now?¡± ¡°Last time, you said that if we wanted something specific, we should look for a particularly themed dungeon or something like that to earn our specific target as a reward. Now, if I want things like Tier Points and Grimoire Pamphlets, where would I look for them?¡± ¡°Think about it, my friend. How do you normally get these Tier Points and Grimoires and whatnot?¡± ¡°As rewards, from the System. But why would people sell them to you? The System usually doesn¡¯t reward you things that you don¡¯t have a use for, in my experience.¡± ¡°You¡¯re thinking of rewards from achievements and levelling up. There¡¯s a different reward mechanic you¡¯re forgetting.¡± ¡°The dungeons, yes. But I want a specific location, Virko. Where are the dungeons for mages like me?¡± ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know. I bought a Grimoire Pamphlet from a hu¡ªexcuse me, a new Denizen, over at Sector 51 in that direction.¡± Virko pointed to somewhere on his left. ¡°Hmm.¡± If Ray remembered right, Maya¡¯s base was a Sector 59. ¡°I see. Alright, here you go. Two Sylvan Heart Clusters.¡± Virko winced at the mention of ¡°Sylvan¡±, but he grabbed the Clusters all the same. ¡°This was an interesting purchase,¡± the Halftyr said, stowing the Clusters within his robe. Not on his carpet of wares. ¡°Profitable.¡± ¡°It was.¡± Ray stood up, ready to head out. He beckoned the Imps towards him. It was surprising how patient they had been so far, but he didn¡¯t want to take advantage of them. ¡°Try not to sell me out to anybody who asks, okay? Otherwise, we won¡¯t be having any more business deals like these.¡± ¡°Pfft, why would I sell out such an excellent business partner?¡± ¡°You just told me all about your other business partners.¡± ¡°Nonsense. I gave you some basic information to go off of. I frankly don¡¯t know enough about any of you to tell anyone anything sensitive.¡± He tapped his head as he began turning away. ¡°It¡¯s part of doing good business and lasting long in this game. If you don¡¯t know anything sensitive, you can¡¯t sell anything sensitive.¡± As the trader made some space on his floating rug and swiftly flew away, Ray handed over a chunk of the capsules and Mana crystals to the Imps and told them to take it to the new Faction. Ray: I¡¯m sending over some goodies. Maya: ¡­goodies? Ray: Mana crystals. And some capsules that can help. You¡¯ll see. But just to be clear, it¡¯s not free. Maya: I¡­ honestly wasn¡¯t expecting that. You seemed kinder. Ray blinked. He had? Well, he might have talked kind, but all he had done was make Maya and the others do most of the work, only stepping in when they couldn¡¯t handle things. Like killing the Sylvans. Otherwise, he hadn¡¯t bothered. That didn¡¯t seem particularly kind. Ray: I¡¯m not saying you have to fork up three million dollars for all the stuff I¡¯m sending you. It¡¯s more like¡­ consider this a share in proceedings. I¡¯m the last person to try and become a shareholder, but like, I know I won¡¯t be able to do everything alone. No matter how strong I grow. I might need your help. I might need you and the Faction to do something for me. Maya: So all this is essentially buying our cooperation. Ray: Quid pro quo. Maya: Hmm. I¡¯d still like to reserve judgment on whether whatever you need help with is something I¡ªwe¡ªwould even want to assist with. Ray smiled. It was nice to be dealing with someone who had some backbone. Strong moral fibre. Ray: Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll make sure it¡¯s something you¡¯ll want to help with. Alright, I¡¯ll see you later. Oh also, I need to tell you about a couple of other Factions and people¡­ As Ray explained what he had learned from Virko, he decided it was time to find his next stop. The right dungeon was awaiting him. No point in wasting time. He had to get to work. Chapter 24: Spell Dungeon It didn¡¯t take too long for him to reach the area indicated by Virko, nor did it take too long to find the actual dungeons. There were quite a few ruins lying about. Plus, Ray had an enormous supply of Mana crystals now, so constantly using Soaring Wings to cover huge distances was no longer as costly as before. The first dungeon Ray came across had an ominous entrance. It was strewn with bodies. Human bodies. They weren¡¯t all dead. Lifeblood Sense caught the faint pulse of life from an unmoving man at the edge of the spill of corpses. Ray¡¯s nose crinkled at the smell as he walked over. The blood looked fresh but had dried enough to indicate that the deaths hadn¡¯t been too recent. Clearly, the corpses had started to rot. Strange, though. Shouldn¡¯t there be corpses inside the dungeon instead of at its entrance? Even stranger, there were blood trails leading to the entryway. All Ray got was that there had been a fight outside the dungeon, but the survivors had gone in regardless of their current condition. The man, who had been lying face first on the ground, now slowly turned over as Ray approached. ¡°Don¡¯t come closer. You should get away while you can. This place¡­ this thing¡­¡± Ray¡¯s hackles rose at the man¡¯s tone, but he tamped down the feelings. ¡°Are you alright? Can¡¯t you use your Recovery to heal?¡± The laughter he got in response was short, jagged, and mirthless. ¡°I¡¯m trying to run. To escape. Can¡¯t let the dungeon catch sight of me. So I¡¯m slowly creeping away.¡± ¡°While pretending to be a corpse?¡± His voice turned hoarse. ¡°That¡¯s what you need to do here.¡± Ray looked up. The dungeon he stood before didn¡¯t have that sinister of an outlook. A rundown building in the same strange architectural style with the skin-coloured bricks, double-storey and long. Its windows were dark, the few balconies on the second floor completely filled with debris. Presence of the Primordial told him what was up with the dungeon before Ray even entered it. [Presence of the Primordial¡ªDungeon] Everair Imperial Seeker¡¯s Guild [Tier 5] The empire of Everair employed Seekers for all sorts of purposes. They were vaunted as excavators of powerful ancient treasure, hunters of great beasts and criminals, scouts of the wildest frontier planets. To their keen eye, nothing escapes notice. If you are detected, then you will face the might of the vaunted Seekers upon your very soul. Seekers, was it? Nope. Not what Ray was looking for. If he went by the original hint that Virko had left him, then he had to find a dungeon more closely aligned with his build. ¡°You went into a Tier 5 dungeon?¡± Ray asked. ¡°At level 6?¡± The man continued ever so slowly crawling away. ¡°I know. It was stupid. But we thought we could do it as a group.¡± Ray swallowed. There were at least six other people who were dead here. Holy shit, one was even a child. A kid, thirteen or fourteen at best. All of them were killed via a variety of means. So many deaths¡­ Just more confirmation that the population of all those who had been inducted into the Tower¡ªaka everybody on Earth¡ªwas rapidly going down. ¡°Are you alone, or are you with a Faction?¡± Ray asked. ¡°A Faction? What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°So not with a Faction then.¡± He supposed the dirty, grimy man¡¯s party was still too small to make a Faction. ¡°Go that way.¡± Ray pointed in his seven o¡¯clock direction. ¡°You should be able to find some shelter. Tell them Ray sent you. You can¡¯t miss it. It¡¯s a settlement on hill, an abandoned keep that¡¯s being repurposed by a bunch of people. Just don¡¯t die along the way.¡± The man¡¯s face gawped in wonder. ¡°There¡¯s more people? Who can help?¡± He quickly pulled himself up, bowing at Ray. ¡°Thank you! Thank you! I¡¯ll head over there immediately.¡± As the man stumbled off, Ray sent a quick message to Maya about what he had encountered. He also reiterated what Gritty had said. It would be paranoid to be suspicious of every newcomer to their group, but it wouldn¡¯t hurt to keep a closer eye on them. And everyone else, for that matter. Better safe than sorry. Ray spotted some interesting monsters as he hunted around for the next dungeon. More of those deer-kangaroo hybrids with the glowing antlers. Spiny fins that trailed along the surface of a long lake. The next dungeon wasn¡¯t too far off, though again, distances seemed condensed now thanks to his method of traversal. This one was also not worth delving. [Presence of the Primordial¡ªDungeon] Undercity Beggar¡¯s Lair [Tier 3] However rich and powerful a race might grow, not everyone ever prospers. Regardless, the well-off must save face. Thus, the poor, the destitute, and the downtrodden are relegated to out-of-the-way establishment at the edges of civilization. There, they breed their discontent and foment thoughts of reprisal. One day, wealth and power will be theirs too. Ray was standing before a pipe. A large pipe, sloping gently downwards, leading deeper underground. Literally, that was it. But still. This wasn¡¯t what he was looking for either. Fresh footprints on the muddied ground suggested there were people already inside. Ray was curious as to who they might have been. Were they aligned with any Factions? He didn¡¯t want to waste time on them, though, so he moved on. Finally, on the third dungeon Ray came across, he went in. [Presence of the Primordial¡ªDungeon] Novitiate Mage Academy [Tier 4] Mana is the lifeblood of civilization. True Mana ruled the empire. As such, the Everair empire dedicated many great centres to the edification of those who could wield Mana to its full capacity. Academies such as this one were a common sight throughout the empire. Excellent. Just what Ray was looking for. The dungeon itself was ruined like everything else. There was a certain school-vibe to it, with its wide walls bounding an inner courtyard, what looked like wrought-iron gates, and the main school building sectioned off into chunks until they reached the dome-capped centre in the middle. Ray¡¯s skin itched as he entered. Mana was thick and strong here. It felt as though the air was charged like before a thunderstorm. He could simply breathe and absorb Mana. Was that actually true? Ray fired off a Chaos Chymify and waited for a few moments. No. His Mana wasn¡¯t actually regenerating on its own, unlike his Recovery. Bummer, but not unexpected. The System wasn¡¯t going to break its restrictions that easily. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Ray blessed the fact that the dungeon was within a set of ruins. That meant there were enough holes in the ceiling of the first chamber he entered¡ªand the rest of this long-gone academy¡ªthat natural light filtered in to illuminate his path forward. A path that was blocked by a shimmering wall. [Presence of the Primordial¡ªDungeon Obstacle] Mana Veil To prove that one has the talent to capture and mould Mana into the services of the empire, one has to demonstrate that one can handle Mana. Pass through the veil. Show the world that Mana is your servant, not the other way around. Hmm. Straightforward enough. Ray took a deep breath, then stepped through the barrier glowing faintly blue. The feeling was hard to describe. If all the charged sensation outside was condensed and distilled into a membrane about a few millimetres thick, then that would approximate the overall sensation. Ray¡¯s skin buzzed. His teeth chattered. He was pretty sure he was singeing off most of his body hair that was exposed. All in all, he was glad the barrier was thin. It made him wonder what would happen to anyone who wasn¡¯t a casting-based class like him. Everyone needed Mana to some extent, right? That was how they used their abilities. Or so he believed. Gritty had mentioned being able to use abilities with blood instead of Mana. But then, how was the veil determining he deserved to pass through? Ray had felt all the Mana trying to impress itself upon him, attempting to possess him. He peeked at his Status. Oh, huh. So his Mana capacity was full again. The little bit he had used up for that Chaos Chymify had been refunded. Interesting. So had that veil basically checked just how much Mana he could have handled? It made him once again wonder how the test would have gone for someone with low Spirit, but Ray pushed the question aside. He had to move on. Past the Mana Veil was a long hallway. The doors at the end opened on their own. Revealing an inner, closed-roof courtyard arrayed with strange, glassy statues. The open area was easily as big as a football field, if not larger. Ray frowned at the statuary. What exactly was the challenge here? Presence of the Primordial indicated that the statues were rife with Mana. [Presence of the Primordial¡ªDungeon Obstacle] Archer Statue [Tier 3] A guardian of the testing grounds enchanted to test the ability of apprentice mages seeking to prove their skills at using Mana in a variety of ways all at once. What a roundabout description. Guardian sounded like Ray was going to have to fight that thing. That sounded a bit basic. But then, Presence of the Primordial started alerting him to more Mana signatures. More statues that were alive. A Greataxe Statue. A Shield Statue. A Pike Statue. A Knives Statue. Each of those had varieties too. Some were riding on strange steeds. Some moved together, some working alone. There were even some who were flying. Or floating, rather, suspended magically in the air. Each of the statues reminded him of the Feathered Fiend as well. Humanoid creatures with the body of a large man, but the head of a bird of prey. Kind of like Egyptian gods. He had seen similar statues lying in ruins all over the first floor. Just more evidence that this Everair race were most likely these humanoid, griffin-like creatures. Ray shook his head at the floating ones, scoffing. ¡°Two can play that game.¡± The very first step he took into the courtyard made the statues come to life. The Archer statue¡¯s eyes glowed red. It attacked, but instead of firing the stone arrow sculpted into its bow, its weapons glowed and fired off a spectral bolt. Ray was already moving, so he managed to dodge effectively. If he hadn¡¯t though¡­ he suppressed a shudder. That arrow had come in fast. He needed to keep moving. That would ensure the attacking statues never cornered him. A distant shimmer distracted Ray for a heartbeat. Hold on. Was that the same barrier of Mana he had passed through at the beginning? It looked very similar. At least, until his view was blocked by one of the shield-bearing statues. Was he supposed to reach that? He supposed he¡¯d have to get through the shield-bearing statue to do so. No zipping straight to the finish line with a quick, little flight. Through the corner of his eye, he noticed one of the spectral arrows was getting close. Annoying. He dived forwards and the arrow shot just past his back. But Ray didn¡¯t reach the ground despite his dive. He had summoned his wings with Primal Summons, taking himself into the air. The spot he had been an instant ago was immediately hammered in with a swipe from a greataxe. Ray flipped off the statue as he flew away. He was getting rather good at controlling his motion while moving about with the same twisting intensity as a rollercoaster. More statues were trying to converge to his position. The archer statue continued firing off magical ghostly arrows. Ray wouldn¡¯t be able to get through the thicket of statues normally. He also didn¡¯t want to have to waste Mana destroying every statue either¡ªa test revealed that one Shatterclaw was enough to break the dungeon guardians. Thankfully, there was a simpler solution. Ray flew backwards, away from the shimmering barrier he had spotted earlier. He jerked himself this way and that, letting more of the statues get in on his trail. Knives slashed at him, greataxes sought to cleave him in two, and even a few spears came flying in. He was letting them all gather in one location. Corralling them away from the shield-bearing statues. Waiting until¡ª Until they were too committed to killing him on the opposite side of the courtyard to where Ray needed to be. ¡°See ya,¡± Ray said before rising high on his wings and shooting forward. Two of the winged statues tried following him, but a Shatterclaw with each Talisman destroyed one of both statues¡¯ wings. They crashed into each other instead of reaching Ray. He grinned as he flew off. The other statues were way too slow to reach him. They hadn¡¯t even turned around fully by the time he reached the archer statue. Dodging the spectral arrow, Ray destroyed it with a Shatterclaw. He made sure to take out the two other nearby archer statues too. There. Pain in his ass taken care of. All that was left was the shield-bearing guardian. Ray lunged towards it and used another Shatterclaw. Unlike the others, it survived. Even its shield survived. The glowing blue door-shaped block of stone took the brunt of his spell¡¯s damage, the statue itself only being pushed back a couple of inches at most. Behind Ray, the other guardians were quickly hounding after him. There was no time. Ray used the Mana Infuser Ring next. With three pulses of Mana, he turned his Shatterclaw into Tier 5. His next attack also activated the Talisman of Focused Fury, blasting out an extra Shatterclaw on top of what he was using already. This time, the shield broke with the sound of a mirror and a stone column shattering together. Behind it, the statue fell apart. Ray flapped his wings and reached the shimmering barrier of Mana. Just in time too. A second later, several of the melee statues crashed in and destroyed the ground he had been standing on. They were unrelenting, even attacking the Mana boundary futilely, though the shimmering barrier held. It made Ray jump. He had thought he would pass this weird ¡°test¡± by crossing the threshold, then the statues would deactivate. But no. The statues continued attacking the barrier, even when they made no headway at all. Wild. Ray shook his head slowly. ¡°Do they want their apprentices to die or something?¡± Leaving the maddened statues behind him, Ray strode to the next door. He got the feeling that the next bit was going to be the last challenge offered up by the dungeon. Ray opened the door and was greeted by a blinding column of True Mana. Presence of the Primordial informed him that his assumption was indeed correct. Mana that was condensed in on itself over and over into a form that was extremely visible and even more potent. There was almost a sensation like gravity in the area. Ray was being slowly, magnetically dragged towards that brilliant column. It made sense. A black hole formed when matter was compressed into an infinitesimally small space compared to its original size. Forced to a density that was unnatural. Impossible. The same was true for this type of Mana. Compared to the regular magical energy that Ray channelled, this was bursting at the seams with potential and power. He couldn¡¯t even resist its inexorable pull. Wow. He swallowed. But what was he supposed to do here? Before, the goals had been more or less obvious. Shimmering barriers of Mana that he had been forced to go through to succeed in the dungeon¡¯s challenge. There were no such barriers here. All Ray could see was that spot of True Mana, that brilliantly bright column which would surely blind him if he kept staring like this. Ray delved properly into Presence of the Primordial to see if he could get more information. [Presence of the Primordial¡ªDungeon Obstacle] Pillar of True Mana The most talented novitiates of the academy, those who held the potential to become legends in the history of Everair, had to prove themselves via one final test. There was no kind of Mana superior to True Mana. Only upon successful containment and control of True Mana would a novitiate be allowed to reach the true echelons of Everair mages. But bending True Mana to one¡¯s will is nigh on an impossible task. Weaker wills are shredded to eternity upon contact with True Mana. Thus, only the bravest, only the truest, could take such a test. Ah, shit. That didn¡¯t sound good. Ray had next to no clue if he was supposed to be a talented mage or not. Worse, he had nothing of the training the novitiates this test was clearly built for had. How in the world was he supposed to conquer a mind-shredding column of ethereal energy? Plus, he recalled one of the warnings way back. Ray would end up damaging his Mana conduits if he took in True Mana without the proper preparation. Stop panicking. Ray breathed. The column was still dragging him closer, and he couldn¡¯t move away against it, even when he beat his wings as hard as he could. But he had a couple of minutes before impact. Surely he could think of something. So far, he had looked deeper at the dungeon obstacle itself. He was yet to peek at what exactly True Mana was compared to regular old Mana he had been using. It hadn¡¯t worked last time, for whatever reason. But he needed it now. Surely¡ª Yes! [Presence of the Primordial¡ªMana Varieties] True Mana The purest form of Mana. When Mana is condensed in on itself, True Mana is created. The level of True Mana describes the number of times it has been condensed, with each condensation being twice as hard as the previous level. The dungeon obstacle presents level 12 True Mana. True Mana can only be channelled by bodies and objects that have performed Mana condensation. Forceful channelling of True Mana through uncondensed channels may cause the unprepared Mana Core to rupture. Rupture? Shit. Ray was pretty sure he had to avoid that no matter what. Just as he was about to hit the pillar of True Mana, he suddenly knew what he had to do. A description popped up in his head. Construct created using True Mana. Ray summoned up the Tower Node, making it float over his head. The pillar of True Mana crashed upon him the next second, turning his entire world white. Chapter 25: Paragon When Ray could see again, he was pretty certain he wasn¡¯t in the dungeon any longer. He was, strangely, somehow back in the white room where he had first gained his Class, Vocation, and Path. ¡°Is this what happens when people die?¡± he asked. ¡°They come back here to this white room?¡± He spoke because he felt like the System would answer him again. This was the same place, with the same exact table-and-chair setup with the blocks of pure white. Surely he would be able to contact the form of the System he had spoken with last time he was here. Someone cackled behind him. ¡°I¡¯m afraid you aren¡¯t dead yet, Raymond.¡± Ray twisted around. Then blinked. He wasn¡¯t sure what he was looking at. There was a figure there, certainly, but¡­ it was like the person¡ªor being, or whatever it was¡ªhad been constructed of puzzle pieces that kept constantly switching. Little blocks that changed on and on, every second. The eyes changed shape and colour, the mouth turned from human to various kinds of monstrous, the pieces of the clothing shifting from coats to armour to obscenely rich regalia. Hair, fingers, legs, every single bit of the figure was divided into equally-sized blocks, each of which transformed on its own. ¡°Who¡ªwhat the hell are you?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Must you truly ask?¡± There was a teasing cadence to the somewhat male voice. At least that voice was constant. Despite everything else about the figure constantly shifting into something different, the words held the same tone and cadence. Ray was speaking to the same person, even if it looked like he wasn¡¯t. ¡°You¡¯re the one from the Tower Node,¡± he said, connecting two and two. ¡°The presence. The Marauder.¡± ¡°Bravo!¡± The figure raised his hands and clapped. It was strange seeing a demonic claw clap alongside what looked like an infant¡¯s tiny hand. ¡°I knew you were smart. After all, your ingenuity is the sole reason we¡¯re here.¡± ¡°Where is¡­ here?¡± ¡°Oh, just a little pocket dimension to house your soul while your body undergoes the brutal torture that your kind probably cannot even fathom. Did you know there is a pain limit that your human mind can comprehend?¡± The Marauder cackled again, like a hyena. ¡°Quite interesting, the limits your biology has placed upon you.¡± ¡°Why are you here, though? I¡¯m actually going to guess you brought me here.¡± ¡°No, you did. With your brilliant little idea to try and redirect that stream of True Mana into my Tower Node. You see, True Mana lets Denizens such as yourself commune with Paragons such as myself. Thus, here we are.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± Ray tried to process that information. He had felt the Marauder¡¯s presence before, when he had first used the Tower Node. It had even been there when he had met the Feathered Imps again. But it was only now, after he had allowed this True Mana to get in touch with the Tower Node, that he was in direct communication with the Paragon. ¡°What is a Paragon?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Like, how are you different from Denizens?¡± ¡°My, my, aren¡¯t you full of questions.¡± The Marauder tutted. ¡°You think we¡¯re here so you sit could down and ask me whatever you wanted and I¡¯d blithely answer your concerns?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± He suddenly remembered something. ¡°You seemed kinder.¡± That made all the shifting blocks pause their constant changing for a moment. It was kind of wild seeing that. All the different blocks making up the Marauder¡¯s appearance, all looking completely different from their neighbours, every single one of them paused. Ray was tempted to wonder how many different types of blocks he could pull from. The Marauder sighed. ¡°I suppose I did give the wrong impression. Goes to show what happens when you¡¯re too nice. Well, nice time is over, new Denizen. It¡¯s business time now.¡± Ray straightened. Of course. He should have known he hadn¡¯t been pulled here out of the goodness of the Marauder¡¯s lots of different hearts. ¡°Then tell me what you want.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure I like your tone, because you forget the difference in power at play here. Even if you are supposed to be this Tower Conqueror.¡± So, he knew what Ray¡¯s Vocation was. It was safe to assume he knew pretty much everything there was to know about Ray, at least, within the Tower itself. He was starting to get the sense that Paragons were more or less gods in this new world. ¡°I don¡¯t have any frame of reference with which to address you or how I should act in your presence, Mr. Marauder,¡± Ray said. ¡°Since you so kindly refused to inform me what a Paragon even is.¡± The Marauder sighed. ¡°A Paragon is a¡­¡± His different mouths all came out grinning, even when the blocks shifted. ¡°A shareholder, if you will.¡± Ray groaned. Now he was using what Ray had said against him. Taking a leaf out of his own book. ¡°A shareholder for the Tower itself?¡± ¡°Correct. A Paragon cannot act directly, not in lower ranked Towers like your Tower of Forging. However, there is a way for us to assert some influence. That¡¯s via empowering Tower Nodes that make up the very fabric of the Tower itself.¡± ¡°A quid pro quo.¡± ¡°Exactly. The various Paragons¡¯ different powers from their different domains allow the Tower to create and construct the different aspects it needs to function.¡± ¡°And in return¡­?¡± ¡°In return, vestiges of our influence end up proliferating, thanks to the Denizens who occupy said Tower, one way or another. This creates a new vector of growth for us Paragons.¡± ¡°Vector of growth? How?¡± ¡°I grow weary of acting like a teacher to an unruly student, Raymond. Although, you could reduce my weariness with a simple act. Answer me this¡ªwill you, or will you not accept the connection you yourself have established with True Mana and the Tower Node you possess?¡± ¡°If I didn¡¯t, will you end up seeking a different person to use your Tower Node?¡± ¡°Perhaps¡­ perhaps not.¡± All his mouths grinned widely. ¡°What is your answer, Raymond?¡± Ray took in a deep breath. He was probably risking a lot with what he was about to say next, but he didn¡¯t want to lie. ¡°I can¡¯t accept something I don¡¯t know the full breadth of. There¡¯s a catch. Maybe if you told me what it was, then I could answer you.¡± The Marauder cackled. ¡°Oh, but you see, there is none.¡± ¡°There has to be. There¡¯s always a catch.¡± ¡°You aren¡¯t very trusting. I can understand that. Thieves are all alike. But I will answer you this. When I said a Paragon¡¯s influence is greatly limited, I meant it. I can¡¯t force you to do anything, nor can I stop you from doing anything. You must realize, it¡¯s almost unheard of for anyone to acquire a Tower Conqueror vocation and acquire a Tower Node this early.¡± Ray could see that last bit being true, at least. He had ended up in the Tier 7 tutorial zone because of his legendary Path. Without a tutorial zone at that high a Tier, he probably wouldn¡¯t have ended up with the rewards he had claimed in the end. After all, no one else held a Tower Node as far as he was aware. ¡°So I could just abandon the Tower Node and abandon you entirely,¡± Ray said. The Marauder didn¡¯t find that a displeasing notion. ¡°You could!¡± ¡°Then maybe I will. Maybe I¡¯ll find a different Tower Node to use this True Mana with, and hopefully with a Paragon who¡¯ll be more upfront with me.¡± For whatever reason, the Marauder continued being delighted, which just made Ray even warier. ¡°Sure! I¡¯ll even tell you where to find the next Tower Node. A little bird told me that the local area has a powerful Node you could make good use of. The Paragon associated with it cares even less for your Tower than I do, so you probably won¡¯t even have a meeting like this.¡± ¡°Who¡¯s the Paragon?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t make me tell you everything, Raymond. Discovering is half the fun.¡± Ray stared at the godlike being before him. He almost wanted to say that he would make good on his threat, that he would indeed find this other Tower Node and make better use of it. But that felt petulant. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. That felt like playing straight into the Marauder¡¯s hands. ¡°You¡¯ll see, Raymond,¡± the Marauder said. ¡°Thieves like us. We¡¯re all alike.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a thief.¡± Even as he said it, it rang with falsehood. Hadn¡¯t he basically stolen the powers of the creatures he had killed? Wasn¡¯t that thievery on some level? ¡°I am a Marauder,¡± the Paragon said. ¡°The Marauder. And you are a would-be Conqueror. Believe me when I say this¡ªthere isn¡¯t a great deal of difference.¡± ¡°There is. You and your kind just want to take and hoard things. I want sole control over my fate, so that I can do what I decide to do without anyone¡¯s influence. If stealing is how I can ensure that, then fine, I¡¯ll steal.¡± The Marauder cackled. ¡°Yes. That¡¯s exactly what I want. But for now, I must leave you. I have other things to attend to. Thank you for the interesting diversions, though. I¡¯ll leave you with a parting gift to show my appreciation.¡± He smiled like a scarecrow as his blocks began turning white. ¡°And I await your decision.¡± Ray was alone a second later. Crap. This whole thing had been so unexpected. The meeting left him unmoored. Nothing the Paragon had said had made him feel easier about what he had to do going forward. He was unsettled. Especially because the white room dissolved, revealing visions all around him. Ray couldn¡¯t identify what exactly he was looking at, although he got the gist of it. People. New Denizens, like himself, making their way through the Tower of Forging¡¯s First Floor. There was a long-bearded man in a coat leading a fierce looking group into the bowels of a dungeon. All the members of the group had an armband of red cloth, tied like a bandanna. At another spot, a larger group was defending themselves against an aerial attack by strange, draconic monsters. Ray even recognized his Faction. The people of Insurge Faction were still rebuilding that broken-down keep. He was certain he even spotted Maya there. The visions shifted. Next, Ray was staring at a man with a thin moustache healing an injured group. Gritty appeared next. She was tearing through a group of those kangaroo-deer he had seen earlier. Despite sporting a dozen wounds, she looked happy. Alive. That woman was certifiably insane. Next, Ray was granted a brief glimpse of the Virko dealing with a Sylvan of all people. The scene shifted quickly again. This time, Ray watched a strange monster lumbering across the land. A gigantic figure, traipsing across brown-gold grass, hints of feathers poking out on its face and around its legs, the only bits of the creature visible through its hood and cloak. Then the visions ended. Ray was back in the dungeon. The pain was the first thing that hit him. He breathed in and out, hard and fast, trying not to let it overwhelm him. It was as though his insides had been ripped out, steamrolled, then thrust back into his body where they no longer fit. He couldn¡¯t not twitch and jerk, trying his best not to contort into a pretzel. Dumping all his Recovery into healing himself didn¡¯t work. Ray felt a smidge better than before. The jerks and twists decreased a little. But it was nowhere close to stopping, The rewards¡¯ notifications for clearing the dungeon helped him calm down. They were exactly as he expected. [New Personal Achievement¡ªFirst Contact!] You¡¯ve met your first being from a higher plane! You are now touched by the grace of a Paragon. Reward
  • Reputation: +15 Hallowed
[Dungeon Cleared¡ªNovitiate Mage Academy] Rewards
  • 1 Spell Synthesis Point
  • 1 True Mana Grimoire Pamphlet
  • 1 Tier Point
  • +1,000 Essence
  • Reputation: +15 Knowledge
Anomaly detected¡­ recalculating further rewards¡­ Anomaly detected¡­ recalculating further rewards¡­ Anomaly detected¡­ recalculating further rewards¡­
  • True Mana Attunement Token
  • 1 True Mana skill
[Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 100-point threshold, your Knowledge has raised your Intellect by 15. Knowledge to next Threshold: 107/150 Ray¡¯s heart had skipped when he saw the errors again after so long. But it looked like it had fixed itself without the need for the System to personally intervene. Whew. He glanced at the actual rewards and shivered even as he smiled. Oh yes, those rewards would be handy. A thousand Essence to get him closer to his next level. More Intellect to boost his spell damage even further was going to be fantastic. Then there was the Tier point and all the other new stuff. Also, what in the world did that Hallowed Reputation provide? He would need to find a way to get more to find out. Better yet, the considerations behind each of what he had earned helped take his mind off the debilitating pain. Ray could definitely use another Spell Synthesis point to make his casting more efficient. Despite the last one he had used, he still felt the array of spells he had more or less overlapped with one another still. Like, why did he need to have Lifeblood Crucible and Primal Summons as two separate spells? Combining them would mean needing only one Tier point to improve his summoning abilities overall. Unfortunately, when he tried to use the Spell Synthesis point on them, it didn¡¯t work. [Warning!] Spell Synthesis cannot be performed on spells with vastly different purposes. Ray blinked. What? They were part of the same thing. The System was being mean in not letting him combine them together. Could he at least combine Chaos Chymify and Lifeblood Crucible? Nope. Still too different. It was getting slightly frustrating, but Ray at least had one more combination in mind he could perform. He tried folding Lifeblood Sense into Presence of the Primordial. This time, it did work. Not exactly satisfied, but happy it had eventually worked out, Ray opened up his new spell. [Information Request¡ªSpells] Presence of the Primordial [Passive] [Utility] [Tier 4] A passive primal spell that boosts all other primal spells, shields the caster from Mana-based debuffs and afflictions up to this spell¡¯s Tier, and denotes the presence of other beings within this spell¡¯s range. Nothing escapes the glance of a primal caster, so within the spell¡¯s effective range, the caster can see into the soul of all creatures, abilities, and items, and perceive Mana directly. At Tier 4, this spell¡¯s effective range is 20 meters. Most of that description was highly familiar, but there was that small line in the middle of everything. ¡­denotes the presence of all other beings within this spell¡¯s range. Now he wouldn¡¯t need to rely on constantly using Lifeblood Sense to detect others in the vicinity. Interesting that he could perceive Mana directly now. He¡¯d have to check that later as well. Best of all, he now had one Passive spell doing all the work. He moved on and focused on the True Mana Attunement Token. It was a tiny, hexagonal disc made of the same, ceramic-like material that covered the Tower Nodes. What was this substance? [True Mana Attunement] Consume the Token to Attune your body and spirit to channel True Mana. You will no longer suffer any severe drawbacks for using skills, spells, or any other processes that require True Mana. Consume¡­ Ray really hoped the System didn¡¯t mean he¡¯d have to eat it. He gripped the token, tried to focus his Mana, though he didn¡¯t really have much of a sense for it beyond a vague sensation of energy flowing through him. Was there a way to gain a better perception for Mana? For True Mana, as well? He felt like that would help in situations like this. Then he realized his new spell allowed him to look at Mana directly. He tried doing so, trying to will the internal flow of Mana to his eyes so that he could look at the magic. It felt turgid and slow, but he was making progress, so he kept at it. The Token began glowing in his hand. It got so bright, Ray was forced to squint his eyes. Then he was struck with another vision. Ray was back on Earth, by the looks of things, on some wide, grassy plain. He was also growing. The world shrunk as he grew taller and taller. Big as a tree in a second, big as a mountain in less than a minute. Piercing through the clouds next until he was tall enough to poke into space. And still he kept growing. Even though it was a vision, he started to feel a little sick with how quickly everything was compressing to the size of his fingernail. The planets, the sun, the entire solar system. Then the galaxy itself. Everything. The whole universe was turning ever smaller, compressing, condensing¡ªoh, just like True Mana. That was when Ray snapped back to reality. Back to the floor of the dungeon¡¯s last room. [True Mana Skill] You have successfully attuned your body to channel True Mana without negative consequences. You possess only one Tower Node¡ªTower Node of the Marauder. As such, you only have one option for a True Mana skill. Vengeful Plunder [Buffing] [Tier 1] A buffing skill that raises your stats for every successful hit you land on your opponent. Stats raised are the wielder¡¯s primary stats. At Tier 1, this skill raises each stat by 1 point, lasts 1 minute from activation, and costs 200 Mana. As you have no True Mana, the spell has an enhanced regular Mana cost. Holy shit. Vengeful Plunder raised each primary stat by 1 points, which meant he¡¯d be increasing his effective level by one with every third successful hit. Discounting free stat points, of course. Considering how often Ray tended to get in blows against his opponents, that was fast. And the skill was only at Tier 1. How much better would this be at Tier 2? Or even higher Tiers? Although, that cost was prohibitive for now. It would use up almost half his total capacity. Insane. But considering the benefit it provided, he didn¡¯t find the cost unreasonable. He snorted. So appropriate that this was the skill Ray was receiving from the Marauder. Even worse, that cryptic bastard had known it would be something like this. Something so irresistible. Ray didn¡¯t accept it. Not yet. He was going to make good on his threat of finding this other Tower Node and seeing if that Paragon would be more obliging. The option to pick it later ought to remain available until Ray decided to accept it, so he would wait for now. Once he was surer of things. And anyway, screw him if he was going to inadvertently start working for somebody again. No matter how enticing it looked. The new Tier Point was exactly what Ray had been hunting for. He assigned it to Lifeblood Crucible. There. Now he could hold something that would make Lifeblood Construct conjure something actually useful. Next up, there was the Grimoire Pamphlet for True Mana. [Information Request¡ªGrimoire Pamphlet] Spellbook [Tier 5] Pamphlet created from the ancient grimoire of True Mana Grandmaster, Colfrith, of the Fifty-three Stars Faction. Contains a small distillation of his magical prowess, highly volatile and potent. Deciphering the knowledge contained within these pages for even a single spell will cause it to disintegrate into ash. Huh. Ray shook his head. Funny how the System went out of its way to tell him that he could pick only one spell, just as he had been able to do with the Grimoire Pamphlet. Well, time to see what options he had in store. Time for a new spell. Chapter 26: Ancient Alien Gym Ray took a look through his new options a few times. The choices he had been offered were pretty different. [Spell Selection] True Void [Barrier] [Tier 4] A barrier spell that blocks any magic used against the caster. Gather primal energy into a depthless orb and set it above yourself. Condense the Mana used to craft it to imbue it with magical gravitas, which then inexorably pulls all nearby energy into it. At Tier 4, this spell costs 80 Mana, lasts 2 minutes, and blocks up to Tier 6 Mana-based abilities. True Enhancement [Utility] [Tier 5] A self-cast spell that converts any selected spell from using regular Mana to True Mana. This temporarily evolves the selected spell into an enhanced version with advanced capabilities. At Tier 5, this spell converts the selected spell¡¯s cost to two-and-a-half times as much as the unenhanced version and lasts 2 minutes and 30 seconds. True Mark [Offensive] [Tier 5] An offensive spell that marks any selected target with True Mana. The marked target will automatically channel True Mana with any attempt to channel regular Mana, leading to devastating spiritual damage for those unprepared. At Tier 5, this spell¡¯s effect lasts 5 minutes and costs 100 Mana. Well. Ray laughed. Weren¡¯t those some rather interesting choices for him. Since he still wasn¡¯t anywhere close to feeling well enough to get out of this dungeon and go about his business, Ray took some time pondering the choices he had been offered. It was nice that the System was once again offering a wide array of options to round himself out. It wasn¡¯t just a list of offensive spells. There was a barrier and a utility spell as well. Even better, Ray couldn¡¯t just neglect the non-offensive options and go with more firepower. Not when they looked pretty damn useful. True Void blocking attacks up to Tier 6 would be incredibly helpful. His defence against any non-physical attack would essentially be guaranteed then. Ray could already imagine a dark blot floating over his head, eating up anything rushing his way, while he laughed maniacally under its baleful gaze directed at his enemies. Yes, that painted quite the picture, didn¡¯t it? True Enhancement appeared ridiculously good too. Converting any of his spells into their True Mana version made Ray salivate at the prospect of seeing their ¡°enhanced capabilities¡±. What would something like Primal Summons be able to do with Ture Mana? What about Chaos Chymify, or even Shatterclaw? Then there was True Mark. So far, his offensive options had all been about dealing damage. But this new spell was a completely different ballgame. Essentially, with True Mark, Ray would turn off his opponent¡¯s ability to use Mana at all. The pain of the dungeon¡¯s last challenge flashed across his mind, distant but still distinct enough to recall how horrific it was. He still hadn¡¯t recovered from it. Inflicting something like that on an opponent would surely spell his victory. Except, True Mark wasn¡¯t going to force them to use True Mana. Not really. It would only ensure that, if they did decide to use an ability that required Mana, they would only have access to True Mana instead. For regular, run-of-the-mill opponents, Ray saw how useful this could be. They would be locked out of using any of their Mana-based spells, skills, whatever. But was Mana the only thing needed for abilities? What if there were skills and abilities that didn¡¯t need Mana like his spells did? Not just passive abilities, but active ones that used a different source. What if some abilities consumed Recovery instead of Mana? He had proof, thanks to Gritty, that not everyone needed Mana at all times to use their spells and skills. That was, ultimately, the thing that kept Ray from picking True Mark. Useful as it sounded, there was just too much risk associated with it. When it worked, it would basically guarantee his victory. When it didn¡¯t, it would be a waste of an enormous amount of Mana. Fast and furious though his fighting style had become, Ray wasn¡¯t ready to take that sort of risk with anything. Besides, he had other options that could be just as good, if not better. Ray couldn¡¯t see any negatives to True Void in the same way he had with True Mark, but in the end, True Enhancement won out. The prospect of seeing advanced versions of the spells he already had was just too intriguing. Look, if Primal Summons actually called upon a full-on amalgamation of the Soul Aspects in Lifeblood Crucible, he wanted to see it. With his new spell selected, Ray next had to wait until he felt decent enough to get out of the dungeon. Soon as he healed up and the pain stopped being debilitating. Anytime now¡­ It turned out anytime now actually took several more hours. Ray even fell asleep after a while, when he realized movement was just not possible. Especially not if he had to get through a courtyard filled with murderous magic statues. Ray groaned as he got up. How long had it been? Hopefully, he hadn¡¯t wasted an entire night inside the dungeon. Or, whatever passed for night in the Tower. He moved gingerly. Even now, any motion made his muscles tense and jitter like there was an undercurrent of electricity driving through him, tearing off a certain something that had grounded him before that he had never realized was there. He still felt raw. Like he was a plucked chicken waiting to be cooked on MasterChef. Grunting mostly to himself, Ray headed out. At least he could move better with his wings active. He considered testing the True Enhancement just then, to see how it affected Primal Summons, but Ray decided not to mess around with those statues nearby. He zipped through them without trouble. The statues were still active, still hunting him, but the Mana Veils were down. They hadn¡¯t barged through the door to the last chamber, though. Thankfully, they also didn¡¯t follow him outside the dungeon. ¡°Alright,¡± he said. ¡°Time to find and plunder more dungeons.¡± He paused, then grimaced. ¡°Did I just say plunder?¡± Ray took a few moments to let his next steps settle in his head. His goal was to find the next Tower Node. The Marauder had said there was another somewhere nearby, if he could be trusted. Since the last one Ray had found was from his tutorial zone, it stood to reason that he might find another in a local dungeon. Well, one dungeon down. Several others to check. As Ray surveyed the surrounding area to find the next dungeon, he found another small grove of the sinuous dark trees. Here was even a Mana fruit on one of them. How lucky. Ray picked it up and gobbled it whole. No Brighthorns around, and no sign of the Duskshell rising either. Good. He would deal with the latter in time. First, he had a Tower Node to locate. The first dungeon he came across after he left the Novitiate Academy was already cleared. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. [Warning!] The dungeon you are about to enter has been cleared recently. It is still in a cooldown period where it resets its challenges and is repopulated with monsters. You will earn no reward for reaching the end of the dungeon. The warning made him wonder who had been in the area to have cleared it. Just out of curiosity, Ray let Presence of the Primordial grant him more information. [Presence of the Primordial¡ªDungeon] Everair Scholar¡¯s Dissemination Library [Tier 3] Knowledge is power. The Everair were well aware of this. As such, they constructed great establishments for both the storage and dissemination of all the knowledge they could gather. Treatises and scrolls on every topic imaginable populate their vaunted libraries. But beware, knowledge can be a curse as well. Be prepared to handle the burden. How ominous. Ray let the description dissipate to nothing before heading in. The structure of the dungeon did have the air of some kind of school or library, kind of like the last one he had been in. Big main building, with smaller buildings on the side. The interior was a gigantic hall, lined with rows upon rows of stone shelves filled to the brim with old scrolls. That they were still intact and not disintegrated to dust surprised him. Something groaned metallically as Ray reached for the nearest scroll. It looked like a¡­ suit of armour? The disparate pieces, knocked to the floor somehow, were joining back together, slowly getting to its feet. Hmm, must have been the people who had cleared the dungeon before him. Ray didn¡¯t bother letting the thing annoy him. The dungeon wasn¡¯t even active. Why was it acting up? He blasted it with a quick Shatterclaw and it shattered into a bunch of pieces again, this time with extra scratches and metal splinters. Ah, oops. He had forgotten to test True Enhancement. Maybe the next guardian that showed up would get a taste of it. The scroll was indecipherable. For all that the System boasted a universal comprehension mechanic that allowed various alien races to interact with each other seamlessly, it apparently decided the limit was text from the ancient civilization it had co-opted to create its Tower. Fabulous. Ray put it away and focused on his real objective. He had to find wherever the Tower Node was, if it was even inside this dungeon. There were no challenges, no real danger associated with anything he did. Ray didn¡¯t even meet another suit of armour for a long while. When he did, he finally got to test his True Enhancement for Shatterclaw. Activating True Enhancement needed True Mana, which Ray didn¡¯t have. However, he could condense his regular Mana into True Mana. Which was¡­ a process. Not only was Ray using a ton of his Mana, he also began to feel quite strange. It was like he was transforming into some kind of generator. His body vibrated the more he condensed his Mana, his teeth chattering and his skin shivering. It was worth it, at least. The surprise at the new form of his spell burst out him of him vocally. ¡°Woah!¡± Shatterclaw wasn¡¯t just a series of slashes of black-red energy in the air any longer. With True Enhancement, using True Mana, it changed into an actual limb. Black-and-white energy created an oversized bony arm stretching off his shoulder with an actual hand tipped with burning red claws at the end. The whole contraption was tied together with threads and motes of shining gold. True Mana. Wow. This was an actual arm he could move around, like he had grown a gigantic limb. As the suit of Everair armour charged at him, Ray willed his new magic arm to reach forward. It grabbed the armour long before the guardian could reach him. The power within the limb was incredible, though not surprising. Ray just grinned in satisfaction as, with a little push of his intention, the enhanced Shatterclaw¡¯s arm threw the suit of armour to make it crash against the distant wall. Not only that, the suit was also burning with the same chaotic energy that built the arm too. Of course, the energy didn¡¯t affect it much, just as the case had been for the statues in the previous dungeon. Lifeblood Chaos really needed living matter to show its full colours. Interestingly, using True Mana hadn¡¯t hurt. Quite the opposite. Ray was more alive. He definitely didn¡¯t feel like he had damaged his Mana conduits. It seemed that Attunement truly had made him compatible with True Mana. If only it didn¡¯t cost so much Mana to use¡­ In the end, after trawling the whole dungeon for at least two hours straight, Ray found nothing. Neither hide nor hair of any Tower Node. No matter which room and hall he peeked into, even after checking the smaller side buildings, Ray found nothing. It wasn¡¯t an impossibility that the Tower Node just wasn¡¯t here. After all, he hadn¡¯t found it in the previous dungeon either. Sighing, Ray made his exit and headed to the next dungeon. This one wasn¡¯t cleared like the last had been. [Presence of the Primordial¡ªDungeon] Stoutmen Centre of Everair [Tier 4] A body of hale health has passed the first main obstacle of being a useful citizen. No one can serve their best if they aren¡¯t in tip-top shape, after all. Thus, the stoutmen of Everair have taken it upon themselves to ensure that the citizens of Everair are at their peak fitness to contribute as well as they can to their society. Hold on. Was Ray about to enter an ancient alien civilization¡¯s gym? Wack as it sounded, that was what the description suggested. Shaking his head, Ray entered the long, narrow building. The first room he entered was bare, save for a humongous boulder blocking what had to be the only exit¡ªsave for the entrance he had come through¡ªin the room. Oh. Of course. Ray didn¡¯t even need to look at Presence of the Primordial to understand what was being asked of him. He was in an alien gym, for crying out loud. Ray pulled his arm back. ¡°Sorry, but this bro doesn¡¯t even lift.¡± He slashed his arm, a regular old Shatterclaw appearing and mimicking his motion. The boulder broke under this spell¡¯s might. It was too big to destroy with one hit, so Ray had to use a couple more to reduce it to enough rubble to keep moving forward. The room afterward was bare and unassuming, which immediately made Ray tense. What now? As soon as he stepped in, the ceiling began descending. Ah. Hold up the roof or be crushed. That was the challenge. Ray dashed back, but the door he had entered through had slammed close. It appeared he had no other option. He used True Enhancement on his Shatterclaw again, summoning up a whole arm constructed with his dark energy. True Mana blitzed through him again, making him feel like a livewire but not unpleasantly so. It was as though he was unlocking a secret source of boundless power whenever he used it. The arm of chaotic energy was easily strong enough to hold up the roof while he reached the door at the other end of the chamber. Thankfully, the door didn¡¯t need any effort other than a proper shove. Ray was through. He had a feeling the last challenge was supposed to have taken a lot more struggle to get through. It probably would have, for someone relying purely on their natural physical strength, even after serious strength training. Unless the people of the Everair empire had access to the System too. The last room was a gravity test. Ray¡¯s first step was greeted with a sharp increase in strength of the gravitational field, which immediately brought him to the ground. He managed to drag himself back against the door, whereupon gravity returned to normal. Interesting how he always took things like gravity or the oxygen level in the air for granted. The Tower could have welcomed in the new Denizens in a realm with significantly higher¡ªor lower¡ªgravity than Earth. The same went for the air content. Wasn¡¯t it a huge boon that the planetary conditions had more or less approximated what they were used to? Or maybe these were just the conditions needed to foster life. Ray focused on his objective. There was a dais in the middle, and it was pretty obvious he had to reach it. But he wasn¡¯t inclined to struggle through a silly gravitational field. Instead, he crushed another Mana crystal to top up his Mana, then used True Enhancement on Lifeblood Crucible this time. He figured that was what he had to upgrade with True Mana, to see the actual changes to the Soul Aspects stored within. His body surged with renewed vigour. Next came Primal Summons to actually bring up his wings. They were huge now, the tips of their leg-length feathers burning with crimson energy, lines of gold outlining the whole set of wings. When he flapped them, the world blurred with how fast everything moved. The heightened gravitational pull acted instantaneously, of course. Despite the power of his wings¡ªand he was sure there was more to them he had to explore later¡ªRay was still inexorably dragged to the ground. But not before he nearly reached the dais. With an effortful grunt, Ray reached forward and slapped his hand against the dais. Immediately, gravity returned to normal. He got to his feet as the rewards materialized. [Dungeon Cleared¡ª Stoutmen Centre of Everair] Rewards
  • 1 [Selectable] Skill Manual
  • 1 Tier Point
  • +600 Essence
  • Reputation: +10 Indomitable
Huh. Fewer rewards compared to what he had received in the Novitiate Academy Dungeon. Probably because the dungeon itself was a lower Tier than the last one. That did remind Ray, though, that he was receiving more Essence than the first time he had cleared a dungeon with Maya¡¯s group. Was it because of being part of a group that he had received less Essence back then? That traversal dungeon had been the same Tier as this dungeon, but he had received twice as much Essence here than in that one, if he remembered right. Ray tried to plug the Tier point into True Enhancement, but it didn¡¯t work. [Warning!] True Mana abilities can only be upgraded with True Mana Tier points. ¡°Oh, of course,¡± he said. ¡°Fancy True Mana needs its own fancy Tier points.¡± The System didn¡¯t respond. Ray sighed. Fine. He was going to have to find a way to acquire these True Mana Tier points from somewhere. Maybe he could ask Virko. Although, the way the Halftyr merchant was talking with Sylvans certainly disquieted Ray a bit. Even if he had promised Ray that he never gave up any vital information, it was safest to assume others knew about Ray to some degree. Ray decided he¡¯d peek into the Skill Manual first before assigning his Tier points anywhere. Time to see what new skill he could earn. Chapter 27: Second Tower Node Ray pored over the options the skill manual from the dungeon had provided. This was the first time he had received a skill manual. He was more than a little interested. [Skill Selection] Hale Form [Passive] [Tier 2] A passive boost to the wielder¡¯s health and fitness. Overall stamina is minorly increased, time to fatigue is minorly increased, and the wielder¡¯s body is marginally hardier against all sorts of damage, save magical damage. Eukaryotic Burst [Utility] [Tier 2] Temporarily boosts Strength and Agility. However, this consumes significant energy, and after the skill¡¯s effect is over, the wielder enters a state of Deep Fatigue. In this state, the wielder¡¯s movement and reaction time is slowed. At Tier 2, this skill raises Strength and Agility by 4 points for 2 minutes and costs 20 Mana. Deep Fatigue also lasts for 2 minutes, reducing movement and reaction speed by 20%. Adaptive Breath [Passive] [Tier 3] Shift breathing to turn wielder more in tune with the ongoing circumstance. Boosts any single, automatically-selected stat depending on the current situation. Boost lasts until situation is resolved. At Tier 3, this boost raises the selected stat by 6 points. Hmm. Not the greatest selection. But then, Ray hadn¡¯t expected much from the rewards of a Tier 3 dungeon that didn¡¯t even specialize in magic. After some moment of thought, he went with the last option. The second skill just wasn¡¯t something that would be useful to him. While an Agility boost could be cool, Ray had no need for Strength at all and he definitely didn¡¯t want to be in some strange refractory period after using the skill. The first option appeared decent, but it felt a little too basic. Every increase provided by the skill was marginal. Small. Probably not worth it. Adaptive Breath was interesting, though it had a bit of a gamble associated with it that Ray would need to keep in mind. The skill description didn¡¯t state that he could select which stat was raised at any given scenario. No, it was automatically selected, whatever that meant. Was the System going to pick for him, then? Well, he would find out eventually. Ray considered levelling up the new skill, but that didn¡¯t appeal to him much. Instead, he used the Tier point on Dual Wield. [Information Request¡ªSkills] Dual Wield [Passive] [Tier 4] A passive skill that benefits dual-wielding any weapon or catalyst. At Tier 4, latent effects of both armaments are applied by both armaments and application of status afflictions is boosted to twice the speed when using both armaments simultaneously. Oh huh. Interesting. So now Ray could proc Insanity even faster than he had already done. And he could control that boost too. To not proc Insanity too quickly, he would just need to use only one of his Talismans. Or rather, not use one after the other in sequence. Handy, for when he was facing enemies like the Duskshell that had unpredictable reactions to an Insanity proc. With all that settled, Ray exited the dungeon and started looking for his next one. It was a little annoying that he couldn¡¯t tell the passage of time properly. The blank haze that passed for the sky on the First Floor had nothing to indicate the time of day. At least he wasn¡¯t tired yet. That last Mana fruit had been enough to keep him going for longer. The next dungeon Ray came across took some travelling. ¡°This one better have the Tower Node¡­¡± [Presence of the Primordial¡ªDungeon] War Master¡¯s Testing Hall [Tier 4] With great power comes great responsibility, and to the Everair, no responsibility was greater than serving the empire. Here, in the halls of its War Masters, aspiring Everair citizens proved their worth on the field of battle in a variety of scenarios to determine how best they could serve their home in times of great need. The building was blocky, oppressive. Fit for a place called the War Master¡¯s Testing Hall. Ray was pretty sure whatever testing he would face would be part of the dungeon¡¯s challenges. His assumptions were proven correct. As he entered the first room through massive doors, Ray was faced with a very specific scenario of war. A siege. He blinked. What? Ray looked around. There was nothing of the dank, gloomy chamber he had entered. Instead, he was on a high wall, like fortifications around a major medieval city. A city that was under attack. Ray looked up. ¡°Oh, shit.¡± A dozen burning arcs were coursing through the air. Shots from distant catapults, about to land in the city and cause massive havoc. Defenders swarmed the walls. They were the same birdlike people he had seen all over the First Floor. The Everair. Except, instead of being dead or statues, these were living, breathing members of their race. Brought to life by the strange powers of this dungeon. Despite the imminent impact from the plummeting catapult shots, they couldn¡¯t run away. Attackers were climbing ladders, seeking to claim the walls. The defenders kept throwing off the ladders where they could, pouring oil and firing off strange crossbows, but there were too many of their foes. There were more details, but Ray shook his head, trying not to get lost in everything going on in this hyper-realistic challenge. What the hell was his goal even supposed to be here? [Dungeon Scenario] Survive the siege for 30 minutes. Do not let the city fall. Interesting. This was the first time a dungeon had thrown the challenge straight at his face like that. Well, at least it was clear what he had to do now. Ray figured he was supposed to follow orders and act as directed. One of the bird people yelled at him in a screechy voice, though the System didn¡¯t helpfully translate it for whatever reason. He didn¡¯t care, anyway. Maybe regular test-takers from the bygone era of the Everair were supposed to act a certain way. But Ray didn¡¯t have to abide by such rules. When one had power like he did, one made their own rules. Forget being besieged, Ray took the fight directly to the invaders. He caught sight of more burning oil being poured nearby. His nose cringed with the smell. ¡°So pedestrian. Come on, guys, where¡¯s your flair?¡± Ray summoned his wings and swooped away. A controlled flight and a series of quick Shatterclaws destroyed all the ladders on the side of the wall near him. So much more efficient. Everyone watched wide-eyed awe. A lot of them had their beaks gaping open in surprise too. It was almost gratifying to see their reaction. Some of the enemy tried to shoot at him, but Ray kept moving, kept easily dodging anything they threw in his direction. Easy as that initial defensive manoeuvre had been, his build wasn¡¯t built for taking on multiple people at once. Though, Ray got the sense these Everair invaders were weak enough that he could dealt with them in short order. But still. He wanted some fun. Defending was boring. Why not siege the fucking besiegers themselves? Ray found a battering ram headed for the main gates. Landing momentarily on the wall before reactivating Soaring Wings, Ray swooped down on the attackers. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. The ram was the first to go. Infusing a couple of pulses of Mana into Shatterclaw, Ray raised its Tier and crushed the entire siege engine in one strike. The invaders cried out in dismay. He took some of them down as he passed too, before returning to the wall. Thankfully, the defenders had been smart enough to stop pelting arrows so as not to hit him as well. But now that he was back, they resumed their fatal volleys. Siege repelled on this side as well. Ray moved on. More of the bird-people called after him, but he ignored them. Their tones were different now, however, which he did note. It was nice to be appreciated. When he reached the next location where the enemy had gathered in force, Ray opted for a different tack. He stayed distant this time. Shots of Chaos Chymify from range allowed him to test just how strong the spell was. Ray had still left it at Tier 1, so its power wasn¡¯t that great. As was proven moments later when singular strikes didn¡¯t bring the enemy down. It alerted them to his presence, though. Ray had to keep moving to dodge their retaliatory arrows. Not that he minded, really. It wasn¡¯t like he was getting Essence for killing the enemy. Still. His attacks from on high had distracted them, allowing the defenders to take advantage and sweep them away. Thirty minutes turned out to be shorter than Ray had thought. Either that, or the passage of time in this dungeon scenario had been accelerated. He wondered which it was, though he didn¡¯t mind. Ray had better things to do than clear a dungeon that wasn¡¯t at all aligned with the things he needed. The next scenario teleported him to a different location. [Dungeon Scenario] Find and subdue the enemy leader within 30 minutes. Ah, so now, Ray was the invader. A nice flip of perspective. Ray was among the hundreds of the black-clad Everair soldiers rushing the walls. Hmm. Instead of joining his would-be comrades, Ray flew straight up. Charging headfirst into a wall with defenders spewing burning oil on him was really not his style. If he had to find and take down the defenders¡¯ leader, then he had a pretty good approximation of where they were supposed to be. Ray surveyed the city he was supposed to take over. Convenient that the layout was mostly familiar to him. Maybe all civilized races converged to the same kinds of urban patterns. After all, it was only logical that the most important structures would be located at the most defensible spots. In this case, that was at the very centre of the city. A separate ring of thick walls surrounded what looked like a familiar keep. Oh. It was the same style that Maya was leading the Insurge Faction into rebuilding. Ray shot towards it. He had to stop atop a nearby rooftop to use another Mana crystal and redo his Primal Summons. When he arrived at the keep¡¯s roof, he was greeted by several defenders. They didn¡¯t recognize him at all. ¡°Look, guys, it¡¯s me!¡± Ray flapped his hands. ¡°You know, the guy who flew around and took care of your enemies.¡± They just attacked him. Sighing, Ray dashed past them to get closer to the centre of the rooftop. The Everair defenders turned to fight him, but he had achieved the correct positioning now. With quick uses of Shatterclaw, Ray sent them all tumbling off the roof. Their screams were more annoyed than fearful. Well, they could fly, right? They had wings. Though, Ray was yet to see a single one of them use said wings. Huh. He wondered what the reason behind that was. A growl alerted him that he was yet to accomplish his objective here. Ray turned around with another Shatterclaw at the ready. But as he swung it, he used the Mana Infuser ring to raise it to Tier 6. That took care of the onrushing Everair with ease, crushing through the golden armour and¡ª Wait, hold on. Had that been his target? Ray was answered with another quick teleport into the next scenario. [Dungeon Scenario] Defeat the gauntlet. Survive and claim your place as a true Master of War, one who backs down from no challenge. There wasn¡¯t any time to consider just how rapidly things had changed. Ray was indeed part of a gauntlet now. Everair warriors rushed him. He was on some kind of field now, where a whole horde of the creatures were hurtling towards his position. Ray found himself swallowing just a little. This was one of those rare circumstances where having some sort of area-of-effect attack would have been tremendously useful. As it was, Ray was forced to rely on his tried and tested method of keeping a good distance from his enemies and taking them out before they could reach him. At least, singular Shatterclaws were enough to take them down without too much fuss. They also didn¡¯t appear to be keen on protecting themselves. All they wanted was to reach Ray and possibly eviscerate him. It turned into a weird game of dodgeball when some of them began attacking from range, while Ray countered from the maximum distance allowed by Shatterclaw. It was a good distance now, he had to admit. Infused to Tier 3, the spell allowed him to cast it up to 15 meters away. Ray was getting tired with the sheer number of enemies that rushed him. They proved to be no real threat. He understood that he was over-levelled for a dungeon like this. Of course this wasn¡¯t going to prove a real challenge. His greatest struggle was actually keeping up the continued barrage of attacks to prevent any enemy from getting close. Fatigue was a concern¡­ It made him wonder if Adaptive Breath was boosting one of his stats now. If so, which one? He couldn¡¯t actually say if his breathing had changed somehow. If it had, then the change had been too gradual for him to notice. Ray briefly peeked at his status. Oh. The skill was raising his Resilience stat. Huh. Did Resilience also boost his overall stamina and fatigue levels? Because those were what he really needed in this scenario. He realized he wasn¡¯t going to be able to keep this up. His arms were turning to lead. Soon enough, his quivering legs would give out and he¡¯d be entirely reliant on his wings. Not good. Perhaps it was time to test True Enhancement on Chaos Chymify. The rush of True Mana through his body helped dismiss the growing fatigue. Better yet, the spell morphed into an advanced version, just as True Enhancement¡¯s description had promised. It was still a spiralling bolt of black-red energy, but this time, it was outlined in white with small motes of gold within. As soon as it touched its target, the bolt exploded into a cloud of the same energy. A cloud that twisted the flesh and warped the bones of anything that came into contact with it. That reminded Ray to send out a Mottling Membrane too. Passing through that barrier had a similar effect on the attacking Everair. Despite its low Tier, Ray¡¯s enemies had practically no defence against it. Spreading the clouds from the advanced Chaos Chymifies around gave him a bit of breathing room. A little bit of space to regain his breath and stamina. Ray didn¡¯t know how much time passed, but in that manner, he eventually overcame the current challenge too. [Dungeon Cleared¡ªWar Master¡¯s Testing Hall] Rewards
  • 1 [Selectable] Weapon
  • 1 Weapon Tier Point
  • +800 Essence
  • Reputation: +5 Indomitable, +5 Thorough, +5 Ruthlessness
[Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 25-point threshold, your Indomitability has raised your Resilience by 5. Indomitable to next Threshold: 25/50 Ray¡¯s body relaxed as he was teleported to the dank, gloomy main hall again. Well, that had been kind of fun, but the lack of a Tower Node was starting to bother him. A quick look through the weapon offerings showed that it wasn¡¯t worth his time. A sword, a spear, and a mace. None of them had anything to do with Mana either. Pretty much worthless to him. Nevertheless, he picked the one with the highest Tier just so he could sell it later for some Mana crystals. The Weapon Tier point was interesting, though. Ray was correct in assuming that he could use it to advance one of his Talismans. Perfect. He had to think a bit on which Talisman to upgrade. Did he want more status affliction, provided by the Talisman of the Scourge, or more outright damage out of the Talisman of Focused Fury thanks to a hopefully improved rate of the free, bonus cast? There really was no wrong choice, at least. Deciding not to waste too much time, Ray went with Focused Fury for now. The Weapon Tier point raised its primal spell boost to 20% and reduced the required charges for the free cast from seven to six at Tier 4. Nice. With how much True Mana ate up his total Mana capacity, quicker extra casts would be much-needed in his estimation. With all that done, Ray exited the dungeon. Alright, enough dungeon dives. They clearly weren¡¯t working. It could be that there was one dungeon among many in the area that held the Tower Node and Ray just hadn¡¯t found it. But since his last few explorations had yielded nada clues, it was time for a new strategy. Ray focused on Presence of the Primordial. While he hadn¡¯t found a Tower Node at any of the dungeons so far, he had discovered one interesting tidbit. They all had the same theme. There was a certain training vibe to them all. A beginner¡¯s academy for Mages, a glorified fitness centre for ¡°Stoutmen¡±, and now a testing hall for war. They all felt like different flavours of the same basic principle. Gearing up young Everair into functioning citizens of the empire. That seeker dungeon had sounded similar too. What if the Tower Node of the area controlled or manipulated or even just supplied Mana to all these dungeons from a sort-of centralized location? It was more than likely that the Node followed the same principle of training. If Ray¡¯s line of thinking was correct, it could turn out to be highly useful. A spell for permanently improving his other spells, instead of just a temporary boost? Could be interesting. The new description for Presence of the Primordial had stated that he could sense Mana directly. Ray hadn¡¯t been sure what that had meant when he had first checked it, but now, it started to become clearer. He could see Mana, to an extent. When Ray closed his eyes, a layer of soft blue covered and outlined nearly everything he could have seen when his eyes were open. Mana suffused everything in the tower. More than that, threads of shining blue-white weaved through the air, coursing off the entrance to the dungeon he was standing before. In the distance, it connected to more of the same threads. Ah, there they were. The threads that joined the different dungeons together. A little blue rainbow under which Ray was bound to find the treasure he sought. He hurried after it. There were other things in front of him, of course. Ray spotted more monsters, passed another dungeon after some time, and a few other curious spots where the Mana seemed especially concentrated. But he had a goal, and he was not about to be distracted. Ray eventually reached the nexus where all the threads of mana converged into one nondescript spot. Here, when he closed his eyes, it appeared as though there was an invisible fountain of Mana shooting up from beneath the ground. That had to be where the Tower Node lay. But it wasn¡¯t there. He couldn¡¯t see it. Hmm. The last time, he had received the Node as a reward for completing the tutorial Objectives. Would he have to perform something similar here? Maybe¡ª The Tower Node Ray already possessed blinked into existence before him. ¡°What do you want?¡± Ray asked. Ignoring him, the Tower Node of the Marauder continued to blink and pulse. Was it¡­ communicating with the other Tower Node? Ray really hoped it wasn¡¯t the Marauder himself talking to whoever the other Tower Node belonged to. Then the second Tower Node blinked into existence. Ray smiled broadly. He had been right! There it was. The new Tower Node, looking quite similar to the one he already possessed. His now, finally. He was about to eagerly focus on it when Presence of the Primordial picked up something else. Someone else was rushing to his location. No, more than one someones. Ray turned to see a man and a woman hurtle into his line of sight, fear etched on their faces. They were being chased. [Warning!] Presence of the Primordial indicates you are under the effects of an appraisal skill, Hunter¡¯s Omen [Tier 2]. You have now been marked to the wielder as the strongest being in the area. Chapter 28: Murderer Ray did his best not to tell the newcomers to scram. He had Tower Nodes to ponder over. Now really wasn¡¯t a good time for disturbances. But the middle-aged couple¡ªthe way they clung together suggested they were husband and wife¡ªlooked harried. The woman¡¯s face was flushed with worry, her long, dark hair in disarray. Meanwhile, the man looked like he was about to spontaneously conjure some more grey hairs to add to his salt-and-pepper strands. Both newcomers glanced at the Tower Nodes for a second, but they decided not to comment on them. ¡°Are you¡­?¡± The man stared at Ray, giving him a once over. ¡°You¡¯re not with them?¡± ¡°With whom?¡± Ray asked. He pointed at the other fellow farther behind who was coming closer. ¡°That guy?¡± The woman didn¡¯t even turn. ¡°Yes. They¡¯re trying to drag us into their team by force.¡± ¡°Team. You mean, Faction?¡± ¡°Right. That¡¯s what they called it¡­¡± Ray¡¯s initial annoyance was giving way to curiosity, which was bound to be sated at least somewhat now that the man in the distance finally reached them. He reminded Ray a little bit of Gritty for some reason, though they didn¡¯t look alike. His short blond hair was cropped military style. Unlike Gritty, his fierce, challenging expression had a more sinister cast, as did his ripped and shredded tunic and leggings. A red piece of cloth was tired around his bicep like a mix of an armband and a bandanna. Ray blinked. Oh. Now he knew why the man reminded him of Gritty. It wasn¡¯t appearance. It was familiarity. He had been one of the Hop passengers. One of the last people Ray had seen on Earth before he and everyone else had been transported into this Tower. The level of coincidence that they would meet again, here of all places, was wild. Ray peeked at the what the man was capable of using Presence of the Primordial. [Presence of the Primordial] Holt Bailey [Denizen] Race: Human Class: Shifter [Uncommon] [Tier 2] at Level 9 Skills: Shift [Tier 3]: Transform into a ferocious beast and channel the strength of the wilderness. At Tier 3, this skill transforms you into a Tier 3 Lupine Beast, granting 20% bonuses to Strength, Dexterity, and Vitality, and lasts 3 minutes. Pain Tolerance [Tier 2]: You are now immune to the distracting effect of status conditions, afflictions, and any attacks. Pain is your companion, not your adversary. At Tier 2, this skill only blocks the debilitating effects of Tier 2 status conditions, afflictions, and attacks. Killer Instinct [Tier 2]: Whenever you kill an adversary, your primary stats temporarily increase by. At Tier 2, stats are increased by +6 and last for 2 minutes. Bestial Roar [Tier 2]: Let loose a ripping roar that rocks your foes and bolsters your allies. Inflicts Intimidation at the same Tier as this skill, while raising allies¡¯ damage negation and damage dealt by 10%. Hunter¡¯s Omen [Tier 2]: Automatically locate the strongest foe in a group. At Tier 2, this skill also indicates your foe¡¯s weakness. Wild Charge [Tier 4]: Burst into a thunderous charge that boosts your momentum at the cost of a miss leaving you vulnerable. At Tier 4, this skill¡¯s radius of effect is 8 meters. Hmm. An Uncommon Class, but no Path. Interesting. ¡°Well, well, well,¡± the big man said, grinning at them all. His teeth were blackened. ¡°Look what we have here. I thought you good folks were running away, but it looks like you were just being good Samaritans to bring us a new recruit! How wonderful.¡± ¡°The hell are you talking about?¡± Ray asked. He didn¡¯t answer immediately. Instead, he waited until more people joined in. Half a dozen of them were part of the same group clearly, each one of them sporting the same red cloth around their arms. Three people didn¡¯t have them though, and all three mirrored the looks of the couple who had come to Ray. Frightened rabbits caught in a trap. Come to think of it, hadn¡¯t Ray seen those red bands a while back? In that vision the Marauder had been kind enough to let him pore over. One of the groups Ray had seen had the same red band on everybody. ¡°I¡¯m Holt,¡± the man in front finally said. ¡°Third commander of the Wild Tides. Heard of us, buddy?¡± Ray had, but he shook his head anyway. ¡°No. Should I have?¡± ¡°You should have, if only for your own good. But I can excuse a little bit of ignorance. We¡¯re the largest Faction in the entire Floor, and we¡¯re growing rapidly. Our mission is to make a home on this Floor and take the fight to the bastard Sylvans who set us this stupid, impossible challenge of leashing their hounds for them.¡± ¡°Sounds fine and dandy.¡± Ray tapped the top of his wrist like he had a watch there. ¡°If you¡¯re getting to your sales pitch, can I suggest you hurry up?¡± Holt laughed. It wasn¡¯t pleasant at all. ¡°This ain¡¯t a sales pitch, buddy. You¡¯d do well not to be flippant when the Wild Tides are around.¡± ¡°They want you to join them,¡± the woman who had first reached him hissed. Holt glared at her like she had spoiled whatever he had been about to say or do. ¡°We don¡¯t want you to join us. You will join us. See, we¡¯re not going to tolerate half-assed people who think they can do whatever they want and make trouble for the rest of us. We¡ª¡± ¡°Not interested.¡± ¡°What?¡± This was blurted out by one of Holt¡¯s henchmen a little farther back. Ray cleared his throat. ¡°I understand the concept of no might be unfamiliar to you, but I said that I¡¯m not interested in joining your Faction. End of story. If you¡¯ve got nothing else to say, get out of my sight.¡± Some of them immediately turned angry, others looking shocked at his brazen attitude. How dare he dismiss their politely-worded invitation? Any second now, they were going to make him eat his words. Or attempt to. ¡°Last chance, buddy,¡± Holt said. A vein was very clearly throbbing on his forehead. ¡°There¡¯s one rule we at the Wild Tides stick to above all others. You¡¯re either with us, or you¡¯re against us. There¡¯s no in between in this new world. So which is it? Think carefully before you answer. Are you with the Wild Tides, or are you against us?¡± Ray tutted. ¡°That¡¯s the stupidest rule I¡¯ve ever heard. But according to your own logic, since I¡¯m clearly not interested in being with you, I¡¯m apparently against you? Is that how it works? Sorry, I haven¡¯t done kindergarten politics in at least two decades now.¡± Several of the Wild Tides¡¯ members began shouting insults at him in turn. Theirs were a lot more uncouth and uncreative. Boring. A vein had begun throbbing on Holt¡¯s forehead. ¡°Alright, then.¡± The man stepped forward, rolling his shoulders and cracking his knuckles. He dismissed the Tower Nodes with a sneer. ¡°Think you¡¯re some kind of hot shot, do you? I¡¯m going to make you eat your words.¡± This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Wow, I can¡¯t believe I predicted you were going to do exactly that.¡± Holt looked confused, but then another vein popped up on his temple, and he attacked. Ray understood what was going on. They wanted to stick to their stupid policy, no matter how idiotic it seemed, because to them, it was a show of strength. All a matter of optics. If Ray ended up not joining the Wild Tides, then these goons would need to subdue him, just to prove that there could be no one who went against the Faction¡¯s wishes. Yeah well, fat chance of that. Maya¡¯s Insurge Faction wasn¡¯t even being a dick and he still had no intention of joining them properly. How in the world did these birdbrains think he¡¯d be convinced to join their little extended frat party hazing ritual? Presence of the Primordial was quite nice in telling Ray what his opponent was doing. Holt had used his very first skill. Shift. Ray blinked. ¡°Are you¡­ an honest-to-goodness werewolf?¡± He could have been forgiven for asking that. Seriously, it was a legitimate question. Holt had bulked up, his tunic stretching over his beefy muscles. Fur sprouted over all his exposed bits, his head elongating into a canine snout. The ends of his hands grew curved claws as big as Ray¡¯s fingers. What an interesting skill. It really had turned him into a sort of pseudo-monster. A human and beast hybrid. ¡°Can you even talk or understand things anymore?¡± Ray asked. Holt growled at him, a wolf about to tear into its prey. ¡°I¡¯m going to rip you to shreds, you piece of shit.¡± Then he bounded forward using Wild Charge. If nothing else, the man was fast. Ray still had his Diamond-crusted Ring of Temporal Evasion on, but it didn¡¯t activate. A full day hadn¡¯t passed since the last time. He wasn¡¯t too concerned. Ray knew just how to deal with this. Holt charged at him, eating up the distance at a rapid pace, reaching hist target in mere heartbeats. But Ray was ready. One Talisman to activate Occultic Apparition, the other to summon Soaring Wings. Black energy trailed in his wake as he rapidly dodged to the side. Just in time as Holt sailed past Ray and crashed to the ground Next, True Enhancement and Shatterclaw were all that Ray needed. It would take a bit of time to condense enough Mana to activate the spell, but Ray had the time. Wild Charge granted Holt huge power, but it also made him commit. When it failed to hit its mark, it would leave the wielder momentarily vulnerable. Idiot hadn¡¯t believed Ray could have dodged. But he had, and as Holt finally turned around, Ray was ready. Dark energy rippled off his shoulder, crafting the clawed arm wreathed in burning red and dotted with motes of gold. All created in the space and time it took for Holt to rush in with another Wild Charge. A blink in which Holt had already committed himself. Ray got to enjoy the widening of his opponent¡¯s eyes for an instant before his spell struck. The contact between his black-red magic and his onrushing foe created an explosion, blasts of crimson-speckled darkness shattering outwards in every direction. When Ray pulled back the now-broken Shatterclaw arm and let his magic dissipate, the screams began. [Enemy Defeated¡ªHuman] Shifter [Tier 2] Human: [Level 9] x1 Essence: +900 Mana Restored: 90 Knowledge: +3 Essence to next level: 5,810/6,400 [New Personal Achievement¡ªMurderer!] You¡¯ve killed your first Denizen of the same race as you. It appears you possess no scruples when taking out even your own kind. That can only help going forward. Reward
  • Reputation: +20 Ruthlessness, +10 Chaotic
  • New Skill: Killer Instinct [Tier 1]
[Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 50-point threshold, your Ruthlessness boosts all your damage dealt even further. All damage inflicted gets a 10% bonus, including damage from any afflictions. Interesting. Ray had received one of Holt¡¯s skills as an achievement reward. Considering his had been at Tier 2¡­ did that mean the bastard had gone around killing a bunch of people? Of course, what else did he expect after the ultimatum he had received. Back to the present. It was obvious why the others had screamed at the violent contact between Ray¡¯s spell and Holt. There wasn¡¯t much remaining of the Wild Tides Faction commander. That enhanced Shatterclaw had essentially destroyed Holt¡¯s body above his waist. Where there should have been a chest was a twisted, malformed abomination of rotted flesh, flowering bone, blood vessels and organs contorting themselves into horrific shape. Both arms had been torn off and flown several yards on either side, while the head¡ª The head thumped down about a dozen yards behind the last man. He flinched as his leader¡¯s disembodied noggin crashed back down to earth. ¡°Well, that takes care of that,¡± Ray said, his spells dissipating. ¡°Anyone else want to try forcing me to join their Faction?¡± Nobody volunteered. They all just stared at him like he had performed an incomprehensible trick. Well, he had done magic, so there was that. Since they weren¡¯t forthcoming, Ray stepped forward himself. ¡°Let them go.¡± The Wild Tides members looked one part angry, one part resilient, and several parts frightened. Just to add more fuel to the fire, Ray reactivated Occultic Apparition. That did the trick. ¡°I said.¡± Ray raised a hand threateningly. ¡°Let your captives go.¡± The gaggle of men stepped back from the people they had captured. With slow, hesitating steps the captives walked over to join the couple. Ray wanted to address them, but not in front of these grunts. ¡°Now, get out of here before I make you leave.¡± They started retreating, one of them even looking at their former commander¡¯s body like he wanted to loot the corpse. ¡°You won¡¯t get away with this,¡± the man at the head said. Maybe he was the second-in-command or something. The dead Holt¡¯s deputy. ¡°You¡¯ve made an enemy of the Wild Tides. Nobody takes us on and lives free for long.¡± Ray pointed at the corpse a few yards in front of him. Blood now formed a little pool around Holt¡¯s body. ¡°Tell your napkin-loving boss that if he doesn¡¯t want to experience the same thing that happened to his little puppet here, he had better stay out of my way.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll regret this. You¡¯ll¡ª¡± Ray fired off a Chaos Chymify at the red-banded group, who turned tail and ran. ¡°You¡¯ll pay!¡± the deputy shouted even as he continued hurtling after his fellow goons, his voice dwindling. ¡°You¡¯ll rue the day you messed with us, you little Oz cosplayer.¡± Ray actually laughed. Alright, lame as that last insult had been, at least it brought a chuckle out of him. He turned to the couple who had first come to him for help, where the others had all gathered. Ray tried not to feel discomfited by their reaction. He could tell that the way he had killed the Wild Tides commander didn¡¯t sit well with them. ¡°You guys should head due¡­ that way,¡± Ray said, pointing to his left. ¡°You should be able to find some people sheltering in a keep. They¡¯ll take you in.¡± They hesitated, for whatever reason. Ray didn¡¯t fully understand what was going on, until one of them eventually summoned enough courage to speak up. ¡°What if we don¡¯t want to join up?¡± the salt-and-pepper haired man asked. Ah. Good point. After all, that was why they had tried to run from the Wild Tides. Not just because they seemed like a bunch of egotistical maniacs, but also because they simply might not want to be a part of any Faction. Like Ray. ¡°I¡¯m not going to force you into anything,¡± he said. ¡°But you almost did just get forced into a Faction against your will. If you¡¯re not strong enough to protect yourself on your own, wouldn¡¯t it make more sense to be part of a group that is strong enough to protect you?¡± ¡°Maybe.¡± It was the woman who spoke this time. ¡°But at the same time, we want to get strong. We don¡¯t want to end up relying on anyone but ourselves. We¡¯ve made it this far, after all.¡± Ray nodded. He could understand some of that. ¡°Do what you think is best. But just be careful, alright? Not that I want to sound egotistical, but if I hadn¡¯t been around¡­¡± They nodded back at him a little morosely. Their situation had been precarious. ¡°That¡¯s why we were going through the local dungeons here,¡± one of the others said. ¡°Clearing them, gaining Essence, growing our levels and skills.¡± ¡°Oh, you must have been the people who cleared the library dungeon.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. That was the second dungeon we had cleared in the area.¡± Ray didn¡¯t know quite how many dungeons there were under his latest Tower Node¡¯s influence, but he told the little group about the ones he had gone through all the same. They relaxed a lot as he told them about his experiences in the dungeons. Mostly, he just told them about the challenges. They didn¡¯t need to know about his specific rewards. When they finally parted, Ray caught a few of them eyeing the Wild Tides Commander¡¯s dead body. Two of them even spat on his corpse. Served him right, the ass. Though, it did make Ray wonder what exactly the Wild Tides¡¯ plan was. Taking over the entirety of the First Floor? That was basically an invitation for wide-scale conflict. Surely they understood not everyone would be willing to go along with their plan. Were they that arrogant? Now that Ray had killed one of them and let the others go, they¡¯d pin him as an enemy, that was for sure. Question was, how far they would take this enmity. If the entire Wild Tides Faction came after him, then he¡¯d need to take some decisive action. A lot of it made him curious, though. A commander at level 9. He was clearly not their main leader, but that did suggest the actual head honcho was even stronger. But higher than Ray¡¯s own level? Someone who had gone through an even more difficult tutorial zone than him wasn¡¯t an impossibility. Someone else who could punch above their weight was also not an impossibility. Basically, Ray would need to keep an eye out. Once again, he was reminded about what Gritty had said. Potential defectors. Hmm, he might even need to be proactive about these Wild Tides folks. For now, though, Ray checked his latest skill acquisition. [Information Request¡ªSkills] Killer Instinct [passive] [Buff] [Tier 1] Whenever you kill an adversary, your primary stats temporarily increase. At Tier 1, stats are increased by +3 and last for 1 minute. Well¡­ of course it was going to say the exact same thing it had said for the dead guy. Ray looked down. The Tower Nodes were still glimmering where he had summoned them. Or rather, they had interacted with each other and called them forth. And now, Ray could gain his second Tower Node. He leaned down and got a look at what his newest System Artifact could provide him. Chapter 29: Mentor Ray took a moment to actually observe the Tower Node he had obtained. It was diamond-shaped like the old one, but there were some small, spiky protrusions on its top face. He almost wanted to touch and see how it felt. [System Artifact¡ªTower Node] Tower Node of the Mentor With the Node of the Mentor, you can now create your own training zone. Call forth the ability to train yourself and your comrades in a variety of applications, ranging from combat, to hunting, to even edification and craftworking. A repeatable way of raising your strength. Possible training scenarios can be increased with True Mana. Rewards can be kept even after the simulation ends. But beware, exceeding the limits of the simulation can call in the attention of the Mentor. Ah. Tower Node of the Mentor, was it? Made sense. Every dungeon he had been to in the area had all enacted some sort of training regimen. Interestingly, the description differed from the other Tower Node¡¯s, if he was remembering correctly. There was no warning that he might accidentally contact whoever this Mentor was. In its place, there was an added functionality that would allow him to put in more¡­ training modules, so long as he used True Mana to do so. Ray didn¡¯t know how. Interestingly, there was that warning at the bottom too. Ha, fuck the Marauder, Ray could get in touch with this new Paragon. [True Mana Skill] You possess two Tower Nodes¡ªTower Nodes of the Marauder and the Mentor. As such, you can pick one True Mana skill from two options. Vengeful Plunder [Buffing] [Tier 1] A buffing skill that raises your stats for every successful hit you land on your opponent. Stats raised are the wielder¡¯s primary stats. At Tier 1, this skill raises each stat by 1 point, lasts 1 minute from activation, and costs 200 Mana. As you have no True Mana, the spell has an enhanced regular Mana cost. Honing Strike [Passive] [Tier 1] A passive skill that automatically and permanently upgrades a selected ability to its True Mana version. At Tier 1, the selected spell requires 50 times its base Mana requirement to complete the upgrade, and every successful hit on an opponent adds 5 Mana to upgrade completion. As you have no True Mana, the spell has an enhanced regular Mana cost. Wow, alright. It was a good thing the new Tower Node did grant him a new option other than Vengeful Plunder, but eh¡­ The skill was interesting, no doubt. Ray could see the appeal in upgrading his spells just by hitting things. At the same time, the requirement felt a mite steep. 50 times Mana meant a Shatterclaw at Tier 2¡ªwhich cost 20 Mana to cast¡ªwould require one thousand Mana to upgrade. If every hit granted him only 5 Mana, he would need to strike out 200 times. Basically, the requirement felt insane. Worse than that, Honing Strike upgraded his spells permanently. If True Enhancement was accurate in how much a True Mana version of his current spells would cost, then Ray was not at all certain he wanted a permanent version of them. Way too much of an overkill for monsters who would only grant him a fraction of the cost of Mana in return. In other words, Ray¡¯s only good option was the first one he¡¯d had. It felt a little frustrating. He¡¯d gone through all this trouble just to come back to the same state he had been in before all the dungeon delving and commander killing. It was especially annoying because he still liked Vengeful Plunder. Stat boost with every hit? Yes, fucking, please. But the main reason he had hesitated was because he still didn¡¯t know the Marauder¡¯s true intentions. If Ray was being fair, he would admit that the Paragon he had spoken to hadn¡¯t felt evil. He hadn¡¯t been scummy or given bad vibes. But trusting anybody who withheld information to that extent was a big ask. Ugh. Dismissing the skill option again for now, Ray picked up the Tower Node. A spark of what felt like True Mana spiked from his hand into the ceramic-like material. He winced. ¡°Hello?¡± Always a good beginning. No response. Hmm. How was he going to contact this Mentor Paragon? The last time¡ª Ray looked behind him. The last time, it had taken a pillar of devastating True Mana to get in touch with a Paragon. It was likely he¡¯d have to do something similar again. He willed both Tower Nodes to disappear. When he focused on his newest acquisition, only the Tower Node of the Mentor reappeared. Ah, good. Ray had been marginally worried that, since he hadn¡¯t received the new Node via an achievement, it wouldn¡¯t really be his. That didn¡¯t seem to be the case, thanks to whatever his first Tower Node had done. He frowned again. Was it the Marauder¡¯s influence coming into play again? If so, he wasn¡¯t at all sure he approved. Anyway, Ray headed back to where the Novitiate Mage Academy was. He needed access to that True Mana pillar again. Maybe he would even destroy all the statues this time, just to make sure they didn¡¯t annoy him anymore. The dungeon doors didn¡¯t open. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s the big idea?¡± Ray tugged on the ornate handles hard, but the doors wouldn¡¯t budge. ¡°Open up already!¡± The dungeon refused him entry. [Warning!] A dungeon cleared by a Denizen will no longer be available to that Denizen again. If said Denizen is part of a party with other Denizens who haven¡¯t cleared the dungeon, the dungeon will remain inaccessible to all Denizens. ¡°That¡¯s bullshit.¡± Ray gave the dungeon doors a nice, solid kick. Nothing at all happened. ¡°Let me in.¡± He shook the handles as hard as he could. ¡°Let me in.¡± Ray even tried attacking. A quick use of Shatterclaw to break down the stupid door and grant himself access to what he needed. [Warning!] System Artifacts cannot be damaged by Denizens. Oh, alright. So dungeons counted as System Artifacts too? Which meant that Ray couldn¡¯t destroy any of the Tower Nodes even if he had wanted. That was slightly worrying, especially since the wording suggested there were those who could do so. Maybe the Paragons. Whatever the case, Ray understood that his access to that pillar of True Mana was gone for good. Great. It wasn¡¯t a complete loss. Ray had one other potential opportunity for interacting with the Paragon of his newest Tower Node. He just hoped that it would work. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Maya: Are you still trying to conquer the dungeons? Ray: Oh, hello. And no, I¡¯m not conquering them, I¡¯m simply clearing them. If they were conquered, you¡¯d think they¡¯d let me back in. Maya: Oh, right. We¡¯ve had people reporting the same thing. They can¡¯t go back inside dungeons after clearing them. Good to see that Maya¡¯s Faction was investigating and clearing dungeons. Though, he suspected she hadn¡¯t called him to chat about that. Ray: What¡¯s up? Maya: How soon can you get back to our Base? Our base. Like Ray was a part of it too, whether he liked it or not. He wasn¡¯t sure how he felt about that. On the one hand, it made him think of being forcibly considered a part of something he had no wish to associate himself with. Shuffled around departments because the higher-ups decided to shake things up and layoff half the workforce, all in the name of ¡°restructuring¡± the company. He had been a casualty of such pogroms before. But Maya was kinder. For her, it was more like including Ray in the family picture, even if he didn¡¯t like most of his cousins and always got into arguments with his dad and uncles. Ray: What¡¯s going on? Maya: Some of our patrols spotted some Sylvans nearby. We have a bad feeling they¡¯re staking us out before trying something. Oh, yes. Of course the Sylvans wouldn¡¯t let the fact that about five of their own lay dead, not to mention several Brighthorns as well. If only he could get a hold of Kredevel. Ray: I¡¯ll be there soon. Within a couple of hours, at most. Let me know if anything serious occurs. Maya: Thank you. I know you didn¡¯t want to be part of all this, but we could use all the help we can get. Ray: Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ve got your back. Also, did any Imps come by the Base? Like, those Feathered Imps that helped us in the battle. Maya: No. Were they supposed to? Ray: I sent over some loot that I thought you¡¯d find useful. But if they¡¯re not there yet¡­ well, hmm. I¡¯ll see, I guess. Maya: Alright, then. See you soon. With a short farewell, Ray closed the chat window. Time to head out. He had made good progress with the dungeons, acquired some neat stuff, and, most importantly, found his second Tower Node. There were more things he had to achieve, like getting in touch with the new Paragon, but those could wait. Right now, Ray had a Faction to head to.
Ray deliberated as he headed over to where his only companions on the First Floor resided. Sure, he might not want to be involved with the Insurge Faction as an actual member. But at the same time, he wasn¡¯t going to let it fall just like that. It was more than just the fact that a part of him would feel awful if something happened to Maya or Randall or Dory. He wasn¡¯t so tied to them emotionally that he would rush to their rescue at great cost to himself. Hopefully, he wouldn¡¯t need to make a choice like that, but he set it in his head. Ray was here to gain control over his life. Over the things that could affect him. He wasn¡¯t going to risk it all needlessly. Nevertheless, he didn¡¯t want them to come to any harm. If he could help them, he would. That extended to the Faction as well, but only because he understood the inherent power in numbers. It was cold, hard math. In a world devoid of most other people, where there wasn¡¯t a group of hundreds to take the attention off Ray, he would be a lot more restricted. For instance, instead of targeting a whole Faction, all the Sylvans would be targeting Ray specifically. If Insurge Faction didn¡¯t exist. Therefore, its continued existence benefited Ray implicitly. As Ray had been moving, he had kept an eye out for the Feathered Imps. He kept trying to send out pulses of Lifeblood Sense, only to be reminded that he had combined the spell with Presence of the Primordial. If something popped up, he would be alerted automatically. Which he was, about half an hour later. Presence of the Primordial picked up the trio of Feathered Imps he had met a while back. But it wasn¡¯t just them. [Warning!] Presence of the Primordial indicates your presence has been detected by Total Perception [Tier 3]. Presence of the Primordial has nullified the aura of Sylvan Pride [Tier 3]. Several feet behind the Imps was Kredevel. He had his sword out, his eyes fixed on Ray. The Imps seemed to be cowering a little in front of him. Well, at least this explained why they hadn¡¯t reached the keep yet. ¡°Hey, Kredevel.¡± Ray waved, even though he certainly felt the tension in the air. ¡°How¡¯s it going?¡± Kredevel didn¡¯t wave, nor did he put his sword down. ¡°Hello to you too, Ray. I was hoping I would find you, especially after I found your minions this far from their home.¡± Ray had a lot of things running through his mind then. How soon could he reach the keep? Maya had mentioned seeing Sylvans, so was Kredevel with the group? Had he been sent out to stop Ray specifically because they had met before? ¡°Haven¡¯t you seen Imps outside of their caves before?¡± Ray asked, like seeing Imps outside the Marauder¡¯s Caves was like seeing a seagull on a beach. Kredevel shook his head. ¡°Never. Not once. In fact, it almost feels as though they¡¯re¡­ being controlled by you, Ray.¡± Ray sighed. ¡°Let¡¯s cut to the chase, Kredevel. What do you want?¡± ¡°I want to know and understand what¡¯s going on.¡± ¡°Why now? Why here?¡± Ray did his best not to tense but his shoulders squared on their own. ¡°Are you with the other Sylvans? Trying to bait me into a trap?¡± A slight frown marred Kredevel¡¯s brow. ¡°I am here on my own. If there are other Sylvans in the vicinity, they are here for a purpose unrelated to mine.¡± ¡°Unrelated as far as you¡¯re aware.¡± Kredevel¡¯s frown deepened. He didn¡¯t miss what Ray was implying. ¡°You¡¯re right, Ray. Let us cut to the chase. My mission is to find out what happened at the Marauder¡¯s Caves, and to take care of the culprit who has caused the Imps to come out and murder our Brighthorns.¡± ¡°You were in the Caves with me, Kredevel. You know what happened.¡± ¡°Do I? Do I know everything? Have you told me everything?¡± Ray tried to control his expression to remain neutral, but he was having difficulty not frowning. Kredevel didn¡¯t need to know everything. Especially because if Ray told him the truth, he would no doubt blame Ray for killing the Brighthorns and also probably take umbrage at the fact that he was controlling a Tower Node. Two Tower Nodes, in fact. But if Ray kept refusing to answer, then there was likely only one resolution available to them. As such, he granted himself a leg up. [Presence of the Primordial] Kredevel Alt Third-shine [Denizen] Race: Sylvan Path: Path of Core Growth [Epic] Class: Blade Dancer [Common] [Tier 2] at Level 18 Skills: Dancing Swings [Tier 3]: Dance with your blade to temporarily raise your speed and power. The more you swing, the better you get. At Tier 3, this skill raises speed and damage by 3% per 5 swings. Boosts can stack and each boost lasts 30 seconds at Tier 3. Sylvan Pride [Tier 3]: Aura of astral projection that automatically refills Mana. This Aura manifests in the element of the wielder¡¯s Path. Your extended presence will note the aura of other beings in your aura¡¯s vicinity. At Tier 3, this spell¡¯s range extends to 15 meters. Total Perception [Tier 3]: Claim absolute detection of any living being within the spell¡¯s vicinity. At Tier 3, the spell¡¯s vicinity extends to 15 meters. Armoured Growth [Tier 4]: Imbue yourself with Growth Mana to create a slowly-growing encasing that negates incoming damage. Encasing can be shaped according to wielder¡¯s will. At Tier 4, 8% of all incoming damage is negated per minute of growth. Bladed Growth [Tier 4]: Extended the reach of your weapon by imbuing it with Growth Mana. At Tier 4, this skill increases the reach of your weapon by 4 meters. Stored Rejuvenation [Tier 2]: Unleash stored Growth Mana that rejuvenates your soul. At Tier 2, this spell replenishes 20% of your Recovery and Mana. Growth Mana? Was that a different kind of Mana just like True Mana? Well, maybe not just like True Mana. The theme seemed to be what it said on the tin. Growth. Huh. ¡°I know you¡¯re peeking at my abilities,¡± Kredevel said. His eyes were slightly screwed up in suspicion. ¡°Like you wouldn¡¯t be if you could do so,¡± Ray said. ¡°True enough. Although, I will admit the fact that you can block my ability to do so speaks volumes of how quickly you¡¯ve grown since last we¡¯ve met.¡± Ray grinned. ¡°I¡¯ve been busy, yeah.¡± ¡°But the whole exercise is pointless.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you understand, Ray? Do you truly believe I am out here to kill you?¡± ¡°You sound awfully certain you can kill me if you wanted.¡± ¡°The point is that I was ordered to do so, but there is nothing saying I must follow that order to the letter. Nevertheless, I need to know the truth. I need something to decide.¡± Ray considered for a moment. ¡°Well, how about¡ª¡± He stopped, and at the same time, Kredevel looked to his right. Someone else was here. Someone rushing straight for them. Gritty. Gritty: Hold on, wingman. I¡¯ll take care of that son of a bitch! Out of all the surprising things in that instant, all Ray could marvel at was one thing¡ªhow in the world was she chatting while simultaneously bull-rushing their position? But this wasn¡¯t good. Kredevel had drawn his sword closer in a fighting stance. Gritty was dashing at breakneck speed, her form wreathed in a red aura. However strong she believed herself to be, Ray was certain she wasn¡¯t strong enough. Not against an opponent several levels higher and possessing an Epic Path as well. So, Ray used Primal Summons to call up his wings. With a burst of speed, he shot to a position right between Gritty and Kredevel. Ray¡¯s murderous companion came to a jerking stop behind his back. ¡°What the hell is your deal?¡± Gritty growled. Ray didn¡¯t look back. He kept his eyes focused on Kredevel, who was clearly one wrong flinch away from attacking. ¡°Don¡¯t start a fight when you don¡¯t know the full story.¡± ¡°What full story?¡± Gritty rose to her full height and pointed at the Sylvan. ¡°There¡¯s a Sylvan over there. One of the fuckers that need to be buried alive. Now that I¡¯m here, I¡¯m going to do just that.¡± ¡°You¡¯re painting everyone with the same broad brush, Gritty. Trust me when I tell you¡ªnot everybody you think deserves your hate really deserves your hate.¡± Gritty didn¡¯t reply to that, but Ray got the sense that she was shooting death glares at the Sylvan from behind his back. Ray was tempted to roll his eyes. Typical. ¡°Your friend isn¡¯t weak,¡± Kredevel said. ¡°But¡ª¡± ¡°I¡¯m not his friend, buddy,¡± Gritty said over Ray¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Then what in the world are you?¡± ¡°I am your death.¡± At that, Ray did look behind and shot Gritty a glare. Despite her statement, she had reined herself in. She didn¡¯t look like she was actually going to attempt to kill Kredevel. Not just yet. ¡°So, Ray.¡± Kredevel¡¯s attention had turned back to Ray, his eyes on the black wings coming off Ray¡¯s back. ¡°You realize that those wings of yours already reveal some of the truth.¡± Ray supposed they did. Kredevel didn¡¯t sound surprised by their appearance. Either he had suspected something along these lines coming up, or he had received some sort of report of a black-winged human killing off Sylvans. But Ray never got the chance to ask. They didn¡¯t get to talk much further at all. Instead, time froze. Presence of the Primordial tipped him off that the Ring of Temporal Evasion had activated. But problem was, no one was attacking Ray. Kredevel had opened his mouth to say something, and he was pretty certain Gritty wasn¡¯t trying to backstab him. So what the hell was going on? Chapter 30: Deserve Better Time remained frozen. Thanks to the Diamond-crusted ring, Ray had a little bit of time to think. To come to a decision. To try to understand what could be happening. The two people nearby him weren¡¯t attacking. Of that he was certain. Kredevel definitely wasn¡¯t. And though he couldn¡¯t turn his head, it was obvious Gritty wouldn¡¯t come barging in to stop him just to backstab him. But even worse than that, he couldn¡¯t sense anyone else nearby. Presence of the Primordial would have picked up their signature, otherwise. Time unstopped. ¡°Now,¡± Kredevel was saying. ¡°What exactly did you get from the¡ª¡± Ray was holding up a hand. His expression must have been urgent, because Kredevel stopped talking immediately, curiosity and concern mixing together on his face. ¡°We need to move.¡± ¡°Move?¡± Gritty asked. ¡°What for?¡± ¡°Why?¡± Kredevel asked. ¡°Now,¡± Ray insisted, already beginning to hurry backwards. He had only taken three steps back when Kredevel¡¯s eyes widened as well. ¡°Move,¡± he shouted. Ray wasted no time. He made his wings extend, grabbed a squawking Gritty by the arm, and then shot off. Ten, twenty, thirty feet¡ªthen the danger appeared with a speed so great, it beggared belief. Something shot in from the sky. Ray was barely able to catch the tail end of whatever it was. Some sort of comet-like blast, arcing in from overhead. He would have almost believed it was a meteorite or something along those lines, but just before it landed, he managed to see properly. It was a fucking spear. The weapon flew in so fast, the air shrieked in its tail. Amethyst energy burned all around it, turning the sky purple. If only there was enough time to for Presence of the Primordial to focus on it. Then the spear struck the ground, at the exact spot they had been the moment time had frozen thanks to Ray¡¯s ring. The impact sent up a detonation and a shockwave that struck Ray like a tidal wave. He lost his grip on Gritty, who screamed as she was flung in a different direction. Ray himself was sent tumbling through a rain of rocks and debris, his voice lost in the tumult. When things settled down, Ray found himself buried under a mound of rubble. There was throbbing pain on the back of his leg and around his waist, but he sent some of his Recovery to fix it up. He was good as new in a second. Minus being covered in dirt, of course. Ray climbed out and got to his feet. Presence of the Primordial still detected Kredevel and Gritty. They had both survived, thankfully. ¡°Can someone tell me what the hell was that?¡± Gritty poked her head out of a different mound of earth. Her spiky hair was now matted to her head. ¡°A betrayal.¡± Farther off, Kredevel was getting to his feet, brushing dirt off his robe-like armour. If Ray had to guess, the Sylvan was one step away from channelling the same kind of anger that Gritty was so clearly fond of. Gritty began following suit. Clearly, she understood that what had just happened wasn¡¯t Kredevel¡¯s fault. He had been set up just like the human Denizens. In fact, the plan had probably been to take him out along with Ray. Gritty had just been an unexpected casualty. ¡°Looks like you¡¯re not the only one who wants to take care of me, Kredevel.¡± Ray wasn¡¯t looking at the Sylvan, His eyes were surveying the entire dust-strewn area. No sign of the Imps anywhere. He really hoped they hadn¡¯t died in that blast. ¡°And it looks like they didn¡¯t care if you lost your life in the process too.¡± Kredevel¡¯s teeth were gritted when he answered. ¡°I am aware.¡± ¡°Whoa, whoa, whoa,¡± Gritty said. ¡°I¡¯m clearly not as big-brained as you two. Mind explaining what just happened? Someone obviously tried to kill us, but who?¡± ¡°Kredevel¡¯s superior,¡± Ray said. ¡°It¡¯s got to be the Floor Lord himself.¡± Two things made that evident to Ray. One was that Kredevel was clearly not surprised by the exact power. He understood exactly what had just happened, including what kind of skill or ability had come into play. And since this was familiar to him, there was only one entity who could be capable of that kind of power. Plus, Kredevel wasn¡¯t denying it. ¡°The Handler wants us all dead?¡± Gritty stared between Ray and Kredevel. Her curious expression started to sour. ¡°Of course. What else would a Sylvan want but to kill every human.¡± ¡°Not every human.¡± Kredevel¡¯s eyes were fixed on Ray. Ray faced the Sylvan. ¡°That¡¯s not what¡¯s important. The real point is that your Floor Lord is determined to kill me no matter what. No matter who else gets caught in the crossfire. No matter if he even has to sacrifice his own kind to do it.¡± ¡°Oh yeah, that¡¯s right.¡± Gritty turned an evil grin onto Kredevel. ¡°You were set up, just like us. Your boss doesn¡¯t care if you die.¡± She laughed, then spat to one side. ¡°Of course, you Sylvans don¡¯t have any sense of loyalty or decency. You¡¯ll kill your own too.¡± Ray grimaced. Leave it to Gritty to twist the hateful knife. Although, Ray had killed that Wild Tides commander, so it wasn¡¯t like he could claim the moral high ground of killing one¡¯s own kind. But Gritty was on the right track. Kredevel had come here to interrogate Ray, but that had been pointless. His superior clearly didn¡¯t care about the truth. Didn¡¯t care one whit about Kredevel either. ¡°He confirmed your location moments ago, didn¡¯t he?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Ot at least, asked if you¡¯d met me.¡± With reluctance, Kredevel nodded. There, the final confirmation. Had to be a similar kind of chat feature that Ray and the others had been using. Taking a leaf from Gritty¡¯s book, Ray stepped forward. ¡°You were looking for the wrong truth, Kredevel.¡± ¡°It seems I was,¡± the Sylvan said. He was stepping back, backing away. ¡°Remember what I said the last time?¡± Kredevel¡¯s face twisted slightly. ¡°I can be doing better¡­¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± Kredevel continued backing away. Ray¡¯s heart had been thumping hard since the moment time had frozen, but now it finally began calming down. There was no way for the Floor Lord to tell that Ray was still alive¡ªat least, he hoped there wasn¡¯t, not at this distance. So he couldn¡¯t willy nilly throw out more insane, extremely-long-range attacks like that. ¡°I¡¯m not your enemy, Kredevel,¡± Ray said. ¡°You know that, right?¡± The Sylvan stared for a moment, then sighed, coming to a grudging acceptance. ¡°I will need to find my true enemies, then.¡± ¡°Before you go, can we stay in touch via the System?¡± Kredevel turned and hurried away. ¡°I will keep in touch.¡± Then he was gone. Wait, he had said he was going to keep in touch. Did that mean that he would be barging into a chat with Ray through the System just like Gritty had done? Well, wasn¡¯t that fantastic. Ray had hoped he would be able to figure out the chat function while trying to set it up with Kredevel, but that opportunity had just dashed away. ¡°Aw, don¡¯t feel bad,¡± Gritty said, walking up to Ray and punching him in the shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m sure your new Sylvan friend will still remember you.¡± Ray rolled his eyes. At this rate, Gritty was going to make him unscrew his eyeballs right out of their orbits. ¡°We should get going to the Base. Now, if only I can find wherever those Imps went¡­¡±
It turned out the Feathered Imps weren¡¯t dead. They were actually being protected by a weird cage-like structure made of spiralling growths. It took a second for Ray to recognize the material. Spiralling, hornlike growths. Kredevel had protected the Imps. After beating them up previously, of course. What a strange guy. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. He probably hadn¡¯t expected his defensive skill to hold up against that attack from the Floor Lord, so had decided to evade instead of relying entirely on it. But he couldn¡¯t have dodged with the Imps in tow, nor did he want to just leave them behind. As such, Spiral Growth it was. Ray freed the Imps and sent them on their way. He couldn¡¯t sense their actual emotions, but it did feel like they were grateful to finally be done with their little adventure. That was when Ray received a reminder he was supposed to be headed to the Base. Maya: How far away are you? He could sense the urgency in the message. With a nod at Gritty, he got moving. Ray: Something happening? Maya: We¡¯re being attacked. But it¡¯s not the Sylvans. It¡¯s that giant monster that attacked them. The Duskshell. Ray¡¯s heart rate spiked a bit. A Duskshell attacking them? There hadn¡¯t been any of the grove of dark trees with Mana fruits close to the keep. Ray suspected the Sylvans were trying to give them a taste of their own medicine. Ray: We¡¯re on our way. Just hold tight. ¡°Something going on?¡± Gritty asked. ¡°A giant monster is loose near the Base,¡± Ray said. ¡°We need to stop it before it becomes a problem.¡± ¡°Wingman to save the day, eh?¡± ¡°Sort of.¡± Ray grinned at her. ¡°I mostly just want to kill the Duskshell.¡± She grinned back. The light in her eyes was nothing short of devious. ¡°What are we waiting for then? Let¡¯s go!¡±
Ray made good time towards the keep. This was helped by the fact that Gritty was coming over on her own. If she had insisted he carry her because his wings could get them there faster, he¡¯d have been too burdened and too late. Thankfully, Gritty was making her way on her own feet. She¡¯d probably be too tired to help, but that was alright. Ray knew how he was going to kill the Duskshell, and his plan needed no one but him. The creature was so large that he saw it before he saw the keep. Where the monster rose like a small black hill, the Insurge Faction Base was still a ways off, the size of his pinkie at this distance. A quick look with Presence of the Primordial confirmed this one had the exact same skills as the last one. Ray could almost have believed they were one and the same. There was no indication of Overworld Pulse being used. Probably because, like the last one, it was already on land. Ray considered striking from behind, but that wasn¡¯t going to work. Impervious Shell would block anything he tried, or at least, reduce damage significantly if he used True Enhancement. That was fine. Ray was about to take advantage of his mobility and hit the Duskshell right where it hurt. The monster scuttled forward on those massive, tarantula-like legs. As Ray shot forward, spurts of black and brown energy targeted him from under the huge shell. Ray used Occultic Apparition just to make himself harder to locate, then moved as fast as he could. Then he was past the monster. He couldn¡¯t tell what exactly was driving the Duskshell towards the Base, but it was definitely heading straight for the Faction. People had thronged out, all arrayed with a bunch of armour and weapons. Shiny, new ones. Probably loot they had earned from their local dungeons or purchased through the Base Node. Ray was heartened to see them all ready to face down the threat, no matter how dire it looked. But they wouldn¡¯t need to fight. Not since he was here. Halfway between the line of defenders and the onrushing monster, Ray landed. The prospect of the fight filled him with a strange energy, the same invigoration that possessed him whenever it was time to do battle. He grinned, his skin turning jittery and his nerves dancing like they were being buzzed with the lightest of currents. This time, Ray was not letting the Duskshell get away from him. The monster hadn¡¯t changed course or reacted in any noticeable way after Ray had dropped in. Maybe it thought he wasn¡¯t worth it. After all, his level was still far lower than the Duskshell¡¯s. For now. Well, he was about to show it just how wrong it was for underestimating him. Ray drew his arm back, readying his spells, but the monster continued charging in the same manner. Looked like it was just going to crush him with its shell then continue onwards. Not ideal. Ray needed an opportunity to strike it where it was most vulnerable. So, he left True Enhancement for now, using only Shatterclaw to strike the Duskshell¡¯s legs. Several claws of black-red energy swiped at the spidery limb. With some infusing using the Mana Infuser ring, Ray was able to bypass its defence thanks to his bonus from his Thoroughness Reputation. It wasn¡¯t enough to break the monster¡¯s leg entirely, but the damage dealt left big cuts and caused the flesh to rupture, the dark blood to boil, and the chitinous skin and hair to turn white and sludgy. Damn. He was never going to get used to the effects of his Path. That effect was enough to stop the monster in its track. Ray grinned. Ha, take that. More bursts of dark energy shot at him under the black shell, but be had a counter to that. Mottling Membrane stopped those spurts from reaching him. The Duskshell growled, clearly frustrated. It only widened Ray¡¯s smile. There was only one option left for the monster. At least, when he was this close. With blinding speed, the Duskshell used Jutting Jaws. Its snapping-turtle mouth erupted out of its shell on a serpentine neck, shooting at Ray like the tongue of a frog attacking a fly. He didn¡¯t even try to dodge. Instead, he allowed himself to be swallowed whole. It really was almost exactly like last time. The mouth was far too big to cause Ray any direct damage. There were spiky teeth beneath and other him that could have crushed him, if the monster fully crunched down its jaws. But Ray wasn¡¯t about to give it the opportunity to do so. Because this was his most opportune moment to strike. With True Enhancement converting Shatterclaw into its True Mana variant, Ray called upon his most offensive spell. There wasn¡¯t enough space inside the monster¡¯s maw to full extend the ethereal arm of black, red, and white energy, but that was fine. Wherever it touched, it contorted the Duskshell¡¯s living matter with a burn of chaotic energy. The teeth rotted away, the flesh turning to pus, the blood spilling out and congealing into jelly. All of which created enough space for Ray to hammer the Shatterclaw limb straight up. It was reminiscent of what Ray had done to the Wild Tides commander. The top of the Duskshell¡¯s maw exploded with a gigantic burst of chaotic energy, tiny golden motes shooting through a splash of black and red. Ray was back out in the open again. His attack had basically freed him from the clutches of the Duskshell¡¯s mouth. The monster itself had retreated and was now groaning in agony. Now was Ray¡¯s chance to finish. He broke another Mana crystal, then pulled his arm back. The Duskshell wasn¡¯t about to make things easy, however. It leaped straight up. ¡°Not so fast!¡± Ray shouted, using Primal Summons to call in his wings again. Cursing under his breath, Ray shot straight into the sky. The monster had risen high, but its ascent was too fast. Ray was able to catch up just as it reached the peak of its climb. Where he was in the perfect position to punch forward. True Enhancement was still active. The spell lasted for two and a half minutes at Tier 5. All Ray had to do was activate Shatterclaw. The whole limb materialized a fraction of a second later, punching forward with the speed of a boxer in the ring. It struck right in the spot where the monster¡¯s head had come out of. The exact spot where Ray had already destroyed its maw. The range was impressive. Ray grinned as the ethereal fist crashed through the monster¡¯s flesh to sink deep into its body. Then, just as it began to fall back down, another explosion went off. This one occurred so deep inside the monster¡¯s body, there was almost no sign of it externally. Just a burst of blood through the hole Ray had stuffed his magical arm through and several spurts through the joints between the main body and the scuttling limbs. Ray let the monster fall. Massive as the crash was, it didn¡¯t hold the skill any longer, as the monster must have originally intended. No Shell Quake to send out a rupture of earth and a blistering shockwave. Only the monster crashing down with a great gout of dirt and rocks flying everywhere. [Enemy Defeated¡ªDuskshell] Tier 6 Monster: Duskshell [Level 19] x1 Essence: +1,140 Knowledge: +3 Mana Restored: +190 [New Personal Achievement¡ªVaunted Hero!] You¡¯ve saved an entire Faction from facing off against a superior foe. No need for others to step in when someone like you is in the vicinity. Reward
  • Reputation: +25 Benevolent, +25 Heroic
[Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 50-point threshold, your Benevolence now refunds you the Mana cost of one spell every fifteenth spell. Refunded Mana is equivalent to the cost of the fifteenth spell used in a chain. For reaching the 50-point threshold, your Heroism now boosts all your stats by +10 when facing opponents who are stronger than you by even one level. [Level Up!] Reward
  • +3 Intellect, +3 Spirit, +2 Vitality, +4 allocatable free stats.
  • 1 Tier Point
  • New Skill: Mana Imbuing [Passive] [Tier 3]
Essence to Level 14: 550/8,100 Knowledge to next Threshold: 113/150 [Lifeblood Crucible Activated] Chaos Chymify has stolen the soul of a defeated Duskshell. Please select which Aspect of the targeted soul to retain. Soul Aspects
  • Impervious Shell [Tier 5]: Channel the power of your shell to create a defensive barricade that stops all incoming damage at or below this spell¡¯s Tier.
  • Duskshell Limb [Tier 6]: Giant, scuttling limb covered with sticky hair.
  • Jutting Jaws [Tier 4]: Thrust out one or more jaws with a massive bite that pierces through defences up to the skill¡¯s Tier.
  • Mana Accumulation Sprout [Tier 6]: Absorb Mana from the environment to create growths that can then condense the Mana into a consumable. Consumable Mana provides several benefits, such as refilling physical needs and creating concoctions.
  • Mana Surge [Tier 4]: Send a surge of Mana in an eruption to shatter the surrounding area and all foes within it. At Tier 4, this spell¡¯s radius of impact is 25 meters.
Hoo, boy, so much stuff. Ray added all four of his free stats to Spirit. Now that he had access to True Enhancement, he didn¡¯t need to rely on purely his Intellect for spell damage. With True Mana, he could pump out massive magical power. The cost came in the Mana. That was why raising his Spirit to raise his total Mana capacity was imperative. Next came his new skill. Right. Not a spell. A skill. Despite having Mana in the name, it wasn¡¯t something he could cast with his catalyst. He was about to check it, but then, warnings rang out from behind. Ray looked back to see a dozen people standing close to the Duskshell¡¯s corpse. For a second, he thought he hadn¡¯t been that thorough. That the monster was still alive and about to pull out some last gasp manoeuvre. But that was impossible since he had received the kill notifications. That was when he saw what was the real issue. Dead though the Duskshell was, there was still the growths coming off its back. Growths that sported a few Mana fruit. Several of the Faction members had come in to claim the fruit. Except, they weren¡¯t alone. A dozen Brighthorns were rushing towards their location. That shouldn¡¯t have been a problem. They should be able to take care of a few of the monster hounds on their own. No, the real problem lay farther back. There were a group of Sylvans not far from the Brighthorns. Chapter 31: Dungeon Construction Ray quickly descended. He landed a little farther back from where the Faction members had gathered around the Duskshell¡¯s carcass. A couple of them had climbed onto the dead monster¡¯s shell to pluck the Mana fruits for themselves. But while they had the fruits, they also had their weapons out, their abilities active and ready to take out the Brighthorns as soon as the monsters got close enough. Ray frowned. Something was wrong. Something made his skin buzz, but unlike when he was facing off against a powerful foe, this was unpleasant. Harsh, grating. There was something off about this whole business. ¡°Get back,¡± Ray said, striding forward. The man at the peak of the Duskshell¡¯s back spared a brief look back he thought Ray was nuts. It was Tyler, the Fist. Oh great. ¡°You¡¯re crazy if you think we¡¯re giving up these Mana fruits to a bunch of hellish mutts.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t¡ª¡± Whatever Ray might have said next was drowned out by a chorus of rippling howls from the Brighthorns. [Presence of the Primordial] Presence of the Primordial has blocked the effects of Wild Howl [Tier 2]. Going by the reactions, Ray suspected most of those around him didn¡¯t have something as beneficial as Presence of the Primordial. He wondered if any of them possessed any sort of ability that negated the enemies¡¯ mental effects and afflictions. Not important. The Brighthorns were already here. Shit. The monsters themselves didn¡¯t pose an actual problem. It was their masters further behind. Why were they so far back? They ought to know that the human Denizens were more than capable of killing their oh so precious pets. Shouldn¡¯t they be doing their level best to keep the Brighthorns safe, if they really cared about them so much? Unless the care was nothing more than a sham. A ploy to manipulate the new Denizens and a convenient tool to enact their barbarity. It went just as Ray had expected. The Brighthorns reached them. Chaos ensued as the humans attacked the monsters, killing them in short order with a variety of weapons and skills Ray didn¡¯t bother identifying. It was a nice demonstration of their greater strength and capabilities, thanks to training and dungeon-clearing. But it wasn¡¯t a good demonstration of their critical thinking skills. Ray grimaced as the group of Sylvans approached. Even from the distance, they appeared angry, their rage building and building as they neared the humans. They stopped a good distance away, but Ray got the impression they could see everything clearly enough. Or at least, they saw enough to know that their beloved Brighthorns now lay dead at the feet of the new Denizens. ¡°You¡¯ve broken the last straw, humans,¡± the Sylvan in the lead said. His voice was tightly-bridled with suppressed anger. ¡°You have taken the lives of those we hold dear for the last time. And for this, you shall pay.¡± Tyler was the first one to step forward. ¡°We were attacked! What were we going to do, just stand there and allow ourselves to be mauled?¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you keep a tighter control over your pets, Sylvans?¡± another woman asked. ¡°If you had reined them in, none of this would have happened. You are the ones culpable for their deaths.¡± That only incensed the Sylvans even further. A couple of them even spluttered, apparently unable to comprehend that these worthless humans would go so far as to accuse them of being responsible for the dead Brighthorns. How outrageous. They hadn¡¯t stopped walking. In fact, they crossed into striking distance, then into spitting distance, before coming face-to-face with the humans. Tyler and the woman fell back from the top of the Duskshell as the Sylvans neared, their hands clutching their weapons as tight as cliff edges. Ray tensed too. No way would he be able to protect everybody around him. Though, if a fight broke out, maybe he could distract the Sylvans just long enough for the others to fall back. But the Sylvans never attacked. Despite the obvious anger, despite clearly wanting to make them pay, they simply attended to the dead Brighthorns. They picked up the bodies with surprising gentleness, sharing the burden of carrying them equally among themselves. ¡°You will rue the day you decided to take up arms against us,¡± the lead Sylvan said. ¡°You will pay for killing innocent creatures.¡± With that dire threat, he turned and led his compatriots away. Ray watched them go. Why were they leaving? They had the numbers. However stronger the humans had grown, they were definitely nowhere near the level of Sylvans. If they had attacked just then they could probably have taken the entire group around the dead Duskshell out. Minus Ray himself, of course. As such, the Sylvans turning their backs to the humans and leaving did nothing to ease the tension. Something was going to happen. It would be in their best interests to find out what. Of course, it could be they were leaving to gather a much larger contingent of their kind before attacking all together. Somehow, Ray doubted that was the case. That didn¡¯t seem like their modus operandi. ¡°Showed ¡®em!¡± Tyler said, grinning fiercely at the departing Sylvans¡¯ backs, like he had personally scared them off. What an idiot. This was the guy Maya had set as a Fist? By the time the Sylvans had warned them and left, the rest of the Faction had neared their position. Well, the contingent that was accompanying Maya. Ray let her take the lead. He tried to be inconspicuous, mostly because he wanted to slink away and actually check all the notifications from killing the Duskshell and the subsequent level up again. His new skill. All the things he could absorb from the dead monster. And so on. He also admitted, at least to himself, that the way several people looked at him made him a little uncomfortable. That was how people looked at baseball stars when they hit a home run. A mix of envy, wonder, and whatever it was that reduced a person to their performance. Sure, there was appreciation too. Gratitude and all that. Still. Maybe it was just the fact that Ray stood out among them all like a sore thumb. It always took him a while to get used to being the subject of attention from too many people. Whatever. It wasn¡¯t worth spending time on. Ray knew what he needed to do. So, waving off a few thanks and other praise, he excused himself to take care of his real business. Time to check his new skill. Then, it would be time to test his idea with the Tower Node.
Ray had identified the best location to test out the Tower Node. A stretch of hillside past the rear of the keep. There was enough open area there where no one was doing anything for his testing. As Ray walked towards his target location, he checked all the notification he had received for defeating the Duskshell. His free stats had been assigned. It was nice he had levelled up both his Benevolent and Heroic reputations, even if he didn¡¯t exactly feel either. Ray had taken out the Duskshell as much for his own reasons as to protect the Faction. But it seemed the System didn¡¯t reward reasons, only the fallout of actions. Next, Ray checked his new skill. [Information Request¡ªSkills] This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Mana Imbuing [Passive] [Tier 3] A passive skill that converts a percentage of recovered Mana from defeated foes into an infusion used for the wielder¡¯s body. Imbued Mana slowly replaces the cells, allowing for greater modification and control over one¡¯s form, while removing physiological limits. At Tier 3, this skill imbues 15% of recovered Mana to enhance the body at a rate of 20 Mana per physical body percentage. Huh. Imbuing Mana into his physical body to get himself better control over it. Why would Ray even need something of the kind? So far, Primal Summons called up any sort of body-modification he could hope for. Claws jutting out of any spot on his body, wings emerging from his back. But then he realized the difference. Neither of those had modified his existing body. They had simply added attachments on top that he could control. Hmm. He figured he was going to need more information if the conversion of his body into Mana with Mana Imbuing could synergize with Primal Summons or not. The System hadn¡¯t indicated any spell synergies, but then, Ray had gained a skill. Not a spell. It was a strange limitation for sure. But it wouldn¡¯t matter if Ray never got to actually take in any recovered Mana, as the System called it. He would need to find and kill more monsters. Next came the Tier Point. Ray added it to Lifeblood Construct. Crucible was already at Tier 3, which was enough for his purposes at the moment. He needed Construct at a high enough Tier to successfully carry out his plan. Sure, Ray absorbed the Mana Accumulation Sprout at Tier 6, but he wasn¡¯t sure recreating at Tier 1 would be effective. Tier 2 was probably not going to improve it a whole lot, but still better than measly Tier 1. Lastly, he peeked through the options provided by the Soul Sorption of the Duskshell. He had already made his choice. The Mana Accumulation Sprout was what he needed now. Ray found himself on the hillside. Nobody else was around, though he wondered if he had an audience from within the keep. Well, whatever. Time for him to focus on his real goal through the whole exercise. Like before, all it took was a quick little focus of his will to call in the second Tower Node. Also like before, Ray could sense no presence from it at all. It wasn¡¯t alone. The other Tower Node, the one associated with the Marauder, had popped into being too. ¡°I didn¡¯t call you too,¡± he said. The Tower Node didn¡¯t dignify his statement with a response. Ray sighed, ignoring it in favour of focusing on the other System Artifact. [System Artifact¡ªTower Node] Tower Node of the Mentor With the Node of the Mentor, you can now create your own training zone. Call forth the ability to train yourself and your comrades in a variety of applications, ranging from combat, to hunting, to even edification and craftworking. A repeatable way of raising your strength. Possible training scenarios can be increased with True Mana. Rewards can be kept even after the simulation ends. But beware, exceeding the limits of the simulation can call in the attention of the Mentor. Just as he remembered. A very different purpose from what the Marauder¡¯s Tower Node provided. But that was fine. In fact, that was exactly what Ray was looking for. There was always a stage of discovery with the Tower Nodes. They weren¡¯t one of his spells that he could simply channel Mana to use. The Tower Nodes¡¯ functions needed Ray to probe and discover their functionality. Ray focused on the Tower Node and tried to activate it. No warning about True Mana this time. That¡¯s right. His body and spirit were attuned to True Mana now. It was an ethereal experience, just as it had been with the Marauder¡¯s Tower Node. Ray felt detached from himself. His senses remained anchored to his current location, though he felt he could have expanded them a little further if he wished. Still. Everything seemed to turn faded and washed out, like a painting losing its vibrancy. In their stead, the Tower Node of the mentor glowed brighter and brighter as though it had leeched away their colours. It felt as though the surface of the Tower Node wanted to expand. Some sort of burgeoning energy pulsed within. When Ray focused, the diamond-shaped ceramic crystal glowed even more luminously. [System Artifact¡ªTower Node] Tower Node of the Mentor Available training zones:
  • Academic Dungeon [Tier 3]
  • Strength Dungeon [Tier 4]
  • Agility Dungeon [Tier 4]
  • Intellect Dungeon [Tier 5]
  • Combat Dungeon [Tier 4]
  • Smithing Dungeon [Tier 5]
  • Farming Dungeon [Tier 4]
  • Crafting Dungeon [Tier 3]
The list went on, but Ray stopped perusing it as soon as he saw what he needed. Farming dungeon. Perfect. Hopefully, there was a way to add what exact kind of farming he wanted to simulate once the dungeon manifested. But when Ray focused on Farming Dungeon, nothing happened. [Warning!] Tower Node of the Mentor requires a prebuilt structure to support its summoning. An artificial dungeon cannot form without a proper location to hold it. Huh. Well, that made sense, at least. Ray looked back at the keep. At least there was a prebuilt structure close at hand. Maya wasn¡¯t opposed to the idea of testing out the Tower Node in her Faction¡¯s Base. Of course, Ray had to explain what a Tower Node was, how he had acquired one, and what exactly he intended. In the end, she held the same concern niggling at the back of Ray¡¯s mind. Hopefully, the dungeon wouldn¡¯t take over the entire keep. Useful as the Farming Dungeon sounded, most people probably wouldn¡¯t want to live inside it. Ray was eventually taken to a room higher up the structure. It was large and bare, reminding him of the cavernous dining halls that medieval castle lords used to hold big feasts in. ¡°Big enough for your needs?¡± Maya asked. She looked tired. Troubled too. Ray didn¡¯t blame her. The way those Sylvans had left disquieted him too. It was like they were all on a tightrope about to break any second. Tyler was following close at hand, trying not to look suspiciously at Ray, like a rabid hound one glare away from biting the ankle. Dory had come along as well. Apparently, she had wheedled out of Maya what Ray was trying to accomplish and had hurried over to join them. ¡°Probably a bit too big,¡± Ray said. ¡°But I¡¯m not going to decline. I¡¯m more surprised you¡¯re not using it for anything yet.¡± ¡°The whole place is pretty big. We don¡¯t have the numbers to fill it all up.¡± ¡°Mm. Alright, here goes nothing.¡± Ray summoned up the Tower Node again. Both of them appeared. He shot a little glare at the Marauder¡¯s Tower Node inviting itself into proceedings before focusing on second floating crystal¡¯s Farming Dungeon options. This time, it did take root. After blinking and pulsing for a few seconds, the Tower Node of the Mentor slowly sank into the floor. Ray had a feeling that it hadn¡¯t reappeared in the storey just beneath theirs. The spot where the Node had disappeared continued to pulse with white light. Ray got the same burgeoning sensation again, like something was attempting to grow out of that location but was awaiting some sort of signal or input before it could do so. [System Artifact¡ªTower Node] Tower Node of the Mentor Please add any available edible item that you would like to farm. Ah, there it was. Ray had to insert exactly what he wanted to grow in the Farming Dungeon. Just as he had hoped. It took only a moment to summon up a dark, sinuous tree with Lifeblood Construct. All he did was hold out his hand and focus on his Mana while activating the spell. About three feet away, a blob of black and red energy slowly grew into being, from which emerged the twisted tree with its silky bark. Or a Mana Accumulation Sprout, as the System had termed it. Even better, it had a Mana fruit on one of its short, leafless branches. Just what Ray needed. ¡°You can create your own Mana fruit?¡± Dory asked, a little awed. Ray laughed a little. ¡°Only now, after I killed that thing.¡± ¡°Yeah, I still can¡¯t believe you killed a Duskshell all on your own¡­¡± Tyler glared at Ray like saving them single-handedly had mortally offended the Fist of the Insurge Faction. ¡°I can¡¯t believe I can just grow my own Mana Fruit,¡± Ray said. Then he paused as the fruit¡­ didn¡¯t really grow. ¡°Or¡­ maybe not a full Mana fruit.¡± He had assumed that the fruit would grow alongside the tree, but while the tree had reached the height of Ray¡¯s chest, the fruit continued to remain the size of a berry. Not a plum, like regular Mana fruits. Of course. He couldn¡¯t get a whole ass Mana fruit from just a spell that cost¡­ what, 50 Mana at Tier 2? But it would be enough for now. Ray reached forward and plucked the little Mana fruit from the dark plant, then walked over and placed it on the ground where the Tower Node had disappeared. [System Artifact¡ªTower Node] Tower Node of the Mentor Edible item absorbed: Mana fruit. Creating appropriate dungeon¡­ The entire floor began to shake. Ray¡¯s heart began to race. The trembles were strong, and he hoped the keep¡¯s structural integrity could take it. More importantly, everything was being converted by the Tower Node. The floor was turning to solid earth, the walls were disappearing, A grated gate of solid metal grew out of the newborn earth, barring their way forward. Even the ceiling had disappeared. Maya looked up at the sky as the shaking stopped. ¡°Are we inside the dungeon now, or did it change the entire top section of the keep?¡± [Presence of the Primordial¡ªDungeon] Novice Farmer¡¯s Field [Tier 4] Everyone must start somewhere, and here, in this localized field with all natural conditions, a beginner farmer can learn to ply the trade of edible cultivation. All produce harvested from successfully grown crops can be taken as a reward outside the dungeon. Ray reported his findings using Presence of the Primordial. ¡°I¡¯m no expert in farming, but it looks like we¡¯re just in front of the dungeon.¡± ¡°But what about the big bedchamber beyond the main hall?¡± Dory asked. ¡°Please tell me it¡¯s not gone.¡± ¡°It could be like the traversal dungeon,¡± Maya said, though a little dubiously. ¡°Finish farming and you could come out on the other side.¡± Ray peered through the place. All he saw was open sky here, despite being outside the dungeon. When he looked back, he could make out the stairs in the distance that would lead them to the keep¡¯s lower levels. No sign of the rest of the keep over them. ¡°Well, we¡¯ll need to disc¡ª¡± The presence appeared. Right, of course. The description had said that crossing some sort of limit would trigger the attention of the Paragon associated with the Tower Node, similar to what it had done for the Marauder. And now it was here. A heavy, foreboding pressure right atop Ray. A far stronger aura that overwhelmed all of Ray¡¯s senses. His sight turned dark, his hearing faded, his senses of touch and smell all disappeared. When he blinked he was gone from his original location. Instead, he now hovered over in the middle of a mountain range. In the presence of a new Paragon¡ªthe Mentor. Chapter 32: Pantheon Politician Ray stared at the vista. He had always wished to visit the Alps and vacation in the Swiss countryside. The views there were breathtaking. This was similar. Green-clad mountains tipped with a cap of snow and occasionally blanketed by dark forests. Waterfalls plummeted off several mountainsides, all joining together into one river that cut a valley in the middle of the range. The air was chill, crisp, brittle. Every breath Ray took fogged in front of his face, though he didn¡¯t feel that cold. Ray waited for a while. No sounds came. No one talked to him. When he started feeling a little uncomfortable, as though he was being scrutinized like a specimen in a lab, he spoke out. ¡°Hello?¡± That was always a good beginning, right? ¡°I can tell you¡¯re there, you know. You¡¯re the Mentor.¡± No answer again. Maybe the Paragon couldn¡¯t hear him? Or maybe the Mentor considered him not worth responding to. The Marauder had said that¡ªshe?¡ªwas apathetic. She wouldn¡¯t care. She didn¡¯t share the same kind of curiosity that the other Paragon had. Although, she was observing him. Well, only for a moment. The presence was beginning to fade. It seemed Ray really hadn¡¯t been worth her attention for long. ¡°Huh,¡± Ray said. ¡°You¡¯re a lot like what the other Paragon said you would be. I didn¡¯t want to believe him, but¡­¡± That made the presence freeze. It returned full force, all the overbearing pressure once again condensed to Ray¡¯s exact location. The weight almost made him feel like bowing. ¡°What other Paragon, mortal?¡± The voice came from somewhere far off to his side, the words appearing alongside a boulder crashing down a mountainside. Was that really a she? The Marauder might have said so, but the voice definitely didn¡¯t sound feminine. Then again, why would any Paragon even care about such things? ¡°I met the Marauder before I met you, Mentor,¡± Ray said. ¡°He said you wouldn¡¯t care.¡± Several trees fell farther off. ¡°Why would anyone care about some insignificant new Denizen in some distant corner of the Omniverse?¡± ¡°He also said you were kind of pathetic.¡± The Marauder had said apathetic, but hey, Ray had just removed one letter. By accident. He wasn¡¯t really lying. The presence sharpened. All around Ray, the mountain range started cracking. Fissures and craters spread like wildfire, an invisible giant breaking the earth itself in its rampage. ¡°You say it so blithely, little mortal¡­¡± ¡°I am merely reporting what I heard,¡± Ray said. He wasn¡¯t sure where to look, so he just kept his eyes fixed forward. ¡°As I didn¡¯t want to believe them, I wanted to find the truth for myself. So, here I am in your presence, Mentor.¡± ¡°Hmph. That upstart.¡± That last word was accompanied by a small avalanche crashing down about half a mile away. ¡°He truly believes that he stands apart simply because he sees things differently.¡± A giant splash erupted in the big river in the middle. ¡°New ones always need to be brought to heel.¡± Ray nodded in agreement. ¡°He was quite smarmy and arrogant.¡± ¡°Of course he was!¡± Good. Now that Ray had the Paragon¡¯s attention, it was time to redirect conversation to the lines he needed to accomplish his goal. ¡°I think he wants to make use of us all,¡± he said. ¡°That¡¯s why he got in touch with me. That¡¯s why he let me get a hold of your Tower Node. I don¡¯t trust anything he says for a second.¡± ¡°Well, insignificant though you are, at least you have significant sense. The Marauder is a jumped-up thief playing at being one of the mightiest in all the worlds.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to be his pawn, willingly or unwillingly.¡± ¡°You may worry about being a pawn when you are less insignificant, mortal. There is nothing he can do to you.¡± Could she cut it out with the insignificance? It was definitely annoying. ¡°Perhaps. I¡¯m sure you know better than me. But in this case, I got the sense he was trying to build something from the ground up, if you know what I mean. Play a hand even in the littlest of leagues, so that when it¡¯s finally time for the main plot, his gambit will already be fully built up.¡± There was no immediate response from the Mentor this time. Maybe Ray had finally showed her how the Marauder was indeed trying something different compared to other Paragons. The impression Ray got that most, if not almost all, were happy to ignore new Towers and their new Denizens. They were weak. Of that, there was no doubt. Ray was only level 13. Almost everybody else was weaker than that. He wasn¡¯t even half as strong as the Floor Lord at level 27. And all that just on the First Floor. How much stronger would the Floor Lords of higher floors be? Wild to think how things might scale, but also, he could totally understand why Paragons wouldn¡¯t bother with anyone so early on. But a Paragon actively assisting someone to increase their strength? Making sure they surpassed all the Floors¡¯ challenges and reached the top of the Tower? In time, that Paragon would have a hand-crafted tool of a Denizen at their disposal. So, if anything, the Marauder was being smarter than the rest of his ilk. Something that the Mentor was slowly realizing, even if she believed the chances of Ray surviving and succeeding to realize her counterpart¡¯s goal were slim. But at the same time, she couldn¡¯t forget that she had been insulted by the Marauder too. ¡°You are right be wary, little mortal,¡± the Mentor said with a crackle of lightning far overhead. ¡°You do not wish to be controlled.¡± Ray nodded with absolute sincerity. ¡°The only one controlling me will be me.¡± ¡°To that end, you should attempt to steel yourself against mental incursions.¡± ¡°Do you know how I could do that?¡± ¡°There is no simple answer.¡± A heavy wind blew against him, threatening to send him tumbling down the mountainside. ¡°But exploiting a weakness is always something that works.¡± There was a different tilt to the Mentor¡¯s words now. They weren¡¯t causing massive destruction in the surrounding environment any longer. Instead, they held a slightly patronizing tone. Like that of a teacher who obviously knew better than the pupil. ¡°A weakness,¡± Ray said. ¡°A weakness for the Marauder¡­¡± ¡°For a thief, the greatest weakness is knowledge. A robber can only steal what exists in his reality. Remove the existence of a thing from his knowledge, and a thief will never be a problem.¡± Ray blinked. That was an extremely simple but potentially powerful tip. Except¡ª ¡°My last interaction suggested he knows a lot. I don¡¯t know how to apply this.¡± ¡°You have a point from which you can start, little mortal. Use the opportunity to discover what you must do on your own. You will find what you need, or you will become a pawn. Simple.¡± This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Despite the continued patronizing tone, Ray could hear the glee in the Mentor¡¯s voice. In her mind, she had just gotten one over the Marauder. She had set her adversary¡¯s pawn on a path that would go against the Marauder. Of course she would be happy. The presence started fading again. Ray scrambled to find any last-minute concerns or questions. ¡°Is it really because of this insignificance that you don¡¯t bother with new Towers and new Denizens?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Is it only because people like me just aren¡¯t strong enough?¡± Despite the receding presence of the Mentor, her voice was still loud as a storm. ¡°I am a being who exists in a far higher plane than you, little mortal. What limited ways I could impose my will is not worth bothering with. Even this connection is tenuous and fleeting.¡± Good. That confirmed what the Marauder had said about being unable to mess with Ray directly, even if the Paragon had wanted to. ¡°Thank you for the assistance, Mentor,¡± Ray said, not forgetting to be polite. ¡°Farewell, little mortal. I will grant you a parting gift. A small expression of my power. Use it well.¡± Ray¡¯s curiosity was piqued for just a heartbeat before the gift appeared. A set of visions, just like what the Marauder had gifted him. Great. So useful. Although, what he saw was intriguing. The first scene depicted a ragged man stealing something glowing from what looked like a grave. In the next moment, they were in a cavern where a large battle was taking place. The same man, now dressed in armour, waited off to the side while others fought. His back was to Ray so he couldn¡¯t see the face. He appeared to be waiting for some sort of opportunity. The scene shifted before Ray could see just what the man ended up doing. This time, the subject of he visions was in a cloak that obscured his features. And he was running. Shouts rang after him, weapons and abilities fired in his wake. But they never caught him. The man got away. Just like he did in every scene that followed. No one ever caught the thief. Didn¡¯t matter when he stole from an emperor. Didn¡¯t matter when he thieved from a god. He was never caught. Until he stood at the peak. Ray wasn¡¯t even sure what he was looking at. It felt like he was in space, standing in the middle of a void and watching the stars wheel by. There was a gigantic disc of light underneath him, its centre darker than anything he had ever witnessed. A supermassive black hole. And into this hole, something fell from the man. A tiny, tiny part of him, a fragment of his being not unlike dead skin flaking off a person to form dust. A fragment that yet glimmered, resembling a glowing crystal. Like a Tower Node. ¡°¡ªdiscover what¡¯s on the other side,¡± Ray said. Ray was back in the real world. In fact, going by the way he had completed his sentence, it was like he had never left. No time had passed. [New Personal Achievement¡ªDungeon Establisher!] You¡¯ve set up your first dungeon that you can run and control. You are well on your way to becoming an entrepreneur within the Sytem¡¯s architecture. Reward
  • The next Tower Node will reveal itself to you once you are within its vicinity
  • 2% of rewards cultivated from the dungeon will return to you
  • Reputation: +20 Savvy
[New Personal Achievement¡ªPantheon Politician!] You¡¯ve not only met your second being from a higher plane merely a day since your first, you have also set them against each other! Beware that your meddling doesn¡¯t backfire. Reward
  • 1 Accessory: True Mana Bracelet
  • Reputation: +15 Hallowed
[Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 25-point threshold, your Hallow removes the Mana cost of your first True Mana spell used in an encounter. Hallow to next Threshold: 30/50 ¡°You okay, Ray?¡± Maya asked. Dory peered at him. ¡°You¡¯ve got a weird look on your face.¡± Ray schooled his expression. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine. Uh, what were you saying? Just got lost in thought.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that in your hand?¡± Damn it, nothing missed Dory¡¯s scrutinizing eyes. ¡°Uh, I just got an achievement for setting up the dungeon. So, now I have this.¡± He lifted the bracelet, inspecting the intricate design of waves carved on its side. ¡°Need to figure out what it does.¡± They were clearly curious, especially Dory, but they had more important matters to tend to. With Tyler and Dory¡¯s help, Maya soon had people looking into the dungeon. Since Ray¡¯s part in the proceedings was mostly done, he decided to retire for the time being. He needed to try to make sense of what the Mentor had told him, plus check out his rewards from his latest achievements. Those dungeon-establishing rewards especially had been rather strange. Time to decide what lay head for Ray.
Kredevel reached the centre of the First Floor around the same time that the new humans did. Except, these people didn¡¯t seem concerned about the only reason any human should be here in the first place. They didn¡¯t want to advance to the Second Floor. They wanted something else. Something only the Floor Lord could provide them. At least, that was what the rumours suggested. Kredevel hadn¡¯t been able to talk to them, nor was he able to get to their presence enough to decipher their true intentions. Lastiel accompanied the humans, always making sure they never got too close to any of the other Sylvans. That just made Kredevel frown harder. What in the world was the Sylvans¡¯ de-facto second-in-command doing with a rabble of new Denizens? Kredevel put them out of his mind and focused on his real goal here. The moment when Ray had told him to move was still plastered across his mind like a bloodstain. Whenever he closed his eyes, he could see the Growth-Mana-empowered spear shooting through the heavens straight for his location. If he had been a few heartbeats slower, he would have been eradicated. ¡°I am bored, Kredevel,¡± the Floor Lord said when he saw Kredevel entering the audience chamber. The room was quite large. It would have been grand too, but the aeons had reduced the splendour of the Everair to colourless murals, faded gold tiles, and cracked statuary and pottery. Still. Kredevel could appreciate it in his mind¡¯s eyes. Or could have. If not for the scene of the devastating spear raining down destruction overtaking it. ¡°Greetings, Floor Lord.¡± Kredevel dropped to one knee in front of the strange, cracked throne that Olgolair had taken for his official seat. ¡°No humans to torture today?¡± Olgolair either missed or ignored the sarcasm in Kredevel¡¯s words. ¡°Alas, no. Maybe they received a warning about what happens to the idiots who come here with injured Brighthorn, so the new ones are all far too careful.¡± The Floor Lord harrumphed. ¡°Although, it is a bit suspicious that they all use the same strategy.¡± ¡°The same strategy, lord?¡± ¡°We¡¯ve had over ten new Denizens ascending to the Second Floor since that man we had some fun with. And every single one of them have brought in a Brighthorn that was sleeping.¡± ¡°Ah. Not a terrible strategy.¡± ¡°It¡¯s boring. But it is effective.¡± Of course, they would have checked to make sure the Brighthorns were indeed merely sleeping and nothing worse had been done to them. That was the only reason the Denizens would have been allowed to advance to the Second Floor without suffering the same as the man who had gotten his limbs ripped off. But that wasn¡¯t any of Kredevel¡¯s concern. He was here for one thing only. ¡°Floor Lord.¡± The change in Kredevel¡¯s tone, from subservient to sharp, made Olgolair look at him directly. ¡°Did you send your great spear flying in to destroy the target I was to seek?¡± ¡°I did. You should have seen it. Do you not recognize my power, Kredevel?¡± Such a simple statement. If there was even a moment¡¯s consideration that Kredevel might not just have seen it, but might have suffered because of it, the Floor Lord didn¡¯t give any indication he cared one whit. ¡°I did, lord,¡± Kredevel said. ¡°I was barely able to get away.¡± ¡°And what of the target? Was he obliterated?¡± Not a moment¡¯s consideration whether Kredevel had any difficulty whatsoever. ¡°I cannot confirm, unfortunately, Floor Lord. I was forced to make a rapid evasion and in the chaos¡ª¡± Kredevel found himself lying on his back, his face smarting with a vicious sting. He tasted blood. Ah, so he had been struck. Kredevel hadn¡¯t even seen the Floor Lord use Growth Mana to extend his reach. ¡°You fail me again, Kredevel,¡± the Floor Lord said. ¡°It is becoming unforgivable. Do you not understand that you should have ensured that pest died? I was expecting you to come here with chunks of his charred flesh as proof that he was no more.¡± With an angry mutter, the Floor Lord turned away. Kredevel felt within him a seeping coldness clasp and take over everything. Slowly, he got to his feet. ¡°If I had failed to evade, Floor Lord, how would you have received any news of whether you had succeeded or not?¡± ¡°What sort of an idiotic question is that? If you had been stupid enough to die, then I would simply send in someone more competent. Now, how are you going to correct this?¡± ¡°I will return whence I came,¡± Kredevel said. ¡°And I shall not return till I have completed what I set out to accomplish.¡± As Kredevel walked away, he felt the Floor Lord¡¯s scouring gaze on his back. But he didn¡¯t turn, and he held himself proud and upright. He did catch Lastiel leading the humans with the red cloth around their arms to the Floor Lord, but he decided not to concern himself with them. In fact, he wasn¡¯t about to concern himself with his fellow Sylvans any longer. Kredevel had always known his real future lay higher up the Tower. The real opportunity for growth, the real challenges he would be encountering. As the race sent to run the Tower and its challenges, the Sylvans weren¡¯t supposed to encounter and take on the myriad trials the Tower provided. No, they were for the Denizens they were ¡°shepherding¡±. Sure, it seemed to be a loss for the Sylvans, but they had other means of growth. Other ways to make themselves stronger. Kredevel washed his face with enchanted water, addressed the small wound at the corner of his mouth, and came to his final decision. He was done here. It was time to take on the Tower as a true Denizen. Chapter 33: Floor Layout Ray was facing a familiar mild conundrum. It turned out he would have to make a choice between two great options once again. He was really getting tired of first-world problems even under something like the System. He had taken a peek at his latest item acquisition using Presence of the Primordial. [Presence of the Primordial] Presence of the Primordial indicates a new accessory can interact with Mana in a unique manner.
  • Silver True Mana Bracelet: Cuff worn at the wrist that can store True Mana that can be used later by the caster. Patterns of waves automatically twists and condenses ambient Mana into True Mana held in the bracelet¡¯s material. Maximum capacity is 50 True Mana, which is generated at 5 True Mana per hour. [Tier 4]
The True Mana Bracelet was apparently a little battery. A self-charging one at that, for which Ray was thankful. He wouldn¡¯t need to constantly feed it his own Mana to fill it up. Instead, it would automatically take it in from the environment. How convenient. Ray did wish he¡¯d had the option of putting his own Mana into it. If it would have allowed him to speed up the True Mana generation process, that was. The new bonus provided for crossing the Hallow Reputation was pretty interesting too. It was a reverse of the one provided by Benevolent. Where the latter would refund him the Mana cost of a spell after a certain number of casts, Hallow would negate any costs upfront. Even better, it worked on True Mana, which had a lot higher cost than regular Mana spells. Ray would need to figure out how to go about his upcoming encounters to make the best use of that. It was the rewards provided by the dungeon establishing achievement that intrigued him the most, however. Apparently, he was supposed to know where the next Tower Node would be. Well, he didn¡¯t. Specifically, the next Tower Node would appear on its own as soon as he was close enough. But how was he supposed to get close enough? The next reward stated that he was going to receive a tiny percentage of all rewards from the dungeon. That just led to more questions Ray wouldn¡¯t get the answers to easily. Would those percentages essentially end up being tiny chunks of Mana fruit, or would the System wait until the percentages added up to 100 and give him a whole fruit? Also, would those percentages come from the rewards of other people? If the latter was how he would get his reward, would it mean that some poor schmuck would magically lose his Mana fruit to Ray? He shook his head. Only time was going to tell. The math did add up in his favour, to an extent. 2% of dungeon rewards meant he would need the Faction members to collect at least 50 Mana fruits per day to keep Ray stockpiled with one fruit per day as well. They didn¡¯t have 50 people in the Faction, so that wasn¡¯t exactly going to happen, but thirty-seven wasn¡¯t bad. Plus, the Faction would grow. Maybe the dungeon and the amount of Mana fruits would grow too. It would still cut down how often Ray needed to collect the fruit himself. Ray would take that little win. Last of all, Ray finally decided to accept the Vengeful Plunder skill. Everything he had learned so far suggested there shouldn¡¯t be any drawback along the lines of suffering unintentional interference from the Marauder just because Ray had the skill gifted by the Paragon¡¯s Tower Node. He needed to stop letting his worries prevent him from using what could legitimately be great for him. There was a balance of caution and risk-taking to be maintained. Ray might have veered a little too hard on caution with Vengeful Plunder. With all that done, he had to figure out his next move. Though for now, Ray stayed with the Insurge Faction. The Sylvans¡¯ threatening departure had left most people expecting an attack. They were on edge at all times. Well, everyone save Gritty. She had been rather sad that she had arrived after everything was taken care of and had sought to leave for bloodier pastures afterwards. But Maya had asked her to stay for a bit, just as she had done with Ray. Things were still uncertain. As such, Gritty had remained at the Base, though Ray had no idea where she was in the keep. He was just glad she wasn¡¯t barging into his chat. It was nice in a way to spend time at the Base. Ray got a first-hand look at how Maya was running the whole place. Her competence at it was surprisingly great. She had already separated most of the people according to their different classes and what they were competent at. Some people were crafters, some people were cooks, a couple were even farmers¡ªthey¡¯d be the ones to take charge of the dungeon. Everyone was coming together with their various skills to contribute to the Faction¡¯s upkeep. People were trying to make simple clothes, cutlery, plumbing, and so on and so forth. They really were trying to make this keep their home. Ray wasn¡¯t sure how he felt about that. It was definitely not for him. His future lay higher up the Tower, that was for certain. A part of him believed that to be true for most people as well. Would it really be good for humanity in general if enough of them chose to remain on the First Floor and stagnate their eventual growth? Though, he supposed the people who wouldn¡¯t grow the same way he did¡ªthe crafters and farmers, for instance¡ªwouldn¡¯t benefit as much. In the end, the decision wasn¡¯t really Ray¡¯s, no matter how he felt. He of all people understood what it meant to have control over one¡¯s own life. If people decided staying on the First Floor was what would be best for them, then so be it. That was their choice to make. ¡°You want to fight me?¡± Ray asked. Gritty nodded. Her choppy hair was extra messy, shaking when she moved her head. She had cornered him from out of nowhere the next day, apparently quite bored. ¡°Show me what you¡¯ve got, wingman,¡± she said. ¡°And if I can hand you your ass, you¡¯ll have to tell me all your secrets.¡± ¡°What do I get if I win?¡± She grinned at him. ¡°I¡¯ll sing a song for you, how about that?¡± Ray grimaced. ¡°Sorry, I don¡¯t want a lunatic rendition of Asking Alexandria.¡± Her eyes lit up like she was a preacher and he had mentioned the Bible. ¡°Asking Alexandria is so twenty-ten. You need to listen to real shit, my man. Like Bad Omens and I Prevail.¡± Ray shook his head. They did end up sparring a bit. No skills. No spells. Gritty apparently wanted to improve her basic combat skills, so they fought bare-fisted like they were System-less idiots back on Earth. Well, Ray called it a sparring session, but it was more like he was trying to emulate everything he knew about bare-knuckle brawling and street fighting. He probably wasn¡¯t doing a great job. It was mostly Gritty¡¯s fault. She fought like a housecat with its tail on fire. Calling her feisty and ferocious was an understatement. It was like her life¡¯s mission was to fuck up Ray in any way possible, and he was forced to call a time out when she kicked him in the balls. ¡°God,¡± he muttered. ¡°How is hitting people in the balls helping you train?¡± ¡°I¡¯m helping you, wingman. What if someone else hits you in the balls? Someone who wants to actually kill you?¡± She pantomimed his doubling over motion. ¡°Are you going to struggle like a fish out of water and let yourself be chopped down?¡± Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°Please. If I had my spells, no one would be close enough to hit me in the balls. Plus, everything we¡¯ve fought are either monsters who don¡¯t have a concept of balls or strange, sword-wielding aliens who¡­ also probably don¡¯t have a concept of balls.¡± Gritty sighed long-sufferingly like she often taught men that getting hit between the legs was going to be their downfall, but they never learned their lesson. ¡°One day, you¡¯ll remember what I tried to teach you, wingman.¡± They took an actual break, but it did make Ray wonder about his actual fighting capabilities. When things came down to it, he wasn¡¯t a fighter. Someone more experienced could probably drown him in criticism. He didn¡¯t hold his arms up right, didn¡¯t position his legs correctly, didn¡¯t probably channel his inner Muay Thai spirit, and whatnot. Was it worth bothering with, though? Probably yes, but better question was if he had the time. ¡°Where¡¯d you learn to¡­ fight like that?¡± Ray asked his sparring partner. Her eyes squinted. ¡°I heard that hesitation.¡± Ray kept his face blank. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡± Gritty rolled her eyes. ¡°I¡¯ve always fought like that. That¡¯s how I beat everybody who tries to mess with me. Even now, actually. I think it¡¯s why I got the class and Path I did. Like, this whole System business knows me, knows what I¡¯m good at, and that¡¯s exactly what it gifted me. It¡¯s kind of wondrous, isn¡¯t it?¡± Ray remembered well how his entire life had been evaluated. ¡°Magical, yeah. What do you mean how you beat everybody?¡± ¡°Exactly what you think it means. Come on, I¡¯ll help you get better.¡± ¡°I never asked for help.¡± She held up a middle finger as she walked away, then wiggled it in a come-hither gesture. Sighing, Ray stepped up once more. Gritty was sincere about helping this time. Some of the stuff she tried to drill into him was already basics he had picked up from here and there. Holding his elbows tight and vertical, making sure he had a bend in his knees to keep himself mobile, the basic jabs and hooks. Ray wasn¡¯t sure how they¡¯d help him in the battles he had faced, but at least he wasn¡¯t making a complete fool of himself. There were some things he didn¡¯t know about, though. Such as controlling his breathing. Apparently, it was better to breathe in when defending and exhale when attacking. Huh. Who¡¯d have thought. Knowing what sort of distance to maintain between himself and his opponent. Actually being defensive and slow at the start of the fight, drawing out the opponent¡¯s aggression if need be, just so he could get a better understanding. Things like that would help Ray in his fights going forward. Things like that he could definitely get behind. He would just need some practice and active application to make sure he remembered to use them when the time came. Kredevel: Ray? Are you able to see this? ¡°Holy sh¡ª¡± Ray bit down on his curse as he pushed away the blue screen in front of his face only to get socked in the jaw by Gritty. ¡°What?¡± Gritty asked. ¡°Does my fist taste that good?¡± Ray rubbed the spot where he¡¯d been hit. ¡°Stop being weird for a sec. I got a message I need to check.¡± Leaving a curious Gritty behind, he pulled up the chat window again. Ray: Kredevel? I¡¯m here. What¡¯s going on? Are you alright? Kredevel: Ah, your concern does you credit. But yes, I am fine. Better than fine, truth be told. Do you wish to know why? Ray: Uh, sure. Kredevel: I have been told, in no uncertain terms, that I must find your charred pieces and bring them to the Floor Lord. Ray: ¡­ Kredevel: But worry not, there is much more that I learned. I will not be endangering your life any further. My days of following Olgolair are over. I am now a free Sylvan, and I have decided that I will rise to the Second Floor. Ray: Woah, that¡¯s a big step. I¡¯m guessing you confirmed that your Floor Lord is the one who sent that flying spear to kill everyone in your general vicinity. Kredevel: You don¡¯t have to mince your words, Ray. The fact of the matter is that the Floor Lord was using me to get to you. If I died along the way, it mattered not, so long as you were dead as well. Ray: That fucking sucks. Kredevel: By your tone, I will take expression to be something awful. Which it is. The messages weren¡¯t surprising. Ray had suspected that the Floor Lord had indeed used Kredevel to target his location and then attempt to kill him, regardless of whether Kredevel was caught in the same blast or not. In other words, this Olgolair really didn¡¯t care what happened to his own subordinates. But to see Kredevel being almost cavalier about it troubled Ray a bit. He had a feeling his Sylvan friend was not taking it well, and this was his way of showing it. Ray: What are you going to do next, Kredevel? Head straight for the Second Floor? Kredevel: I could. Although, with how tightly things are monitored at the moment, it would be difficult. Instead, once I take care of some further business here, I think I might take up the Floor Lord¡¯s directive to find you. But not to kill you, mind. Ray: LOL. I could use some help with certain things. Kredevel: LOL? Ray: I¡®ll teach you what that means when we meet. Right now, I need to decide what I¡¯m going to do, and I think I need your advice to make that decision. Kredevel: How can I help? Ray: I need to grow stronger. That¡¯s the main thing. If you have suggestions on how I can do that quickly, I¡¯m all ears. But I do have my own plans too, mostly revolving around the dungeons and monsters on the First Floor. That¡¯s where you could help. Kredevel: Ah, yes. You wish to access my knowledge of the First Floor. Ray: Yeah, exactly. You knew about my Tier 7 tutorial zone. That means you probably know a lot about the entire Floor¡¯s layout. So, can you tell me the strongest places I can go? The most powerful beings I can fight? Kredevel was quite forthcoming about everything, as far as he was aware of them, at least. He didn¡¯t know everything, but what he was able to tell Ray was more than enough to be going on with. Apparently, there was one Tier 10 dungeon on the First Floor. That was at the very centre of the Floor¡ªthe spire he and every other Denizen could see rising high in the distance. The Sylvans¡¯ headquarters was located atop the strongest dungeon on the Floor in Sector 1. There were two Tier 8 dungeons in Sectors 19 and 5, and even a Tier 7 dungeon at Sector 33, which wasn¡¯t too far from Ray¡¯s location at Sector 59. No Tier 9 dungeons, strangely. Ray wondered why that was, or if it was just by random chance. Kredevel also knew a good deal about the powerful monsters on the Floor. Ray recognized a couple of them. The Irebolts and Windbanes were both familiar. As soon as the Sylvan had mentioned them, Ray had taken a peek at his Floor Objectives. Right, there they were. He would need to defeat them anyway. Ray also learned about other monsters. There was the Guardian, an old and powerful Everair creature that was still alive and roaming the lands. Plus, there were the Scalesails. Large, aquatic monsters that could move between bodies of water, provided they were big enough. If Ray was being honest, their ability to appear in any body of water, given it was sizable enough to bear them, sounded rather horrifying. Kredevel: You should also know¡ªI saw some of your kind in Sector 1 as well. Ray: Yeah, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if there¡¯s people who already found a way to complete this crazy challenge and get to the Second Floor. Kredevel: It isn¡¯t just that. There were those who were working with us. Ray: What do you mean? Ray¡¯s frown grew as he read Kredevel¡¯s description of the people who had gone on to meet the Floor Lord. A gang with red cloth tied like armbands. Ah, crap. What in the world were the Wild Tides doing with the Sylvans of all people? Kredevel didn¡¯t know. He was aware that the Sylvan accompanying them was the second-in-command of all Sylvans on the First Floor. That didn¡¯t bode well. Ray: One more thing. Do you know about¡­ other kinds of Mana? Kredevel: Ah, you seek to understand the various kinds of Mana available to Denizens. Ray: Yeah. He hesitated for a moment, wondering if he ought to reveal that he had access to True Mana now. Well, to an extent. But ah, what the hell. Kredevel was literally betraying his entire race and Ray couldn¡¯t detect any insincerity from him. The Sylvan wasn¡¯t the type to be sneaky or lie. If he wanted to kill Ray, he would be upfront about it, which would was also rather respectful in its own way. Kredevel: Hmm, let me see what I remember of my old boyhood classes. There are various kinds of Mana that empower and allow abilities that dig deeper than what is normally available to the beginner classes for most Denizens. They are often the pathways that integrate closely with Ascension Class Evolutions. They were still communicating via just a chat window, but Ray could somehow glean that Kredevel now had a nerdy air about him. It was kind of funny to think of him that way. Tall, fancy alien with thick nerdy glasses and a polite school uniform. Ray: LMAO. Kredevel: What? Ray: Sorry. I got distracted. That¡¯s another acronym I¡¯ll explain later. Anyway, what you said makes sense. I suppose I¡¯ll need to evolve my class to properly use True Mana. Kredevel: You have access to True Mana already? Quite impressive. Ray: What other kinds are there? I have no way to tell how ¡°impressive¡± it¡¯s supposed to be. That wasn¡¯t really true. That dungeon he had met the Paragon in had confirmed that True Mana was supposedly the greatest variant of Mana. Of course, it could just have been hyping it up in a biased way. Something the Everair said to motivate their novitiates. So, best to make sure. Kredevel: There are many kinds and explaining them all is beyond me, I¡¯m afraid. Many Sylvans use Growth Mana, which allows growth abilities. The military of the long-gone Everair often used Flight Mana. Each of these kinds specialise in what they offer. Ray: What does Growth Mana do? Kredevel: Anything you can think of that you can attribute to ¡°growth¡±, Growth Mana can do that. The same goes for all kinds of Mana. Hmm. That made Ray wonder about his True Mana. ¡°Growth¡± and ¡°Flight¡± were clearly defined, more or less. But ¡°Truth¡± was a lot vaguer. Kredevel: I must go now. And prepare. Simply leaving will not do, so I will need to¡­ act accordingly. Ray: Ah. Well, take care. Hope I¡¯ll see you soon. Kredevel: Thank you, and you too. Do you know what you¡¯re going to be doing next? Ray: Yes. With everything you just said, I¡¯ve got a decent plan of action. So thanks. Kredevel: Of course. Farewell. Ray returned the goodbye and closed the window. That had been an interesting talk, all around. He was left wondering what in the world Kredevel was going to have to do to leave. The Sylvan was capable, though, so he didn¡¯t worry that he¡¯d get caught in trouble. ¡°Had fun talking with your alien buddy?¡± Gritty was stretching and exercising by herself, like she was preparing for a thousand-mile marathon. ¡°More or less,¡± Ray said. ¡°Thanks for the exercise, Gritty. It¡¯s going to help.¡± She grinned at him. ¡°Cool, that means you owe me.¡± Ray stared. ¡°I owe you?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± She walked up to him. ¡°And I¡¯m here to collect on the debt, especially now that you have exactly what I need.¡± ¡°Now I do?¡± ¡°Yes, now that you¡¯re in touch with your Sylvan friend. You, sir, are going to tell me exactly where the Sylvans and anyone else related to them are.¡± Chapter 34: Flying Eyeball Ray ended up telling Gritty about both the nearest Sylvans¡¯ location and the fact that they were working together with the Wild Tides now. He had ended up asking Kredevel about the former, though he didn¡¯t inform the Sylvan that his compatriots might end up getting a visit from a slightly crazed barbarian of a punk girl. ¡°Thanks for not telling him anything,¡± Gritty said. ¡°I want to it to be a surprise.¡± ¡°You talk like you¡¯re throwing an out-of-nowhere birthday party.¡± She laughed. ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll make a cake in the end. Who knows.¡± Ray really didn¡¯t want to know how she¡¯d accomplish that. ¡°Why are you so hell bent on killing the Sylvans?¡± ¡°Why aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Because I have better things to do and I don¡¯t want to go around randomly murdering people?¡± Gritty sighed. ¡°You won¡¯t get it.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I¡¯m saying you won¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°Well, if you don¡¯t explain, I won¡¯t yeah.¡± She looked away for a moment. Ray waited there, letting her come to her decision. Finally, she turned around again. ¡°You know, in my old life, I always thought I got dealt a bad hand,¡± Gritty said. ¡°My life was shit from the beginning. I had no hopes, no dreams, nothing to look forward to. No real job, no actual education, nothing. Every day that passed by, I did the barest minimum to survive however I could and then did nothing else.¡± ¡°How does that relate to¡­ all this?¡± ¡°I¡¯m getting to that.¡± She grinned, but there was no humour in her expression. ¡°You won¡¯t believe the things I had to do to survive. As my life went on, you know what I started to feel? You know what I began to think?¡± It was starting to come together slowly. Ray was beginning to understand where she was truly coming from. ¡°Rage,¡± he said quietly. ¡°Exactly!¡± Gritty wasn¡¯t quiet at all. ¡°Huh, maybe you might actually understand. You see, I was starting to get blinded by rage. I was starting to lash out at anything and everything. It wasn¡¯t great. But then, lo and behold. We¡¯re all here. In this weird Tower where you actually have to kill things.¡± ¡°So now, you¡¯ve transferred all that rage onto a new target in the Tower.¡± She nodded, her spiky hair trembling lightly like porcupine quills. ¡°The Sylvans have ever so kindly volunteered. Who am I to reject their generous offer to lay down and die as gruesomely as possible?¡± Ray took a deep breath. He did understand Gritty. Maybe not truly empathetically, because he was pretty sure her life had been vastly different from his. But it wasn¡¯t beyond his ability to comprehend. The System knows me. That¡¯s what it had said to her. That¡¯s what it had essentially said to Ray too. A life of pain and sadness. A life that had led to nothing but a burning hatred that had to be directed somewhere. ¡°What no therapy does to a person,¡± Ray muttered. Gritty punched him lightly in the shoulder. ¡°Good luck finding a therapist here.¡± They departed the Base afterwards. Though, before doing so, Ray was polite enough to meet Maya face-to-face to inform her of where he¡¯d be going. And also to tell her what he had learned from Kredevel about the Sylvans potentially working together with the Wild Tides. ¡°You remember the warning about the defectors?¡± Ray asked. There was no one around in this part of the keep, but he still kept his voice down. ¡°I do,¡± May said. ¡°Tyler won¡¯t stop reminding me.¡± ¡°Well, things just got a little more sinister, didn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Bad news for us¡­¡± It was. If they had multiple enemies to fight against, the Faction would have a much harder time surviving. Maya wished him luck with the dungeon and promised she¡¯d keep in touch. Armed with a bunch of Mana crystals, Ray flew in the direction Maya had pointed him. The Base Node now offered a rudimentary map within its interface¡ªa reward for having completed some of the Faction Objectives. Combined with the information from Kredevel, Ray was able to identify the direction he ought to be travelling. He didn¡¯t waste time surveying things. Ray was eager to get more Essence. Eager to level up. Eager to get to a point where he could evolve his class and get more True Mana naturally. For now, he had switched up the Diamond-crusted Ring of Temporal Evasion with the Silver True Mana Bracelet. He felt slightly more vulnerable without the ring, but it didn¡¯t matter. He was moving pretty fast. Plus, the ring just had a once-per-day use. He¡¯d put it on when needed, probably in the dungeon. Speaking of which, Ray soon found himself in the required area. Sector 33 was in a short mountain range. He had travelled¡ªwell, flown, since he didn¡¯t have a shortage of Mana crystals¡ªfor about an hour and a half and reached a vastly different environment. Where it had been plains and rolling hills before, now he was facing a series of mountains, jagged teeth reaching for the sky. The air was sharper and colder here. Ray couldn¡¯t fly straight to the peak. They were too high. His ability to elevate himself straight up was limited. Nevertheless, he got the sense that the range stretched all the way to the bounds of the Tower. ¡°Now, where is it¡­¡± Ray muttered. Kredevel had said the dungeon was between the mountains, in a pass or something of the sort. It was a more natural dungeon, compared to the ones he had faced so far. Although, the Everair were still integrated with it. Ray climbed the slopes, his ascent aided by his wings. Despite climbing pretty high, he never crossed into the clouds. They were still far above him. Murky and hazy and beyond his reach. Eventually, Ray found a pass. A pass with bones. Very human bones. Well, if that wasn¡¯t a clear indication he was heading the right way, he didn¡¯t know what was. He noted that there had been people here at some point. Was there a tutorial zone somewhere in this mountain range? Was anybody still alive? It seemed too cold. Too inhospitable. Ray couldn¡¯t see any Duskshell digging through these hard mountain rocks and letting its trees and Mana fruits sprout. Of course, some hardy survivors could have killed the monstrous wildlife and eaten that to live. Who knew. Maybe Ray would find out. The dungeon appeared in the form of a stele. Or at least, there were words written on the stele. Ray couldn¡¯t decipher them. The System didn¡¯t helpfully translate them either. But considering the skeletons nearby, he figured he was in the right place. Presence of the Primordial confirmed it. [Presence of the Primordial¡ªDungeon] Windbane Breeding Grounds [Tier 7] The aerial might of the Everair wasn¡¯t simply their own ability to enjoy flight via various means. They sought to imbue other creatures with the capability of taking to the skies as well. One of their greatest achievements was the rise of the Windbanes. Though, some said the achievement went out of hand before long¡­ Well, wasn¡¯t that an ominous description? This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Still, Ray grinned. A Tier 7 dungeon. Just what he needed. This was exciting. The dungeon stretched out along the pass. Ray wasn¡¯t certain what his objectives were, but there was definitely a clear path to follow, at least. Curious though he was about what exactly he had to accomplish in the dungeon, what he was actually interested materialized before long. The Windbanes came in, their hungry screeches preceding their actual presence. [Presence of the Primordial] Windbane [Monster] [Tier 4] [Level 15] Draconic creatures that prefer living in high altitudes. However, the scarcity of food at such altitudes often forces them to raid more low-lying lands. They are known to carry their prey, dead or alive, back to their nests before feasting. Skills: Roiling Screech [Tier 2]: Compress air into a screech that pierces all defences at or below this skill¡¯s Tier to inflict mental damage. Gust [Tier 3]: Send out a small windstorm that debilitates foes and enhances your movement speed. At Tier 3, speed is enhanced by 15% and windstorm lasts 1 minute and 30 seconds. Guttural Spark [Tier 4]: Swallow Flight Mana to emit a concentrated blast of air that can blow away all defences below this skill¡¯s Tier. Float [Tier 1]: Achieve flight with a single leap and remain airborne so long as your wings are stretched. Flighted Scales [Tier 2]: Imbue your scales with Flight Mana, greatly enhancing evasion. At Tier 2, this skill grants a 6% boost to movement speed whenever attacked. Ray frowned at the creature nearing him once his notification faded. Was that a giant bat? No, that looked more like a wyvern. The tail and head were too long and reptilian, silvery-yellow scales covering it instead of fur like a bat¡¯s. It was big, though. Easily the size of a microbus. Definitely large enough to carry off people, which would explain the skeletons Ray had seen everywhere. Interesting that it had access to the Flight Mana that Kredevel had mentioned. How wasn¡¯t exactly an answer Ray was going to get here, most likely. ¡°Are you friendly, you little dragon?¡± Ray asked. The monster screeched at him in response. ¡°Well, that answers that. Not that I was to be friendly, mind you.¡± The Windbane sped up as it got close. Ray wondered if the monster could sense his strength. This one didn¡¯t have any identify-type abilities like the Duskshell had Overworld Pulse, so maybe not. Ray pulled his arm back, then chucked out a Chaos Chymify at the Windbane. It dodged pretty easily. Flighted Scales was going to be a bit of a pain to deal with. The monster didn¡¯t use any of its ranged abilities at first. No Gust to unbalance Ray, no Guttural Spark to attack him from a distance. Instead, it charged straight at him, diving down to gore him with its claws. They were definitely big enough to kill him with one blow. It came from far enough back that Ray had ample time to dodge. He dived away and rolled back upright as quick as he could as the monster crunched down with a violent crash. The Windbane twisted with a wild shriek, but Ray was already attacking. Time to take full advantage of the monster¡¯s recovery window. He slashed his arm, activating Shatterclaw at the same time and pushing in extra Mana using his Mana Infuser ring to take it to Tier 5. A dozen slashes of black-red energy conjoined together as they struck the Windbane. The monster roared as it was flung back by the sheer force behind Shatterclaw. Ray¡¯s spell had destroyed its left wing and left pustulating wounds across its chest. Dark blood splattered the area, the pool growing as the monster began retreating. Severely wounded though it was, the neck was glowing, and Ray instinctively knew he was about to face a Guttural Spark. Not on his watch. Ray¡¯s arm pulled back and thrust forward in a practiced motion. A fast motion. Just as the Windbane opened its jaw to spout its attack, a spiralling bolt of Chaos Chymify struck right in the face. Right inside its open mouth. Its teeth grew out of control, its tongue started suffocating it, and blood vessels had burst right out of its eyes to wiggle like worms alive. Ray was almost tempted to gag. The monster still wasn¡¯t dead. Its screech came out gurgled and broken, somewhat, but it was still struggling up. Still willing to fight, despite its state. Ray hammered in another Shatterclaw, a regular one this time, to put it to rest. [Enemy Defeated¡ªWindbane] Tier 5 Monster: Windbane [Level 15] x1 Essence: +750 Knowledge: +3 Mana Restored: +150 Essence to Level 14: 1,300/8,100 Knowledge to next Threshold: 116/150 [Lifeblood Crucible Activated] Chaos Chymify has stolen the soul of a defeated Windbane. Please select which Aspect of the targeted soul to retain. Soul Aspects
  • Roiling Screech [Tier 2]: Compress air into a screech that pierces all defences at or below this skill¡¯s Tier to inflict mental damage.
  • Gust [Tier 3]: Send out a small windstorm that debilitates foes and enhances your movement speed. At Tier 3, speed is enhanced by 15% and windstorm lasts 1 minute and 30 seconds.
  • Scaled Wings [Tier 5]: Large, reptilian wings that enhance flight at higher altitudes
  • Windbane Maw [Tier 4]: Head of a Windbane that can spew pure Mana in a concentrated blast
  • Scouring Eye [Tier 4]: Slit-pupiled eye that can locate objects at great distances
  • Float Sac [Tier 4]: Inflatable organ that draws in air while breathing to expand and improve aerial buoyancy.
Oh huh. So he had options for replacing the Mana Accumulation Sprout he had taken from the Duskshell. Wasting an entire Crucible slot just so he could have a surefire supply of food didn¡¯t appeal to him. No, much better to get something he could use in battle. But which option ought he to go with? The skills weren¡¯t appealing. Plus, he was looking for a combination that would make Lifeblood Construct viable. Useful. He froze. A sudden thought occurred, a memory returning. There had been one of his Reputation Points that awarded him extra stats so long as he was part of some kind of group. Which one was it? Cooperative? Could he perhaps create his group using Lifeblood Construct. Ray grinned. This could be an amazing way to bypass the restriction. In other words, he needed a combination of Soul Aspects that would best resemble another member of any group he wanted to form. Some sort of complete living being. Too bad the Soul Aspect choices didn¡¯t have a ¡°brain¡± option, but maybe that wasn¡¯t necessary. Ray¡¯s own mind had to suffice. For now, he already had wings. The next best option would be to get those eyes. He accepted the Scouring Eyes option, replacing the Mana Accumulation Sprout with it. Next, he used Lifeblood Construct, picking Soaring Wings and his new Scouring Eyes to call forth. Ray blinked as a whirl of black-red energy bubbled to life around him. Soon, it began to gain a more defined shape. The shape of a floating eyeball with small wings attached to either side. At the same time, something strange happened with his vision. He couldn¡¯t even decide how he felt about it, much less deciding how best to describe the weirdness. It was as though his vision was widening. Like his eyes were adopting fish-eye lenses instead of the regular convex ones, just without the strange fun-house mirror distortions that often accompanied fish-eye lenses. In other words, Ray¡¯s field of view was widening. The only problem was that the extra portion was dark. Like he was blind for the new third of vision he had just acquired. Wait, hold on. Ray focused on the new eyeball materializing before him. A little wild to believe that this was his creation. The eyeball was covered with scaly skin at the back, closed now with eyelids of the same kind. Feathered wings of the kind he got on his back but resized so that they would fit better emerged from the top left and right corners of the eyeball. ¡°Hello,¡± Ray said. The eyeball blinked open. That was when Ray could see more. The third bit that had been dark so far was now finally allowing in the light of the world. And¡ªand holy crap, it was so different. Not surprising, considering he was seeing through the eyes of a completely different kind of species. Plus, there was the fact that his third eye was looking at a view completely different from his other two eyes. In fact, it was staring at him. The focus was incredible too. Ray could pick out every individual strand on his face, could see every pore on his skin. It was so disorienting having two separate visions with two completely different views. How could he possess sight through a third eyeball like that? If he summoned more, could he raise it even wider? Ray tried to do so, but it didn¡¯t work. Oh, alright. Now he remembered. It had to be crossing the Intellect Tier. Tier 2 Intellect allowed him to process 50% more stimuli, which had so far helped him control his wings a lot more naturally than what should have been possible. Now, it appeared it affected how many eyes he could use too. Interesting. Another monstrous screech alerted him that this was far from the time. Ray focused on his new, floating eye to will it away. He saw potential for it, definitely, but an active battle was not the time to explore that potential. It was too disorienting at the moment. He would need some time to acclimatize to it. Some time to get used to the sensation of having an extra, independent eye, despite already possessing a good degree of naturalness thanks to his Intellect Tier benefit. [Presence of the Primordial¡ªDungeon Obstacle] Mountain Barrage A mountain is a precarious place, especially for one on foot. Beware the treacherous land and the devastating crush and crumble. Survive by reaching the tunnel safeguarded against the calamities thrown down by the mountain. Barrage? Presence of the Primordial indicated there were more of the monsters closing in on his location, but nothing else. Well, there was that warning about the Dungeon Obstacle. But besides that, what else was he supposed to have encountered? The Windbanes¡¯ arrival took away any further considerations for the moment. They flew in on stormy wings. More than one this time. Ray counted at least three monsters rushing in. He was prepared. A part of him wanted to test out Vengeful Plunder, but with how quick the monsters went down, it would be a waste of True Mana. Instead, with a quick focus, he called on Soaring Wings with Primal Summons to take to the air. Ray stared challengingly at the approaching monsters. ¡°Two can play the flying game.¡± If the monsters were surprised at a human rising into the air, they didn¡¯t show it. Their screeching continued, as did their zipping fast motion straight at him. Like the first one, the monster tried to gore him with their claws and teeth. It was easy to dodge with his wings. The difference was that they swooped past too quickly for him to retaliate. Hitting them was going to be a lot harder while he was airborne. Ray was formulating a way to do so, regardless of the difficulty, when the monsters stopped coming at him. They fell back, floating in the air at a distance. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± he said. ¡°Too scared?¡± The air shifted, and he realized he might have been closer to the truth than he had realized. A sudden pressure thrummed through the area. Ray looked up to see the clouds shifting. From its depths emerged a Windbane. A Windbane the size of an airplane. Chapter 35: Playing Unfair Ray stared at the sheer size of that thing. Maybe it wasn¡¯t as big as the Duskshell, but then again, the Duskshell hadn¡¯t been floating in the middle of a cloud. And maybe that was why the other Windbanes weren¡¯t attacking. Their leader¡ªor their matriarch, or whatever that thing was in relation to them¡ªhad arrived. Now they could watch as Ray got his ass handed to him. Except, the giant monster didn¡¯t descend either. It just floated high above them all. Very threateningly. Ray twisted around. There was no point waiting. The other Windbanes were close by. Ray could shoot at them and take them out. But he never got the chance to do so. In place of the gigantic Windbane, a storm descended upon him. It had to be the Gust skill he had seen, just amped up a lot because that monster had to be a much stronger version of the ones he had faced so far. Winds tore at Ray, buffeting him this way and that with no rhyme or pattern. He tried to force his wings to hold him steady in the middle of the maelstrom, but that soon turned out to be impossible. In seconds, Ray lost control of his flight, twirling around madly like he was caught in a cyclone. Moments later, he was slammed to the ground. All that prevented him from being squashed was his Valorous Back Shield. Apparently, crashing down on his back counted as some sort of backstab. All damage was negated. Ray was still shaken, but he hadn¡¯t needed to use up any of his Recovery. That was when the nearer, smaller Windbanes charged in. They thought he had been winded, that he was now defenceless after being thrown out of his flight. Especially since the windstorm was still raging. Even if Ray had his wings, he couldn¡¯t very well take to the air again, not when he couldn¡¯t control his flight at all. He was just outmatched aerially by what that monstrous Windbane had flung down. Damn, forget flying, it was just hard to stay upright on his feet. Well, time to prove the Windbanes wrong. Just as they neared, their screeches growing louder over the rush of the wind, Ray used Mottling Membrane. Chaotic energy gathered around him in an instant, before exploding outwards in a growing black-red dome. The onrushing Windbanes crashed right into it. The spell was still at Tier 1, so it didn¡¯t really stop them, but it did damage them. In fact, the effects of Lifeblood Chaos were deadly enough even at just Tier 1, that it made the monsters lose control of their flights, and they plummeted to the ground as well. They would have landed too close to Ray, but as soon as he had thrown out his spell, he had dived away. Now, he was ready to take full advantage. Ray didn¡¯t let the downed Windbanes get back up. He raised both hands before bringing them down hard, using Mana-Infused Shatterclaw at the same time. He had raised them both to Tier 6, depleting the last of his Mana and setting off the heavy twinge within him. But it was worth it. The massive combination of rending claws crashed down with the force of a giant¡¯s punch. Both Windbanes were crushed entirely, blood and bits of them spraying outwards. Taking care of the first two had allowed the third to recover enough to face him and attack. A blast of what had to be Guttural Spark was about to fly at him. Ray would have tried to deal with it the same way he had the first Windbane. A quick Chaos Chymify to the mouth would have put a stop to any nonsense. Unfortunately, he was out of Mana. As such, he was forced to let it fling out the Guttural Spark. It did indeed come out as a blast of concentrated power that looked like pure Flight Mana. A glowing white orb of energy shooting straight at Ray. He had to wait to dodge it before he could take out a Mana crystal and replenish his store. The monster would have taken the time to attack him, but Mottling Membrane had damaged it too much. Its flesh was split and oozing blood at too many places, its bones and blood vessels overgrown and suffocating the rest of its body. In other words, Ray could attack again. This time, he wited until the monster attempted another Guttural Spark. Just as its throat began to glow, Ray blasted it with a Chaos Chymify. It ate the spiralling bolt of chaotic energy right in the face. Then Ray closed in, infusing his Shatterclaw to a high Tier and crashing it down on the monster. [Enemy Defeated¡ªWindbane] Tier 5 Monster: Windbane [Level 15] x1 Tier 5 Monster: Windbane [Level 14] x2 Essence: +2,150 Knowledge: +9 Mana Restored: +430 Essence to Level 14: 3,450/8,100 Knowledge to next Threshold: 125/150 Oh, huh. So, two of them had been slightly weaker than the first one he had killed. There had to be different levels of them all over the place, then. Ray looked up. That monstrous Windbane. What level and Tier was that thing? He scoured the area for more Windbanes. Ray was getting a decent amount of Essence for killing them. If he could find more, he would earn a level before he even had to fight the big one. But just as he got moving to find more monsters, another windstorm hammered down. This time, however, they were accompanied by the mountainside itself. Ah. Now Ray recalled the Dungeon Obstacle. Mountain Barrage. The gale slammed in, threatening to make him lose his footing and send him flying in the heavy winds. More importantly, they had brought rocks too. Huge boulders flew down. Chunks of the mountain crashed in like shots from trebuchets. Ray was already moving. He tried to look above him, to see if he could spot the flying rocks before he was crushed. It was hard to keep his eyes open in the wind. He could barely¡ª Oh! Now would be the perfect time, then. Okay, maybe not the perfect time. Ideally, Ray would have liked to test it out some more. But he needed an eye that could see through this storm, and what better eye was there than one that was already used to these conditions? Ignoring that his actual eyes were almost slitted now, Ray summoned that winged Scouring Eyes with Lifeblood Construct. It worked just fine. The wind didn¡¯t bother it. Well, apart from causing it to lose its place in the air. In fact, the windstorm was strong enough that, had Ray not quickly shielded it, the poor little eyeball would have been blown away in a second. ¡°Never would I have guessed,¡± Ray said against the irrepressible blasts of air. ¡°That I would have had to carry my own eyes and shield it against the elements.¡± It was definitely helpful, though. He needed a little time to get used to the whole situation, but the eye made it much easier to spot where a ginormous rock was moments away from crashing down upon him. Dangerous though it was, and though his heart continued to threaten to burst out of his chest, Ray managed to evade the boulders flying in. Until the timer of Lifeblood Construct ran out. Ray had seen it coming, though. Making progress through the storm of rocks was taking too long, and he had known that his eye would disappear soon enough. An Arcanist wasn¡¯t a true Summoner like Dory was. But that was fine. Ray had found shelter behind a bank of rocks. The miniature landslide the monstrous Windbane was throwing down didn¡¯t reach him. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. He couldn¡¯t continue on like this, though. The mountainside was going to bury him at this rate. A barrage, just like Presence of the Primordial had warned him. But it had also warned him that there was a way to avoid it. He had to find the tunnel. Ray summoned his flying eyeball again and sent it scouting. It did well to evade the rain of rocks. Well, it was small, so that wasn¡¯t too difficult. But its size also made it more susceptible to the wind, and since Ray couldn¡¯t protect it personally, it had to suffer. At least it could stick closer to the ground and take shelter behind ledges and protrusions. As it travelled, Ray made sure to memorize the paths it took just so he could meet up with the eye again once the tunnel was located. Ray¡¯s heart pounded hard and he felt like jumping out of his skin every time a rock crashed down nearby. At this rate, he¡¯d die of a heart attack before getting hit. That damn monster. Why couldn¡¯t it be a normal Windbane and just attack him directly like all its smaller counterparts had done so far? That would have been so much simpler to deal with. They could have settled this face to face, mano a mano, like it should have been. Not this long-distance pot shots like they were a couple arguing from opposite sides of the world. Ray blinked. Well, his two normal eyes did. The third flying one did not because it had just located a giant opening on the mountain¡¯s face. Good. Good. Now he could get out from this unending spray of deadly rocks. He called the eye back, trying to recommit the path it had taken to memory. Another heart-wrenching minute later, it returned, only to be dismissed. Ray wanted to reset Lifeblood Construct¡¯s timer so that the eye wouldn¡¯t disappear in the middle of his journey to the tunnel. Thankfully, he made good time to the tunnel¡¯s entrance. He couldn¡¯t fly of course, not with giant rocks hammering down everywhere. But the boost to his speed via Occultic Apparition helped him cross certain stretches of the mountainside with relative ease. While he moved, he condensed some of his Mana into True Mana. Ray finally sighed in relief as he entered the tunnel proper. The rocks continued crashing down behind him, but he was safe. For now. He took a few steps into the tunnel before halting. The sounds coming from deeper within were quite familiar now. Low but familiar screeches. The occasional flap of leathery wings. Ray wasn¡¯t alone in the tunnel. Not that he had expected it to be a free ride. With how the other monsters had basically disappeared, he knew they must have gone somewhere to take shelter against the storm. Now, he had found out where. With a wild screech, the first Windbane materialized out of the gloom to attack him. Ray drew back. He could attempt to kill the monster the same way he done with its brethren so far. But he was getting a little tired of this dungeon. Or at least, he wasn¡¯t interested in fighting fodder continuously like this. Not when there was that gigantic Windbane awaiting somewhere higher up. So, Ray used Primal Summons to bring his wings back. Next, he used True Enhancement to turn Shatterclaw into its True Mana variant. He held out his arm. Black and white energy dotted with motes of gold and bordered in shining crimson crafted itself into a long, large replica of his actual arm, complete with a claw-tipped hand. As soon as the first monster got close, Ray slapped it aside. The Windbane died immediately. True Mana was so wonderful. Ray didn¡¯t relax. The sounds hadn¡¯t stopped after killing that one monster. There were more of them not far off, more of them closing in, more of them he¡¯d have to deal with. No wonder he hadn¡¯t received the kill notification yet. He got to work. Since he could hold Shatterclaw into an active limb for the entire two-and-a-half-minute duration of True Enhancement, Ray didn¡¯t have any worries about running out of Mana. Especially not when he was killing off the monsters so quickly. It was easy to dodge their attacks, to throw them back with Mottling Membrane if too many tried to get at him at once. Easier still to simply move his real arm the way he wanted and make the True Mana Shatterclaw limb follow suit. All it took was a little focus of his will to make it destroy the monsters in any way that worked. These weren¡¯t mere claws only capable of slashing. No, this was an actual arm. Ray punched the life out of one Windbane, grabbed another¡¯s wing and ripped it off, bashed another to make it collide with a companion before crushing both. A good showcase of just how powerful True Mana could be. It turned out the tunnel was more or less stuffed with the Windbanes. Not just live monsters, but also what looked like their eggs as well. Ray distantly noted they were pretty big, like dinosaur eggs. An omelette from one of these would feed an entire town. Ray hadn¡¯t dismissed his constructed eye either. He took it as the opportunity it was¡ªgetting used to fighting while having his third eye provide him with a unique perspective. When Ray finally reached the end of the tunnel, he had killed enough of the monsters to level up. [Enemy Defeated¡ªWindbane] Tier 5 Monster: Windbane [Level 15] x4 Tier 5 Monster: Windbane [Level 14] x6 Essence: +7,200 Knowledge: +30 Mana Restored: +1,440 [Level Up!] Reward
  • +3 Intellect, +3 Spirit, +2 Vitality, +4 allocatable free stats.
  • 1 Tier Point
[Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 150-point threshold, your Knowledge has raised your Intellect by 25. Knowledge to next Threshold: 155/250 Essence to level 15: 2,550/10,000 [Stat Tier] Your Spirit has advanced to Tier 2. Your Path can now affect your stats. You are now in greater tune with the universe around you. Your soul can now perceive its Mana Core. Lifeblood Chaos now allows you to control both your Mana Core and, with the right abilities, those of other beings as well. Woah, what in the world? He could not only control his Mana Core, but that of others¡¯ as well? That sounded¡­ quite busted. Although, he didn¡¯t have a single inkling about Mana Cores other than the fact that they existed, so maybe not busted just yet. Plus, there was that little bit about possessing the right abilities. Something told Ray he might not have them just yet. There was a certain new sensation though. A feeling, somewhere within him, like he had stuffed a small firework inside himself and it could pop off at any moment. He realized it was somewhat similar to the sensation of condensing his Mana into True Mana. Like he was turning into a powerful generator of energy. Although, it was a lot more muted than when he condensed Mana. He could ignore it pretty easily. Ray plugged in the free four stat points to his Vitality. He had just reached his intended Spirit threshold, so he could take away his focus from it for a moment. Besides, crossing the Knowledge Reputation threshold had boosted his Intellect too. With how much Recovery ended up being used just to get over a few wounds, Ray knew he needed a healthier amount for now. Plus, now he was curious about what he would receive for crossing Vitality¡¯s Tier threshold. Some sort of healing bonus or something along those lines? Ray couldn¡¯t wait. For now, he also put the Tier point into Lifeblood Crucible. No harm in being able to store even more Soul Aspects without needing to replace any. [Presence of the Primordial¡ªDungeon Obstacle] Storm From The Peak The peak of the mountain sends down its regards through its messenger. Get past the storm to reach the summit, from whence you will have proven your right to be at the top. Only then will the storm relent. Oh, alright. So next goal was reaching the mountain¡¯s peak. Would that signal the end of the dungeon? Only one way to find out. It was quiet outside. There were no more rocks raining down from the heavens. No more giant Windbane chucking debris from a distance. Ray had seen the sheer focusing power of the Scouring Eye, and if the giant Windbane had an improved version of it, there was no doubt it could see him even from its supremely high perch. In other words, it knew he was inside the tunnel. And it was waiting for him to come out. Ray dismissed, then summoned up the flying eyeball with Lifeblood Construct again. The test was simple. Would sending out something merely belonging to him rouse the Windbane to act again or was it waiting for him specifically? The eyeball went out of the tunnel and began to climb higher upslope. There was no retaliation from the monster. Huh. Maybe it was waiting for Ray himself. Without waiting any further, Ray headed out. Immediately, the rockfall resumed. A heavy gale preceded a bunch of rocks streaming down the mountainside. The wind once again made it difficult to see. Ah, crap. Good thing Ray wasn¡¯t too far from the tunnel¡¯s mouth, so he quickly retreated inside. The rocks stopped falling moments later. Ray glowered to himself. How much of the mountain did the Windbane even have left to chuck down at him like this? The monster wasn¡¯t playing fair. It had no intention of fighting in a way that would benefit Ray. Why would it? If it could keep him pinned with its rocks, if it could starve him out like this, then there was no reason for it to come down. What a cowardly asshole. But there was one small thing the monster was forgetting. Or perhaps, choosing to ignore because it didn¡¯t foresee it as a threat. The eyeball was still climbing, still getting closer. Soon, it would be where Ray needed it. He had foreseen something like this occurring. Stymied in one location because he was facing an obstacle he couldn¡¯t surmount using his regular means. Surviving in this new world clearly required a good deal of adaptability, not sticking to a strict set of rules and tools at all times. So, Ray waited. And waited. Until the eyeball was in position. For a moment, Ray simply stood watching with his third, independent eye. The sight of the gigantic Windbane was definitely awestriking. He had been right. The monster dwarfed the ones he had killed so far with ease. He was pretty sure it could give a Dreamliner a run for its money. But more than its size, it was the sheer magnificence of the beast that required some appreciation. Its scales were a radiant gold, unmarred by any dull silver. Ridges and spikes crested its back and neck, red as blood. Two horns sprouted from the end of its head as well, its maw filled with brilliant white light. Maybe it considered itself too majestic to come down and face the likes of Ray head on. He sure would feel that way if he was a giant, golden dragon. Or wyvern, whatever. ¡°Sorry, but you¡¯re going down,¡± Ray said. Ray used True Enhancement once more. Mana pulsed and burgeoned within him, turning his body into a sizzling battery of energy. He needed a lot of Mana, even more so than last time. So much so that he had to crush another Mana crystal to top himself up. Although, thankfully, his Hallow Reputation would make the first use of True Enhancement free. This time, he wasn¡¯t simply upgrading Shatterclaw once. The two Talismans in his two hands seemed to glow. That monster wouldn¡¯t know what hit it. Chapter 36: Breathing Fire As soon as Ray was out, the rockfall began again. He had known it would be coming. That was fine. Ray had positioned his independent eyeball in such a way that it would be able to warn him just how the rocks were coming down the mountain. He wouldn¡¯t find them too difficult to dodge. He also wouldn¡¯t find it too difficult to find the time between the rocks crashing down to gather his own rocks. All this while, that damn monster had been flinging pieces of the mountain at him from way out like some nasty kid chucking stones at passing cars. It was annoying. Ray was determined to give it a taste of its own horrid medicine. With his independent eye warning him just how the boulders were falling, Ray didn¡¯t need to look up with his regular eyes. As such, he could have his back turned to the windstorm and keep the eyes on his face a lot more open than if he was facing the other way. Much needed, since he had to find a rock that he could use. He could have attempted to brute force his way up the mountain. Use the third eye to climb higher and higher, dodging everything coming his way until he got close enough to attack. Except, he had a sinking suspicion the monster wasn¡¯t going to be so obliging. There were other peaks nearby. What if the Windbane went to one of those and started throwing rocks from there? Nothing about the dungeon¡¯s description had stated the monsters couldn¡¯t leave the dungeon they were in, especially with how open it was. Ray could certainly attempt to fly in its trail and attack, but why bother playing its game? Much better to bring the monster down to his level. It wasn¡¯t hard finding rocks in and of themselves. After all, the Windbane had chucked down a lot already, and was continuing to throw more in Ray¡¯s direction. The problem lay in finding one that his True Enhancement Shatterclaw arms could both raise up and throw. It reminded him of that Stoutmen dungeon. If only he had lifted more, he wouldn¡¯t have had trouble finding the right broken boulder to chuck back at his offending foe. It was made harder because he had to constantly dodge and keep moving. Stupid monster kept throwing¡ª There. Ray rushed to the perfect chunk of stone. The shattered piece of the mountainside appeared just right for what he needed to do. He dashed towards it with a little boost from Primal Summons calling up his wings, a giant boulder exploding behind him. Ray ignored the shrapnel tearing at wings and pinging off the back shield. His Recovery was topped up enough to deal with the ones that got past them easily. As soon as he reached his target, Ray grabbed it with both of his magical arms burning with chaotic energy. That was the point he would have needed even more True Mana. There was no time to condense more. Not if he wanted to avoid being crushed by another rock sailing straight at him courtesy of his friendly neighbourhood Windbane. But that was where the Silver True Mana Bracelet came in. All this time, it had gathered the True Mana he needed. It came to his rescue. Ray applied the True Mana from the Bracelet into Lifeblood Crucible. Immediately, the wings on his back transformed. They expanded, golden energy outlining them as they burned red. Next, Ray took to the air. At the same time, he pushed out a Mottling Membrane. The spell wasn¡¯t strong enough to stop all the effects of the gust around him, but it did slow down the storm. Just enough for Ray to control the motion of his flight. Just enough for Ray to rise high in the air and set his aim true. He twisted, pulling both arms and the rock they held as far back as he could. His real eyes were closed. That third eye was his entire guidance. Then Ray slammed his arms forward and chucked the massive chunk of rock up the mountain. It was definitely a lucky throw. Ray was fortunate it didn¡¯t hit any of the stones the monster was flinging at him, fortunate that the Windbane saw it coming too late to dodge. At the very last moment, it tried to take flight and evade, but Ray¡¯s rock crashed in too quickly. He saw it all through the third eye. Part of the monster¡¯s right wing was crushed entirely. Its attempt at taking flight had made it lose its balance, and now it tumbled down the mountainside like an avalanche, screaming as it left a trail of scales and dark blood. Ray would have winced if he wasn¡¯t annoyed. And if he wasn¡¯t looking forward to ending this fight and this dungeon. No time to waste. Ray had perhaps a minute or so left of True Mana enhancing his Shatterclaw, though almost twice that for his Soaring Wings. He shot straight towards the dust cloud that had risen at the spot the monster¡¯s crash landing had stopped. It was such a blessing that the windstorm had stopped, that he didn¡¯t have to mind any debris flying in like anti-air missiles. In a few heartbeats, Ray was right at the spot he needed to be, just outside the big dust cloud. The monster was rising, the dust dissipating with its motion. Its other wing seemed to have broken thanks to the tumble, several of the spikes and ridges on its back now shattered. It was bleeding from the mouth too. But despite all that, it wasn¡¯t down and out for the count yet. The Windbane wasn¡¯t giving up that easily. It still wanted to fight. ¡°Now this is a real battle,¡± Ray said. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you say?¡± The enormous Windbane answered him with a screeching roar. The noise actually hurt. He had a feeling it was an actual skill, which was confirmed by Presence of the Primordial. [Warning!] Presence of the Primordial has failed to nullify the effects of Rending Screech [Tier 5]. The effects have been slightly mitigated. Ray didn¡¯t know what exact effects it was talking about, and he didn¡¯t particularly care. Nor was he interested in diving into its list of abilities when it most likely just had amped up versions of what the smaller Windbanes had possessed. Especially not when he was going to kill it. The monster¡¯s gullet began glowing. ¡°Oh, no you don¡¯t,¡± Ray said, countering immediately. He dashed forward, though not for long. Just five steps or so. Close enough for one of his True Mana Shatterclaw arms to reach forward and grab the monster¡¯s snout. Ray had made sure to encircle the maw so that it was completely covered up by clawed fingers of his arm. Even if it wanted to spew the concentrated energy that it was no doubt pulling up, it couldn¡¯t do so. Not when its mouth was forcefully closed. The Windbane struggled. Its wings and arms were too broken to attack Ray¡¯s limb directly but it was still strong. It pulled its head back, and Ray felt himself being dragged forward against his will. The creature¡¯s innate strength was incredible. But Ray wasn¡¯t about to struggle against it. He was here to win. So, pulling his other arm back, he punched right into the enormous Windbane¡¯s midsection. The impact was just as he had expected it to be. An explosion of chaotic energy preceded the monster¡¯s guts exploding out of its body. The Windbane fell forward, its dying groan coming out muffled from within its throat. Ray blasted it with a Chaos Chymify to kill it for good. [Enemy Defeated¡ªWindbane] Tier 6 Monster: Greater Windbane [Level 18] Essence: +1,080 Knowledge: +3 Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Mana Restored: +180 Knowledge to next Threshold: 158/250 Essence to level 15: 3,630/10,000 [Lifeblood Crucible Activated] Chaos Chymify has stolen the soul of a defeated a Greater Windbane. Please select which Aspect of the targeted soul to retain. Soul Aspects
  • Gale [Tier 4]: Send out a moderate windstorm that incorporates surroundings, debilitates foes, and enhances your movement speed. At Tier 4, speed is enhanced by 20% and windstorm lasts 2 minutes.
  • Scaled Wings [Tier 5]: Large, reptilian wings that enhance flight at higher altitudes.
  • Greater Windbane Maw [Tier 5]: Head of a Greater Windbane with crushing jaws and the ability to apply Intimidate on foes.
  • Scouring Eye [Tier 4]: Slit-pupiled eye that can locate objects at great distances.
  • Float Sac [Tier 4]: Inflatable organ that draws in air while breathing to expand and improve aerial buoyancy.
  • Razing Talons [Tier 4]: Oversized Talons of a Greater Windbane that land hard enough to leave footprints on solid rock.
Oh alright, so this wasn¡¯t just a regular Windbane. It was a Greater Windbane. Well, that explained why it had more enhanced abilities compared to the ones Ray had faced so far. Also interesting that its improved version of Gust¡ªGale¡ªwas what had allowed it to chuck those rocks. Ray ignored most of what was on that list. He already had functioning claws, wings, and eyes. It just sounded super fun to add a giant draconic head to his growing collection. So, he went with the Greater Windbane Maw. Thanks to having upgraded Lifeblood Crucible with the last Tier point, Ray could slot in the new Greater Windbane Maw alongside everything else he had without sacrificing anything. Oh, he was going to have to test out this Maw at some point. For now, Ray recalled his Dungeon Objective. Head for the peak. That was what he had to complete to end the dungeon run. It wasn¡¯t a difficult climb. The farther Ray went, the more he kept expecting something to happen. Another Greater Windbane flying in from somewhere¡ªhe would have loved more Essence¡ªor perhaps a clutch of smaller, regular ones. Nothing of the sort occurred. Ray¡¯s ascent to the peak was uncontested. He didn¡¯t even feel that cold, nor did his breaths come shorter and shallower. There was no discomfort at all. Ray had a feeling it was less anything due to his own innate feelings and more because of how the dungeon worked. Since there was nothing bothering him, Ray decided to check what exactly had been meant by that last Tier breakthrough he had received for his Spirit. There was that sensation within him. It was as if one of his organs was suddenly something he could feel, sort of like sensing the beat of the heart if focused upon. Ray had used a bunch of spells since gaining access to his Mana Core, but it hadn¡¯t changed. Nothing had felt different about the spells themselves. Was he missing something? Or perhaps, he was looking at it all the wrong way. Maybe the Mana Core had a very different function he hadn¡¯t identified correctly yet. Well, he¡¯d figure it out. For now, Ray checked his latest Lifeblood Crucible acquisition. Since the Windbane head was an addition to the storage spell, he could call it using either Primal Summons or Lifeblood Construct. But which to go with? Lifeblood Construct appeared to create the ¡°summon¡± separate from him. A creature with its own body and autonomy, to the extent that he allowed. He imagined summoning up the head with Construct. A single maw, just sitting there¡­ Ray was tempted to laugh at the image. Although, if he attached wings to it¡ªsince he could call forth multiple Soul Aspects¡ªwould it grant the head a lot of mobility like the eyeball? That sounded like it had quite a lot of potential. Meanwhile, Primal Summons always recreated the ¡°summon¡± on him. For now, he decided to try the head via his first summoning spell. That was when he received some surprising new information. [Presence of the Primordial] With your Mana Core now active, your Mana Imbuing has been hastened. Now that you possess a finer control of Mana, you can direct certain Soul Aspects to appear at a specific location upon yourself using Primal Summons while channelling their extended potential where applicable. Interesting. So that was what Mana Imbuing was doing. Allowing him greater control over Primal Summons at a more granular level, an effect that had been sped up because his Mana Core was now unlocked. Ray read the information a couple of times so that it made proper sense. He could now direct Primal Summons to act at a specific location upon himself. Well, it said certain Soul Aspects. So clearly not everything. That made sense. It wasn¡¯t like using Primal Summons to call on Hoard Defence could be specified to any single location. That skill didn¡¯t work like that. But the fact that he had received that information right when he had been about to try using the Windbane Maw made it sound like he could apply his newfound granularity right now. That made sense too. Wings went on his back. Hoard Defence was just an area-of-effect skill. But a maw¡­ technically, Ray could summon that monster head anywhere he chose. What in the world was this extended potential, though? Well, he would find out now. Ray looked down. Holding out his hand, he focused on Primal Summons and on his arm. Moments later, chaotic energy started claiming his entire limb. It was a little bit frightening. He had seen what it could do to other creatures. Hell, he had the Greater Windbane right next to him. Its head looked half molten, the flesh oozing and the blood congealed into gelatine. Ray suppressed the slight panic when his skin began to change. There was no pain, so there was nothing to worry about. Right? But the strangeness of the change took his breath¡ªand worries¡ªaway. Where he was supposed to have skin, he now had slightly shimmering golden scales. At the end of his arm, where his hand had been, Ray grew a complete, fucking dragon head. Gold-scaled, red-horned, blue-tongued, the maw filled with spiky teeth The only difference was that it had no eyes. In the hollow orbits, all that burned were black-red flames. Ray just shook his head. The fuck? It still felt like his hand. When he moved his arm, the long, scaly neck and the head followed. When he closed and opened his fist, or felt like he had to, the maw opened and closed its jaws. It was like wearing an extra heavy oven mitten. ¡°This is so wild¡­¡± Ray moved his arm around experimentally. There were certain new sensations attached to it. New¡­ inputs, for lack of a better term. New things he could that his arm had definitely been incapable of. Like moving the tongue inside the mouth. And¡ª And breathing fire? The heck? Where did that impulse come from? Was that what the System had meant by extended potential? Could there be other ¡°powers¡± he could unlock? Well, nothing else came to mind. For the time being, he decided to try out the impulses. Guided by slight hints from Presence of the Primordial, Ray held out his draconic arm. A single moment of focus later, energy began gathering at the head. Lots of it. Ray could feel it welling up from within, circulating at an incredible pace, turning his whole body into that livewire sensation just as it did when he used True Mana. A moment later, a powerful stream of black-red fire burst out of the Windbane¡¯s head. Ray just stared at for a while. He was breathing fire. From his hand. Calling this wild would be a severe understatement. It took a moment for him to realize he was draining his Mana a lot by continuing to use that ability. He tried to look at it a bit more critically. It was hard to judge just how far the stream of fire went from his current position, but he got the sensation that he could torch something at least twenty feet ahead of him. The stream itself was about as wide as a big watermelon. Not enormous, but nothing to scoff at. Especially if he pulled it on people who had no idea it could do this. Ray had no idea the head was able to breathe fire. He was almost giddy imagining how shocked anyone else would be when he used it on them. The Windbane head disappeared as he let the spell go. Sheesh, that had consumed so much of his Mana. He crushed another crystal to keep himself topped up, though now he noticed that they weren¡¯t filling up his capacity fully. So, he crushed another. It wasn¡¯t surprising, considering he was pumping his Spirit higher and higher. Though, it did make him wonder if there were more powerful Mana crystals that regenerated more Mana. When he finally reached the peak, where a steady wind ruffled his hair, Ray stopped to look around. It was gorgeous. He turned three-sixty degrees to take it all in. Ray had climbed high. From this point, it really shouldn¡¯t have been difficult for him to observe the entire floor. Unfortunately, it was impossible. There was the haze again, blanketing everything from his sight. When he turned behind, he did spot other mountain peaks climbing above the haze. Ray had to wonder if they held dungeons as well. [Dungeon Cleared¡ªWindbane Breeding Grounds] Rewards
  • 1 Accessory: Golden Windbane Scale Mantle
  • +10 Windbane Scales
  • 2 Tier Points
  • +100 Mana Crystals
  • +1,400 Essence
  • Reputation: +20 Indomitable
Oh, interesting. The loot he was supposed to carry materialized before him, landing on top of the mountain peak. [Presence of the Primordial] Presence of the Primordial indicates there are items nearby interacting with Mana.
  • Golden Windbane Scale Mantle: Cape fashioned out of the scales of a Windbane. Naturally imbued with Flight Mana, granting the wearer a 10% boost to movement speed, which increases to 20% when airborne. [Tier 5]
  • Silver-gold Windbane Scale: Consumable scale that can be broken down into Flight Mana, which can then be used for Flight Mana skills or imbuing.
Hmm. Interesting loot, albeit not ones that would really benefit Ray. Of course, he hadn¡¯t really come to this dungeon expecting loot that would rival what he already possessed. The Mantle¡ªan accessory¡ªwas pretty interesting, and could be beneficial, but he wasn¡¯t replacing his Bracelet or the Infuser ring with it. His hunt had been for Essence primarily, and for Tier points secondarily. Those goals had been met, so he was satisfied. Speaking of which, Ray decided to use the Tier points. He raised Lifeblood Crucible to Tier 6 and Lifeblood Construct to Tier 3. There, now he could create more combinations together. He realized he was rather tired and drowsy after the dungeon run. The Mana fruit helped take care of a lot of that, but he felt it would be best if he took a nap. A cleared dungeon wouldn¡¯t really present any danger, not while it was regenerating its contents for the next party to tackle it. So, Ray took a nice, refreshing nap. It was always a little hard to tell how much time had passed once he was awake again. Nothing seemed different. He felt rested though, which was good enough. Ray poked into the chat and hit up Randall. Ray: Hey, Randall. Everything alright at the base? Randall: Oh, hey! Yeah, everything¡¯s fine. Nothing¡¯s happened yet, weirdly. Where¡¯ve you been? Ray: Oh, here and there, clearing dungeons. Alright, I was just checking in, ttyl. Randall: ¡­bye. Okay, good. Not so much time had passed that the Insurge Faction Base had been attacked and he hadn¡¯t been there to do a thing about it. Next, Ray decided to check up on Gritty. Ray: He¡ª Gritty: Not right now, I¡¯m busy. Ray: Okay, I was just¡ª Gritty: I found out the Wild Tides¡¯ secret. Ray stared. Then cursed as Gritty closed the window. Argh, now he was going to have to find out what that secret was. Chapter 37: Ascenders Ray was about to poke Gritty again, but he stopped himself. What if she was actually busy with something. He recalled just how surprising it had been when her message had popped up with no notice. If she was in the middle of something dangerous, then he didn¡¯t want to distract her. Thankfully, there was an option to leave a message in some form of ¡°inbox¡±. She¡¯d be able to check it later when she was free. Ray: Idk what you found, but it sounds important. Please let me know the details when you¡¯re free. It was a little unsatisfying to not have the answer to whatever supposed secret the Wild Tides possessed, but hopefully, Gritty would answer before long. For the time being, Ray¡¯s next goal was to find a new source of Essence. He still needed to level up. Every time he used his True Mana spells, he was acutely reminded of just how costly they were in terms of Mana consumption. He couldn¡¯t keep carrying on like that. What Ray needed was True Mana directly, and according to Kredevel, the only way he could obtain a method of generating straight True Mana was by evolving his class. Damnit, he ought to have asked what level he ought to be aiming for. Though, he suspected that answer might vary depending on class to class. Ray wouldn¡¯t have been surprised if someone started off with a stronger, rarer class, then the evolution would happen later as well. Since Ray hadn¡¯t hit a class evolution at level 10 as would have been a natural threshold, he hoped he would hit it soon enough. Anyway, more Essence. Rested and refreshed, Ray began to head down the mountainside. A little annoying though it was, he had to carry the Mantle from the dungeon reward in his hands. He¡¯d have to sell it off soon. For now, he traced his path back the way he had come, back through the tunnel and past the stele that had served as the dungeon¡¯s entrance. Nothing blocked him. If there were more Windbanes somewhere nearby, they didn¡¯t appear. That was kind of saddening. He¡¯d have to find good sources of Essence elsewhere. Ray began surveying the land more properly once he had left the mountains behind him. it was easier to do so with his wings. With the recent addition of Mana crystals, he could be less careful about using Primal Summons just for traversal, so he made full use of it. Eventually Ray spotted a new set of ruins. Ideally, his next target would have been the Tier 8 dungeons that Kredevel had mentioned were on the First Floor, though they were pretty far away. These ruins didn¡¯t look like that. Plus, he hadn¡¯t ravelled anywhere near far enough. Still, it might provide him with some Essence, and every little bit added up. Ray flew down, though he held himself back from landing close to the dungeon. There was someone there, someone he didn¡¯t recognize. As such, Ray landed farther back and approached carefully on foot. [Warning!] Presence of the Primordial indicates your presence has been detected by Clerical Air [Tier 4]. Ah, crap. So much sneaking in and observing. Although¡­ Clerical Air? And a Tier 4 ability. That meant the man he had spotted was someone to be wary of. Ray walked over, keeping his limbs loose and ready. He was starting to recall all those little tips and tricks about fighting that Gritty had tried to pummel into him not that long ago. But they all seemed unnecessary. The man, who had appeared hesitant at first, now smiled as Ray appeared. ¡°Hey, there,¡± he said. His voice was pleasant, calm. ¡°Nice to meet you. I¡¯m Joaquin. Who might you be?¡± Ray stared at the man¡¯s tanned brown face and thin moustache. By the looks of him, he couldn¡¯t have been much older than Ray himself. Maybe mid-thirties at most? ¡°Joaquin Vasquez?¡± The man blinked, suddenly curious. ¡°You know about me?¡± ¡°Sort of. Well, not really. I just know your name. It¡¯s a long story. My name¡¯s Ray. Nice to meet you.¡± The only reason Ray hadn¡¯t felt uncomfortable sharing his name was because the man didn¡¯t have one of those blasted red bandannas tied to his arm. Joaquin¡¯s eyes had darted to Ray¡¯s arm as well, the first time he had spotted Ray, which meant he had looked for the exact same thing. Had come to the same conclusion. They didn¡¯t have to be foes. ¡°I think I know you,¡± Joaquin said. His smile grew wider, slightly mischievous. ¡°You¡¯re the guy who kicked the Wild Tides¡¯ commander¡¯s ass.¡± Ray had killed the fellow. Kicking his ass was downplaying it a lot. Though, the sharpness in Joaquin¡¯s eyes confirmed he knew that. ¡°I¡¯m surprised,¡± Ray said, smiling as well. ¡°Didn¡¯t know I was famous.¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know about famous, but you¡¯re definitely a known quantity.¡± ¡°Known, huh? By whom?¡± ¡°Why, me, of course. And a bunch of the people I know.¡± ¡°Who are¡­?¡± ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s a bit of a long story. But I suppose we could get into it, provided we exchange stories.¡± ¡°Sounds like a deal.¡± It did, although Ray wasn¡¯t about to tell the man everything. Just what was important. Joaquin was apparently here safeguarding some members of the Ascenders Faction. A group of weaker Denizens who were trying to level themselves up before they took on the opportunity to climb higher up the Tower. ¡°I thought you were unaligned.¡± Ray had already explained that he only knew about Joaquin through the Halftyr merchant, Virko. ¡°Seems the info I got is outdated.¡± ¡°Not your merchant broker¡¯s fault. Mary is¡­ very persuasive.¡± Ah, right. Mary Felds. The person who was in charge of the Ascenders. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it make more sense for you to be inside the dungeon?¡± Ray said. ¡°So you can heal them up as soon as they come to any harm?¡± Joaquin had mentioned that he was a true healer, more or less. Ray hadn¡¯t yet observed the man with Presence of the Primordial, mostly because he suspected a Cleric would have some sort of ability that would either safeguard him from that sort of probe, or at the very least, inform that his abilities were being observed. He also had a feeling that Joaquin might even possess something akin to Presence of the Primordial too. A spell or some other power that allowed him to peek at the capabilities of others. Although, despite being a Cleric, he certainly wasn¡¯t dressed like one. His getup looked more like combat fatigues, not a pristine robe that Ray would have associated with Clerics. ¡°It would,¡± Joaquin said. ¡°But they want as much Essence as possible to grow quickly enough for Mary, so here I am, outside the dungeon and not taking up a share of their spoils.¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°For Mary?¡± ¡°That¡¯s her plan. Well, that¡¯s the Ascenders¡¯ plan, right?¡± ¡°Oh, right.¡± Mary Felds and her Ascenders were all about climbing the Tower. Reaching the Second Floor and higher. A goal Ray could appreciate. ¡°Though, now I¡¯m curious about your exact plans, if you don¡¯t mind me asking. Are you all getting yourselves stronger before you make a push for the Second Floor together? Or are you completing the challenge somehow?¡± Joaquin smiled apologetically. ¡°Uh, unfortunately, I don¡¯t have the license to reveal all that. But I can say that we¡¯ve already gotten a few people onto the Second Floor, once they were ready. I could get you in touch with Mary eventually, if you¡¯re interested.¡± Ray couldn¡¯t help that his eyes widened at the revelation. The Ascenders already had people on the Second Floor? That was incredible on multiple fronts. First was that they had either discovered an exploit that allowed them to reach the Second Floor without completing the Floor Lord¡¯s terrible challenge, which was quite unlikely. Rather, they must have a way of completing the challenge itself. That was no less impressive. The other intriguing bit was that there were people who had been allowed to go to the Second Floor. In other words, the Floor Lord had deemed them worthy of going beyond his First Floor. He wasn¡¯t so tyrannical that he was stopping everybody from getting past the First Floor, even after completing the challenge. In other words, he sounded more reasonable than Ray was willing to give him credit for. Or maybe there was some kind of binding rule from the System that even he couldn¡¯t ignore. Whatever the case, Ray was definitely intrigued by the developments. ¡°I would appreciate talking with her at some point,¡± Ray said. ¡°Great!¡± Joaquin¡¯s smile was guileless. ¡°I think I should be able to arrange a meeting. We can set it up via chat.¡± He laughed, sharp but short. ¡°She¡¯ll be interested to meet Ray the Commander-killer personally.¡± ¡°Sounds like you guys have had dealings with the Wild Tides too.¡± ¡°That we have. They¡¯re a nasty bunch. We¡¯re a small group, and we¡¯ve been keeping our distance mostly, but I know their leader really doesn¡¯t like Mary.¡± ¡°Yeah, go figure.¡± Ray decided to take his questions in a slightly different direction. ¡°And what about the Sylvans? Have you had many dealings with them? Other than getting to the Second Floor, that is.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure, honestly. I¡¯m one of the later additions to the Ascenders.¡± ¡°Huh. I admit, I¡¯m surprised you haven¡¯t gone up the Tower yourself, considering how strong you already are.¡± Joaquin laughed. ¡°Thanks to Mary, I can get to the Second Floor at almost any time I want. It¡¯s not a big deal. Figured it was better to wait and help others first. But what makes you think I¡¯m strong?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got my ways. And I have a feeling, you can guess my ballpark strength too.¡± He shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t need to resort to any spell to tell you¡¯re pretty powerful, Ray.¡± That was fair enough, Ray supposed. It had been an interesting talk. Ray decided it was nearly time for him to move on. Though, before he did so, he asked Joaquin about the lay of the land. ¡°What about you, Ray?¡± Joaquin asked. ¡°You¡¯re strong enough to start venturing to the Second Floor. But I get the feeling you want to grow even stronger. Why¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Honestly? I feel like I might need to force the issue of getting to the Second Floor, and to do that, I need to be strong enough. So, here I am, trying to pump up my spells and levels as much as I can.¡± ¡°Force the issue, huh? Mary can make that no longer an issue, you understand that, right?¡± Oh yes, the whole talk with Joaquin had made it pretty clear that there was something significant going on with Mary Felds. But there was definitely something deeper to it. Something he probably wasn¡¯t going to like. ¡°I could,¡± Ray said. ¡°But I ultimately want to rely on no one except for myself about things like these.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fair enough.¡± Ray went on to ask him about the local area. Where were the dungeons, what sort of monsters populated this and surrounding Sectors, and so on. One interesting little fact Ray learned was that there was a group of Sylvans not far from their location. Likely an outpost. That was really useful because Ray knew of the outposts from his chat with Kredevel, which meant he could identify his exact location now. Their conversation paused as three people came out from between a couple of ruined columns. One was badly wounded, while the other two were supporting him by the shoulder and basically dragging him towards the healer. ¡°Looks like I¡¯ve got work to do,¡± Joaquin said. ¡°It was nice talking with you, Ray. I hope we meet again before long. Let¡¯s keep in touch through the chat.¡± He left Ray behind, hurrying over to the little wounded group. Hmm. Conversation over just like that. Ray wasn¡¯t sure how he felt about that. But then again, he had learned a good deal from Joaquin. There was stuff he needed to digest. Stuff he had to act on too. A better plan of action began forming in his head as he got moving. Gritty: I found the deepest, darkest secret imaginable, wingman. The chat window had popped up with no warning again. Ray¡¯s heart skipped a beat in surprise. Ray: You¡¯re like the opposite of a vampire, you know that? Forget needing an invitation to chat, you barge in like you¡¯re allergic to asking for permission. Gritty: You wanna hear what I learned or not? Ray: What is it? Gritty: I followed a couple of Wild Tides members and found out why the Sylvans haven¡¯t moved directly against us just yet. It¡¯s cause they have a deal with the Wild Tides. Ray: A deal? Gritty: You heard me. A deal. The Wild Tides are going to infiltrate the Insurge Faction, take it over from within, and hand over the most important ¡°culprits¡± to the Sylvans. Ray: Holy shit, that¡¯s devious. Gritty: Worse than that, it might actually work. Oh, right. They had spotted some of the culprits behind this secret takeover already. Or at least, Gritty had. She had passed on the warning about people disappearing to potentially betray them. And now, they had proof that it wasn¡¯t just a simple spying plan. No, they wanted to take over the entire Faction. The idea was smarter than Ray would have given them credit for. His last interaction had given him the impression that they were a boorish lot who only wanted to subjugate others via force. They still wanted that, of course, but their plans were more multilayered than it seemed. Gritty: Where are you headed? More dungeons? Ray: That¡¯s what I was thinking, before I learned there weren¡¯t many dungeons in this area. Heard about some interesting monsters not too far away, though, so I¡¯m going to head there eventually. But right now¡­ I think I have an idea. Gritty: About what? Ray: About messing with the Sylvans and the Wild Tides. They¡¯re acting together, right? Maybe we can put a stop to it. Ray could almost feel Gritty smiling evilly through the chat window. Gritty: I¡¯d join you, cause it sounds exactly like my kind of thing, but I¡¯m kinda preoccupied atm. Break a leg, wingman. Break a lot. Ray: Preoccupied with what? Gritty: With escaping the Wild Tides. Ray: ¡­where the hell even are you? Gritty: Damn, I gotta go. That was abrupt, though knowing Gritty, it wasn¡¯t surprising. Ray realized he was a little worried about the woman and he wasn¡¯t sure how to feel about that. Getting attached to anyone in this world would be a terrible idea. But he also didn¡¯t want to become a friendless loner. Well, it didn¡¯t matter. Gritty could take care of herself and Ray had his own business to attend to. He journeyed on. Joaquin hadn¡¯t had any maps with him, but Ray would be able to figure out where he had to go as he travelled around. At least it was fast enough, thanks to his wings. Ray made sure to collect the first Mana fruit he found as well. Presence of the Primordial tipped him off that there was a Duskshell underneath the dark trees, but Ray ignored it. First, he was going to pay the Sylvans a visit. His first sighting of them wasn¡¯t a Sylvan. It was a Brighthorn. So far, Ray had spotted those monsters at the dark trees, guarding the Mana fruit sprouting from the Duskshells. The only other instance had been when they were accompanying their Sylvan masters. Which meant finding one so far from Mana indicated Ray was close to the Sylvan camp he was looking for. He killed the Brighthorn from a distance. One bolt of Chaos Chymify was now enough to do just that. The spell itself might still be at a low Tier, but his Intellect had grown greatly, so the damage it dealt had increased proportionally as well. It didn¡¯t make much noise as it died. Good. Ray wouldn¡¯t be dealing with an angry Sylvan just yet. Lifeblood Crucible was one again active. It listed all the Soul Aspects of a Brighthorn that he could absorb. Ray took a careful look through the list. Head, legs, eyes, all check. No torso though. Hmm, would he get more Soul Aspect absorption options if he upgraded Chaos Chymify? That meant he had to find another Tier point. Well, hopefully if his plan worked out, then he might just find himself with another Tier point soon enough. Ray ripped off a piece of white cloth from the front of his Shapter Raiment. Hopefully, that wasn¡¯t going to reduce its defences too much. Next, he pulled out a Mana crystal and tried to use the sort of pointed end to gouge a hole in his arm. Nothing happened. ¡°Ouch,¡± he muttered. It hurt where he struck it, but the skin didn¡¯t break. The pain faded in a flash too. ¡°What in the world¡­?¡± Then he paused. ¡°Oh.¡± It was his Resilience. Of course. His strength was terrible when compared to his other stats, even Resilience since it was getting a hefty boost from the Wyvern helm he was wearing. Ray took it off in due order. He felt a smidge more vulnerable somehow. A bit more¡­ careful. Like the instinct that made people snatch their hand away whenever they touched something burning hot had been suppressed all this while thanks to his helm. Now that it was gone, that instinct had returned in full force. Well, whatever. This time, when Ray stabbed the crystal into his arm, he had to bite down on a groan. There. He had left an actual, bleeding wound. Ray wasted no time daubing the fabric he had torn off with the blood. Soon enough, it was completely soaked red. Only then did he apply his Recovery to the wound to turn his arm as good as new. Before tying the cloth around his upper arm, Ray changed out of his getup. He hadn¡¯t foreseen this benefit of keeping the Drakescale robes with him for all this while, but it was definitely going to be handy now. Best to reduce the chances of the Sylvans recognizing him. It made him wonder if the Sylvans had a description of his face or something like that. Damn, if only he could have shaved off his beard. Maybe there was some mud nearby? Or¡ª Ray paused again as a different idea popped up in his head. Oh, he knew just how he was going to change his face. Chapter 38: Ambush Predator The last time he had used Primal Summons, it had converted his entire hand into a draconic arm. What if he did the same thing again, but instead of his arm, this time, he applied it to his whole head? Shivering with excitement, Ray decided to test it out. This was going to be a bit freaky, but if it worked, then it would open a whole new avenue of power use he hadn¡¯t foreseen. He would be able to disguise himself as practically anyone. All he would need to do was¡­ Kill them and absorb their face or head as a Soul Aspect. Somehow, the realization of what that entailed dampened the prospect of fun. Nevertheless, Ray called on Primal Summons again. Thanks to his Mana Core and Mana Imbuing now completed, he could direct the Mana to¡ª [Warning!] All available Imbued Mana has already been used on the arm. To imbue a different part of the body, defeat more foes to Imbue extra Mana. Ah, damn it. Ray had forgotten about the spell¡¯s description. Not spell, skill. This was a more integral ability that used extra Mana from killing foes to practically replace his biological matter with magical energy. Ray tried not to groan in disappointment. He supposed something with so much potential wouldn¡¯t come easy. Well, time for more rudimentary means of camouflage. Ray dug out a bit of the ground and caked his face as quickly as he could. He had already wasted a ton of time. One or more Sylvans would no doubt pop in to check on the missing Brighthorn. He had to be ready for it. Satisfied with his preparations, Ray summoned the winged eyeball with Lifeblood Construct. Next, he called on the Greater Wyvern Maw as a construct too, also with wings. Ray figured he could even up the numbers game. More and more constructs to flood his enemies with chaos. It wasn¡¯t like Mana was an issue. He had a ton of Mana crystals to use up. And he was still within Lifeblood Construct¡¯s Tier limits. At Tier 3, he could only summon three Soul Aspects. Right now, he had exactly three. Even if they were a bit separate. [Warning!] Your Intellect [Tier 2] can fully support only one construct at a time. Multiple constructs will reduce the range and efficacy of control. Right. Of course. Ray should have figured he wouldn¡¯t have been allowed to just pull out as many Constructs as he wanted. There were limits to everything. Well, good thing he had discovered said limits during prep instead of in the midst of a fight. Ray called up the Windbane Maw. The summoning didn¡¯t make him feel any different, but he¡¯d have to test. Like with the eyeball, the Maw had the wings sprouting from the top left and right corners of the head. Its wings were bigger than the eyeball¡¯s though, to carry its heavier weight. Interestingly, it had actual eyes this time, of the same kind that Ray had summoned separately. The test didn¡¯t reveal that big of a range impact as he had feared. Even at a football field¡¯s length, Ray had perfect control over both constructs. Farther than that was where it started to degrade. They were slower to respond and needed more mental focus. That was fine. The range he still had perfect control over would work well enough for his plan. A quick test revealed that, despite having no direct connection to his body as a construct instead of as grafted attachment thanks to Primal Summons, the maw could still spew flames. Chaotic flames. A burst of pure black fire highlighted with red. It flew forward a good distance too. Yes, this would do nicely. Ray was ready. ¡°Alright, men,¡± Ray said. ¡°Time to head to battle.¡± The plan wasn¡¯t anything too complicated. All Ray wanted to do was lure any Sylvans he found into the right position, and from there on, it would be game over for the aliens caught in his trap. Ray could have used True Enhancement, but the clock was already ticking. He didn¡¯t want to take up more time than necessary. The area was still mostly the same grassy plan dotted with dead, petrified trees that he had experienced while meeting Joaquin. Since the grass was big enough to hide himself in, he proceeded to do just that, while sending out his minions to do his dirty work. Positioning, Ray reminded himself, was going to be key here. Everything depended on it. It took a bit of waiting, but the first Sylvan finally showed up. Ray wasn¡¯t close, and neither was the eyeball, but the focusing power on the eye was pretty great. It was easy to spot the Sylvan striding confidently through the grass, though the alien did have a slightly confused expression. Probably wondering about the Brighthorn. Well, the Sylvan was about to meet a rather cruel surprise. The alien finally found and came to a halt next to its dead pet. Ray didn¡¯t care whether the expression on the Sylvan¡¯s face was horrified or sad. It was time to execute his plan. Ray stepped forward. [Warning!] Presence of the Primordial indicates your construct¡¯s presence has been detected by Total Perception [Tier 3]. There was no other information, but that was fine. The Sylvan wouldn¡¯t be able to glean any intel about Ray from that eyeball. So long as he wasn¡¯t anywhere close. Which he wasn¡¯t. In fact, Ray was pretty damn far from his target. Just where he needed to be. The eyeball revealed how the Sylvan was approaching warily to check it out. It did look around, trying to spot if there was anything else. Clearly, the alien was no fool. But its Total Perception ability hadn¡¯t picked up the presence of Ray¡¯s other construct, the head of the Windbane floating ever closer through the thick grass. Ray¡¯s heart sped up as he got into position. Almost time. It was good that even though he had to remain close due to his Intellect Tier limit with multiple constructs, he was still out of the Sylvan¡¯s sensing range. That was why, as he reached the right spot within the grass, he could ensure the Greater Windbane Maw was positioned correctly too. Just as the Sylvan reached the decision to attack the floating eyeball, Ray attacked first. The Greater Windbane Maw rushed in on its wings. From its jaws, a huge blast of chaotic flames burned out in a horizontal geyser. Quick as the Sylvan was to turn around, fast as it was to bring to bear the Pressure Block shield, the alien still got a face full of the flames. Despite the distance, the alien¡¯s scream was loud in Ray¡¯s ears. The eyeball confirmed that his target was burning, at least partially. Perfect. Hopefully, the Sylvan hadn¡¯t called in reinforcements just yet. Ray pulled back both arms. He had already condensed Mana into the requisite amount of True Mana, though he didn¡¯t need thanks to his Hallow. It was time to activate True Enhancement and use it on Chaos Chymify. Wasting no time, Ray rose into the air, activated Vengeful Plunder¡ªwhich was where he needed the True Mana¡ªand shot blast after spiralling blast of the enhanced Chaos Chymify at the distant Sylvan. He had never tested the full range of his spell. Every time he had used it so far, he had been close enough to his target to see the spell flying straight at its intended destination in a near-straight line. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Nevertheless, he suspected it had a certain weight to it, which would cause any longer distance flight to turn into a parabola. He also suspected there had to be a finite range, after which the bolt of chaotic energy would simply dissipate to nothing. As such, Ray had positioned himself as high as his wings could take him while remaining at least fifty feet distant. Ray continued throwing out bolts of Chaos Chymify until a heavy twinge within him indicated he had run out of Mana. The world spun for a brief second, but the headachy sensation retreated as he crushed two Mana crystals quickly to replenish his Mana. Not that he needed to. The bolts of Chaos Chymify he had flung out reached the Sylvan and struck true. He hadn¡¯t been able to throw out too many bolts of Chaos Chymify. The Windbane Maw was using up his Mana to continuously barrage the Sylvan with its flames. But there was no need to worry. Ray had done enough. The plan had always been to first distract the Sylvan with the eyeball to let the maw get in close. Then, while his enemy was busy defending against the fire, Ray would attack with Chaos Chymify from as great a distance as possible. It turned out fifty feet didn¡¯t exhaust the spell. He had to wonder if that was the regular range or that of the True Enhancement version¡¯s. As it was, the Sylvan didn¡¯t get the chance to take any defensive measures. The spiralling bolts struck the alien¡¯s head, chest, legs, and arms. Each blast exploded into a cloud of black-red energy, lines of white zipping through it like electric arcs. The Sylvan cried out again, the sound even fainter this time. But the eyeball was perfectly positioned to see the Sylvan fall. [Enemy Defeated¡ªSylvan] Acrobat Assaulter [Tier 3] Sylvan: [Level 16] x1 Essence: +2,400 Knowledge: +3 Mana Restored: +160 Essence to level 15: 6,410/10,000 Ray allowed himself to fall back to the ground. He was tempted to whistle in appreciation at the Essence he had received form just killing one Sylvan. A few more, and he would break into level 15. Chaos Chymify had activated the list of the Sylvan¡¯s Soul Aspects he could take, but nothing really appealed to him. None of the abilities the Sylvan possessed suited him, and he had no need for the alien¡¯s body parts. So instead, Ray decided to loot the corpse¡¯s sword and the little pouch at the waist. Inside was nothing more than some string, some of the pills he had gotten from the Imps, and what looked like some kind of small ration bar. Huh. There was no time to waste, though. More Sylvans would be coming soon enough. So, Ray got ready for the next ambush. The plan would essentially be the same. He dismissed all his spells¡ªsave the eyeball¡ªonly waiting to call them up once he spotted any Sylvan coming to this exact location. The eyeball he sent to scout ahead and warn him when a Sylvan got close. Leaving the body behind, Ray hid and waited. The eyeball was so fantastic for scouting. Ray didn¡¯t even have to do anything, just wait while the eye flew around and let him see whatever he wanted through a third of his expanded field of view. Eventually, Ray got that there were three more Sylvans in the area. Their actual lookout was rather strange. It was a small tower-like outpost, but not any kind of tower that Ray had seen. If he had to guess, it looked more like the Sylvans¡¯ hornlike growths, as though they had grown a massive, twisted version of their horns straight out of the ground. Weird. One Sylvan sat at the top, lazily surveying the surroundings. Ray could tell by the posture that it was mostly a formality. The Sylvan wasn¡¯t really paying attention. He also got the sense that he was viewing the one that had to be the leader. There was a certain sense of importance about the alien¡¯s silky, armoured robe. A certain sense of superiority about the posture and everything else that spoke of someone used to giving orders. That was when the eyeball located another Sylvan moving closer to the location of the dead one. Ray¡¯s heart rate picked up. Time for his second execution. Thankfully, it went much as the first one had done. The Sylvan was distracted by the floating eyeball just long enough for the Windbane Maw to get behind and blast out a stream of chaotic fire. As the alien tried desperately brought up a defensive ability, Ray was already firing off a bunch of Chaos Chymifies. Interestingly, the Sylvan wasn¡¯t using Pressure Block as the others had done. This alien possessed a different shielding ability. It was using its weapon directly. Ray had noted that it didn¡¯t simply use a curved sword. This was more like two swords joined together, or perhaps, a spear with curved blades at both ends. What were they called again? Twinblades? Ray wasn¡¯t fully certain, but it was definitely flashy. The Sylvan¡¯s defensive ability was about spinning the twinblade around its horizontal axis so that it formed a weird, spinning shield. There was a soft, amethyst glow about it too. Strangely, it worked. The fire was indeed being blocked by whatever that skill was, though of course, the Maw had still managed to strike earlier. That was why parts of the Sylvan were burning away, eaten by black-red flames that made the flesh pop, sizzle, and spray blood. Sheesh, that had to hurt. Good thing Ray was there to end the poor Sylvan¡¯s suffering with a barrage of Chaos Chymifies striking all at once. The thing about activating Vengeful Plunder before attacking was that it raised Ray¡¯s power as every hit landed. That meant every Chaos Chymify was stronger than the last, dealing increasingly higher damage. Ray felt like patting himself on the back for finding an interesting use case for his True Mana skill. He had lost the boosts from the previous use of Vengeful Plunder, but that was fine. He had Mana to spare. Though, it did make him wonder if the Marauder was being notified about the use of the skill. Did the Paragon gain anything by Ray using his skill? It didn¡¯t sound like it, from what the Mentor had said. But then, why was the Paragon so gleeful about Ray using his Tower Node? [Enemy Defeated¡ªSylvan] Acrobat Assaulter [Tier 3] Sylvan: [Level 16] x1 Essence: +2,400 Knowledge: +3 Mana Restored: +160 Essence to level 15: 8,810/10,000 Interesting. Despite not using the same abilities as the last Sylvan, the class hadn¡¯t changed. Maybe this alien¡¯s Path was different. Ray would have been happy but there was one small difference, compared to last time. Just before dying, the Sylvan had warned the others. There was no real sign of it. The Sylvan didn¡¯t set off a flare or yell out or anything of the sort. But Ray could tell, mostly because he had set his eye to keep a lookout now that its current distracting task was done. It had spotted the Sylvan at the top of the strange tower begin to move as soon as Ray¡¯s current target was dead. In other words, things were about to get more frenetic. That couldn¡¯t be the only other Sylvan in the area. He had set the eye to move as it kept watch, and now it had spotted another one farther off hurrying closer. Clearly, the dead Sylvan had warned every other one that was in the vicinity. Ray got moving, indicating the Windbane Maw to follow along. He had at least two other Sylvans to deal with. No way was he fighting them together. Which was why it was probably a good thing that they were separate for now. He could still take them out individually. A circuitous route took him towards the Sylvan farther off, the one accompanied by the Brighthorn. The tower Sylvan looked like more bad news, so he¡¯d leave that one for later. There was also the concern of what exactly the last alien Ray had killed had said. He was more or less certain the alien could only have warned the others about the exact experience. A floating eyeball. A draconic head. Chaotic flames. And someone attacking from distance at the end. Could the Sylvan have gotten off all that information in such a short amount of time? Ray thought it unlikely, but still. Hope for heaven, prepare for hell. A quick look with the third eyeball confirmed that the head Sylvan, as he had begun to think of the alien, was almost at the site of Ray¡¯s last ambush. He would have a tiny window to deal with his intended mark. No time to waste. Ray started off the same as before. The eyeball went first, getting into position to distract the Sylvan. Meanwhile, the Windbane Maw reached the right spot just outside of the approaching Sylvan¡¯s range of perception. Both the alien and the hellhound spotted the eyeball. With a shrieking bark, the Brighthorn charged the flying eyeball. Instead of following, the Sylvan twisted around and started surveying the local area. Ray still couldn¡¯t tell just how much his opponent knew about his plans from the dead Sylvan. It was clear, though, that his current target wasn¡¯t going to be taken in as easily as the others had been. In fact, the Sylvan spotted the Windbane Maw far too soon. Just as the stream of fire blasted in, the alien leaped, landing on the Maw with twin curved swords slicing in. Landing at just the right spot for Ray to take the Sylvan out from distance. He knew Chaos Chymify, even when using True Enhancement, wasn¡¯t going to work. If the Sylvan was dealing with the Maw in that manner, chances were that the rest of Ray¡¯s previous strategy would be just as ineffectual. But he had prepared a countermeasure. All he had to do was use True Enhancement on Lifeblood Crucible and follow it up with a Primal Summons. He had already condensed enough of his regular Mana into True Mana while he had been moving into position. The Windbane Maw in the distance died, but in that instant, a different one formed on Ray¡¯s arm. He winced at the pain. It was more intense this time. A regular Primal Summon with Mana Imbuing had made him feel like he was itching himself with rather sharp nails. Now, with his summon enhanced with True Mana, Ray felt like he was gouging out his skin. It was a good thing he could groan. He wouldn¡¯t be giving his position at this distance. Thankfully, the draconic head formed around his hand in no time. Except, it wasn¡¯t the regular, gold-scaled Maw like the dying construct. What took the place of Ray¡¯s arm was a spectral version made of pure monochrome energy, the pits of its eyes burning with bleeding, ruby red flames. The black-and-white Windbane head was larger too, easily big enough to swallow a little kid whole. Wild that he could hold it up. There was no time for Ray to marvel. The Sylvan in the distance had just taken care of his construct. Now or never. So, with a forceful focus, Ray bid his summoned Maw open wide and fire. He didn¡¯t get a stream of flames shooting at the Sylvan. It wasn¡¯t even a fiery geyser, though that would have been good enough. What Ray got instead was an honest-to-goodness laser. He had no other way of describing the compressed burst of energy emitted from the spectral Windbane Maw. A ball of golden power burned in between the jaws, before it shot out nearly too fast for him to keep up with it. The golden orb turned into a black-and-white laser, mirroring the head itself as it struck its target. The poor Sylvan had no way of knowing what even struck. Ray¡¯s laser struck his target and sent the alien flying back. He didn¡¯t need to see the effect that blast had to know it was fatal. [Enemy Defeated¡ªSylvan] Crescent Wielder [Tier 3] Sylvan: [Level 17] x1 Essence: +2,550 Mana Restored: +170 Knowledge: +3 [Level Up!] Reward
  • +3 Intellect, +3 Spirit, +2 Vitality, +4 allocatable free stats.
  • 1 New Spell: Arcane Orb [Tier 1]
  • Arcane Orb has been converted to Sphereguard of Chaos by Path of Lifeblood Chaos.
Essence to level 16: 1,360/12,000 There. Another level achieved. Amazing. Ray would have exulted in the feeling if he hadn¡¯t needed to turn around. The other, final Sylvan was almost at his location. Chapter 39: Sphereguard of Chaos Ray pushed away his level up notification. He would check them later. When he wasn¡¯t being hounded by a Sylvan seeking to kill him. The last of his targets had finally reached the spot where his comrade had just been killed by the death ray from Ray¡¯s Primal Summons. The Sylvan must have spotted that laser-like blast. Fast though it had been, it certainly hadn¡¯t been subtle. Its effect¡ªthe burned and half-destroyed corpse of the Sylvan¡ªwas definitely not subtle. Ray took a quick look at what Presence of the Primordial could inform him about his opponent. [Presence of the Primordial] Als Koralt Eighth-light [Denizen] Race: Sylvan Path: Path of Core Growth [Epic] Class: Reaver [Uncommon] [Tier 3] at Level 19 Skills: Reaving Blade [Tier 3]: Your blade leaves severe wounds with every strike, afflicting Bleed. Applied Bleed is at this skill¡¯s Tier and wounds are unhealable using Recovery or any healing abilities below this skill¡¯s Tier so long as the battle lasts. Sylvan Pride [Tier 3]: Aura of astral projection that automatically refills Mana. This Aura manifests in the element of the wielder¡¯s Path. Your extended presence will note the aura of other beings in your aura¡¯s vicinity. At Tier 3, this spell¡¯s range extends to 15 meters. Total Perception [Tier 3]: Claim absolute detection of any living being within the spell¡¯s vicinity. At Tier 3, the spell¡¯s vicinity extends to 15 meters. Armoured Growth [Tier 4]: Imbue yourself with Growth Mana to create a slowly-growing encasing that negates incoming damage. At Tier 4, 8% of all incoming damage is negated per minute of growth. Bladed Growth [Tier 4]: Extended the reach of your weapon by imbuing it with Growth Mana. At Tier 4, this skill increases the reach of your weapon by 4 meters. Stored Rejuvenation [Tier 2]: Unleash stored Growth Mana that rejuvenates your soul. At Tier 2, this spell replenishes 20% of your Recovery and Mana. Ah, Ray had been right. This Sylvan was clearly stronger than his compatriots, both in his class and level, and for the fact that he possessed a Path unlike the others. Very similar to Kredevel, though. ¡°I will give you one chance to come out and face me on your own,¡± the Sylvan said. His voice rose in anger. ¡°But if you choose not to, I will destroy everything in the vicinity just to reach you, coward.¡± For some reason, that didn¡¯t sound like an idle threat. Ray really did believe this Sylvan could indeed tear apart everything in the area just to get to him. But that wasn¡¯t the reason Ray stepped forward. His ultimate plan revolved around one thing only. Sowing some chaos between the Sylvans, and their would-be allies, the Wild Tides. If he could make them think that a member of the Wild Tides had committed this atrocity upon them, then it would surely drive a stake through their budding alliance. That was why he had the red armband. But the plan wouldn¡¯t work if Ray just ran now. It wasn¡¯t enough to simply kill the Sylvans. He couldn¡¯t even rely on simply hoping that if he left behind the red cloth, the surviving Sylvan would think it was the Wild Tides. Anyone could drop a blood-drenched bandanna. No, Ray had to drive the point home. Which was why he stepped through the tall grass towards his enemy, raising his voice as he spoke. ¡°This is what happens. This is what you get when you go against the Wild Tides.¡± The look of confusion on the head Sylvan¡¯s face was definitely encouraging. Confusion. Not disbelief. He wasn¡¯t completely ruling out the possibility of the Wild Tides. Just what Ray needed. Even better, the Sylvan didn¡¯t waste time on pointless questions. ¡°We knew it would come to this. You animals are all alike. Beasts that need to be culled. No matter the guise you wear.¡± Ray emphasized the red armband, rapping it with a finger. ¡°It¡¯s simple, Sylvan. You¡¯re either with the Wild Tides, or you¡¯re against us. Since all your companions refused our generous offer, they were the ones who had to be culled to make sure they weren¡¯t a nuisance. But now, I¡¯m going to let you go so you can carry my message to the rest of your kind.¡± The Sylvan laughed, ¡°You will let me go?¡± ¡°Tell the rest of your alien brood that the Wild Tides won¡¯t be so merciful next time. Although¡­¡± Ray grinned. It made some of the dried earth on his face crack. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how much of your precious brood is left after¡­¡± ¡°After what?¡± the Sylvan asked, straightening. There was clear concern on his face now. Excellent. ¡°Oh, you¡¯ll find out. It¡¯s why I suggest you run along before it gets too late.¡± The Sylvan hesitated. His expression grew slack for a moment, and Ray knew the alien was trying to communicate with others. Probably not good. Which was why Ray decided to set the rest of the plan he had just come up with into motion. He attacked. Or rather, his constructs did. Every single one he was able to call forth after crushing a Mana crystal to get back a good chunk of his Mana. Ray had decided it didn¡¯t matter how much control he had over them. All they needed to do was attack he Sylvan and keep him busy. So, he called on Maw after Maw, roils of black-red energy giving birth to floating head after floating head. After the third one, his head started aching, but he continued summoning until he had five heads with a pair of wings on each. He had ordered his eyeball to keep the Brighthorn with the last Sylvan busy. Ray couldn¡¯t sense it any longer, couldn¡¯t tell if it was still ¡°alive¡± or if it had been destroyed by the monster dog. Well, considering that the Brighthorn hadn¡¯t returned to pester him yet, Ray was hopeful about his construct. Whatever communication the Sylvan had tried to busy itself with had clearly failed as he was forced to focus on the onrushing monster heads. With a growl, he dodged the various blasts of chaotic fire while preparing his own attacks. Then he countered. Ray didn¡¯t get to see much of it in action, but he did spot the execution of the Sylvan¡¯s Growth Mana just as Presence of the Primordial had indicated. A glowing, spiralling burst of hornlike growths had rammed out of the ground and into his constructs. One of the flying Maws had been pierced through the eye, another crushed by two sets of shimmering growths. Yeesh. If only he¡¯d had more time to observe. Ray was already retreating, falling back. If the heads could keep the Sylvan distracted for long enough, Ray could make a clean getaway. ¡°You dare run!¡± the Sylvan shouted. If he had made any attempts to follow, he had to have been quickly stymied by a flood of flames. At least, his voice wasn¡¯t growing any louder. ¡°I will make you pay for your¡ªargh!¡± If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Ray grinned. Those heads were falling fast, but they were doing their job well. He lowered his profile so that it was better obscured by the grass and distanced himself as fast as he could. At some point, Ray regained control over his constructs. Just two of the Windbane Maws. No sign of the eyeball. That was fine. Ray didn¡¯t want to control them, especially not without a guiding eyeball that would show him what in the world was going on. He was too far away to do that himself, now, and he was getting farther every second. Once he deemed himself far enough from the site of battle, he summoned his wings with Primal Summons and travelled even farther. It was at least half an hour later that Ray finally stopped flying and settled down. There. Even if the Sylvan tried to give chase, there was no way that alien could cover the same ground in the same amount of time. [New Personal Achievement¡ªConflict Propagator!] You have instigated a conflict between two Factions. Your deviousness knows no bounds, it would seem. Reward
  • Reputation: +25 Chaotic, +15 Cunning
[Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 100-point threshold, your Chaos now builds Insanity even faster, at 12% per successful hit, and inflicts Tier 3 Insanity upon proc. For reaching the 50-point threshold, your Cunning now adds additional 7% critical chance with every attack. At 7% critical chance, approximately every fifteenth attack will be a critical hit. A critical hit triples damage and always procs any associated affliction. Oh, neat. That achievement also meant that Ray wasn¡¯t in any danger from the Sylvan any longer since he must have gone on to exact vengeance on any Wild Tides members close by. Perfect. It was only then Ray took some time to check where he had arrived. The tall, dead grass had given way to a small forest of petrified trees. A good place to hunker down for a while. Presence of the Primordial didn¡¯t indicate there was anything living nearby. So yeah, good place to rest, for the time being. Ray did feel like resting. His eyelids were a little heavy and a proper break sounded like a fantastic idea. Maybe even a nap. He wasn¡¯t that exhausted, not physically, yet it somehow felt appropriate after killing all those Sylvans and earning himself another level. Maybe it was just the mental fatigue. He had been trying not to think of the implications of having invaded, attacked, and more or less murdered a group of people who had done him no harm at all. Because, in the end, the Sylvans were people. A different sort of people from him and other humans, no doubt. Antagonistic too. But people, nevertheless. There was no hiding from the fact that what he had done could arguably be considered evil. The other fact of the matter was that Ray wasn¡¯t exactly going around hunting down random people just for the hell of it. He was fighting enemies. There was at least a ninety percent chance that these Sylvans would have gone on to invade Insurge Faction¡¯s Base. They most likely knew about Ray and had orders to kill him on sight. A different perspective was that Ray was simply taking a pre-emptive measure to safeguard himself, and by extension, Maya and the others too. He took a deep breath before sighing it out. Whatever. He didn¡¯t feel regret about what he had done. Plus, all the Essence had been delightful. Fuck minor moral quandaries when there was a level to be attained. Ray still felt like resting, but before he could do so, he had some things to check first. Namely, plugging all his free stats to Vitality. He was rather eager to see what happened when it hit Tier 2. Then there was his new spell. [Information Request¡ªSpells] Sphereguard of Chaos [Barrier] [Tier 1] A barrier spell that summons several minor orbs around the caster to act as safeguards during combat. Each orb can fully block a singular attack at this spell¡¯s Tier. At Tier 1, this spell summons 3 orbs that last 1 minute. ¡­ huh. Ray read over the spell description a few times. It definitely sounded interesting. Just to see how it worked, Ray activated the spell. Black-red energy bubbled over his body before coming off and coalescing into the indicated three orbs. They all revolved around him, little moons orbiting their father planet. Ray could see some decent uses for this. A quick cast before any actual battle and he could rush in without needing to worry about his own safety. For a little while, at least. Although, its Tier was low. It made him worry, honestly. Was every spell he received via levelling up going to start at Tier 1? That was a lot lower than his average, especially now that he had been levelling up his spells with all the Tier points he had received recently. Speaking of which, Ray hadn¡¯t received a Tier point with the last level up. That was a little disappointing, although he was certain he¡¯d be able to find a dungeon and get one there before long. There were also the recent Reputation points he had earned. With his Chaos having broken past another threshold, his Insanity procs were going to be even more effective than before. Although, the last few battles hadn¡¯t seen him need to make use of it. In fact, considering he was going for overwhelming power instead of chipping away at his opponents¡¯ health, status afflictions were becoming less important. Nevertheless, Ray wouldn¡¯t discount it. Even if he was growing, even if he was getting stronger and stronger, he could very well end up facing a foe even his steadily-strengthening power faltered against. That was when Insanity could again come in clutch. Same went for more critical hits. He wasn¡¯t hitting enough to get more critical hits out, but that was fine. When the time came, the recent upgrade to the critical chance would come in handy. [Dungeon Establishment Reward] You have acquired 1 Mana fruit. Ray stared as the glowing blue fruit appeared out of thin air before him, floating until he grabbed it. A real, live Mana fruit. So whoever Maya had put in charge of the dungeon had successfully cultivated enough for Ray himself to have earned a fruit by proxy. He smiled. Alright, this was going to be great. If it came steadily enough, he wouldn¡¯t even need to find any more Mana fruits on his own. Ray settled back and relaxed for the time being. He felt like he shouldn¡¯t be relaxing. Since he hadn¡¯t received a Tier point with his last level up, he ought to be hunting down more sources of Essence to see if he could get another. Or at least, find a Tier point from a dungeon. He resolved to do just that after a while. Recover, recuperate, then reconvene with the fighting and the growing. Even if he had a Mana fruit to wash away all the weariness, his mind needed a break. At least, resting gave him the opportunity to catch up with the others. Or try to. What Ray really would have liked to know was the fallout from his actions among the Sylvans¡¯ ranks. That was impossible now. Kredevel, his only contact in that regard, was no longer with his old contingent. Nevertheless, Ray left message for both Gritty and his Sylvan friend. Neither replied immediately, which was fine since they were undoubtedly busy with their own stuff. Maya: You did what? Ray: You heard me. Ray had explained a bit of what he had done to stir up trouble. He didn¡¯t go into the nitty-gritty details of it, but he had revealed that the Sylvans ought to be infighting against the Wild Tides now. For a little while, at least. Maya: So we have a bit more breathing room. Ray: That¡¯s the hope, though I wouldn¡¯t bank on it too much. Better to be prepared for the worst. Maya: Oh, we know. We¡¯ve all been trying to get our levels up using the dungeons so much that a lot of people are thinking of going out even further because the closer ones are all closed. Ah, right. The same Denizens couldn¡¯t run through the same dungeon more than once. Ray: But they can¡¯t because they¡¯re afraid of going too far from the Base and leaving it vulnerable. Maya: Well, we¡¯re taking precautions so it¡¯s not too bad, but that is the main concern, yeah. Ray had no solutions for that. If they had some sort of fast travel mechanic, like magical portals or whatever, things would have been a lot more convenient. He hadn¡¯t seen any such things, however¡ª Ray: Wait a minute. Remember the traversal dungeon? The first one we cleared together? Maya was silent for a moment. Maya: That¡¯s brilliant!! Ray: We can use those to speed up our travel times from one place to another. Maya: Exactly. I know some of the Faction members have cleared up a couple more of those in the surrounding Sectors. Ray: If you can map out where exactly they are and let me know, that would be great. Maya: I will. This is amazing, Ray. I can¡¯t believe I hadn¡¯t thought of it already. Ray grinned. That really was a good idea. He felt like patting himself on the back. Ray: I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve had a lot on your mind, running the Faction and everything. But yeah, hopefully this works out. Maya: It will, I¡¯m sure. We got a few batches of Mana fruit from the dungeon, by the way. It¡¯s also levelling up as we use it more, which means we¡¯re getting enough Mana fruit to sustain just about everyone. Ray: Yeah, I figured. I got a Mana fruit recently as a reward. That¡¯s great to hear. One worry removed. Despite being the dungeon¡¯s creator, Ray had received no information about the dungeon itself. No notifications or anything like that. Just that Mana fruit earlier. They didn¡¯t have much else to talk about, so they left it at that for now. Ray took a couple more hours or so to rest up. By the end of that time, he had begun to feel antsy. Raring to go and make himself even stronger. None of the Insurge Faction members had come out this far, and Ray hadn¡¯t received any reply from Kredevel, so he had no information to go off of. That was fine. With his supply of Mana crystals, exploring the surroundings wouldn¡¯t be too difficult or time consuming. He did rub his face clean¡ªhe really needed some water at some point¡ªand put on the Shaper Raiment again, before he got going. It was time to find more opportunities on the First Floor. Sadly, the first thing Ray found was a swamp. Chapter 40: Toxic Mana The swamp didn¡¯t have a whole lot going for it. Ray was looking forward to clearing another dungeon, but he received no notification about entering one. In fact, he wasn¡¯t sure he could enter it. As soon as he was in the vicinity of the swamp, he had to retreat out. Problem was, the whole swamp was filled with toxic gas. Presence of the Primordial didn¡¯t inform Ray about it. Nothing did. He just saw that the air in the area was tinged green, took one whiff that caused him to cough violently, then immediately noped out. Ray had zero defences against poison gas or its like. No need to force himself through an area that was going to leave him debilitated. He figured he could have used his Recovery, in an emergency situation that necessitated him going into things like toxic gas. Since this was far from an emergency, Ray ignored the swamp. Ray roamed around the Sectors some more, though he didn¡¯t go too far. Maya still hadn¡¯t gotten back to him about the traversal dungeons yet. Best to not get too distant from the Base. Roaming did reveal some interesting monsters here and there. At one point, Ray had found himself back in the little forest of dead, petrified trees. He had first thought they were uninhabited, but the flying monkeys travelling across the branches proved him wrong. They were an interesting specimen, that was for sure. The old bio-researcher in Ray marvelled at the monkeys¡¯ ¡°wings¡±. They were more like a paired set of long spider legs emerging out of their backs, with compressed silken webs strung between them to from the wings that allowed them to sail through the air. Kind of like flying squirrels. The monkeys were annoying little buggers too. Too agile, too many of them, each pelting sharp stones in Ray¡¯s direction with the force of slingshots. Basically, they hurt. Thankfully, Ray had an area-of-effect ability to deal with them now. Summoning the Windbane Maw construct was the best response he could come up with. The maw spewing a river of chaotic fire and Ray using the True Mana version of Chaos Chymify¡ªthat exploded into clouds of chaotic energy upon contact¡ªwas enough to deal with the monkeys. [Enemy Defeated¡ªSpider Monkey] Tier 3 Monster: Spider Monkey [Level 7] x13 Essence: +2,730 Knowledge: +39 Mana Restored: +910 Essence to level 16: 4,090/12,000 [Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 150-point threshold, your Knowledge has raised your Intellect by 20. Knowledge to next Threshold: 182/200 Chaos Chymify had activated Lifeblood Crucible, but Ray didn¡¯t find any of the option worth it. The monkeys apparently had poison sacs and the fact that they could create silk from their spines was also really cool. Neither would be helpful for him, however. Breaking through the constant Knowledge thresholds was definitely nice. Ray¡¯s Intellect was rising rapidly even when he didn¡¯t put any extra points into it while levelling up. As such, his base spell damage was rising constantly too. A lovely little benefit, all thanks to his boots. He ought to take better care of them. There were no more monkeys to mass murder, unfortunately. Either the forest of stony trees didn¡¯t have that many to begin with, or they were smartly staying away. So, Ray got moving. Eventually, he did arrive at a dungeon. Not the kind he was looking for, but if he ended up with a Tier point by the end of it, he would consider it a worthwhile exercise. [Presence of the Primordial¡ªDungeon] Dead River Gorge [Tier 5] Sometimes, nature itself can become poisoned through various means. In the case of the twelfth tributary to the Everair empire¡¯s greatest river, the case was artificial. An imbuing of the wrong kind of Mana had devastated the river, and the Everair were quick to redirect it beneath the ground. But now, it has resurfaced, teeming with toxic wildlife. Seek its source to determine the origin of its insanity. Ray grimaced. ¡°Great. More poison.¡± He was standing at the edge of a wide crack in the ground. There was indeed a river far below the surface, its surface glimmering faintly thanks to the few shafts of light that made that far down. The thin canyon didn¡¯t seem like it was filled with noxious fumes like the swamp had been. As such, Ray lowered himself into the dungeon proper. Behind him, the river plummeted even farther down via a waterfall that led to lightless depths. The opening for the waterfall was tiny, though. He wasn¡¯t supposed to go there, at least. What he had to do was find the head of the river, the point from where it began upstream. Good. He really didn¡¯t fancy lowering himself into tiny cracks and going on a spelunking adventure. ¡­there had better be no spelunking involved on the next Floor. Ray headed upstream. That involved flying from rock to rock that jutted out of the river. There were more waterfalls along the way, though these were much shorter. Ray got the sense he was gaining elevation the farther upstream he travelled. He didn¡¯t get a notification for any dungeon obstacles until he faced his first adversary. A weird, fishlike creature leaped out at him, its wide mouth filled with teeth like a piranha. The only reason Ray wasn¡¯t struck directly was because of Presence of the Primordial informing him he wasn¡¯t alone. A quick Shatterclaw was enough to slam aside and kill the monster. [Enemy Defeated¡ªBaleshark] Tier 4 Monster: Baleshark [Level 8] x1 Essence: +320 Knowledge: +3 Mana Restored: +80 Essence to level 16: 4,410/12,000 Hmm. Not bad. If Ray found a few more of those, then¡ª [Presence of the Primordial¡ªDungeon Obstacle] Guardian Shoal The beneficiaries of the river¡¯s terrifying state will not let anyone get close enough to harm the conditions. Make your way past the school of deadly Baleshark and seek the true source of the river¡¯s corruption. It wasn¡¯t a difficult task. Especially not when Ray had his wings and Mottling Membrane to rely on. While his barrier spell was definitely not strong enough to stop even these fish monsters from getting through, it did halt their flying charge towards him. Their momentum slowed, and they fell back to the river well before reaching their target¡ªhim. All Ray had to do afterwards was to hit them with a strong Shatterclaw to end them. By the time he reached the second obstacle, he had taken care of a decent number of the monstrous fish. [Enemy Defeated¡ªBaleshark] Tier 4 Monster: Baleshark [Level 8] x7 Essence: +2,240 Knowledge: +21 Mana Restored: +80 Essence to level 16: 6,650/12,000 [Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 200-point threshold, your Knowledge has raised your Intellect by 25. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Knowledge to next Threshold: 202/250 Oh, yes. Ray could see this adding up to a lot. [Presence of the Primordial¡ªDungeon Obstacle] Crumbling Facade Driven to desperation, the Baleshark have realized their inability to defeat a foe such as yourself. As such, they have only one resort left. Destroying the entryway to the river mouth. Hurry! Ray¡¯s heart began pumping faster. The warning came at just the right time. Up ahead, the canyon began to break apart, debris falling in to crush the river and anything within it. More importantly, it was going to close off the river mouth for good, just as Presence of the Primordial said. Not if he could help it. It was a nice test of his flying abilities. Ray not only had to move fast, but he also had to avoid being hit by one of the falling rocks. How those damn fish could have caused a landslide of this calibre was well beyond Ray. The rocks were too numerous. Thankfully, he had faced a scenario like this not too long ago. The solution was simple¡ªsummon his flying eyeball to keep watch for him. When Ray finally managed to get through the storm of falling rocks, he crested a few more waterfalls to finally reach the river¡¯s secret. It was the fucking swamp. ¡°Seriously.¡± Ray stared. ¡°I was just here a few hours ago. How does this even make sense?¡± Or maybe he hadn¡¯t been here. This sure looked like the swamp he had been in not too long ago, but there wasn¡¯t as much gas in the air. Sure, it was still tinged green a bit, and if Ray breathed in too hard, his lungs would begin burning. But it wasn¡¯t unbearable at all. Not like it had been when Ray had first appeared here. He blinked. Of course. A dungeon like this didn¡¯t have walls or anything like that to deter people from taking alternative routes. So, it had to resort to more creative measures. Like filling an entire area with overly toxic gas to prevent anyone from taking unacceptable paths. Ray¡¯s objective in the final stretch of the dungeon became clear in moments. Everything in the swamp was choked with a strange, pulsing vine. It was this vine that was spewing the poisonous gas into the air, choking the river and corrupting all the life around it. It was this vine that Ray had to take care of. Funny how he had just the right tool to do that now. If he had come here taking care of the Windbanes, he would have been having a much harder time. As it was, Ray used Primal Summons to call on the Greater Windbane Maw. Thanks to his Mana Core and Mana Imbuing, Ray could now pull on the maw right where his arm should have been. He also set it as its own construct that would fly around and perform what was needed. Twice the fire meant he would be done with this task twice as fast. Ray and his construct got to work. The black-red flames ate away at the vines like termites eating through wood, except fast-forwarded to about a hundred times the speed. All the chaotic flames they were spewing rapidly consumed Ray¡¯s Mana reserves too, but he had many Mana crystals to spare. Ray wasn¡¯t shy about using the power necessary. Of course, the dungeon wasn¡¯t going to let him simply do whatever he wanted. As soon as the flames had begun clearing out most of the vines, the whole swamp had groaned. Then a massive flower bud opened up somewhere in the distance. Moments later, a barrage of poisonous bursts flew through the air, like the flower was some kind of venomous mortar spewing the deadly toxin in highly concentrated blasts. It was a Mana-based ability, though. Presence of the Primordial confirmed it. So, all Ray had to do was use Mottling Membrane at the right time. The blasts of the toxin were too strong for his barrier spell to keep out completely, but that was fine. They still reduced its efficacy a good deal. Ray had also used Sphereguard of Chaos. If any of the falling toxic meteors got too close, the orbs would take care of them. While the Sphereguard never got to deflect any of the toxic blasts, they did come in handy later on. Some of the Balesharks were swimming in the mucky water. Ray was informed about them by Presence of the Primordial, but he waited to see just how strong Sphereguard would be. The orbs weren¡¯t bad. Un-upgraded, they still packed a decent punch and were able to bat away every Baleshark that leaped at him out of the water. Ray made sure to kill all the Balesharks with Shatterclaw. Soon enough, the whole dungeon was burning with black and red flames. Even the air was no longer green. Ray had done it. [Enemy Defeated¡ªBaleshark] Tier 4 Monster: Baleshark [Level 8] x3 Essence: +960 Knowledge: +9 Mana Restored: +240 Essence to level 16: 7,610/12,000 Knowledge to next Threshold: 211/250 [Dungeon Cleared¡ª Dead River Gorge] Rewards
  • 1 Toxic Mana crystal
  • 1 Tier Point
  • +1,000 Essence
  • Reputation: +10 Indomitable
[Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 50-point threshold, your Indomitability has raised your Resilience by 10. Indomitable to next Threshold: 55/100 There! He finally had the Tier point he had been seeking all this while. Ray wasted no time plugging it into Chaos Chymify. Hopefully, he would now get even better options for Soul Aspects. The Toxic Mana crystal was interesting. The gem was similar to the regular Mana crystals Ray had, but rougher and clearly unpolished. He was a little afraid to grab it where it floated before him. But a gingerly touch proved it was harmless despite the name. [Presence of the Primordial¡ªMana Crystal] Toxic Mana crystal A weathered, pitted crystal full of Toxic Mana. Crush to consume Toxic Mana. Huh. That was it. He supposed he shouldn¡¯t have been surprised by that description. After all, if the regular Mana crystals were to be crushed to resupply him with regular Mana, then the crystals of the different Mana variants would work the same way. Did that mean he could find True Mana crystals somewhere? Maybe something to investigate when next he met Virko. Interestingly, it fit in with the other Mana crystals in the same inventory slot in the Bag of Holding. That was convenient. For now, satisfied with his progress, Ray exited the dungeon. All the poison gas was gone, so he had no trouble taking any direction he wished and simply getting out of the mucky, swampy water. Good fucking riddance. Nice thing was that he wasn¡¯t too far off from a level too. Less than a third left. Ray just needed to find more sources of Essence. For the rest of that day, until he felt tired, he proceeded to do just that. Ray surveyed the entire area and killed a few of the dear-kangaroo hybrids with the glowing horns. They were weak, though, providing him with little Essence. [Enemy Defeated¡ªLoper] Tier 2 Monster: Loper [Level 4] x11 Essence: +880 Knowledge: +33 Mana Restored: +440 Essence to level 16: 9,490/12,000 Knowledge to next Threshold: 244/250 Finding the Lopers, as they were called, also led him to one of the dungeons that were being used by members of the Insurge Faction. It appeared Ray¡¯s travelling was circuiting him back around to the Faction¡¯s Base. ¡°It¡¯s only a Tier 3 dungeon,¡± the leader of the little party said. He had recognized Ray and smartly understood that this dungeon was not going to be worth Ray¡¯s time. ¡°Not sure if that¡¯s what you¡¯re looking for.¡± ¡°No, probably not,¡± Ray said. He was more certain of his decision not to go in when the man went on to explain the rewards. No Tier points, some gear for high-Agility builds, and a skill manual. Definitely not worth Ray¡¯s time. ¡°There are some weird monsters a bit off,¡± a woman said. ¡°If you¡¯re looking for stuff to hunt. Most of us were unable to do much against them and there¡¯s a whole bunch of them too.¡± Oh, now that sounded more like Ray¡¯s kind of thing. He learned from the others that what he could expect were some sort of giant bugs. Like a weird mix of flies and hyenas. Intrigued, Ray headed out in the direction he had been pointed. It didn¡¯t take him long to find the lair of the insectoid monsters. He had come to a stop at a small maze built of what looked like wax. Since he got no notification, it was clearly not a dungeon. Still. Ray had a feeling it would be a while if he tried going through the whole place on foot. It would also be easy to get lost. Thankfully, he had his wings to rely on. The monsters that Ray found travelling over the maze were indeed gigantic bugs. That woman¡¯s description had been spot on. If someone had stuck giant fly eyes to furless hyenas and given them buzzing wings to boot, before blowing them up to the size of sedans, that was the kind of monster Ray would have been fighting. He didn¡¯t actually fight them. Killed them without much trouble was more like it. They were agile and pretty hard to hit using regular means. Ray at first wasted a ton of Mana, missing several chaos Chymifies and Shatterclaws. But while the monsters could evade his targeted attacks easily, they had no reply to Mottling Membrane. The quickly expanding barrier of chaotic energy stunned them in place. It left them open for a follow up. That was when Ray struck with quick casts of Shatterclaw to kill them off. He also found out that they had a ton of egglike structures all over their hive, as he was starting to think of it. Some of those eggs actually burst apart as Ray passed by. The first was quite the surprise. He was even struck by a blast of some kind of toxic green shot from a stinger jutting out of the monster¡¯s hindquarters. [Warning!] Presence of the Primordial indicates you are under the effects of Vilebug Toxin [Tier 2]. Your health will steadily decrease so long as you are under its effect. Ray quickly killed the monster before attending to the warning. He had already healed up some of the damage¡ªwhich had been reduced by his Shapter Raiment already¡ªusing his Recovery. But now it stated that the effect wasn¡¯t going to go away. Ah, crap. He had begun to feel the effects of it. A cringing pain took hold of him from the point where he had been hit near his waist. So annoying. Ray quickly worked his way through the whole hive and took care of any of the monsters that tried to attack him. All the while, the pain kept getting worse. He had also started to run out of his Recovery. This was turning from annoying to outright dangerous. It was only when he killed the hive ¡°queen¡±, a larger version of the monsters with smaller wings, that he found something useful. [Enemy Defeated¡ªVilebug] Tier 3 Monster: Vilebug [Level 6] x6 Tier 3 Monster: Vilebug [Level 5] x3 Tier 3 Monster: Vilebug [Level 8] x1 Essence: +1,770 Knowledge: +30 Mana Restored: +590 Essence to level 16: 11,260/12,000 [Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 250-point threshold, your Knowledge has raised your Intellect by 30. Knowledge to next Threshold: 274/300 Once the main monster of the hive had been dealt with, Ray found a little item in her mushy nest. Something he only noticed because it glimmered against the dark backdrop. [Presence of the Primordial¡ªEmpty Crystal] Empty Crystal A newborn crystal that can be infused with any kind of Mana. Can be used to convert a specific substance into Mana as well, which can then be stored inside the crystal. Ray stared at it for a second. Hold on. Was this¡­ what he thought it was? He held the colourless, clear crystal against the wound at his waist. Was he supposed to channel his Mana next? Ray tried doing so, though it didn¡¯t change anything. No. There had to be some kind of skill or ability or a supplementary item that he was missing. Even if what he was trying to remove was a substance created from a Mana-based ability, he couldn¡¯t manipulate said substance without something more. Which still left the all-important question. How the hell was he going to get rid of the poison? Ray performed a quick scout or of the entire hive but didn¡¯t find anything useful. There was nothing that could magically cure him of the toxin. Just great. He was starting to feel really stupid for letting himself get hit by that thing. The pain was getting even worse. That was it. Ray didn¡¯t have a solution and couldn¡¯t find one on his own. At this rate, if he tried to futilely look around, he¡¯d end up dead. But maybe, there was someone at Insurge Faction who could do something about it. Surely there had to be someone who specialized in healing. He left a message with some urgency to Joaquin via the chat but didn¡¯t receive a reply. Well, no time to waste. Ray headed off. Now that he was closer to the Base, he was pretty certain about the direction he had to go. So, he flew as fast as he could. When he passed over a lake, a warning from Presence of the Primordial flickered into view. But it died too quickly for Ray to read. What? He had come to a stop on the shore. Just in time, too. The murky water¡¯s surface bubbled, then broke apart as a gigantic sea serpent thrust its head out and crashed to the shore. It felt like it was moving, but then, all that happened was that Gritty exited its enormous maw. ¡°Hey, wingman,¡± She raised a slime-and-blood covered hand like they had met at a park. ¡°Fancy meeting you here. Although... you alright?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Ray didn¡¯t like how strangled his voice sounded, so he cleared his throat. It didn¡¯t help much. ¡°Just a little poisoned.¡± ¡°Ah. Here, let me see.¡± She began walking toward him, still covered on monster innards. Ray stepped back. ¡°What are you going to do?¡± Despite sporting no wounds of her own, so far as Ray could see, blood swirled around Gritty¡¯s hand. ¡°Don¡¯t be shy, now. Let me take care of it.¡± Ray gulped. He had a feeling this was not going to be pleasant at all. Chapter 41: Blood Manipulation Gritty, it turned out, had developed a strange skill. ¡°I can insert my blood into others and control them directly using it.¡± ¡°That sounds super broken,¡± Ray said. ¡°I love it. Now, hold still.¡± ¡°It¡¯s kind of hard to do that when you look and smell like you just climbed out of a monster¡¯s guts¡­ which you just did, I suppose.¡± She glared at him, and Ray decided to do his best to still himself. It wasn¡¯t difficult. The growing pain definitely made movement hard. The swirling blood around Gritty¡¯s hand slowed and turned into threadlike strands of glowing red, which then slowly inserted themselves into Ray¡¯s bloodstream through the wound. He realized he was placing a good deal of trust in Gritty now. She could leave a residue, try to control him permanently, or perform some other diabolical shit. But they had grown some kind of bond. Ray wasn¡¯t so dumb as to not realize that. A bond, and a kind of trust. Different though they might be, they both shared some surprising similarities. Ray twitched as the blood Gritty inserted did something weird within him. ¡°What level and Tier was that monster? If I¡¯d known stuff like that was inside a lake, I wouldn¡¯t have had to run around to level up so much.¡± ¡°Level 15 and Tier 5. And stop twitching.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t help it.¡± The pain was slowly lessening. Whatever Gritty was doing, it was working. The weird sensation of something small moving inside him spread farther and farther throughout Ray¡¯s body. It was almost a little alarming just how far it went. ¡°Do you need to do that around my head too?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Just being thorough.¡± She grinned at him. It didn¡¯t inspire any confidence at all. ¡°Might get some Reputation Points, you see.¡± At least that made him laugh a little. Eventually, the sensation started receding. The blood that Gritty had inserted began sluicing out of the same wound it had entered through. But it wasn¡¯t just the blood that came out. Ray looked down to see that it was heavily tinged green. Toxic green. ¡°You¡¯re pulling out the poison,¡± he said, a little wondrously. ¡°That¡¯s incredibly useful.¡± ¡°I know, right? I love Blood Manipulation.¡± Ray stepped back. While his Recovery regenerated enough for him to fix up his wound, he took a peek at Gritty¡¯s Status again with Presence of the Primordial. He didn¡¯t feel the same hesitation with her as he had done with Joaquin. With her, it was more like a secret they shared together. Because, if Gritty wanted, she could take a peek at his abilities too. ¡°Oh wow, you¡¯re at level 14 already. That was fast.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re still ahead of me. Bummer.¡± Ray grinned. ¡°I¡¯m just that great.¡± Gritty rolled her eyes, then turned around and headed towards the lake. ¡°I¡¯m going to wash off this filth. Where you headed next?¡± Where was Ray going next? He was so close to another level after taking care of those Vilebugs. That was his main priority. But that was achievable. What came after that was what likely interested Gritty the most. ¡°I¡¯m going to head back to the Faction,¡± Ray said finally. ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± ¡°You know why. You¡¯re even the one who told me what the Wild Tides and the Sylvans have been planning together.¡± ¡°Oh, that.¡± She made a dismissive gesture like it wasn¡¯t important. ¡°They won¡¯t make a move until they¡¯re in position within the Faction itself, and now that I¡¯ve warned Mrs. Boss about what¡¯s going on, those cowardly bastards won¡¯t be able to do a thing.¡± Mrs. Boss? ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯ve been thinking about. What if we let them take over the Faction?¡± Gritty, who had dived straight into the murky water as though it didn¡¯t look at all like it had nuclear waste dumped into it for a zillion years, broke the surface. Her dark hair was plastered on her head. ¡°Go on, I¡¯m listening.¡± Ray told her what he had done with the Sylvans recently, emphasizing the fact that he had pretended to be a member of the Wild Tides. ¡°So, there¡¯s definitely going to be some trouble. After that trouble, they¡¯re probably going to try to recalibrate their plans to take their new circumstance into account. But we don¡¯t want that. ¡°We don¡¯t?¡± ¡°No. We want them to act on their original plan because we know their original plan. If they make a new plan, we¡¯ll lose our advantage, right?¡± ¡°So you¡¯re going to help accelerate their original plan to force them to go through with it.¡± Gritty grinned. ¡°Just so we can lay a trap for them.¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± ¡°I think I like your devious little mind, wingman.¡± Ray snorted. ¡°If I was devious, I¡¯d have thought of this before attacking the Sylvans. Now, we¡¯ve got only a short window to work with. So hurry up, will you?¡± Gritty made a dissatisfied noise. ¡°But it¡¯s so nice. I haven¡¯t had a proper bath in ages.¡± She splashed some of the water around. ¡°You should join me. You look like you could use some R & R.¡± Ray stared at her for a moment before laughing a little. ¡°I¡¯d return your flirty bait, but I make it a point of not diving headfirst into liquid cancer.¡± Gritty tutted. ¡°I wasn¡¯t flirting, wingman. If I was flirting, you¡¯d be floored, I tell you. Floored.¡± Snorting again, Ray decided to rest while Gritty took care of her business. He looked around at the giant sea serpent¡¯s body. It explained why the notification from Presence of the Primordial had disappeared so quickly. The monster had died as soon as his spell had acted. Fucking Gritty. His Recovery had, well, recovered enough that he could heal himself up back fully now. He supposed he ought to be thankful to Gritty. She had acquired a neat ability. It highlighted that Ray didn¡¯t have anything in his repertoire to help himself in these sorts of situations. No spell to cure poisonings. Things like that. Definitely a lack he ought to address somehow. He also looked down at his clothes. The Shaper Raiment had definitely seen better days. Its right sleeve was ragged, nicks and tears covered several areas, and a good chunk of the white bit in front was now missing thanks to him using it as a makeshift armband. Did this mean he had to think about looking for a new raiment at some point soon? At what state of disrepair did the garb stop providing any protection and other benefits? There was, unfortunately, no handy manual that told him all about that. When Gritty was finally done, they got a move on. Ray had offered her the Drakescale Robes in place of the wet clothes she had worn while she had taken her dip. She had declined, saying her raiment provided certain bonuses she was loathe to part with. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. That made a ton of sense, although¡­ ¡°You realize your clothes are very¡­¡± Ray tried to think of the right words for a second. ¡°¡­clingy now, right?¡± ¡°Yes. Why?¡± The upward slant of her mouth was like the curve of a dagger. ¡°You hot and bothered?¡± ¡°Why would I be hot and bothered by someone who makes my grandfather¡¯s walking stick look healthy?¡± Gritty guffawed. ¡°Ah, I knew you were worth it.¡± ¡°Worth what?¡± She shook her head and walked on. ¡°Worth what?¡± Gritty didn¡¯t reply, only walked on. She brought out a heavy, dark cloak from nowhere¡ªlikely from a Storage Ring she had acquired at some point¡ªand wrapped it around herself. A second later, it began steaming. The cloak was drying her off. Ray stared. Then with a sigh, he followed. As they travelled, they talked a bit more about what they had been up to. Ray explained the Windbane dungeon and how he had met Joaquin and learned about the Ascenders. Gritty, meanwhile, had sort of infiltrated a contingent of the Wild Tides before killing them off. She said it so casually. It would have made Ray at least look at her weird, but then, he remembered what she had said. You won¡¯t believe the things I had to do to survive. Some time later, they came across another dungeon that was being cleared by some members of the Insurge Faction. They also reached another little grove of dark trees bearing a Mana fruit. Ray plucked it, but since he was so close to a level, he didn¡¯t leave it at just that. Gritty stood back as he attacked the dark trees to make the monster far under the earth emerge. Then, just as he had with the one that had attacked the keep, he killed the Duskshell. [Enemy Defeated¡ªDuskshell] Tier 6 Monster: Duskshell [Level 19] x1 Essence: +1,140 Knowledge: +3 Mana Restored: +190 [Level Up!] Reward
  • +3 Intellect, +3 Spirit, +2 Vitality, +4 allocatable free stats.
  • 1 Tier Point
Essence to Level 17: 400/14,200 Knowledge to next Threshold: 277/300 Excellent. He had now finally reached level 16. Just as he had hoped to do. His improved Chaos Chymify had also caused Lifeblood Crucible to activate with new Soul Aspects he was pretty sure he hadn¡¯t seen the last time he had fought and beaten a Duskshell. The list had more than Ray wanted, actually, but he narrowed it down to the choices that were interesting. [Lifeblood Crucible Activated] Chaos Chymify has stolen the soul of a defeated Duskshell. Please select which Aspect of the targeted soul to retain. Soul Aspects
  • Impervious Shell [Tier 5]: Channel the power of your shell to create a defensive barricade that stops all incoming damage at or below this spell¡¯s Tier.
  • Duskshell Torso [Tier 6]: Enormous torso of a Duskshell, containing all its innards and joints for other appendages.
  • Retractable Maw [Tier 6]: Enormous mouth of a Duskshell with beady eyes and no brains. Riddled with teeth to rend to dust anything caught within the maw.
  • Retractable Tail [Tier 6]: Slim tail of the Duskshell that allows for enhanced underground navigation where there is no light.
The other choices were things he had seen before. Its limbs, the Mana Surge ability, and the Mana Accumulation Sprout that grew the trees bearing Mana fruit. Ray had no need for any of those. To be fair, he didn¡¯t need most on the current list either, but the new options confirmed that yes, Chaos Chymify did indeed provide more advanced options. In fact, if Ray wanted, he could now create an entire Duskshell construct of his own. After putting the Tier Point into Lifeblood Construct to take it to Tier 4, the spell would now call up four different Soul Aspects at the same time. Just the number Ray would need to create any full-on monster. It was kind of insane to think that was possible. Constructing his own Duskshell was a completely different from constructing his own Brighthorn. Like building a tank versus building a kennel. They just didn¡¯t compare. Which meant there had to be some equalizer or limiter that Ray wasn¡¯t aware of just yet. Whatever the case, he didn¡¯t actually want to make his own Duskshell, so he picked Impervious Shell. ¡°All done?¡± Gritty asked. ¡°I need to kill one of those things too¡­¡± Ray nodded. ¡°You can stick to your underwater sea monsters.¡± They reached the Base before long. Ray took some time appreciating how it was growing as a settlement. High above, people had strung up clotheslines on the battlements and hung wet clothes to dry. A group of men and women were carrying lumber and masonry into the keep from a pile just outside. Even from the distance, Ray could smell something good cooking. They really were making this whole place feel lived-in. But domestic affairs weren¡¯t all that was progressing. The people were still tense. Ray could sense the jitteriness, the anxious expectation that the members held onto. That probably explained all the other preparations he saw. Off to one side, the Insurge Faction members had cleared up a patch of ground to serve as a sort of training field. People were exercising and sparring there already. At the moment, a group of sword-fighters were practicing their swings, stabs, and slashes. Stakes had been erected all around the Base. Maybe that was part of what the lumber was for. Ray spotted people at a lot of the windows all around the keep, each of them manned by someone keeping an eye out. They were also often armed with bows or even short spears, and those who weren¡¯t likely had some sort of spell or ranged skill to take advantage of. Maya greeted them within an office-like chamber inside the keep. She sat behind a table on a chair, both of which were somewhat crudely made. They lent her an extra air of authority, though. A window on the side let in light and air. She looked stressed, but also a little relieved to see Ray. Randall was in the room too, apparently consulting Maya on something, but he gave a friendly nod to Ray before heading out. ¡°You¡¯re finally back,¡± she said with a bright smile. ¡°And you brought Gritty with you too. I wasn¡¯t sure I¡¯d ever see you again.¡± Gritty dragged a hand through her hair to make it even messier. ¡°I thought I¡¯d pop by before things went to shit.¡± ¡°Well¡­ they haven¡¯t yet, but I¡¯m glad you¡¯re here all the same.¡± ¡°Everything alright?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Other than an imminent invasion, of course.¡± ¡°As well as it can be with a bunch of people who don¡¯t know each other now forced to live together. Some small issues here and there, but most people have adapted remarkably well. I¡¯m¡­¡± She smiled, half with pride, half disbelievingly. ¡°I¡¯m actually quite hopeful. Or would be, if we weren¡¯t¡­ you know.¡± ¡°Right. And that¡¯s good, because I think I have a plan for dealing with all this.¡± Maya sat up straighter. ¡°Oh?¡± Ray spent the better part of the next half an hour or so explaining his idea. If they could force the Wild Tides to commit to their plan, then they could lay a simple trap and take care of the entire issue. All they¡¯d have to do was pretend to capitulate while waiting for the opportunity to strike. ¡°What if they don¡¯t appear here?¡± Maya asked. ¡°What if Derrick refuses?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll have to think of ways we can get him to come here. You can¡¯t move. This Base is too important, and you can make it a condition for joining them¡ªthat you get to keep the Base.¡± ¡°Hmm, we¡¯ll see I guess. He seems like a shrewd guy. We¡¯ll have to make any reason for coming here convincing.¡± Gritty raised a hand. ¡°Hold on a second. You sound like you¡¯ve actually met him?¡± Ray raised an eyebrow in surprise. Gritty was right. Maya had spoken with a certain familiarity. ¡°He sent us a formal warning,¡± Maya said. ¡°So, no, I haven¡¯t met him, not really, but the message does give a few insights.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the message?¡± Ray asked. ¡°And how¡¯d you even get a message?¡± Maya told them the whole story. It was really weird. Apparently, a giant bat had flown in and dropped a scroll next to a few Faction members. They had been scared and tried to kill it, but the bat had apparently been way too strong. Eventually, Maya had gotten a hold on the scroll and read through it. ¡°Here you go.¡± She handed it to Ray from the table. ¡°Have a look.¡± Ray read through quickly. The letters were tidy, the script small and written in red. ¡°Greetings, Faction Leader Maya,¡± it read. ¡°If you don¡¯t know of us already, we are the Wild Tides, a growing Faction of Denizens who seek to claim the entirety of the First Floor for the benefit of all those who reside upon it. In this new world, if we don¡¯t stand together, then we are all doomed to fail. As such, there is only one tenet that we stick to. ¡°You are either with the Wild Tides, or you are against us. There is no in-between. If you do not seek to join the Wild Tides, then we must unfortunately come to regrettable conflict. It would be in all our best interests to avoid that. We MUST stand united against the foes that imperil us in the Tower of Forging. ¡°This letter is likely surprising and perhaps even rude, but if you would prefer, we can schedule a meeting. Simply write your reply on the opposite empty page of the letter and burn it. I shall receive it then. If I receive no reply in a week¡¯s time, then I shall take it as a declination of our generous offer. ¡°I await your reply.¡± It was signed with a single, familiar name. Derrick Orden. ¡°Ugh,¡± Gritty said. ¡°He sounds like a politician.¡± Ray handed the letter back to Maya. ¡°I can see why you think he¡¯s intelligent.¡± ¡°It¡¯s why I¡¯ve been stressing.¡± Maya folded the letter into a scroll again and carefully placed it on her table. ¡°Not sure what we should reply.¡± ¡°Easy.¡± Ray smiled. ¡°We¡¯re going to stick to our plan. That means agreeing to this ridiculous proposition. Better yet, you need to send it as soon as possible. Now, if you can.¡± ¡°What? Now?¡± ¡°He started some chaos in their ranks,¡± Gritty said, explaining how Ray had pretended to be a Wild Tides member to stir up trouble. ¡°Best to take advantage of it while we have the chance.¡± Maya stared at him with a mix of shock and¡­ what was that? Fear? Apprehension. Ray had a hard time telling, but it made him feel a little bad inside, which was stupid since why should he care if Maya found his deeds troubling. But her face cleared in seconds. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s plan out our plan, shall we?¡± Chapter 42: Evil Exchange Kredevel tore through the barrier set before him. It was thicker and stronger than the ones he had destroyed earlier. But that was how the training capsule worked. One had to break through ever-stronger obstacles with one¡¯s powers, and that was how one raised one¡¯s prowess. It was slow going, and the Essence reward wasn¡¯t great. Especially not with mere Tier 3 training capsules. Just another reason Kredevel had to get to higher floors. So many better opportunities for growth once one climbed the Tower. As Kredevel channelled his Growth Mana through Bladed Growth, his swords lengthened. Amethyst, hornlike growths glimmered to being around his curved sword, enlarging them to nearly five times their original range. Enhanced and empowered, Kredevel continued crushing through the set of training barricades erected by the capsule. They broke apart easily. But then, the capsule itself was falling apart. All around him, the white space beyond the glowing blue barriers was cracking apart. Shattering. Moments later, they fell completely, like the destroyed panes of a window. Kredevel was back in the real world of the Tower of Forging again. At his feet, a glassy orb lay fractured and destroyed. Ah well. The training capsule had lasted him a decent amount of time. He had broken through to level 19 a little while ago, after all. Satisfied with his efforts, Kredevel decided to take a break. And what better way to take a break than to pay a visit to his most relaxing spot.
¡°You have some nerve coming here after what you did.¡± That was the welcoming greeting Kredevel got as he arrived at the Brighthorn pen. Their current handler, Serian, had not appreciated how Kredevel had absconded with the training capsules yet still dared to return to the Brighthorns after his heinous crime. ¡°And yet,¡± Kredevel said. ¡°You welcome me all the same. It¡¯s good to see you again, Serian.¡± The young Sylvan, who had crossed off his Ritual Day mere days before joining the expedition into the Tower of Forging, grumbled something under his breath. He was the youngest among all of them who were here. His light green horns were still thin, and his skin still bore the mark of youthful scales that he was yet to shed off fully. ¡°What was that?¡± Kredevel asked. ¡°I couldn¡¯t quite catch you there.¡± Serian shot him another glare. ¡°I was saying that you shouldn¡¯t rely on my goodwill so much. If the Floor Lord asks, I will have to tell him where you are and what you¡¯ve been doing.¡± Kredevel entered the pen. One of the Brighthorns recognized him, loping over and receiving a light scratch on the back of its head. ¡°We both know the Handler doesn¡¯t care.¡± Serian spluttered. He probably couldn¡¯t believe Kredevel would dare call their Floor Lord by the title that was reserved only for the Tower Lord¡¯s use. It was true, though. Olgolair couldn¡¯t care less what Kredevel did or where he went. In fact, the Floor Lord most likely didn¡¯t care one whit that Kredevel had stolen training capsules as well, while destroying most that he couldn¡¯t have taken with him. So what if his weaker subordinates would now find it inordinately difficult to train and grow? Olgolair never used them. He had no reason to care. Eventually, the younger Sylvan forgot his anger. He bent to tending to the Brighthorn. That was the reason they had struck up a bond. Kredevel and Serian both loved the hounds. ¡°How are they doing?¡± Kredevel asked. ¡°If you think I¡¯m going to tell a traitor what is going on,¡± Serian said. ¡°Then you should think again.¡± ¡°I meant the Brighthorns, Serian.¡± ¡°¡­oh.¡± The younger Sylvan petted a nearby hound, feeding it a piece of dried Mana fruit from a small sack. ¡°They are doing well. There are still casualties out there, but there is only so much any of us can do about that. The new Denizens are at least treating them better overall, though. I appreciate their new strategy.¡± Kredevel nodded. He looked over to where a couple of the Brighthorns were dozing. ¡°Sleep is much better than debilitating via pain or causing some other discomfort. I do worry sometimes that the sleep they inflict might not be good too, but¡­¡± ¡°It beats the alternatives we¡¯ve seen so far.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°But yes, I would not be averse to news about our fellow friends too.¡± At that, Serian glared at him. Then sighed. ¡°They¡¯re having a mighty row.¡± Kredevel slowly turned around to stare. ¡°Really, now? What ever for?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t truly know. Some ruckus about a fight between the red-banded ones and the company stationed at Sector 43.¡± Serian paused for a second. ¡°Most of the company was killed.¡± Now that got Kredevel¡¯s attention. Killing almost a whole company of Sylvans? That wasn¡¯t any small ruckus. He was surprised the Wild Tides residing with the Sylvans hadn¡¯t been summarily executed already. ¡°That is difficult to believe. They killed that many of us? And are still here? Alive?¡± ¡°Well, they¡¯re denying it all, but¡­ well, I don¡¯t know the details. The shouting is why I came here in the first place.¡± ¡°Hold on. Are you saying that they are still there, discussing the matter at this moment?¡± Serian nodded. Kredevel got to his feet, bidding farewell to the Brighthorns. He would need to complete his visit later. Relaxation be taken by the Burgeoner, he had to see what this was about. ¡°I really don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea for you to pop in right this moment,¡± Serian said, standing up as well, his green robes glimmering. ¡°Almost everybody would wish you were one of those killed by the Wild Tides.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t even know if the Wild Tides actually are the killers, now do we? So long as their denial can be believed. Don¡¯t worry, I will only watch things from afar, never letting them find my presence.¡± Serian probably didn¡¯t believe him, which was likely why the younger Sylvan followed Kredevel as he approached the main compound. The broken-down Everair palace that the Floor Lord had appropriated was a warren at many places, but Kredevel had been here long enough that he could find his way to where the commotion was occurring. He could also find a secluded little spot tucked away from all else from where he could observe the goings-on without himself being sensed by the others. ¡°Get away from them, Lastiel,¡± one of the Sylvans was saying. Lastiel himself was standing before the humans with the red cloth around their arms. The Wild Tides, as they liked to call themselves. They were all surrounded by several angry Sylvans who had their hands on their weapons. Likely the only reason the new Denizens weren¡¯t dead was because of the Sylvans¡¯ second-in-command standing before them. ¡°Do not disregard the Floor Lord¡¯s orders,¡± Lastiel said, voice silky smooth yet holding onto a hard edge. ¡°We are not to act rashly till a complete investigation into the matter has been concluded.¡± ¡°Investigation by whom? We¡¯re allowing these cowards to hide their own handiwork. Of course they will come out looking innocent.¡± ¡°You do realize we are likely being fooled, yes?¡± ¡°And do you realize several of us and our Brighthorns were murdered in cold blood?¡± Credit to the humans, they didn¡¯t look cowed or afraid. Only annoyed. Kredevel was starting to get the feeling that they really might not be the culprits. That Lastiel could be in the right in the matter. Such a sad proposition. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. But then, who or what had killed his fellow Sylvans? The argument went on, as did the standoff. By the looks of things, they had been at it for a while, long before Kredevel had arrived. He couldn¡¯t tell what exactly they were waiting for. Could Kredevel perhaps push things a little in the direction he desired? Hmm, it would be difficult from his currently self-banished state. While he figured it out, he could call¡ª Kredevel paused. Impossible. It couldn¡¯t be that Ray was the one who had caused this chaos, could he? Well, only one way to find out. He had been about to open up his chat with Ray when Serian grabbed a hold of his arm and began leading him away. ¡°They are coming,¡± the younger Sylvan said. They turned out to be more of the Wild Tides. In fact, if Kredevel wasn¡¯t mistaken, one of them was their leader. The man with the long dark robe and a big beard. He certainly walked and held himself like he owned the whole place. If he was at all deterred by the frosty, near-hostile reception he got from most of the Sylvans, he didn¡¯t show any sign of it. An intriguing man. ¡°We are being misled, my friends,¡± he said. ¡°I have acquired evidence of it.¡± ¡°Evidence?¡± One of the Sylvans scoffed. ¡°Don¡¯t tell us you have the head of the culprit and can make it talk.¡± His beard stretched as he smiled. ¡°If only. All I really did was learn how exactly the murders were carried out. The specific abilities this murderer used? I can assure you that there isn¡¯t a single member of the Wild Tides who possesses powers like those. You can check if you want.¡± Kredevel blinked. Whoever had reported these killings had likely seen what sort of skills or spells the culprit had used. As such, Derrick Order, the leader of the Wild Tides, had simply learned about them. Kredevel was not at all surprised he knew what powers the members of his faction possessed. Though, this begged the question, how exactly had they been killed? The Sylvans didn¡¯t have any real argument against that. All they could do was start scheduling an immediate investigation into every single member of the Wild Tides to see if what Derrick had said was indeed the truth. That would be a massive undertaking, but there was no other choice. Unfortunately, it looked like the Wild Tides had other plans. ¡°We will be glad to comply,¡± Derrick said. ¡°But first, we¡¯ve got some important business to take care of.¡± That made several of the Sylvans bristle. ¡°Nothing is more important than resolving this issue!¡± one said. ¡°Nothing?¡± Derrick scratched his chin through his beard. ¡°Not even bringing to heel the scum who killed so many Brighthorns, who murdered your fellows while running from their righteous punishment? I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if this was their handiwork too.¡± Kredevel froze. Derrick had to be talking about Ray and the Faction he was involved with. He realized there was some context he was missing. What exactly did the Wild Tides plan to do? ¡°Is it true?¡± Lastiel asked. ¡°You¡¯re moving out against them now?¡± ¡°Well, they¡¯ve decided to surrender.¡± Derrick¡¯s smile was the opposite of pleasant. ¡°We¡¯ve come to an agreement. It¡¯s time the Wild Tides took advantage of it. Once we¡¯re done with them, you can swoop in and kill the perpetrators.¡± That phrasing made even Lastiel frown. ¡°We will not kill. We will punish where we deem it appropriate. But if your plan has finally come to fruition, then there is no time to waste.¡± ¡°Yes. That¡¯s what I was thinking. Neat little coincidence we have this ruckus right when we need to carry out our plan, isn¡¯t it?¡± Lastiel looked around with no small amount of suspicion at the rest of the Sylvans. ¡°That it is.¡± ¡°We will still need to inform the Floor Lord of this,¡± one of the Sylvans said. ¡°He¡¯ll be the one to judge if this proof of yours holds any true merit.¡± Derrick¡¯s smile grew wider. ¡°Oh, good idea. I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll judge well.¡± Lastiel laughed. ¡°Oh, I am certain he will.¡± If that sounded nefarious to the other Sylvans, they didn¡¯t let on. With the argument momentarily settled, Kredevel decided to depart. He had learned enough. Enough that he had to act. Soon. ¡°What was all that?¡± Serian asked. ¡°You heard them,¡± Kredevel said. ¡°They are moving out against the Insurge Faction¡ª¡± ¡°No, not that. The last bit. Where the commander was laughing along with that human. What is going on with the Floor Lord?¡± I am bored, Kredevel. He remembered the words from Olgolair. Of course, the Floor Lord was bored on a Floor that held no real challenges for him. Nothing of true interest. Except for one small thing. ¡°I think this Derrick Orden has discovered the secret of the Everair,¡± Kredevel said. ¡°Something the Handler has been seeking for a while.¡± Serian winced at the mention of the Floor Lord¡¯s title again, but he looked too thoughtful about what Kredevel had revealed. Kredevel was interested about it too, but there was a more important matter to deal with. He would need to speak with Ray soon. He and his group had to prepare to be invaded.
While Maya handled the communication between Insurge Faction and the Wild Tides, Ray decided to spend some time in the Base. He thought he could just stroll and relax. Gritty had disappeared to who knew where while Randall and Dory were both busy with their own matters. But if Ray had thought he would have to remain alone until things got going with the Wild Tides, he was mistaken. ¡°Hey!¡± A woman ran up to him. She was trailed by a small gaggle of Faction members, all of whom wearing simple robes of various designs and many of whom bore staves. Ray blinked. They were all mages. Which was confirmed later when he began talking with the woman and the rest of the group. Apparently, they knew about Ray. Not only what he had done for the Faction¡ªwhich everybody knew, from what he heard, not that it was surprising¡ªbut also that he had a magic-based Ascension Class as well. ¡°So, we were thinking,¡± the woman, Alicia, said. ¡°That you could give us some pointers. You know, help us grow stronger. With everything going on, I feel like we could use all the help we can get to become as strong as possible.¡± Ray was a little taken aback by the request. The idea wasn¡¯t anathema to him. If someone had knowledge he could use, it made sense to get that knowledge, if possible. It was just rare for Ray to be that someone. ¡°Uh, sure,¡± he said. He scratched the back of his head, his smile tinged with slight embarrassment. ¡°Not sure how much I can help, but we can give it a go.¡± They continued training for a long while after that. Finding some open space at the back of the keep, Ray led them through some exercises to help them find synergies between various spells they possessed and come up with strategies to use them effectively in battle. Some of them were quite smart about it already. One fire mage type guy¡ªthere were way too many of them for Ray to use Presence of the Primordial to go through all their spells and what not¡ªused his heat control to zone his opponents before he blasted them with fireballs. Another man with strange flesh manipulation magic¡ªwhich was as gruesome as it was interesting and reminded Ray of his own Lifeblood Chaos¡ªcould make himself appear corpselike. To the point his life signature disappeared and even Presence of the Primordial didn¡¯t detect him. And then, once he was within reach of a foe who had ignored him, he¡¯d lash out. Pretty wild, if Ray thought about it for long. The majority of them had interesting abilities, one way or another. He also noticed that not all of them were well-rounded. Some had very specific leanings they had to focus on, sort of how Dory¡¯s entire class was built around summoning other creatures to do her bidding. In much the same way, one man could only apply various buffs to himself and others, while another could only call upon plants to perform any action. All interesting use cases and limits. It made Ray wonder about his limits again. Poison. That was one. That fucking swamp. But he had a feeling there were others he hadn¡¯t fully thought of, and if he didn¡¯t figure them out soon enough, he could end up getting in trouble. When they dispersed a few hours later, they all thanked him for the insights, help, and practice. Ray was smiling brightly when he returned back to the keep. That had felt good. ¡°What¡¯s got you so happy?¡± Ray looked up. Gritty was hanging upside-down from the ceiling with her foot on it, like she had been bitten by a radioactive spider. ¡°I was helping some people train,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s nice to see everyone working together. What the hell are you doing?¡± ¡°Just testing a neat little ability I got.¡± ¡°The ability to cosplay as spider punk?¡± ¡°Fuck off. And no, I can control the force of attraction between myself and anything that has blood on it. In other words, if I throw some blood around¡­¡± She twirled like a ballerina determined to make everyone think ballets were fucking stupid. ¡°I can walk on walls and ceilings. Neat, huh?¡± Ray hadn¡¯t seen walls and ceilings out in the wilderness of the First Floor, though he supposed this could be interesting in dungeons, ruins, and in other enclosed spaces. ¡°Definitely neat.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t tell if you¡¯re being sarcastic or not.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to go find Maya.¡± Ray waved as he walked past. ¡°Let me know if you can start shooting webs.¡± He caught her rolling her eyes at him as he went higher up the Base. Ray knocked politely and sought permission before entering Maya¡¯s office. Despite that, she still looked shattered when he entered. ¡°Hey,¡± Ray said. She looked so broken, Ray had a sudden overwhelming urge to comfort her. ¡°Are you alright? What¡¯s going on?¡± She looked up from where her face was buried in her hands. ¡°We got another message from the Wild Tides.¡± She sucked in a breath wet with a suppressed sob. ¡°They have my family.¡± Ray froze. ¡°What?¡± ¡°It¡¯s them. I know it. He¡ªhe made my husband write the letter. There are things in it that only he would know.¡± She shook her head, clearly distraught. ¡°How could this have happened?¡± Ray found himself swallowing. This Derrick. Maya was right. The Wild Tides leader was a lot more devious than he had given him credit for. ¡°What does he want in return for your family¡¯s safety? We¡¯re agreeing to the surrender, so it shouldn¡¯t be an issue, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the thing. He doesn¡¯t just want us to surrender. If I want my family back, then¡ª¡± She hesitated, then stared him in the eye with her tear-filled, bloodshot ones. ¡°Then I have to hand you over to them.¡± Ray¡¯s eyebrows rose on their own. He was suddenly tempted to laugh at the sheer evilness of Derrick¡¯s move. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Mrs Boss,¡± Gritty said. She had entered from behind. Apparently, she had decided to follow Ray, who turned around and didn¡¯t see her. Then looked up and found her with her arms folded on the ceiling. A trail of bloody boot prints snaked out of the office. Good luck to Maya on cleaning that. ¡°I infiltrated their ranks before,¡± Gritty said. ¡°I can do it again and extract your family, no sweat.¡± Ray stared at her. Wasn¡¯t she always saying how she was mean and cruel and did whatever she had to in a world that she hated? Yet, here she was offering to go out and save a poor woman¡¯s family all on her own. Those two sides gelled about as well as oil and water, but then, maybe people were more complex than the neat little boxes Ray might have put them in. ¡°I can¡¯t ask you to put yourself in that sort of risky position,¡± Maya said. ¡°Though, I appreciate it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s no real risk. Trust me, I can survive anything.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not just a risk to you,¡± Ray said. ¡°It¡¯s her family we¡¯re also concerned about.¡± ¡°¡­oh, right.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s fine.¡± Ray turned to face Maya again, trying to smile confidently. ¡°You¡¯re going to agree with what they say, Maya. And then, you¡¯re going to get your family back.¡± ¡°Agree?¡± Maya shook her head. ¡°I can¡¯t just give you up to them.¡± ¡°You can. You will.¡± Ray¡¯s smile turned into a grin. ¡°But also, you won¡¯t.¡± Chapter 43: Cold-Blooded Trick Things were coming to a head rapidly. Just two more days and then they¡¯d have the all-important meeting with the Wild Tides. Maya was a brilliant negotiator, it turned out. Not only had she convinced the Wild Tides commander to return her husband and son in exchange for Ray¡¯s head, but she had also convinced Derrick Orden himself to attend the handover of her Insurge Faction. It made sense. They were one of the biggest opposition to the Wild Tides aim of controlling the entire First Floor. They deserved Derrick¡¯s personal attention. Though, they weren¡¯t the only opposition. Ray couldn¡¯t help but appreciate just how well Maya was handling the whole issue even while having the threat of her family¡¯s death hanging over her head. She had the presence of mind to send out search parties for other people and Factions all over the Floor. There were a lot more people than any of them had thought. It gave Ray a bit of hope. The Insurge Faction had grown to over two hundred members now with all their active recruiting. Maya had secretly confided that she was afraid the Base would soon reach its capacity at this rate. In other words, the Insurge Faction would need to think of expanding their holdings. There weren¡¯t other structures as suitable for occupation anywhere close by like the keep. But that was fine. She had also said she wasn¡¯t against building up the structures they would need to expand. With more and more people coming in, the Faction had a greater array of skills they could pull from. There were actual builders, carpenters, smiths, and the like among them. Few in number, sure, but enough to guide others who were less experienced in the matter. What truly gave Ray hope was that his original estimates could be wrong. He had thought that the vast majority of the population who had been forcefully pulled into the Tower of Forging were long dead. That might not necessarily be true. Of course, most of the people hadn¡¯t survived beyond their tutorial, and even more had died within the main Floor itself. But the percentage of survivors he had originally believed still remained could be incorrect. At least, going by what some of the scouts Maya had sent out said. There were more people in far out Sectors they hadn¡¯t yet reached. People who didn¡¯t even know about the Wild Tides yet, much less having met them. Sometimes, Ray forgot just how huge the Tower of Forging was. Ray didn¡¯t spend the days waiting at the Insurge Faction base doing nothing, of course. He led three excursions, joining up with a bunch of others to gather more Essence to level up with. He wasn¡¯t terribly fond of the idea of being in a party. It reduced the Essence gain too much. Something he warned to everybody who accompanied him too. A quick little workaround was to separate once they reached the general vicinity of their target area. There, they could break off as individuals or in pairs at most, and then tackle the various monsters in the locale. That ought to give them a good amount of Essence at a rapid pace, especially since they had exercised to use their powers as effectively as possible. Ray stood at the edge of a murky lake, executing a similar idea of effectiveness. He sent out pulses of Chaos Chymify into the water, making the surface boil. Moments later, a sea serpent of the kind Gritty had killed emerged. Its flesh bubbled and one of its eyes was already melting out of its head. Ray had discovered that a True Mana enhanced Chaos Chymify dissolved in water, spreading the chaotic energy much farther than it did in air. Monsters hit by it were all determined to escape their liquid prison. Thus, the Scarserpent had emerged, desperate to get away from the chaotic energy. Ray killed it with a few quick Shatterclaws while it was distracted by the pain. [Enemy Defeated¡ªScarserpent] Tier 4 Monster: Scarserpent [Level 11] x5 Essence: +2,200 Knowledge: +12 Mana Restored: +550 Essence to Level 17: 2,600/14,200 Knowledge to next Threshold: 289/300 In that manner, Ray roamed all around the base, ranging out to nearby Sectors to see if there were more monsters to kill. He had to gather more Essence fast. There were some among them who baulked at the frankly wanton massacring going on. Ray could see their point, in all honesty. At this moment in time, he wasn¡¯t simply fighting off monsters that wanted to kill him. He wasn¡¯t fighting for survival. Not directly, at least. No. Now, he was the aggressor. The monster who was ranging out and hunting down other creatures who had no idea he existed, much less have any malicious designs regarding him. He was, more or less, killing innocent creatures. Ray understood it and accepted it. Unfortunately, this new world of theirs didn¡¯t have the same luxuries that allowed more moral decisions with which to live life by. This world was one of strength. Of power. There was something inherently flawed in such an existence, but Ray wasn¡¯t in any position to change it. Neither was anyone else. If one refused to participate under the new rules, one was liable to be wiped out of existence. Control, he reminded himself. Ultimately, this was all about gaining control. By the end of the second-to-last day before the big meeting, Ray had gained a bunch more Essence from killing Spider Monkeys in Sector 49. [Enemy Defeated¡ªSpider Monkey] Tier 3 Monster: Spider Monkey [Level 7] x14 Essence: +2,940 Knowledge: +42 Mana Restored: +980 Essence to Level 17: 5,540/14,200 [Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 300-point threshold, your Knowledge has raised your Intellect by 35. Knowledge to next Threshold: 331/400 Then, on the last day before returning to the Base, he ended up defeating a bunch of Lopers too. The leaping deer were still annoying to kill, but every little bit of Essence added up. [Enemy Defeated¡ªLoper] Tier 2 Monster: Loper [Level 4] x18 Essence: +1,440 Knowledge: +54 Mana Restored: +720 Essence to Level 17: 6,980/14,200 Knowledge to next Threshold: 385/400 Still not even halfway to the next level, but ah well. Ray had tried. It was time to attend to more important matters. Time to get himself killed.
Their plan to fool the Wild Tides members involved murder. Maya had been opposed to it at the beginning. Taking the life of monsters was one thing, but killing their fellow humans in cold blood was a step too far. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Unfortunately, their choices were limited. Together, Ray and Gritty were able to convince Maya that drastic though it seemed, it was what they needed for the Faction¡¯s benefit. They had discussed the whole thing beforehand, ironing out the details and making sure all contingencies had been set up. It was nice to brainstorm potential issues with others. They saw things that Ray wouldn¡¯t on his own. One of those issues was Ray¡¯s own capabilities. ¡°Were you able to figure out the issue?¡± Maya had asked on the second-to-last-day before the meeting. The plan needed Ray to be able to reconstruct the head of his next kill. Unfortunately, because they wanted the head to look exactly like his, he needed a level of granularity with Lifeblood Construct he hadn¡¯t obtained yet. He wasn¡¯t sure it was even obtainable. ¡°No, not yet. I don¡¯t know if I can actually solve it, at least not in such a short time.¡± ¡°Then why don¡¯t we see if there¡¯s anyone else who can help?¡± ¡°We shouldn¡¯t be revealing the plan to anyone else, though.¡± Of course, they had to keep things secret. Besides Ray himself, only Maya and Gritty were aware of the whole plan. Revealing it too many people raised the chances of it being revealed to the last people who should know¡ªthe infiltrators from the Wild Tides. Although, things were convoluted. The infiltrators actually needed to know the plan too. Just not the real idea that Ray and co were following. What the hidden members of the Wild Tides Faction were told was the opposite. They would think that Maya would betray Ray and kill him on the day they were to have the meeting with the Wild Tides. Once that was done, the trio of infiltrators could carry Ray¡¯s head to their leader and present it on a silver platter. Mission accomplished. Insurge Faction subjugated. But Ray had other plans. ¡°We don¡¯t have to inform anyone about the whole thing,¡± Maya had said. ¡°We don¡¯t even need to say anything about why we need a specific skill. All we need to do is some sort of disguising ability, right? I think we can manage that.¡± ¡°Alright, if you say so. Also, Kredevel confirmed that the Sylvans might be in attendance at a distance, but they¡¯re very unlikely to interfere.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a relief. Even with all the plans and all the help, we can¡¯t take both these Wild Tides and the Sylvans on.¡± ¡°Even with the Imps on our side too.¡± ¡°Oh right. I need to make sure no one on our side, especially the new people, get freaked out by your pet monsters.¡± Ray had wanted to correct her, but there was no time to do so. They were all so busy.
The day of the meeting had arrived in no time at all. With merely twenty minutes to go, Ray enacted his part of the plan. He killed one of the infiltrators. It was a simple thing. Too easy, almost. Maya had led one of the three infiltrators, the man who was closest to Ray¡¯s build and appearance, to a small room. Her pretence was that she had finally betrayed the saviour of her Faction. Now, his corpse lay ready for the infiltrator¡¯s perusal. Except, as soon as they had entered the room, Ray had stabbed the man in the neck with a knife. There was a little nook in the room where he had been able to hide himself. As soon as the duo had passed ahead, Ray had silently stepped in behind and struck. Spluttering and choking on his own blood, the man had fallen to the ground. Ray blasted him with Chaos Chymify to the face for good measure. Then he was dead. [Enemy Defeated¡ªHuman] Spy [Tier 1] Human: [Level 6] x1 Essence: +300 Mana Restored: +60 Knowledge: +3 Essence to Level 17: 7,580/14,200 Knowledge to next Threshold: 391/400 [New Personal Achievement¡ªAssassin!] You¡¯ve orchestrated and carried out the killing of your first Denizen methodically. Your planning and your killing skills go hand in hand. Reward
  • Reputation: +20 Ruthlessness, +15 Cunning
  • Skill Upgraded: Killer Instinct [Tier 2]
Huh. So rewards from achievements could automatically upgrade certain skills. Ray wondered how that worked. No doubt the kind of achievement he attained affected the kind of ability that was upgraded. It wasn¡¯t like killing was going to improve a healing skill. But now wasn¡¯t the time to think about that. ¡°Too easy,¡± Ray said, looking down at the bleeding body. Hopefully, he had been fast enough to prevent the infiltrator from sending any messages to the rest of his group or the Wild Tides in general. They were lucky that the infiltrator hadn¡¯t possessed any perception abilities anywhere close to Presence of the Primordial. Maya had done well to sus out the right target. Ray turned his head. She was petrified to her spot, a riot of emotions running across her face. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of this.¡± Ray pointed behind him. ¡°Then I¡¯ll meet up with the other two.¡± Gathering herself, Maya nodded tightly before leaving. ¡°See you, then.¡± Ray got to work. The first part was simply getting the Soul Aspect of the man¡¯s head. There were some other intriguing skills in the man¡¯s repertoire, according to the options for Lifeblood Crucible. Ray didn¡¯t pay them any mind. He was laser-focused on what he had to accomplish here. There was no time to waste on idle fancies. With that done, Ray first used Lifeblood Construct to summon the head. Just the head. Nothing else. It was eerie to see the exact head of the man he had just killed appeared from a bloom of chaotic black-red energy. The head opened its eyes. It blinked at Ray. This was going to take some getting used to. Ray observed it quickly. His commands were simple keep the eyes closed. As the head wasn¡¯t attached to any lungs, it wasn¡¯t drawing any breath. Since Ray was supposed to have been killed very recently, it wasn¡¯t too much of a problem that the head looked relatively fresh instead of corpselike. But the bottom was a problem. Where the neck ended, there was a flap of skin covering where the neck would have been attached to a body. A problem he could take care of later. First, he needed a careful touch. Ray quickly took the head to the flesh manipulating mage he had first met that day they had all come to him for lessons and advice. The man had a look of curiosity in his eyes, but he didn¡¯t ask any questions to Ray. Maya had taken care of it. ¡°So it¡¯s got to look like you?¡± he asked. Ray nodded. ¡°As near as you can make it.¡± ¡°The beard too?¡± ¡°Yeah. I know a perfect match is probably not possible, but do your best, please.¡± The man got to work. It didn¡¯t take too long, thankfully. Ray could tell the meeting was about to begin. He had seen people moving into position, all tense and expectant. Maya had drilled everyone to prepare for the worst. ¡°How does this look?¡± the man asked, drawing back and wiping some sweat off his forehead. Ray wondered how much Mana he¡¯d had to expend. He raised the head and looked at it critically. It wasn¡¯t quite the match for Ray. Anyone who had known him for any decent amount of time would be able to tell that it wasn¡¯t him. But the similarities were good enough. The same complexion, the same general shape of the jaw and cheekbones, the same hair. There was even the same short, scruffy beard thanks to the man basically gluing short, brown hair to the head¡¯s jowls. A rendition good enough to pass off as Ray¡ªa dead Ray¡ªto those who weren¡¯t familiar with him. ¡°Thanks,¡± Ray said. ¡°This should work. Hopefully.¡± The man nodded. Bidding his farewell, Ray hurried. Now for the last stage of the plan.
Ray¡¯s heart hammered as he walked to the meeting spot, the head that resembled his own in his hand. He had changed his clothes so that he was now wearing the garb that the dead infiltrator had worn. Last but likely most important, he had also used Primal Summons to call up the man¡¯s head on Ray¡¯s head. Thanks to Mana Imbuing and his Mana Core, the transformation had been basically seamless. The summoned head had replaced his original one. Unlike the head he carried, the one he had summoned was a perfect replica. There was so much tension in the air, Ray felt like he was walking through molasses. Throngs of people had gathered everywhere. He was passing by dozens of members of Insurge Faction, most of them looking ahead to their guests. But some were turning to face him, noting the head he was carrying. And they were all reacting appropriately. Ray kept his grin internal. The shock and anger on their faces were absolutely genuine. None of them knew about the plan. It would only help sell it better to the Wild Tides. It also made his heart¡ªalready pumping too fast¡ªdo a little jumping-jack to realize that people were enraged on his behalf. So many of them actually cared that it looked like he had died. Even if most of them didn¡¯t know him, they knew what he had done, had likely been direct beneficiaries of his actions. They felt for him. It would have been heartwarming if Ray hadn¡¯t been about to pull an evil trick after killing a man in cold blood. Ahead of him was where the main contingent had gathered. Maya was accompanied by Tyler, along with a small contingent of some of the strongest members of her entire Faction. Randall was there, and Ray felt a spike of pride to note there were a couple of the mages he had helped train as well. Just beyond them, the main members of the Wild Tides had gathered close too. Their leader was at the head, with a fierce-looking man just behind him. A dozen more men and women, all wearing the same armband of red cloth ringed them. Even farther behind, more and more members of the Wild Tides ranged out. So many of them. Ray smiled. It was genuine. This was going to be a wild clash. ¡°There you are, Blake,¡± the leader of the Wild Tides said. His beard shifted as he smiled. ¡°We were waiting for you.¡± Derrick Orden was a tall, powerfully built man wearing a long, dark coat. His hair was carefully brushed back, like he had visited a salon not long ago. There was no sign of any weapons on him. But more than his appearance, it was his very presence that struck Ray the most. It was almost as though there was some sort of aura around him. A feeling of complete authority that compelled anyone in his vicinity to obey his every command. ¡°Sorry,¡± Ray said. All the practice on how best to modulate his voice to resemble the infiltrator¡¯s had helped a lot. He looked down at the head he was carrying. ¡°Had to be a little careful to not¡­ reveal the surprise.¡± Around them, the members of the Insurge Faction were beginning to react. Several expressed shock and dismay, almost all of them looking at Ray like he had transformed into some kind of monster. ¡°Is that¡­?¡± Even Tyler seemed to be at a loss for words. Some of them were slowly beginning to get angry enough to think of attacking him outright. That wouldn¡¯t do. To speed things up a bit, Ray stepped forward, letting the shocked horror of everyone else around him roll off his shoulders. He threw the head to let it thump to the ground before him. ¡°There. It¡¯s done.¡± Maya¡¯s turn. She stepped forward as well. ¡°I¡¯ve kept my end of the deal.¡± Her eyes were fixed to a point past Derrick. Could she see her family? Ray couldn¡¯t spot anything of the sort. ¡°It¡¯s your turn, Derrick Orden.¡± ¡°What deal you talking about, Maya?¡± Tyler asked. ¡°Yeah.¡± Randall¡¯s voice shook, trembling with disbelief. ¡°What deal? What¡¯s going on?¡± Maya ignored them. She was only waiting for Derrick¡¯s response. Ray¡¯s heart began thudding even faster in his chest. He was really tempted to use Presence of the Primordial just then, but he held himself back. Not yet. ¡°You kept your end of the deal, is it?¡± Derrick was looking down at the head with mild distaste. ¡°Hmm, I suppose you did.¡± He smiled backup at her, showing his teeth. ¡°Now, let me keep my end of the deal.¡± Maya waited for a second, then her eyes began to widen. ¡°Wait, what are you¡ª¡± ¡°Bring them,¡± Derrick said, raising his hand. ¡°In pieces.¡± ¡°No!¡± Maya started forward before halting herself as the man just behind Derrick stepped forward, two scimitars materializing in his hand. Behind her, the rest of the Insurge Faction members all bristled, ready to start fighting at a moment¡¯s notice. Ray¡¯s heart felt like it wanted to eject itself out of his chest. ¡°You really thought I¡¯d be fooled by such a simple trick?¡± Derrick asked. ¡°Well, now you¡¯re going to learn what happens when¡ª¡± One of the Wild Tides members rushed over and hissed something urgently into Derrick¡¯s ear. Behind Ray, the others were starting to whisper among themselves too. They were clearly confused. But one thing was clear. Their fear that Maya had sold Ray out¡ªhad sold them out¡ªwas starting to look like a fake out. ¡°What?¡± Derrick shouted. The man who had come to deliver the message quicky backed off, turning pale in fright. Ray frowned. Did he recognize that guy from somewhere? Oh, right. That was the amusing fellow who had called Ray an Oz cosplayer. A moment later, the signal Ray and Maya had been waiting for appeared. A burst of blood shooting high into the air before gleaming a red so bright that it looked like an ascending star. Gritty had succeeded. Just to prove it, her shout echoed over the area. ¡°I¡¯ve got them!¡± Everyone jumped at her raised voice coming from somewhere behind. Ray only smiled. It was time. Maya recognized it too. She stepped back, her arm falling to her sword and shield. ¡°Insurge Faction!¡± she shouted. ¡°To battle!¡± Ray grinned at Derrick¡¯s face. Then he finally got to use Presence of the Primordial. But at the same time, a warning materialized. A very surprising one. [Warning!] You are now in the presence of a Tower Node. Chapter 44: Node of The Fleshcrafter Sometimes, Maya still had trouble believing she was the leader of Insurge Faction. That she was now in charge of almost three hundred people all told. The thought should have been scary. It should have freaked her out how many people were relying on her to make a good decision. Shouldn¡¯t she be paralyzed by the thought that she could fail them if she ever had a lapse in judgment? She was run ragged by just her lone son. How the fuck did anyone function when one had this many dependents? And yet, as the Faction had continued growing under her guidance, her worries had faded. People could work together well, once given some guidance. People wanted to work together well, to come and be a part of some sort of rudimentary community. Now more than ever, when they were all stuck in this unfamiliar situation, likely permanently. They had to do their utmost to cooperate. To contribute. It was just sometimes difficult to believe that Maya¡¯s main contribution was the direction she could provide. Huh. Who¡¯d have thought leading community organization efforts like the yearly marathon in Bridgeport would have been useful in this new world of theirs? It was that feeling of responsibility that had made Maya decide how best she could inform the rest of her Faction what she, Gritty, and Ray had planned. She couldn¡¯t give anything away. Too risky. Nevertheless, they needed to be prepared. There was going to be a struggle, if their plan worked out, and they had to be ready. So, a day before the meeting with the Wild Tides, Maya had gathered most of the Faction together. She wasn¡¯t great at speeches. There was nothing to give a speech about. All she wanted was for them to be prepared. So, all Maya did was tell them about her feelings. She told them that the Faction meant something. That they were all a part of something bigger than any of their individual selves now. They had already been working well with each other. Now, it was time to work for each other. She couldn¡¯t very well tell them the exact plan. Not with the infiltrators among them. ¡°Our new friends will be here during the meeting,¡± Maya reminded them at the end. ¡°If you see a blue armband, you¡¯ll know they¡¯re on our side.¡± She took a deep breath. ¡°We might be meeting to discuss things civilly with the Wild Tides, but don¡¯t let your guard down. If things go south for whatever reason, have faith in me, believe in each other, and remember one call.¡± Maya looked them all over, meeting as many eyes as she could. They waited with their breaths held, making no sound at all, letting her voice take up the entire room. ¡°Insurge Faction,¡± Maya said, raising her volume so that she could be heard far and wide. ¡°To battle!¡±
For just an instant, Ray was frozen. A new Tower Node? Here? The only explanation he could reach was that Derrick had one with him. It was the reward from establishing the dungeon that had revealed its presence to Ray. With a force of will, Ray focused. He had only the briefest time to take in Derrick¡¯s information with Presence of the Primordial. [Presence of the Primordial] Derrick Orden [Denizen] Race: Human Path: Path of the Emissary [Epic] Class: Apostle [Uncommon] [Tier 2] at Level 17 Skills: Projection [Tier 3]: Project any force generated by your body a distance away from you. At Tier 3, this spell amplifies a force by 3x its original magnitude and can cast the projection up to 15 meters away. Retributive Knowledge [Tier 1]: Learn the ins and outs of any ability used against you. Call Upon [Tier 4]: If you possess any items above Denizen-grade, you can now channel their strength. At Tier 4, this spell grants you 2 abilities lasting 2 minutes total. Divine Seeker [Tier 2]: Detect the presence of any ability, item, or being above Denizen-grade in your vicinity. At Tier 2, this spell¡¯s range extends to 20 meters. Liturgical Following [Tier 5]: Raise your might proportional to the number of followers under your banner. At Tier 5, this spell raises all your stats by 1 point per 50 people in your following. Sacrifice [Tier 3]: Channel the power of your followers for a short duration. Can be configured to grant a passive boost to all stats and skills or manifested as a blast of Mana. At Tier 3, this spell temporarily disables the Mana conduits of 6 nearby followers and lasts 1 minute and 30 seconds. Repression [Tier 4]: A small chunk of all energy directed at you is stored nearby instead of striking their target. Once activated, this spell expels all stored energy as either a barrier or a beam. At Tier 4, this spell absorbs 8% of all energy directed at you at all times. The only reason Ray was able to get a decent look at the list of everything Derrick had was because of the chaos unfolding everywhere. Shouts and screams rang out as the battle began and the combatants squared off. Things were turning into a pandemonium. And all Ray could focus on was the man before him, who was busy giving his subordinates rapid orders. Not only did Derrick have an Uncommon Ascension Class, he also possessed an Epic Path too. Path of the Emissary, whatever that meant. And he was at a level higher than Ray. But the one thing that took Ray¡¯s attention the most was one of his spells. Liturgical Following. The description said that it would raise his stats depending on the number of people in his Faction. Now Ray understood why he was so determined to take over the entire Floor. The more people Derrick controlled, the stronger he would be. Literally. An ability like that seemed insane on the surface. After all, how many people were part of the Wild Tides by now? Several hundred had to be the bare minimum. Ray wouldn¡¯t be surprised if it was in the low thousands. That meant Derrick¡¯s stats were shooting through the roof. Insane. [Warning!] Presence of the Primordial indicates you have been marked as an enemy by Infiltrator¡¯s Mark [Tier 2]. Presence of the Primordial has negated the effects of Infiltrator¡¯s Mark [Tier 2]. Ray twisted around. One of the two infiltrators was hurtling away from him. The other one looked confused. ¡°Oh no you don¡¯t,¡± Ray said. Then he used Shatterclaw. The man had no defence against the spell. He cried out as the black-red claws of the spell tore into him and left him bleeding to death, his flesh rotting and his body malforming. ¡°Great job, Raymond,¡± Derrick said. Ray slowly turned. He hadn¡¯t been so foolish as to grant the worthless infiltrators all his attention. He¡¯d still had Derrick in his sight. The Wild Tides leader was too dangerous. And confident. It was clear that, despite sending off everyone else around him to deal with the Insurge Faction, he had remained here all on his own to deal with Ray. To be fair, he was definitely strong enough, so the confidence wasn¡¯t unfounded. Still. It was a bit surreal. Here was Ray, standing in the middle of unbridled chaos unfolding around him, yet he had no trouble focusing only on Derrick. It was as if the rest of the entire battle was happening through a screen, removed by several degrees from the reality of his confrontation with the leader of the Wild Tides. ¡°I was wondering when we¡¯d finally get to meet,¡± Ray said. ¡°Too bad you¡¯re meeting me alive instead of dead.¡± ¡°Yes. It would have been simpler if that really had been your head, but oh well. I¡¯ll just kill you now.¡± The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°You sound far too confident.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got good reason to be. It¡¯s been ordained that I shall kill you.¡± With a little tug, Derrick removed his coat. He let it fall to the ground. Ray¡¯s initial impression was right. The man was really well-built. Under the coat, Derrick¡¯s torso was naked, revealing a muscular body pitted with some scars here and there. The sensation of authority coming off him was now joined by one of growing power. A strange locket hung from his neck, an item clearly interacting with Mana, according to Presence of the Primordial. Ray received no information about it. Light shimmered around Derrick¡¯s hands. A second later, both his forearms were covered in a strange, feather-covered and talon-tipped gauntlets. At the same time, an even stranger sensation began wafting off Derrick. It was more overt than his powerful, controlling nature. A living aura filled with a jittery brittleness overtook Ray, like he was on a field strewn with broken glass. [Warning!] Presence of the Primordial indicates your foe has Called Upon the Tower Node of the Fleshcrafter. The Fleshcrafter¡­ those twisted talons on Derrick¡¯s forearms¡­ Ray was starting to get an idea of what exactly this Tower Node represented. But Call Upon granted Derrick two specific new abilities. What were they? Presence of the Primordial didn¡¯t tell him. Shit. Derrick grinned. He light in his eyes held the promise of a violent death. Then he roared. ¡°Projection!¡± Ray was already flinging himself back with Primal Summons calling up Soaring Wings while activating Occultic Apparition with his other Talisman. Unfortunately, without the Shaper Raiment on, his speed was more limited than usual. Plus, he was literally trying to run from sound. Fast as Ray might have been, he wasn¡¯t anywhere close to Mach-speed. The roar struck him with a storm of ripping air. His clothes tore apart, his skin splitting at far too many places as he was forced to close his eyes. Damn, these flimsy robes he had stolen off the dead guy were really bad for protection. But Ray sent some Recovery to heal the most distracting of his smarting wounds as the roar passed him by and he could open his eyes again. He had given himself some distance from Derrick. Good thing, too. That roar of his¡ªclearly one of the new skills he had gained with Call Upon¡ªwas bad enough. Ray didn¡¯t want to feel the effects of Projection too. ¡°Sprightly little guy, aren¡¯t you?¡± Derrick said. ¡°How¡¯d you know the head was fake?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Just a hunch, and some clues indicating that this whole thing was a setup. I had prepared my counter setup to your setup, but it seems you had also prepared for my counter too. Congrats. You should be proud of it while you¡¯re still alive. I¡¯ll pray for your soul once you¡¯re dead. You¡¯ve earned it.¡± Ray didn¡¯t know just how Gritty had pulled it off, but he knew it would have been impossible if not for her. She deserved some praise once this was done. ¡°Heh, I don¡¯t know what I expected,¡± Ray said. ¡°Of course, a stupid cultist is going to rely on hunches and prayers.¡± ¡°A cult, is it? And what are you a part of? A nice, little commune who all work together for the benefit of everyone else in it? Don¡¯t lie to me, Raymond. Whatever your Faction might be doing, you are no less of a cultist than me.¡± Ray faced him with a frown. ¡°You¡¯re insane. I don¡¯t go around forcing people to join any Factions. I don¡¯t go around starting wars and subjugating others.¡± ¡°You¡¯re distracted by the set dressing. The end result is the same. Look deeper, and you¡¯ll see¡ªwe¡¯re both at the top. I¡¯m no fool, and neither are you. The only way anyone can climb this high is by taking advantage of others. The only way we can reach the top is by pulling down those might do it before we can. You know that¡¯s true, Raymond.¡± ¡°Why are you so desperate to convince me of anything?¡± Derrick grinned, a mad light in his eyes. ¡°Because I know you¡¯re hungry for power. You want to stand at the top, just like I do. Because our ultimate goals are the same. The only difference is that I deserve it because I am fated to achieve all that I desire. Because I am chosen.¡± Ray¡¯s mind was trying to whirl a little. Chosen? What in the world had he been chosen by? More importantly, did this guy not care that he had activated a timed ability that was going to run out? All around them, the battle was raging. Was he so sure that his Faction was going to win that he could spend time talking with Ray instead of dealing with the main threat? ¡°I¡¯m done talking to a lunatic,¡± Ray said. ¡°I don¡¯t care how right or wrong you are. To me, you¡¯re a fucking obstacle, and I¡¯m not going to let any obstacles stand in my way.¡± Ray¡¯s arm moved fast. A quick cast of Chaos Chymify to send a spiralling bolt of black-red energy at Derrick. He dodged it with ease. ¡°Alright, then,¡± Derrick said. ¡°I thought things could be different, once you realized how hopeless your Faction¡¯s chances are against the Wild Tides. But if you want to die, then I¡¯ll oblige.¡± Another roar, another blast of ripping, twisting air that struck Ray too fast for him to dodge. He staggered in place, distracted for just a second. And in that second, Derrick had nearly closed the distance. There was still a few feet of space between them when Ray noticed his opponent¡¯s approach. But it was still too close. Even as he flung himself even farther back, Projection came into play. Derrick punched low. Despite being nowhere close enough, the blow connected around Ray¡¯s guts, sending a wave of pain roiling through his stomach and kidney area. Ray sent a burst of Recovery to fix the issue as he took to the air. If he flew higher up, he ought to have an easier time of dodging. Hopefully. Sound, of course, didn¡¯t work like that. But Ray¡¯s move was for the best. Derrick¡¯s roars still reached him, but with the far greater distance between them, their efficacy was decreased. Ray could even keep his eyes open, and he didn¡¯t need to waste his Recovery on the minor cuts and gashes it left. But he was also way too distant. Almost none of Ray¡¯s spells would reach Derrick from this distance. Staying this far away would only lead to a stalemate. ¡°If you want to die,¡± the leader of the Wild Tides shouted. ¡°Then stop running like a coward!¡± Ray ignored the taunt. He needed a plan of attack. Settling on one, Ray shot in. He had already been condensing Mana into True Mana. There was still over half of his total capacity left, but he crushed a Mana crystal just to top himself off. Although, he wouldn¡¯t need to use his stores. His Hallowed took care of the first use of True Enhancement on Soaring Wings. The feathers jutting from his black lengthened and glimmered with chaotic energy. When Ray flew at his enemy, he really did feel like he could have unleashed a sonic boom. That wasn¡¯t literally true, but it sure felt like it. Derrick responded with another roar. Ray was ready for it. He sent out a pulse of Mottling Membrane. The barrier spell wouldn¡¯t block it entirely, not at its Tier. But it did enough to reduce the roar¡¯s impact. That was vital. At this close range, that roar would probably have shredded Ray¡¯s skin, but with the defensive spell saved him. Just enough to continue his forward, wing-powered momentum and emerge from the barrier with a True Mana enhanced Shatterclaw, the cost of which was taken care of by the Silver True Mana Bracelet. The gigantic black-and-white arm crashed into Derrick. He was fast. Not only had he blocked it by crossing both his arms just over the point of impact, he had also activated his other skill. ¡°Repression,¡± Derrick said. The power behind Ray¡¯s enhanced Shatterclaw should have sent the man flying. Asshole was only able to hold his ground because of his Liturgical Following spell giving him an insane stat boost. Ray could only fathom just how high Derrick¡¯s Resilience had to be. Even worse, Repression was drawing away the Shatterclaw¡¯s power. Streams of energy were breaking through the reddish outline of the arm, turning into a thousand glowing motes around Derrick¡¯s body. A thousand motes that coalesced and formed a beam. Ray had known that was going to happen. Bless Presence of the Primordial. As soon as the blots of energy had started coalescing, Ray had flung himself over Derrick with his wings. Then he had brought down his other arm, another enhanced Shatterclaw materializing thanks to his second Talisman and the True Mana he himself had gathered so far. But that was when Derrick revealed the second ability he had obtained using Call Upon. He pushed off the first True Mana Shatterclaw, then spun. In an instant, he turned into a whirlwind of claws, glowing slices of air ripping around in a devasting funnel. It was even ripping apart his Shatterclaw arms. Insane. Ray was already throwing himself back, but then Derrick shouted. ¡°Projection.¡± Oh, fuck. Ray used Sphereguard of Chaos. The orbs formed up only to be sacrificed immediately, taking the power of the projected slices of air to let Ray get away. He was really starting to miss his Shaper Raiment. A roar blasted him, staggering him. He lost control of his flight, quickly falling to the ground. Heart thundering in his chest, Ray turned to see Derrick rushing in. The man was not going to allow him a moment¡¯s worth of breathing room. He was almost upon Ray. A quick cast of Shatterclaw brought in the chaotic arm to hammer Derrick, but he quite literally deflected the arm aside and continued charging in. Thankfully, Ray could cast separately with each of his Talismans. Just as Derrick reached his location, Primal Summons finished summoning up the Greater Windbane Maw. Mana Imbuing had crafted it in place of his arm, hiding most of the summoned maw under his sleeve. Until Derrick had gotten too close and saw the head. ¡°Die, asshole,¡± Ray shouted Derrick¡¯s eyes went wide as Ray jerked his arm up. The Windbane Maw gaped wide as it blasted Derrick with chaotic fire. His forward momentum was too strong for him to dodge quick enough, and he got a face full of the flames that ate away at his flesh, boiled his blood, and ruptured the vessels. But the roar he screamed out snuffed out the fire and sent Ray flying backwards. All for the best. Ray needed to keep some distance, and this only helped. The fight began following a pattern. Derrick would try to close distance via various means while Ray tried to maintain some good separation between them. Meanwhile, they both flung out their abilities, trying to one-up the other and land a blow that even their Recovery wouldn¡¯t be able to heal. It was almost like a chase. Ray was surprised they hadn¡¯t collided with any other combatants all over the area. The reason behind maintaining the distance was simple. Derrick¡¯s stats superseded Ray¡¯s too much. His Strength, Agility, and Resilience were too high, and the lack of Mana crystals and sheer power behind spells like Repression and Projection suggested his Intellect and Spirit were huge too. All of which disadvantaged Ray greatly. He couldn¡¯t even proc Insanity with his attacks. When Derrick didn¡¯t destroy the bolts of Chaos Chymify with his roars, he simply dodged them. Annoying. ¡°Is this your plan?¡± Derrick shouted. ¡°Keep running until your Mana runs out? Projection.¡± He had aimed a projected kick. Ray was actually able to dodge it without needing his wings. Primal Summons¡¯ timer had run out. He grinned at the look on Derrick¡¯s face. ¡°No,¡± Ray said as he straightened. ¡°My plan was to let this whole battle play out long enough we regained some parity.¡± ¡°You¡­¡± Derrick¡¯s posture changed. He began looking around while still keeping an eye on Ray. A sudden worry took over his expression, though he quickly calmed it. ¡°Where the hell do you think you¡¯re looking?¡± Ray asked as he crushed another crystal, replenished his Mana, then summoned Soaring Wings to charge straight at Derrick. The leader of the Wild Tides turned just in time to see a massive True Mana enhanced Shatterclaw slam in his direction. He barely managed to cross his raptorlike arms again in time. But it was different this time. Ray¡¯s grin widened as his Shatterclaw arm connected, then finally managed to push Derrick off his feet. The man fell, rolled, and was back upright in a second. Only to face Ray¡¯s other arm punching in with a second Shatterclaw arm. He tried to deflect the gigantic limb of chaotic energy with his forearm, but it didn¡¯t really work. Ray¡¯s arm was stopped, sure, but Derrick staggered in place as well. He paled. Ray didn¡¯t waste a second to ram in his first arm. A one-two punching motion, just like he had trained with Gritty. This time, when he connected, Derrick was thrown back by half a dozen feet. ¡°Looks like you know what¡¯s going on,¡± Ray said. His skin danced, his heart soared, his spirit ascended. Victory was his for the taking. ¡°This is impossible,¡± Derrick shouted. ¡°We can¡¯t be losing.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter which side is winning or losing. You¡¯re losing your followers. And that¡¯s why, you are going to lose to me.¡± Chapter 45: Interference Honestly, if Ray somehow ended up not beating Derrick for whatever reason, he could take great solace from the look on the man¡¯s face. The leader of the Wild Tides had been so confident he could win. That his overpopulated cult would stomp out the Insurge Faction. That he would then claim victory over Ray with minimal fuss thanks to his combination of Call Upon and Liturgical Following. But that overconfidence was going to be his undoing. ¡°You couldn¡¯t have orchestrated this,¡± Derrick said. It was fun how his face kept changing, like he wanted to glare at Ray but was too afraid of things turning even worse. ¡°We¡¯re supposed to win.¡± ¡°Supposed to? What kind of bullshit is that? You¡¯re the one who decided to take advantage of others, and now you¡¯re going to pay the price.¡± All this while, Ray hadn¡¯t once looked at how things were going everywhere else. He trusted Maya, Gritty, and the rest of the Insurge Faction to be handling things well on their own. They had a battle plan, after all. They knew what to do, and they had done it well enough. It was time for Ray to capitalize. Of course, just because Derrick¡¯s power via his stats was decreasing didn¡¯t mean he was now suddenly much weaker than Ray. He would still need to be careful. The Wild Tides leader attacked furiously now, determined to reach and kill his foe before his stats fell any further. Things were coming to a furious end. Ray shot out a Mottling Membrane. He had a plan and he had to execute the parts of it with great care. With the barrier of black-red energy now obscuring him from view for a couple of seconds, Ray immediately used Lifeblood Construct to create the Windbane Maw just behind him. He had been condensing Mana into True Mana all the while he had been speaking with Derrick, so it took no time at all to summon up the draconic head made of pure, bristling energy. Then he sent it flying behind, while summoning Soaring Wings to obscure its flight. Mottling Membrane dissipated the next instant as Derrick barged through. He had used his spinning ability to dispel it while taking no damage. Ray was ready for it. While one hand had been busy with Lifeblood Construct, the other had used Primal Summons to create the same draconic maw around his hand. As soon as Derrick charged in, Ray blasted him with chaotic flames from the second summoned Windbane Maw. Derrick, who had been about to jump at Ray and maul him with those claws, was now forced to dodge to the side. ¡°Repression.¡± Ray moved the head around to follow his foe, even if his Mana was depleting rapidly. The problem, however, was Repression. While the flames didn¡¯t damage Derrick as he was moving too quickly, they were still close enough for him to use Repression to absorb way too much energy and fling it right back at Ray. Good thing he had seen it coming. With wings spread, Ray took flight and got away as rapidly as he could, once more maintaining some distance. Already, he had been almost hit once or twice as Derrick screamed Projection at him. Ray tried throwing a few spiralling bolts of Chaos Chymify at Derrick, but he dodged easily. He wasn¡¯t interested in continuing the same chase as before, though. Time wasn¡¯t on his side. So, Derrick rushed in, throwing caution to the winds. Just what Ray had really been looking for. With an almighty leap, Derrick shot straight at Ray, shooting through the air with a whirlwind of power. Glowing slices of air shot in every direction as he streaked at his target like a comet. Ray was able to dodge with the help of his wings and after reapplying Occultic Apparition on himself. But Derrick had somehow retained enough control mid-flight to yell, ¡°Projection!¡± Some sort of band tightened around Ray¡¯s legs, almost like he was being hugged there. His momentum thanks to his flight flipped him over and made him lose complete control. No surprise, then, that he crashed hard to the ground in the next instant. An instant where Derrick had already landed and launched himself straight at Ray. Even worse, he had used that ability where he spun into a ripping cyclone again. But Ray was ready. He used Lifeblood Construct once more. This time, he used his latest acquisition for Lifeblood Crucible¡ªImpervious Shell. A bloom of chaotic energy made the Duskshell¡¯s pure black carapace appear right between Ray and Derrick, like a giant satellite dish standing on its side. Derrick was rushing in too fast to change direction. He slammed into it, and the summoned shell completely blocked all the damage. Ray was a little amazed, but then, he recalled the respective Tiers. Lifeblood Construct had called up Impervious Shell at Tier 6, since that was the Tier of Lifeblood Crucible right now. However strong Derrick¡¯s ability might be, it couldn¡¯t get past an Impervious Shell that strong. All the better for Ray. As soon as Derrick¡¯s ability stopped, where he must have realized it was futile, Ray struck. He had just managed to condense enough Mana into True Mana to recreate another Shatterclaw arm. As Impervious Shell dissipated, Ray punched forward. Derrick tried to deflect once more, but Ray had seen that coming. He slowed down his swing and opened the claw-tipped fist. Instead of actually landing a punch, Ray grabbed onto Derrick¡¯s arm. Locking him in place. ¡°I¡¯ve got you,¡± Ray said. Derrick¡¯s eyes were wide with rage and desperation. ¡°You¡¯ve got nothing.¡± He roared. This close, it hurt Ray pretty bad, and it also began to tear away at the Shatterclaw arm, shredding apart the monochrome spectral matter making it up. But it kept Derrick still. He couldn¡¯t move, couldn¡¯t get away no matter how much he struggled. What little progress he made was negligible. Worthless. Until the arm itself was destroyed, Ray had him. That was when the Windbane Maw construct he had sent flying off, that he had distracted Derrick from noticing, finally rushed in. Its jaws yawned wide, its whole form sparking with virulent energy. Ray almost felt like he had his Diamond-crusted Ring of Temporal Evasion on. Time seemed to freeze for an instant as the Windbane Maw appeared. Then it fired off a compressed beam of fiery, chaotic energy. The blast struck Derrick so hard, he was ripped from Ray¡¯s Shatterclaw grip, sent flying about a hundred feet. Ray¡¯s construct had spent so much energy in that attack that the maw itself dissipated to nothing. For a second, Ray didn¡¯t move. The shock of the sudden victory had him rooted. The fact that his plan had worked was difficult to believe. But it hadn¡¯t succeeded completely just yet. Ray hadn¡¯t received any notifications for the kill yet. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. He twisted and hurried to where Derrick had fallen. The Wild Tides¡¯ leader had to be barely holding on to life. Ray could end him as soon as he was within rea¡ª Kredevel: Ray, stop! Move no further! Ray stumbled as he kept moving. What in the¡ªwhat the actual¡ª He forged on. That fucker Derrick was almost dead. He couldn¡¯t let this opportunity to slip by. Kredevel: Ray, please! It¡¯s a trap! The ground rumbled. Ray jerked to a halt. A trap? Then the earth ruptured. Spiralling growths shattered out like thorny spikes. They ringed Derrick¡¯s body, spearing through the nearby area. Ray threw himself back as he was nearly impaled. ¡°Fucking¡ª¡± Too late, he threw a bolt of Chaos Chymify at his fallen foe. It didn¡¯t strike the target. The spiralling hornlike thorns had grown too large. Some of them twisted and broke when they were struck by Ray¡¯s spell, but there were too many. Derrick was safe. Alive. Ray looked around. They had moved away from the main battle, which was still raging somewhere off in the distance. People were still fighting. But Ray and Derrick had moved to their own little spot. Which helped Ray spot the Sylvan slowly walking towards his position. Ray quickly fell back. Kredevel had said there might be a Sylvan watching, the same one who had been working with Derrick at the Sylvan base all this while. But forget watching, he was now interfering directly. Ray: Kredevel, what¡¯s he doing here? Derrick is almost dead. We need to finish him. Kredevel: Lastiel has clearly decided that Derrick Orden needs to remain alive. I suggest you give up on the idea of killing him. Ray: What? If Kredevel had been about to answer, Ray didn¡¯t get the chance to see it. The enemy Sylvan was closing in on his location. Ray tried to use Presence of the Primordial but it didn¡¯t work. The Sylvan was still too distant. Besides, it looked like he wouldn¡¯t get the chance. Unlike with Derrick, his current opponent wasn¡¯t giving him any opportunity to get up to his regular tricks. The Sylvan pulled his arm back, a spiralling growth of light materializing in an instant in his grip. It flew in from so far away. That was the only good thing about it. Ray called on Impervious Shell using Lifeblood Construct once more. His spell did block the attack, but the impact was still immense. The ground shattered with a powerful detonation, the floating shell cracking apart as more spiralling growths emerging from the point of impact. Then another glowing spear crashed in, piercing through the shell and nearly striking Ray. It missed by merely a foot, though he was sent flying by the explosion blasting out from its impact. Ray twisted, summoning up his Soaring Wings to take control of his flight. What the hell was up with this Sylvan? Kredevel: Ray, you must retreat. You cannot fight Lastiel. I can hold him for a while. Ray: No, we can¡¯t lose our only advantage over the Sylvans already. Not yet. Regaining control of his flight, Ray mentally pushed aside the chat window from Kredevel. He could handle this. Hadn¡¯t he killed Sylvans before? Maybe he would just need some True Mana, so he began to condense his regular Mana as fast as he could. If he could just get in range, check what the Sylvan had with Presence of the Primordial, he could¡ª Apparently, he wouldn¡¯t need to get closer. This Lastiel was heading straight for him. Ray¡¯s eyes widened a little as Lastiel took to the air. More of the spiralling, hornlike growths Ray was starting to associate entirely with Sylvans had come out of Lastiel¡¯s back, like a set of strange wings. It was these that allowed him to take to the air, rising higher than Ray could with Soaring Wings. Another spear formed in Lastiel¡¯s hand, a lance of the same construction as everything else had used so far, gleaming so brightly that it hurt to look at. Oh no. That didn¡¯t look good. More True Mana. Ray needed more True Mana. His heart thundered. Condense, condense, condense¡ª Then the Sylvan flashed in at Ray. Way too fast. Ray didn¡¯t know how much True Mana he had been able to gather by that point, didn¡¯t know if it was enough, but he used True Enhancement on Lifeblood Crucible and Impervious Shell. A stake of pain carved through his head. It felt like his brain was being dislodged. But the main point was that a True Mana variant of his new shield did pop up. Even as Ray¡¯s vision faded at the edges, a gleaming shield of black-and-white energy amassed into the form of the giant black shell, outlined in burning red. Just in time to take the brunt of the Sylvan¡¯s flying charge. There was another incredible detonation at the impact. But the True Mana enhanced Impervious Shell lived up to its name fully. Truly Impervious. Nothing got past it. The pain in Ray¡¯s head receded for just a second. Truly Impervious. Was that what True Mana did? Growth Mana created growths, Flight Mana allowed flight, and True Mana brought out the true potential of a spell. Its truth, for lack of a better word. Now was not the time for musing, even if he had attained a strange but interesting understanding. With the Sylvan blocked, now was Ray¡¯s opportunity to counterattack. He could have tried to use Presence of the Primordial then, but it would waste precious seconds he didn¡¯t have. Ray would have followed it up with an enhanced Shatterclaw, but he had run out of True Mana. He had also just felt what happened when he tried to use True Enhancement without enough Mana condensed into True Mana, so he wasn¡¯t keen on repeating that. So, he attacked with blasts of Chaos Chymify just as the shell began dissipating. But Lastiel wasn¡¯t there. He had already fallen far back. Another lance made formed from a spiralling growth had formed in his hand. It was the longest one Ray had seen yet. A heart-stopping realization set in¡ªthe Sylvan could swing and hit Ray even from that distance with how long his newly-crafted weapon was. Which was exactly what he proceeded to do. Ray used his wings to rise higher just as the enormously long lance swung in. But that just took him into position for Lastiel¡¯s other hand to swing in, unleashing a second gleaming spear. One that flew in too fast for Ray to dodge fully. A scream ripped free from Ray¡¯s throat as he was struck. Violent pain burst out of his shoulder while the impact flung him back. The application of Recovery to fix his wound was an instinctive thing. Ray was only aware of applying it, and aware of his pain going down rapidly. He looked up quickly to see if the Sylvan was closing in for the kill. But no. Ray was safe. His opponent was distracted by¡­ Blood on his face? Ray quickly got this feet, one hand clutching his shoulder. Despite pouring out a ton of his Recovery¡ªthe wound had taken up over a quarter of his total capacity¡ªhe hadn¡¯t fully healed the injury. But it wasn¡¯t debilitating, and that was all that mattered. As for the blood, it was Gritty¡¯s work. She was rushing in to stop the Sylvan. Ray yelled out a warning. Gritty being Gritty, she ignored it. Ray didn¡¯t even know how she had gotten blood on the Sylvan¡¯s face from range. He did spot more blood on the ground. Likely left behind by Derrick as Ray¡¯s construct had blasted him. Gritty looked like she was about to hammer the Sylvan with a strange ability that made a blood-red aura flicker to life around her. But despite the distraction, the Sylvan was still able to respond. He kicked one foot up without looking. Mirroring his leg¡¯s motion, a spike of spiral growth burst out of the ground. Too quick for anyone to react. It impaled Gritty through her midsection and stopped her charge completely. She screamed as she was raised nearly thirty feet into the air, her blood waterfalling down around her. ¡°No!¡± Ray shouted. The warnings from Kredevel rang loud and clear in his head. Shit, shit, shit. Ray got his wings back, then flew straight to where Gritty had been impaled. There was no way he could pull her down without injuring her further. She was alive, though. That was good enough. Plus, the Sylvan was going to use some other long-range ability and skewer them both at any moment. So, Ray did the most sensible thing he could think of and attacked the spiral growth itself with a Shatterclaw. It broke easily, likely because he had infused it with his ring to take it to Tier 5. Gritty and the bit of the growth still impaling her were a heavy burden, but Ray managed to fly away as fast as he could. Thankfully, he managed to get away by the time the Sylvan had recovered enough to attack from range. Though, that begged the question of how the hell he had located and struck Gritty with that impaling attack when he couldn¡¯t even see? ¡°Fuck,¡± Ray cursed. He couldn¡¯t stop the stream of expletives from coming out. So close. He had been so close to ending Derrick. They had known the Sylvans were working together with the Wild Tides, and he¡¯d had confirmation from Kredevel that the Sylvan¡¯s second-in-command would be keeping an eye on the battle. But to interfere directly? Ray cursed again. He dropped to the ground and paused for a moment, as much to recover as to crush another Mana crystal, before flying on. ¡°Hold on just a little longer, Gritty.¡± She mumbled something. That was good. Still conscious. Still alive. The rest of the battlefield appeared before Ray. So many bodies were strewn before the keep. Strange redoubts and barricades had gone up to shield the besieging members of the Wild Tides from the attacks of the defending Insurge Faction members. So many little details tried to tug at his attention. The different powers on display, the fact that a lot of the Wild Tides were either retreating or hunkered down in a single location, the presence of unfamiliar people at locations farther out. He could pay attention to it all later. First, he had to find the person he was seeking. Ray: Joaquin, where are you? This is very urgent. Joaquin: West of your Base, near Sector 50. Ray flew past a few skirmishes and found the cleric attending to a group of others, all of whom were either more wounded or more medics. Joaquin rushed over, as did another man and woman, who took Gritty from Ray and began to tend to her. ¡°We¡¯ll look after her,¡± Joaquin said. His eyes landed on Ray¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Are you alright?¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing serious, I can take care of it.¡± ¡°Where are you going?¡± The real question on Joaquin¡¯s mind was clearly more along the lines of what was next. Ray could feel his face turning cold. ¡°Time to end this stupid battle.¡± Chapter 46: Victory At A Cost When Ray went out to the battle again, he realized he was raging a little inside. Frustration with the incident with Derrick and the Sylvan commander was affecting his thoughts, which wasn¡¯t ideal at all. But he needed to do this. Even if Ray hadn¡¯t managed to kill Derrick, what he had done was defeat the leader of the Wild Tides. Derrick had been so injured that his Sylvan buddy had been forced to intervene. Kredevel, who was still keeping watch on proceedings, had informed Ray that Derrick had been taken away by Lastiel. In other words, the Wild Tides no longer had their leader on the battlefield. That was what Ray, and the Insurge Faction as well, had to take advantage of. It was rather impressive just how well the battle had gone so far. Ray saw the dead all over the area, but a large majority had red bands around their arm. Maya and her sub-commanders had done well. Still. There were pockets where they needed more force. Places where Ray could be of use. Ray: Maya. Hope I¡¯m not distracting, but I need directions. Do you know any spots where people need help? He could have tried to look by himself, but that would be more time consuming. This was, hopefully, going to be much faster. Maya: Were you able to confirm their leader¡¯s state? Ray: I haven¡¯t heard anything further from Kredevel, so he has to be gone for good. Maya: That¡¯s good news. We¡¯ve been spreading word of Orden¡¯s defeat, and I think it¡¯s slowly working. We¡¯ve got a few surrenders here and there, spots where people have run away. Ray: But it¡¯s not over yet. Let me know where you need help most. Maya proceeded to detail a few locations across the battlefield. Ray took note, then immediately got to work. The first one wasn¡¯t far off. He just had to fly for a minute with Soaring Wings before he came upon a group of Insurge Faction members being hunted by a larger number of spear-wielding Wild Tides. The ground was flat and open, providing them little cover. Their calls for help thus far hadn¡¯t been answered since everyone else had been busy elsewhere. Till Ray had arrived. He took out a couple of the Wild Tides from distance. True Enhancement on the Windbane Maw crafted a spectral, draconic head in place of his hand. Then the compressed chaotic energy beam killed two of his enemies in one blow. A third was taken out by the construct he had summoned before True Enhancement. As they were all distracted by him, the flying Maw came in and roasted another man. That left three more for Ray to fight directly. They were good, especially when Ray chose to engage them together. If he tried to attack one, another would attempt to take advantage and poke at Ray. When he dodged a slicing attack from one man, another tried to slip past his guard and land a fatal blow on his back. They were annoyingly good at working together. Worse, they weren¡¯t dismayed that their comrades had just died. If anything, it seemed to have enraged them, like they wanted vengeance against him. In the end, they were still grunts compared to Derrick. Ray managed to weave and dodge while distracting them with his construct before he had them lined up just so. Then, with True Enhancement still active on the Greater Windbane Maw, Ray blasted them together. Two died, leaving one badly injured. That one was killed by his construct in short order. [Enemy Defeated¡ªHuman] Spearman [Tier 1] Human: [Level 8] x3 Spearman [Tier 1] Human: [Level 9] x3 Mana Restored: 510 Essence: +2,550 Knowledge: +18 Essence to Level 17: 10,130/14,200 [Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 400-point threshold, your Knowledge has raised your Intellect by 40. Knowledge to next Threshold: 409/500 Lifeblood Crucible didn¡¯t activate since he hadn¡¯t used Chaos Chymify. No matter. It wasn¡¯t like these people had anything worth taking. ¡°Thanks for the assist,¡± a relieved woman said. The Insurge Faction members he had helped had begun returning as soon as they saw their enemies had been engaged. They had arrived just as Ray finished dealing with the last one. ¡°All good,¡± Ray said. ¡°Why are you even out of the keep?¡± As far as Ray was aware of Maya¡¯s battle plan, their main idea had been to use the Base as a defensive structure to ward off the Wild Tides¡¯ greater numbers. Though, even as Ray asked, he realized it was likely Maya had sent out contingents to reinforce their new allies. A sortie, of sorts. ¡°We were out of the keep to begin with,¡± said the woman. ¡°Our whole role was to stay back until the allies arrived, then join them with the counterattack from outside of the¡­ I don¡¯t know what you call it.¡± ¡°Perimeter?¡± ¡°I guess?¡± ¡°I see the plan now.¡± Ray turned to leave. ¡°Stay safe. Oh, and if you¡¯re rejoining the fight, make sure to tell everyone that Derrick Orden has been defeated.¡± Then he was off to the next location. Maya directed him to a spot where she hadn¡¯t heard from a few members for a while. The fear she¡¯d held turned out to be true. They had all been killed. For whatever reason, the culprits were looting the dead bodies. Several of the dead had been stripped naked already. It made Ray sick to the stomach. As if killing hadn¡¯t been enough, they had to desecrate the corpses too. His whole body felt cold. Rigid. These were the kinds of people Ray had first warned Maya, Randall, and Dory about ending up with in their search for other humans. If they could have sensed Ray when he arrived, he never gave them a chance. These crooks weren¡¯t worth his direct attention. So, he summoned a True Mana version of the Greater Windbane Maw and blasted them from afar with the laser version of the maw¡¯s chaotic breath. It was nice to see that he could redirect the head¡¯s aim even as it fired off the energy. [Enemy Defeated¡ªHuman] Illusionist [Tier 2] Human: [Level 10] x1 Mage [Tier 1] Human: [Level 8] x1 Warrior [Tier 1] Human: [Level 8] x3 Stalker [Tier 1] Human: [Level 9] x1 Mana Restored: 510 Essence: +3,050 Knowledge: +18 If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Essence to Level 17: 13,180/14,200 Knowledge to next Threshold: 427/500 When he arrived at the next location Maya indicated, Ray found that the situation had already been taken care of. By just one member of the Ascenders who had subdued almost twenty of the Wild Tides on her own. ¡°Are you¡­?¡± The woman, dressed in a white robe with her blonde hair pinned to a tight bun, nodded shortly. ¡°I¡¯m Felds. Mary Felds. You must be Raymond.¡± ¡°Ray. Nice to meet you.¡± She looked around with a sceptical eye. ¡°Nice, you say?¡± Ray felt a minor urge to laugh, but what came out was a grimace. ¡°Could be nicer, I suppose.¡± They didn¡¯t talk much. Maya informed him that the battle really was slowing down. They were nearing a victory. But pockets of resistance were still active all over the battlefield. Ray immediately got moving when he learned that Randall was caught up in one of those pockets. He went north, near the edge of Sector 52. When Ray neared the area where the battle had been reported, what he found just left him grim. Blood and bodies everywhere, and a lot of the corpses weren¡¯t from the Wild Tides. Swallowing, Ray quickly checked the bodies. A few were too disfigured after suffering horrible attack, but he found no sign of Randall there. Ray: Randall? You there? He had hoped to get some confirmation of Randall¡¯s whereabouts from the guy himself, but he got no answer. Which meant he was either dead or unconscious. Heart pumping faster, Ray followed the trail of blood. He called up the Scouring Eye to look into the distance with greater focus. It located his targets not far away. Ray shot in as quickly as he could. His suspicions had been correct. For whatever reason, these Wild Tides members were carrying off the ones they had defeated. Ray was stuck. How the hell was he going to free Randall and anyone else who had been captured from a bind like that? No. No panicking. Ray was the one in control of his thoughts, not the chaotic situation he was in. After all, wasn¡¯t he the one controlling the chaos now? Fuck if he was going to let his thoughts get thrown into disarray. He couldn¡¯t attack directly. No doubt those Wild Tides would start using the captured Insurge Faction members as hostages. That would be bad. Ray considered attacking from a distance to distract them before swooping in to rescue the captives. But no. There were too many hostages in the grasp of his enemies. He couldn¡¯t free them all quickly enough, Even if he grabbed some, the others would end up as casualties. Fuck. No. No letting it get to him. The only recourse arrived in Ray¡¯s mind moments later. Hostages. That was the issue here. Maybe what he needed was a hostage of his own. After a while, as he maintained his distance from his adversaries, Ray settled on how to procure said hostage. The first part involved sending out a Lifeblood Construct of the Greater Windbane Maw to distract the Wild Tides members. As he had moved, he used True Enhancement on Soaring Wings, the True Mana cost taken care of by his Hallowed Reputation. He continued condensing regular Mana into True Mana, though, crushing a crystal to replenish his stores. Just as the maw reached his foes, Ray pushed out his wings, used Occultic Apparition, and rushed forward. The world blurred as he moved blisteringly fast. He hadn¡¯t realized just how much he was sped up with the True Mana version of his wings instead of regular ones. They didn¡¯t see him coming. Oh, Presence of the Primordial warned him that he had been detected. But by the time the warning appeared, Ray had already reached his target. He shot through the midst of the Wild Tides group, carrying the unfortunate man he had grabbed with him. His captive shrieked out but was otherwise too shocked to react. Especially because Ray had his hand around the man¡¯s neck. ¡°Let them go,¡± he said, facing the rest of the Wild Tides as they all came to a halt. Ray had already told his construct to leave them be for now. ¡°And I won¡¯t kill this guy.¡± Ray kept his face clear and cold, but his heart hammered in his chest. He noted the people in the Wild Tides¡¯ grip. All of them were unconscious. Presence of the Primordial confirmed they weren¡¯t dead, though. That was good. Ray found Randall in the middle, carried on the shoulder of a burly man with a pug-like face. The Wild Tides members were all staring at him. Most were shocked, though the man at the head of the group was quickly recovering, his surprise giving way to an evil sneer. ¡°I know you,¡± he said. His grungy face took on a darker cast. ¡°You¡¯re the bastard who killed Holt. The one who the boss wanted dead. Why¡¯d you run from your real fight? Too cowardly to beat Derrick Orden?¡± ¡°Derrick Orden is dead,¡± Ray said. ¡°Or near enough to not matter either way.¡± ¡°Impossible,¡± someone yelled from the back. The others muttered their agreement, staring at Ray in growing anger. They refused to believe their oh so vaunted cultist of a leader could ever be beaten. ¡°It¡¯d be in your best interest to surrender.¡± Ray¡¯s grip on his captive tightened. ¡°Let the ones you captured go, and I¡¯ll spare your lives.¡± The man¡ªclearly the leader of this little group¡ªlaughed raucously. ¡°Hear that. He¡¯s going to let us go. Get a load of this shithead.¡± His cohort was beginning to adopt his behaviour. They had been uncertain at first, probably wondering if there was some truth to Ray¡¯s statement. After all, he couldn¡¯t be here if he was supposed to have been dealt with by Derrick. But it didn¡¯t matter. Because their leader was more interested in showing the superiority of the Wild Tides than making a rational, logical decision about their chances of survival against Ray. The leader turned to Ray with the same sneer still on his face. ¡°You know what? Turnabout is fair play. Why don¡¯t you give up before we make you, you winged freak?¡± ¡°Really? That¡¯s the best you can do?¡± Light as he kept his voice, Ray¡¯s thoughts were running far too fast to be described as calm. The reverse hostage idea wasn¡¯t working. While his captive was choking in his grip, his comrades didn¡¯t seem to care, not even bothering to consider that he existed. If this ploy failed, then what the hell was Ray going to do? ¡°Sounds like we¡¯re at an impasse,¡± Ray said. ¡°If you¡¯re not going to¡ª¡± ¡°Impasse? No, bitch, we¡¯re the ones with the advantage.¡± He snapped his fingers. One of the men at the back grabbed his captive¡¯s neck hard. Ray¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°No, wait.¡± With a jerk, the grinning member of the Wild Tides twisted the throat in his grip. His burden fell to the ground, dead. Ray stared. ¡°See what happens when you mess with the Wild Tides?¡± the leader said. ¡°If you¡¯re not with us, then this is what¡¯s going to happen to each and every one of you. Got it?¡± Ray¡¯s mind raced. What could he do? He was alone here. They were too far away for anyone else to arrive on time and Maya believed that he had it in hand on his own, like he¡¯d had every other situation he had been in. Ray wanted to scream. Fuck. ¡°What do you want?¡± Ray asked. The man in front made a show of thinking it over. He rubbed his chin and screwed his eyes. ¡°I can¡¯t think of anything right now. But one thing does come to mind. Maybe you¡¯re not really lying. Maybe something did happen to the boss.¡± His eyes sharpened. ¡°Because of you.¡± Ray didn¡¯t react. ¡°And what about it?¡± ¡°Well then, as true and loyal members of the Wild Tides, it¡¯s our duty to avenge our boss, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Just get to your fucking point.¡± The man turned his back to Ray. ¡°See, I can tell these people mean something to you. You came here to rescue them, not kill us.¡± He turned his grin as wide as a scarecrow¡¯s, ¡°See where I¡¯m going with this?¡± Ray looked the man straight in the eye. ¡°You should know where not to go with this.¡± ¡°Oooh, scary. But I think you don¡¯t get the point.¡± He paused, almost like he was building the suspense on purpose. ¡°Kill ¡®em all, boys.¡± The Wild Tides didn¡¯t waste a second carrying out the order. Ray shouted, but the bastards were too fast. Too brutally vicious. Wet snaps and thuds blanketed the area. A breath or two later, every single captive lay limp and unmoving on the ground. Including Randall. Ray didn¡¯t know when he was moving. He had been condensing and creating True Mana this whole time. It had become something instinctive now. But he didn¡¯t know when he began using it. Black-and-white energy coalesced into a gigantic arm coming off his shoulder. True Enhancement Shatterclaw. Eyes widening, the Wild Tides members began backing off. Some even began running, realizing that they weren¡¯t going to survive against Ray. They didn¡¯t get far. Something had snapped. Some inner barrier that Ray couldn¡¯t even begin to fathom broke just then. His enhanced Shatterclaw arm began transforming. The enormous limb of pure, chaotic energy turned scaly. The claws of its hand coalesced to form a draconic maw the size of a small car. A roar ripped out of the enormous, spectral head of the Grater Windbane. Then it lunged. [Warning!] Your Mana Core has responded to your innate desire and performed Mana Imbuing on a spectral extension of your body, formed from a spell. This Mana Imbuing will only last as long as the spell but will not return the imbued Mana. Ray didn¡¯t know what part of his mind was using the spell because he hadn¡¯t even thought to use it in the way. He wasn¡¯t thinking even then. It was as though his mind had split, much the way his vision did with the eyeball construct, and that split had taken a part of him with it. His whole head throbbed with the pain of the separating sensation. All he did, as the draconic head began to tear and burn through the Wild Tides members, was walk to the only corpse he recognized. He knelt next to Randall. Trembling fingers felt for a pulse at his neck, for a beat beneath his chest, for some hint of a breath through his nostrils. There was nothing. A man screamed nearby. With a roar, the draconic maw of pure energy bit through him, separating his body into two sections. The flesh, blood, and innards twisted with a life of their own, carrying the screaming man¡¯s body parts away from each other as they streamed with chaotic life. Ray felt his face grow cold. Cold as Randall¡¯s skin was to his touch. Someone else shrieked as flames overtook her. She didn¡¯t simply burn. The fires imbued her body with chaotic life and caused pieces of her flesh and bones to leap off her form while her living vessels constricted the life out of her. Ray got to his feet, picking up Randall¡¯s lifeless body with him. So light. Did death make a person weigh less? Chaotic flames burned around him. They wouldn¡¯t have caught on the peaty, lifeless grounds, but there was ample fuel for them. Pieces of bodies, the blood strewn everywhere. With a final roar, the maw of burning, back-and-white energy dissipated. ¡°You monster!¡± The scream came from the man Ray had first caught. The one Wild Tide member still alive, ironically the one who had been taken reverse hostage by Ray. ¡°You¡¯re a fucking freak who should have been killed!¡± he shouted. When he realized Ray wasn¡¯t coming in to kill him, the man got to his feet, eyes wide and face flushed. Then, spitting one last curse at Ray, he turned and ran. [Enemy Defeated¡ªHuman] Marshal [Tier 2] Human: [Level 10] x1 Mercenary [Tier 2] Human: [Level 9] x1 Mage [Tier 1] Human: [Level 8] x2 Warrior [Tier 1] Human: [Level 8] x2 Stalker [Tier 1] Human: [Level 9] x2 Mana Restored: +690 Essence: +4,400 Knowledge: +24 [Level Up!] Reward
  • +3 Intellect, +3 Spirit, +2 Vitality, +4 allocatable free stats.
  • 1 New Talisman
Essence to Level 18: 3,380/16,500 Knowledge to next Threshold: 451/500 [New Personal Achievement¡ªBattle Winner!] Your actions have turned the tides of a major battle! With you against them, your foes will be hard pressed to beat any Faction you are a part of. Reward
  • 1 Tier point
  • Reputation: +15 Tenacious, +15 Ruthlessness, +15 Chaotic
Chapter 47: Aftermath Ray pushed the notifications away for now. With the battle more or less over, he didn¡¯t need his growth just then. It could wait. Especially since he couldn¡¯t feel the excitement he was supposed to, the one that always coursed through him whenever Ray gained something new. Maybe it was because of the corpse he was carrying. He reached the keep in short order, and he couldn¡¯t help but take in the fact that the mood wasn¡¯t triumphant. Relieved yes, fatigued greatly, and largely sombre as well. But not victorious. ¡°Another one?¡± A woman grimaced as Ray landed near the Base¡¯s main entrance. She noticed Ray¡¯s wings, then his face before straightening a little. Her expression never changed from the morose cast, though. ¡°We¡¯re putting them to the left of the keep for now, if you want to take him there yourself.¡± Ray nodded his thanks, then took Randall¡¯s body to the appropriate location. The dead were all laid out in a respectful fashion. Each body had been placed on their own small sheet, separated by a few feet. Surprisingly, not just bodies of Insurge Faction members and their allies. The big majority still had their red armbands on, likely to help distinguish them better. Ray even spotted some Feathered Imp bodies. That last one did nothing to help his mood. Ray had a feeling the Wild Tides wouldn¡¯t have been this respectful to any of their enemies¡¯ bodies. The living were there too. Most were Insurge Faction members mourning their departed loved ones, but a few were there just for lookout or other duties. Ray was approached by Joaquin. ¡°A friend of yours?¡± The cleric muttered something other his breath. It almost sounded like a prayer. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for your loss.¡± ¡°Where should I put him?¡± Ray asked. Joaquin guided him to a location near the end of the line of bodies. Ray deposited Randall on a sheet as gently as he could. He didn¡¯t know what to say, wasn¡¯t even sure what he was feeling apart from a constricting hollowness inside. Maya: Ray! Sorry I couldn¡¯t check on you earlier. I¡¯ve been busy with so much. Everything alright? Ray: I couldn¡¯t reach the last group in time. They had already been captured. Maya didn¡¯t reply for a moment, likely letting the implication of that settle in. Maya: Randall¡¯s group? Ray: Yeah. I¡¯m sorry, Maya. Another pause. Maya: No, no. I¡¯m sure you did everything you could. I¡¯m sorry too.
Unsurprisingly, after everything that had happened, there was going to be a meeting. Ray had been asked to attend as well. There was some time before it started, though. He asked about the others. About Dory, who was quite alright thankfully, and about Gritty too. Joaquin informed him that Gritty had run off as soon as she was able to do so. The cleric wasn¡¯t even certain if her wound had been fully healed, but at least she wasn¡¯t on death¡¯s door. ¡°Typical,¡± Ray said. ¡°Already running after the Wild Tides. She¡¯ll get herself actually killed one of these days.¡± It was good to note that Maya¡¯s family was fine too. Gritty had performed her job remarkably well. Both her husband and her son had come out fully unscathed. Interested as he was to learn their story and how they could have ended up in Derrick Orden¡¯s clutches, Ray decided to peek at the rewards he had received for his latest level up. Maybe that would take his mind off the hollowness for good. With only two points needed for his Vitality to hit the new Tier benchmark, Ray put two of his free stats into Spirit and raised Vitality to exactly 50 with the remainder. [Stat Tier] Your Vitality has advanced to Tier 2. Your Path can now affect your stats. Life cannot function without sufficient vitality. Path of Lifeblood Chaos allows the propensity of chaos of your life to flourish. You can now use some of your Recovery to imbue life into your constructs, summons, and any other creations. Ray stared at that for a while. Okay, that was a good distraction. Imbuing life¡­ what did that even mean? So far, for his constructs, he had always had control. The level of control allowed was dictated by his Intellect Tier. At the same time, the fact that he retained control suggested his constructs weren¡¯t really living. Just fancy, magical puppets. But with his new Vitality Tier¡­ could he actually make them living? To some extent, at least? He wasn¡¯t sure what the difference would be from his current way of doing things, nor was he certain he would even want it. Except, there had been that instinctive spell combination he had used against those last Wild Tides members he had fought against. Something Ray barely remembered using consciously. A combination of the True Mana variants of Shatterclaw and the Greater Windbane Maw called up with Primal Summons. He hadn¡¯t even known he could do that. Wild. The wilder bit was that the arm had become alive. Ray hadn¡¯t given it any direct commands, hadn¡¯t actively tasked with any orders. His focus had been on Randall. But he had felt a part of him seep into it. A part of his being, his life, his¡ª His Vitality? Was this what the new Tier of Vitality would allow him? Just with more precise control of the overall act, instead of something instinctive? But how had he done that before hitting the Vitality Tier? There had been that warning. Something to do with his Mana Core acting up and taking advantage of Mana Imbuing. He was calling it ¡°acting up¡±, but truth be told, it had sounded more like a response to an unsaid command. Like with all else, Ray would need to test. He plugged the Tier point into Lifeblood Crucible to raise it to Tier 7. Couldn¡¯t hurt to store more Soul Aspects, especially since he still didn¡¯t hold everything he really needed to complete his ascension off the First Floor. Interesting how he had received the Tier Point from his achievement instead of a level up. Speaking of which, he had received a Talisman choice again. A good thing because the way Ray¡¯s fighting style had evolved with him acquiring new spells, he could be better off with a Talisman that suited him better. He wasn¡¯t really taking full advantage of either of his current Talismans¡¯ bonuses. [Talisman Selection] Talisman of Life [Tier 5] A Tier 5 catalyst that boosts primal spells by 15%. Summons, constructs, and other associated creations by the caster that approximate life are boosted by 25% in power and efficacy. So long as this Talisman is employed, the caster will retain a mental link to up to 5 creations. Use your primal aura to manipulate life itself. Talisman of Greater Scourge [Tier 5] A Tier 5 catalyst that boosts primal spells by 20%. Attacks deal additional pain, worsening all status afflictions by 25%. Enemies are easier to afflict with mental afflictions. Channel the primal forces of the world to become a scourge of all those who would oppose you. Ray didn¡¯t need to actually pick. With Dual Wield, he was allowed to obtain both options in any armament selection. Good thing he remembered, because it had been a while since the last one. The two new Talismans dropped next to where he was sitting on the ground. The Talisman of Greater Scourge even looked like the one he already had, just clearly a better version of it. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Instead of reddish-brown, its constituent metal was more reddish-gold. At the centre of its image of twisted vines, there was a dark blot. The Talisman of Life was also made of the same reddish-gold metal, but it depicted a very different image. The flat, octagonal catalyst had the image of some kind of pitted sphere on it. Maybe a strange egg. Or perhaps a planet. Ray wasn¡¯t totally sure. ¡°You¡¯ve served me well,¡± Ray said, looking down at his hands and the Talismans already there. ¡°But it¡¯s time I move on.¡± He willed both his Tier 3 Talismans to let go of his hand. The chains connecting them to his grip dissipated, and they fell to the ground. In their place, Ray attached the new Talismans to his palm. Like with the old ones, ethereal red chains snaked out of their sides to wrap around the back of his hand. They shimmered and blinked before fading to a near-transparent state, only visible if Ray really looked. Not bad. Ray wasn¡¯t sure what to do with the old Talismans. He didn¡¯t want to waste space in his Bag of Holding with them, and he wasn¡¯t sure he wanted to call in Virko just then and sell them for a few meagre Mana crystals. Maybe there was someone who could find a use for them. Had to be. The Faction had grown a lot over the last few days. Lastly, Ray checked his Status. It had been a while. [Status] Raymond Dominick Race: Human Class: Arcanist [Common] [Tier 2] Vocation: Tower Conqueror [Epic] Path: Lifeblood Chaos [Legendary] Level: 17 [3,380/16,500] Mana: 982 Recovery: 626 Perks: Riotous Life Gear Raiment: Gold-Chased Shaper Raiment Footwear: Drakescale Boots Headwear: Gold Wyvern¡¯s Helm Handwear: Supple Gloves Accessory: Mana Infuser Ring Accessory: Silver True Mana Bracelet Armament: Valorous Back Shield Armament: Talisman of Greater Scourge [Tier 5] Armament: Talisman of Life [Tier 5] Stats Vitality: 50 [+15] [Tier 2] Resilience: 4 [+40] [Tier 1] Strength: 4 [Tier 1] Agility: 8 [Tier 1] Intellect: 73 [+55] [Tier 2] Spirit: 61 [+37] [Tier 2] Reputation Knowledgeable: 451 [Intellect boost: +40] Chaotic: 120 [12% Insanity (Tier 3) buildup] Tenacious: 45 [Vitality boost: +5] Indomitable: 55 [Resilience boost: +10] Cunning: 70 [7% critical chance] Thorough: 35 [Pierce Tier 1 defences] Benevolent: 60 [Refunds 15th spell Mana cost] Heroic: 60 [+10 to all stats when foe stronger] Ruthlessness: 85 [10% bonus damage] Cooperative: 60 [+10 to all stats in a party] Hallow: 30 [Removes first True Mana cost in an encounter] Spells Shatterclaw [Offensive] [Tier 2] Presence of the Primordial [Passive] [Tier 4] Chaos Chymify [Offensive] [Utility] [Tier 2] Lifeblood Crucible [Passive] [Tier 7] Primal Summons [Summoning] [Tier 2] Mottling Membrane [Barrier] [Tier 1] Occultic Apparition [Utility] [Tier 3] Lifeblood Construct [Summoning] [Tier 4] Sphereguard of Chaos [Tier 1] Skills Goliath Eater [Buff] [Tier 2] Dual Wield [Tier3] Killer Instinct [Passive] [Tier 2] Mana Imbuing [Passive] [Tier 3] Adaptive Breath [Passive] [Tier 3] True Mana Spell True Enhancement [Utility] [Tier 1] True Mana Skill Vengeful Plunder [Utility] [Tier 1] Hoo. Okay. Aside from being a good refresher on everything he had improved and how he had grown, Ray also got a good reminder why he didn¡¯t check his full status so often. Maybe he ought to just check specific instances more regularly, like just his spells or something. There was nothing in his Status about his Mana Core, even though Mana Imbuing showed up as a clear skill. Hmm. Ray was satisfied, though. Constant growth. He had to wonder how much of all that was going to change when he finally reached his damn class evolution. Just a few more levels, and he¡¯d be there. For the first time since the end of the battle, he smiled. He couldn¡¯t wait.
The meeting was being held high up in the keep. Maya had decided to hold it in her office. Ray felt like a somewhat more open space would have been preferable, but she had her reasons. Apparently, having less space was ideal in preventing everyone from eavesdropping. ¡°I suppose it is an important meeting,¡± Joaquin said. The blonde-haired leader of the Ascenders, Mary Felds, was looking out through the thin window. ¡°Important or not, we need to conclude this as fast as possible.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Maya asked. ¡°We have them beaten. Things are looking up. It¡¯s time for us to regroup, recover, and strengthen our position while consolidating our gains.¡± Ray wasn¡¯t sure what they had gained save some time before the Wild Tides showed up again. Mary seemed to be thinking along the same lines. ¡°You understand this isn¡¯t over, right?¡± She turned around to face Maya. ¡°Some of the Ascender scouts spotted more Sylvans farther out, most likely waiting to see if they ought to step in.¡± She nodded at Ray. ¡°It was good to retreat once their commander had stepped in. Killing him would have made things a lot worse.¡± Ray winced. She made it sound like he could have killed Lastiel or whatever Kredevel had called that Sylvan. Ray wasn¡¯t so certain. But that was the thing, wasn¡¯t it? He wanted to be certain. He wanted to be strong enough that no one and nothing on this Floor would be a threat to him. That went for the entire Tower. ¡°Kredevel said they all retreated for the time being,¡± Ray said. He had spoken briefly with his Sylvan friend, who had tailed Lastiel all the way back to their headquarters. ¡°He says the Sylvans are mobilizing.¡± ¡°I understand,¡± Maya said. ¡°But despite their gambit of letting the Wild Tides take us out failing, they can¡¯t attack us just yet.¡± She spread her hands. ¡°Not when we¡¯re involved with so many other people. That¡¯s why we need to consolidate our position further. Unity is how we¡¯re going to beat them all.¡± ¡°We wouldn¡¯t need to beat them all if you all decided to simply advance.¡± ¡°And how possible is that now?¡± Mary didn¡¯t have an answer to that. Instead, she turned back around to watch the outside world through the window. Another thing Ray had learned during his last short talk with Kredevel was that the Sylvans were recalling their Brighthorns. Most of the monster hounds had been taken back to the Sylvan headquarters. In other words, Mary and her Faction¡¯s plan of getting as many people as they could to capture a Brighthorn, complete the challenge, and climb to the Second Floor had taken a hit. ¡°They realized you¡¯re working against the Wild Tides,¡± Ray said. ¡°And they realized you were the one who was helping a disproportionate number of people complete the First Floor challenge.¡± Mary grunted in dissatisfaction. ¡°Are you starting to regret helping us?¡± Maya asked. The leader of the Ascenders sighed. ¡°No. Derrick Orden and his Wild Tides need to be stopped. I just wish things could have been smoother.¡± ¡°So, what¡¯s our plan going forward?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Or, I guess, what¡¯s your plan? I know what I¡¯m doing.¡± When they all stared at him questioningly, he slapped a fist into a palm. ¡°I¡¯m going to be clearing more dungeons and getting myself some more levels.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what we need to do as well, ultimately,¡± Mary Felds said, looking at each of them in turn. ¡°All of us. You can¡¯t rest on your laurels. Even if it looks like you beat the Wild Tides, the Sylvans are a whole different level of threat.¡± Maya looked troubled. Ray understood her. She had hoped that she could relax, that her whole Faction could take a break, now that they had passed a major test and survived. They deserved it. But with the threat of the Sylvans looming on the horizon, they really couldn¡¯t sit on their asses before something happened. ¡°How long do we have left?¡± Maya asked. Once again, Ray was the subject of all their scrutiny. He shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± he said. ¡°But I will know when they make a move, so there is that.¡± ¡°One day,¡± Maya said. ¡°I understand where you all are coming from. I really do. But you need to understand that not everyone is like you. We can¡¯t be, even if we wanted to. We¡¯re all different people here.¡± She took a deep breath that she sighed out pretty quickly. ¡°But you¡¯ve got the right plan, so we¡¯ll make sure to follow it as soon as we can.¡± Another good point. Ray was different from others. But that could be said for most people too. They were all individuals with their own limits, proclivities, and tolerances. Not many other people shared his same drive to get stronger as quickly as possible. Not everybody wanted to reach higher up the Tower of Forging. And that ought to be valid. They just had to realize that their circumstances demanded a different approach, one that was more in line with Ray and the Ascenders. ¡°Why were you helping everyone go higher?¡± Ray asked Mary. ¡°Was it really out of the goodness of your heart?¡± Her answering smile was small and sharp, like a little penknife. ¡°Do I look like someone doing it out of the goodness of my heart?¡± Ray turned to Joaquin, who was carefully avoiding Ray¡¯s eyes. He turned back to the leader of the Ascenders. ¡°Uh, maybe? You tell me.¡± ¡°No, Raymond¡ª¡± ¡°You can just call me Ray.¡± ¡°I¡¯d prefer not to. And no, I wasn¡¯t helping anyone out of the goodness of my heart. If you really look into it, you could say I¡¯m not that different from Derrick Orden. That¡¯s probably why he hates me so much.¡± Ray was forcefully reminded of Derrick¡¯s absolutely stupid speech of Ray himself not being that different from the Wild Tides¡¯ leader. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°For every person I help raise to the next Floor, I get a share of their Essence reward. And since they get a ton of Essence as a reward for climbing to the Second Floor, well¡­¡± She shrugged. Ray raised an eyebrow. Then he let Presence of the Primordial tell her about the woman before him. [Presence of the Primordial] Mary Felds [Denizen] Path: Path of Blinding Ice [Rare] Class: Duellist [Common] [Tier 1] at Level 19 Skills: Frost Touch [Tier 3]: Once activated, every touch, by you or on you, will leave a coating of frost on your opponent. Build up frost to cause Frostbite that lasts 30 seconds at Tier 3. Deflection [Tier 2]: Your skill as a duellist graces you with the ability to push aside your foes¡¯ blows at or below this skill¡¯s Tier. Killer Instinct [Tier 2]: Wounding a foe increases your damage against that enemy. At Tier 2, damage is increased by 10%. Winter Aura [Tier 3]: A passive skill that enhances Frostbite proc and slows down anyone with ill intensions in your vicinity. At Tier 2, movement speed is reduced by 4%. Frozen Suppression [Tier 4]: Unleash a blizzard in a radius of 12 meters around you. Enhances Frostbite and slows down foes by 4%. Flowing Dominion [Tier 5]: For a short time, your evasion is greatly increased. At Tier 5, movement speed when evading raised by 10% and lasts 1 minute. Prism [Tier 3]: Distort reality with a prism of ice. Mirrored Gain [Tier 4]: Inflicting Frostbite on a foe causes all stat boosts gained by the foes to be mirrored onto you as well. There was nothing in that list that indicated what she had said. Was it some sort of item, then? Perhaps even a Tower Node? Ray couldn¡¯t tell from her expression. At least it explained why she was at such a high level. ¡°I know some in our group are interested in ascending to the next Floor too,¡± Maya said. She took another deep breath, but she didn¡¯t let it out as a sigh this time. ¡°And I agree with your plan. We¡¯ll need to take the fight to the Sylvans if we really want to be free.¡± Chapter 48: Turncoat Ray decided to take a break for a day before he moved on. The Sylvans wouldn¡¯t make a move so quickly. Not when they had a whole group of wounded and morale-broken Wild Tides to deal with, all of whom were streaming to the Sylvan headquarters according to Kredevel. Speaking of whom, there were so many captured members of the Wild Tides for Maya to deal with. One of the reasons for their victory was the fact that not all of the Wild Tides had been determined to come in and fight against other people. So far, the threat of the Wild Tides had been enough for them to take over almost every other Faction or group they had encountered. They hadn¡¯t needed to fight. All those new people hey had forcibly integrated had believed things would go the same. That the Wild Tides were an inevitability for everyone. They hadn¡¯t believed they would actually need to start a battle. So when the Insurge Faction had decided to step up and take a stand against the Wild Tides, many of them hadn¡¯t been prepared. Even if Derrick Orden had told them to be ready, they hadn¡¯t truly mentally prepared themselves for it. And so, facing the resoluteness of the Insurge Faction, many of them had crumpled. ¡°You think this guy knows anything important?¡± Ray asked. Gritty had returned from her little sojourn, apparently dejected. She hadn¡¯t been able to continue murdering more of the Wild Tides, nor the Sylvans who had decided to shelter them. Apparently, even she knew when she was outmatched and it was best to live to fight another day. ¡°He¡¯s one of their newly promoted commanders,¡± Gritty said. ¡°If anyone¡¯s going to know something, it¡¯s got to be him.¡± Ray supposed that made sense. Most of those who had surrendered to the Insurge Faction weren¡¯t a part of Derrick Orden¡¯s inner circle. Those were too loyal to even consider giving up instead of fighting to the death. He glanced at Gritty. She looked more serious than he had seen her in¡­ ever. ¡°Still sad you couldn¡¯t infiltrate the Wild Tides like you did the last couple of times?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t infiltrate them cause we¡¯re about to meet the one who let me get into the Wild Tides in the first place.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± She glared at him like he had personally captured the guy they were about to interrogate. ¡°And I¡¯m mad because I almost died against that fucking Sylvan and I still haven¡¯t taken my revenge.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡± She sighed. ¡°Thanks.¡± Ray mustered up a small smile. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll get ¡®em.¡± ¡°Oh, we will. I¡¯m going to gut that bastard with his own horns.¡± Leaving Gritty to stew in her own dreams of vengeance, Ray noted that they were headed to a small hill to the left of the one that bore the keep. It was here that the Insurge Faction had set up something of a stockade to hold their ¡°prisoners of war¡±, as Mary Felds called them. The few guards there recognized Ray and Gritty, allowing them to pass through. Maya had warned them beforehand that he would be coming. ¡°That¡¯s him,¡± Gritty said, pointing to a balding, paunchy man near the middle. The fellow in question looked up as Ray approached. Like all the prisoners, he was wearing the same kind of chains that the Sylvans had tied up the captives Ray had freed. It felt so long ago now, though it couldn¡¯t have been much more than two weeks. ¡°You¡¯re him, aren¡¯t you?¡± the man asked. Ray raised an eyebrow. ¡°Him who?¡± ¡°Him. The one they said Orden wanted dead more than anyone else. The one who killed more of the Wild Tides than anyone else.¡± ¡°Funny, you know so much about me but don¡¯t know my name.¡± ¡°Your name is worth shit.¡± ¡°All names are worth shit, buddy,¡± Gritty said. The man was clearly trying to avoid looking at her. Ray had to wonder what in the world she had done to him, especially considering he was¡ªhad been, Ray reminded himself¡ªGritty¡¯s ticket into the Wild Tides. ¡°I don¡¯t know about names being worth shit,¡± Ray said. He leaned forward a little. ¡°But I know your name, Gerold.¡± The man screwed his eyes in suspicion. ¡°Why¡¯d you surrender, Gerold?¡± Ray knew, to an extent, but he still wanted to hear about it in the man¡¯s own words. It could help him decide how best to interrogate him. ¡°I didn¡¯t want any part of any killing,¡± Gerold said after some hesitation. ¡°Not killing people who don¡¯t deserve it, at least.¡± ¡°What if you had to kill people who deserved it? What if you had to kill the Wild Tides, now?¡± ¡°Heh. Depends on which Wild Tides members I¡¯m killing, I guess.¡± Sensible. The Wild Tides might be Ray¡¯s enemy in general, but they weren¡¯t a monolith. Not every single member of the Wild Tides had to be his foe. Like Gerold here. ¡°Alright,¡± Ray said. ¡°Here¡¯s the real thing I came here for. What do you know about Derrick Orden, Gerold? And I don¡¯t want to know about his favourite colour or what¡¯s his lucky lottery number. What¡¯s the secret behind his meteoric rise? How does he have a Tower Node?¡± ¡°He¡¯s got one of those Node things?¡± Gritty asked. Ray stared at her. ¡°I told you that.¡± She scratched her head. ¡°You did? Oops.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know anything about this Tower Node,¡± Gerold said. ¡°But I did hear some rumours you might find interesting.¡± ¡°What rumours?¡± Ray asked. ¡°I heard the power he¡¯s got isn¡¯t really his. I heard he stole them from someone. So, this Tower Node might be something he stole too. What is a Tower Node? Sounds important.¡± Ray was tempted to tell him it was none of his business, but that would put him off from revealing anything further. ¡°They¡¯re like magical Lego blocks for the Tower. They make everything in here function properly.¡± He wasn¡¯t going to learn specifics about Derrick Orden from Gerold, so he tried a different tack. ¡°What about his relationship with the Sylvans?¡± ¡°All I know is that it¡¯s mutually beneficial somehow,¡± Gerold said. ¡°I did hear he¡¯s supposed to be helping the Floor Lord find something important, something real useful for the Sylvans. Or for the Floor Lord, at least. Couldn¡¯t tell you what, though.¡± ¡°How the hell you learned all this, Gerold?¡± Gritty asked. ¡°And you never thought to mention any of it to me.¡± He looked mightily uncomfortable again. ¡°I only learned about some of it recently.¡± ¡°Nice excuse.¡± Ray decided not to ponder what exactly their relationship was. Mostly because he had no trouble imagining her cornering the poor fellow and then beating the ever-living shit out of him within an inch of his life so she could force him to do her bidding. ¡°I think that¡¯s all I need,¡± Ray said. ¡°Nice talking with you, Gerold. I¡¯ll be sure to put in a good word with Maya. See you.¡± ¡°Are you actually going to put in a good word?¡± Gritty asked as they left the makeshift prison hill. ¡°Well, I¡¯m going to tell Maya men like him could be useful. I don¡¯t really trust them. But I¡¯ll leave it to Maya if she can make use of them somehow. Anyway, where are you going next?¡± If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Where do you think? I¡¯m going killing. Same as you.¡± Ray nodded. He probably wouldn¡¯t have called it killing, at least, not so blithely. But he was going to be doing that in the end, wasn¡¯t he? ¡°Did you clear the Windbane dungeon yet?¡± ¡°That thing you can summon?¡± He laughed. ¡°Yeah. Exactly. Pretty decent Essence, especially if you take out all the ones that are there.¡± He went on to explain the troubles he¡¯d faced there and the rewards he had obtained. ¡°Good dungeon, overall. I¡¯m hoping the next one will be better.¡± ¡°Which is the next one you¡¯re going to?¡± ¡°The Tier 8 dungeon Kredevel mentioned. The one in Sector 19.¡± ¡°That¡¯s pretty far from here.¡± Ray nodded. ¡°It is.¡± ¡°Far enough that you¡¯d be closer to the Sylvans than to the Base.¡± ¡°True.¡± ¡°¡­so, you might not be coming back. Especially since you want to reach the Second Floor.¡± He considered her words a little more carefully. The implication behind them, rather. ¡°That Sylvan we fought at the end. He was too strong for me. What¡¯s worse is that the Floor Lord is going to be even stronger than that. If I can push ahead and grow strong enough to take them out, then yeah, I¡¯m not going to turn back.¡± ¡°Then am I going to see you again?¡± They both came to a pause. Ray realized she was staring at him a little too intently. He slowly smiled. ¡°I¡¯m not going to rush things,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m going to get strong enough to take down the Sylvans, and it¡¯s more than likely I¡¯ll have to. So yeah, you will see me again if you can catch up.¡± A crooked little grin slowly worked onto her face. ¡°If you think all this shit is going to go down without me present, then you¡¯ve got another think coming, wingman.¡± The prospect of seeing her again somehow made Ray feel better about the whole thing. It was comforting to be reminded that he wasn¡¯t alone in all this. That he had friends, that he had an entire side working with him. Together, they could take down the Sylvans and what was left of the Wild Tides too. Afterwards, Ray went to visit the graves. They had dug up shallow holes to store the corpses some distance away from the keep. Ray had already been sombre before going there, but once he reached the location, the sensation almost turned depressing. Nevertheless, with a bit of guidance, he managed to find the grave with a the small headstone bearing Randall¡¯s name. ¡°Nice of you to come.¡± Dory tried for a smile, but it didn¡¯t work on her tear-streaked face and red-rimmed eyes. Brave of her, though. ¡°Maya couldn¡¯t make it, so I¡¯m here for us both.¡± Ray nodded. There were a couple other people there. Friends of Randall¡¯s he didn¡¯t know. People who mourned their loved one¡¯s passing. It made him wonder if anyone would stand beside his grave if he ended up dying. He pushed the thought away. Now was the time to think about Randall. Ray might not have known him for long or that well, but he had been one of the first people he had met in the Tower. Plus, Randall had been a decent guy. That was in and of itself worth something under these circumstances. So, Ray took some time to remember Randall, to engrave his recollections of his friend in his mind. To remember what it meant, what it had felt like, to have lost Randall the way he had. ¡°Stay safe, okay?¡± Ray said softly to Dory. She nodded back. They shared a short but comforting hug before Ray nodded at the others and left. He had paid his respects. It was time to get going. Before leaving at the end of the day, Ray informed Maya personally about what he was going to do. He found her at her office, though she wasn¡¯t alone. Her family was there too. ¡°Sorry for stealing her away from you,¡± Ray said to the man. He meant it. She needed some time with her family. ¡°I promise I¡¯ll be quick.¡± ¡°Nonsense,¡± Maya¡¯s husband said. He was tall and thin. The Wild Tides had clearly not been treating him well. But he seemed happy enough to be back together with his wife. ¡°I should thank you for helping Maya out with everything. You¡¯re a real hero, Ray.¡± Ray smiled. ¡°Aw, you¡¯ll make me blush.¡± Kissing his wife goodbye and giving Ray¡¯s hand a solid shake, the man took his leave. Ray proceeded to tell Maya his plan. He really didn¡¯t intend to return to the Base. After all, their entire idea revolved around getting strong enough to take the fight to the Sylvans. Unless the Sylvans attacked too quickly, they would meet again near the centre of the First Floor. ¡°We¡¯re already getting started on the preparations,¡± she informed him in turn. ¡°Clearing out more traversal dungeons, more dungeons in general to level everybody up, stuff like that. And¡­ I¡¯m starting to see why you want to climb higher up the Tower. There¡¯s only so many dungeons people can find. Only so many monsters out in the wild too.¡± ¡°The Tower was built that way, I think. They don¡¯t want you to stay on one Floor forever. If you want to grow stronger, you¡¯ll need to go up, no matter what.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll figure out the details with Mary and the others, and I¡¯ll let you know once they¡¯re finalized.¡± Others. Oh right, she had to mean all the other people she had brought in, all the new groups and Factions who had joined together to help beat back the Wild Tides. All thanks to the traversal dungeons. ¡°Thanks,¡± Ray said. ¡°I¡¯ll see you¡­ in Sector 1, then?¡± Maya nodded resolutely. ¡°I¡¯ll see you then.¡±
Ray flew all the way to Sector 19 where the Tier 8 dungeon was supposed to be, according to Kredevel. He thought he¡¯d have to look around a little to find it. Kredevel hadn¡¯t been forthcoming about what exact kind of dungeon it was. Although, he had been very open about the state of the Sylvans and the Wild Tides. Kredevel: I salute your efforts. You have left the Wild Tides reeling. Ray: It wasn¡¯t all me. A lot of it was Maya¡¯s planning and the help we got from the Ascenders and the other groups from farther out. Kredevel: Perhaps. But your defeat of Derrick Orden played a major part in the eventually victory. I¡¯ve heard many of their morale broke as soon as they learned their leader had fallen. Even in the chat window, Ray could sense Kredevel¡¯s distaste. The idea of being routed so easily, at just the fall of the commander, seemed to be anathema to him. Maybe Sylvans just fought on, no matter who or what fell. It made them seem a lot more dangerous than they already appeared. Ray: Are the rest of the Sylvans sheltering them for now? Kredevel: For now, yes. The other Sylvans tolerate them only because they see the Wild Tides as living proof of the corruption of your kind. That you would stoop so low as to conduct a large scale war among your own selves. It serves a nice reminder of the differences between us. Ray: Weren¡¯t you almost ready to fight your own kind? Kredevel: I was. And still am, when the time comes. However, it is only against the Floor Lord that I stand. I have no quarrel with the rest of my kind. Ray: And what if they have a quarrel with you for picking a fight with the Floor Lord? Kredevel: They will not. It is natural to have disagreements, and the individuals disagreeing are expected to resolve it among themselves. Ray had gotten the gist that the Sylvans had a very different way of dealing with internal conflict compared to humans. For now, he focused on the dungeon ahead of him. A dungeon that basically spanned the entire Sector it was located at. [Presence of the Primordial¡ªDungeon] Everair Airfield [Tier 8] Flight was the greatest achievement for the Everair. They could naturally fly, of course, but they wished to bring the ability to fly to all things that was a part of their lives. As such, the Everair experimented with imbuing flight to all manner of things. Including their machinery, transport and weapons. Find the source of Flight Mana within the dungeon and bring an end to the guardian of the skies. That last bit was a bit ominous. A guardian of the skies? He looked up but didn¡¯t see anything. More than that, it was the fact that Ray had received the dungeon entry notification before he could even tell he was at the entrance. Considering it was the size of the entire Sector, Ray wasn¡¯t surprised. His breath came out in a little gasp as he beheld the dungeon itself spreading out before him. If he had to describe it, he¡¯d go with calling it a massive junkyard. Mountains of debris rose and fell as far as his eyes could see. These gigantic mounds were made of exactly what the dungeon¡¯s description had stated. Weapons, armour, machinery, and other paraphernalia. All broken and useless. Not even interacting with Mana. Ray landed at what felt like the actual entrance. He could go on from this point and find the source of the Flight Mana. It shouldn¡¯t be too difficult. Not when Presence of the Primordial could indicate Mana itself for him, with a little bit of focus. The mountains formed little valleys and passes between them. One of those passes climbed high on a path made entirely of the debris. Ray had to make sure his footing was alright so that he didn¡¯t fall. He could have used his wings, of course. However, he¡¯d likely have to fight some sort of obstacle at some point, and he wanted to get used to the floor of the dungeon beforehand. At the top of the pass, Ray paused to look around. It was almost as though he had been led here on purpose to see what was going on in the rest of the dungeon. Well, the rest as far as his eyes weren¡¯t blocked by other gigantic mound of debris. Ray didn¡¯t spot anything intriguing at first. Presence of the Primordial showed him faint streams of Mana coalescing to a certain point beyond his line of sight. But then he spotted the Sylvans. He saw the tail end of a small group of the aliens disappear behind a distant mound of debris. It was difficult to tell how many of them had been there, though he felt as though he caught sight of at least one Brighthorn with them. What were they doing here of all places? Ray shot off a message to Kredevel to ask about it, but he replied that he had no idea. Ray was going to have to find and check it out personally. When he climbed down the pass, he found his first obstacle. [Presence of the Primordial¡ªDungeon Obstacle] Primary Guardians The presence of life has stirred the old guardians of the dungeon to come to life. These mechanical constructs were placed to deter any thieves. Deactivate them by destroying a nearby fount of Flight Mana. What a strange challenge. He was supposed to find and turn off their switch? Not exactly a difficult-sounding task at first glance, considering he was in a Tier 8 dungeon. In general, it would have been nearly impossible for Ray to find this mysterious fount of Flight Mana. But thankfully, Presence of the Primordial indicated Mana in the air for him when he focused, and that included Mana that wasn¡¯t just of the regular variant. He located one without too much difficulty. It was just a mere dark hole on the side of one of the mounds, spitting out a stream of grey energy skywards. Destroy it, Presence of the Primordial had said. How exactly was Ray going to do¡ª The mound of debris began shifting. It took only a few seconds to coalesce around the spout of Flight Mana and form some kind of robotic humanoid the size of an African elephant. Ray tried using Presence of the Primordial on it but got no notifications about it. Huh. What the hell? Then he recalled the dungeons he had cleared, like the mage academy and the library. Killing the dungeon guardians there hadn¡¯t granted him any Essence. This was a real case, not a scenario like the war dungeon, but these artificial constructs just granted no Essence. Then, with a violent roar, the construct flew at him. Chapter 49: Guarded Airfield Ray decided he wasn¡¯t going to call that thing a humanoid. Rather, Everair-oid seemed a more appropriate term. Ignorant of Ray¡¯s internal terminological debate, the dungeon guardian charged. Ray shouldn¡¯t have been surprised it was flying. The thing was supposedly a guardian of Flight Mana. What else would it have been doing in the first place? Thankfully, Ray was more than fast enough to dodge away from it with his own wings coming into play. Bolts of regular Chaos Chymify did very little damage to it. That spell worked best with living matter, not artificial constructs. He was going to need a Shatterclaw. Before he could use his other offensive spell, Ray was struck by a storm. Of course. Enemies specializing in Flight Mana seemed to have a predilection for gusts and gales. This monster flavoured it with all the debris lying around. Bits and pieces of mechanical constructs, machines he couldn¡¯t identify, bricks and masonry from long-destroyed structures, the works. All of it flew into the air as a miniature cyclone erupted into being around the guardian and assailed Ray. He flew back, granting himself some more distance, and used Mottling Membrane. The defensive spell wasn¡¯t strong, but it was just strong enough to throw off the trajectory of most of the debris from hitting him. Unfortunately, that also meant that Ray was now too distant to use Shatterclaw on the guardian. He kept moving to the side while maintaining spacing, using Mottling Membrane periodically to keep himself safe. The problem with fighting non-living creatures was that he couldn¡¯t predict their next moves easily. Like, the guardian didn¡¯t have any regular eyes that Ray could have tried to fool with Occultic Apparition. It definitely didn¡¯t have a regular mind that he could afflict with Insanity. What he did have was a way to get an overpowered laser beam right at the start of a fight. With his Hallow Reputation taking care of the need for True Mana, Ray used True Enhancement on the Greater Windbane Maw, crafting it on the length of his arm with Primal Summons. Boisterous energy coursed through his body, turning him into a livewire. Ray came to a stop, aimed the maw at the guardian, then fired off the gathering, roiling energy. The laser breath worked perfectly. It crashed into the dungeon guardian in a millisecond, destroying its innards and making its whole frame explode. The chaotic, black-red fire didn¡¯t burn on the pieces of its artificial form for long, but that was fine. Both the dungeon guardian and the spout of Flight Mana it had formed around were destroyed. One of these days, he needed to test the range of the True Mana version of the maw¡¯s breath. [Warning!] Presence of the Primordial indicates your presence has been detected by Total Perception [Tier 3]. Presence of the Primordial has nullified the aura of Sylvan Pride [Tier 3]. Ah, shit. Were the Sylvans returning? Ray turned around to look. He wasn¡¯t afraid of dealing with them but fighting them altogether would be a bit painful. It turned out to be just the one Sylvan, as confirmed by Presence of the Primordial. A lone alien standing atop a different mound of debris, watching Ray from the distance. Of course, the Sylvan had likely already alerted the rest that Ray was here, but the fact that this one was alone was¡­ interesting. ¡°Where¡¯s the rest of you?¡± Ray asked while using Presence of the Primordial again. ¡°Why would you care, foolish human?¡± the Sylvan said. Looked like she didn¡¯t recognize who Ray was, which could only be to his benefit. ¡°You will leave this dungeon, or you will fall to my blade here and now.¡± ¡°Why do you want to kill me? Aren¡¯t you supposed to be guiding the new Denizens to advance up the Floors instead of killing them on sight?¡± ¡°Do you truly take me for a fool? You are a known murderer of our kind. Of us and our Brighthorns. That I am not killing you already is a mercy you do not deserve. One last warning, human. Leave or die.¡± Well, so much for going unrecognized. ¡°How about I just kill you instead?¡± Ray asked. The Sylvan laughed. ¡°I commend your spirit. At least you will die with honour.¡± She attacked then. A quick look with Presence of the Primordial had already informed Ray that this Sylvan was little different from a lot of the others he had fought already. An Acrobat Assaulter with the Wind-based Path. He could have used Vengeful Plunder then, but he was pretty sure this battle wasn¡¯t going to last long enough for that to be anything more than a waste of True Mana. Unlike the last few ones he had ambushed and killed, he couldn¡¯t take the Sylvan out from a distance. That was fine. With how much he had levelled up and grown since his last real battle with one of her kind, he was curious to see just how well he would stack up against her. Good thing this Sylvan provided just the opportunity he was looking for. Ray shot bolts of Chaos Chymify at her which she nullified with Pressure Block. But only the first couple of times. She seemed to realize that even blocking was still allowing through at least some of the Insanity affliction. So, the Sylvan quickly reverted to dodging entirely instead of tanking the hits. That was one score in Ray¡¯s favour. She tried rushing him down, but a quick Sphereguard of Chaos stymied her. The orbs hung threateningly on either side of Ray, and the Sylvan appeared to understand that if she got too close, she¡¯d be struck. Unfortunately, she had those annoying Wind Whips to strike at Ray. They came out fast. So fast that Ray himself would likely have been struck by them had his chaos orbs not shot in and sacrificed themselves against every whip of wind. But while his opponent was busy, Ray summoned up his wings, applied Occultic Apparition, and flashed forward. He got just close enough to cast a Shatterclaw, which the Sylvan dodged instinctively. Then rushed in for a counterattack. Too fast. Even as Ray moved back, she closed in. The Sylvan had her Pressure Block shield raised. It tanked the last remaining orb but Ray compounded the effect by blasting out a Mottling Membrane. Now that staggered her, slowing down her furious rush enough for Ray to fall back quickly. Even as he retreated, he cast Arcane Construct to call up the Greater Windbane Maw with the wings that allowed it flight. Distracted as she was, the Sylvan didn¡¯t see it. As soon as she had recovered, she tried to rush in and attack again, but that was when Ray¡¯s construct flew in from the side. She managed to evade the flames, and even smacked away the maw itself from chomping through her. What she couldn¡¯t react in time to was Ray himself rushing in. With his arm raised, clearly about to call down a spell, the Sylvan instinctively raised her own Pressure Shield up high. But it didn¡¯t matter. Because it couldn¡¯t stand up to Ray using the True Mana version of Shatterclaw to take down the Sylvan. The ethereal arm of monochrome energy tipped with burning scarlet claws ripped into the Sylvan. There was no contest. Ray¡¯s arm crushed the Sylvan where she stood, a blast of chaotic power at the impact ending her life. [Enemy Defeated¡ªSylvan] Acrobat Assaulter [Tier 3] Sylvan: [Level 16] x1 Essence: +2,400 Knowledge: +3 Mana Restored: +160 Essence to Level 18: 5,780/16,500 Knowledge to next Threshold: 454/500 Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Ray decided to move on quickly. He couldn¡¯t be sure if the Sylvan had warned the rest of her party about the lone human also inside the dungeon, but it was best to assume that she had. Which meant he needed to act fast. Not that Ray had a ton to do, of course. Progress through the dungeon mostly involved destroying more of the Flight Mana spouts guarded by the debris guardians in the same manner. At some point, though, Ray came across a different kind of obstacle. Instead of destroying Flight Mana, he now had to use it. [Presence of the Primordial¡ªDungeon Obstacle] Hidden Passage The sheer amount of debris littered in the airfield necessitated its caretakers to construct passages that allowed for easier traversal through the airfield. Of course, the Everair themselves could fly over it, but having a straightforward route on foot allowed simpler transportation mechanisms to function. However, the debris has blocked the passages. Use Flight Mana to remove the debris and open up the tunnels. Ray read through that obstacle description a couple of times. First he had to destroy the spouts of Flight Mana, and now he had to use it. This dungeon really needed to make up its mind. Although, shouldn¡¯t the Sylvans be facing the same obstacle he was? Didn¡¯t that mean they had to have opened up some passageways too? The dungeon covered a huge area, so he couldn¡¯t be certain where exactly the Sylvans had gone, but it couldn¡¯t have been far. But if Ray went looking for that, then he would risk meeting one or more Sylvans again. Hmm. Speed and convenience, or greater surety of safety? Sighing to himself, Ray went looking for a passageway that was already open. Along the way, he met a couple more of the debris-constructed dungeon guardians. Ray had gotten the exact method of defeating them almost memorized. Since they weren¡¯t really intelligent and had no variation between them, he could execute the exact same pattern as always and come out victorious. Things got a little more interesting when he finally found the passageway. Ray didn¡¯t go around looking on his own. That would have been inefficient. Besides himself, he also employed the help of his flying eyeball with Lifeblood Construct. [Warning!] Presence of the Primordial indicates your construct¡¯s presence has been detected by Total Perception [Tier 3]. The offending detector of his poor little eyeball turned up at the mouth of the tunnel. Not surprising at all. It was looking more than likely that the last Sylvan had warned the rest. So, this one had come out to see if Ray would indeed appear. It was good that an ¡°encounter¡± began at any point Ray decided it began. That meant his use of True Enhancement on the Great Windbane Maw before using Primal Summons caused the improved, ethereal version of the maw to appear over his arm. As the Sylvan focused on the eyeball, still trying to decide if it was an enemy or not, Ray got into position. Then he fired off his laser breath. It was as effective as it had always been. The beam of supremely compressed chaotic fire crashed into the Sylvan with fatal force, instantly killing the alien. Ray didn¡¯t even see where the Sylvan¡¯s body ended up from this distance. [Enemy Defeated¡ªSylvan] Acrobat Assaulter [Tier 3] Sylvan: [Level 16] x1 Essence: +2,400 Mana Restored: +160 Knowledge: +3 Essence to Level 18: 8,180/16,500 Knowledge to next Threshold: 457/500 Cool. He was almost halfway to his next level up. Maybe the next few Sylvans and clearing the dungeon would push him past the requirement and get him his much needed level. Ray hesitated in front of the tunnel. He could¡ªand did¡ªsend his eyeball further inside to continue scouting ahead, but that wasn¡¯t the real issue. What he was actually curious and slightly scared about was the structural integrity of the passage. As in, what if it began to collapse and crush Ray while he was inside? Logically, it shouldn¡¯t be an issue. The Sylvans had used it, hadn¡¯t they? It hadn¡¯t collapsed on them. Ray ought to be fine too. But he couldn¡¯t get the claustrophobic fear out of his mind. Nevertheless, banishing the fear back, Ray strode forward. The tunnel thankfully didn¡¯t start collapsing on him. Even when he was a good distance inside, where the entrance was now no longer easily visible, the tunnel remained steady. Lucky him. In fact, though the walls and ceiling were made of compressed debris all joined together with some strange, sludgy matter, they were strong. So strong that the tunnel soon opened up into a huge chamber. One with the largest spout of Flight Mana Ray had seen yet. Ray could tell he had moved deeper into the bowel of the dungeon. The tunnel had been gently sloping downwards. He had expected to come upon the rest of the Sylvans in this location, but there was no sign. His eyeball had found nothing, and questing out with Presence of the Primordial didn¡¯t find anything either. Strange. What was the significance of this giant room, the¡ª The significance materialized in the form of a new dungeon obstacle. [Presence of the Primordial¡ªDungeon Obstacle] Dreaded Guardian The Everair were aware that their initially selected mechanism of guarding the airfield might not be strong enough. That was why they devised a secondary means of safeguarding their airfields. By simply harnessing the very air, they could create a guardian unparalleled within their airfields. A living, elemental guardian. Defeat it to advance. Ray stared as the so-called Dreaded Guardian came to life before him. A wind picked up, quickly turning into the furious pace of a storm. Clouds formed ahead of him, dark and heavy as a hurricane. Like with the debris-constructed guardians, this Dreaded Guardian took on the shape of an Everair as well. The only difference was that it grew to a much greater size. Essentially, the entire middle section of the chamber was taken over by the monster. It was huge. Unlike with the last few enemies he had faced, Ray actually used Presence of the Primordial this time to grant himself some hopefully helpful information. [Presence of the Primordial] Dreaded Guardian [Monster] [Tier 7] [Level 18] Elemental creature created by the tampering of Flight Mana with need for protection. Constructs its form with a cloud that is difficult to damage. Sustains itself purely on Mana, so it naturally seeks to kill other creatures that can use Mana. As such, it is rarely seen in the presence of other creatures. Skills: Cloud Form [Tier 4]: Condense your form into that of a cloud, massively raising your defence against Mana-based, non-physical abilities. At Tier 4, this skill reduces damage from all non-physical abilities by 20%. Raging Storm [Tier 5]: Unleash a powerful storm that lashes foes with wind, rain, and lightning. Thunder Charge [Tier 4]: Build a pulse of lightning that strikes your foe when you land a physical hit. Charge will remain active until a direct strike lands. Dissipate [Tier 2]: Control the density of your form to appear and reappear parts of your body at will. At Tier 2, this skill can vanish and manifest up to 20% of your body at the same time. Dead Rain [Tier 4]: Call down rainfall that saps your foes of their life force. At Tier 4, this skill steals 4% of your target¡¯s maximum Recovery every second the target is physically under the effects of this skill. Ionize [Tier 4]: Charge the air in the vicinity to cause sparks to randomly manifest. At Tier 4, the range of this skill is 12 meters. Huh, interesting. Ray didn¡¯t have much time to read through the entire list of its abilities. The monster had already risen high on its feet, readying to attack and take him out. Ray could only wonder one thing. If the monster was alive and breathing, then how had the Sylvans gotten past it? Had they just tucked their tails between their legs and booked it out of the area? Or had they found a different route to take them to wherever they needed to be? And that was Ray¡¯s ultimate concern. While he wanted to clear the dungeon and its obstacles, his priorities had shifted to discovering whatever the Sylvans were here for. In other words, he couldn¡¯t waste time against this hulking cloud of a guardian. Ray decided to attack the monster as ferociously as he could in an effort to just defeat it before it took up too much of his time. As such, he used True Enhancement on Shatterclaw, creating his ethereal black-and-white arm to smack the monster with. But at the very spot he struck, the monster simply disappeared. Ah, right. That was the Dissipate ability coming into play. In fact, the monster¡¯s cloudy body was already amorphously moving around. It was far too fast, twisting and reconstructing its shape in no time at all. As fast as Ray could cast his spell, he couldn¡¯t move his True Mana Shatterclaw arm fast enough to keep up with his foe. Even when he managed to land a strike, it didn¡¯t have a ton of effect. Cloud Form was reducing the direct damage he was applying, and since the monster wasn¡¯t made of living matter, the chaotic effect didn¡¯t take hold. And then the monster was counterattacking. A disembodied cloudy fist smacked in from his four o¡¯clock, Thunder Charge filling up the blow with lightning. Ray already had his wings active, so it wasn¡¯t too difficult to dodge back. As he evaded, he still tried to hit the monster with his Shatterclaw arm, but all he managed to destroy was the fist that struck him. Nothing else. He couldn¡¯t tell if that had done much damage. It certainly didn¡¯t look that way at a glance. By that point, it was pretty clear he wasn¡¯t going to be able to beat the monster back as quickly as he had hoped. Not with Shatterclaw. So instead, Ray began flinging Chaos Chymify. He had to let the Shatterclaw arm dissipate for now, which felt like a waste of True Mana. But that was fine. Chaos Chymify was having the exact effect he had been looking for. Despite the monster¡¯s strong defence against Mana-based abilities¡ªwhich meant pretty much everything in Ray¡¯s arsenal¡ªit didn¡¯t have a strong defence against status afflictions. Ray could tell that Insanity was proccing. The monster¡¯s movement pattern had changed. Its motion was jerkier now, twitchy and irregular instead of like that of a cloud flowing in the wind. Lashing out in Ray¡¯s direction instead of wreathing him like deadly smoke. Next, Ray summoned up a flying Greater Windbane Maw. While the chaotic fire it belched didn¡¯t perform the greatest, what it could do instead was directly bludgeon the Dreaded Guardian with a ferocious charge. Non-physical abilities, Cloud Form¡¯s description had said. A draconic head filled with ripping teeth was very much physical. Even then, with the flying Windbane Maw biting and crashing through its cloudy form and Ray blasting it with more and more Chaos Chymify, the Dreaded Guardian wouldn¡¯t give in. A second later, it unleashed its storm. It was worse than what the Greater Windbane had thrown out from the mountain peak. Way worse. Ray was instantly buffeted with powerful winds so strong that even the bolts of Chaos Chymify were blown to different directions from their target. Rain pelted him like watery bullets, and he was forced to retreat as the air sparked and crackled before lightning smacked down. Ah, shit. This was getting a little too insane for Ray¡¯s liking. Funny, since that was the status he wanted to afflict, but it was taking too long. So, without further ado, Ray let his construct distract the monster for a little while longer while he flew out. He had already seen the tunnel restarting at the other end of the chamber. That had to be the direction the Sylvans had gone. Hopefully, Ray would find them fast enough. Behind him, the monster let out a thunderous roar and the storm continued buffeting him. Clearly, he wasn¡¯t free. In fact, the monster would likely kill the construct in short order, considering how strong it was. And then it would no doubt rush after Ray himself. But as he wended his way through the tunnel, Ray was pretty certain he would reach his dest¡ª The passageway opened up, depositing Ray at the tail end of what he could only describe as a giant airship. An airship that a small group of Sylvans were entering. Ray grinned. He had finally found his targets. Chapter 50: A Small Mercy Ray had thought that he had landed on a giant airship. Sort of like the blimps he had seen flying over stadiums and the like, although this one was more ribbed, kind of like the old-fashioned. But there were key differences he didn¡¯t fail to notice. The major problem was that its front half was buried in another mound of debris. In fact, it was listing forward at an angle. If Ray wanted, he could have slipped forward pretty easily. Behind him, the airship was pretty different too. It didn¡¯t taper to a single point, still covered in the tarp and everything else. No, that ended halfway along the ship before giving way to some sort of gigantic engine-like structure. Tubes, pipes, gears, and other machinery all led to a set of enormous nozzles Ray could have established bedrooms in. Those were probably what created the thrust for driving this entire rig forward. He didn¡¯t think they created the lift needed to get it in the air. An airship didn¡¯t have wings like an airplane. This thing probably had a very different method of achieving liftoff. A method that the Sylvans entering its bowels were most likely going to explore. Was that their main reason for coming here, though? Activating some age-old airship? Ray couldn¡¯t figure out why in the world they might need something like this. Surely they had figured out flight on their own already, even if Ray had seen no proof of it yet. It would be advantageous if he could get closer to see what they were doing, but he would get sensed if he got too close. So, he crushed a Mana crystal to top himself off with more Mana, then used Lifeblood Construct to create his flying eyeball. ¡°Off you go, buddy,¡± he said, sending it off. Behind him, he kept his permanent eyes out for any signs of the Dreaded Guardian approaching. The monster had to be mad that Ray had left it. He didn¡¯t know how far it could get from that chamber he had found it in¡ªconsidering it hadn¡¯t gone after the Sylvans¡ªbut Ray wouldn¡¯t put it past the monster to emerge through the same tunnel he had. Unlike Ray himself, the eyeball didn¡¯t need to get so close that it would be detected by Total Perception. Its focusing range was really good. As such, it could stay distant and observe everything without giving its location away. Problem was that it didn¡¯t have hearing. Ray couldn¡¯t tell what the Sylvans were saying among each other. He certainly couldn¡¯t read their lips. His understanding of their language was entirely a weird, internal-brain translation thing assisted by the System. Deciphering it without hearing just wasn¡¯t going to work. It was a little weird to have his attention so split. Watching the tunnel mouth while watching the Sylvans poke and prod at various buttons and levers within the airship¡¯s main cabin. Some of it was even working. Little lights flashed into being here and there, the low hum of machinery waking up making the entire dirigible vibrate ever so slightly. Hmm, maybe he ought to get down from here before the entire airship took to the air. His decision was more or less made for him when Presence of the Primordial indicated his old friend was just about to burst out of the tunnel mouth. Ray could already hear the thunderous rumble. [Presence of the Primordial¡ªDungeon Obstacle] Take Flight A graveyard strewn with the debris of yesteryears has nothing left to give. Except for the secret of its origin. As such, all that is left is to use this origin and depart. Take flight with the sole remaining functioning machine of the dungeon and escape from the past. Now it was showing him the last Dungeon Obstacle? It felt like the final one. Ray read through it quickly, noting the word ¡°escape¡±. Almost like it didn¡¯t believe he could defeat whatever was after him. No way. He could beat the Dreaded Guardian, he was sure of it, if he prioritized it. But then, why bother facing it down when he could let it cause more chaos among the Sylvans? Ray grinned. Time to act. The monster was coming in hot and fast on his trail, but Ray moved quicker. He¡¯d have to time things right. Deciding that the next bit was going to be an official encounter for the System¡¯s purposes, Ray summoned a True Mana version of his Greater Windbane Maw. The construct made of ethereal energy zipped off to one side to join his floating eyeball. Ray himself flew into the cabin just as the warning hit. [Warning!] Presence of the Primordial indicates your presence has been detected by Total Perception [Tier 3]. Sylvan Pride [Tier 3] has been nullified by Presence of the Primordial. ¡°Hello, there,¡± Ray said. The Sylvans wouldn¡¯t attack on sight. Not a single one of his confrontations with a Sylvan had started off with an immediate attack, except when a battle was already ongoing. He was right to assume this one wouldn¡¯t start that way either. ¡°I should have known you were still alive, intruder,¡± said the Sylvan near the front of the cabin. His arm was on a strange, hemispherical steering wheel. ¡°What with the update messages drying up.¡± The other two Sylvans in the cabin had turned to observe Ray with glowering looks, but the leader waved them back to work. ¡°I will handle this one. You two ensure the airship rises.¡± With nodded assents, and a last scowl at Ray, the other two Sylvans went back to work. Ray tried to observe what exactly they were doing, but his attention was drawn back to the leader. To the person he could gain all the information from. ¡°You Sylvans really haven¡¯t discovered flight yet?¡± Ray asked, mocking. ¡°We¡¯ve had that for over a hundred years now.¡± ¡°Flight?¡± The Sylvan sneered, slowly pulling the spear with the curved blade off his back. Wait no, that made it more of a glaive. ¡°Foolish human, you believe flight is what we are seeking here?¡± ¡°What else could you want?¡± ¡°We have it working,¡± one of the other Sylvans shouted. The airship groaned violently. And then it began to lift off. Ray trembled along with everyone and everything else, but he managed to hold himself steady. The Sylvan leader laughed. ¡°Well done. Keep it steady and prepare for the Guardian.¡± He turned back to Ray. ¡°You, unfortunately, are about to die, therefore, you do not need to know anything.¡± Poised though the Sylvan was to attack, he didn¡¯t actually leap at Ray. He had frozen instead, quickly jerking his head up. An instant later, the Dread Guardian dropped in. The monster didn¡¯t care about civilized exits and entry ways. Oh no. Its gaze was focused entirely on its targets, and for it, the closest means of reaching said targets was by crashing itself straight through the roof. Ray wasn¡¯t the only one to shout in alarm as metal splinters and pieces of the dirigible¡¯s tarp all rained down among them. With a powerful thunderclap, the monster was in their midst. ¡°I thought this thing wouldn¡¯t come after us!¡± one of the Sylvans at the back yelled, retreating backwards. ¡°We used the evader after all.¡± ¡°It¡¯s him.¡± The leader of the Sylvans glared at Ray like he had just cussed in front of his young children. ¡°He dragged it in here, the fool.¡± A lot of things became apparent to Ray at that moment. For one, this was clearly not the guardian that the Sylvan leader had just told his subordinates to prepare for. Here was this other guardian then, and was it a greater threat than the one before them? Another thing that had rapidly become clear was that these Sylvans had never faced the Dreaded Guardian. Somehow, they had suppressed it, or evaded it without ever encountering it. Maybe they had never used the tunnel in the first place, just stationed a guard there because that was the most likely route Ray would end up taking. Whatever the case, a level 19 Dreaded Guardian was now in front of them, and they had to deal with it. ¡°Scared?¡± Ray taunted. ¡°If you really want, I can kill that thing for you.¡± This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Clearly, the Dreaded Guardian was in no mood to be killed. It uttered the same thunderous roar it had done earlier, like a furious salvo of lightning bolts going off at once. It brought both its arms down with Thunder Charge activating at the same time. Lighting manifested at the end of its fist, ready to detonate at the moment of its fist¡¯s impact with its target. Ray flew back quickly, the lightning exploding outwards in the next second. He used Mottling Membrane to safeguard himself against any stray arcs of electricity. The Sylvan had dodged in the opposite direction. He shouted something at his subordinates, but Ray couldn¡¯t quite make it out in the pandemonium. The monster could apparently split its attention, going by how both Ray and the leader Sylvan were buffeted by a storm. Rain and wind lashed them both in equal measure. Lightning was beginning to erupt in their vicinity This Dreaded Guardian was something else. Well, Ray had no wish to fight against anybody in these conditions. In fact, he wasn¡¯t here to fight in the first place. He just wanted to win. That was where his constructs came in. The timer of Lifeblood Construct was running down, but Ray had to wait until they were all in the right position. Though, that was going to be difficult. The Sylvan was moving way too furiously. Ray had no time to think. Both his opponents were attacking. Thankfully, he had taken care of most of the thought before the encounter. As the Sylvan flew in with his blade slashing, Ray dodged past with his wings and landed at his opponent¡¯s original position. The monster¡¯s Thunder Charge fist came flying in the next second¡ªanother heading for the Sylvan leader¡ªbut Ray dodged that too. It struck the dirigible¡¯s wall behind him, the whole airship groaning as more of it burst asunder. One of the other Sylvans was about to jump in the fray, something Ray only caught through the corner of his eye. But the leader shouted something and the new combatant stayed back. The Sylvan went back to assisting his companion with the airship. Focus. Ray¡¯s goal was to deal with the situation with one blow. Two birds with one stone? How about all of them instead? He knew just how to do so. Time to get to work. Ray flew in. He deposited himself behind the Dreaded Guardian, halting between the monster and the other Sylvans who were busy with the airship. Their leader was too busy with monster. More importantly, he was at Ray¡¯s original location, which meant Ray himself was currently obscured. Just the opportunity he needed to take advantage of. With his Silver True Mana Bracelet¡¯s stored True Mana, Ray activated True Enhancement once more, placing it on Shatterclaw this time. As soon as the black-and-white arms materialized, Ray fired them forward. They burst through the cloudy monster¡¯s midsection. There was no time for the Sylvan beyond to dodge. Ray¡¯s regular eyes might not have been able to locate his opponent through the monster¡¯s body, but his third eye had been trained on the Sylvan all this while. His aim was inch-perfect. Ray had locked the Sylvan in place. He could have trued to attack the Sylvan directly with the True Mana Shatterclaw arms, but his opponent might have possessed defensive abilities. Honestly, he should have checked with Presence fo the Primordial. But regardless, this was a more foolproof approach. ¡°Now!¡± he screamed. The True Mana variant of the Greater Windbane Maw fired off its compressed laser the next second. Ray didn¡¯t even get the time to blink before the laser hammered in. The fiery beam crushed through the Sylvan¡¯s midsection and vaporized his chest in an instant. It struck his True Mana arm as well, destroying it with as little trouble, as well as burning through much of the Dreaded Gaurdian¡¯s form too. But the biggest blow had to be when it struck the side of the airship cabin. It carved a hole right through the metal wall and passed into the engine beyond. Which promptly exploded. One second, Ray was holding onto a Sylvan separated into two by his attack. The next, he was flying, his ears bleeding thanks to the sheer ferocity of the explosion, his whole body aching as he crashed into the opposite wall. Fire raged around him, a multitude of wounds covering his exposed skin, his head ringing as his vision swam. Not good. Thankfully, Ray had enough presence of mind to control his Recovery and take care of the worst of the injuries. The rib he had broken, whatever had happened to his head, things like that. There wasn¡¯t enough Recovery to heal up the multitude of stinging sensations, nor was he able to numb the growing pain in his arm. That explosion had been a lot harder than he had expected it to be. Damn. But most of his opponents were either dead or close enough to not matter. Ray spotted at least two Sylvan corpses, with the third slowly moving in the distance. More importantly, the explosion had destroyed a huge chunk of the Dreaded Gaurdian. The monster¡¯s cloudy form had been torn apart too instantaneously for it to have protected itself against the blast. It wasn¡¯t dead yet, though. Whatever bit of it remained was slowly getting itself back together, unheeding of the damage it had suffered. Ray got to his feet. His vision swam in the heat and the smoke. Debris was strewn everywhere. Everything seemed to be groaning, and the way his stomach was sinking suggested the airship plummeting straight to the ground. Cloudy wisps gathered as the monster partially recreated itself. Its attention was focused entirely on Ray, preparing to attack, a Thunder Charge fist once again slamming in for his head. The blast had taken out Ray¡¯s wings too, or the timer of Primal Summons had run out. Whatever the case, he threw himself forward to evade the monster¡¯s crashing blow. Lightning shattered the area just behind him. As Ray rolled back to his feet, he used Primal Summons again. This time, he called the Greater Windbane Maw to materialize along his arm. An instant later, as it formed with a burst of chaotic energy along his arm, Ray immediately unleashed the maw¡¯s fiery breath. It was good thing his enhanced dragon head¡¯s laser breath and the subsequent explosion of the engine had destroyed most of the Dreaded Gaurdian¡¯s body already. Ray was only left with less than a quarter to finally kill the thing. The monsters tried to Dissipate, tried to swerve away from the chaotic flames and remanifest itself elsewhere. But Ray had a counter to that too. He used Mottling Membrane. That slowed down its regeneration by pushing away the dissipated bits, which allowed his flames to burn away the monster a lot more easily. Soon enough, with a final but low groan, the Dreaded Guardian died. [Enemy Defeated¡ªSylvan] Acrobat Assaulter [Tier 3] Sylvan: [Level 16] x1 Crescent Wielder [Tier 3] Sylvan: [Level 19] x1 Dreaded Guardian [Tier 7] Monster: [Level 19] x1 Essence: +6,580 Mana Restored: +540 Knowledge: +9 Essence to level 18: 14,760/16,500 Knowledge to next Threshold: 466/500 Ray pushed away the notifications. Interesting as the things that he had killed had been, he didn¡¯t have time to look over them all. He hadn¡¯t used Chaos Chymify once during that battle, so there was nothing for Lifeblood Crucible to steal either. Fun as Cloud Form had seemed, it wasn¡¯t something that fit what he already had. Besides, now wasn¡¯t the time. The airship was still sinking. Ray had more important business to attend to. He hurried over to where his last enemy was still alive. It was hard not to trip on the rubble. The Sylvan¡¯s legs had been crushed. Ray suspected there had been even worse wounds, but those had taken up all of the alien¡¯s Recovery, thus leaving the legs unhealed and destroyed. ¡°Do you need some¡ª¡± Ray coughed in the smoke. ¡°Do you need help?¡± With slow, clearly agonizing movement, the Sylvan turned to look at him through eyes that almost seemed like they were melting. Or maybe those were tears. ¡°You¡­ will not¡­ be forgiven this trans¡­ transgression.¡± ¡°Save it, pal. You¡¯re dying.¡± Despite the flames, Ray was suddenly feeling rather cold. His spine had turned into a rigid iron rod left out in winter. ¡°Let¡¯s cut to the chase. I can help you, but in return, I want answers.¡± ¡°Help?¡± the Sylvan tried to laugh, but it just came out as a pained wheeze. ¡°From¡­¡± ¡°Yes, from me.¡± Ray cursed. ¡°Just forget everything for a second, You¡¯re fucking dying. Do you want help, or are you really going to let your pride be the last thing you take care of?¡± He stared up at Ray for a few moments, then winced. ¡°What¡­ do you¡­?¡± ¡°This airship. This whole thing. What was it about? What were you doing here?¡± Ray knew he wasn¡¯t going to get the whole story out of the Sylvan. There was just too much going on. But he paid attention to every word he was told, and that was enough. ¡°Old¡­¡± the Sylvan said, every word appearing like it was hauled out of a depthless pit. ¡°Technology¡­ the¡­ Lord¡­ wishes to¡­ combine¡­ ascend¡­ all that the Floor¡­ All other¡­ collected¡­¡± The Sylvan had to pause. Too much pain causing too much strain. The words just wouldn¡¯t come. But that was alright. Ray had heard enough to be going on with. He now understood the big picture. The Floor Lord clearly wanted some old Everair tech for his indubitably nefarious plans. It raised a lot more question, but Ray quickly narrowed down the most relevant one in this case. ¡°Where is the guardian you were preparing for?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Coming soon¡­¡± the Sylvan managed to squeak out. He was losing his voice. ¡°Outside¡­¡± Ray stood straighter. He had leaned in to listen better as the Sylvan¡¯s voice had quietened. Now, he knew enough to be going on with. ¡°Thank you,¡± Ray said. He meant it. Piecemeal though it was, everything the Sylvan had said would be useful. ¡°I appreciate all that you have told me, Enthadel.¡± Ray had peeked at the Sylvan¡¯s name using Presence of the Primordial. It made the Sylvan look up in slight surprise. ¡°Now, let me help you.¡± An understanding passed between them. It was a strange moment, to have that sort of deep, integral comprehension between them. Alien though they might be to each other, they both understood the only help Ray could provide in the situation. With a quick cast of Shatterclaw, Ray crushed the Sylvan¡¯s head. Not the cleanest and most dignified of deaths, but the death was too instantaneous to cause any true pain. Merciful. [Enemy Defeated¡ªSylvan] Acrobat Assaulter [Tier 3] Sylvan: [Level 16] x1 Essence: +2,400 Mana Restored: +160 Knowledge: +3 [Level Up!] Reward
  • +3 Intellect, +3 Spirit, +2 Vitality, +4 allocatable free stats.
  • 1 Tier Point
  • 1 Spell Synthesis Point
Essence to level 19: 660/18,900 Knowledge to next Threshold: 469/500 A Tier Point and a Spell Synthesis point with that level up. Now he could both upgrade his spells and streamline his overall loadout too. Excellent. The airship jerked and groaned again. It was still crashing. Ray really hated moments like these when his circumstances distracted him from poring over some delicious rewards. Taking one last look at the area to see if he had missed anything, Ray decided to exit the plummeting airship before it crashed and pulverized him. That was when he heard it. A distant, ethereal shriek floating over the wind straight to his ears. The cry of some gigantic beast. Ray stared as he reached the airship cabin¡¯s doorway, the wind making his hair flutter. Something was flying straight at him. Something huge enough to hold up the airship, if needed. [Presence of the Primordial¡ªDungeon Obstacle] Fly A resurrection of old powers has failed. Your only hope now lies in taming the past itself as it arrives. Pass its scrutiny by any means necessary, whether by somehow defeating or taming it or simply proving you are not worth destruction. Your choice may spell your doom. Chapter 51: Eternal Guardian Ray very much wanted to take a look at which spells he ought to upgrade and combine, but was that really going to help against something like that? The monster hurtling through the air in his direction was so huge. Despite still being way too far for Presence of the Primordial to act on it, Ray had no trouble making out its form. Much of it was obscured by a gigantic, tattered cloak, but the beak jutting out of the hood and the wings leaping off its back were unmistakeable. As was the huge spear in its hand. A spear which glowed for a moment before it shot in Ray¡¯s direction. Ray wasted no time leaping out of the airship¡¯s cabin. He was still pretty high above the ground. The maximum elevation granted by Soaring Wings was still rather limited, so Ray had no choice but to plummet straight down. At least, by stretching his wings out, he could control his fall. The spear from the huge monster crashed in an instant later. Ray¡¯s ears went numb at the sheer volume of the impact. Even besides the massive tearing, cracking, and rending, the explosion itself was breathtaking. It made the blast from Ray¡¯s construct look like nothing more than a pinprick. The side of the airship facing Ray simply collapsed. Its engine detonated into a fireball the size of a small building, burning debris shooting out in every direction. Unlike when Ray had attacked, the whole airship really did begin falling. Ray pulled his attention away from the plummeting airship. His main concern was approaching fast. That was what he had to deal with. As the huge guardian approached, the spear that had struck the airship pulled out of the falling dirigible and flew back to its owner¡¯s hand. Damn, that spear alone had to be as long as a small jetliner. Fucking insane. For a short moment, Ray almost salivated at the prospect of figuring out how to beat that thing and earn himself a crap ton of Essence. Then he mentally slapped himself as his descent began slowing down. The humongous monster was closing in, lowering itself towards the land as well. Ray suspected fighting that thing would be an undertaking well beyond him, but there was one way he could make sure. As the monster¡¯s enormous spear moved again, Ray shot forward. He applied Occultic Apparition on himself, moving as fast as he was able to. The huge spear swung down but missed him by a wide margin. Ray was zipping by far too quickly, though he did feel the air ripple in the spear¡¯s passage. Then Ray used Presence of the Primordial, focusing entirely on the creature he was shooting past. [Warning!] Due to great level disparity, Presence of the Primordial can only show basic information of target. Identification effects of Presence of the Primordial partially blocked by Eternal Mantle. [Presence of the Primordial] Eternal Guardian [Monster] [Tier 18] [Level 61] An ancient guardian tamed and modified by the Everair Imperial Handlers to safeguard their most important matters. These guardians were few and far between, with less than a dozen existing in the entire thousand-year-plus existence of the Everair. Cursed to forever guard their charges, even in death they remain active, though their strength has decayed greatly over the aeons. Race: Everair Path: Path of Cosmic Wind [Legendary] Skills: Ray stared at the blue box of information for a few seconds. The next instant, he flew away from the enormous monster as fast as he could. There was no way he was wining against something at level sixty-fucking-two. Also, Tier 18? That fact that a monster like this existed on the First Floor had to be some sort of crime. Especially since it was tied to a Tier 8 dungeon. How was it legal to set a Tier 18 monster as a Tier 8 dungeon¡¯s final obstacle? Ray tried to get his flagging thoughts in order. No, no the description hadn¡¯t told him to beat that thing. It had said to pass the encounter however he could. He looked back. The monster was giving chase. Of course. It wasn¡¯t going to let Ray go that easily. Even worse, with its enormous size, it was going to catch up to him rather soon. He needed to settle on a course of action. Ray was already connecting two and two in his head. Everything he had heard from the last Sylvan he had killed was starting to fall into place. The Floor Lord wanted a way to control that monster. But how exactly? The answer was obvious. It was related to the airship one way or another. The Sylvans had all been seeking to fly it up, most likely to take it to their central headquarters. To the Floor Lord. Ray jerked to a halt in mid-air. Then he immediately began flying back the way he had come. It had been a while since he had used a Mana crystal, so he popped one out and crushed it. The light blue glow around his hand confirmed that his Mana store had been partially replenished. Ray also replaced the Mana-Infuser ring with the Jade Ring of the Phoenix. If there was ever a time he could die from a single blow, then this was it. Putting on the ring didn¡¯t make him feel any different, not really, but the boost to his confidence was enough. Ray could do this. Especially because this was a situation where he could finally use Goliath Eater again. The sudden rush that coursed through him raised his belief even higher. He zipped by the Eternal Guardian in a second again. Once more, the monster tried to hit with its spear but missed. Ray had to wonder why it wasn¡¯t using any of its skills. Not that he was complaining, especially since Presence of the Primordial wouldn¡¯t even tell him what the abilities the Eternal Guardian possessed even were. Ray reached the broken airship moments after it struck the ground. The impact was deafening. His ears cringed, though the last few blasts were really giving his ear a volume workout. Finding what he needed in a destroyed airship that had just crash landed and was on fire to boot would probably have been too impossible of a task. That was where Presence of the Primordial came in. The spell let him discern Mana in the air, so long as he focused on it. That ability was going to come in super handy here. Of course, he was assuming that whatever he needed¡ªthat whatever the Sylvans had truly been taking with them within the airship¡ªwould be processing or using Mana in a way that Ray would be able to detect. His back itched. Something told him that if the Eternal Guardian attacked, his Valorous Back Shield wouldn¡¯t be able to protect him. Not if the level difference was making even Presence of the Primordial malfunction. Focus. Ray squinted his eyes and tried to reenact the same thing he had done with the dungeons a while back. He tried to become one with the Mana, tried to feel its flow within him. The tiny streams of sparking energy, the fuel for everything in this new world. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Glowing blue strands appeared in the air far from him. They thickened as they got closer to the airship¡¯s corpse, turning brilliantly bright somewhere within its burning heart. Of course, he would need to dive into the inferno. Ray took a quick peek behind him. The monster was almost upon him again. Forget using any skills, for some reason, it wasn¡¯t even chucking that enormous spear in his direction. Maybe it understood that Ray was too small in comparison and would dodge too easily. Whatever the case, he had to act now. A little burn from some fire wasn¡¯t going to be a problem if he got quashed like a bug under that Eternal Guardian¡¯s foot. Ray shot into the flames. He tried using Mottling Membrane to blow away the flames. Surprisingly, it kind of worked. Much of the inferno was doused out by the growing curtain of chaotic energy, giving Ray enough space to find what he was seeking. The point where all the strands of Mana were converging to. Unfortunately, the Eternal Guardian wasn¡¯t just going to sit back and allow Ray to do whatever he wanted. He looked back just in time to see the massive spear thrusting in once more. Ray had just enough time to throw himself to the other end of the burning cabin as the spear crashed in with another massive concussive impact. Ray found himself screaming as he fell through the collapsing floor. He might have dodged the monster¡¯s direct attack, but at this rate, he would be killed by the impact¡¯s effects. Somehow, Ray managed to land on his feet. It hurt, pain spiking up his leg and into his groin. He sent some Recovery to fix it up quickly, also blessing the fact that he hadn¡¯t been hurt worse. At the same time, he finally found it. A new Tower Node. [System Artifact¡ªTower Node] Tower Node of the Songstress With the Node of the Songstress, you can now employ Flight Mana to sing the song of the air. The airy melody is said to be capable of enchanting even the greatest of the Everair. A tune that everyone knows, that is notched into the heart of every Everair, however young or old they may be. Ray stared at the new Tower Node. It was diamond-shaped like all the others but had little pipes coming out of one end. They reminded him of a miniature church organ. Incredible. Vague as the Tower Nodes¡¯ description had been, compared to the usual fare, he was pretty sure this thing could control the massive Eternal Guardian. It didn¡¯t respond directly to him, though. Even when he focused, it didn¡¯t simply float out of the fire and into his hands. ¡°Not coming out now?¡± Ray asked, wondering if the Tower Node of the Marauder would appear just as it had done when he had found the Node of the Mentor. Nothing came. Sighing, Ray hurried forward on all fours before picking up the Tower Node. Undamaged though it might be, it was still hot enough to singe his skin. He bit down on a scream. The impulse to chuck it was strong too, but he mastered it. He was not about throw away the only thing that could save him. Employ Flight Mana¡­ Fuck, Ray didn¡¯t have Flight Mana. The Greater Windbane Maw he could call upon was somewhat related to it, but that didn¡¯t mean the Maw could actually channel Flight Mana. Shit, shit. Was Ray about to be crushed by the Eternal Guardian¡¯s spear just after finding his only way out of this situation? Desperate and not really thinking, Ray applied his Mana. He tried using True Mana, but his Hallowed Reputation only worked for spells and skills, not items apparently. So, Ray was relegated to using his regular Mana, trying to feel its flow as he directed all the magical energy within him to enter the item he held. The Artifact began glowing softly. A moment later, eerie music began emanating from it. Beyond Ray, the enormous monster froze. The sound was so soft, yet it had somehow heard it. Ray could barely make it out over the noise of the collapsing airship. Wild. His heart thumped. Could regular Mana actually work as a substitute for Flight Mana? The sound intensified. Ray frowned. It wasn¡¯t musical or melodic as the description had suggested. Instead, the sound turned discordant, like all the instruments were out of sync. Ray cringed at the growing noise. It wasn¡¯t just the disturbing music itself. There was something about the new Tower Node. Its music was digging into Ray¡¯s head, messing with his thoughts, burrowing into his skull. Almost literally. Ray had the sudden urge to stuff his fingers in his ears, to tear them off entirely if necessary. He had to stomp down on a powerful urge to scream. This Node of the Songstress was going crazy. He wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand this sort of mental attack. Even Presence of the Primordial wasn¡¯t working against it. But whatever Ray was experiencing, it was at least a hundredfold worse for the enormous monster. With an ear-splitting screech, it pulled itself back. Its massive footfalls made the entire area shake. The Eternal Guardian shook its head, waving its spear at nothing in particular, continuing to shriek out into the air. Ray quickly moved out of the airship. The monster had begun rampaging, and he didn¡¯t want to be anywhere close. It was impossible to tell what exactly the Tower Node¡¯s range was supposed to be. But then again, considering it was a Tower Node, he figured it could work from pretty far away. Having reached relative safety, Ray was considering his next move when the monster just took off. He stared. The Eternal Guardian loosed one last glass-shattering screech before spreading its sail-sized wings. Then it took off, retreating away from the discordant, disturbing noise from the Tower Node of the Songstress. [Dungeon Cleared¡ªEverair Airfield] Rewards
  • 1 Skill Tier Point
  • 1 Flight Mana Gem
  • 1 Tower Node: Tower Node of the Songstress
  • 1 [Selectable] Gear
  • +1,600 Essence
  • Reputation: +20 Chaotic, +15 Cunning
Essence to level 19: 2,260/18,900 Ray continued to watch past his notifications as the Eternal Guardian¡¯s form dwindled in the distance. He couldn¡¯t believe that he had actually done it. That he had survived that encounter. It was impossible not to laugh, partly in incredulity, partly in disbelieving relief. But fuck. Imagine actually killing that thing. A Tier 18, level 62 monster. That would take him halfway to his next level with ease. Shaking his head, Ray got moving. He ought to give the airfield dungeon a wide berth. No telling if the Eternal Guardian would return, and no telling if the same strategy of using the Songstress Tower Node would work again. Best to get himself far away and not look back. As Ray travelled, he finally took a peek through all his rewards. All four of his free stats went to Intellect. More spell damage was great, but more than that, Ray was curious about hitting the next Intellect Tier. He was unlikely to hit it any time soon. But who knew, maybe his class evolution would boost the growth. It was a little annoying that the bonus Intellect he got from Reputation Points, items, and so on didn¡¯t count. Ah well. The Spell Synthesis Point needed a bit more consideration, but one quick look at his Status had made his choices clear. Ray decided to combine Mottling Membrane and Sphereguard of Chaos. Considering they were both barrier spells that he had neglected to upgrade so far, they were perfect. Plus, they filled up similar roles. [Information Request¡ªSpells] Mottling Sphereguard [Barrier] [Tier 2] A barrier spell that summons several orbs of chaotic energy around the caster. Each orb can fully block a singular attack at this spell¡¯s Tier or launch an attack upon one or more targets. Either action causes the orb to dissipate. At Tier 2, this spell summons 10 orbs that last 2 minutes. Ray did his best to remember the description of Sphereguard of Chaos. Mottling Sphereguard definitely summoned a lot more orbs. Ten was over three times as much as the three his Tier 1 Sphereguard of Chaos could bring up. More than that, it appeared he could configure each orb separately to either restrict it to his vicinity as a means of protecting himself. At the same time, he could make them shoot out and attack his opponents too. Sounded a bit like Chaos Chymify at home, but Ray felt there was more utility at having multiple¡ªten¡ªorbs at the same time with just one cast. One thing he would no longer be able to do was use Mottling Membrane as a barrier to obscure himself from his foes. That had been rather useful against more powerful opponents like the Sylvans and Derrick Orden. Although, if Ray could control Mottling Sphereguard carefully, could he possibly recreate the same effect? Hmm, some testing was definitely necessary. The dungeon rewards themselves didn¡¯t seem like that big of a deal. More Essence was always great. Interestingly, he had received a Tier Point specifically for a skill. Alright then, where would it go? Ray had no idea if Adaptive Breath actually helped him much. Killer Instinct¡¯s background effect of raising his stats when he performed a successful kill wasn¡¯t bad, but then, it wasn¡¯t super useful. Too situational. In circumstances where Ray was killing a bunch of foes already, he was unlikely to need even more power. Settling on raising Goliath Eater¡¯s Tier for now, Ray peeked at its description to see how it had changed. [Information Request¡ªSkills] Goliath Eater [Conditional] [Buff] [Tier 3] A multi-effect buffing skill that only works when the wielder is facing one or more foes a level threshold stronger. All spells and skills, minus this skill, are raised by (an) additional Tier(s) equal to the Tier of this skill. The user¡¯s stats are raised by 25%, with an additional 5% for every level difference above the threshold. Successful defeat of adversary grants user a guaranteed Tier point. At Tier 3, this skill¡¯s level threshold is 1.4 times the wielder¡¯s level, costs 100 Mana, and lasts 2 minutes. Alright, if Ray wasn¡¯t mistaken, he had not only raised the spell¡¯s cost with that upgrade, but he had also improved the level difference threshold needed to activate it. What was one-point-four times his current level of 18? Damn it, where was a calculator when you needed one? Interesting, the skill still said it would raise all his spells¡¯ Tiers by the Tier of the skill. That meant, if Ray could find himself in a situation that could activate Goliath Eater, then all his spells would get boosted by three additional Tiers. A boost like that was massive. Ray was almost tempted to go hunting after the Eternal Guardian just to test that out. Shaking his head, Ray opened up the Gear options. Time to see if he could get something more useful than what he already had. Chapter 52: Plans Upon Plans The new options for gear that Ray got were definitely interesting, though not what Ray had expected. [Gear Selection] Gloves of Desperate Flight [Tier 6] When your Recovery falls below 20%, the Gloves of Desperate Flight will boost all your movement speed by 10% and enhance your airborne movement speed by 15%. Unseen Feathered Headband [Tier 7] Fully transparent headband of invisible feathers that regenerate Mana so long as the feathers are not still. Mana is regenerated at a rate of 300 per minute. Winged Sandals [Tier 7] Sandals that allow far greater aerial mobility, even without wings. Far away from the dungeon now, Ray could take his time with his options. Interesting that the System wasn¡¯t asking him to ¡°choose wisely¡±. Maybe he was no longer as new of a Denizen as he had been before. No need for the same sort of handholding. Despite the distance, it still took a little while for his body to settle down, to stop feeling like he was in danger. His skin only stopped itching and he stopped feeling jerky at every noise after at least an hour had passed. Even distracting himself with his rewards and other System stuff hadn¡¯t really helped. Nevertheless, Ray did his best to be productive. He really wished he could have tried out some of the gear instead of picking whatever looked right. For instance, what was up with those sandals? The description was very bare bones, yet with its Tier at 7, Ray was pretty certain the benefits it provided would be fantastic. Sometimes, he didn¡¯t really get the System. His spells were often pretty descriptive, which necessitated less need for testing at times. That was a benefit Ray appreciated. But now¡­ Not that it mattered. Greater mobility was never going to trump the sheer near-broken usefulness of the Drakescale Boots. His bonus Intellect was tremendously high only because of the Knowledge Reputation gain provided by his boots. Unless something incredibly powerful came up, Ray wasn¡¯t about to switch them out. The gloves were interesting, but again, highly situational. Ray wasn¡¯t looking forward to any time when his Recovery went down that low. Plus, despite the rather passive bonus from his current gloves, they were pretty helpful. He was pretty sure the reason he hadn¡¯t needed to use even more Mana crystals than he already had was because of the Supple Gloves and his Benevolent Reputation refunding Mana costs regularly. Which meant both of those would pair tremendously well with the Unseen Feathered Headband. A part of him considered he would probably look silly with it on, but it wasn¡¯t like he looked like he belonged on the cover of Vogue with the Wyvern Helm on. The real concern was whether he was willing to sacrifice some extra defence for more Mana. Ray tended not to get hit often. In extreme battles, like against Derrick Orden or other powerful opponents, the Resilience boost from the Helm came in handy. But in most situations, Ray relied more on his mobility, and his growing repertoire of abilities hinged on taking his enemies out from range. When he picked the headband, the choice window disappeared and his new gear appeared with a shimmer. Or, it was supposed to appear, but Ray saw nothing. Unseen. Hmm. Ray reached out his hand and felt it floating before him. Incredible. It really was an almost entirely invisible headband. If he squinted and twisted his head at just the right angle, he could see the air and light warping around it. But for all intents and purposes, it really did go fully unseen. The material felt stretchy in his hand, the feathers small and soft. Everair were generally pretty big. Ray remembered facing them in that war scenario dungeon. Shouldn¡¯t their feathers have been bigger as well? Considering for a moment longer, Ray replaced his Gold Wyvern Helm with the Unseen Feathered Headband. It felt strange. His head was a lot lighter without the helm on. The feathers lightly brushing the sides and back of his skull ought to have felt ticklish but just¡­ didn¡¯t. At least it was easier to move his head around now. Not that it had been that hard with the Helm on. Ray tested his new Gear¡¯s effects. After a few Chaos Chymifies depleted a small chunk of his total capacity, he let his Mana regenerate. It turned out all motion counted towards causing the Feathered Headband to refill his Mana store. Ray shook his head, moved about generally, even flapped his hand next to his head. Every single one of those actions, and more, all made the invisible feathers flutter. Even if the motion was small, almost imperceptible, the headband continued regenerating his Mana. Ray laughed. Alright, this had the potential to be quite incredible. If basically any motion at all would make the headband work its magic, then Ray would essentially always have the regenerative effect to count on. With that done, all that was left for Ray to take care of was the Tier point. He plugged it into Lifeblood Crucible. At Tier 8, he now had eight slots in total to store his Soul Aspects. That ought to be enough for his purposes. Since Ray wanted to eventually test if recreating an entire Brighthorn might assist in making his way through the First Floor and advancing to the Second, he now had everything in his toolkit. Well, except for the relevant Soul Aspects themselves. But he could acquire those in short order. He had the head and the limbs already. All that was left was to obtain the torso. Going through all his System matters had helped calm him down, though the very last thing he ought to check made his anxiety spike again. Such an unruly sensation. He understood where it was coming from. Facing a Tier 18, level 62 monster, a creature so beyond him, had shaken him in a way he couldn¡¯t even properly articulate. It was the helplessness. He might have escaped with his life, but facing and defeating the Eternal Guardian? Even with Goliath Eater, he was almost certain that was basically impossible at his current state. Ray relegated the anxiety to some far corner of his mind and called on the Tower Node again. It shimmered into being, a ceramic diamond with the small pipes on the upper faces. ¡°I used you,¡± he said. ¡°Yet you never really answered my call. Why is that?¡± That was how all the Tower Nodes he had acquired had worked so far. He used them, sometimes tried to overuse them, which then led to getting touch with the associated Paragon. Ray had no reason to contact this Songstress, but the fact that he had felt nothing extraplanar from it made him curious. The Marauder had called the Mentor apathetic and uncaring. What in the world made this Songstress then? Dead? Could Paragons even die? He figured thoughts like that were kind of blasphemous. Although, that begged the question of whether any of these Paragons were worshipped like gods anywhere. Sadly, Ray also hadn¡¯t received any skills from the new Tower Node. He supposed it made sense. The last time, he¡¯d had the True Mana skill reward from the True Mana dungeon. He would have to acquire another one of those to make use of newer Tower Nodes. None of that was Ray¡¯s real concern. Two things made him wary at that moment. One was whether just having the Tower Node of the Songstress in his possession would call in the Eternal Guardian. Could that gargantuan monster sense the Tower Node¡¯s location, or had it targeted the airship itself? Well, Ray was likely to find out before long. The other concern was what exactly the Floor Lord could have been planning with it. That was actually the more concerning worry, if he was being honest. That dying Sylvan¡¯s words suggested the Handler was gathering all the old tech for some master plan. Clearly, that included collecting the relevant Tower Nodes as well. Ray could see the benefit of this Tower Node. Who wouldn¡¯t want the ability to control a monster like the Eternal Guardian? But what about the other tech? What was the purpose behind everything else the Floor Lord was gathering. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Ray recalled Kredevel¡¯s hint that the Handler was seeking the secrets of the First Floor. Clearly, those secrets were related to the Everair. Also related to Derrick Orden and his Wild Tides in some way, going by what the defector had said about the Wild Tides targeting specific areas and dungeons. Derrick must have come to some sort of deal to help the Floor Lord. What were he and the Wild Tides receiving in return? All in all, Ray was missing a few specific clues that tied the whole picture together. When or where he would find those clues was anyone¡¯s guess. He ought to focus on levelling¡ª Wait, no. What Ray ought to focus on was exhausting every possible route of acquiring information. As he rested while keeping an eye out to see if the Eternal Guardian materialized in the distance, Ray called his companions. First off was Kredevel. Ray didn¡¯t hide anything. He knew his Sylvan friend had compunctions against the brutal murder of his fellows, but Ray didn¡¯t want to lie. Kredevel understood it, though it was hard to tell from plain text just what he felt about it. Kredevel: News has reached us about the Tier 8 dungeon. News about you, Ray. Ray: Already? That was fast. Kredevel: One of them sent a message though the chat over an hour ago. As far as I was able to tell, they are still considering their plan going forward. Regardless, you have placed yourself in far greater danger. Ray: Forget about me for a sec. Were you able to figure out what the exact plan of the Floor Lord¡¯s is? What did the Sylvans want with the Songstress Tower Node? Kredevel: I do not know the specifics, unfortunately. I have heard that the Halftyr merchant met with the Floor Lord himself. Nothing beyond that. But a Tower Node¡­ Virko, huh? That was curious. Ray: Does the Tower Node ring a bell? Kredevel: Ring a bell? Oh, that¡¯s an idiom. How curious. But anyway, yes, gathering the right Tower Nodes to perform the right combination of actions can certainly lead to a variety of results that might interest the Handler. Which of these results he might be after depends on the exact Tower Nodes he has been gathering. Ray: And you don¡¯t know which they are, I suppose. Kredevel: I will see if I can find out. But to return to my original warning¡ªconsider what your next move will be, Ray. Ray: I know, I¡¯m thinking. Do you have an overall picture of what the Sylvans¡¯ plan going forward is going to be? Kredevel: ¡®Tis simple. So far as I have surmised, the Floor Lord has thus far kept the Sylvans quiescent because he wishes them to attend to the fruition of his plan. However, he can only keep this up for so long. With the failure of the Wild Tides and now this failure to retrieve the Tower Node, the Sylvans will likely push for a direct confrontation. Ray wasn¡¯t sure at first how his prevention of the Sylvans getting the Tower Node was supposed to have sped up their desire to act. But then, from the Sylvans¡¯ perspective, he was turning out to be an ever more dangerous pest. They had to stop him. And if any of the other humans turned out to be even half as troublesome, the Sylvans¡¯ supremacy on the First Floor would be called into question. That was likely why they were angling to move directly against the Insurge Faction. Ray had unwittingly hastened the destruction of Maya¡¯s Faction. If they ended up facing the Sylvan¡¯s entire might directly. Ray: Isn¡¯t this going too far? Aren¡¯t the Sylvans here to guide the Denizens, not kill them? Kredevel: You know they blame you for the deaths of the Brighthorns. It is clearly justified to act against you and your fellows, so long as you continue to resist. Ray: I understand. But if the Sylvans killed all the Denizens, then that¡¯s basically a failure on their part to carry out the System¡¯s orders. Kredevel was silent for a moment before answering. Kredevel: Perhaps it is. But it is also quite evident that the System does not care as greatly about every Denizen getting an equal opportunity. In fact, I would not be surprised if the ones who have made it to the Second Floor already are deemed enough. That was a troubling thought. Ray would have liked to know more, but Kredevel was not the person to ask about the System¡¯s inner workings. Ray: Why did the Floor Lord stop them from acting so far? Kredevel: Because he wished to keep enough of the Sylvans handy to perform his tasks, likely related to securing any other Tower Nodes and anything else he needs. That was likely why he tasked me with the Marauder¡¯s Caves originally. Ray: To take me out and retrieve the Marauder¡¯s Tower Node. But he didn¡¯t tell you that directly. You ever wonder just how many of the other Sylvans actually know what their superior¡¯s plan is? Kredevel didn¡¯t reply for a while. Maybe it was settling in that the Handler seemed to be out here for his own ends entirely. Kredevel: They will likely come after you directly, Ray. They will search for you to bring you to heel. What will you do when they find you? What would Ray do? What could he do? So far, he had been the aggressor against almost all the Sylvans he had faced. He had started most of the fights on his terms, had been able to carry out various plans against them without any great hitches. That had been a major part of his victories against them. But what if the odds were stacked against him? What he if was the hunted now, the ambush predator now turned into the prey? Forced to play to someone else¡¯s tune for a change. Ray: I need to think about it. It¡¯s all still a bit vague. If you can find out more specifics, that would be great. Kredevel: I will do my best, and I will certainly warn you when they move. Ray: Thank you. You¡¯re invaluable, you know that? I don¡¯t think I¡¯d have come this far this quickly without your help. Another little pause from Kredevel. This time, maybe he hadn¡¯t expected Ray to be so upfront with his appreciation. Kredevel: Sometimes, I question if I made the right decision. Sometimes, I don¡¯t know if your reassurances are actually good. But if there is one thing I have learned, it is that I must prioritize myself and my own needs far more than I have done so far. As you said, I deserve better. It was Ray¡¯s turn to be silent. He had known that Kredevel still held some reticence about acting against his own kind. Sylvans weren¡¯t like humans. To them, the idea of taking up arms against their own, much less killing each other in cold blood, was difficult to comprehend. Ray: I understand. Or at least, I¡¯m trying to. But that¡¯s what I¡¯m trying to do here. Find the balance between prioritizing myself and my goals but not giving up entirely to my¡­ obligations, I guess you could call it? I don¡¯t have the spoons to find a more positive word for it. Kredevel: Spoons? Ray: Uh, just another idiom for mental energy. Kredevel: Obligations, you say? As a human, as a friend, or as a fellow new Denizen? Ray: Maybe a bit of everything. Kredevel: I see. Thank you, that is far better than blind reassurance and platitudes. It¡¯s always good to find some common ground. Ray felt a strange warmth in his heart as they ended their chat for now. It had almost been freeing to admit all that to Kredevel, to voice the background thoughts about his experience in the Tower that he was yet to fully actualize. ¡°Ha, take that, Gritty,¡± he said, grinning. ¡°I think I just found my therapist.¡± Though, if anything, he had helped Kredevel as much as he had helped himself. Mutual therapy, if there was such a thing. With that talk done, Ray decided to poke Maya. She informed him that things were all well and good at the Base, that she and the others had been busy planning. They had settled on what they were going to do. However well they might have dealt with the Wild Tides, repeating that feat against the Sylvans was going to be orders of magnitude more difficult. In fact, conducting the same kind of drawn out battle and defending a siege of their keep was going to be basically impossible. The general strength disparity was too great. So, they were trying to flesh out a different plan. Ray understood it. While he might be strong enough now to take down the average Sylvan¡ªand perhaps Gritty and a few others as well¡ªthe vast majority of people were far weaker. The Sylvans were not only stronger in terms of the levels, abilities, and Paths they possessed. They were trained warriors. They would wipe the floor with the new Denizens. Maya: So we decided we¡¯re going to take the fight to them. Draw them out, whittle them down piecemeal, basically conduct guerilla warfare. Ray: I like that. Hit them where it hurts and overwhelm the odds in your favour. Maya: Exactly. We just need to iron out how exactly we¡¯ll do that. Ray: Need to be fast, though. I don¡¯t know how long you have left. He proceeded to tell her everything Kredevel had told him. Everything they had surmised together. The Sylvans would come looking for Ray. When they didn¡¯t find him at the dungeon, they would undoubtedly turn their attention to the Base. Maya had that part covered with her plan. Though, no doubt they already had a punitive force set up to tackle the Insurge Faction anyway. Maya: Do you think they¡¯ll send a warning like the Wild Tides did? Ray: From everything I¡¯ve seen so far, I¡¯d guess they will. The Sylvans are nothing if not weirdly¡­ honourable, is the best way I can put it. Maya: Huh. Ray: What? They are, trust me. Maya: No, I¡¯m not doubting what you said. I just noticed something weird. Ray: Oh yeah? Maya: Yeah. You used ¡°u¡± after the ¡°o¡± in ¡°honorable¡±. Or ¡°honourable¡± for you, I guess. That¡¯s the British version of it. Ray actually laughed. Ah, he had been found out. Ray: Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m not going to suddenly reveal my undying love for the queen and start calling dinner ¡°tea¡±. Maya: The queen is dead. Ray: Oh, right. Anyway, I just grew up consuming a lot of British media thanks to my parents, so I ended up absorbing a lot of dumb shit like spelling colour instead of color. They talked a little bit more after that, but otherwise there wasn¡¯t much to add. Ray said he would inform her as soon as Kredevel passed on a warning. In turn, Maya would provide the actual details of her plan once it was properly fleshed out. Wishing each other the best of luck, they closed the chat window. Last, but not least¡ª Gritty: FINALLY! KILL, KILL, KILL! Ray: Calm down there, terminator. Naturally, as soon as Ray had mentioned that things were about to go down with the Sylvans, Gritty had become quite excited. Gritty: Wanna set a bet? Ray: A bet? You want to see which one of us kills more Sylvans? Are you sure you can keep up at your level? Gritty: Fuck off, wingman. And yes, a bet. I promise, if I don¡¯t rip out the guts of more Sylvans than you, then I¡¯ll sing for you. Ray: God, not the singing again. Gritty: I¡¯ll sing Chop Suey. I hate Chop Suey. I¡¯ll make you hate it too. Ray: Please don¡¯t. Also, you¡¯re cheating. I¡¯m not into the whole gut-ripping business. Gritty: That¡¯s because you haven¡¯t tried it yet. It¡¯s an acquired taste. Ray stared at the chat window for a moment, before deciding to reroute the conversation into more normal lines. Apparently, Gritty had been powering through monsters. She had even beaten the Tier 7 Windbane dungeon Ray had gotten through before the battle against the Wild Tides. She was levelling up about as quickly as him. Ray: Gritty¡­ I know you¡¯re good at fighting and you¡¯re strong. But the Sylvans are different from just more people. You understand that, right? She didn¡¯t reply for a second, and Ray wondered if he had thrown her off. Gritty: Aww, you worried about me, wingman? Ray: I¡¯m slightly worried about everyone. Gritty: Well, don¡¯t worry. Just because I¡¯m not at the same level as you doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t handle myself. Ray: I know you can. I just don¡¯t want you to take any unnecessary risks. Gritty: My risks are perfectly calculated, thanks. Ray: Perfectly calculated, huh? Ray couldn¡¯t in good conscience call Gritty¡¯s ability to calculate perfect. But then again, she was frighteningly competent. She had done things Ray had no idea about, like actually infiltrating the Wild Tides and finding monsters he didn¡¯t even know existed. Gritty: Let¡¯s set a goal. Ray: A goal? Gritty: Yeah. How about this¡ªnext time we meet, we¡¯ll have beaten the Sylvans¡¯ collective ass completely. Ray grinned. He could toast to that. Ray: You got it. Chapter 53: Glidescale With all the calls and everything done, Ray allowed himself a few hours of rest. It was difficult. Every other minute, his mind rebelled against the idea of staying still, of ostensibly doing nothing. He had Sylvans hunting him, or would have soon enough. Then there was the giant Eternal Guardian that still hadn¡¯t showed up for whatever reason. Maybe it felt the same way about the ¡°music¡± Ray had created using the new Tower Node as he did about Gritty singing. But he understood the importance of some reasonable rest. Had to let the mind cool down¡ªif not the body, thanks to another Mana fruit appearing¡ªbefore resuming his journey. While he waited, he decided to see if he could call in Virko again. With everything going mad on the First Floor, Ray wouldn¡¯t have been surprised if the Halftyr merchant had just booked it out of there entirely. Surprisingly, about an hour after crushing the Mana crystal, Virko showed up. ¡°Well, if it isn¡¯t one of my most profitable customers in the Tower,¡± Virko said by way of greeting, jumping down from his flying carpet with the neon lighting at the edges. He was dressed in that same rich robes with the rich belt that covered most of his short, faun-like figure. ¡°To what illegal contraband do I owe the pleasure of this visit?¡± Ray laughed shortly. ¡°Sorry, nothing so fanciful this time. I just have a few items to sell and a few things to ask.¡± ¡°You know, you¡¯re staring to make me consider if it would be lucrative for me to start dealing in actual information.¡± ¡°Uh, sure. Has there been anyone else buying intel off you?¡± ¡°Not particularly. Occasionally, I will share certain details if a customer asks, but they¡¯re often one-tome, minor pieces of information. Nothing as extravagant as your tell me about everyone important on the Floor.¡± ¡°Cool. Just goes to show how smart I am.¡± ¡°You are certainly shrewd about some things.¡± He peered at Ray inquisitively with his large eyes. ¡°Now, what do you have to show me, Ray?¡± In answer. Ray brought forth the Wyvern Helm. He wondered if he ought to have held on to the Mantle from the Windbane dungeon instead of selling it via Maya¡¯s Base Node. It was possible he could have wheedled out more from Virko. ¡°Hmm.¡± Virko didn¡¯t take long to consider or even observe the Helm. Figured. He had already seen it on Ray. ¡°Seventy Mana crystals. Don¡¯t think I can go higher than that.¡± ¡°Just seventy? Come on, I¡¯m sure we can go a little higher. You got me a hundred for the Golem Greaves, remember? This Helm is at least as good as that.¡± ¡°For those, I gave you fifty per boot. That I¡¯m not offering you the same amount for one headpiece is already generous of me.¡± ¡°You¡¯re squeezing me dry, Virko.¡± The Halftyr merchant sighed exaggeratedly. ¡°Fine, fine. I will part with eighty Mana crystals. That is it.¡± ¡°Cool. Now, you can keep it.¡± He stared at Ray, his hands twitching upwards a little like he wanted to touch the horns on his head. ¡°Allow me to guess. I get to keep the Helm and the price I would have paid for it in return for information. What is it you wanted to know?¡± ¡°I want to know about your last deal, Virko.¡± ¡°I cannot betray my customer¡¯s confidentiality like that, Ray. You ask an impossible question.¡± ¡°Cut the crap, Virko. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve already told everyone who might have wanted to know about me.¡± ¡°I would never do such a thing.¡± Ray stared at him. Virko looked shifty, before sighing. ¡°I would never do such a thing¡­ unless I received the right price.¡± ¡°There you go. That wasn¡¯t so hard to admit, now was it?¡± Ray smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I don¡¯t hold it against you. All I want is for you to be fair about it, you know? Give me the same deal.¡± Virko was all businessman again, eyes calculating. ¡°You must understand that a meagre Helm isn¡¯t enough¡ª¡± ¡°I know, I know. That¡¯s why I¡¯ve got something else I want to sell you.¡± Ray focused a bit. The Tower Node of the Songstress popped into existence. Virko¡¯s eyes went wide as saucers. ¡°Tempting?¡± If the Halftyr merchant had looked scared and avaricious at the same time with the Sylvan Hear Cluster Ray had offered up a while back, now he looked positively mortified. ¡°You realize what you are trying to sell to me?¡± Virko asked in a hushed voice. ¡°You look more scared than surprised. Did you know I possessed Tower Nodes?¡± ¡°I had my suspicions. But that¡¯s besides the point. I can¡¯t purchase a Tower Node, Ray. Impossible. This is a hundred times worse than Sylvan Heart Cluster.¡± Holding on to his smile, Ray willed the Tower Node to float closer in between himself and Virko. ¡°And yet, you can¡¯t take your eyes off it. Admit it, Virko, however impossible it might be, your brain is already trying to figure out all the ways you could sell it after you take it off my hands.¡± ¡°I am doing no such thing!¡± Ray laughed. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m not actually selling you the Tower Node itself.¡± Virko looked like someone had just told him his winning lottery numbers were actually fake. ¡°You weren¡¯t?¡± ¡°No, not yet. I want to hold on to it, see if I can make better use of it. I¡¯m speaking of this Tower Node specifically, by the way. I¡¯ve got more, and I¡¯m going to get more later too. However, the point is that I¡¯m not averse to selling you one I don¡¯t have a use for.¡± Ray did his best to approximate Virko¡¯s merchant-y expression. ¡°For the right price.¡± The Halftyr visibly swallowed. ¡°What kind of deal were you looking to make?¡± ¡°It¡¯s simple. Familiar. You tell me what you sold to the Floor Lord and what he¡¯s going to do with what you sold him. In return, before I ascend to the Second Floor, I will give you one Tower Node.¡± ¡°You sound awfully confident you will make it to the Second Floor, and that I will simply believe that you actually will give me a Tower Node at a later date.¡± Ray pulled out a bunch of Mana crystals from his Bag of Holding. Quite a lot. So much that the entire area was soon littered with the little blue gems. ¡°Here. I think that¡¯s about two thirds of all the Mana crystals I have on me. You can keep it all as collateral.¡± Virko¡¯s eyes twitched at the display. ¡°You¡¯re certain you won¡¯t need them?¡± ¡°I¡¯m very sure I¡¯ve got enough to last me until it¡¯s time to climb to the next floor.¡± Virko stared at the haul for a moment before finally vacuuming it all into a rich-looking Bag of Holding. ¡°The Floor Lord wanted an old Everair device I had in my collection. I believe it¡¯s part of whatever strange ritual he wants to perform.¡± ¡°What is the device?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Like, what does it do? And what¡¯s this ritual about?¡± ¡°The ritual I don¡¯t know. But if I had to guess, it has something to do with Mana conversion. That is what the device enhances. It¡¯s essentially a processor, as you might refer to it, that allows one to channel different variants of Mana quite easily.¡± Mana conversion. That was intriguing. Virko confirmed that it was exactly what it said on the tin. Mana conversion was simply a method of converting one kind of Mana to another. ¡°And you¡¯ve got nothing else to tell me?¡± Ray asked. ¡°No. That was the entirety of my dealing with the Floor Lord. He is one of the ones who asked me about you but suffice it to say that I told him nothing about you he didn¡¯t know already.¡± ¡°Hmm, thanks for that.¡± Ray could have taken the time to ask how Virko had come across such a device, but that wasn¡¯t really relevant. Plus, he believed the Halftyr when he said he didn¡¯t know any further details. Not knowing incriminating details was how he succeeded in his business. ¡°Alright, I think I have enough to be going on with.¡± Virko¡¯s eyes landed on the Tower Node, the Bag of Holding he had filled up with Ray¡¯s Mana crystals already forgotten. ¡°Don¡¯t forget your end of the bargain.¡± Ray tutted. ¡°You¡¯ve barely told me anything at all, Virko. But don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m a man of my word. You¡¯ll get your Tower Node.¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Grumbling and not very satisfied, Virko took his leave with Ray¡¯s crystals and the Helm. Ray watched him go. The Floor Lord was converting Mana, was he? Interesting. He wondered if Kredevel knew. No, the Sylvan would have mentioned it otherwise. But he might have some insights once Ray told him. Also interesting that Virko hadn¡¯t asked about the Tower Node¡¯s details. Either he had his own way of finding that information... Or, as was more likely, a Tower Node was highly valuable, regardless of what Paragon it belonged to. Plus, Ray had said he would sell a Tower Node. Not the specific one he had shown to the merchant. After some more resting, Ray got a move on. It would be best if he could gather as much Essence as he could, maybe even try levelling up, before the Sylvans got moving. Besides, busying himself with other things might let the plan to deal with the Sylvans he was percolating form fully. Mapping the route he ought to take was difficult. He didn¡¯t have a specific aim just yet, although ideally, he would end up close to the centre of the Floor. With that in mind, Ray maintained his distance from the Sylvan headquarters as he roamed around. The first monsters he came across were the Spider Monkeys. There was another little forest of petrified trees. Ray rushed through the dead woodland, getting as much attention from as many of the strange monkeys as he could. Once enough of them had gathered around him, pelting him with stones and trying to trap him with their webs, he counterattacked. Mottling Sphereguard pulled up ten orbs of chaotic black-red energy rapidly orbiting around Ray. He switched their focus completely to attacking and sent them out. Each orb targeted a separate Spider Monkey, killing them with one hit. Huh. Their Tier wasn¡¯t that high at just 2. It had to be his enhanced Intellect pumping out the damage. [Enemy Defeated¡ªSpider Monkey] Tier 3 Monster: Spider Monkey [Level 7] x5 Tier 3 Monster: Spider Monkey [Level 8] x7 Essence: +2,730 Knowledge: +36 Mana Restored: +910 Essence to level 19: 4,990/18,900 [Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 500-point threshold, your Knowledge has raised your Intellect by 45. Knowledge to next Threshold: 505/600 Ha. Speak of the devil. His bonus Intellect had risen even higher. The nice thing of fighting the monkeys was that he had found some of them near a lake. Ray remembered just what had happened the last time he had been by a lake shore. He approached the edge. Gritty, being the lunatic asylum escapee that she was, had been inside the monstrous serpent in the lake¡¯s depths. Ray had no intention of repeating her experience, no matter how effective at killing the monster it had looked. But that begged the question of how he was going to get the Scarserpent¡¯s attention. Of course, he was assuming that there was the same monster inside, but it was a safe assumption. The water was quite dark, suggesting great depth. Very possible there was something lurking far underneath. Although, the monkeys had been using it as a source to quench their thirst, despite the ugly colour of the water. That suggested they considered it safe enough to drink from here, unless the Floor¡¯s various monsters didn¡¯t prey on each other. Come to think of it, had Ray actually seen one species of monster attacking a different one? He couldn¡¯t recall. He decided to try and lure out the sea¡ªlake?¡ªmonster. Retrieving one of the Spider Monkey corpses that had been corrupted with his chaos attacks, he chucked the body into the water. It splashed in and immediately began to sink. Simple though the idea was, it worked. The monster arose. Just as the bubbles started popping on the water¡¯s surface, Ray sent out a quick Presence of the Primordial to check his new adversary. [Presence of the Primordial] Glidescale [Monster] [Tier 5] [Level 17] Aquatic serpents that prefer the cold and hibernate in extreme heat. Their skin is covered in a scales that act like enhanced feathers, allowing flight when it rises above the water surface. Amphibiousness upon land and water had already been noted by the Everair for ages. What they were truly interested in was the ability to exist in air and water equally well. Skills: Jutting Jaws [Tier 3]: Thrust out one or more jaws with a massive bite that pierces through defences up to the skill¡¯s Tier. Scale Transformation [Tier 5]: Change the form of your scales to suit whatever environment you occupy. At Tier 5, enhances movement speed by 25% underwater and 10% in air. Hibernation Healing [Tier 2]: Remain still to quickly regenerate Recovery. At Tier 2, Recovery regeneration is increased by 4 per second. Cyclone of Blades [Tier 4]: Surge forward with compressed air forming a ripping twister around you. At Tier 4, this skill creates 16 blades around the wielder. Sea Spray [Tier 3]: Spray Mana-imbued water in the vicinity that reduces the impact of all your foe¡¯s Mana-based abilities. At Tier 3, all Mana-based abilities are debuffed by 9%, which lasts 60 seconds. Ray only just finished taking a glance at everything Presence of the Primordial had revealed just as the monster burst out of the water. He did note that this was clearly not a Scarserpent. Its wet roar was close enough that his ears cringed. [Warning!] Presence of the Primordial indicates you are under the effects of Sea Spray [Tier 3]. Presence of the Primordial has negated the effects of Sea Spray [Tier 3]. Ah, it had been smart to exit its domain and immediately attack Ray with that debuffing ability. This monster might be more intelligent than he had thought. As the Glidescale turned around to face him, Ray got a proper look at the creature. This was clearly quite different from the ones he and Gritty had killed before. It looked mostly like an eel, just the size of a small train. The head was almost crocodilian, but instead of pitted, leathery scales, the Glidescale¡¯s were shiny silver. If the monster remained still enough, Ray had a feeling he would have been able to check his own reflection against its hide. The Glidescale screamed at him as it continued to emerge from the water. Its sleek body rose higher and higher, revealing several long fins along its length. Just how big was this thing? And then it was out. The whole monster had risen above the water, floating above the rippling surface of the lake. Ray frowned at it. The description had stated it could fly. Which was a good and a bad thing. If the monster remained airborne, he wouldn¡¯t need to worry about trying to fight it underwater. But aerial mobility might make it a lot more annoying to fight than aquatic mobility. Oh well, time to find out. Its first attack was predictable. Jutting Jaws made its huge, fang-filled mouth lunge at him. Ray dived to one side, calling on Soaring Wings at the same time with Primal Summons. He twisted around while prepping a Chaos Chymify to chuck at the monster, but it was already moving. The spiralling bolt of chaotic energy missed. Damnit, just as he had suspected. It was going to be way too mobile in the air. The monster roared again. Ray hoped it wasn¡¯t drawing any unnecessary attention that would make this whole encounter way too complicated. His opponent unleashed more attacks. Swipes of its tail, waves rocking from the lake, more uses of Jutting Jaws as well. At one point, it even used Cyclone of Blades. That one actually surprised Ray in its effect. The description had raised his suspicion, and watching it actually come out only confirmed what he had first thought. That was the same ability that Derrick Orden had used during the battle. Ray dodged them all. Occultic Apparition helped a lot. At times, he managed to hit the monster with a couple of Chaos Chymifies as well, though they didn¡¯t deal that much damage. Presence of the Primordial had supposedly negated Sea Spray¡¯s effects, but his spells weren¡¯t having as much of an impact as he would have suspected. At the few spots where he had struck, the monster¡¯s scales had rotted off and the flesh was emerging in the form of tumours and pustules. Dark blood sprayed out and hissed in the air. Maybe Glidescales was just resistant to magical damage overall. Maybe Ray had overestimated just how strong Chaos Chymify had become, even with his boosted Intellect. Whatever the case, Ray wasn¡¯t going to use more of that anyway. Even now, he could see the monster acting more frantically, chaotically, like its thoughts were getting frayed. The Insanity was proccing well with every hit it took. He remembered just what had happened the first time he had procced Insanity on the Duskshell. Having no intention of sending the monster fleeing underwater, Ray resolved to kill it with one blow. That was why, when it used Jutting Jaws once again, he didn¡¯t dodge. Instead, he used Lifeblood Construct to call up Impervious Shell. Even without a boost via True Enhancement, the spell worked wonders. The Glidescale had committed to its attack. It couldn¡¯t stop itself by the time the dark shell materialized in front of Ray. The monster crashed in and was stopped entirely, the impact forcing the floating shield of a shell back a few paces. But more importantly, it had stunned the Glidescale in place. Leaving it in position for Ray to attack. With his Hallowed Reputation making his first cast of True Enhancement fully free, Ray enhanced his Shatterclaw to create his ethereal black-and-white arm. Then he dismissed Impervious Shell. Just as it began to disappear, Ray slammed his newformed fist forward with as much power as he could summon. The hit was satisfying. His ethereal fist crashed into the Glidescale¡¯s huge mouth and exploded with chaotic energy. Screaming in pain and fury, the Glidescale pulled away, leaving a chunk of its mouth behind. Its lower jaw ripped free. Blood and flesh flew off its chaotically malforming head. Even the eye burst out of its obit, speared by a spiky stalk of a nerve that had hardened like bone. Now. Ray rushed forward, his wings shooting him forward. He got in close as the monster was flailing before slamming in another True Mana variant of Shatterclaw, with its cost taken care of by the Silver True Mana Bracelet. That blow finally killed the monster. [Enemy Defeated¡ªGlidescale] Tier 5 Monster: Glidescale [Level 17] x1 Essence: +850 Knowledge: +3 Mana Restored: +170 Essence to level 19: 5,840/18,900 Knowledge to next Threshold: 508/600 With the monster dead and slowly sinking back under the water¡¯s surface, Ray got a notification about Lifeblood Crucible activating. The offerings weren¡¯t anything he wanted to add to his current loadout. He did note the fact that he could, apparently, gain the Glidescale¡¯s gills. And also Cyclone of Blades. That would be useful to remember for later. It could help him figure out just what kind of Tower Node Derrick possessed. A Paragon that was possibly related to these Glidescales in some way. Ray wished there were more of the giant sea serpents in the lake, but nothing else came up. A little disappointing. He had hoped to earn himself more Essence than he already had. Ah well. It was becoming pretty clear that hunting and killing a bunch of weaker monsters was more time-effective than defeating a bigger, more powerful one. After a while, Ray moved on. With no warnings or alerts from anyone just yet, he still had some time to get himself more Essence. But that was when Kredevel¡¯s chat window popped into his view. Kredevel: Ray, they are moving. The Sylvans have begun their endeavour against you. A jolt passed through Ray. His heart began thudding a little harder. It had finally begun. He would have liked some more time, if he was being honest. But in truth, he had already received a lot of grace in that regard. Ray: About time. Got any details for me? Kredevel: Yes. Listen closely. Chapter 54: Irebolt Kredevel¡¯s information about the Sylvans was incredibly valuable. He detailed the different companies setting out, the different objectives they were all likely to reach for, and the different ways Kredevel thought they could be best countered. Amazingly, he even wanted to spell out some of the more specific abilities of the stronger Sylvans who had set out, but Ray stopped him. That info would be better off with Maya. Kredevel: Because you plan on tackling them in a different manner? Ray: Yep. The dungeon. YOUR dungeon. That¡¯s what I¡¯m going to target, and I need you to tell them to target the same at the exact right time. Kredevel: And this time will be¡­? Ray: We¡¯ll have to see. But do you think you can do it? Convince them where to go after¡­ you know. Kredevel: I might just be able to, yes. Ray: Great! Ray was tempted to ask how exactly he had procured all that intel, considering he had more or less ostracized himself from all the other Sylvans. But there was no time to ponder inconsequential matters like that. With the Sylvans on the move, it was now time for them to act. Before he got going, he did inform Maya. It looked like she, the rest of Insurge Faction, and all their allies were already on the move. Maya: We were expecting it to start at any time, so we already got going. Ray: That¡¯s good. You¡¯ll be ready for when they come for you. Although, if the Base is mostly empty as you said, then how are they going to know where to go? Maya: Oh, we have that covered. If the Sylvans act like what you said, I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll attack and destroy a mostly empty keep. We left some clues for them to find, and once they do, they¡¯ll head straight for the traps we¡¯ve set. Ray: Amazing! Looks like you¡¯ve got it all figured out. Maya: I like to think we do. Now to see if everything falls in place correctly. She went on to inform him that the other Factions and groups were all cooperating as well. Quite a few of them had fallen foul of the Sylvans as well. They had a bone to pick with the aliens and they were not letting the opportunity to do so slip by. Even the Ascenders understood that they didn¡¯t stand to benefit from the Sylvans capturing a bunch of other humans. As such Mary Felds and her Factions were lending a hand. Now that everything was in motion, Ray got going. He¡¯d taken basic directions from Kredevel to determine where he was supposed to go. The central tower grew higher and higher as Ray approached, slowly but surely reaching a huge height. In fact, as Ray neared it, he had to appreciate that it was a lot taller than he had first thought. Ray also travelled circuitously. All his planning would go to complete waste if he just ended up in the front of the Sylvans now. As such, he focused on the path he was taking to end up at the dungeon without mishap. It helped to have his flying eyeball scout out the area from overhead. Along the way, Ray did find another patch of dark trees with a Mana fruit growing on them. He didn¡¯t really need the fruit itself. With the dungeon rewards, he had a steady supply. Maya¡¯s abandonment of the keep would make it dry up for the time being, but this whole shenanigan wasn¡¯t going to last longer than a day or two at most. What Ray was really curious about was the Duskshell underneath all the trees. He just had to take it out without causing too much of a ruckus. The monster fell pretty easily. Ray had already decided how to take it with the least amount of fuss. With True Enhancement, he called up the Greater Windbane maw with Lifeblood Construct. As soon as the Duskshell emerged with a rumble in the earth and great roar, Ray bid the flying maw fire its compressed laser of fire breath straight at the Duskshell. Not the shell, mind. But the exact spot from where it would shoot out its Jutting Jaws. Having faced off against enough of them by now, Ray had no trouble identifying it. The Duskshell¡¯s roar was cut short as its insides more or less exploded and burst out in a gory mess. [Enemy Defeated¡ªDuskshell] Tier 6 Monster: Duskshell [Level 19] x1 Essence: +1,140 Knowledge: +3 Mana Restored: +190 Essence to level 19: 6,980/18,900 Knowledge to next Threshold: 511/600 With that extra bit of Essence acquired, Ray hightailed it out of there. That might have drawn in some attention, and he didn¡¯t want to accidentally get caught just then. Not before he found the dungeon. Reassured by his eyeball noting nothing out of the ordinary¡ªexcept for the one time it found a bunch of Sylvans at a weird location. They were moving away from him though, and he gave them a wide berth while continuing onwards. He arrived at the ruins near the back of the huge central tower before long. Kredevel¡¯s direction were quite good. The Sylvan had stated that Ray needed to find a hole and fall in. Alright, the directions were kind of weird too, but at least they were accurate so far. The hole wasn¡¯t hard to find either. Ray walked past a few broken walls, searched through several rooms filled with debris and fallen, broken masonry. At the rear of the ruins, there lay an honest-to-goodness hole that led deep, deep underground. One that Ray was supposed to take to enter the strongest dungeon in the First Floor. This was confirmed when Presence of the Primordial popped up with a handy description of the dungeon. [Presence of the Primordial¡ªDungeon] Halls of the Sky [Tier 10] The ultimate aim of anyone seeking flight always ended at the dome of the world, the boundless expanse of the heavens that lies above everyone and everything. Buoyed by their great accomplishments, the Everair sought to claim the heavens for themselves. They believed that true mastery of the sky meant bringing it down to the earth they occupied. The Halls of the Sky is the only fruit of such an inconceivable endeavour. Ray stared at that description. Taming the sky itself? He was pretty certain there were some among the aerospace enthusiast circles who would phrase mankind¡¯s achievements with flight in a similar fashion. But even then, that would have been a metaphor. Not something that would be considered real. These Everair sounded hubristic enough to make it real though, as evidenced by the dungeon Ray was just about to enter. He was starting to see why they might have fallen in the end. Pride comes before the fall, and all that. Before he went in, Ray resummoned the Scouring Eyeball construct with Soaring Wings to take it high into the air. ¡°Keep an eye out for any Sylvans for me, alright?¡± The eyeball sadly didn¡¯t have arms to salute. Ray turned to the hole. ¡°Well, here goes nothing, Kredevel.¡± Pulling up his own wings with Primal Summons, he dived in. He was really hoping there would be light inside. The shaft coming down from above helped light up his descent, but that wouldn¡¯t last farther inside. None of his spells were exactly bright either. Even the Greater Windbane Maw¡¯s flames didn¡¯t illuminate much. Ray was lucky that the hole didn¡¯t go straight down. It angled downwards at a steep slope. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. This allowed his wings to maintain a semblance of elevation. Otherwise, he would have plummeted straight down. Still, the space was narrow, so Ray couldn¡¯t exactly fly. He was climbing down as often as he was flying or hopping from one section to another. The deeper he went, the more he had trouble breathing. Hopefully, it was more a case of claustrophobia than there actually being something wrong with the air quality. He could deal with the former. The latter, not so much. Ray froze. Hold on a minute. Hadn¡¯t he hoped there would be no spelunking adventure? He supposed the breathlessness made some sense. After all, if one climbed high into he sky, one wouldn¡¯t be able to breathe there either. The air was too thin. If the Everair really had pulled the sky down into this dungeon, then they definitely hadn¡¯t made it more convenient to be in. Cursing his fate, he went on. Thankfully, solid ground emerged beneath his feet another minute later. Ray let the fact that he was finally at the bottom console him, and more importantly, his breathing. It didn¡¯t help that much. Better than nothing, though. Ray blinked in the gloom. There was light, but it was minute. Enough for his eyes to slowly adjust and see better in, at least. He could work with this. The source of the light was curious. The dungeon¡¯s walls were made of stone that had a crystalline surface. At spots, they even looked metallic. That was what caught the low light and glimmered ever so slightly to illuminate the space in between the walls. Hmm. Kredevel had said that the dungeon contained powerful monsters, that the dungeon itself was alive in a way. That was what had let Ray settle on his plan. A ¡°living¡± dungeon sounded like the perfect candidate to hold another Tower Node. There was the possibility that this dungeon¡¯s Tower Node had been taken by the Floor Lord already. Kredevel had said it was unlikely, however. Removing the Tower Node from the dungeon would surely have resulted in massive changes, most likely leading to the dungeon becoming defunct. It was alive and well, however. Still fully functioning. Just as Presence of the Primordial had indicated. Ray moved onward. The passageways were misty. It was like he was walking through clouds. He shivered a bit, his clothes soon turning damp. Kredevel didn¡¯t know what sort of obstacles Ray would face in the dungeon itself. The Sylvan hadn¡¯t entered it himself and most of his companions had avoided it as well. Apparently, even they were wary about trying to clear a Tier 10 dungeon. The tunnel wound this way and that, not really leading him anywhere in particular. It was a smidge frustrating. He hadn¡¯t received any indication of a Dungeon Obstacle yet. Although, the dungeon was keeping things fresh, in a way. Ray had to wade through a long passage that was flooded with ice-cold water. One step, and he was shivering straight to his spine. He was right to fly over the water as some mechanism activated after a while, causing a chunk of the floor to collapse. He had no intention of plummeting to his death. Another tunnel was entirely foggy, and he couldn¡¯t help but expect some sort of trap within. He was right again. Burning away the fog, to some extent, with the draconic maw summoned around his arm revealed the presence of several holes along the walls and ceiling. Arrow holes? Pouring burning oil holes? Who knew. Fatal, whatever the case. He managed to bypass them by shooting through the whole tunnel, with a quick flight. Finally, Ray ended up in a wide open chamber to find his first, actual Dungeon Obstacle. [Presence of the Primordial¡ªDungeon Obstacle] Thunderstorm The sky greets the unwary with a display of its thunderous wrath. Break the storm to advance, for it will surely follow even you think you¡¯ve escaped. It felt like a strange Obstacle. There was no storm. Yet. Even after stepping into the large room. He didn¡¯t even smell that earthy, coppery scent that preceded¡ª The storm appeared before him. Ray blinked. It was some kind of monster, segmented like a worm, with the same consistency as the dungeon walls around him. Bluish-grey stone with the little gleaming facets like that of a crystal. For just a second, Ray wondered if it was even a living creature. Then he used Presence of the Primordial. [Presence of the Primordial] Irebolt [Monster] [Tier 7] [Level 18] Formless monsters made from the matter of the compressed sky. They are said to embody the various aspects of the heavens. In their attempt to bring the sky down to the earth, the Everair used Mana-imbued meteoric stone to channel the sky¡¯s functions for their own benefit. Thus, they could claim to hold the sky itself in their grasp. Skills: Segmented Form [Tier 5]: Construct and reconstruct your form at will to form any shape by reconstituting the various segments that make up your body. At Tier 5, this skill allows manipulation of 10 segments. Thunderstorm [Tier 6]: Summon a storm of lighting and thunder in the near vicinity. Thunderbolts will randomly strike foes within the area of effect. At Tier 6, the skill¡¯s area of effect is 18 meters. Environmental Reconstitution [Tier 6]: Regain health by absorbing the environment that you are made of. At Tier 6, this skill adds 60 Recovery for use per segment of material absorbed. Abstract Assault [Tier 7]: When attacking, your body can now manipulate all of its segments separately and perform any attacks. Meteoric Bolt [Tier 6]: Gather the power of the storm in one location and fire off a tremendous bolt of lightning. Oh! So there it was. Finally. The last monster on his list of First Floor Objectives. An Irebolt that he needed to kill. Strange that it hadn¡¯t moved yet. Was it regarding him? Whatever the case, it afforded Ray ample time to scour its description. Tier 7, and also level 17. Basically the strongest monster Ray had come across yet, minus the Duskshell. Oh, and that unfathomable Eternal Guardian of course. The list of abilities was interesting too. Healing powers, lightning powers, all things he would need to look out for. Although, why was that Abstract Assault ability its strongest one? It seemed like a vague, passive power. Ray figured the description wasn¡¯t being totally honest. Hmm. If he raised Presence of the Primordial¡¯s Tier, would he have received better information? Since there was no sign of the storm anywhere just yet, Ray stepped forward. Which activated the storm. Or rather, the Thunderstorm skill that the Irebolt possessed. Its segmented body flickered blue before unleashing a flurry of sparks. The whole chamber shook and thunder boomed, Ray¡¯s ears cringing at the volume. Lightning bolts crisscrossed the area, several landing nearby in no time at all. Random bolts, the description had said. At least the monster couldn¡¯t direct all the lightning to hit Ray at once. Small blessings. This was the perfect use case for Mottling Sphereguard. Ten orbs of chaotic energy materialized around Ray, and he set them all to defend him from any of the thunderbolts that tried to land on him. ¡°Well, buddy,¡± Ray said. ¡°It looks like I need to put a stop to your little lightshow.¡± He threw a bolt of Chaos Chymify to shoot at his opponent. The Irebolt dodged easily, twisting like a snake. Then its form changed. Rapidly. In just a second, Ray was looking not a serpent made of strange rocks, but at¡­ two hands about to close in? No, they were jaws. The realization of the Irebolt¡¯s new form struck Ray a second before the monster itself did. Thankfully, Soaring Wings was still on his back. He flew up just in time, dodging the Irebolt¡¯s charge and letting the monster crash into the wall behind him. Several of his Mottling Sphereguard orbs had faded, having taken the brunt of random lighting that would have struck Ray without them. He cast the spell again to replenish the dwindling stock of protective chaos orbs, adding even more to the mix. At the same time, he kept moving too. The monster had recovered quite quickly and was ready to attack again. Had to be that Environment Reconstitution ability. After all, it was made of the same material as the dungeon, as far as Ray could tell. He was staring to understand what Kredevel had meant by the dungeon being ¡°alive¡±. The best way to deal with the Irebolt¡¯s fast, relentless attacks was to keep moving. Dodging constantly at just the right time would be impossible with how fast the Irebolt was. At one point, his wings gave out on him, Primal Summons¡¯ timer running out. He just made the remaining Sphereguard orbs focus on the Irebolt in case it got close enough to hit him. Even if it felt like recasting Primal Summons took no time at all, just that tiny casting time was enough to peg him back. The coalescing chaos orbs weren¡¯t strong enough to halt the Irebolt¡¯s rapid charge, though they did slow it enough for Ray to dodge successfully. His wings were back so he could fly away in peace. But that left him defenceless against the Thunderstorm. A stray bolt flew in and struck him from out of nowhere. Ray was flung back, barely able to control his flight with his wings. A quick application of Recovery was all that saved him from being gored by the Irebolt, as he got back control of his motion just in time to dodge. But the Irebolt changed shape as it flew past. It reformed from the jaw to its long serpentine state again. Then it lashed out. So fast. Even as Ray did his best to evade again, the swiping strike caught him at the waist. He was slammed against the dungeon wall, groaning out in shock and pain. So annoying. It was at times like these that Ray appreciated his presence of mind. The monster was going to strike again, but he called up the Mottling Sphereguard orbs once more, infusing them to Tier 6 with the Mana Infuser ring. That reduced his Mana store dangerously low, but since he was safe for the moment, Ray found the time to crush a couple of Mana crystals. Maya: Ray, the clashes have started. Now really wasn¡¯t the time for Ray to be dealing with random messages popping in out of nowhere, but he couldn¡¯t blame Maya. Things were about to get interesting rapidly. Ray: One sec. Sending the reply in an instant, Ray used a Mana-infused Mottling Sphereguard again. He made the orbs coalesce to one point, raising their defensive capabilities even higher. Just in time too. At Tier 6, the arrangement managed to fully block the Irebolt¡¯s head-on charge. Giving Ray just enough time to cast Lifeblood Construct and call up the flying Windbane Maw. ¡°Go, my valiant minion!¡± Ray yelled, sending the maw off into battle. Ray wasn¡¯t looking for much. As long as his summoned construct could hold the Irebolt¡¯s attention for even a little while, he could finally end this. It was also an interesting test of his construct¡¯s durability. He wondered if that was tied to the type of construct, or if he could improve it by raising the associated spells¡¯ Tier. Point was that the maw didn¡¯t last long. The Irebolt smacked it back, then blasted it with Meteoric Bolt. But that was just enough time for Ray to gather as much True Mana as he needed. The Irebolt switched direction and rushed him down in the blink of an eye. Ray was ready, though. He called on Impervious Shell, the Irebolt crashing into the barrier so hard that it cracked. And then Ray unleashed the True Mana variant of the maw. His arm warped with the assistance of his Mana Core and Mana Imbuing, a spectral black-and-white draconic maw forming around his hand. The compressed beam of chaotic flames fired at the speed of a laser, crushing through the remainder of Impervious Shell to strike the Irebolt just behind it. With a rupture of lightning, the monster exploded into dozens of burning chunks. Ray stood still, hoping that the Irebolt wasn¡¯t somehow still alive. [Enemy Defeated¡ªIrebolt] Tier 7 Monster: Irebolt [Level 17] x1 Essence: +1,190 Knowledge: +3 Mana Restored: +170 Essence to level 19: 8,170/18,900 Knowledge to next Threshold: 514/600 The notification brought on a ton of relief alongside it. He ignored it for now. Ray: Maya, you guys alright? Thankfully, she replied almost immediately. Maya: We¡¯re retreating, drawing them in. Are you okay? Ray: I¡¯m fine. I¡¯m going to ask Kredevel to give the signal for them to come after me now. Maya: We¡¯ll be sure to take advantage. Wishing her good luck, Ray quickly switched to Kredevel. Ray: It¡¯s time, buddy. Kredevel: A moniker for a friend, how intriguing. But I shall begin my part. Are you ready? Ray: I will be soon. Just need to find the Tower Node. And then, I can crush this dungeon just as the Sylvans arrive. Chapter 55: Jig Is Up Kredevel took a moment to still himself. To gather himself. Everything hinged on this moment. He could very well save the entire plan. Or he could die and ruin everything. ¡°Are you sure about this?¡± Serian asked. Kredevel and certainty hadn¡¯t been allies for a while now. Ever since the time the Brighthorns had been sent out into this nightmare of a Tower, ever since Brick Licker had died, Kredevel had been sure of nothing. Even now, when everything was so finely balanced and needed assured actions, he couldn¡¯t find any real certainty. He trusted himself, though. That would have to be enough. ¡°Things are moving at a breakneck pace,¡± Kredevel said. ¡°I may have abdicated my earlier position, I may have grown disillusioned by what I discovered, but there is still time for me to contribute.¡± Serian wasn¡¯t satisfied by his answer. ¡°I don¡¯t know if it will be enough to convince the Floor Lord to forgive you.¡± The younger Sylvan was one of the few besides Kredevel and Olgolair to remain inside the abandoned palace of the Everair. Although, with the way the battles were proceeding, that wouldn¡¯t be the case for long. ¡°The Floor Lord cares not about forgiving anyone,¡± Kredevel said. ¡°Least of all me. Although, he has nothing to forgive me for. After all, the theft and destruction of the training capsules had no effect upon him.¡± ¡°That sort of attitude is exactly what I¡¯m afraid of, Kredevel.¡± Patting his companion¡¯s shoulder, Kredevel strode forward until he passed through the doors that led into the main chamber. There were no guards, no attendants, nothing of the sort. That was the only reason Kredevel could walk in so simply. It made things quite convenient. The horns at his elbows and shoulders felt itchy. Always a sign that Kredevel was nervous. Anxious. As much as Kredevel attempted to control himself, the tips of his fingers twitched. The instincts trained through battle were all firing at once. Death was near at hand. One misstep, and he could very well end up as a corpse dirtying the palace¡¯s main chamber. Within the room beyond the doors, the Floor Lord was staring down at a few items at his feet. The ingredients of whatever ritual he was cooking up. The culmination of his efforts on the First Floor. Well, almost. There was one small missing factor. A piece that was in Ray¡¯s hands at the moment. Kredevel didn¡¯t recognize the majority of what lay before Olgolair. There appeared to be some kind of large dish. It held a cloth that partially covered a contraption that looked like several pipes of different lengths attached to some kind of machine with strings. The Floor Lord turned to survey the ones approaching him. ¡°Ah, Kredevel. It has been quite a while since last I saw you. Where have you been?¡± Just behind Kredevel, Serian drew in a sharp breath. Kredevel wanted to shoot him a meaningful look. This was why Kredevel held enough confidence about his intentions here. The Floor Lord was so removed from the other Sylvans, from almost all his subordinates, it wouldn¡¯t have been surprising if the Handler had already forgotten about Kredevel¡¯s little defection. ¡°Greetings, Floor Lord,¡± Kredevel said, taking a knee a few dozen handspans from his superior. His former superior. His body really didn¡¯t want to remain still, to remain supplicant before one who could very well kill him. ¡°I have been busy trying to find the elusive target you set me. Though, I am curious¡ªdoes the ongoing turmoil not bother you, my lord?¡± ¡°Ongoing turmoil?¡± The Handler looked genuinely puzzled for a brief moment. ¡°Ah, you mean the excursion all your little fellows were so insistent on heading out to.¡± He waved a dismissive hand. ¡°As long as they bring me what I need, all will be well.¡± Another little indrawn razor-sharp breath came from Serian. Kredevel perhaps should have prepared the lad some more. ¡°Speaking of what you need, my lord,¡± Kredevel said, bowing his head respectfully. ¡°The turmoil has made things a little more complicated.¡± Olgolair wasn¡¯t surprised. He turned back to surveying the various implements set before him. Of course, he must have received updates through the chat. ¡°What of it?¡± ¡°I believe I may have the solution.¡± That caught his attention. ¡°Speak up.¡± ¡°Before today, there was the other issue. The one where several of my comrades were killed by the one you were targeting, the Denizen from the Marauder¡¯s Caves. I believe he has the last¡­ piece you need, yes?¡± ¡°How did you come by such knowledge?¡± ¡°I managed to converse with the human.¡± Serian breathed so sharply at that, Kredevel was almost tempted to look back and make sure he was alright. ¡°Forgive me, but I realized that I was no match for him. His killer reputation is frightening. So I opted for a different approach. I attempted to become his friend.¡± ¡°¡­I see. And your endeavour succeeded.¡± ¡°Not really, my lord. He regards me with suspicion, and the feeling is mutual. Had I remained in his presence for long, I surely would have been killed. But I managed to acquire one vital piece of information. Right now, at this moment, he is underneath us.¡± ¡°The dungeon?¡± ¡°Yes, my lord.¡± Kredevel¡¯s fingers twitched again, but he curbed their rebellious impulses. Not yet. The Floor Lord hadn¡¯t replied. Kredevel wondered if he was trying to confirm the information somehow. Perhaps he was asking the Sylvans out on the First Floor if they had encountered Ray yet. ¡°That is vital intelligence, Kredevel,¡± Olgolair eventually said. His voice held the gravitas he hadn¡¯t cared to give it so far in their little meeting. ¡°If true, it would simplify a great many matters.¡± ¡°It is true, as far as I was able to ascertain, Floor Lord.¡± ¡°Then the rest do not need to continue on this foolish campaign any longer. We may as well recall them to where they need to act.¡± While Kredevel didn¡¯t react, Serian winced. The Floor Lord clearly didn¡¯t care enough to notice it. Kredevel sympathized, though. The rest of his brethren wouldn¡¯t be happy at being recalled. For them, this was a pogrom. A mission to bring the rebellious, insurgent humans to heel. To punish those who had killed Sylvans and Brighthorns so indiscriminately. Kredevel understood all that. He felt their need to exact vengeance too. The difference was that he prioritized himself over this¡­ societal need for retribution. Of course, as far as he had heard about the battle reports, they were being pushed back anyway. The losses had been steep. Whatever strategy Ray and his fellow human Denizens had come up with was working with terrifying effectiveness. Kredevel was partly elated that the other Sylvans were being pushed back, were retreating already. ¡°However,¡± the Floor Lord said. ¡°It is difficult to believe that things could turn out to be so convenient.¡± Kredevel frowned. ¡°What do you mean, my lord?¡± The Floor Lord began walking around the perimeter of his strange ritualistic setup. ¡°Think for a moment, Kredevel. You could have been baited. Fooled. This could be a trap, couldn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°I¡­ there is the possibility, yes.¡± ¡°Not that I truly care, you understand. If it is a trap, then we will brave it. All I need is the Tower Node that human has stolen. And then, everything will fall in place. So, trap or not, I will have what I seek.¡± Kredevel could tell he wasn¡¯t the only one who heard that. The order had been given. The rest of the Sylvans had been informed that their main quarry was in the last place they would have thought to find him. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Was that all?¡± the Floor Lord asked. Kredevel kept his head bowed. ¡°I had nothing further to add, my lord.¡± ¡°Then, since you have completed your duty, you can remain here with me.¡± Kredevel looked up, unable to help the frown creasing his brows. ¡°Remain with you, my lord?¡± ¡°Yes. Meanwhile¡­¡± Olgolair turned to the third Sylvan in the room. ¡°Serian, was it? Go to the sky dungeon¡¯s entrance and seek out the human within.¡± Serian wasn¡¯t the only one who froze. Kredevel¡¯s horns itched with far greater ferocity than before. The light in the Floor Lord¡¯s eyes was almost casually cruel. It is difficult to believe that things could turn out to be so convenient. ¡°Once you have located him,¡± the Floor Lord continued. ¡°Make sure to mark his location and guide the others who will follow you. Then take out the human and retrieve the Tower Node he possesses.¡± Serian didn¡¯t move at first. Kredevel wished he would remain frozen that way, that the young Sylvan would turn into the statue, unable to move even if he wanted. His Heart Clusters were pitter-pattering within his chest. Not good. Not good at all. ¡°Well?¡± Olgolair asked. ¡°Why do you wait?¡± Serian shook himself. ¡°Apologies, my lord. I haven¡¯t been on any excursions yet. I was mostly stuck taking care of the Bright¡ª¡± ¡°You have your order. Now go.¡± ¡°Yes, my lord.¡± With a stiff bow, and a last look at Kredevel, Serian left. To his death. All this time, Kredevel had always been careful to never go directly against one of his own. Even in that big battle where Lastiel had so obtusely inserted himself, Kredevel had managed to come out without needing to confront a fellow Sylvan. He had been grateful that Ray had dissuaded him from jumping into the fight, even if it had been for seemingly selfish reasons. But now¡­ if he didn¡¯t act, he would be sending one of his own to his death. Did it matter, though? He had already sent several of his own kind to their deaths, had already consigned many of his own to their last moments. After all, it was his information that allowed Ray and the other humans to prepare their plans against his fellows. With Serian, it was different. This was a Sylvan he truly cared about, a friend, a junior who looked up to him. Almost like the little brother he had never had. Seran didn¡¯t care for vengeance, had no wish to accompany the others on missions to mete out ¡°justice¡±. He was just a lad who enjoyed taking care of the Brighthorns. And yet, the Floor Lord had sent him to his death. Kredevel: Serian, do not reveal this message to anyone. What awaits you within the dungeon is most likely a trap. I beseech that you refrain from going within. The message through the chat went out just after Serian had disappeared from the chamber. If he was surprised, the Floor Lord wouldn¡¯t see it. Serian: Kredevel, what do you mean? Why didn¡¯t you stop me before? Kredevel: ¡®Tis a rather long story. I beg that you do not go. Remain with the Brighthorns for now. Serian: Kredevel, I can¡¯t¡ª The chat window cut out all of a sudden. Kredevel was no longer staring at a gleaming blue box with bright, white letters. Instead, the Floor Lord stepped up. ¡°Ah, I was wondering how long it would take before the game would be up,¡± he said. His eyes almost seemed to shine with a devilish light. ¡°One order to send the child to the dungeon, and your little fa?ade already falls. How pathetic, Kredevel.¡± Slowly, Kredevel got to his feet. It would appear he had been outsmarted. ¡°Perhaps I should have been more open about it from the beginning.¡± ¡°Should you have? Would it have mattered? You weren¡¯t lying after all. He is there. It would have changed nothing. The Sylvans will still delve deep into the dungeon and extract the Tower Node, trap or no.¡± ¡°So you ordered Serian to go to the dungeon just to force me to divulge that I knew more about the trap than I let on?¡± Around the Floor Lord, glimmering amethyst light began to glow. Spiralling growths claimed his shoulders, his chest, his limbs. The sheer amount of Growth Mana he could channel dwarfed anything Kredevel could have ever attempted. ¡°Even that doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Olgolair said. Even his hair was changing. The lustrous dark strands were thickening into hornlike consistency. ¡°I am bored Kredevel. My ritual cannot begin for one measly reason. As such, I decided to entertain myself. I simply wanted to see just how much you could hold onto your charade. Was fooling me more important than Serian?¡± He grinned, as though the answer to that question had turned out to be exactly what he had expected. Kredevel had stood up already. Despite the obvious danger of his situation, despite the fact that he had been found out and that the whole operation was now imperilled, he didn¡¯t feel jittery anymore. Everything was out in the open. All the cards were laid out. The itch in his horns had disappeared, leaving Kredevel with a certain amount of surety he had been lacking so far. Kredevel drew his sword. ¡°I should warn you, Olgolair¡ªI finally evolved my class.¡± The Handler clapped one hand against his chest in mock appreciation. His other hand was held out, spiralling growth forming a twisted spear. ¡°Do you believe that will be enough?¡± ¡°We shall see.¡± Kredevel held no delusions. He was outmatched here. But the idea didn¡¯t make him quail. For all that he had detested the idea of fighting his own kind, the Floor Lord was a different matter entirely. That damned spear flying in from out of nowhere. It felt good to be able to finally answer that act of unwarranted aggression. For once, Kredevel knew, with absolute certainty, that he wasn¡¯t in the wrong here. ¡°Come, come,¡± the Floor Lord said, pointing his constructed weapon at Kredevel. ¡°Last long enough against me, and I shall quench the thirst of your curiosity.¡± Kredevel snorted. What an undignified sound, yet it felt so good. So freeing. ¡°What will you grant me if I win?¡± ¡°A path to the Second Floor.¡± Kredevel froze. So the Floor Lord had known all along what Kredevel had truly wished for. He shook his head. Then, with a shout, he attacked first.
Ray was getting a little tired of the dungeon. He had to have been here for hours, yet it didn¡¯t feel like he had found much or even gone through enough of its floors. With how far he had fallen to enter the dungeon itself, his expectation was that he would eventually make his way far, far up. The exit would lead into the main central tower. What Kredevel had called an old Everair palace. Although, finding the exit wasn¡¯t Ray¡¯s goal. What he had to actually find was the Tower Node that surely resided within this dungeon somewhere. He hadn¡¯t discovered its location yet. What he had found instead was a chamber full of fog and traps. Hadn¡¯t he gone through one of these before? Another room where rain fell so hard that he wasn¡¯t even able to open his eyes. Then one room was frozen solid entirely. That last one had just been a what-the-actual-fuck moment, really. It was taking too long. He was pretty sure it had been hours and the Sylvans would be here at any moment. Ray didn¡¯t have any more time to waste. So, he pulled out the only thing that could help. His first Tower Node. It was almost as though the Tower Node of the Marauder was waiting to be summoned. Before Ray had even begun to properly think of calling it up, the Tower Node had blinked into existence before him. ¡°That¡¯s so suspicious,¡± Ray said, squinting his eyes at the ceramic crystal hovering before him. ¡°You know that, right?¡± It simply floated there unassumingly. Ray began walking, his Tower Node following like a dog that couldn¡¯t bear to be apart from its owner for more than a minute. ¡°Alright, it¡¯s time for you to shine. I need to find the Tower Node of this dungeon, and I know there has to be one. Take me to it, please.¡± It was a little silly to be talking to an inanimate object, but something told him the Marauder was listening in on him. That perhaps he was being guided. The Tower Node flying off only cemented that assumption. Ray was being guided. Just hopefully not to his death. Which¡­ he wasn¡¯t really sure about as his journey progressed. The Tower Node led him straight back into the tunnel that was entirely frozen solid. ¡°Really?¡± Ray stared at the Tower Node. He imagined it was staring back uncompromisingly. Sighing, Ray used Primal Summons to call up the Greater Windbane Maw along his arm and spew out its fiery breath. The flames were more chaotic than hot, but they did have some heat, which was enough to burrow through that entire blockade of ice. It took a while, though. Ray¡¯s heart started thudding faster after some time. How much longer did he have? When were the Sylvans going to arrive? Hs sentry eyeball outside hadn¡¯t spotted anything yet, so he was safe for the time being. But with how long it had already been, they would surely arrive at any moment. Shivering as he made his way through the icy barricade, Ray and the Tower Node got moving. It led him through more traps, uncaring that there were traps. He supposed it was an indestructible¡ªas far as he knew¡ªSystem Artifact, do it didn¡¯t need to care. Ray, however, had to be careful about the boulder of ice rolling down one tunnel. So fucking clich¨¦. He also had to be careful not to stand in the water flooding another passageway while lightning randomly hammered down upon him. The electric charge was already being amplified thanks to the constant rainfall. He didn¡¯t need to make his electrocution worse by standing in the flood too. A different cloudy chamber had him pausing for a second. Trying to burn it away with the maw¡¯s fire breath didn¡¯t help. The Tower Node flew straight in. ¡°Hey, wait up,¡± Ray said. The Tower Node didn¡¯t listen. Cursing, Ray followed it while flying with his wings. But flight didn¡¯t help him, sadly. The floor cracked and fell apart, and his wings¡¯ inability to grant him much elevation meant he was falling too. Annoying. His plummet was slowed down though, and he didn¡¯t end up striking the bottom. That would have been bad. Ray had no intention of being impaled by the spikes there. His Tower Node was, of course, perfectly fine. In fact, it was rising straight back up. It ascended higher and higher, getting smaller as it got closer to their original location. Ray was about to attempt to follow it. His wings wouldn¡¯t be able to take him that high easily, but with a little push, it shouldn¡¯t be impossible. That was when he heard a mechanism click. A groan followed, and Ray looked up just in time to see a massive axeblade descending in an arc. He was able to throw himself to one side, though the blade still clipped him. The strike slashed through his shoulder, leading to a spray of blood and a burning line of agony. Ray cursed, then sent some Recovery to fix it up. He stuck close to the wall. Every sense was on alert for more traps, though the axeblade seemed to be it in this chamber. Lucky him. He looked up. It was still greatly foggy, but he spotted the Tower Node hovering just before the tunnel opening on the other side of his original passage. How nice of it to wait for him. [Presence of the Primordial¡ªDungeon Obstacle] Pit Trap The sky is not meant for just anyone to travail. Those who trespass where they do not belong are sentenced as far from the sky as possible¡ªin an abyssal pit. Seek a way to escape your earthly fate and ascend to the heavens once more, but beware the traps meant to keep you in place. Hmm. It was a little frustrating. Ray shouldn¡¯t have even fallen for the trap in the first place. Whatever. Just as Ray was contemplating his next move, he spotted what he had been worrying about all this while. The Sylvans had arrived. As indicated by the eyeball floating inconspicuously out of the way, a large group of the horned aliens were approaching the ruins Ray had used to enter the Tier 10 dungeon. His time was up. Now more than ever, Ray needed to hurry. Chapter 56: Dungeon Rush Ray stood waiting for the axe to complete another pass. It swung by with another swish. Fucker was still crusted with the blood it had drawn from Ray. Timing was going to be so important in this little trap he had ended up in. He had to be fast. Primal Summons¡¯ timer was running out. As Ray didn¡¯t want to suddenly lose his wings and plummet to an untimely death, he de-summoned his wings. Of course, that made him fall, but he had risen a little high already behind the swing of the axeblade. Before he reached the lamppost-length spikes at the bottom, he had summoned his wings again. Safe and airborne. For now. Safe enough to crush a couple of Mana crystals and make sure he was topped up. Ray had to wait until the axeblade had swung the other way. With the blade gone, he rose higher into the air. Naturally, his wings could take him over thirty feet into the air. He could maintain that sort of elevation without too great a difficulty. But going even higher was the hard part. At thirty feet, the strongest beat his wings he could manage took him perhaps twenty further feet into the air. That took his total elevation of fifty feet. He could only hold that flight height for a few seconds, but a few seconds was all Ray would need. With another hard flap, Ray rose another fifteen-ish feet into the air. The next ten-feet ascent with his wings took him above the arc of the axeblade, which was nice. It had also brought him nearly to the point where the Tower Node was waiting for him. Almost there. Just one more flap and¡ª And he sensed the monster awaiting him just inside the tunnel. Ray laughed. ¡°You could have warned me,¡± he said to his Tower Node. It merely floated there. Allowing himself to fall back for just a second, Ray prepared how he was going to go about this. All this time, he had been pumping his regular Mana to condense it into True Mana. It had become something instinctive. An action his body performed on its own with minimal conscious input, almost as natural as breathing. With the gathered True Mana, Ray used True Enhancement on Soaring Wings within Lifeblood Crucible. The dark feathers gained a red gleam, lengthening and strengthening. All the limits of elevation he had been working against went out of the window. He wouldn¡¯t be able to maintain it for long, but it would be enough to get him past the Irebolt awaiting him. That was all Ray needed. With one flap of his new, empowered wings, Ray shot high in the blink of an eye. He zipped past the tunnel opening. Hopefully that had startled the monster. A quick loop-de-loop had him turning around and shooting into the tunnel from an angle above. That definitely confused the monster within, allowing Ray to land just behind it. Now that this was a proper encounter, Ray could rely on his Hallowed Reputation to take care of the next True Mana cost. But Presence of the Primordial informed him there were more Irebolts quite close by, and if he used up a free True Mana spell now, he might end up regretting it later. As such, Ray couldn¡¯t end it with one blow as he would have liked. He did have the Mana Infuser ring take his Shatterclaw to Tier 6 before smacking the surprised monster with one cast of Shatterclaw after another. The Irebolt was able to withstand it. Likely because its body wasn¡¯t made of truly fleshy matter that Ray¡¯s spells did the most damage too. A Meteoric Bolt burst through the Shatterclaw barrage to fling Ray backwards. He used some Recovery to address the wound, then used Mottling Sphereguard to safeguard against any other damage. He couldn¡¯t keep using up all his Recovery. Not when the Sylvans entering the dungeon might need him to use more of it. The Irebolt changed into a serpentine form, thrusting itself at Ray like a lance. Ray¡¯s response was to cast Impervious Shell using Lifeblood Construct. Surprisingly, the dark shell was big enough to close up the entire tunnel. What little space there was between its rounded edges and the tunnel¡¯s square corners was nowhere near enough for the Irebolt to squeeze through. It was completely blocked off from Ray. The monster even tried to fire off more lightning bolts, but they didn¡¯t get through. Huh. Well, that was rather easy. Especially since the Tower Node was able to shimmy into the small gap and join up with him again. ¡°Thanks for all the help back there,¡± Ray said. The Tower Node didn¡¯t respond to his sarcasm. It simply floated to the end of the tunnel and waited again. Ray took a moment to observe what the Sylvans entering the dungeon were doing. It was unfortunate he couldn¡¯t have a permanent live feed on them at all times. Sadly, they would spot the flying eyeball if it got too close. But at least it told him that all the Sylvans were inside the dungeon now. He ordered the eyeball to get in closer and follow them at a distance. So long as it stayed far enough, it wouldn¡¯t be sensed easily by the Sylvans. Though, the problem was that Ray¡¯s pursuers might separate into different teams in an attempt to close off the entire dungeon and prevent him from escaping. He could only hope there wasn¡¯t some secret passage that allowed one to veer past all the obstacles with ease. Although, the Sylvans in his last dungeon hadn¡¯t been bothered by any obstacles either. Could these ones have a similar capability? Argh, that was frustrating to consider. Putting it out of his mind, Ray focused on getting through the dungeon as fast as he could. To that end, he planned on how best to tackle what lay ahead of him. At the end of the tunnel, the Tower Node had come to a pause. There was a good reason for that. Beyond the passage, the deceptively large chamber was filled entirely with more of the Irebolts. Presence of the Primordial confirmed it. So many that Ray had no hope of fighting them all at once. Behind hm, the timer for the Impervious Shell construct was rapidly running out too. The Irebolt beyond it was still relentlessly attacking. He focused on the monsters past the passage. Summoning up a Lifeblood Construct of the Greater Windbane Maw, Ray sent it flying ahead, ignoring the twinge that always accompanied creating more than one ¡°sentient¡± construct. Interestingly. It never bothered him to have an Impervious Shell up alongside some other construct. He had decided it was most likely because the shell wasn¡¯t intelligent in the same way the eyeball and the maw were. It couldn¡¯t obey complex commands. In fact, it couldn¡¯t ¡°obey¡± anything at all. Ray considered more or less a giant shield he could summon at any time. ¡°Get all their attention.¡± Ray didn¡¯t need to verbally command the maw, but it felt good to vocalize his thoughts. ¡°And bring them all into this tunnel together.¡± The maw flew to obey. As soon as it zipped into the tunnel, a storm thundered into being. Heavy winds rocked through the tunnel, lightning crackling all over the area. The rain was so furious, droplets almost fired horizontally as they shot at him. Ray was surprised his maw was able to survive for as long as it did. It took some beating from some of the faster Irebolts lashing out, suffered a bolt or two crackling against its scaly face. Hurry. It had to hurry. The Impervious Shell behind Ray was about to give out at any moment. If that Irebolt joined the chaos, things would turn a little too¡ª Unless Ray could time everything perfectly. His heart was already beating far too hard and fast. Now, it went up an even higher notch. If Ray was in any other situation, he would have marvelled at just how much physiological stress he was putting himself through. Stolen novel; please report. And then the maw was rushing back into the tunnel, all its enemies flying in hot on its tail. ¡°You did well,¡± Ray said. ¡°Sorry for the sacrifice.¡± He thrust his arm forward just as he called on a True Enhancement version of the Greater Windbane Maw on his arm with Prima Summons. At the same time, the Impervious Shell finally gave out. Time was up. The Irebolt behind the disappearing shell charged in. Ray threw himself backward, rolling under the Irebolt¡¯s swing and coming back upright. Then he aimed his arm straight ahead, the massive spectral maw filling up almost the entire chamber. The compressed blast of fire it belched out killed basically everything in the tunnel. Ray was almost flung back at the momentum exchange, the beam of fiery, chaotic energy ripping through the Irebolts in the tunnel. [Enemy Defeated¡ªIrebolt] Tier 7 Monster: Irebolt [Level 17] x11 Essence: +13,090 Knowledge: +33 Mana Restored: +1,870 [Level Up!] Reward
  • +3 Intellect, +3 Spirit, +2 Vitality, +4 allocatable free stats.
  • 1 Tier Point
Essence to Level 20: 2,360/21,500 Knowledge to next Threshold: 547/600 The notifications were as soothing as they were wild. Despite the tunnel shaking under the pressure from his draconic laser-breath, he was safe for the time being. More importantly, he had finally reached level 19. Just one more level, and then he would finally be able to evolve his Ascension Class into something that could generate True Mana. His heart didn¡¯t stop thumping, though. Despite the number of Irebolts that Ray had killed already, there were still quite a few more inside the chamber ahead that were still alive. And of course, he couldn¡¯t forget about the Sylvans closing in. Hurry. The Tower Node seemed to feel the urgency as well. It zipped ahead. Ray wasted no time following, adding all his free points to Intellect and crushing some more Mana crystals to keep himself topped up. He also added the Tier point to Primal Summons. There, now his summons would last even longer. Just as the tunnel opened up into the chamber, Ray called up his wings. If he was fast enough, then the remaining Irebolts wouldn¡¯t be a problem. So long as his Tower Node didn¡¯t decide to stop all of a sudden. Ray swung past the still-alive Irebolts. He would have flipped them off had he not been moving so fast. As it was, he swerved within the chamber and followed the Tower Node into another tunnel at the far end. This tunnel had a side passage. One that had a Sylvan rushing through it. The shock probably affected both of them just as much. Why had Ray not sensed the alien with Presence of the Primordial? Had Ray been sensed anyway? With the Tower Node continuing to fly on, Ray didn¡¯t slow down. He looked back just in time to see the Sylvan swinging around the corner to flash after his quarry. Not on his watch. A jolt of his arm sent another Impervious Shell covering up almost the entire passageway. ¡°Ha, I don¡¯t think so,¡± Ray said as the Sylvan began attacking the dark shell without much effect. His heart stuttered in his chest, though. If there was already a Sylvan this close by, there had to be more gathering even faster around him. How many other passages connected to his one directly? It was difficult to stave off the paranoia that he was already surrounded, that he was walking¡ªflying, he supposed¡ªstraight into a trap. At least the Tower Node now seemed to be hellbent on getting Ray to¡­ wherever it was leading him. He hoped it was to the next Tower Node, but really, what proof did he have? Cursing under his breath, Ray followed his strange guide through more obstacles and past more Irebolts. They didn¡¯t stop against any of the creatures, only pausing when they couldn¡¯t outrun them or some trap forced them to take more care than was ideal. Though, Ray was getting pretty good at getting past the dungeon¡¯s various barricades. A hailstorm? He could tank right through it, annoying though it was. Another tunnel had the walls closing in on him. With a great rumble, they snapped in from either side, seeking to crush Ray. Thankfully, Impervious Shell came in clutch once more. It was powerful enough to stop the walls from fully closing, and there was enough of a gap for Ray to travel through with ease, thanks to summoning the shell horizontally. Finally, the Tower Node led Ray to an elevator. He hadn¡¯t expected something like that in a dungeon, but then again, if it had so many different kinds of mechanisms for various traps and the like, an elevator was hardly anything more complicated. Just a stone platform that ascended once he stepped on a switch in the centre. An elevator that brought him in front of giant double doors. Ray looked at his Tower Node. ¡°This better be the spot.¡± The Tower Node didn¡¯t reply. When Ray stepped up to the entryway, the doors opened on their own. Revealing a huge Irebolt inside. He wasted no time using Presence of the Primordial to determine what exactly he was facing. [Presence of the Primordial] Greater Irebolt [Monster] [Tier 8] [Level 21] Formless monsters made from the matter of the compressed sky. They are said to embody the various aspects of the heavens. To hold and control the weaker Irebolts more efficiently, the Everair set the main guardian as a relay of sorts, one that directed its subordinates according to its masters¡¯ orders. Skills: Segmented Form [Tier 8]: Construct and reconstruct your form at will to form any shape by reconstituting the various segments that make up your body. At Tier 5, this skill allows manipulation of 16 segments. Thunderstorm [Tier 7]: Summon a storm of lighting and thunder in the near vicinity. Thunderbolts will randomly strike foes within the area of effect. At Tier 7, the skill¡¯s area of effect is 21 meters. Blizzard [Tier 7]: Summon a storm of snow and ice in the near vicinity. Hail will randomly strike foes within the area of effect. At Tier 7, the skill¡¯s area of effect is 21 meters. Cyclone [Tier 7]: Summon a storm of ripping wind in the near vicinity. Blades of sharp, compressed wind will randomly strike foes within the area of effect. At Tier 7, the skill¡¯s area of effect is 21 meters. Environmental Reconstitution [Tier 6]: Regain health by absorbing the environment that you are made of. At Tier 6, this skill adds 60 Recovery for use per segment of material absorbed. Abstract Assault [Tier 7]: When attacking, your body can now manipulate all of its segments separately and perform any attacks. Heaven¡¯s Wrath [Tier 7]: Channel the power of the sky in one focused blast to obliterate your foes. ¡°Just great,¡± Ray muttered. The first monster over level 20 he had seen, besides the Eternal Guardian, and it had to be where he couldn¡¯t afford to waste any time. [Presence of the Primordial¡ªDungeon Obstacle] Node Room The anchor that holds the sky in place is guarded by the strongest guardian the Everair could create on short notice. Defeating it may be difficult, but obtaining the Node itself should not be beyond reason. Perhaps the two go more hand in hand than it first looks¡­ Huh? Was the dungeon itself warning Ray that he shouldn¡¯t try to fight that Greater Irebolt? The monster was¡­ unravelling itself, was the best way Ray could put it. Its serpentine form was straightening so that it stood before Ray like a pillar. The chamber was tall enough to contain it, even when it was standing straight like that. It wasted no time attacking. Ray was immediately put on the back foot when the cyclone formed around the creature, the funnel of twisting air scything as it cut across the walls and sliced up the pillars. Alright, this monster was definitely strong. That level denomination wasn¡¯t lying. The Tower Node dived into the cyclone. ¡°Hey!¡± Ray shouted after it. ¡°Hold up!¡± It didn¡¯t listen. His body almost jumped in behind it. He had grown too used to following it as fast as he could. But he held back the impulse. Ray wasn¡¯t a System Artifact, so he wasn¡¯t going to pass through that cyclone unscathed. He looked up at the twister, watching the glimmering segments of the monster within. ¡°I¡¯ll have to stop you to get to get to the Tower Node, won¡¯t I? Fine, then.¡± The cyclone had begun moving against him. It charged in. All Ray did in response was fall back, out through the great doors, and back onto the platform that served as the elevator. The monster followed him. The cyclone itself couldn¡¯t pass through the doorway, big though it was, and the Greater Irebolt had to barge through on its own, without its ripping winds for company. With one hand, Ray fired off a few Shatterclaws at the monster, striking the huge Irebolt along its segments. They didn¡¯t do a ton of damage, but they did enough to enrage his enemy. Its body crackled with lighting and ice. The various segments broken apart from the main form and hammered in, seeking to crush Ray like gigantic feet stomping in. he was ready for it, though. In fact, he was looking for it. Soaring Wings was already on his back. Activating Occultic Apparition with his free hand, Ray shot forward, landing on the lip of the stone between the platform and the room ahead. As he had done so, his foot had pressed down on the switch in the centre of the platform that activated its motion. It immediately began sinking. The Greater Irebolt tried to rise, but Ray was ready for that too. He called on Impervious Shell once again, summoning it to lie flat right over the descending platform. Ray had noted how the monster had changed its shape so some quick thinking had showed him just how he could manoeuvre the shell to prevent it from getting off the platform. ¡°See you, sucker,¡± Ray said. ¡°Say hi to the Sylvans for me.¡± Thunder and lightning blitzed, ice crackled to life under the Impervious Shell. But they didn¡¯t get past the shield. By the time the monster decided to change its shape and come out through the small gap between the shell and the platform, it was too late. The elevator was almost at the spot where it had risen from. Not waiting to see if the monster could use the elevator to rise again, Ray quickly headed back inside the giant chamber. He was slightly disappointed that he hadn¡¯t killed the Irebolt outright, but that couldn¡¯t be helped. The Tower Node was more important. Farther along the chamber, there was a large, raised portion that led to some kind of altar. On top of the altar, a glowing power was emerging from within. Ray couldn¡¯t help but gasp. The Tower Node he had been looking for was coming out. It was time to destroy the dungeon. Chapter 57: Skybreaker Ray darted a quick look at the entrance. No sign of anyone rushing in. No sound of the elevator climbing back up. He still had time. Whew. Beyond the raised altar, at the far end of the room, a stairway led higher up. That had to be his exit. Hopefully, there wasn¡¯t any blockage or anything because he hadn¡¯t really completed the last Dungeon Obstacle. Tricking the monster down the elevator probably didn¡¯t count as defeating it. This Tower Node looked a little¡­ filament-y, as was the best way Ray could describe it. Instead of a solid, diamond-shaped crystal, it was partly hollow, the crystalline surfaces connected to each other and held in that rhombic shape via threads of what reminded Ray of ceramic. Like with the last Tower Nodes he had acquired¡ªthe Tower Nodes of the Mentor and the Songstress¡ªRay sensed that he didn¡¯t need to do anything further to claim this Tower Node. He reached out his hand and it began floating towards him. [System Artifact¡ªTower Node] Tower Node of the Skybreaker With the Node of the Skybreaker, you can now lay claim to the dungeon of Sector 1. Bring down the sky and let loose its inherent structure. Shatter clouds, break lightning, and twist out the rain. Capacity of the sky to be deconstructed can be raised with True Mana. Hmm. That was a strange description, though it was starting to make sense with everything he had seen so far in the Halls of the Sky. The Everair supposedly wanted to bring the sky down to the earth. If so, then having a Tower Node do just that would be one way to go about it. That made Ray curious as to who or what this Skybreaker was. An Everair who had ascended to become a Paragon somehow? ¡°You don¡¯t know, do you?¡± Ray asked his original Tower Node. The Marauder didn¡¯t send any replies. Ah, well. Maybe Ray could find out himself. As he focused on the new Tower Node, it began glowing. The filaments within it lit up to shine like strands of pure light. Ray didn¡¯t get any list of abilities to pick from just then. This Tower Node didn¡¯t seem to function the same way the Tower Node of the Mentor had, which had been a lot more structured, if he was being honest. He was locked into a vision in no time at all. The world of the dungeon disappeared. Instead, quite predictably, Ray ended up in the sky. A storm raged around him. The land far beneath was murk and hazy, but the lightning-laced clouds around him raced past him, borne on ferocious winds. A fusillade of rain pummelled Ray¡¯s form, though he was only here spectrally, so he didn¡¯t really suffer anything, so to speak. That was when the sky itself began breaking apart. The clouds tore away from each other, the streaming rainfall condensed into multiple flying rivers shooting off to different sides. Winds buffeted Ray¡¯s form from every direction. He tried to figure out what he was supposed to do here. Will. Focus. Those were the things that had brought him here. Those were what would allow him to carry out what he needed and then get out too. Ray closed his eyes, let the raging storm envelope his senses. The smell of lightning, the splash of water, the battering wind. They weren¡¯t really things he could sense just then, not directly, but it was as though an afterimage of them rushed across his spirit. Something clicked into place. An alignment of sorts, like at some level, his spirit and whatever simulacrum of a soul that this stormy vision possessed had become one. Ray raised both arms and the storm grew in intensity. Thunder boomed, lightning danced everywhere, winds howled. The sensation was euphoric. A rush of pure power coursed over him like he had been doused with gasoline, set aflame, but was immune to being burned. He realized he could direct the storm now. A quick flick of a finger had a bank of clouds turn into a waterfall, the fluffy grey mass plummeting straight down. A clap of his hands had the lightning ringing around him in permanent pillars of blinding light. A whirl of his wrist had the air revolving around him in a powerful cyclone, which then branched into three separate twisters with a little force of will. When Ray opened his eyes, he was back in the dungeon¡¯s last chamber. He looked at the new Tower Node, still glowing with its filament-like power. Now he knew how to¡ª The elevator came to a grinding halt at the end of the chamber. Ray twisted, heart stuttering, the euphoria fleeing. A Sylvan stepped in, followed by the Greater Irebolt. ¡°Ah, just in time,¡± the Sylvan said, her voice as relieved as it was edged. ¡°Any luck?¡± ¡°Are you¡­ actually politely asking me if I managed to operate¡ªyou know what, I¡¯m not giving you the satisfaction of stalling me. You¡¯re supposed to die.¡± Ray focused on the Tower Node again, but he didn¡¯t get to activate it. Didn¡¯t get to use its awesome power to wreck this whole dungeon and take care of all his problems. The Sylvan attacked. Way too fast. Ray only just saw her rushing straight at him with her glaive held aloft. Instinctively, he used Mottling Sphereguard. Ten orbs of shirling chaotic energy manifested around him, burning black and red. The orbs absorbing several of the Sylvan¡¯s attack allowed Ray to leap backward and get some space. No time, though. Behind the Sylvan, the gigantic Greater Irebolt moved in. Lightning flickered along its length, its segments switching up into an attacking formation. Ray called on the Greater Windbane Maw construct to keep the monster busy. It wasn¡¯t going to be that effective. Against an Irebolt that was over level 20, no way would his summoned construct last for long. But Ray hoped it would be just long enough. Certainly, his construct believed in itself, rushing ahead undaunted despite the creature it was facing. Ray focused once more on the Tower Node, though that proved difficult. The Sylvan was rushing in again. She didn¡¯t attack him directly this time. He still had some of the orbs floating around him. The Sylvan had learned her lesson. Instead of getting at Ray directly, what she did instead was rush to the other end of the room and block the tunnel. ¡°You conniving little alien,¡± Ray muttered, severely annoyed. She was blocking his escape route. If he activated the Tower Node¡¯s power now, it would bring down the dungeon and kill everyone within. Including Ray. Turned out his opponent was smarter than he had thought at first. Behind him, the Greater Irebolt had more or less dealt with the construct. Lightning had burned off far too many of its scales, its flesh sizzling and blood steaming. It was still attacking, though. Despite being wounded and clearly outmatched, the monstrous winged maw kept shooting chaotic fire, kept trying to bite down on the Irebolt, and continued to be a general hassle. But it wouldn¡¯t be able to keep that up for long. Cursing, Ray gathered himself. The Sylvan was very cunning. It had brought along the monster not only to help her kill him, but to be another source of distraction. ¡°You seem quite flustered,¡± the Sylvan said, making her voice extra-mocking. Ray took a quick, steadying breath. He was letting the tension of the moment get to him. So what if the elevator had descended again, likely about to pull up more Sylvans on the chamber¡¯s doorstep. Ray was going to end this before they could come into play. He used Mottling Sphereguard again. This time, however, he used True Enhancement on it first. The True Mana variant of the spell was pretty significantly different from the regular one. It still called up ten orbs. But they weren¡¯t simple spheres of chaotic energy anymore. These spheres were more solid, like they were made of obsidian, scarlet energy crackling over their surface and golden motes gleaming within. As an ode to their solidity, they didn¡¯t disappear on contact with the enemy either. They flew around Ray like living cannonballs, threatening to crash in and crush anyone who dared get too close. With his defence assured, Ray sent spiralling bolts of Chaos Chymify at the Irebolt. Unlike the Sylvan, it wouldn¡¯t defend itself against the Insanity affliction and choose to dodge. He had already crushed a Mana crystal and called up his construct yet again after it had died, to keep the Irebolt busy until Ray made sure his status affliction procced. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The Sylvan couldn¡¯t have been certain what he was attempting, but she attacked him all the same. She found it difficult to get past his defence, though. True Enhancement Mottling Sphereguard was quite potent. She was slammed aside by one orb, her attacks blocked by another. Even her ranged attacks didn¡¯t manage to get past their defensive barricade. Alright, Ray had been stupid not to use True Enhancement on Mottling Sphereguard before this. Critical hit! With a sudden roar, the Irebolt finally went insane. Its segments went berserk, its attacks landing everywhere and nowhere. Just in time for the other Sylvans to show up. ¡°Welcome to my party, folks!¡± Ray shouted as the trio of aliens got a face full of lightning. Two ducked, but one screamed as he was blasted off the platform. The survivors rushed in to attack. Ray understood that he could just use another Mottling Sphereguard. With the spell empowered by True Enhancement, he could simply flood the entire chamber with the chaotic orbs and constrict his enemies from doing anything much at all. It was quite overpowered. Then again, so was every other spell he had under the effects of True Enhancement. Ray blasted out another volley of the black-and-white orbs edged with red energy. They didn¡¯t disappear when they engaged with the enemy. He had seen that in action, and he still felt amazed that it worked to that degree. Seeing the new Sylvans stymied as well as the first, Ray cast another volley and¡ª The Greater Irebolt crushed two of the orbs and sent several segments in a straight line at Ray. He was forced to dodge, the ground cracking under the Irebolt¡¯s blow. Ray looked around. The monster had basically deleted two of the orbs a little too easily. That shouldn¡¯t have been possible, not with the True Enhancement empowering them. Unless¡­ He looked around and saw the Sylvans were enjoying greater luck. Like the Irebolt, they were pushing back and destroying the orbs with almost as much ease as though Ray had never used True Enhancement to begin with. And that¡¯s when he understood. He couldn¡¯t flood the whole room with Mottling Sphereguard as he had hoped. The more of the orbs he summoned, the weaker they grew overall. His hypothesis was proven correct when, as the orbs continued to decrease in number, their strength grew in reverse. The Irebolts couldn¡¯t crush them as easily, nor could the Sylvans destroy them. Fine. Even if Ray couldn¡¯t exactly overwhelm his opponents with endless casts of Mottling Sphereguard, using it multiple times allowed him to reach a sort of equilibrium. Giving him the opening he needed to work on the Tower Node. Ray glanced around the battlefield. All he needed was an opening to get to the passage at the other end of the chamber. He just required a bit of safety from which to operate the Tower Node. Otherwise, he¡¯d be swept up in the storm he created too. The Sylvans were aware of that. Having realized she couldn¡¯t get to Ray easily through the storm of chaotic orbs, the first Sylvan had decided to remain in position. That allowed her to prevent Ray from ¡°escaping¡±. The other two Sylvans had realized the same plan. They weren¡¯t trying to defeat Ray or any of his orbs any longer. No, they were heading straight towards the passage. Cursing, Ray charged at the Sylvans. He used Occultic Apparition, then evaded the Irebolt¡¯s blows. Wind and lightning buffeted him from behind, but Ray was determined to reach his targeted spot. How, though? With the Sylvans fighting that intensely, with the Irebolt storming from behind, his opportunity was limited. Sudden inspiration struck Ray. He called the majority of his orbs back towards him, making them focus entirely on defending. Then they all charged forth together. Ray and his chaotic orbs, ramming straight at the Sylvans, whips of wind and bolts of lightning bouncing off his rock-solid defence. One Sylvan¡¯s glaive was brushed aside, another¡¯s curved sword blow deflected off an orb. The last Sylvan tried to bodily stop Ray but was flung back when they all collided. And that was when Ray was through. Blissfully free from his enemies, from the press of Sylvans and the constant threat from the Irebolt, Ray decided to call up the Tower Node. It was time to unleash the broken sky. ¡°No, you don¡¯t!¡± a Sylvan shouted. He rushed at Ray, but he was already sending several of his Sphereguard orbs to keep the annoyance away. Probably why he didn¡¯t see the glaive flying in. Ray screamed as he staggered backwards, the glaive jutting out of his shoulder. Blood dropped to the ground around him. Shit, shit. He shouldn¡¯t have sent the orbs away, shouldn¡¯t have gotten distracted that easily. He didn¡¯t know when he had fallen to his knees, but ironically, the butt end of the glaive was helping him stay somewhat upright. At least he hadn¡¯t fallen to his face. For just a second, his conviction wavered. If he hadn¡¯t been so dogged about going at this all by himself, he would have had someone to look over his back. If he hadn¡¯t believed that working together with someone else was the same as being dependent on another person¡¯s efforts. If, if, if. Theses ifs didn¡¯t matter. Ray was here, on his own, and that was that. He didn¡¯t need anyone else to control his fate. The Sylvans were attacking. One of them had managed to get past the Sphereguard orbs and was heading straight for him. Ray grimaced against the pain, pulling out the glaive¡¯s blade and letting it drop even as he applied nearly a third of his Recovery to deal with the wound. A quick succession of spells was enough to see Ray through the confrontation. Vengeful Plunder to boost his stats, then a cast of Mottling Sphereguard just as his opponent reached him. The Sylvan was blasted back by ten chaotic orbs striking her all at once. Ray didn¡¯t get to see if, or how much, she suffered from that blast. Those ten blows had taken all his primary stats up 1 point each, boosting his power by more than three levels. He repeated the process, this time against the Irebolt. One blast of orbs to force it back, then another, then yet another. It didn¡¯t cow down. Despite suffering obvious damage, even ten enhanced Sphereguard orbs weren¡¯t enough to bring the monster down. But Ray had been counting on its large health pool, on the Insanity driving it and forcing it to attack the Sylvanas well as Ray. Energy rushed into Ray. It was as though he had turned into whatever the inverse of a faucet was. A sink? That didn¡¯t feel quite right. More like a small vacuum, suctioning in the nearby power. He made sure to convert the gathering Mana into True Mana. One of the Sylvans had gotten free from the remainder of the orbs, rushing in at Ray. He was ready for it. This was what Vengeful Plunder had been all about. But he didn¡¯t act too fast. Blows and counterblows would just be a waste of time. He didn¡¯t want to give his opponent any chance to react. As such, Ray waited, and waited, and was even struck for a minute moment. Then he slammed his arm to the side. The True Mana variant of his Shatterclaw arm materialized in the next instant. The Sylvan was sent flying. Finally. With the last Sylvan distracted by the Greater Irebolt trying stomping everywhere, Ray was finally free to conduct the sky breaking ceremony. He called on the Tower Node of the Skybreaker one more time, while also casting Mottling Sphereguard to form a wall before him. A wall that blocked out everything now that Ray was in the passage sloping upwards. There was no time to waste. Ray focused. It wasn¡¯t difficult to remember the sensations that had rushed through him the first time he had tried using the Tower Node. The awesome power of the sky. That was what bounded through him, what he had to make use of. The wind keening as it picked up speed, the rain hammering against him, the continuous bolts of lighting and peals of thunder. Ray remembered it all¡ªeasy, thanks to the actions of the Greater Irebolt¡ªand let that feeling flow into the strange connection he had with the new Tower Node. The dungeon quaked. Ray shook. Thet tremor was hard. Then came another, and another. Each shake was timed almost perfectly with a pulse from the Tower Node, a blink of light that fluctuated between extremes in brightness. Something attacked, likely one or more of the Sylvans, but his orbs held firm. Especially after he added an Impervious Shell to back them up. Then the shaking was joined by a roar. A groaning, grumbling roar like a thousand rocks crashing against one another. The knocks on his Sphereguard door had stopped a while ago. Except, they were now replaced with a constant, growing pressure. Everything was cracking apart, even the passage Ray was within. Ah, shit. He had to get moving. For just a second, he was tempted to see just what was going on inside there. How awestriking would it have been for him to see the massive power on display from the Tower Node of the Skybreaker. But with the way the passage was crumbling around Ray, he had a pretty good idea already. The notifications arrived as he ran. [Enemy Defeated¡ªIrebolt/Sylvans] Tier 8 Monster: Greater Irebolt [Level 21] x1 Acrobat Assaulter [Tier 3] Sylvan: [Level 16] x3 Crescent Wielder [Tier 3] Sylvan: [Level 17] x4 Crescent Wielder [Tier 3] Sylvan: [Level 18] x1 Glaive Guardian [Tier 3] Sylvan: [Level 17] x2 Essence: +26,880 Knowledge: +33 Mana Restored: +1,890 [Level Up!] Reward
  • +3 Intellect, +3 Spirit, +2 Vitality, +4 allocatable free stats.
  • 1 Class Evolution Point
Essence to Level 21: 4,940/24,300 Knowledge to next Threshold: 580/600 Ray stared. Then laughed. There it was. Finally. His long-awaited Class Evolution Point. As the dungeon crumbled around him, he decided to wait until after his class evolution to see if he ought to redistribute stats differently. Then, with slightly bated breath, he peeked at what Ascension Classes he could evolve into. [Class Evolution] Corruption Sage [Tier 3] [Rare] Corruption emerges from your every touch, leaving a trail of malformation in your wake. But they are merely one side of the same coin, a side in which the ¡°natural¡± order means nothing. Unbridled growth¡ªthat is your creed.
  • + 20 Intellect, +20 Spirit, +20 Vitality, +10 Resilience
  • Direct access to True Mana.
  • All status afflictions raised by 1 Tier.
  • All attacks from all sources deal Cursed status affliction. When procced, enemies take 20% more damage from all sources.
  • Prioritized: Barrier, Buffing, and Utility spells
  • Perk: Corruptor¡¯s Salvage [Primary stats boosted by +10 when a status affliction occurs]
Primal Soulbinder [Tier 4] [Epic] Your presence has left no soul untouched. All those who oppose you have but one fate¡ªto have their very being incorporated into your ever-growing existence. Assimilate the world into yourself, wielding vast knowledge and power at the same time.
  • + 40 Intellect, +30 Spirit, +10 Vitality
  • Direct access to True Mana.
  • All summoning spells have Mana costs reduced by 25%.
  • All damage from any sort of summon is increased by 25%, and summons provide passive bonuses.
  • Assimilate abilities as well as stats and other innate physiological functions at once.
  • Prioritized: Summoning, Buffing, and Utility spells
  • Perk: Soulbinder¡¯s Resolve [Primary stats boosted by +10 while a summons is active]
Spirit Sculptor [Tier 4] [Epic] The realm of spirits is one you already tread across. Harness their amorphousness and call them forth in any way you desire across the veil of existence. Embrace acceptance, and sculpt the souls of others to your will, carving a path through realms both mystic and corporeal.
  • + 20 Intellect, +40 Spirit, +10 Vitality, +10 Agility
  • Direct access to True Mana, temporary access to other variants via diverse means.
  • All summons are now crafted from Mana.
  • All Mana and all spells can now be combined and modified, up to the limits of their capabilities.
  • All Mana-based spell damage increased by 20% and Mana shaping is enhanced.
  • Prioritized: Offensive, Summoning, and Barrier spells
  • Perk: Carving Affinity [Spell-relevant stats are boosted by +10 while a spell is active]
Please select the evolution for your Ascension Class. Chapter 58: Class Evolution As the dungeon continued crumbling behind him, Ray tried not to trip on the uneven, sloping floor as he looked over his options for his class evolution. He couldn¡¯t help but gasp a little as he read through his choices. They seemed incredible. Not necessarily good for him. Not all of them. The very first option, Corruption Sage, seemed to be an extension of his ability to proc status afflictions like Insanity. In fact, it looked like all of Ray¡¯s offerings were based on what he could already do. The Soulbinder one was clearly a class that favoured summoning over all else, while the final Sculptor option was related to the various direct-damage spells he used. Shatterclaw with its claws and arm, Sphereguard with its orbs, even most of his summons when he used True Enhancement on them first. What else did a sculptor do but shape what already existed? Also interesting to note that all three of his options offered access to True Mana. Though, how in the world True Mana would help with status afflictions, Ray wasn¡¯t at all certain. He supposed Corruption Sage did specialize in utility and buffing spells. Nevertheless, a class that didn¡¯t prioritize¡ªnot that Ray fully understood what the System meant by ¡°prioritizing¡± here¡ªeither his Offensive or his Summoning spells wasn¡¯t one that appealed to him. Primal Soulbinder was as straightforward as it was enticing. Clearly, it was a heavily summons-based class. Everything Ray called up would be stronger, and he himself would be more powerful too. So long as his summons were in the vicinity. And if Ray was being honest, his summons would almost always be present in a battle. What really hooked him, though, was the one statement in the middle. Assimilate abilities as well as stats and other innate physiological functions at once. He had to take a few moments to consider what that meant. A few interrupted moments where the shaking got even worse and Ray quickened his pace. This tunnel was long. He couldn¡¯t tell where the end was, but hopefully, he would reach it before the rumbling far behind did. The Tower Node of the Skybreaker was moving alongside him. It continued to blink like a lighthouse light seen from one angle. Back to the class evolutions¡ªRay could already call up wings and use abilities of the monsters he killed. Lifeblood Chaos could store both. So the only new thing would be storing stats, perhaps? Intriguing as that sounded, it didn¡¯t make a ton of sense. Or at least. Ray didn¡¯t have much to go off of. For all the monsters he had viewed under the influence of Presence of the Primordial, he had never noted any stats. As Denizens, the Sylvans surely had them, so Ray couldn¡¯t be sure if monsters didn¡¯t or if it was just a limitation of his spell. Ray considered his last option. If that statement about incorporating a summon¡¯s stats was intriguing, then the entire description of his final option was one giant mystery pot. Unlike the others, it clearly said he could channel other variants of Mana, not just True Mana. Ray still had the Toxic and Flight Mana crystals. Would he be able to use them if he picked Spirit Sculptor? All Mana and all spells can now be combined and modified, up to the limits of their capabilities. Ray really needed a moment to figure out what that part meant. It reminded him of that moment where he had instinctively combined the giant, enhanced True Mana Shatterclaw arm with a Primal Summons of the Greater Windbane Maw. He winced. Ray pushed out the troubling memories of carrying Randall¡¯s corpse before refocusing. If that was how these combinations would work, then Ray had to wonder how exactly he could combine all his other spells. It had also said modifications. And limits. Did he even know the limits of his spell? He supposed he couldn¡¯t make the head fly without attaching wings first, but that felt too basic of a limitation to consider. He was highly intrigued by the combination he had instinctively performed, though. The way the draconic head had gone about and killed his foes was objectively powerful, regardless of other feelings associated with the circumstance. Also, how exactly was that spell going to enhance his Mana shaping? He imagined making more complicated forms than he was already capable of. Arms and orbs were nice. But what about making entire bodies? Not just human, but monstrous ones too? Ray had to make a choice. Corruption Sage was just not going to cut it for him, so it would come down to one of the other two. But which one? He couldn¡¯t make a decision lightly. This moment was the culmination of all his hard work across the entire Floor. His experiences, both amazing and sour, were the components making up his options. The choice for his future was informed by his past within the Tower. A past that he had conducted with more control over his life than he¡¯d ever had. He couldn¡¯t forget that. As such, the direction he took for his future had to hold on to the same level of control. No. A greater level of control, if possible. And it was possible. If Ray really looked at his options, he could tell just which he had to go with. A violent tremor shook the whole passageway, strong enough to make the walls and ceiling crack. Ray did his best to not breathe in the dust falling from overhead and hurried on. When the groaning got really loud, he looked back, only to immediately curse. The whole tunnel was collapsing. A huge whirlwind was shattering everything behind him, crushing and destroying like a giant, expanding blender. Ray could feel the funnel¡¯s backwards tug. He called up his wings, using Occultic Apparition alongside it to further boost his speed. Then he shot through the passageway as fast and as powerfully as he could. ¡°All the Sylvans and everything else inside the dungeon are dead,¡± he told the Tower Node of the Skybreaker with no small amount of reproach. ¡°So can¡¯t you stop it now?¡± The glowing ceramic crystal simply continued to blink as it moved alongside him. He had already attempted to focus on it and make it stop, but it looked like he had unleashed an avalanche. One didn¡¯t stop a landslide after letting it loose. Ray pushed onwards, faster and faster. Sweat beaded his brow, anxiety making his heart fly in his chest too. Not now. He couldn¡¯t let the twister reach him. He would not. No way. He hadn¡¯t forced his way out of the final chamber just to get caught in the sky-breaking storm now. Unfortunately, even with all of Ray¡¯s speed and power, he didn¡¯t make it to the end of the tunnel and out of the dungeon before getting caught by the storm. The ripping vortex drew closer and then he was making no progress forward at all. Ray cursed loudly, his frantic mind trying to come up with any solution that could possibly help. Nothing came to mind. A moment later, he was being hauled back. At least he retained enough sense to use Mottling Sphereguard with True Enhancement empowering it again. He needed some time to condense his regular Mana to True Mana to do so, and it was that realization that made Ray remember that he had to pick one of the three evolution options. The System didn¡¯t consider the destruction of the dungeon as an ¡°encounter¡± and the Silver True Mana Bracelet was exhausted after that last battle in the final chamber. Ray was momentarily distracted from making a decision by his immediate need for survival. More True Mana. He needed more True Mana. There was no telling how long the process of evolving his class would take, so he was relying on what he already knew and had a good approximation of. At the very moment Ray entered the funnel of pure destruction, he was able to activate the enhanced Mottling Sphereguard. The orbs safeguarded him, allowing him to watch the medley of destruction when the wind was trying to rip through his eyes. There was absolutely no sign of the dungeon anywhere. All Ray saw through the gaps between his chaotic orbs was thousands of broken blue rocks, pieces of gigantic machinery which had to be the mechanisms for the traps inside the dungeon, and corpses. A few Sylvans here and there, but most were segments of Irebolts torn from the main bodies. All of them swirled alongside Ray in the giant twister, lightning flickering within its whirling, windy walls. Far above them danced dark clouds. Ray knew the dungeon existed underneath the old, ruined Everair palace the Sylvans had occupied. If he could see clouds, did that mean the destruction conducted by the Tower Node had swept through the whole palace? Was he annihilating the Sylvans within the palace too? Hopefully, not Kredevel. Something told him the Floor Lord wouldn¡¯t be defeated that easily either. More importantly, Ray was beginning to feel the storm attempting to pull him apart. The Sphereguard orbs might be protecting him from any stray debris from crashing in, but they wouldn¡¯t last forever. Two had already been destroyed under the stormy stress. Beyond that, the pressure of the storm was eating away at him, compressing him from all sides. He couldn¡¯t help but flinch every time a lightning bolt seemed to arrow straight at him. Enough. Ray had to get out of this twister before his defences failed. That was when he spotted it. A glimpse into the main palace, where things had not been affected by any storms or anything of the kind. Where, despite the destruction caused by the Skybreaker Tower node, the Floor Lord and Kredevel were locked in a furious battle. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. A sense of supreme urgency overtook Ray. He had been in the dungeon way too long. Ray had wasted enough time. He had to act before Kredevel fell against the Floor Lord. Ray closed his eyes to sharpen his focus. The moment of truth was here. Memories flashed to life in his head. The first time he had created his constructs purely out of Mana instead of as physical beings. The time his True Mana Shatterclaw had combined with his Primal Summons of the Greater Windbane Maw. The times when his wings had burned with chaotic energy. The first time his summoned draconic maw had fired off its laser breath. Ray picked his class evolution. [Class Evolution] Congratulations, Denizen, on achieving your first Class Evolution. Arcanist >>> Spirit Sculptor Your Ascension Class will now undergo the necessary changes. A sizzling burst of energy coursed through Ray. He couldn¡¯t really describe the feeling. It was like he was now a conductor and a current of electricity was coursing through him, the sensation similar to the first few times he had channelled True Mana. But this was heavier, bordering almost on the verge of painful. He gritted his teeth and bore through it. [Class Evolution] Stat boosts have been applied. Spiritual realignment has been configured. [Legendary] Path has been accounted for. Mana Core has been changed to True Mana Core. Shatterclaw [Tier 2] >>> Soulstrike [Tier 3] Chaos Chymify [Tier 2] >>> Spiritsorb [Tier 3] Presence of the Primordial [Tier 4] >>> Primordial Gauge [Tier 5] Primal Summons [Tier 4] >>> Primal Spiritcraft [Tier 5] Lifeblood Crucible [Tier 8] >>> Lifeblood Graveyard [Tier 9] Mottling Sphereguard [Tier 2] >>> Mottling Spiritguard [Tier 3] Occultic Apparition [Tier 3] >>> Aethereal Envoy [Tier 4] Lifeblood Construct [Tier 4] >>> Lifeblood Soulform [Tier 5] New Spell: Animus Remnant [Utility] [Tier 5] New Skill: Channel Mana [Utility] [Tier 5] Ray stared at the notifications. No one had told him that he¡¯d immediately get new abilities or that all his spells would receive a free Tier upgrade with his class evolution. Was that true with all class evolutions, or had he just fortunately picked the right one? Probably the former. If this was something unique to a specific class, the System would surely have told him. It would be vital information if it didn¡¯t happen regardless of one¡¯s choice. The near-pain began to decrease, though the sizzling sensation didn¡¯t disappear. It was still powerful, but Ray was beginning to understand¡ªaided by his new spell, Primordial Gauge¡ªthat this was a part of his new Ascension Class. Spirit Sculptor¡­ someone who sculpted spirits. And to do so, said someone needed to exist in both the real world and the spiritual one. No surprise, then, that his body felt like it was forcefully existing in multiple places at once. Amazingly, the remaining orbs of the old Mottling Sphereguard didn¡¯t disappear. Instead, they changed. They were less pure spheres now. Instead, Ray could best describe them as a sparking fireball like those seen at the end of sparkler fireworks. Just in place of fire, they had burning, black-and-white chaotic energy. Alongside that change, there was some kind of connection between each of the not-spheres and Ray. Something there definitely hadn¡¯t been before. A broken rock came flying in from one side. Ray started, then decided to test out his new, already active spell. He urged one of the sparking orbs to protect him. Instead of simply shooting into the path of the flying chunk of the dungeon and deflecting its path of flight, the orb changed shape into a burning, monochromatic shield. The debris struck it with a solid thwack before bouncing off to another direction. Ray grinned. Impressive. Now, to get out of this continuous storm. Ray might have protected himself from the winds and the debris, but the storm had still raised him pretty high. He was closer to the clouds now than he was to the palace floor and the Sylvan he had seen. But not for long. Ray used Primal Sum¡ªno, Spiritcraft, that was his new spell now¡ªwhile focusing on Soaring Wings. A roil of electric-like energy churned within his soul, spiking out of his back. With a short start, he realized he was using True Mana naturally now, without needing to compress his regular Mana into it. In fact, that was probably part of why he felt so much like he was constantly on edge. Like he had a miniature nuclear reactor inside his chest. The wings that burned out of his back wasn¡¯t at all like the ones he was used to. The fine, long avian feathers that made it up were now replaced with spiky versions of monochromatic energy, overlaid on each other like scales. Instead of just one pair, he had four now, and his gut told him he could create even more. Modification. That was what the class evolution into Spirit Sculptor had promised. Ray would need to test just how far he could take his new spells. For now, he let his wings burn with True Mana and shot out of the twister. The speed of the motion was incredible. Whether it was gifted by an innate comprehension, or if it was Primordial Gauge working its magic, Ray was starting to understand just how his new spells worked. It was these new capabilities that he made full use of. Each of the new spikes making up his wings could burn, unleashing the energy used to create them in a powerful jet. Essentially, Ray had strapped an innumerable number of miniature jetpacks on his back, each of which he could fire and actuate individually. Still stuck in this endless storm from his Tower Node, Ray fired off all his ¡°feathers¡± at once. Even that burst of speed wasn¡¯t enough to overcome the heavy power of the gigantic twister. That was fine. Ray had a lot more to count on now. He used Aethereal Envoy, hoping it retained most of Occultic Apparition¡¯s benefits. Considering he felt the boost to his speed immediately, his assumption was justified. Next, he manoeuvred himself into position, facing the opposite direction while still keeping his firing towards his original location. Finally, he used Primal Spiritcraft to call up the Greater Windbane Maw along his arm. There was a new, powerful sensation with the spell. It felt like Ray¡¯s own spirit was¡­ growing. Moulding. Strange pulses erupted under his skin, making him feel like he was expanding from the inside, though not painfully. What a strange change. Instead of a flesh-blood-and-scale draconic head, the maw automatically appeared as the monstrous, spectral version like whenever he used True Enhancement. Then Ray forced it to fire its laser breath. That injection of momentum was enough. Combined with the buff from Aethereal Envoy and firing every single spiky feather on his wings, Ray finally made it. He crashed through the ring of twisting winds filled with the remains of the dungeon. The debris didn¡¯t strike him since he had used another Mottling Spiritguard to keep himself safe. Ray was finally free again. He didn¡¯t relent yet, though. No, first he was going to create as much distance between himself and the tornado as possible, forcing his wings and maw to continue to fire until he began falling. When Ray landed on the ground, the twister looked no bigger than streetlamp. Its inexorable pull was little more than a draft against his clothes and hair. [Dungeon Cleared¡ªHalls of the Sky] Rewards
  • 1 Flight Mana crystal
  • 1 True Mana Tier Point
  • 1 Irebolt Segment
  • 1 Grimoire Pamphlet
  • +2,000 Essence
  • Reputation: +10 Indomitable
[New Personal Achievement¡ªDestructive Trickster!] You have lured in a great many foes to one location before promptly destroying both them and the location itself. The sheer destruction you¡¯ve caused speaks volumes about the lengths you will go. Reward
  • Reputation: +15 Cunning, +20 Chaotic, +25 Ruthlessness
[New Personal Achievement¡ªClass Ascender!] You have acquired a class evolution. Your future looks as bright as your actions foretold. Reward
  • Reputation: +20 Knowledge, +20 Devout
Essence to Level 21: 6,940/24,300 [Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 150-point threshold, your Chaos now builds Insanity even faster, at 14% per successful hit, and inflicts Tier 4 Insanity upon proc. For reaching the 100-point threshold, your Cunning now adds additional 8% critical chance with every attack. At 8% critical chance, approximately every twelfth attack will be a critical hit. A critical hit triples damage and always procs any associated affliction. For reaching the 100-point threshold, your Ruthlessness boosts all your damage dealt even further. All damage inflicted gets a 12% bonus, including damage from any afflictions. For reaching the 600-point threshold, your Knowledge has raised your Intellect by 50. Knowledge to next Threshold: 600/800 Ray twisted around. Far as he had taken himself, he was still a bit distant from where Kredevel was still fighting the Floor Lord. For now. Which meant he had a tiny window to check his new spell. [Information Request¡ªSpells] Animus Remnant [Utility] [Tier 5] A primal spirit utility spell that freezes a remnant of the caster¡¯s soul in place, which returns to the caster at a time of need. Stored soul remnant holds a portion of the caster¡¯s Recovery and Mana. At Tier 5, this spell holds 10% of the caster¡¯s total Recovery and Mana, and costs 30 True Mana. Okay, that was a pretty interesting utility spell. He was starting to see how his evolved Ascension Class would allow him to extend his fighting style in more complex directions. Such as, right now, Ray cast his new spell so that when he ended up in a fight, he¡¯d have a store of Recovery and True Mana to pull from when he ran low on both, The staticky feel of the spell was definitely strange. Energy frothed and bubbled up in him so intensely, it was almost painful under his skin. The sensation went down a notch when the growing energy seeped out of him, forming a ghostly figure of Ray himself just a feet ahead. ¡°Hi,¡± Ray said as his heartbeats slowed down to a more regular pace. The spectral version of him didn¡¯t reply, only fading until it was almost invisible. But he knew it was still there. Would remain so, until he ended up needing it. There was no distance limit. Primordial Gauge also confirmed that it wasn¡¯t interactable, so he wouldn¡¯t need to worry about anyone destroying it via any normal means. He crushed a Mana crystal to top himself up and it only just covered the cost of that single spell. Ray¡¯s heart spasmed at the thought that something was wrong before he felt that intense sizzling sensation within himself again. Right, of course. He was naturally creating True Mana now. Obviously, regular Mana crystals wouldn¡¯t restore True Mana easily. In other words, he would need to crush a lot more Mana crystals to attain the same restoration as before. Ray would have taken some time to check his new skill too, but when he looked to his left, his heart clenched. He only just caught Kredevel flying back, apparently struck by a vicious blow from the Floor Lord. Channel Mana¡¯s function was clear enough in the name. He¡¯d have to check the details later. With no time to waste, he ran towards the battle, and moments later, was struck by a warning. [Warning!] Primordial Gauge indicates your presence has been detected by Blooming Perception [Tier 6]. Primordial Gauge has failed to nullify but reduced the effects of Sylvan Dominance [Tier 6]. A strange squeezing sensation pinched almost everywhere inside Ray as he reached the vicinity of the main battle. High Tiers like that could only mean one thing. Ray had been detected by the Floor Lord. Chapter 59: Olgolairs Ambitions Ray would have enjoyed doing so many things except facing off against the Floor Lord just then. He had a whole arsenal full of new spells to check, new stats to confirm that he had received correctly, new strategies to figure out and implement. Hell, he even had a ton of new rewards from clearing the dungeon that he could have gone over. But no. He had to confront the Handler right this moment. Not that he was completely against it. The fighting between the Floor Lord and Kredevel had come to a pause, but only because the weaker Sylvan had basically been beaten. Ray¡¯s heart quavered. He couldn¡¯t tell if his friend was actually dead. They were still too distant for Primordial Gauge to confirm Kredevel¡¯s status. Which was why Ray hurried forward. The distance did afford him the briefest amount of time to note his surroundings. Ruined though the old Everair palace was, with its cracked walls, fallen pillars, and debris littering everywhere, it was still huge. Still majestic in the splendour it hinted at with the faded murals, the remainder of the stained glass windows, and the auric and argent sheens and shimmers here and there. It was a little hard to believe that they were the only ones in this entire place. Where were the rest of the Sylvans? He was pretty certain he couldn¡¯t have killed them all in the dungeon. ¡°Welcome, human,¡± the Handler said. His voice boomed across the vast open space. ¡°I am Olgolair, the Lord of the First Floor. I am grateful to you for bringing the final piece of my puzzle.¡± Ray crossed the vast space until the Floor Lord¡¯s figure was clearer. The Sylvan looked as strong as he had to be. He was bigger, more powerfully built than any Sylvan he had seen yet. Where Ray would have called most Sylvans elvish, this one was clearly more ogrelike. He wore fancy silver armour over his robe, mirroring the fierce yet haughty expression he had on. A quick look with Primordial Gauge convinced Ray that he was in for a heck of a time. [Primordial Gauge] Olgolair Hew Eighth-worn [Denizen] Race: Sylvan Path: Path of Core Growth [Epic] Class: Propulsor Enigmatist [Epic] [Tier 4] at Level 29 Skills: Propulsive Point [Tier 5]: Imbue any location you touch with Propulsion Mana. At Tier 5, this skill can cast up to 5 propulsive points at once, each lasting 150 seconds. Sylvan Dominance [Tier 6]: Aura of astral projection that automatically refills Mana. This Aura manifests in the element of the wielder¡¯s Path. Your extended presence will note the aura of other beings in your aura¡¯s vicinity. Domination ensures your aura will supersede any Aura up to a Tier above. At Tier 6, this spell¡¯s range extends to 30 meters. Blooming Perception [Tier 6]: Claim absolute detection of any living being within the spell¡¯s vicinity, including precognition of any Mana conjured into an ability. At Tier 6, the spell¡¯s vicinity extends to 30 meters. Propulsive Blanket [Tier 7]: Cover yourself in propulsive force, an aura that repels everything. At Tier 7, this spell lasts 140 seconds, reducing all damage and status affliction below this spell¡¯s Tier, and 21% of the damage of any ability at or above this spell¡¯s Tier. Armoured Growth [Tier 6]: Imbue yourself with Growth Mana to create a slowly-growing encasing that negates incoming damage. At Tier 6, 12% of all incoming damage is negated per minute of growth. Weaponized Growth [Tier 5]: Turn your Growth Mana into an armament. At Tier 5, this skill creates a weapon with maximum mass of 10 kilograms. Projected Growth [Tier 6]: Imbue Growth Mana into your vicinity. When used upon a living target directly, target is infected with Growth Mana and can be used to extend the range of this skill as far as the target goes. At tier 6, this skill¡¯s regular range is 18 meters, while infected Growth Mana lasts until this skill used destructively upon the target. Compressive Blast [Tier 5]: Compress power before unleashing it in a thunderous, detonating blast. At Tier 5, this spell can compress any Mana up to 5 times. Stored Rejuvenation [Tier 4]: Unleash stored Growth Mana that rejuvenates your soul. At Tier 4, this spell replenishes 40% of your Recovery and Mana. Propulsive Enigmatist? Was that even a word? Anyway, a bunch of Tier 5 and 6 abilities made sense for a Denizen at level 29. He was just glad this level difference wasn¡¯t too much for his new spell, like it had been with the Eternal Guardian. But beyond just the list of abilities, Primordial Gauge had also highlighted the Floor Lord¡¯s¡­ aura? Ray wasn¡¯t sure how else to describe the shimmering blanket of light around the Sylvans¡¯ leader. No, not light. Mana. Amethyst in colour, just like all the Growth Mana Ray had seen in action. Except for a few spots underneath in his armpit and the base of his neck. Those areas glowed dull red. Ray frowned. Was Primordial Gauge pointing out weak spots? He really ought to have seen the spell description before all this madness started. Ray was also pretty certain the Projected Growth description was different from the last time he had seen it on a different Sylvan. That sort of explained how he had been able to strike at Ray from such a huge distance away. Wild. He would have to be wary about it. ¡°What are you trying to accomplish here?¡± Ray asked. He nudged his chin at the assortment of stuff the Floor Lord had gathered in the centre of the chamber. Though, Ray didn¡¯t pay attention to it for long. His question had been meant to keep his opponent occupied, while his eyes fell on Kredevel. The injured Sylvan was dragging himself backwards, leaving a trail of blood along the tiled floor. His arm looked broken, wounds of various sizes peppering his back, shoulders, and waist. It was almost as though the Floor Lord had intentionally targeted Kredevel¡¯s torso. ¡°I am rather curious how your managed to seduce one of my own away from me,¡± the Floor Lord said, staring distastefully at Kredevel. ¡°I will tell you about my plans, but in return, I want you to tell me what you told him.¡± Ray looked up at the Floor Lord. That expression of his was starting to rankle. What Ray had taken to be haughtiness went beyond that. The look of sheer, callus disdain was one he saw only ever in the eyes of those who considered their subject far, far beneath them. Steeling himself against the sudden surge of frustration, Ray said, ¡°I only told him that he deserved better.¡± Stepping forward, Ray reached down and was about to help Kredevel stand, but the Sylvan waved him off. He continued crawling across the floor. Kredevel: I can sense your concern, but I will be fine. Focus on your battle. The Handler may not show it, but I have weakened his reserves. Now is your greatest opportunity to end him. Ray: Got it. I wish had something like a health potion but uh¡­ Kredevel: Worry not, I will survive. Beware that is not just his innate strength. The Floor Lord hoards items that boost his capabilities even further. Ray nodded just a bit. He had figured as much. If Ray could possess powerful items, then so could anyone else, especially the most powerful Denizen on the Floor. It felt a little off to let Kredevel continue as he was, but Ray wasn¡¯t one to disrespect anyone¡¯s harmless wishes, no matter how odd they were. So instead, he focused on the Floor Lord. ¡°Deserve better¡­¡± the Handler mused. He shook his head, the tiny jewels on his spiralling amethyst horns clinking and glinting. ¡°Of course. A mantra for the weak and un-achieved. A small saying to make yourselves feel better. For you see, one who is strong enough doesn¡¯t need to tell oneself about deserving anything. One has already taken it.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care to debate you, Floor Lord Olgolair.¡± The name was even more unfamiliar to Ray than ¡°Kredevel¡±, so he knew he was pronouncing it a bit oddly. ¡°Your turn now. You¡¯re supposed to be telling me about your little master plan.¡± ¡°Was I?¡± His dark lips slashed into a grin. ¡°Should I? You believe you can saunter in here and demand whatever you want?¡± A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Oh, I already know a chunk. You want to convert Mana between different variants. You also want to control the Eternal Guardian using the Tower Node of the Songstress. That was what you had your Sylvans trying to retrieve from the airfield dungeon.¡± It was Ray¡¯s turn to grin as he called up the Tower Node of the Songstress. ¡°Looks like that part of your plan failed.¡± The Floor Lord was about to reply, but he was interrupted by the arrival of more Sylvans in the vicinity. Ray tensed as the warnings about Total Perception and Sylvan Pride flooded in. None of the newcomers were anywhere near as strong as the Floor Lord, but the odds were definitely not in his favour here. The new Sylvans had paused upon seeing Ray, but the Floor Lord ushered them in close. A small relief, that. At least, this wasn¡¯t a planned manoeuvre to overwhelm Ray with numbers. ¡°What is it?¡± the Handler asked. The lead Sylvan once more glanced at Ray, with a strong dose of suspicion and anger, before facing his superior. ¡°I am afraid that several of the besiegers have broken through the first perimeter and will reach the palace soon, my lord. We are shoring up the preliminary personnel defences, but I wanted to ask if¡­ if what you were looking into was ready.¡± That hesitation. Clearly, these Sylvans¡ªor perhaps, just the Floor Lord himself¡ªwas cooking something up. Something they didn¡¯t want to reveal to Ray, in case he warned the ¡°besiegers¡±. Speaking of whom, Ray didn¡¯t even know they would come this far. Maya had said they would take the fight to the Sylvans, something that Ray was ostensibly doing here already. But it was still incredible to think they had pushed back the Sylvans all the way to their main base. Unless they meant something else by besiegers. ¡°You lost to the puny Denizens,¡± the Floor Lord said, his voice growing quiet but sharp with building rage. ¡°And yet you have the audacity to ask me for assistance?¡± All the Sylvans recoiled from the rebuke. ¡°My lord.¡± The leader bowed his head deeply. ¡°Let us deal with this mongrel before you, so you may focus on what is truly important.¡± ¡°And what of the besiegers who broke through? Who shall deal with them?¡± ¡°Lastiel¡¯s contingent is taking care of them as we speak, my lord.¡± Ray blinked, recalling well the Sylvan who had absconded with Derrick Orden right before Ray had landed the killing blow. If that asshole had died, none of the Wild Tides would have been a problem any longer and Maya and the others would probably already have swept through the Sylvan defences to take over the palace. Before the Floor Lord could accede to the Sylvan¡¯s suggestion, Ray came up with his own. ¡°How about another deal, Floor Lord?¡± ¡°Silence, mongrel,¡± the Sylvan commander said. ¡°That you have not been killed where you stand is already a greater mercy than the likes of you deserve.¡± Ray ignored him, summoning up the Tower Node of the Songstress. The floating ceramic crystal made everyone stare, including the Handler. ¡°How about this? You beat me in a fair, one-on-one battle, and I will concede this Tower Node to you. But if I win, then I want your little puzzle for myself.¡± Shocked mutters went up from all the Sylvans besides the Floor Lord and probably Kredevel somewhere farther behind. Several of them even pulled out their weapons. Ray, however, kept his eyes fixed on the only one who mattered. ¡°Your bargaining skills are quite lacking, human,¡± the Floor Lord said. ¡°Do you not realize your terms are meaningless? The victor of this little bout you fantasize about will surely take all that is left behind by the dead.¡± ¡°Alright, fine.¡± Ray knew that, when bargaining and deal-striking, it was best to start higher that his actual goal so he could come down to it and claim to have ¡°lost¡± when in truth, he was still winning. ¡°How about this? If I beat you, I get a free pass to the Second Floor of the Tower. I don¡¯t care about killing anyone. All I want is what I deserve¡ªthe Second Floor.¡± ¡°The audacity!¡± one of the Sylvans exclaimed. ¡°We will take your head for your presumptions,¡± another said. Ray did well to ignore their angry mutterings because the Floor Lord held up his hand for silence. The rest of the Sylvans went quiet. ¡°Fine,¡± the Handler said. ¡°You have proven yourself to be more capable than any other human I have seen this far on the First Floor. I agree to your little deal. If you can defeat me, I will ensure that nothing bars your path to the Second Floor. We need not speak of what happens when you perish.¡± Fair enough. Ray would be dead so it wasn¡¯t like it would matter what the Floor Lord did once he was gone. ¡°My lord,¡± the Sylvan commander began, but was interrupted pretty quickly. ¡°Leave us. Tend to the besiegers and let me handle this interloper. I will complete the ritual afterwards. Let none interrupt.¡± Reluctant though they seemed, the Sylvans couldn¡¯t disobey a direct order. They spared a few scathing looks at Ray before bowing at their Floor Lord and retreating back the way they had appeared. ¡°Prepare yourself, human,¡± the Handler said. ¡°You¡¯ve come far, killed many, ruined a great deal more than you should have. But it all ends here.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t even know what I ruined, but alright.¡± A tiny scowl passed over the Floor Lord¡¯s silvery face. ¡°This ritual is one of resurrection. The Everair possessed fantastic marvels that allowed them to become the world-spanning empire they grew to be. It is a crime that such marvels be lost to time, used only as set dressing for the Towers that the System draws up.¡± ¡°I thought you Sylvans were here to collect Mana. Is that too boring for you now?¡± ¡°Mana can be collected anywhere. We are doing that on all three Floors of the Tower. But to disregard the true secrets the Floors hold would be a grave sin.¡± Three Floors? Ray noted that information down. It didn¡¯t sound like a lot of Floors, but then again, this one Floor had been huge. More importantly, Ray was now intrigued on what lay beyond the Tower. ¡°Are these secrets that enticing?¡± Ray asked. An eager, avaricious light glinted in the Floor Lord¡¯s deep green eyes. ¡°The Eternal Guardian is but one secret, and you already know that there exists a method to convert Mana from one form to another. But did you know that they have a device to imbue Flight Mana in everything? That they have created a means of enhancing genes with Mana itself?¡± It was easy to tell that the Floor Lord had been waiting for an opportunity to talk about it all, to regale his audience with his exploits on the First Floor. Of all that Ray heard, it was the genes one that intrigued him the most. He already knew the Everair had some capability along those lines, what with the way they created monsters in their image. But it was intriguing to realize that the Sylvans knew about genes, which suggested they possessed a lot of other advanced knowledge like humans did. Ray barked out a short laugh. ¡°You know, you honestly make exploring all that sound amazing. If you¡¯d just been a friendly, cooperative guy instead of a destructive asshole, we could have had a nice time figuring it out together. I could have helped you. Instead, you went out of your way to kill me.¡± The Floor Lord didn¡¯t react to any of the insults. ¡°You are tainted with the influence of a Paragon. More than one by this point. A mutt who will soon lose his own will. I am doing you a mercy by putting you out of your future misery.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see who¡¯s putting who out of misery.¡± With the conversation drawing to a close, the tension in the air continued to rise. Ray hadn¡¯t expected things to come to a head in quite this manner. It almost felt peaceful. Weirdly natural. Maybe he was just too used to the general chaotic nature of almost all the fights he had been embroiled in so far. This upcoming battle against the Floor Lord felt ritualistic in a way. Like they were meeting at a tournament. Except, with the stakes that made Ray¡¯s skin shiver in anticipation. This was it. His moment. His chance. Everything he had gone through on the First Floor had built up to this single confrontation. Even if Ray had entertained some sort of idea to use a Brighthorn, real or fake, to complete the challenge, he had known it would come down to this. A test of his prowess. A test to see if he could force his way through to the Second Floor, no matter what stood before him. And who better to conduct that test than the Floor Lord himself. There were more reasons Ray couldn¡¯t fail here. Somewhere far behind him, Maya, Dory, Joaquin, and all the others were continuing their battles. They fought on, determined to win. They were winning. Ray had to keep up his end of the fight. If they could beat the Sylvans, then he couldn¡¯t falter against the Floor Lord. Because Ray¡¯s defeat of the Handler would finally force the Sylvans to capitulate. This paradigm of the Sylvans being some sort of guides or caretakers, one that had been patently false from the very beginning, would finally topple for good. Ray wasn¡¯t quite certain how they could manipulate the System itself to accept this change in paradigm but first, they had to achieve it. So, with the electric feeling of True Mana coursing through his body and soul, Ray prepared to fight. An obvious burst of power was building where the Floor Lord stood as well. Streams of pure white energy flickered like lightning around him. Spiralling, violet growths clad him like armour made of horns. Ray remembered everything he had seen thanks to Primordial Gauge. All the abilities, all the powers. The worse aspect was that Ray himself didn¡¯t know the full breadth of his new spells. There just hadn¡¯t been enough time to peek at their descriptions, much less come up with the best strategies to use them. That was alright. He had checked the newest one, and the rest were upgrades, not completely different abilities. Ray had a good approximation of what to do. The Floor Lord¡¯s eyes were fixed on Ray, flashing with burgeoning power. Energy gathered at his hand, blinking and pulsing as it was condensed. ¡°This ends now.¡± ¡°Agreed,¡± Ray said. With a shout, the Floor Lord thrust his arm at Ray. A blast of that same, twisting vortex of white light punched in Ray¡¯s direction. Mottling Spiritguard came the response. The black-and-white orbs a manifested around Ray, a dozen of them this time, all of them edged with burning scarlet energy. When the Compressive Blast from the Floor Lord arrived, one of the Spiritguard orbs absorbed it. And exploded. Ray had already thrown himself back, recalling the description that Primordial Gauge had offered him. Still. The little shockwave was nearly strong enough to make him fall. With a laugh, the Floor Lord threw more. Shot after shot of his Compressive Blast arrowed in at Ray. It reminded him of the times he had used Chaos Chymify relentlessly, usually to proc Insanity. Ah, crap. Did the attacks from the Floor Lord have a status affliction? Ray hadn¡¯t felt anything, so maybe not. He didn¡¯t block the Floor Lord¡¯s attacks using Spiritguard this time. With how strong they were, it wouldn¡¯t be effective, even if he could ensure his overall safety. So instead, Ray used Goliath Eater, then dodged. The skill charged through up like nothing else. If using True Mana constantly made him feel as though he was tensed up like a bowstring, then Goliath Eater doused the bowstring with gasoline and set it ablaze. Ray¡¯s soul burned. His skin turned smoother and firmer at the same time, his muscles strengthened, his body lightened. All of which combined to make evading the Floor Lord¡¯s Compressive Blasts without too much difficulty. All of which allowed Ray to zip in and get into position to counterattack. He didn¡¯t have to travel far. With Soulstrike At Tier 3 instead of just Tier 2 as Shatterclaw had been, the range had to have increased. As such, when Ray was an estimated 15 meters away from his opponent, he slashed his arm and used his new spell. It was, essentially, a True Mana version of Shatterclaw that he had used before. The only difference was that it didn¡¯t restrict itself to the form of an arm tipped with claws. No. As the Spirit Sculptor evolution description had stated, his spells were a lot more malleable now. So, with an instinctive knowledge driven by Primordial Gauge, Ray sharpened his spell into a stake. The Floor Lord¡¯s body glowed at the moment of impact. Spiralling horns clad his torso, forming more of the armour. But Ray had been ready for it. He had used more Mana than strictly necessary, using the extra with the Mana Infuser ring to raise his spell¡¯s Tier to at least 5. The draw was sharp, and he felt his Mana store decreasing rapidly. But his plan worked. The jutting spear of black-white energy tipped with ruby red impaled through the Floor Lord¡¯s armour, thanks to the Thoroughness bonus of piercing defences a Tier above his spell. But despite the massive wound, he grinned. ¡°Ah, a true challenge.¡± More and more white energy writhed around him, twisting like they were alive. Yet his brilliant teeth shone unmistakeably through them. ¡°Then allow me to hold nothing back!¡± Chapter 60: The Floor Lords Power Ray was a little stupefied the Floor Lord was not only still standing, but he had also showed next to no reaction. Had he crossed a Vitality Tier or possessed some sort of item or equipment that allowed one to ignore pain? The warning that bloomed in the next instant more or less confirmed it. [Warning!] The effects of Lifeblood Chaos have been dampened by Silverite Melder¡¯s Armour. Ha, there it was. The Sylvan leader¡¯s armour was suppressing the effects. Of course, Ray recalled one of the very first Sylvans he had faced having something similar. No surprise he wasn¡¯t the only one with strong Gear. The next instant, even greater power began building from the Floor Lord. It had to be Propulsive Blanket. The streams of twisting white energy covered his entire form, obscuring his figure so that only that grin of his remained. Then he shot bodily at his enemy. The only reason Ray was able to keep up with the Floor Lord¡¯s speed was because of the combination of all his buffs. Aethereal Envoy, Goliath Eater, the new and upgraded Soaring Wings, the stats boost thanks to his Heroic Reputation. They all combined to give Ray a massive boost in power, one that flooded him with potency. A potency he made full use of. Ray dodged back, indicating his large, Spiritguard sparks to stay close to him. The first cast he had used would stay as defence. The next, though, would be a part of his plan. The Floor Lord was fast. He swerved and switched direction, flashing in at Ray with ever-building power. The very air was warping under the stress of the Propulsive force around him. Ray¡¯s next use of Spiritguard sparks smashed into the Sylvan. He could feel Vengeful Plunder taking effect immediately. Every single one of the twelve sparking orbs counted as a separate hit, so all his primary stats were raised by twelve. The boost came in at the perfect time. Ray created another wing and made every spiky feather shoot out a jet stream of power. The tiles on the floor exploded outwards where the Floor Lord struck, where his target had evaded less than a second ago. Ray thought he had a clear opportunity to strike. He even called up another volley of Mottling Spiritguard. Which was the right thing to do, just for a very different reason than he had anticipated. With seemingly no sign, the tiles erupted again, right underneath Ray this time. A spiralling growth speared out with bullet-fast speed. The exact same trick Lastiel had used. That was the only reason Ray was able to instinctively switch his sparking orbs from offence to defence. It took two spheres to fully block it. The spiralling growth crumbled into amethyst shards as the Spiritguard orbs burst apart as well. Ray sent the remainder straight at the now-onrushing Floor Lord. Once again, they dealt no damage through that blanket of Propulsion around him, but they did raise Ray¡¯s stats just in time for him to dodge even easier this time around. And then to attack directly. The Floor Lord was once more supplementing his attacks with that projected spurt of Growth Mana. Ray evaded it. They repeated the same exchange a couple more times. Ray had to curse that Insanity wasn¡¯t proccing effectively. That description of Propulsive Blanket did say it negated all damage and status affliction from anything below its Tier, and Mottling Spiritguard was definitely not at Tier 7 or higher. After the last exchange, Ray twisted and slammed straight at the Floor Lord, calling up Soulstrike. He had carved the enormous limb into a tapering point again, then slammed straight at his opponent, pushing in Mana using the Mana Infuser ring to raise its Tier. They crashed into each other, straight up. Ray didn¡¯t try to manoeuvre himself to dodge as he struck just so or anything like that. No. This was a face-to-face impact where the stronger one would come out on top, and with everything Ray had performed so far, he had to be the stronger one by now. No surprise that his Soulstrike pierced through that Propulsion blanket. A scream resounded, and at the same instant, the Floor Lord¡¯s charge struck Ray¡¯s Spiritguard orbs compressed into a shield in front of him. Then they blasted apart. The force of the explosion ripped apart the floor and sent a burst of energy crashing into the ceiling too. Ray was amazed, and then immediately struck by vicious pain on his back and shoulders. He retained enough control over himself to send in some Recovery to fix up whatever injury that crash landing had caused. It wasn¡¯t enough to trigger the Animus Remnant spell, for which he was more or less thankful. At this rate, he¡¯d need it for later. Ray¡¯s heart stuttered in expectation, though. Surely he had finally landed a fatal blow. Wasting no time, he got to his feet to check. Good thing he had, for the Floor Lord was flying straight at him with another ferocious laugh. Flying¡­ with his own wings. For the briefest moment, Ray had to appreciate a few things about the Handler. The huge wound from that last Soulstrike right on his chest was already healing and closing up, even as he flew. More importantly, the Floor Lord had constructed his wings from the spiralling growths jutting out his back. They formed riblike appendages with a Propulsion Point attached to their ends, creating the force he needed for flight. ¡°Yes!¡± the Floor Lord shouted. ¡°Let me drink in your surprise. Give me your shock and fear. And die.¡± Despite Ray not wanting to give him anything of the sort, it did start a frantic chase. Ray swooped and dodged away from the Floor Lord. He was mightily thankful that the chamber was so open. With how erratic his motion had become, he would have hit something if there had been anything large enough inside the huge room. At least all the flying and evading gave him time to crush a few more Mana crystals to top off his total capacity. He needed more than just the couple he had used in previous encounters. It made sense. He was using True Mana now, not regular Mana. But why wasn¡¯t it working? His stats were boosted quite high, his power flowed within him with rising ferocity. And it still didn¡¯t work. How? Why? Kredevel had said that the Floor Lord held items that granted him far greater strength. Accessories that further raised his already-high stats, armour pieces that boosted his defences and Recovery. The handler mixed things up with Projected Growths. Violent violet spires burst out of the ground, all to impale Ray mid-flight. He was fast enough to dodge the majority, but slowly, he started to realize that he was being corralled. His speed was great enough to evade the Floor Lord, but that wouldn¡¯t matter if he had nowhere to go. A Compressive Blast nearly took his head off. The explosion of the Floor Lord¡¯s attack against one of his Spiritguard orbs made his ears ring and his mind vibrate. Not fun. Ray tried to get some elevation, but that didn¡¯t help. The Floor Lord was making his earlier fears come true. He was making those spear-like growths jut out from everywhere. Not just the floor, but the ceiling and walls as well. Even worse, each of the growths were sparking with the same twisted white energy. In other words, the Floor Lord was leaving Ray almost no room for proper flight. Olgolair himself was no longer flying as he had. Instead, he had raised both hands, condensing his Propulsion power in them. Then he fired two massive blasts simultaneously. Ray countered with the spell he had hoped to hold in reserve for the time being. Primal Spiritcraft reshaped his right arm into a draconic neck and maw. Gigantic ones. They didn¡¯t need much strength to lift, thankfully, so Ray had no trouble aiming at his opponent and immediately firing off the laser breath. It was such bliss that he didn¡¯t need to focus on condensing his Mana into True Mana anymore. If he¡¯d had to do that, he might have already lost to the Floor Lord. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. The two abilities met in the distance with a crackling detonation. The explosion rocked the chamber, though Ray¡¯s flight ensure he wasn¡¯t shaking too. But more importantly, it had destroyed several of the growths around the explosion¡¯s vicinity. So, he rushed in to take advantage of the greater space. Speed and manoeuvrability. Those were the advantages Ray held over the Floor Lord. He just had to get himself into position, cast even more Mottling Spiritguard, and raise his stats even further. The Floor Lord got there first. Ray cursed as he was forced to change direction. More Compressive Blasts shot at him. Not from his opponent, directly. But rather, from all the remaining spiral growths. Ray screamed out in frustration and fell back. This was getting incredibly annoying. Even when he dodged effectively, his attacks didn¡¯t leave enough of a mark. He wasn¡¯t dealing enough damage. How much stronger would he have to become? It was almost like the Floor Lord was aware of his strategy too. He was no longer giving Ray the room to use Mottling Spiritguard to attack. Ray was forced to remain in the distant defensive position. Fine, then. If Olgolair wanted to play from far away, then Ray would oblige. Ray cast another Spiritguard to create a cover for himself, then used Lifeblood Soulform. He would have patted himself on the back for remembering the names of his new spells if it wouldn¡¯t have been such a fatal endeavour. As it was, Ray could only hope that the Floor Lord didn¡¯t see much of the ethereal draconic head with the spiky wings flying away from the battle. To that effect, Ray charged straight at his opponent. The Handler¡¯s attention had to be on him. As such, he attacked head-on, throwing blasts of Spiritsorb. The new version of Chaos Chymify shot like actual bolts, fast like arrows made of lightning. The Floor Lord could have blocked them easily with his Propulsive Blanket. He even did so, for the first few blasts Ray fired. But then, Ray began using the Mana Infuser ring to raise Chaos Chymify¡¯s¡ªoh no, Spiritsorb¡¯s, he had been doing so good not making a mistake with the names¡ªTier with Mana. He took the spells to Tier 6, so that his Thoroughness Reputation allowed him to pierce through the defence of the Tier 7 Propulsive Blanket. The damage from the spells clearly stunned the Floor Lord a bit. He must have had a massive pool of Recovery, for Ray never saw any evidence of the damage directly. And then he had to stop casting because his wings¡¯ timer ran out. Damn. Had it had been a few minutes already? The bigger problem was that he fell straight to the floor. This was dangerous, as the Foor Lord proved in the very next second by calling up more Projected Growths. It was difficult to protect himself against attacks coming straight out of the ground, even with the assistance of the Spiritguard orbs. No wonder, then, that his leg got impaled in short order. Ray screamed, even as reactivated Primal Spiritcraft and used Soaring Wings to pull himself back up. The pain of the spiralling growth dragging itself out almost made him shriek again. The entire time where he had lacked wings had lasted barely a second or two, and the Floor Lord had still gotten to him. Fuck. Yelling in triumph, the Sylvan leader was about to charge. His Propulsive Blanket was once more wreathing him, twisting lines of white light scarpering over his body. But then he froze as the construct Ray had sent out came into play. The monstrous draconic maw flew in for just a second before opening its jaws as wide as it could. Then it blasted out its compressed laser of chaotic fire. It didn¡¯t hit the Floor Lord. He had never been Ray¡¯s target. Not with the laser breath. No, the fiery beam went straight at the Floor Lord¡¯s treasures. Ray¡¯s spirit almost seemed to go aflame as he watched, for just a millisecond, how the panic overtook his enemy¡¯s expression. For all that the Floor Lord was confident in his superiority over Ray, he had not foreseen his treasured collection of assorted ritual ingredients being targeted. So now, his mind was forced to scramble. The laser beam didn¡¯t hit its target. Despite the surprise, the Floor Lord was honed by a ton of experience. His response to the attack from the flying Greater Windbane maw was to use Projected Growth. A ringing shield of spiralling growths shot up around the small area where the various items had been gathered. They formed a powerful barricade, strong enough to even stop the maw¡¯s laser breath from breaking through and destroying the ritual items. It wasn¡¯t that the laser couldn¡¯t destroy the growths. It did. But the Floor Lord was able to replace them just as quickly. Which meant he was distracted in that moment. Vulnerable enough for Ray to strike. Having sent his Recovery to take care of his leg wound, Ray flew in as fast as he could. He had to reapply some of the boosts from earlier, like Aethereal Envoy. That was fine. All he needed was to reach his opponent as quickly as possible. Which he did. And immediately proceeded to use Soulstrike to craft up the enormous True Mana arm. The Handler twisted around to face Ray just as he got in close. He tried calling up his defences. Armoured Growth to protect him, with a Propulsive Blanket on top. But Ray was ready for it. He slammed his crafted arm forward, but as he did so, he used Primal Spiritcraft again. This time, he applied it on his True Mana arm, just as he had instinctively done against those Wild Tides murderers. Immediately, the arm turned more sinuous and scalier, lengthening even more to form a neck. He didn¡¯t push away the memory this time. The snap of Randall¡¯s neck was loud in his ears. The murderous, distasteful grins on those asshole¡¯s faces was branded on his eyelids. With a fiery roar, the pointed end of his summoned arm erupted into a huge draconic Maw. One that Ray crashed into the Floor Lord. ¡°You want my shock and fear?¡± Ray shouted as his momentum rammed the Floor Lord back. ¡°Then take it.¡± Ray had angled the hit so that he was forcing his opponent downwards. Caught in the giant maw, Olgolair couldn¡¯t escape from being slammed to the floor, more tiles cracking and exploding outwards. Even with his ¡°wings¡± providing a Propulsive force, it didn¡¯t work. The very next instant, Ray fired off the compressed laser breath from the draconic maw he had crafted on his arm. Somehow, he held himself steady in the air as the whole area exploded. Chaotic flames burst outwards, the ground exploding as tiles shattered in every direction like shrapnel. If the Floor Lord didn¡¯t die with this, then¡ª A spiralling growth emerged from the base of the black-and-white neck. Too close for Ray to dodge fully. Too close for him to fathom how the Floor Lord could have called it up. It flashed out and nearly punched a hole through Ray¡¯s throat. As it was, he had just barely thrown himself back. Forget killing the Floor Lord, he had to save himself first. It still caught him. Pain bloomed at his neck, blood spraying both outside and inside too. Ray was choking. Panicking. He was going to drown and suffocate in his own blood. He couldn¡¯t breathe, could barely think with how violently he was coughing¡ª Another instinctive application of Recovery saved him. He wasn¡¯t even fully aware of sending it to his neck, but the blood stopped spraying and the pain retreated. The coughs wracked him still, on and on until he had ejected much of the blood that had gone down the wrong way in his throat. He couldn¡¯t even begin to feel the sheer disgust at having to swallow his own blood. But Ray was fine. He was alive. He was good enough to end this. So he righted himself quickly to attack the Floor Lord. Even if Ray had been interrupted way before he could fully emit all the laser breath he would have wanted to, ideally, it had to have been enough to wound his foe. Sure enough, he got the briefest glimpse of the Floor Lord¡¯s armour having broken off him. One of his arms was wrapped by a twisting net of spiral growths, though it was dripping blood profusely, while a huge, gaping wound remained open in his chest. Ray really wanted to scream and ask how in the world he was still standing. But that brief glimpse was interrupted as the Floor Lord attacked the next second. Spiral growths burst up from the ground, but Ray quickly took himself higher. Only to be slammed back by a growth that flew in from nowhere. Had to be the same application of Projected Growth the Floor Lord had used on both Ray and Kredevel a while back. It hadn¡¯t targeted Ray directly. While he had been struck, his arm going numb under the pain, the Floor Lord had actually aimed for and destroyed his wings. Ray fell to the ground, even as he tried to recreate Soaring Wings. Livid agony wracked his arm and shoulder. That had hurt. His heart spasmed, thoughts of being impaled flashing through his head. The wings came back just in time. He flew off at a rapid pace just before another burst of spiral growths emerged. The Floor didn¡¯t immediately attack just then. Ray understood it. He wasn¡¯t closing his wounds either. Even his huge Recovery pool had limits. As such, he had to be careful about further exchanges. Ray would too. His entire right side spasmed hard. Burning pain, proof that he had suffered fractures, coursed down his limb. His shoulder might not have been dislocated, but moving his right arm was going to be absolutely horrendous. The more important question was how this would change the Floor Lord¡¯s approach to things. This battle had gone on for too long. No, Ray had to be active, not reactive. The bigger issue was how he would bring this fight to an end. How he¡ª The Floor Lord was crushing a strange crystal. It reminded Ray of the Mana crystals, but bigger and more purplish. Was that a more advanced form of Mana crystals, one that regenerated a greater amount of Mana? Ray grinned. That also reminded him of the new skill he had. Channel Mana. He might not have read the description of Channel Mana yet, but he was certain that skill was the practical manifestation of his class¡¯s ability to use different kinds of Mana besides just True Mana. With slightly shaking hands, Ray pulled out the Toxic Man crystal. The lime-green gemstone glimmered softly, seeming to pulse in his hand in anticipation. Now he knew how he was going to end this battle. The Floor Lord was slowly approaching. More power was building around him, both the spiralling bursts of Growth Mana and his Propulsive Force. It wasn¡¯t just a simple Propulsive Blanket this time. He was reinforcing it with his Growth Mana. Ray took a deep breath. One more exchange. One more blow. He could do this. With a yell, Ray charged at his opponent. At the same time, Olgolair sped up too. Just like before, they crashed into each other. Ray recreated his True Mana arm with Soulstrike, crushing the Toxic Mana crystal and imbuing that Mana into the tip of his constructed arm. New, virulent energy sizzled through him, like he had doused himself in wasabi. At the moment before impact, the Floor Lord launched his Propulsive Blanket at Ray. Ah, that was smart of him. Too close. He had waited until his target was too close to dodge. Sure, Ray had called up the Spiritguard orbs as a shield before himself, but with how much power there was behind the Floor Lor¡¯s blow, it might not be enough. Even worse, Olgolair himself was clearly intending to launch his attack and then get out of dodge, the bastard. As soon as the blast left his body to slam into Ray, he jerked to one side. As such, Ray didn¡¯t get to hit his foe as well as he would have liked. His intention had been to perform another stab with the spiky end of the True Mana arm, but that didn¡¯t happen. He did get a slash in, though, punching through the side of the Floor Lord¡¯s arm to leave another gaping wound. A wound that was now infected with Toxic Mana. Ray had pushed it out through the spiky end of his True Mana arm at the very moment of contact. He would have yelled in success, but his sparking Spiritguard orbs broke under the Floor Lord¡¯s assault, and even with a hastily-cast Impervious Shell blocking much of the blow, he was flung back, wracked with pain as he tried to protect himself. Despite the pain and the world twisting and breaking in his sight, Ray grinned. Animus Remnant had activated, suffusing Ray with renewed Recovery and True Mana. Even better, the Floor Lord¡¯s scream of agony was music to his ears. Chapter 61: Orden Returns Despite Animus Remnant activating, Ray still bemoaned the sheer power behind the Floor Lord¡¯s attack. He had to use up almost all the Recovery he had regained to fix himself up enough to not feel like he was dying. The more debilitatingly painful wounds at his leg, shoulder, and chest had to be healed. He had to ignore the stinging and smarting going on everywhere else, but at least he could focus now. Even if he hadn¡¯t actually been dying, they could potentially count as fatal if the Floor Lord recovered enough to try and kill him while he was debilitated with pain. Though, that seemed unlikely with how much Olgolair was screaming. Problem was, Ray had next to no Recovery for any other dangerous wounds. Maybe one more life-threatening injury, and that was it. He¡¯d have to be careful, let it regenerate. When he got back to his feet, he found the Floor Lord was dragging himself towards the centre of the room. Could here be something there that could cure him of the Toxic Mana? Also, was the Toxic Mana that bad? Had Ray actually been quite blessed not to have contracted it in that toxic dungeon? He recalled being poisoned, but it hadn¡¯t seemed this debilitating. Ray quickly crushed another few Mana crystals, then flew over to land between the Floor Lord and his ritual items. ¡°That¡¯s far enough.¡± ¡°Poison,¡± the Floor Lord ground out. He slowly got to his feet, his whole body trembling as blood dripped down his form. ¡°Of course, the likes of you resort to such cheap means.¡± ¡°Cheap, expensive, does it matter? You¡¯re dying anyway.¡± The Floor Lord growled. Sickly as he was beginning to look, the power streaming off him refused to be cowed. He still had some fight left in him. Antagonizing him directly was probably the wrong decision, but Ray had expected something like this to happen anyway. He knew that the Floor Lord would not remain cowed once he was poisoned, would be determined to end Ray no matter what. In other words, all Ray needed to do was survive. For just a second, he wondered if it would have been better if he could have teamed up with Kredevel. Two of them together would surely have a stronger chance of surviving and winning than either of them alone. But the overwhelming part of Ray knew that this was his test. All this time, he had been fighting and raising his power for this. He needed to prove to himself that he could do this, that it all had been worth it, that he was the one in control of his destiny. The only one. To do that, he had to beat the Floor Lord by himself. With a vicious roar, Olgolair charged at Ray. It was the biggest test of defensive capabilities Ray had faced yet. The onslaught from the Floor Lord was basically relentless. For Ray, there was no reprieve, next to no room for counterattacking, no possible way of doing anything but protecting himself. Compressive Blasts flew in from dozens of different directions, threatening to overwhelm his ability to respond. Spikes of spiralling growths shot out of the ground, refusing to give Ray space to land. He even had to dodge beams of Propulsion that the Floor Lord flung with reckless abandon. Chunks of the whole chamber were crashing down at the sheer power being outputted. Of course, the Floor Lord himself was attacking too. Attempting to ram in with spears and clubs made of Growth Mana, smashing into Ray with Propulsive Blanket, flying and whipping in like he wasn¡¯t suffering at all from grievous wounds. It was all Ray could do to stave off the onslaught. He had dealt with each of his opponent¡¯s moves before, but not altogether at once. That was what made it so dangerous. At least he had dropped the old loot from his bag of Holding and immediately cast Hoard Defence with Primal Spiritcraft. Another boost he needed. He cast Mottling Spiritguard with one hand and other spells with his free hand. Impervious Shell would have been useful, but he was prizing mobility more than direct defence, so it was better to keep moving. Thankfully, he had grown quite adept at rapid casting. Soaring Wings was already active, and he had managed to squeeze out both another Greater Windbane Maw construct using Lifeblood Soulform and created two True Mana arms with Soulstrike. His sparking Spiritguard orbs continued to shatter as they took hits meant for him. Ray smacked aside the more powerful beams and blasts he couldn¡¯t dodge with his True Mana arms. At times, the construct came to his rescue as well. It forced the Floor Lord to be wary of getting struck by the laser breath again. Despite all that, it was nigh on impossible to keep up with the fury the Floor Lord displayed. Ray¡¯s back ached, his right shoulder and arm felt like they were about to fall off, and even his head pounded. The relentless aggression was threatening to overwhelm his senses every second. No wonder Kredevel had fallen to this. And then the Floor Lord landed his blow. He got in close, and just before Ray could push him back with a True Mana arm or force some of his remaining Spiritguard orbs to do so, he managed to get in a poke with his spear of Growth Mana, tipped with Propulsion Point. The blast sent Ray sprawling to the ground at least thirty feet away. Instinctively, he reused Primal Spiritcraft to call up his wings to get away from the fatal floor. His pain-riddled mind could only wonder if he was still within Hoard Defence¡¯s radius now. The shock disappeared soon, though, and left behind the cold realization that he was losing a ton of blood from his guts. And he didn¡¯t have enough Recovery to fix it. Ray cursed. Not now. Not after he had come this far, after he had almost beaten his opponent. ¡°So you fall in the end,¡± the Foor Lord said. He was approaching slowly. His voice was constricted, likely due to the pain from the poison, but his eyes were feverishly fixed on the blood tip tapping to the floor from Ray¡¯s torso. ¡°Nevertheless, I salute your efforts.¡± Vulnerable. Weak. Beaten. That¡¯s the state that the Floor Lord assumed Ray was in. Stupid of him, and Ray was going to make him pay for that assumption. ¡°I¡¯m not dead yet,¡± Ray growled, then threw out a Spiritsorb. Ray¡¯s aim was off. The Floor Lord barely needed to move to dodge it. His grin remained intact as the monochrome orb of chaotic energy sailed past its supposed target. But then Ray closed his hand into a tight fist. The orb shuddered to a stop behind the unaware injured Sylvan, then twisted as it transformed while Ray used Lifeblood Soulform on Spiritsorb. A second later, the orb had expanded into a simulacra of a Brighthorn constructed from pure True Mana and chaotic energy. The Floor Lord twisted. Not fully. He wasn¡¯t stupid enough to take his eyes off Ray, not after what he had gone through. But enough to see that it was indeed a fake Brighthorn charging at him. ¡°Even at the end,¡± he said. He tutted in disappointment. ¡°Your lack of decency does you no favours.¡± He shot out an arm and blasted the onrushing constructed Brighthorn with a Compressive Blast. Ray shouted, then activated another spell. Primal Spiritcraft. Wings burst from the Brighthorn¡¯s back, made of spiky feathers just like Ray¡¯s. The construct dodged and charged at the surprised Floor Lord. He threw a fist out to punch it, but Ray wasn¡¯t done. The construct¡¯s head exploded, the original Brighthorn skull now replaced with the neck and maw of the Greater Windbane. With a lunge, the oversized draconic head chomped into the Floor Lord. This time, Ray¡¯s aim was perfect. Primordial Gauge was still revealing the spot that glowed bright red. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. The spot under the arm where he was most vulnerable. Ray screamed as the Floor Lord screamed once more. But unlike the falling Sylvan, Ray¡¯s scream was one of pained triumph. Bastard was going down. Bastard was going to stay down this time. Still, Ray himself fell too. Besides the agony in his midsection, exhaustion was making itself felt. He couldn¡¯t recall if he had received another Mana fruit, which would help greatly with the fatigue. But maybe he wouldn¡¯t need it. The Floor Lord had to be done now. Ray just needed to reach ahead and finally kill the bastard. [Warning!] Primordial Gauge indicates the System Artifacts in your possession has been quested by Divine Seeker [Tier 3]. Primordial Gauge has blocked the effects of Divine Seeker [Tier 3]. Ray blinked. Divine Seeker. Where had he seen that ability before? A second later, as Primordial Gauge fired again, Ray realized that this fight was far from done. Derrick Orden was walking in from the far end of the chamber. *** With Ray got to his feet, keeping a wary eye on the Floor Lord. Just because the Sylvan looked incapacitated didn¡¯t mean that Ray was now free to stand too close to a surface from which a Projected Growth could erupt out of. His main attention was fixed on Derrick Orden, though. Of all the times for the Wild Tides leader to show up, it had to be now. He appeared the same as he had before. The long black coat covered his entire body and his beard and hair looked freshly trimmed and oiled. He wore a placid, equanimous expression, very much like a preacher heading for his pew. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right,¡± Ray said. ¡°Come just a little closer so I can finally end your ass.¡± Derrick Order ignored him. His eyes were fixed on the Floor Lord instead. Fixed like that of a predator. ¡°You remember our deal,¡± he said, his voice raised high so that it carried across the chamber. ¡°Right, Floor Lord?¡± Olgolair attempted to speak, but all that came out was wheezing and gasping. Combined with the worsening effects of the poison, which was manifesting as dark blots all across his skin and his wounds turning a sickening green hue, Ray¡¯s last attack had also dealt a vital blow to something quite significant. Maybe he had a lung that had been punctured. Or maybe Ray had gotten to his heart clusters. ¡°Your state is acquiescence enough,¡± Derrick said. He came to a stop far enough away that Ray frowned. There was something different about the fellow now. A greater sense of solidity, like he existed more realistically than before in the world somehow. And then it hit Ray. The sudden realization of what this most likely meant. Derrick Orden, the absolute fucker, had evolved his class too. Primordial Gauge even confirmed it. Ray took a quick peek with his new skill, while still leaving a pinch of his attention on the Floor Lord. [Primordial Gauge] Derrick Orden [Denizen] Race: Human Path: Path of the Emissary [Epic] Class: Fleshboon Cultist [Rare] [Tier 3] at Level 20 Skills: Flesh Projection [Tier 5]: Project any force generated by your body to any other body up to a set distance. At Tier 5, this spell amplifies a force by 5x its original magnitude, never misses, and can cast the projection up to 25 meters away. Inner Workings [Tier 2]: Learn the ins and outs of any abilities by your foes, passively or actively. Channel Prayer [Tier 6]: If you possess any items above Denizen-grade, you can now channel their strength. At Tier 6, this spell grants you 3 abilities lasting 3 minutes total. Fervour Fount [Tier 3]: Set a fount of fervour in your area to detect the presence of any ability, item, or being above Denizen-grade in your vicinity. At Tier 3, this spell¡¯s range extends to 30 meters. Cult Following [Tier 6]: Raise your might proportional to the number of followers under your banner. At Tier 6, this spell raises all your stats by 1 point per 40 people in your following, and the Tier of all your abilities by 1 per 400 people. Consume [Tier 4]: Channel the power of your followers for a short duration. Can be configured to grant a passive boost to all stats and skills or manifested as a blast of Mana. At Tier 4, this spell temporarily disables the Mana conduits of 8 nearby followers and lasts 2 minutes. Fervour¡¯s Buffer [Tier 5]: A small chunk of all energy directed at you is stored nearby instead of striking their target. Once activated, this spell expels all stored energy as either a barrier or a beam. At Tier 5, this spell absorbs 10% of all energy directed at you at all times. Flesh Leech [Tier 5]: Summon leeches of flesh that drains the power of your foes. At Tier 5, this spell sends out 5 leeches that drains 5% of the target¡¯s Mana, Recovery, and all stats, with each leech acting in 1 minute. Amalgam [Tier 4]: Summon an amalgamation of flesh and bodily matter that performs the bidding of the summoner. Alright, yep, that confirmed it. Derrick Orden had transformed from¡­ an Adept? No, Acolyte? No¡­ Oh, right. An Apostle. That was what he had been before. And now he was a Flesh Cultist. Like his earlier class just hadn¡¯t been outright evil enough. Primordial Gauge had also highlighted a white-blue aura around Derrick, just as it had with the Floor Lord. Red spots around his neck and over his eyes indicated the weak spots. Without warning, Derrick threw out Flesh Leech at the fallen Sylvan. Almost half a dozen glistening, black-brown worms shot at the Floor Lord. Well, they were supposed to be worms, but they were easily as big as small snakes. Five small serpents that attacked Olgolair and immediately began burrowing into his wounds. Ray¡¯s stomach turned. Aside from stealing the thunder if his victory, Derrick¡¯s little ability was also highly disgusting. ¡°This¡­¡± the Floor Lord said, clearly struggling to get the words out before he lost consciousness. ¡°¡­isn¡¯t over. You¡­ acted¡­ too fast.¡± Derrick Orden shook his head. ¡°You would only concede defeat once you died. Which would make our deal moot. Can¡¯t have that, now can we?¡± ¡°You¡ª¡± Ray used Soulstrike and crushed the Floor Lord¡¯s head to bloody pulp and bits of horn and skull. [Enemy Defeated¡ªSylvan] Propulsor Enigmatist [Tier 4] Sylvan: [Level 29] x1 Essence: +5,800 Knowledge: +3 Mana Restored: +290 Essence to Level 21: 12,740/24,300 Knowledge to next Threshold: 603/800 Ray¡¯s legs were shaky and his body was still injured and fatigued, but he had managed to use a Soulstrike just in time. As much as he appreciated the sheer volume of Essence that killing the Floor Lord had finally provided, it still left a bad taste in his mouth. This whole journey across the tower had built up to his confrontation with Olgolair, the so-called Handler. And now his kill had nearly been solen by this freakshow standing before him. ¡°What the fuck is wrong with you, huh?¡± Ray asked, glaring at Derrick. He only looked down at the Sylvan¡¯s bleeding, cooling corpse with mild disappointment. ¡°Are you sure you want to take that tone with me? After all, you¡¯re in quite the state. Easy pickings. You¡¯d do well to mind your tongue and manners.¡± It irked Ray to no end that he was repeating this. He had dealt with this idiot. Back at the Base, when they¡¯d had that huge battle, Ray had defeated Derrick Orden. Ray had proven that he was superior to the leader of the Wild Tides. He was not at all enthused about repeating the same rigmarole. ¡°And you should remember what happened the last time we met, Derrick,¡± Ray said. ¡°You lost. You think just because your class evolved means you can beat me now?¡± ¡°Is that right? You never struck me as the kind to lack imagination, Raymond.¡± ¡°If I tried to imagine a scenario where you beat me, we¡¯ll be here all day. How about I just kick your ass again. Into a grave this time, so you can stop being a damn nuisance.¡± Derrick Orden slowly raised both his arms. Small streams of red energy were flickering towards him. A few came from the Floor Lord¡¯s corpse, but several were arriving from farther away. From somewhere outside . Cult Following. That spell was sending him more power. ¡°We¡¯ve gone through this already,¡± Ray said. ¡°You trying to get more power from your followers isn¡¯t going to work. Doesn¡¯t matter if your weird ability went up a Tier. There¡¯s even less of them now than before, and their numbers are decreasing all the time. What are you going to do when all your little cult members are either dead or gone?¡± Derrick didn¡¯t look worried. Ray was starting to think he had way too much faith in his new powers after evolving his Ascension Class, but then he spoke. ¡°And you are relying far too much on your assumptions based on our previous meeting,¡± Derrick said. The neutrality in his face that he had been holding onto so far now crumbed and fell. Finally, his underlying anger was underlying no longer. ¡°You¡¯re stupid. Insipid. Do you really think I¡¯d strut here just to repeat the same exercise?¡± ¡°Oh? Are you finally going to admit that you repent and you¡¯ve come here to offer me your head? I might forgive the rest of your followers, if so.¡± Derrick¡¯s face turned stony. ¡°Followers, followers. I suppose I shouldn¡¯t blame you for fixating on them. That is the crux of the matter. Even if it is your followers, not mine.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve been a thorn at my side for far too long. It¡¯s time I put you to rest.¡± Since he wasn¡¯t exactly being open, Ray ignored him and quickly sent a message to Kredevel. There had to be a reason why he was so confident. Ray: Kredevel. Derrick Orden is here and he¡¯s acting really confident. Do you know what¡¯s happened with him? Derrick¡¯s lips were slowly spreading, like he knew Ray was contacting Kredevel. Kredevel: He is already there? There was a short pause, like Kredevel was cursing aloud. Kredevel: Be wary, Ray. He manes to take advantage of your weakened state to kill you, then immediately assault the members of your Faction and your other allies. Ray: That assumes he can kill me. Kredevel: He can. He will. Because he has an ace up his sleeve, as you humans like to put it. Ray: Ace¡­ you mean whatever his deal with the Floor Lord was? Kredevel: Correct. Derrick Orden has assumed control of the Sylvans. Chapter 62: Resurrection Ray stood staring at his latest adversary as he approached. Derrick Orden had taken control of the Sylvans. How that was possible, Ray couldn¡¯t even begin to fathom. But the important point was that Derrick¡¯s following had grown tremendously, which meant his Cult Following spell was boosting his powers an enormous deal. No wonder he was so confident. Ray: How? The Floor Lord actually agreed to let a human take charge of the Sylvans in the case of his death? Ray actually could see how it was possible. From all he had seen so far, the Handler didn¡¯t really care for his subordinates. So what if they were under some cultish human after he was gone? Who was he to care? Kredevel: I assume the Floor Lord never imagined his death coming to pass. It was their original agreement, that¡ª ¡°Die, Raymond,¡± Derrick said. ¡°Channel Prayer.¡± The Wild Tides leader attacked, forcing Ray to close the chat window and focus on his opponent. It was the power of a new Tower Node that Derrick was channelling. Had to be. Because instead of manifesting bestial claws around his forearms, he created a scorpion. His arms began malforming and twisting. If the effects of Ray¡¯s Lifeblood Chaos didn¡¯t cause his enemies¡¯ flesh to become so gruesomely twisted and deformed, if he hadn¡¯t become desensitized to it already, he would probably have been a little shocked. Even then, he had to appreciate the gruesomeness of it all. Derrick¡¯s skin hardened, his flesh transformed, his bones lengthened and conjoined. On his right arm, the fingers banded together to form large pincers, big and sharp enough to guillotine Ray¡¯s neck with ease. Meanwhile, Derrick¡¯s left arm elongated and segmented to form a stinger. An honest-to-goodness, oversized scorpion stinger, dripping at the end with poison. Ray was almost tempted to laugh. Poison. Just what he had used to kill the Floor Lord. Derrick clearly held onto a great sense of irony. Of course, Ray wasn¡¯t going to be a sitting duck forever. He used Mottling Spiritguard multiple times to summon dozens upon dozens of orbs filled with bursting chaotic energy. They all shot at the leader of the Wild Tides. There was a sizable difference in stats between Ray and his opponent. The only way to counter that was by using Vengeful Plunder while getting in as many hits as possible. But Derrick was aware of Ray¡¯s plans. Plus, he was much faster too. Even as his arms continued transforming, his feet let him evade the salvo of chaotic orbs without too much trouble. No matter how Ray targeted Derrick, the bastard just kept evading. And then the transformation was done. Without warning, Derrick slashed his arm. At the same time, the claw on his right hand glowed, an apparition of its form growing to a huge size as it smashed at Ray. It wasn¡¯t difficult to dodge back. Ray called up Soaring Wings, turning the spiky feathers into jets emanating forward to throw himself back. Derrick¡¯s oversized pincers crashed down where Ray had been standing, crushing the tiles and leaving a deep crater. But the evasion wasn¡¯t done. Derrick¡¯s other arm flashed. The stinger shot in like an arrow loosed from a bow, the segmented tail stretching from the Wild Tides leader¡¯s elbow. Ray instinctively reacted to turn the jet¡¯s downward, which forced him straight into the air. Another successful dodge. Which led to an opening for a counter. Summoning up a dozen sparking orbs with Mottling Spiritguard, Ray sent half of them shooting at his opponent. Derrick didn¡¯t evade. He didn¡¯t need to. Apparently, one of his three new abilities was summoning a strange, greenish cloud that dissolved the sparking orbs before they reached him. He had also shouted ¡°Fervour¡¯s Buffer!¡±, which drew in a significant chunk of the energy from the orbs to add to this own power manifesting around him. ¡°What happened to your last Tower Node, Derrick?¡± Ray asked. ¡°You think just getting a new toy will help beat me?¡± His voice was more ragged than he would have preferred. The pain at his waist had faded a bit as he had recovered just enough of his Recovery to close the wound. But the fatigue was worse than he realized. Still, he did his best to hold his voice steady. Wouldn¡¯t do to show any weakness to a foe. In answer, Derrick yelled, ¡°Amalgam!¡± The flesh monster that formed into being almost made even Ray gag. Chunks of skinned flesh pulled off Derrick¡¯s body on various areas, falling to the floor before joining together to form a misshapen monster. Ray really ought to have taken the time to attack just then, but he was perhaps a little too tired, and too entranced by the living blob of flesh. A blob of flesh that was growing teeth and claws. Ray really couldn¡¯t be blamed for staring at fangs, nails, and so much else manifesting at random locations. Did that thing have a spine? How was it even going to¡ª The question of its ability to move was answered in the next second. It shot at Ray without any legs or wings or limbs at all. Somehow, it could move however it wanted, zooming through the air like it had invisible rockets attached to its rear end. Disgusting. Ray was able to evade it, knowing full well it would not be good if that thing got a hold of him. But it was only a distraction. Ray twisted just in time to see Derrick Orden sailing at him even faster than his Amalgam had. A quick burst of his wings allowed Ray to just barely dodge, though Derrick got a good swipe across with his oversized pincers. It made Ray tumble out of the air and crash to the ground. The landing wasn¡¯t too rough, thankfully. He had no Recovery to spare. Which seemed to be what Derrick Orden was determined to exploit, for he was rushing in at Ray again. So fast. Too fast. Another instinctive cast of Primal Spiritcraft from Ray pulled up Impervious Shell this time. With a blur of chaotic energy, an ethereal version of the Duskshell¡¯s carapace appeared in front of Ray. Just in time. Derrick Orden crashed in so hard, his pincer cracked through the dark shell. All that saved Ray was the fact that it got stuck in this shield of a shell too. With a quick hop, Ray had retreated backwards. He really had to praise his instincts. If he hadn¡¯t jumped back just then, the stinger looping over the shell would surely have struck him. The Amalgam zoomed past Ray, getting him at the waist. He shouted out as the pain bloomed. He had managed to retain his footing, but the blood going down his legs was not good. Ray glared at the frighteningly fast flesh demon. Stupid thing had to be boosted the same way Derrick was being boosted too. It was way too powerful. ¡°Looks like your minutes are numbered.¡± Derrick had the exact kind of nasty smile Ray expected evil cultists to hold when their world-ending plan was about to come to fruition. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll be sending the rest of your little playmates to you as soon as we¡¯re done here.¡± Swallowing and doing his best to ignore the pain at his waist, Ray called on his own construct. The Greater Windbane Maw formed up, complete with its own Soaring Wings to grant it the ability to match that flesh summons. Kredevel: Just survive a moment longer, Ray. I shall arrive soon. Ray: Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ve got this. Kredevel: You cannot beat him. Ray: Take care of what you need to. I¡¯ve GOT THIS. Ray threw his hands behind his back. Derrick Orden charged, his pincer growing to gigantic proportions as the floor cracked at his every footstep. Too fast still, but Ray was ready. Just as his opponent got in close, Ray threw out another Soulstrike. True Mana created a massive monochrome arm that Ray punched forward, modifying the end of it into a spiky stake to impale his foe. It turned out Derrick Orden was ready too. As soon as he was close, as soon as he saw that Ray had used a spell, he called up that green cloud again. And that was when Ray realized it was acid. Derrick had turned the air into an acidic vapour that ate into everything. How had Ray not noticed it sizzling on the floor before? The acid ate through the True Mana arm and began attacking Ray simultaneously. In that tiny instant, Ray was caught. If he drew back now, he wouldn¡¯t be able to hit Derrick, which was probably what the Wild Tides leader had intended. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. But Ray didn¡¯t move. He let the acid eat at him and his clothes, at his spell too, but forced it to connect. Derrick Orden had manoeuvred his oversized pincer around to block the worst of the blow. But despite his acidic power eating away most of the Soulstrike, there was still enough force behind it to send him staggering back. His heavy footfalls left even deeper cracks on the floor. He recovered quickly, which Ray had anticipated. Ray had already crushed a Mana crystal and called up Impervious Shell again, making sure to let it fall upright on the ground. Then he called up Soulstrike again and punched the back of the shell. It flew forward like a piano falling horizontally. Ray couldn¡¯t tell how surprised Derrick was by the move, but he had prepared the follow up anyway. Ray had already activated Primal Spiritcraft. The draconic head had formed around his hand, his arm tuning into a sinuous neck. Then, as soon as the leader of the Wild Tides jumped to land lightly on top of the dark shell flying forward, Ray jerked his arm to aim the maw at his enemy and fire off the compressed laser. But the pain at his waist flared like a hot anvil bursting out of his kidney. The wound finally reopened with a slicing pain, and Ray winced as he lost his aim. The laser breath flew at Derrick¡¯s shoulder instead of the chest area that Ray had aimed for. Even worse, all the energy from Ray¡¯s spells that Derrick had gathered using Fervour¡¯s Buffer now flew out, turning into a beam that countered Ray¡¯s beam. An explosion rocked the chamber, the shockwave forcing Ray back. He quickly used Mottling Spiritguard to form a defensive barricade of sparking orbs. Unfortunately, they didn¡¯t help. Derrick jumped in, smacking the sparking orbs with his oversized pincer claw. Ray was about to fall back, but then Derrick yelled, ¡°Flesh Projection!¡± The problem with Derrick¡¯s new ability was that Ray couldn¡¯t see where it was coming from. As such, he had no way to counter it. Which led to the hard blow landing on his lower back, close enough to his gut wound that the spasm of pain made him stumble to his knees. He tried to throw his arm out, call out Soulstrike to protect himself. But Derrick was faster, taking advantage of Ray¡¯s fatigue and pain slowing him down. The stinger swooped in and stabbed Ray through the chest. Surprisingly, the burst of agony didn¡¯t last long. Ray¡¯s vision started receding. Everything was going cold and dark, and he didn¡¯t realize when he had fallen to lie flat on the floor. It was hard to stomach, and not because his guts had been ripped open. So much progress. Wasted. He had come so far, beaten so many others, only to finally be defeated by this cheapskate trickster taking advantage of his state. It hadn¡¯t even been a fair fight. Fucking annoying. ¡°Such a waste,¡± Derrick Orden said. He had no grin of victory. Just the mild disappointment from before. ¡°If you had been a little more cooperating, I could have taken away your strength with my leeches. But alas. Here you and your little rebellion finally die.¡± Ray tried to curse the bastard, but his mouth wasn¡¯t working. Was this how the Floor Lord had felt before he had finally died by Ray¡¯s hands? A strange surge of sympathy rose in him. Derrick Orden had already turned away, so never got to see Ray flipping him off with the last of his strength. Then, the darkness closed around him fully.
[Warning!] Jade Ring of the Phoenix has activated. All fatal damage has been absorbed by the ring.
Kredevel wanted to curse himself for leaving. For prioritizing himself over everything else. He had become obsessed with himself, which had been a fatal error. Fatal for Ray. For, had Kredevel not left the area, then Ray wouldn¡¯t have died. It was no excuse that he had left to heal himself. The battle against the Floor Lord had not only drained him greatly, had not only reinforced just how outclassed he was by the Handler, it had also left him greatly injured and weakened. Kredevel couldn¡¯t recall the last time he had been this close to dying. In fact, it was possibly never. Which was why he had been forced to drag himself deeper into the palace. Ray¡¯s dramatic entrance from the dungeon underneath might have destroyed a great deal of the Sylvan¡¯s headquarters, but the more important locations were still safe. Like the infirmary Kredevel had dragged himself to. He just hadn¡¯t expected to encounter the leader of the Wild Tides along the way. They had met while Kredevel was searching for his health poultice. Well, they had spotted each other. Kredevel hadn¡¯t thought Derrick Orden would be foolish enough to interfere with the Floor Lord¡¯s battle, so he had ignored the man. Besides, he had been too inured. A horrible second had passed where he had wondered if the leader of the Wild Tides would attack Kredevel, but he had moved on for whatever reason. The reason, it turned out, was to force the Floor Lord to capitulate. And then kill Ray too, but that was probably just a helpful addon rather than the main goal. Because Kredevel had learned a frightening thing at the infirmary. Expectedly, there was no one within at first. Kredevel had been able to grab one of the remaining poultices and recover enough of his injuries. It would be a while before his actual Recovery regenerated enough. But then, the other doorway opened and another Sylvan staggered in. Serian. He was injured too. Kredevel¡¯s heart clusters clenched at the sight, turning heavy as a drowned corpse, and he had rushed in to help his younger companion. ¡°You need to get out of here, Kredevel,¡± Serian had said. ¡°That bastard of a human¡­ he¡¯s made a terrible deal with the Floor Lord.¡± Serian¡¯s face had fallen. ¡°I should have known from that meeting he had with you. The Floor Lord doesn¡¯t care about us.¡± Serian had gone on to reveal the deal and described how he had attempted to confront the Wild Tides leader about it, only to be gravely injured in the process. For the time being, Kredevel had left his young friend to heal up, while warning him to not take any further unnecessary risks. He had passed on the information when Ray had asked, then tried to hurry back to the central chamber. Kredevel was too late. But Ray had already fallen. A heavy hollowness had settled in as Kredevel had approached the corpse. It was the same feeling that had struck him upon seeing Serian, but more real this time. Unlike Serian, Ray had actually died. ¡°You should have listened,¡± Kredevel said, staring admonishingly at his friend¡¯s corpse. Yes. A friend. Too late, he realized he should have made that clearer to Ray before. And now, he might never get the chance. ¡°You should have waited for me. You should have realized you don¡¯t have to do everything on your own. You¡ª¡± It wasn¡¯t the rising emotion that stopped Kredevel talking. Well, it was, but not the grief. It was surprise. Ray¡¯s body was regaining its colour. The wounds didn¡¯t close and heal, but one couldn¡¯t call it a corpse any longer. No surprise then, that a moment later, Ray opened his eyes. Slowly, his mouth stretched into a wide grin. ¡°Hey!¡±
The ongoing battle was undoubtedly quite furious. Another first for Kredevel. He had never been in a campaign quite like this. None of the Sylvans had. They were warriors. Enforcers. Powerful individuals on their own right. Not soldiers, though. According to everything Kredevel had seen and heard and learned so far, it was the fact the Sylvan forces weren¡¯t a military might that the humans were taking advantage of. Not that the humans were either, but perhaps they were just that bit more flexible and adaptable. Outside of the palace, in the forested lands that covered the majority of Sector 1, the battle raged on. The humans were conducting what was essentially guerilla warfare. They had no notion of honour. They weren¡¯t here to prove their superiority. All they wanted to do was cause the annihilation of the Sylvans via any means necessary. Kredevel couldn¡¯t truly blame them for it. After all, they had been beset by the machinations of the Floor Lord and had been targeted by the rest of the Sylvans from the very beginning. It still hurt a bit of Kredevel¡¯s soul, though. His people shouldn¡¯t be decimated like that. He shook his head. No. He had to focus on himself. Had to focus on his goal. The goal of stopping Derrick Orden before he did anything worse. So, Kredevel hurried on. The forests here were the only thing on the First Floor that Kredevel would have called lush. Living, in a natural way. They provided ample cover for the attacking humans. Strangely, there were almost no monsters here. One would be forgiven for thinking that the area with the greatest display of lively energy would hold the greatest number of monsters. But that wasn¡¯t the case for some reason. The monsters preferred the deadness everywhere else. Kredevel passed by several battles. He was constantly distracted by the lights of various powers flashing here and there, by the din and cacophony of battle all over. Sylvans and humans screaming and dying. Oh, how Kredevel wanted to get in on the action. And how much he really didn¡¯t, for he could barely tell which side he ought to fight for. But that was alright. For he found the target he could take action again in no time. Lastiel stumbled into a small clearing. Kredevel was waiting for him, and was unsurprised at the senior Sylvan¡¯s state. One of his arms and legs were badly wounded, while the other pair were basically frozen solid, his horns had broken off, and an eye was missing entirely. ¡°Finally shedding your weak plausible deniability, are you?¡± Lastiel asked with a rasp. His throat sounded injured too. ¡°Come to take advantage of me now that I have been weakened?¡± Kredevel shook his head. ¡°I am not here for you.¡± ¡°Then whatever are you doing here, Kredevel?¡± ¡°The man. The one who took control of you. He is the one I seek.¡± Those words made Lastiel scowl. ¡°I have no idea where that fool is.¡± ¡°Ah, you see, I do.¡± The second-in-command Sylvan¡¯s frown turned questioning, but Kredevel didn¡¯t need to answer. Instead, two human women entered the clearing from behind. One of them, Kredevel recognized¡ªthe feisty one Ray had called Gritty. The other was a white-clad woman with golden hair and a cold, calculating expression. ¡°Leave it to me, sis,¡± Gritty said, stepping forward. ¡°I want to rip out his guts.¡± The other woman flickered a slightly disturbed look at her companion but didn¡¯t protest. Kredevel started backing away as Lastiel turned to face his aggressor. They were exchanging the tough words that preceded a battle. Kredevel paid it no mind. His real goal was¡ª His real goal appeared just then, forcing them all to turn to the left. Derrick Orden had arrived. ¡°Ah, you¡¯ve all finally gathered at one spot,¡± said the leader of the Wild Tides. ¡°How convenient for me.¡± ¡°What do you want, Orden?¡± Lastiel said. ¡°Can you not see that we are quite busy here?¡± ¡°I simply¡ªChannel Prayer.¡± That last incantation had come about because Kredevel had charged him. Derrick Orden¡¯s flesh mutated, forming a stinger and a pincer in place of his hands just as Ray had described. But Kredevel didn¡¯t care. He was already in position. Projected Growth created a ring of spiralling hornlike spears to jut out of the ground around them. At the same time, Kredevel ducked under Derrick¡¯s blow and grabbed the human around the waist, locking him in position. The others were reacting to the sudden brawl, but Kredevel didn¡¯t care. His job was done. Kredevel: NOW, RAY. He looked to his left to see it coming. Distant though it was, the vision of what came next was awestriking. There was Ray, far, far off. He had risen into the air on four wings of black-and-white power, streams of chaotic crimson streaming off his back. A sheer aura of growing strength seeming to ripple around him, perceivable even as far away as Kredevel stood. An instant later, he pointed one arm in Kredevel¡¯s direction. It morphed into the head of an enormous Windbane made of pure chaotic energy. Simultaneously, he created another of the same maw as a separate summon flying beside him, along with what also looked like¡­ a little flying eyeball? Hard to tell from that far away. Unbelievable. If the Floor Lord had faced that kind of power, then on wonder he had eventually fallen. The very next instant, before any of them could draw another breath, a huge beam of compressed energy smashed into the clearing. Just before his vision went dark, the last thing Kredevel felt was Derrick Orden desperately trying to escape, screaming at Kredevel to let him go. Then the beam struck its target. Kredevel knew no more. Chapter 63: Devout How? That was the question continuously revolving around Derrick Orden¡¯s head. How? How in the world had someone he was sure he had killed had come back to strike at him again? How could he have failed to foresee this? How could the Paragon have failed to warn him? Derrick was the one who had been foretold. The one who would attain greatness unlike every before. The one¡ª He coughed. Blood splattered out in front of him. Curse Raymond Dominick to hell. That last attack had essentially destroyed him. Two blasts from those dark, unholy summons had destroyed all of Derrick¡¯s legs, almost two thirds of his torso, and reduced his lower right arm to a corrupted mess of flesh, blood vessels, living fat, and spiky bone. Derrick couldn¡¯t even look at himself without feeling revulsion rising within himself like an eruption of bile and vomit. When he was free¡­ when he was fixed¡­ he was going to make Ray¡ª Coughing again, he decided to keep crawling forward. The last attack hadn¡¯t only destroyed Derrick. It had ruptured the whole area he had been in. The ground had shattered in a wide radius, the nearby trees had all been burned by the splash of chaotic flames, and everyone in the vicinity had already scattered. Well, everyone except for Derrick himself and that damnable Sylvan who had tied him down. Oh, yes. Curse that alien bastard to hell too. Derrick had never liked any of them. The only reason he had even tolerated their presence was for his deal with the Floor Lord. No one would turn down an easy way to gain power, even if it required tolerating reprehensible beings. As he crawled onwards, he called on the power that had been granted to him. The power that was his. ¡°Appear before me,¡± he ground out through a bloody mouth. ¡°Tower Node of the Fleshcrafter.¡± It did appear before him. Derrick was never sure if those exact words were necessary but felt necessary. They were right. Something he had retained from his old life. Rites and rituals were important to carry out religiously. He continued crawling, the Tower Node floating along to maintain the same distance between them. ¡°You see what has become of me? Reduced to this wreck. I need to get back to my usual self. I need more power.¡± He had to pause to gather breath. In this state, it was hard to move and talk at the same time. ¡°I need you, Fleshcrafter.¡± There was no response from the Tower Node. Apart from the first time Derrick had obtained and used it as much as possible, he had never found it responsive to him again. But surely now, his god would come and answer him. Surely the Fleshcrafter would not abandon his most righteous servant. His most steadfast follower. His¡ª Derrick coughed again. Some of the droplets of blood struck the Tower Node, though they slowly dripped off, leaving no sign that they had ever been there. The urge to curse out loud was stronger than the life within him, so strong that it could sustain him for a while longer. But he mastered his impulse. He was stronger than this.. Strong enough to know he had already been blessed. ¡°You have already graced me, I know,¡± Derrick said, after making sure he wasn¡¯t about to cough out the rest of his lungs. ¡°You have secured me from my enemies. That they do not seek my head while I¡¯m in this state is a great blessing.¡± It probably helped that he had sent out his Flesh Amalgam to deter any followers. No, no he had to stop seeking help from his god. The Fleshcrafter needed his most devout follower to be capable of taking care of himself. So what if Derrick had suffered a grievous injury? The little Ring of Life Stasis would prevent him from dying from anything except a direct, killing impact. Disease? They may as well not exist. Starvation and dehydration? Bygone foibles that Derrick never needed to care about. Blood loss from a wound? Nothing he had to concern himself over. Unless a killing blow landed on him, like his head being severed or his heart being stabbed, he would survive. He knew this was another little blessing from his god. It was, after all, the guidance of the Fleshcrafter that had led him to the dungeon that contained the Ring. It was the power borne from Fleshcrafter that had allowed him to get through it and reach the end. He was blessed. He would survive. So long as he made it into the palace and retrieved one of those health poultices. That would fix him back up. And then he would make Raymond Dominick pay. He would carve that infidel¡¯s body into so many pieces, chop, chop, chop, then scatter them across the entire Floor. Derrick laughed. Oh yes, he could already see it. Whatever foul trick that abomination had used would no longer matter when he was dispersed in a thousand little pieces. He froze. The feeling arose, of a divine power approaching. A familiar flavour¡­ Derrick tried to hurry. He hadn¡¯t come this far to die now. He hadn¡¯t trialled through the hell his life had been, he hadn¡¯t gone through deity after deity, only to fail the one who had finally answered him. ¡°What¡¯s there to laugh about in your condition, Derrick?¡± Raymond¡¯s voice rang behind like Derrick like the toll of a funeral bell. ¡°Did you hit your head when I destroyed your legs?¡± Whatever else Derrick may or may not have been capable of them, he was capable of turning around to face his assailant head-on. It made him see the ruin of his body again. The organs trailing on the ground, the bits of flesh he had left in his wake, all the blood everywhere¡­ A servant of the Fleshcrafter had nothing to be disgusted about but this was his blood and flesh. Torn from his body. ¡°You think you¡¯ve won?¡± Derrick said. ¡°With your deceiving and trickery?¡± He would have spat if he could have, but it would have caused another bout of coughing. ¡°Your hollow little victory means nothing.¡± ¡°So you admit I did win, then?¡± Raymond raised an infernal eyebrow. ¡°I¡¯m surprised you don¡¯t have some last trick, something to let you escape death. Although¡­¡± His eyes landed on the trail Derrick had left. ¡°I suppose the fact you¡¯re still alive is proof enough there¡¯s something going on.¡± Derrick tried to focus. The Flesh Amalgam would have¡ªhis eyes opened wide. Raymond, curse the bastard, read his mind. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re wondering about your little eldritch abomination of a pet? He¡¯s gone. For good.¡± Derrick stared and stared. It was settling in that this was over. That it was the end. But if he was going to die, he would do so with the face of his killer fresh in his mind, so when they met in hell again, he would be ready and waiting. ¡°My life might end here, Raymond,¡± Derrick said. His voice was calm. Of course, it was calm. The surety of his faith filled him to his core. ¡°But my work does not. The work of the Wild Tides, that we performed in the name of the Fleshcrafter, will not cease. There is nothing you can do to stop it.¡± ¡°Funny, you say it¡¯s the work of your whole Faction. But I¡¯ve met your goons. I¡¯ve spoken with them. Nobody has mentioned anything about this Fleshcrafter except you.¡± Raymond¡¯s face was cold as a gravestone. ¡°Know what that means? Nobody cares.¡± Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°You know nothing of my fervour. Of my faith.¡± ¡°Face it, Derrick. You¡¯re clutching at straws. Your so called faith is going to die with you and the rest of your Wild Tides.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know anything. This work is far beyond the likes of me.¡± Derrick could see the gears shifting in Raymond¡¯s head. Ah yes, there it was. The mark that he was going to leave upon this world. His sign of immortality. The fulfilment of his great work. ¡°Alright then, tell me,¡± Raymond said. ¡°What exactly is it that I don¡¯t know?¡± Derrick laughed shallowly. There, the fool had fallen for his trap. ¡°You mere insect. You don¡¯t know that you¡¯re a cog. A wheel in this great, big machine that we¡¯re all a part of.¡± ¡°If the only thing I didn¡¯t know was how much you were going to insult me before dying pathetically, then I think I¡¯m done.¡± ¡°All my life,¡± Derrick went on, raising his voice over the blasted infidel¡¯s. ¡°All my life, I¡¯ve been searching for a higher purpose. For an answer from the beyond. Surely, something exists in the greater plane of existence, something that would listen to me and answer back when I called. ¡°Nothing happened. They were all fake. All pretenders. Until¡­¡± He coughed, spilled more blood, but went on anyway. ¡°Until the Tower came. Until the Paragons came. Don¡¯t you see, Raymond? We¡¯re working under literal gods. Do you understand the magnanimity of such a thing? Do you understand what that means?¡± ¡°You¡¯re starting to sound insane, Derrick.¡± ¡°Insane? You fool. Gods are real in this world. I heard them. I worked for them. I received their power through their sacred artifacts. That could only mean one thing¡ªthat I was the fated one. The chosen one. The one who was to bring about a new age.¡± Raymond¡¯s face had gone from cold to¡­ what was that? Fearful? No. Incredulous? Not truly, not on its own, at least. There was something deeper. ¡°And yet,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯re dying, and I¡¯m still alive.¡± ¡°My purpose will live on, even if I don¡¯t. There is nothing you can do, nothing you can stop, no matter what. Because, in the end, you¡¯re no less pathetic in the eyes of the gods than I am, you idiot.¡± Raymond stood straighter. The coldness was back. But it came with something else, this time. Several somethings. Derrick¡¯s eyes slowly widened as, one after another, several Tower Nodes popped out. He had known Raymond Dominick was collecting the Tower Nodes. That was why both he and the Tower Lord had decided that this stupid Denizen had to go. That his drive, egged on by the influence of the very first Paragon he had encountered, would make him try to take the Tower Nodes that others needed. That Derrick needed. But¡­ so many. How had he come by that many on just the First Floor? Derrick had known that several Tower Nodes existed, but for one person to attain all of them¡­ ¡°Impossible,¡± he hissed. ¡°Impossible or not, they¡¯re real,¡± Raymond said. ¡°You think you¡¯re so special that you got in touch with one little Paragon? This Fleshcrafter? I¡¯ve encountered at least three, you fucking moron.¡± ¡°You lie.¡± ¡°Does it look like I¡¯m lying? I heard that when you¡¯re at death¡¯s door, your sight clears up like never before. So tell me, Derrick. Do you really think I¡¯m lying?¡± Derrick could hardly breathe then. No. This couldn¡¯t be. He was the chosen one. How could he be second rate to this¡­ this mongrel? Why was his fate so cursed as to make him second to Raymond Dominick, a man with no faith in anything but himself? Why? Why? Why? Derrick felt himself passing away. It was the coldness creeping in from his extremities, the blackness at the edges of his field of view. They were all constricting him. Was the ring not working anymore? Or could it sense that death was approaching? And then it hit him. The thing that this was all coming down to. The chain of events, the fact that Raymond was collecting all these Tower Nodes, the likelihood that Derrick¡¯s Tower Node was going to join that collection. Derrick Orden slowly smiled. ¡°Ah, I understand now.¡± ¡°The hell do you understand now?¡± Raymond asked. ¡°Why are you smiling?¡± ¡°This was to be my fate. The Fleshcrafter wanted this, and so, it happens. It was always supposed to be this way.¡± That seemed to incense Raymond. ¡°Don¡¯t try to make this about yourself, you asshole. You lost. Accept defeat and die.¡± ¡°Oh, but I will. I will die and leave this world, and leave behind everything I¡¯ve done. And in my place, you will pick it up.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Do it now, Raymond. Fulfil your destiny. Claim what you seek.¡± Raymond stared at him. It almost seemed as though he would spare Derrick just to spite him. That Raymond would leave him in his current state, only to return at some later date and cause the exact same thing to happen. But then he raised a hand. A spiralling bolt of chaotic black-red energy struck Derrick in the face, and though the blackness closed around him in quick succession, he was, in the end, happy. He wouldn¡¯t live on. But maybe, just maybe, his work would. Because he knew, when this was done, that Raymond Dominick would take his Tower Node and carry it onward. Great Fleshcrafter, I have fulfilled my duty in the end.
[Enemy Defeated¡ªHuman] Fleshboon Cultist [Tier 3] Human: [Level 20] x1 Essence: +3,000 Knowledge: +3 Mana Restored: +200 Essence to Level 21: 15,740/24,300 Knowledge to next Threshold: 606/800 Dead. Finally dead. As confirmed by Primordial Gauge. Ray had a hard time believing that he had succeeded, that he had finally killed off Derrick Orden. He couldn¡¯t be blamed. That guy had survived like a cockroach. The first time, some crazy Sylvan had arrived and kidnapped him away before Ray could finish him off. Then, even after having the majority of his body destroyed via the compressed laser breaths from the Greater Draconic Maws, he had still lived and continued onwards. In fact, Ray suspected that, had he not come over there to finally finish off the man, Derrick Orden would somehow have returned to full health one way or another. ¡°Yeah, fuck that,¡± Ray said. The Spiritsorb had been a pointed use. Now Ray had a choice to pick from the list of skills he had first seen using Primordial Gauge. The choice was obvious, though. It was why he had used Spiritsorb to end Derrick in the first place, just to ensure he could add another little ability to Lifeblood Graveyard. Channel Prayer. That was the transformed spell that allowed Derrick Orden to channel the power of a Tower Node in his possession. Now, Ray had that neat ability too. He would need to test just what benefits his various Tower Nodes would provide him. Some of those were very likely going to be useless or just not a good fit for his style of fighting. Abilities that didn¡¯t gel well with his build. But there had to be a few that would work wonders. Especially once he got going to retrieve more Tower Node from the palace. As soon as he was done picking out his new skill for Lifeblood Graveyard, the Tower Node of the Marauder suddenly blinked into existence. ¡°Right,¡± Ray said. ¡°Just in time.¡± As his Tower Node started blinking like a lighthouse light gone crazy, Derrick Orden¡¯s Tower Node materialized. It was strange. Same diamond shape as everything else, but it looked like a glass case holding some kind of¡­ meat inside. It looked revoltingly like meat. He couldn¡¯t think of anything else. Not after Derrick Orden had called his Paragon the Fleshcrafter. No. It was Ray¡¯s Paragon now. [System Artifact¡ªTower Node] Tower Node of the Fleshcrafter With the Node of the Fleshcrafter, you can now lay claim to Sectors 43 through 46 and all associated structures within. Attain the ability to modify flesh, either yours or those of a target¡¯s. Modifications range from grafting new material onto skin to incorporating entirely new organs and the like. True Mana can be used to increase the capacity of modifications. Fleshcrafter. Well, the description was basically what it had said on the tin. Ray let the Tower Node vanish for now. He would need to test its capabilities later. Right now, there was a battle ongoing all around him. Although, he wasn¡¯t intent on entering it. He didn¡¯t need to. When he had reached the spot where he had struck Derrick Orden with the compressed laser breaths, Gritty and Mary had informed him that the battle was well in hand. There had been no time for details. All Ray had been able to tell them was to take care of Kredevel, before hurrying after Derrick. Ray: I know you¡¯re busy, Maya, but how are things going? Maya: Good enough. We¡¯ve captured a bunch of the Wild Tides and are pushing the Sylvans back. There¡¯s been some kind of weird change with them, not sure what¡­ Ray: Derrick Orden is dead. That¡¯s what¡¯s changed. He had some abilities that might have affected his followers, so those might be gone now. Was it just spells like Cult Following, or was it the influence of this Fleshcrafter Tower Node too? Hard to tell, really. Maya: Dead? For sure, this time? Ray: For sure. You should start spreading the word. Send someone over to collect the corpse. Oh, and the Floor Lord¡¯s too. We can demoralize both the Wild Tides and the Sylvans together. Maya: Ha, that¡¯s devious. I¡¯ll send Dory and her summons. Ray: I¡¯ll wait for her. Since you¡¯ve got things in hand, I¡¯ll head into the palace to take care of some final stuff afterwards. Maya: Alright, we¡¯ll meet you there. The promise had so much surety, it almost caught Ray by surprise. But then, everyone had come together tremendously well. They were winning. Ray stared down at the body of Derrick Orden. Of what remained of the man. The few clues he¡¯d had about the man hadn¡¯t really prepared him for the revelations he had learned today. But then, did any of that matter. Derrick Orden was dead and so were his delusions. Now, it was Ray¡¯s turn to keep going on his own terms. No one was going to control him. Not even this Fleshcrafter. Chapter 64: Ingestor And Abstractor As Ray reached the palace again, he got a little worried about Kredevel. When they had planned out how to take down Derrick Orden unawares, Kredevel had insisted that he be allowed to make sure that Ray¡¯s long-distance attack would land no matter what. It would put him in a dangerous situation, almost as near-fatal as their common enemy. But Ray had been unable to dissuade his Sylvan friend. Besides, a part of him hadn¡¯t wanted to. A part of him had wished to finally kill Derrick Orden, that cultist pest, no matter what it took. Dangerous, but worth it. Ray: Gritty, how¡¯s Kredevel doing? I didn¡¯t see you guys when I went back to the spot we met. Gritty: The spot we met was burning thanks to your chaos fires, wingman. Your alien friend¡¯s with Joaquin. Doing well, last I heard. Ray: Thank goodness. Gritty: Thank goodness? What about thanking ME? Ray laughed. Ray: Yeah, yeah, thank you too LOL. Gritty: Fucken¡­ where the hell are you going now? Ray: We need to secure the palace and the way to the Second Floor. Looks like you guys have things in hand out there, but if you really need my help, just holler. As they called the chat off, Gritty said she would check up on Kredevel again. In her estimation, the Sylvan was already raring to go. ¡°Thanks a lot, men.¡± Ray offered his two constructs a salute. He had summoned two flying eyeballs to keep¡­ well, an eye out. Neither returned his gesture. ¡°We¡¯ll meet again later.¡± He dismissed them, then returned to the palace. Things were in hand out there. Maya had confirmed it, after all. Now that both their main oppositions¡¯ leaders were dead, they would have a much easier time of carving out a victory from the battle. Ray walked past the corpse of the Floor Lord to the centre of the large room. With the Sylvan leader¡¯s death, the wall of spiralling growths he had created to protect his little hoard had crumbled and disappeared. Leaving all the ritual ingredients free for Ray¡¯s perusal. Speaking of hoards, Ray collected everything he had dropped to activate Hoard Defence. It was¡­ laconic, in a way. He only had the various items just to use the skill in Lifeblood Crucible. No, Graveyard. It was Lifeblood Graveyard now, thanks to his class evolution. Which also reminded him that he had to check his new spells¡¯ descriptions soon. For now, he focused on what was available in the Floor Lord¡¯s little collection. Primordial Gauge flared up, immediately enlightening Ray that there were a lot of things interacting with Mana. In fact, two of them were new Tower Nodes. Just lying there, out in the wild for anyone to come and take. It felt a little preposterous, like someone had left priceless diamonds on the kitchen counter. [System Artifact¡ªTower Node] Tower Node of the Ingestor With the Node of the Ingestor, you can now lay claim to Sectors 34 through 38 and all associated structures within. Incorporate the ability to ingest any sort of energy, whether it be any variant of Mana or that Mana shaped into an ability, and store that energy for later use. True Mana can be used to raise the different types and potencies of energy that can be absorbed. Be wary that excessive use may contact the Ingestor. Tower Node of the Abstractor With the Node of the Abstractor, you can now rule over Sectors 12 through 17. Abstractions are the power of this Node. With it, you can now convert one form of Mana to any other, provided a piece of the targeted Mana has been fed to the Tower Node. True Mana may be used to increase the variants of Mana conversion possible simultaneously. Be wary that excessive use may contact the Abstractor. Ray stared at the two Tower Nodes just lying there. Both were the same diamond-shaped ceramic crystals, of course. The Node of the Ingestor had strange holes along its top planes, while the Node of the Abstractor had a bunch of tiny antennae flickering at both its pointed ends. Focusing on them didn¡¯t help. Even when Ray picked them up physically, for some reason, they didn¡¯t feel his. He could tell that he wouldn¡¯t be able to channel their powers. Sighing, Ray closed his eyes. ¡°Yes, yes, Marauder. I see now why you kept coming out every time there was a Tower Node. Mind doing the same now?¡± Whether it was actually Ray¡¯s entreaty or whether it was the presence of the new Tower Nodes finally catching his original one¡¯s attention, it was difficult to tell. Regardless, the Tower Node of the Marauder showed up, blinking into view above the two Tower Nodes. Ray realized he didn¡¯t know what exact process the Marauder¡¯s Tower Node employed to grant him access to other Tower Nodes. It left him more or less beholden to the Marauder. He didn¡¯t like that. Not at all. Another thing he had to investigate was how to obtain control over Tower Nodes without his first Node coming into play. In time. Maybe, with everything finally coming to an end, he could figure it out. As it was, the two new Tower Nodes floated into the air. Ray held himself back from rolling his eyes. So they decided to respond to the Marauder but not to him. Typical. Still, he felt that he did have control over them now. That he could use their abilities much the same way he used every other Tower Nodes¡¯. With a pinch of focus from his will, all three Tower Nodes disappeared. Ray felt them in the back of his head. He would be able to summon them up when needed now. Though, he wondered if he could get a skill from them much the way he¡¯d had the options to do so from his first two Tower Nodes. He supposed he would need a skill token as a reward. But Ray had hopes that he would soon get one. Now that he had some time, Ray finally decided to take a proper look at all the new spells he had. Well, all the old spells that had been converted into ¡°new¡± ones thanks to class evolution. [Information Request¡ªSpells] Soulstrike [Offensive] [Tier 3] A True Mana offensive spell that crafts a single striking armament with spirit energy. Malleable spirit allows the end of the armament to take various attacking forms. At Tier 3, this spell has a maximum range of 18 meters, can take striking, impaling, and slashing forms, and costs 60 True Mana. Further application of True Mana allows the armament to assume a grasping form. Spiritsorb [Offensive] [Utility] [Tier 3] Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. A True Mana primal spell that absorbs a portion of the target¡¯s soul. Death of the target automatically allows caster to retain the target¡¯s Soul Aspect in Lifeblood Graveyard. At Tier 3, this spell¡¯s range is limited only by caster¡¯s sight, grants basic information about the target, and consumes 15 True Mana. Further application of True Mana removes the need for a projectile for the spell to take effect. Primordial Gauge [Utility] [Active/Passive] [Tier 5] A multi-castable, True Mana primal spell that boosts all other primal spells and shields the caster from Mana-based debuffs and afflictions up to this spell¡¯s Tier. Passively informs caster about other creatures and Mana-based items and abilities in effect in the vicinity, as well as revealing the currents of Mana itself. Focusing on souls reveals the integrity of their spiritual structure. At Tier 5, this spell¡¯s effective range is 25 meters. Primal Spiritcraft [Summoning] [Tier 5] A True Mana summoning spell that conjures Soul Aspects stored by Lifeblood Graveyard upon the caster. Each Soul Aspect integrates directly with caster¡¯s body and spirit, enhancing both the caster¡¯s physical form and their soul¡¯s potential. True Mana ensures conjurations are at their peak potential. At Tier 5, this spell can conjure 5 Soul Aspects at Tier 5 that last 2 minutes and 30 seconds, at a cost of 50 True Mana per Soul Aspect. Lifeblood Graveyard [Passive] [Tier 9] A True Mana primal spell that creates a simulacrum of the Primordial Crucible of Chaos within the caster¡¯s soul in the form of a graveyard. Absorbed Soul Aspects are stored within this graveyard. The graveyard stores souls amorphously, so each Soul Aspect can be modified in form and function, up to the extent of their capabilities, to suit the caster¡¯s needs. At Tier 9, the graveyard can store up to 9 Soul Aspects. Mottling Spiritguard [Barrier] [Tier 3] A True Mana barrier spell that summons several amorphous orbs of chaotic energy around the caster. Each orb can fully block a singular attack at this spell¡¯s Tier or launch an attack upon one or more targets. Either action causes the orb to dissipate. Amorphous orbs can be shaped to suit the caster¡¯s needs. At Tier 3, this spell summons 12 orbs that last 2 minutes and 30 seconds and costs 80 True Mana. Aethereal Envoy [Utility] [Tier 4] A True Mana utility spell that overlays the caster¡¯s form with the caster¡¯s spirit, making it difficult to spot the caster using regular senses. Heightens caster¡¯s evasion and speed, while raising defence against non-physical attacks. Once the caster is spotted, all afflictions by the caster are upgraded by 2 Tiers. At Tier 4, this spell costs 40 True Mana. Lifeblood Construct [Summoning] [Tier 5] A True Mana summoning spell that constructs stored Soul Aspects using spirit energy. Constructed Soul Aspects manifest externally, either individually or in combination. True Mana ensures that the constructs are at the peak of their potential. At Tier 5, caster can summon 5 Soul Aspects at Tier 5 which lasts 2 minutes and 30 seconds, at a cost of 50 True Mana per Soul Aspect. Ray went through the whole list, carefully reading every spell description. They were familiar enough that if he simply glanced at them, he was liable to miss the actual differences. For, when he did find the differences, they seemed both subtle and potentially game changing for future encounters. Take Soulstrike, for instance. He had already determined through instinct and Primordial Gauge that he could change the shape of the spell. But now, reading the description enlightened him that he had multiple available shapes to use. Like slashing and striking. Ray would have to test those. Though, what he wouldn¡¯t have to test was the fact that he already knew what grasping would be like thanks to True Enhancement. In a similar vein, Primal Spiritcraft apparently modified Ray¡¯s ¡°soul potential¡±, whatever that was, depending on which Soul Aspect he called up. Another thing he would need to test. His soul had clearly been modified when using it, which he had first noticed inside the Skybreaker Tower Node¡¯s twister, and in the battles afterwards too. It would explain what he had felt then. It was interesting, overall, that the Class Evolution had more or less enhanced what he was capable of already. There were no real, drastic changes to his fighting style. Something he appreciated. Although, there was the new spell of Animus Remnant. That hinted there would be new spells that could provide interesting routes for his build to go. Like all things, Ray would have to see. Satisfied with everything he had seen so far, Ray decided it was time to move on.
It was fortunate that Kredevel recovered quickly. Ray had checked out the last of the items the Floor Lord had hoarded and was now ready to move on. Kredevel: Your friend, Joaquin, is a tremendous healer, Ray. Ray: Oh, hey! You alright? I was really worried for a sec there. More than worried, he was feeling a bit guilty he hadn¡¯t protested their rushed plan that had put Kredevel in grave danger. The relief he was feeling was heady and heavy. Kredevel: I am alright. Quite alright, in fact. Where are you? Ray: Are you sure you¡¯re fine? Absolutely positive? Kredevel: Yes. Perhaps I can show you. Give me a few minutes. By the way, have you checked what the Floor Lord was preparing for? Ray explained how he had found the two Tower Nodes in the Floor Lord¡¯s possession. Their description had made it clear that they were indeed there for the plan to convert one form of Mana to another. Something Ray could potentially make great use of. Ray: There were also a couple of other items. Pretty interesting, but not stuff I¡¯ve got a use for. Kredevel: Are they the ones for the other parts of his plan? Ray: Yeah. One of them is the one that enhances genes with Mana. The other is for inserting Flight Mana into whatever you want. Kredevel: Intriguing. But I can see why they are less useful to you. Ray nodded, although Kredevel couldn¡¯t see it, of course. They decided to meet in the central chamber, and the Sylvan showed up before long. He glanced at the patch of the floor that was stained with the dark, silvery blood of the Floor Lord. The crushed remains of the head were still there, but not the corpse any longer. ¡°To think he would come to such an ignominious end,¡± Kredevel said, sadly shaking his head. He seemed genuinely aggrieved for his superior¡¯s sake. ¡°I suppose it¡¯s dissatisfying for him to have died not by your hands,¡± Ray said. ¡°A little bit, yes. But what I truly bemoan is¡­ the overall state of my race. We Sylvans have been quite the disaster on the First Floor.¡± Ray supposed that was one way of looking at things. His fellows really had caused things to turn tumultuous, at least with regards to their System-granted directive of guiding the new Denizens to the Second Floor. ¡°Does it matter now, though?¡± Ray asked. ¡°You¡¯re out here for yourself now. You want to climb the Tower, same as me. That¡¯s what you said, at least.¡± ¡°I did, and I do not regret that decision.¡± Ray realized he didn¡¯t truly know how Kredevel felt at that moment. What would his reaction had been if the rest of the human Denizens had failed, one way or another, even if Ray himself had made it to the Second Floor? Upon closer inspection, the idea generated a complicated mix of feelings he wasn¡¯t sure he wanted to dissect just then. ¡°Speaking of Floors,¡± Ray said, deciding to direct the conversation into more productive lanes. ¡°You really weren¡¯t kidding when you said the Tower Node was supposed to be in the throne room?¡± ¡°Kidding.¡± Kredevel considered the word like it was unfamiliar to him. ¡°I don¡¯t think I will ever get used to some of your terminology. But yes, it has been rumoured the Tower Node was always in the Floor Lord¡¯s presence, and his presence was most often located in the throne room.¡± Ray supposed that made some kind of sense. Tellingly, he hadn¡¯t noted any other Tower Nodes in the central chamber where they¡¯d had their battle, so it wasn¡¯t like the Floor Lord always had it on him. There was a very good chance they would indeed find it in the throne room. As they walked, Ray called up the Tower Node of the Marauder once more. He figured he would need it again soon enough. ¡°I hear things look good out there,¡± Ray said, nudging his head back rearwards. Kredevel had on a considering look. ¡°Well, after you asked Serian to take the Floor Lord¡¯s body outside of the palace, things began to calm down. You were correct. Despite what I believed, despite how we tend to act as a whole, the loss of the Floor Lord was indeed a powerful blow to¡­ to the Sylvans¡¯ morale.¡± Ray nodded. It did sound odd that Kredevel was referring to his own race in the third person. He was glad his plan was working, though. Maya and the others had things more or less in hand, but Ray had decided he could still help, even if he was mostly checking things inside the palace. All that had required was meeting one of the only other Sylvans inside their headquarters. A young friend of Kredevel¡¯s who it turned out held the Floor Lord in the same estimation as Kredevel himself. It hadn¡¯t been difficult at all to convince Serian to take the Floor Lord¡¯s corpse outside to make his fellow¡¯s see reason¡ªthey were, essentially, beaten. ¡°Yeah,¡± Ray said. ¡°Maya told me some of the Sylvans had finally surrendered. Looks like our little gambit paid off.¡± ¡°The same for the Wild Tides. It is a bit miraculous that blast from you didn¡¯t destroy his body entirely, but because of that, we are able to force the remainder of the Wild Tides to capitulate. I will add that they surrendered much quicker once they saw that their leader was dead.¡± Ray grinned. It was definitely easy to see how the last of the Wild Tides would give up easily after Derrick Orden¡¯s death. Also funny how Kredevel was quick to point out how rapidly the humans had surrendered. The throne room, as was true for most of the palace, turned out to be empty. Ray was happy there were no enemy Sylvans barging straight at him to take off his head or something. He had some time to appreciate the old splendour of the room. It was fairly reminiscent of the central chamber, but at a much smaller scale. If that room had been the size of a small stadium, then this throne room was about as big as a high school gymnasium. Faded gold and silver murals decorated the walls, the tiles still gleaming polished enough to show faint reflections. The glass in the windows were stained prettily too. Ray had no trouble at all imagining just how splendid this whole place must have once been. They walked over to the very centre of the room, right up to the throne. ¡°This seems like the right spot,¡± Ray said. ¡°Don¡¯t you think?¡± Kredevel didn¡¯t answer. He was looking at the Tower Node hovering next to Ray. The Tower Node, that Ray turned to see, was blinking as it floated closer to the throne and its dais. He smiled. It was now time to get his last Tower Node. Chapter 65: Finishing The Floor It had become a familiar sight to see the Tower Node of the Marauder in action. The ceramic crystal blinked and pulsed as it floated closer and the closer to the throne, its motion slow like it was inspecting the entire area and trying to find where the other Node was hidden. Ray wondered what he would do if the Marauder¡¯s Tower Node couldn¡¯t locate and draw out other Tower nodes for whatever reason. He was becoming reliant on it, as he had already noted. Somehow, someway, he was going to have to find a way to obtain more Tower Node without using other Tower Nodes as the means of doing so. His fears went unfounded as the first Tower Node drew out the new one in short order. Both Ray and Kredevel stared as the throne shimmered. Shards of light seeped off it and coalesced into a single spot, soon forming the familiar shape of a Tower Node. When the lightshow stopped, it revealed a much-reduced seat. Still clearly a throne, with rich redwood edged with decorative gold, but much reduced in ostentatiousness and size from what it had previously been. ¡°Well, I certainly hadn¡¯t imagined the throne itself was this Tower Node,¡± Kredevel said. Ray slowly nodded. ¡°Yeah¡­ yeah, no, I don¡¯t think I¡¯d ever have guessed.¡± When Ray focused on it, a very interesting little window of information popped up. [System Artifact¡ªTower Node] Tower Node of the Adjudicator With the Node of the Ingestor, you can now lay claim to Sector 0, the hidden Sector that connects the First and Second Floors. This Tower Node can only be used in its associated Sector. Claim the power of arbitration and evaluate all who come before you, deeming them worthy or unworthy. Can be used to set any specific challenge, with achievable criterion, to automatically determine evaluation. [New Personal Achievement¡ªFloor Lord!] You have become the new Floor Lord and earned the power of determining the fate of all the Denizens on your Floor. But remember, with great power comes great responsibility. Reward
  • Reputation: +30 Hallowed
  • System Ability: Set Floor Challenge
[New Personal Achievement¡ªTriumphant War!] You have won your first great war across a whole Floor. This victory only bolsters your ability to carve out more triumphs in your future. Reward
  • Reputation: +30 Chaotic, +30 Cunning, + 20 Tenacious, + 20 Indomitable, +20 Ruthless, +20 Thorough
[Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 50-point threshold, your Hallow removes the Mana cost of your first 2 True Mana spells used in an encounter. For reaching the 50-point threshold, your Tenacity has raised your Vitality by 10. For reaching the 50-point threshold, your Thoroughness grants all your attacks the ability to pierce through defences up to 2 Tier higher than your attack¡¯s Tier with no negation. ¡°Huh,¡± Ray said as the new Tower Node floated towards him, his attention focused on reading through his achievements. Looked like the battle outside was coming to an end too. Upgrades to a bunch of his bonuses and boosts from various Reputations was great. Hallowed, especially. Now Ray would have two free True Mana spells from the get-go. Considering all his spells were True Mana spells now, that would be great. ¡°What is it?¡± Kredevel asked. Ray looked down at the Node of the Adjudicator. It was sawed off at the top end, so that it was flat on top instead of pointed. He could have set it down to make it rest vertically. ¡°Pretty sure I can use this to judge whether people get to go to the Second Floor or not.¡± ¡°Is that not what you wanted?¡± ¡°I guess so. I just didn¡¯t expect it to be so¡­ simple.¡± ¡°The greatest things often turn out to be simple at the core of it.¡± ¡°I suppose you¡¯re right.¡± Ray considered the new Tower Node again. This was what he had been aiming for through his journey across the First Floor. This was what he truly wanted. Right? Well, he had wanted an unbarred way for himself to get to the Second Floor. The power granted by the new Tower Node was just a means to an end. He dismissed it. Then he stepped up and sat down on the throne, making himself comfortable. Kredevel watched with an evaluating expression, like he was trying to think of the best pose Ray could take for the perfect photograph. Ray grinned at him. ¡°Now, let¡¯s wait till everyone gets here, shall we?¡±
By everyone, Ray didn¡¯t mean it literally, of course. All he needed were the various important members of their side. People like Maya, like Mary Felds, like Gritty, Joaquin, and the leaders and representatives of all the new Factions and other groups they had joined together with on the First Floor. Even people like that Wild Tides member who had defected and informed Ray about Derricks¡¯s plans. Those were the people Ray was looking for. It turned out those were the very people who came to the throne room. By the time they all started arriving, Ray had summoned his draconic head on his hand and was entertaining himself by pretending it was a puppet he could talk to. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re the Floor Lord now,¡± Mary Felds said. Her eyes were shrewd, calculating. Still ready to fight. Far enough. It hadn¡¯t been that long since the battle had ended, after all. ¡°Technically,¡± Ray said, meeting everyone¡¯s eyes one by one. ¡°I am the Floor Lord. But I don¡¯t really want to be.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re the reluctant dictator forced to step in for the greater good? I haven¡¯t seen that angle played out in a while.¡± ¡°No, no there¡¯s not going to be any dictating. You think I want to be responsible for you guys? For any of this?¡± Ray shook his head. He had a feeling everyone had come here with some trepidation, wondering what he was going to do next. That was why he had spoken quickly, to make sure they were all on the same page. ¡°Someone besides me has to be the Floor Lord.¡± That threw them all off a bit. Several of them looked at each other, judging, wondering, thinking of possibilities. Maya was frowning at Ray, while the leader of the Ascenders finally let her frosty exterior dissolve just enough to look thoughtful. Gritty approached the throne. ¡°You look good as a king, wingman. Although, I think it¡¯s mostly that weird little dress you got on.¡± Both Ray and his summoned Greater Windbane Maw turned to stare at her. ¡°Thanks. I¡¯m sad I can¡¯t take the throne with me. And this is a regalia, by the way, not a dress.¡± Gritty grinned. ¡°Whatever you say.¡± She lowered her voice. ¡°By the way, I have a suggestion. Whoever you do end up giving this Tower Node that controls the First Floor¡¯s challenge, just don¡¯t give it to the Wild Tides. Even the ones who said they converted.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, none of us are that stupid.¡± ¡°Mm.¡± She glanced sidelong at Kredevel. ¡°I was going to say the same for the Sylvans, but uh, you¡¯re the only one left, pal.¡± Ray sat forward as Kredevel started a little. ¡°Wait, I thought a lot of them surrendered. You didn¡¯t¡­¡± ¡°No, no, they¡¯re fine enough. They¡¯re just not, you know, free to claim the Tower Node.¡± Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Someone at the back cleared his throat before stepping forward to address everyone. ¡°We should have a frank discussion about who deserves to control something that important. I don¡¯t think the ability to set the Floor¡¯s challenge should just go to the strongest person on the Floor.¡± ¡°Of course not,¡± Mary Felds said. ¡°A lot of the stronger ones are going to the Second Floor, like Raymond and us Ascenders here. As such, the power to control the Floor¡¯s challenge should remain the in the steadiest, most capable hands who wishes to remain on the First Floor.¡± Her words left little room for doubt as to who that would be. Almost all eyes turned to Maya, who blinked at suddenly having everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°Are¡ªare you sure?¡± she asked in general. Ray smiled, nothing that she wasn¡¯t exactly declining the offer. Mary was right. There was no one else who suited the position better. Maya was not only the most capable person here, in terms of organizing and controlling. She was also likely the kindest too. When nobody objected, Ray pulled out the Tower Node of the Adjudicator from within himself. ¡°Here you go, Maya. You deserve it.¡± With the slightest of hesitations, Maya accepted it. The Tower Node floated over to land in between her palms. Ray could feel his control on it slipping. It was convenient that the method of giving away a Tower Node didn¡¯t involve anything complicated like using another Tower Node or something. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ so strange,¡± Maya said. She inspected the flat-topped crystal from a bunch of different angles. Ray had to wonder if she was seeing the description the same way he had. Would she know how to operate it? Mary Felds stepped up. ¡°What challenge are you going to set?¡± ¡°I really don¡¯t want to try and capture those fucking Brighthorns¡­¡± someone muttered from the back. Ray and a lot of them laughed at that. Maya took some time to consider. ¡°We need this to be legit. I don¡¯t think I¡¯d feel right setting an easy task and letting just anyone go to the Second Floor just because they asked. No matter how nice. But I also don¡¯t want to do what the old Floor Lord did.¡± She slowly looked up at Ray. There was no question in her eyes. She wasn¡¯t asking for help. ¡°But I think I¡¯ve got it.¡± Ray leaned forward, definitely intrigued. ¡°Oh yeah?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± May cleared her throat before raising her voice so that everyone could hear. ¡°There¡¯s going to be a new challenge to get to the Second Floor. From here on out, you don¡¯t have to find Brighthorns or complete any other random Objective. The only requirement for me is that you progress. All you need to access the Second Floor is one thing¡ªa Class Evolution.¡± Ray stared at her as he felt his mouth widening into a broad smile all on its own. A second later, the notification arrived. [Warning!] Objective 1 of Floor I has changed. Under the new rules, you have completed the Objective. Ray felt it then. A slight thrum behind his eyelids, like there was something just waiting to come out. Ah, he knew what that was. But to actually see it, he decided he wanted some privacy first. Which wasn¡¯t difficult to get. His main task there was done. The Tower Node had been handed off and he could now focus on his progression. Excusing himself after the meeting winded down, Ray found himself a private little chamber as the notifications finally arrived. [Floor I¡ªComplete] Objective 1: As mandated by the Floor Lord, for attaining a Class Evolution, you have earned 3,000 Essence. Objective 2: For defeating 3 out of 1 required Duskshells, you have earned 3,000 Essence. Objective 3: For defeating 14 out of 5 required Windbanes, and 1 Greater Windbane, you have earned 8,000 Essence. Objective 3: For defeating 12 out of 4 required Irebolts, and 1 Greater Irebolt, you have earned 10,000 Essence. Objective 3: For clearing 8 out of 3 required dungeons of various Tiers, you have earned 10,000 Essence. Hidden Objective 1: For finding 6 out of the required 1 Tower Nodes, you have earned 12,000 Essence. Hidden Objective 2: For defeating the Lord of the First Floor, you have earned 4,000 Essence. Hidden Objective 3: For earning the Mantle of Floor Lord, you have earned 3,000 Essence. Hidden Objective 4: For defeating the leader of an enemy Faction of the same species, you have earned 5,000 Essence. Personal Objective 1: For personally meeting 51 out of 10 required new Denizens, you have earned 2,000 Essence. Personal Objective 2: For securing 18 out of the required 5 Mana Fruit, you have earned 4,500 Essence. Rewards
  • 1 Spirit Sculptor¡¯s Grimoire Page. As you exceeded the required number set by several of your Objectives, Spirit Sculptor¡¯s Grimoire Page has been converted to Spirit Sculptor¡¯s Grimoire Pamphlet, where you may select up to 2 new spells.
  • 1 Spell Synthesis Point
  • 1 True Mana Tier Point
  • 1 True Mana Skill
  • 1 Tower Node Token
  • 1 New Accessory Slot
  • 50 True Mana shards
  • +30 to any 2 [Selectable] non-primary stats
[New Personal Achievement¡ªFloor Conqueror!] You have completed the challenges of your first Floor in the Tower of Forging! You have completed one of the most vital steps in the path of your ascendancy. Reward
  • Reputation: +50 Adept
[Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 50-point threshold, your Adeptness accelerates your growth, granting you 10% bonus Essence from Objective completion. [Level Up!] Reward
  • +5 Intellect, +5 Spirit, +2 Vitality +2 Agility, +10 allocatable free stats.
  • 1 True Mana Tier Point
[Level Up!] Reward
  • +5 Intellect, +5 Spirit, +2 Vitality +2 Agility, +10 allocatable free stats.
  • New Spell: Spirit Lock
  • Spirit Lock has been converted to Spiritblood Stake by Path of Lifeblood Crucible
Essence to Level 23: 25,640/30,500 Ray could only stare and laugh for a few moments. There was so much. He had almost forgotten just how many rewards he had obtained the last time he had completed his Objectives. Well, since he still had some time on his hands, Ray started from the top. He didn¡¯t bother reading the description of the Grimoire Pamphlet. What he was really interested in was the actual spells he would soon be able to use. Ray grinned. Two picks instead of just the one. How about that? [Spell Selection] Project Presence [Utility] [Tier 5] A primal spirit spell that projects an undetectable sliver of your soul up to a certain distance away, so long as the target location is in your line of sight. Projected presence carries all the senses of the original body, minus touch. At Tier 5, this spell¡¯s range is 25 meters and costs 40 True Mana. Phantom Retaliation [Passive] [Barrier] [Tier 5] A primal spirit spell that enlivens the caster¡¯s own soul using a portion of any enemy Mana directed at the caster. The enlivened soul then strikes back at a foe, disregarding distance and defences. At Tier 5, this spell costs no Mana, absorbing and returning 20% of the damage inflicted upon the caster. Spectral Step [Utility] [Tier 5] A primal spirit utility spell that leaves a fragment of the caster¡¯s soul upon all of the caster¡¯s manifested spells, allowing the caster to reattach the soul fragment to its origin at any moment, even through space and time. At Tier 5, this spell transports the caster¡¯s body to any spell at the cost of 300 True Mana. Summons Remnant [Passive] [Tier 5] A primal spirit utility spell that imbues all summons with the simulacrum of a soul. This soul remains on the battlefield even after the summons¡¯ departure, allowing the caster to resummon at a much-reduced Mana cost. At Tier 5, this spell reduces subsequent summons True Mana cost by 25%. ¡°Oh my god,¡± Ray couldn¡¯t help but exclaim. ¡°A teleporting spell. Spelleport.¡± Tamping down his excitement, Ray glanced through all his options and though he still shivered as he did so. That was a very interesting set of options he had been offered. He could already see Projected Presence synergizing well with something like the Scouring Eyeball. A 25-meter range was long enough that Ray¡¯s natural line of sight could be blocked off by some sort of obstacle. An unfortunately-placed tree, or a pesky wall, or whatever. The flying eyeball would take care of that issue. Phantom Retaliation was amazing, especially considering it cost no Mana at all and would always return twenty percent of all damage he received back upon his enemy. Summons Remnant had great utility with his current loadout too. He supposed his constructs didn¡¯t tend to die too often, but against stronger foes, something like his potential new spell would be a great addition. Argh, so many great choices. Deciding he would pick later while his mind percolated, Ray went through the rest of his rewards. The Spell Synthesis Point he reserved until he picked his new spells, but he did apply the True Mana Tier Point. Ray still recalled the last time he had tried to upgrade True Enhancement and he had received the warning about needing True Mana Tier Points. Well, here he finally had one, although, True Enhancement was no longer a necessity. Instead, he applied it to Soulstrike. He didn¡¯t necessarily need to, since he still had the Mana Infuser ring, which surprisingly still worked with True Mana. But at a higher Tier, Ray could actually read its description and see its more enhanced capabilities. This wasn¡¯t just a straight power upgrade like it had been with Shatterclaw. For instance, taking Soulstrike to Tier 4 had added a new attacking option¡ªa flailing form. Next came the True Mana Skill. With all the new Tower Nodes he possessed, Ray had been looking forward to seeing what options he now had. [True Mana Skill] You possess four new Tower Nodes¡ªTower Nodes of the Songstress, the Skybreaker, the Ingestor, and the Abstractor. You also possess the Tower Node of the Mentor from before. Honing Strike [Passive] [Tier 3] A perma-cast skill that automatically upgrades a selected skill to a higher Tier of True Mana enhancement. Selected spell is permanently upgraded to True Mana version. At Tier 3, the selected spell requires 48 times its base Mana requirement to complete the upgrade, and every successful hit on an opponent adds 8 Mana to upgrade completion. Song of Magic [Passive] [Tier 3] A True Mana skill that converts the portion of all of the wielder¡¯s Mana-based abilities that are blocked or negated by the enemy into sonic damage. Jagged waveforms also disrupt the enemy¡¯s Mana. At Tier 3, this skill disrupts up to 15% of the enemy¡¯s Mana. Sky Call [Offensive] [Tier 3] A True Mana skill that summons a random element of the sky. At Tier 3, elements can manifest between cloud, rain, lightning, and gale, and manifested element lasts 3 minutes and costs 90 True Mana. Ingestion [Utility] [Tier 3] A True Mana skill that consumes anything that incorporates Mana. Consumed matter determines the temporary benefit received by the wielder. Abilities grant the user the specific kind of Mana used by the ability, items grant the user the boon from the item, and consumables apply an enhanced version of the consumable¡¯s effect. This skill can only affect items and abilities up to the skill¡¯s Tier3, the effects last for 90 seconds, and expends 50 True Mana. Abstract Conversion [Utility] [Tier 3] Convert one form of Mana to another. At Tier 3, this skill can convert any form of Mana into up to 3 different forms at the same time, at a cost of 20 True Mana, plus the total amount of Mana converted. Ray took a deep breath as he read through his options again. They weren¡¯t as exciting as his spell selection, but that was fine. He was happy to be able to make an easier, simpler choice without tearing his hair off his head in indecision. So, Ray selected his new True Mana Skill. Chapter 66: Friends at The End Ray went with Abstract Conversion. It was the only True Mana skill from the list of option that he really thought he could work with on a regular basis. Honing Strike wasn¡¯t useful any longer since all his spells were now their True Mana version thanks to his class evolution. Basically useless, unfortunately. Song of Magic was¡­ interesting as an ability but also not something that attracted him. He did realize it had powerful potential, though. All negated damage turning into sound that not only went on to damage his foes, but also destroyed a portion of their Mana? Pretty cool, honestly. It was the part about the sonic damage he really wasn¡¯t sure about. The skill¡¯s description had been a bit too vague about it for his liking. Ingestion was also rather interesting, but how often did Ray find items worth using for their benefits? Not a ton. Usually, the items that didn¡¯t do better than the ones he already had were sold to get him some nice Mana crystals. He could absorb their powers instead with Ingestion, but¡­ no, that wouldn¡¯t really be helpful often enough. He did see the defensive application of it. The description suggested he could ingest opponent¡¯s abilities too, but only up to the Tier of the skill itself. Which, at Tier 3, wasn¡¯t a lot. Sure, he would potentially gain more Mana variants that way, but he would be forced to dance to his opponent¡¯s tune. The bigger problem was that it would be nowhere near as cost-effective as Mottling Spiritguard. Worse, it was only a temporary boon. Not great. Sky Call was far and away the most helpful of the bunch, but Ray wasn¡¯t sure he needed more firepower. Especially not when it was randomized. Interestingly, it was an Offensive skill, the first he had been offered. But one of the random manifestations of the sky he could potentially get was a cloud. How a cloud alone could be offensive was a little harder to fathom, because all he could see it being useful for was a stealthing utility. Ah, well. Mana conversion, though, was something Ray couldn¡¯t pass up easily. He had seen just how useful it had been to possess and channel Toxic Mana. Something told him there would be other situations in the not-too-distant future where he might need other Mana variants too. Although, the skill¡¯s description hadn¡¯t been clear just how exactly it would determine which Mana kinds to convert an input of Mana into. Just meant he would need to test it out. Ray moved on to his other rewards. Damn, that list just didn¡¯t end. The Tower Node Token and the new Accessory slot were both going to be useful later. According to its description, the token would basically function like the dungeon establishment reward¡ªit would locate a Tower Node for him when he was next close to it. Ray supposed he could put on all three of his rings now, with the new Accessory slot. Or, rather, two rings while he still wore the Silver True Mana Bracelet. Which he did, for the time being. The Mana Infuser ring replacing the Jade Ring of the Phoenix and the Diamond-crusted Ring of Temporal Evasion was back on again. But he wouldn¡¯t mind replacing the last one with something better if he came across a new Accessory. The True Mana shards were different from the Mana crystals. Shards were apparently bigger than crystals in this world. Longer and slightly thicker, they gave the impression they would refill more of his total capacity than crystals did. Ray also wondered if they had more purchasing power with merchants like Virko than regular Mana crystals. Lastly, there was the matter of the extra stats. 30 to not one but two stats of his choice. The System was spoiling him with these rewards. It was a little disappointing he couldn¡¯t combine them and then assign the combined total in whatever spread through all his stats as he wished. That would have allowed him a more balanced approach. Ah, well. The System was making it up to him by offering him a huge chunk of new stats. Ray put 30 into Intellect and 30 into Spirit. More damage and more True Mana could never hurt. He still had a ton of free stats from his two level ups to assign, so the balancing would go there. All that was left of his First Floor Objective completion rewards was the spell selection. He had been thinking about it in the back of his head while going through the rest of his rewards. Now, he figured he had a good idea of how to use them. The first one of his picks¡ªProject Presence¡ªwould already synergize well with Scouring Eyeball and his ability to get into various positions with his wings. In the same manner, Ray had begun to see a lot of excellent uses for Spectral Step too. No, damn it, Spelleport. Spelleport. Even if the cost was prohibitive, just once or twice in a battle would be enough. He hadn¡¯t forgotten about the Spell Synthesis Point. It would just have been better to use it once he had all his new spells in his grasp. Which he now had. Hmm. He took a moment to consider, then selected the two spells he was going to combine, then picked Aethereal Envoy and Animus Remnant. It worked. The new one was just as he expected. [Information Request¡ªSpells] Soullife Cloak [Utility] [Tier 6] A primal spirit spell that clads the caster in a cloak of their own spirit for a while, imbued with the chaotic energies of their vital life. The cloak dampens damage from Mana-based abilities and status afflictions while partially dematerializing the caster, enhancing speed and evasion. When the spell¡¯s duration ends, the spirit returns within, revitalizing the caster. At Tier 6, this spell lasts 1 minute and 30 seconds, negates 18% damage while boosting speed and restoring True Mana and Vitality by the same amount, and costs 70 True Mana. Oh yes, Ray could make excellent use of this. Ray heaved out a big breath. Alright, now that ought to take care of all his rewards from completing the challenges of the First Floor. Whew. Now he could move on to his actual level ups. Of the twenty free stat points from levelling up, Ray assigned ten to Agility, and split the remainder evenly between Vitality and Resilience. Not having the protection from the Wyvern Helm was potentially costing him more than he had cared to admit so far, so raising his Resilience up some more ought to redress that. More importantly, he had surely reached another¡ª [Stat Tier] Your Intellect has advanced to Tier 3. You can now process 100% more stimuli at the same time, regardless of emotional state. Your thoughts and instincts now travel even faster, enhancing your ability to process stimuli faster. Ah, yes. There it was. He had just needed to focus on the fact that his Intellect had likely reached another breakthrough after reaching 100 points via levelling up. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. One hundred percent more stimuli processing was twice what he had at Tier 2 Intellect. That meant he ought to be able to support even more constructs at longer distances than he could so far. Ray grinned at the image of flooding the battlefield with a small army of ravenous draconic heads. The notification also mentioned enhanced mental processing. He wasn¡¯t sure he could feel that enhancement yet. Nothing really seemed different. Maybe it would be apparent later, when he needed to think fast, like in a fight. Well, he would find out eventually. Last but not least, Ray checked out his newest spell. [Information Request¡ªSpells] Spiritblood Stake [Offensive] [Tier 5] A primal spirit spell that temporarily drives a spectral stake through the target¡¯s spirit, locking it in place. If target moves out of the vicinity of the stake, target will continuously take spirit damage. At Tier 5, this spell lasts 2 minutes and 30 seconds, sets a damage perimeter of 10 meters from the stake, and costs 75 True Mana. Oh, that was interesting. Very interesting. Ray was starting to get the idea that his new class had a wide variety of spirit-themed options to really provide new pathways for his build to grow into. He was also appreciative that a lot of these spells were a one-time cast type deal. Ray could use them when a fight began, then forget about them since they lasted a while. No constant maintenance or use necessary. Not with the ones he had so far, at least. Ray dismissed the last notification box and stretched. Whew. That had been a lot to go through. But now, he was finally done. He had checked everything. All that was left was making his way to the Second Floor.
Eager as Ray was to get to the next Floor, he knew it was best to let himself rest, recuperate, and mentally prepare for whatever awaited him there. The last day or two had been one gigantic rush. He deserved a bit of a break before things potentially got frantic again. ¡°Look at all this stuff!¡± Gritty said, looking around with wide-eyed wonder. ¡°These ancient bird-people were smart, huh?¡± Ray nodded. They were visiting what appeared to be a library inside the old palace, where rows and rows of shelves were filled with scrolls he couldn¡¯t read. Just like that dungeon he had briefly visited a while back. Luckily, there were no armoured guardians trying to chase him out here. ¡°It¡¯s hard to tell how smart they were,¡± Ray said. ¡°In terms of writing stuff down, because I can¡¯t read shit.¡± Gritty chuckled. ¡°Just another sign they were too smart. For their own good.¡± A race that had allowed their empire to perish. Who had essentially rendered themselves extinct. How intelligent could such a race be? Destructively intelligent. Ray¡¯s eyes couldn¡¯t help but glance at how Gritty was holding the scroll with just one hand. She still only had the one hand. ¡°I¡¯m surprised you¡¯ve been waiting.¡± ¡°Waiting?¡± She looked at him questioningly. ¡°For what?¡± ¡°You know. For your class evolution. I thought you¡¯d already be running all over the Floor, trying to kill the last few monsters and the clear the last couple of dungeons to hit level 20.¡± When Ray had first asked, quite nonplussed, why Gritty hadn¡¯t appeared worried about the fact that she was missing a whole fucking forearm, she had said there was nothing to worry about. She believed she would regain the missing limb tenfold as soon as she underwent her class evolution. How she could be so sure, Ray had no idea, and Gritty wasn¡¯t forthcoming about the details. She seemed happy enough, though, so he tried not to feel troubled. ¡°It¡¯s not going to take me long,¡± Gritty said. ¡°I can clear a dungeon or two in a day, which will be enough to hit level twenty, and then I can evolve my class, get Mrs Boss to approve my ascent, and hit the Second Floor all in the same day. See what I mean?¡± ¡°Mm, yeah I think I do.¡± She was taking a break before taking care of everything else she had left on the First Floor in one day. Kind of like Ray. He had already taken care of everything. Apart from talking to everyone, that was. Gritty put the scroll back and looked him squarely in the eyes. ¡°Promise me one thing, though, wingman.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°All this time I feel like I¡¯ve been¡­ following you, kind of. You see, I want my journey to be dictated by no one other than me. But that hasn¡¯t been the case on the First Floor. I¡¯ve had to be a part of something bigger than me. I don¡¯t regret it, mostly, but I want my freedom. I want to go where I want without any obligations. You get that, don¡¯t you?¡± Ray nodded. He did. It was easy to see what she meant. They had all been embroiled in this massive plot against the Wild Tides and the Sylvans. Sure, they might have more or less decided to work against their enemies of their own volition, but was that truly freedom? Had he actually had control over his fate? If Ray had decided to step aside and potentially let all the other human Denizens suffer, could he have lived with himself? Questions like that didn¡¯t have easy answers. One-hundred-percent freedom and control was a myth. By the very nature of being sapient and societal, a part of himself would always have some sort of inclination towards others. Towards people as a whole. And honestly? He was starting to be fine with that. There was no point in being hellbent and obsessed over this idea of retaining control over every single facet of his existence. That was obsessive. Foolish. He had much better things to waste his time on. ¡°Does that mean you¡¯re saying goodbye?¡± Ray asked. Gritty shook her head. ¡°No. Not permanently. I just want you to not try and, you know, seek me out on the Second Floor or something. You¡¯re going to go ahead of me. You might be tempted to leave little messages or tell me the dungeons I should seek out first and so on. I don¡¯t want any of that.¡± ¡°You have a very generous idea that I¡¯ll go out of my way to help you. Also weren¡¯t you the one always coming up to me.¡± ¡°Sometimes.¡± She stared as he stared back, then sighed and punched his shoulder lightly. ¡°Fine, mostly. But I know you. You¡¯re going to try to check up on everybody. Not just me.¡± Gritty raised an eyebrow at her as though daring him to prove her wrong. It was Ray¡¯s turn to sigh, though instead of punching Gritty back, he laughed softly. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right,¡± he said. ¡°A part of me will always want to check up on you. On everybody else too,¡± he added quickly. ¡°Like, I think I might even want to vacation back on the First Floor if I can while I¡¯m climbing the Second, just to see Maya and Dory and everybody else who decides to just stay here.¡± ¡°See what I mean?¡± ¡°But fine, fine, I won¡¯t try to help you. I¡¯ll leave it up to you to contact me, if you want. Happy?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± She smiled. ¡°I¡¯m happy.¡± When they were done with the library, they had a decent time simply touring the old palace and looking at all the different areas. Later on, after Gritty had left to help the old Wild Tides with something, Ray met up with Mary Felds. Just in time. She was already leaving. ¡°You¡¯ve got your class evolution?¡± Ray asked, a bit surprised. She nodded, a glint of pride in her eyes. ¡°I¡¯ve helped enough people on the First Floor, I think. It¡¯s time I took the front foot in leading the Ascenders on the Second Floor.¡± Ray turned to Joaquin. ¡°And you¡¯re staying behind? I thought for sure you got your class evolved too.¡± Joaquin smiled at Ray, then waved at his Faction leader. ¡°I have. But I¡¯m staying behind and helping with the last of the Ascenders here. Plus, my healing duties aren¡¯t fully done. Once everything¡¯s taken care of, I¡¯ll follow upstairs too.¡± Ray was tempted to shake his head, but that would have been kind of disrespectful. Instead, he just appreciated Joaquin¡¯s selflessness silently. Unlike Mary Felds, he wasn¡¯t getting extra Essence for helping others. Unless¡­ he was getting Essence depending on how many people he was healing, directly or indirectly. A quick glance at Joaquin¡¯s face didn¡¯t reveal much, and Ray turned to watch Mary disappear. She nodded her farewell as she stepped up to the throne. Maya was nearby, and the Tower Node of the Adjudicator appeared moments later. ¡°I hereby accept the ascension of Mary Felds to the Second Floor,¡± she said. Ray wondered if she actually had to say that to activate whatever strange power it was that teleported a Denizen to the Second Floor. After all, the Adjudicator Node¡¯s caretaker was supposed to set the challenge. The completion of the challenge would be automatically verified by the Tower Node, or perhaps the System itself, as far as Ray had been able to fathom. But maybe that wasn¡¯t quite true. After all, hadn¡¯t the Floor Lord and the Sylvans interfered even after several Denizens had met the original requirements? A column of bluish green light shot out of the centre of the throne. It spread outwards, soon overtaking Mary Felds and stopping just beside Maya. The Tower Node, interestingly, had disappeared in that column too. Ray had to squint his eyes at the brightness, but something about the brilliant pillar indicated a sense of upwards motion. Like it was carrying whatever there was within it higher and higher up the column, straight into the hole of the spire far above them. ¡°I think she¡¯s worried about the others,¡± Joaquin said, also squinting. The blue-green light made his tanned face look he was drunk at a rave. ¡°There¡¯s been no word, you know.¡± ¡°Yeah, she mentioned. Although, I didn¡¯t take her for the worrying type.¡± ¡°She doesn¡¯t like to give that impression, no. But once you get to know her, and she gets to know you, you¡¯ll find she¡¯s not that bad really.¡± ¡°Hmm. I¡¯ll take your word for it.¡± Ray looked at Joaquin. ¡°And what about you?¡± ¡°What about me?¡± Joaquin asked. ¡°Why are you so happy to stay behind? Don¡¯t you want to climb to the Second Floor?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious I don¡¯t really have a burning desire to do so?¡± When Ray waited patiently for more, Joaquin eventually complied. ¡°This whole Tower business¡­¡± He shook his head. ¡°I get the feeling you¡¯re someone who welcomed it. Someone who revelled in the change.¡± ¡°But you didn¡¯t.¡± Ray didn¡¯t have to think long on why. ¡°Because your life was good. Because you were satisfied before, and now, nothing here really makes you¡­ excited, I guess.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ more or less it, yeah. Can you get excited for something new when you¡¯ve already got everything you¡¯ve ever wanted out of life?¡± Joaquin shrugged. ¡°Maybe some people. Not me, apparently. As such, I¡¯m happy to kind of coast along, if you will.¡± Ray could see that being true. He could also fully understand that not everybody was going to feel the same drive as him. It took only about another minute or so before the column of light died. The throne was still there, as was Maya and the Tower Node in her hand, but there was no sign of Mary Felds. She was on the Second Floor now. ¡°You up next?¡± Joaquin asked. Ray grinned at Maya, who smiled back at him. ¡°Yes. Tomorrow. Second Floor, here I come.¡± Chapter 67: Ascension On his last day on the First Floor, Ray checked up on the last few things he had left before heading out. ¡°Don¡¯t think I¡¯ve forgotten our deal, Ray,¡± Virko said. Ray tutted. ¡°I¡¯m the one who called you in. Of course, I know you haven¡¯t forgotten anything, Virko.¡± ¡°Just making sure.¡± The Halftyr merchant held out his stubby arm. ¡°Are you ready to surrender it?¡± With the Floor Lord dead and the Sylvans no longer the supreme ones on the First Floor, it would have made more sense if Virko had decided to chum up to the humans. After all, the Floor was theirs now. Not so. If anything, Virko had grown bolder and more businesslike, losing his former affability for a strict, professional demeanour. Ray focused for a bit before the Tower Node of the Mentor appeared before him. ¡°Here you go. One Tower Node, as promised.¡± He didn¡¯t mind letting that Tower Node go. Not only was the associated True Mana skill not one that was going to suit him, the actual ability of the Node¡ªthat of creating his own little training dungeon¡ªwasn¡¯t going to work long-term. Because the created dungeons would be capped to a certain Tier, which would inhibit his Essence gain. Especially since the Second Floor would no doubt be filled with stronger dungeons. No, considering he hadn¡¯t used the Mentor Tower Node¡¯s function even once outside of setting up the farm, he really didn¡¯t need it. Ray had considered which Tower Node to give up for a while. His first choice had been that of the Songstress, but having a pocket dial to call up a gigantic monster wasn¡¯t something he could dismiss so easily. Not when he could potentially obtain and channel Flight Mana thanks to the other Tower Node, that of the Abstractor. Virko took the proffered Tower Node with clearly avaricious hands. He set it almost gingerly on his carpet full of wares. ¡°And in return, I have all your¡ª¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want all those mana crystals,¡± Ray said. Virko looked at him, a little stupefied. ¡°You don¡¯t want them? Any of them? There are a lot of them, you know.¡± ¡°I¡¯m aware. But they won¡¯t be that useful to me anymore. I¡¯m heading up to the Second Floor soon and my class evolved so I don¡¯t use regular Mana anymore. So, two things, Virko. One¡ªdo you have anything beyond crystals? Two¡ªdo you have anything specific for True Mana?¡± ¡°Hmm. I do have some shards. I suppose you¡¯ll need those more on the Second Floor. For True Mana itself, I have nothing, I¡¯m afraid. I don¡¯t specialize in any specific variant of Mana.¡± ¡°Shame.¡± Virko scowled, bushy eyebrows drawing down mightily. ¡°You start collecting one specific type of Mana and next thing you know, you¡¯ve got customers complaining why you don¡¯t have their obscure type with you.¡± ¡°Glad I never got into the service industry. Anyway, I¡¯ll take the equivalent amount of Mana shards for all the Mana crystals I gave you.¡± Virko handed over the required number of shards. It turned out the shards were worth exactly twice as much as the crystals. So, Ray got half the total number of shards as he had given Virko crystals. Since Ray couldn¡¯t store Mana crystals and Mana shards in the same inventory pocket of his Bag of Holding, he purchased an even bigger Bag of Holding to store everything. Well, bigger in terms of inventory space. It cost him the majority of the Mana crystals he still had left. He was tempted to exchange the leftovers for more Mana shards, but he withheld himself. It might prove useful to have some Mana crystals on him. Ater all, walking around with only hundred dollar bills made going about your day a bit less convenient than having some twenties and fives as well. Virko looked at Ray a little suspiciously as they concluded their business. ¡°You¡¯re not going to ask me about the Second Floor?¡± Ray raised an eyebrow. ¡°Do you know much about the Second Floor?¡± ¡°Not really. But I¡¯ll give you a free piece of advice, since you¡¯ve been an excellent client so far. Don¡¯t trust easily on the Second Floor. It¡¯s going to be more chaotic up there, because you¡¯ll have more Towers joining in, and that can create¡­ complications. I knew I wouldn¡¯t be able to handle it, so I picked the First Floor as my business.¡± ¡°Wait, hold on. What do you mean more Towers joining in?¡± ¡°They didn¡¯t tell you?¡± Virko grimaced. ¡°Your Tower of Forging is a higher-grade Tower than most nearby Towers. As such, Denizens who pass the First Floor in lower-grade Towers are allowed a one-time traversal opportunity to a higher-grade Tower.¡± ¡°So, people from other Towers who completed their First Floor can come into this Tower¡¯s Second Floor? Is that what you¡¯re basically saying?¡± ¡°Correct. Expect to meet more Denizens with a variety of experiences, though perhaps, most won¡¯t be as strong as you.¡± That was¡­ definitely something for Ray to consider as he headed out to the Second Floor. Thanking Virko for the advice, and saying farewell for probably the last time, Ray left to meet with Kredevel. ¡°You¡¯re also staying back?¡± Ray asked, a bit surprised. ¡°For only a short while,¡± the Sylvan said. ¡°My class has evolved so I can get to the second Floor anytime I wish, but first, I will assist Maya with the other Sylvans before leaving.¡± Ray nodded. That made sense. ¡°How long do you think it¡¯ll take?¡± ¡°I am not certain. Right now, Maya is busy with administration. The Sylvans are mostly being held captive in a generous manner. When she is ready, I will be there to assist.¡± Ray also wanted to ask what exact plans Maya might have for the captured Sylvans, but that answer would come best from the woman herself. As such, he decided to go meet her personally. No real farewells for Kredevel. He was coming up to the Second Floor soon enough. Ray promised the Sylvan they would meet up as soon as he had ascended. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Last but definitely not least, Ray found out where Maya was. She was busy, of that there was no doubt. Taking care of the operations of the entire Floor was basically her duty now. Ray had to actually wait until she found a window of time where she wasn¡¯t meeting people or drawing up maps or whatever else it was that people who led massive organizations did. ¡°I¡¯m glad I don¡¯t have your job,¡± Ray said, grinning to take the edge off his words. Maya laughed softly. ¡°The feeling is mutual.¡± He supposed that was fair. Maya might be ready to fight in a pinch if needed, but it was clear she favoured the leader business more than the adventuring one. ¡°But to be honest,¡± Maya said. ¡°I do kind of just want to take a break and hang out with my family.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve been working hard!¡± Ray started walking, leading her to the throne room. ¡°You deserve a break.¡± ¡°Says the guy who¡¯s already starting on his next journey just two days after we won a battle.¡± He threw back a grin at her. They reached the throne room moments later. For all that the old palace was slowly being filled up with more and more people as Maya turned it into her headquarters, she made sure to keep people away from the throne room itself. The two guards there saluted at Maya as they approached. ¡°Tyler,¡± Ray said. ¡°Is this supposed to be a demotion or a promotion for you?¡± Tyler scrunched his face up like he couldn¡¯t actually figure out if this was something bad. Then he glared at Ray. ¡°What¡¯s it to you? I¡¯m doing what the Faction Leader said would be the best thing to do.¡± ¡°Oh, then that¡¯s definitely a promotion. Congrats!¡± He looked confused, but before Ray could capitalize on it, Maya pushed him into the throne room. ¡°I¡¯m trying to maintain a fragile equilibrium here, thank you very much,¡± Maya said with an exasperated look as they neared the throne itself. Ray grinned. ¡°It¡¯s fine. You won¡¯t have to worry about me for long.¡± ¡°On the contrary, I¡¯ll be even more worried now that you¡¯re heading up.¡± Ray considered that a fair assessment. He was starting to feel that slightly-faster-heartrate sort of excitement that accompanied major changes. Ascending to the Second Floor was nothing if not a major change. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re trying to incorporate the Sylvans into your plan for the First Floor,¡± Ray said. ¡°I¡¯m not trying to say they¡¯re all bad, of course. But most of their loyalty lies to their lords. Sure, the Floor Lord is dead, but they still answer to the Tower Lord.¡± Maya had a complicated expression Ray couldn¡¯t really decipher. Somewhere between troubled and thoughtful. ¡°We¡¯re being careful about it. They won¡¯t be easy to deal with, and the contingency is that I can let any who don¡¯t want to stay here leave for the Second Floor. But we¡¯ll be safe, Ray.¡± ¡°I know you will. It¡¯s why I don¡¯t mind leaving it all up to you.¡± ¡°Me, and my admin team. I¡¯ve found some people who are really good at this organizational stuff.¡± ¡°Apart from you?¡± She rolled her eyes. ¡°Yes, apart from me.¡± ¡°And the Wild Tides?¡± Ray asked. ¡°What about them?¡± ¡°We¡¯re trying to help them. Those that want help. Some of them are nothing more than criminals though, and we¡¯re keeping those locked up.¡± Ray nodded. It was interesting how they were basically forming a fully-functioning society on the First Floor. Actual settlements were popping up, they were figuring out a currency, establishing routes of travel and communication lines, the works. There was something of a remarkable hope in how humans could band together and display enduring resilience as a group. ¡°We¡¯ll have his place looking a little bit nicer when you come down and visit,¡± Maya said. Ray eyed the throne. ¡°Can¡¯t wait to see what you guys get up to.¡± Maya stepped forward and brought out the Tower Node of the Adjudicator again. It had already begun glowing with the soft, lime-green light. One that mirrored the growing column of illumination spreading from the throne. Ray took one last look around. Everything was daubed in the same colour now, but he took it all in all the same. The walls with their faded murals and etchings. Maya beaming at him. There, at the entryway to the throne room, Gritty looking on with an expectant expression. When had she arrived? And was that Kredevel walking into the room too? Shaking his head with a little smile, Ray waved just as the light grew too bright and obscured everything. Momentarily, there was a rushing sensation, like he was standing on a very fast elevator. Huh. So his impression when Mary Felds had ascended had been right. The light did move him straight upwards. When Ray could see again, he was on top of the world. ¡°Woah.¡± His breath escaped him in a wondrous rush. There was no mistaking it. That light from the Tower Node of the Adjudicator had taken him straight to the top of the central spire. Despite the cloudy haze, Ray could make out so much of the First Floor from his current position. The mountains to his right were eerily familiar. They had to be the ones that had Windbane Breeding Grounds dungeon. Far to his left was that canyon with the poisoned river. He could even make out the keep really far off. What truly caught his attention, however¡ªwith a shocked hitch of his entire body¡ªwas the Eternal Guardian flying in closer and closer. [Transmission to Floor II] Congratulations on completing the First Floor, Denizen. Please wait patiently as you are transported to the Second Floor of the Tower of Forging. Ray blinked at the notification. Quite the timing. In fact, he suspected the System had sent it out only now because he had been a second away from panicking. He got the sense the System was controlling the Eternal Guardian, that it was his means of reaching the actual Second Floor, for some strange reason. Shuttering his response to react against the huge monster coming towards him, Ray waited until the Eternal Guardian reached his location. It floated before him, placid and nothing at all like when it had tried to crush the airship and everything within that dungeon. ¡°You want me to come in?¡± Ray asked as the monster cupped its huge hands in front of him to form a small pocket. Surprisingly, the Eternal Guardian nodded. The gesture was unmistakable. It could understand him. Or maybe, it had done this before and the typical experience was one of confusion and consternation. Just what Ray was feeling. Swallowing, with most of the hair on his arms standing up straight, Ray stepped onto the huge hands. The palms were solider than he expected. He panicked a little bit when the hands closed around him some more, but they didn¡¯t grip him and squeeze him to death. Instead, he got the impression the monster was shielding him. And then it flew straight up. ¡°Take it easy!¡± Ray shouted. The Eternal Guardian didn¡¯t respond, only going straight into the sky at the speed of what felt like a rocket. Ray clung to its fingers, each of which was a bit taller and thicker than him. The haze grew denser and denser around them, the air bursting in through the gaps between the fingers. No wonder the monster was shielding him. ¡°How much longer?¡± Ray asked after the ascent continued for a while. The monster didn¡¯t respond. He couldn¡¯t be too annoyed, because his sight was then arrested by the change in his surroundings. It should have become colder. It should have gotten harder to breathe. Ray was glad neither effect took place. It let him appreciate the shift between Floors much better. The Floors were disconnected. Ray wasn¡¯t sure how he could tell, but he was positive that in between the First and Second Floor, the Eternal Guardian was rising through his old, original world. Or the Tower¡¯s walls were transparent in between Floors. That could be true too. Most likely, because he really ought to have been suffocating as he froze to death on actual Earth. Right that moment though, Ray saw oceans. He witnessed their boundary against the continents. Snow-capped peaks of titanic mountains stabbed through the clouds. It was breathtaking. He could only stare agog. Was this what astronauts witnessed as they headed for the moon? Distantly, Ray figured he should have recognized the sights. The Tower of Forging had risen up in Wisconsin. The Great Lakes, frosty Canada up north, forests and smaller lakes all around, plains to the far east and south¡ªthose where what he should have been seeing, right? But by that point, Ray had seen enough to know that the Tower and the System worked in mysterious ways sometimes. What he truly understood was the sense of scale. Of how far he had come. Both in terms of his own growth under the System, and literally, now that he was reaching a height that airplanes called home. Without warning, the world went dark. [Floor II] Welcome, Denizen, to the Second Floor of the Tower of Forging. B2 Chapter 1 (68): Second Floor When Ray was able to see again, he was already on the Second Floor. At least, he hoped it was the Second Floor. The System notification had already welcomed him, after all. It was just that all he could see around him were plain white walls, the missing roof providing him a large window through which he could see the Eternal Guardian flying away. For a moment, he considered calling it back. He had the Flight Mana crystal. With Channel Mana, he was sure he could use it to make the Tower Node of the Songstress function correctly and control that ginormous monster. Not yet. He didn¡¯t want to use up the only source¡ªlimited at that¡ªof Flight Mana he had. Not before he had figured out how to acquire more or convert more using the Tower Node of the Abstractor. ¡°It¡¯s not the last you¡¯ve seen of me,¡± he told the behemoth dwindling in the distance. [Floor II] Welcome, Denizen, to the Second Floor of the Tower of Forging. Having risen to the challenges of the Tower, here you can realize your ambitions and make your dreams a reality. Please review your Objectives and proceed as you see fit. Calculating objectives based on [Path of Lifeblood Chaos] and [Tower Conqueror]¡­ Objective 1: Destroy the connection between the Floors [0/1] Objective 2: Defeat a Spirespine [0/1] Objective 2: Defeat 3 Viledrakes [0/3] Objective 4: Defeat 5 Lostcallers [0/5] Objective 5: Defeat 2,000 Elementals [0/2,000] Objective 6: Defeat the plague [0/1] Objective 7: Defeat an Arch Imitator [0/1] Objective 8: Clear 5 dungeons [0/5] Hidden Objective 1: Find 2 Tower Nodes [0/2] Hidden Objective 2: Unveil the secret of the Floor [0/1] Personal Objective 1: Meet new Denizens [0/10] Personal Objective 2: Conquer an enemy Base [0/1] Denizen, go forth and continue your conquest of the Tower of Forging! Ray took a good while to look through those Objectives. Some of those made sense. Some others¡­ were a bit wild. Defeating two thousand of anything sounded insane. Ray could only hope they were small, weak creatures who tended to bunch of up together, which would at least allow him to kill them pretty easily. But the requirement of two thousand took the task from tedious to borderline ridiculous. Besides that, what in the world did the System mean by asking him to destroy the connection between the Floors? Wasn¡¯t that insane? Why would Ray even want to do something like that? His goal was to climb higher up the Tower, to face more and more difficult challenges to make sure he continued growing. Destroying the Floor¡¯s connection made it sound like he¡¯d be stuck on his current Floor. He really didn¡¯t want that. Ugh. ¡°What the fuck, System?¡± Ray asked. ¡°You want to me trap myself here?¡± It didn¡¯t reply. He wished he could talk to the same entity he had met when he had first been brought into the Tower of Forging, the one who had accelerated his class and path pickings. Would that¡­ administrator have explained what all his Objectives meant? He doubted it. For just a moment, Ray felt rather alone. He had no one to ask anything, no one to count on for answers, no one to even share the shock of the strange set of Objectives. It would have been nice if the Eternal Guardian had stayed for a little longer. At least, until Ray headed out. He tutted, then shook his head. Damn, he was turning woolly. Ray blamed it on spending too much time with other people on the First Floor. If he had gone at the whole thing on his own, these pesky feelings of loneliness wouldn¡¯t be troubling him. As much. Deciding not to waste time pondering over all the Objectives at once, Ray got going. The very first step he took brought up another glowing blue window with flashing white letters. [Primordial Gauge¡ªDungeon] Imitator¡¯s First Conquest [Tier 9] The Imitators¡¯ greatest sign of being never truly satisfied manifests in this long forgotten manor. Once the hallowed ground of their first true foothold on the world, it now lies nearly abandoned as they have sought and obtained other settlements. Nevertheless, the structure remains stable, and holds the dregs of their civilization the Imitators never cared for. Oh, huh A Tier 9 dungeon right from the start. Looked like Ray wasn¡¯t going to have a lot of trouble getting Essence here. Excellent. Ray looked around as he got moving. The white walls seemed modern somehow. Like plaster. The floor, which was white too, had a marble-like sheen that was almost reflective. For a long-abandoned ruin. It was strangely spotless. He barely caught any dirt or dust anywhere. Ray himself was probably a ton dirtier. Far above, the sky was heavy and grey. The clouds were literally sinking. Bulges and streams all pointed down like the clouds had grown weight. It was strange, and eerie in a way. The room opened up into a corridor lined with the same white plaster. Ray kept walking. It seemed a bit too peaceful for a Tier 9 dungeon. No sign of traps. No Dungeon Obstacles yet. Where were the monsters? Passing through another empty room and going through more corridors eventually brought him into another little inner courtyard as he was starting to think of them. Another chamber with one exit at the opposite end and no roof at all. At least the sky didn¡¯t appear it had sunk even lower. That was when Ray spotted the other person in the room. Person. A seeming person who hadn¡¯t been noticed by Primordial Gauge. ¡°Hey, there¡­¡± Despite Ray¡¯s trepidation, his friendly greeting quickly dwindled to nothing. He realized it wasn¡¯t exactly a person like he had first thought. This thing looked a lot like a human being, but it couldn¡¯t be an actual man, could it? It had the general shape and figure of a short human. Flat chested torso, a hairless, masculine head, two arms and two legs. But its skin was whitish-grey, like the belly of a fish, except somewhat shiny and chrome. Also, there was no sign of any clothes. Just that shiny, greyish-white skin. Basically, a fucking warboy from apocalyptic Australia. The thing¡ªhe-?¡ªturned to face Ray with an eerie smile. Really not making him feel welcome here. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°A new¡­ person,¡± he said. ¡°Welcome. What brings you here, person?¡± Ray really wanted to ask this weirdo what exactly he was, but that would have been a bad introduction. ¡°I¡¯m looking for a way out of this dungeon. Do you know which direction I should go?¡± ¡°A dungeon? Are you suggesting you are trapped?¡± ¡°Well¡­ I hate to break it to you, but since you¡¯re here with me, you¡¯re kind of trapped too, right?¡± ¡°Am I now? I do not feel trapped. I feel free. Capable of going wherever I wish.¡± ¡°And yet you haven¡¯t told me where the end of the dungeon is.¡± Ray wasn¡¯t stupid. The dungeon¡¯s name was the very hint, even if it¡¯s description had entirely been some kind of weird and not very helpful lore. Imitator¡¯s Conquest. That was the dungeon¡¯s name. Ray might very well be standing in front of one of those Imitators. ¡°As you wish then,¡± said the strange not-person. ¡°I can tell you where to go. In return, however, I want to be recompensed properly.¡± Ray¡¯s hackles rose, though he tried not to show it. ¡°What sort of payment do you want?¡± ¡°Can you spare some food?¡± Ray blinked. He had gotten some more Mana fruits before leaving the First Floor. It would be interesting to see if he continued getting more now that he had arrived on the Second Floor, but that was besides the point. For now, he took one out and offered it up. ¡°Will this do?¡± Ray asked. The not-person accepted it and stared down at it for a while. He still had that eerie smile. Then he proceeded to prod the fruit, before first sniffing, then licking, and finally holding it against his humanlike ears. ¡°Thank you,¡± he said, chewing quickly and swallowing it whole. ¡°I appreciate it.¡± ¡°Great. And now, my directions?¡± ¡°One moment.¡± Something strange was happening. If Ray¡¯s hackles had been raised before, now they were flying off his shoulders. The thing was turning bloated. For a weird moment, Ray really thought the not-person was going to let loose a massive burp. But he kept growing and growing, while still mostly maintaining his shape as a person. Ray stepped back. He focused on Primordial Gauge. Still nothing. The hell was happening? In half a minute, the expansion stopped. The not-person was now nearly twice as big as he had been before. Where he had stood over a head shorter than Ray before, now he was tall enough that he could knee Ray in the face without even needing to raise his leg much. ¡°Uh.¡± Ray was glad his voice was still steady. ¡°So, those directions? You know the way out of the dungeon, right? Mind pointing me in the right way to go?¡± The big guy looked down on Ray. The smile that had seemed eerie before was now almost predatory. ¡°You have more food?¡± ¡°I already gave you some. It¡¯s your turn to hand over the info, big guy. Tell me where the dungeon¡¯s exit is. If you want, you can come with me, and after I reach the exit, I can hand over another Mana fruit then.¡± ¡°No.¡± It took a step forward rather threateningly, though still with that damning smile. ¡°I want more food now.¡± [Primordial Gauge¡ªDungeon Obstacle] Bad Bargain Once mired in a bad deal, often the only recourse is to break free with violence. Give in once, and all will be taken from you till you are dry as a husk. So escape by any means necessary. Oh, so now he got the Dungeon Obstacle notification. At least it clarified what his next action ought to be. Ray stepped back, then activated Soulstrike. True Mana sizzled even harder within him. It was always burning in his soul now, a constant hum of energy that radiated everywhere inside, but whenever he used a spell, it turned into a small wildfire. Now, it crafted up an impressive arm of monochrome energy, where he shaped the end into a tapered point. Impaling form. The thing reacted, which was finally when Primordial Gauge decided to work. [Primordial Gauge] Lesser Imitator [Monster] [Tier 8] [Level 20] Artificial creatures that have gained sentience and control to such a degree that they are now more or less independent. Capable of assuming nearly any form, given the consumption of the right pieces, their potential for growth as both individuals and as a society is thought to be frighteningly potent. Skills: Mimic Form [Tier 5]: Assume the full form of any being that you have consumed. While in this form, your true nature is suppressed and cannot be detected. Activating any other ability dispels this form. At Tier 6, this skill can store up to 6 different forms. Fluid Form [Tier 6]: Partially combine current form with other forms. At Tier 7, this skill can combine up to 7 different forms at once. Channel Mana [Tier 4]: Channel up to 5 different kinds of Mana to create different effects, depending on the variant of Mana channelled. Digest [Tier 5]: Absorb a portion of whatever you consume so that you may adapt it to your form. Malleable Matter [Tier 5]: Passive ability that makes your physical form fluid and malleable, that can be shaped around and into anything. Can be condensed to harden and vice versa. Reconstitution [Tier 4]: Use pieces of similar matter to add to your body. Added matter can bring in new forms, if such forms were stored in the original vessel. At Tier 4, this skill can draw from 4 different sources at once. Ray¡¯s glance shifted to the creature¡¯s feet. They had changed. From being simple human legs to the long talons of something like an emu or an ostrich. Or maybe a dinosaur. No wonder it had jumped back so quickly. ¡°Ah, so you reveal your true form at last,¡± Ray said. He raised his Soulstrike arm higher. ¡°Makes things a lot easier when we¡¯re not pretending, doesn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Give me more food! More food.¡± It was now the Imitator¡¯s turn to attack. The arms turned from normal to eldritch in a matter of seconds. The hand split, the fingers lengthened, the whole limb turning into a mass of tentacles that all stabbed towards Ray like they were living spears. He jumped back, using Soullife Cloak at the same time. A heavy sizzle of energy passed out from him, even as his speed and evasion went up. It made dodging the monster¡¯s attack pretty easy. The Imitator came after him real quick, though. Its taloned feet were incredibly fast, and Ray had to take to the air to prevent himself from being grabbed by one of those wandering tendrils. He also attempted to counter with a swipe of his Soulstrike arm, but the monster was agile enough to dodge that without difficulty. As such, Ray rose higher, using Mottling Spiritguard at the same time. He bid the dozen sparking spheres turn offensive, aiming them all at the Imitator. But then it generated wings and flew. A burst of buzzing power grew from the monster¡¯s back, creating wings that kind of reminded him of fairies. Except, these ones fluttered like that of a hummingbird, thrumming so fast in the air that they were almost invisible. The Imitator launched itself off the ground, evading all the Spiritguard orbs without difficulty, before shooting straight at Ray. It would have started a quick and furious aerial battle, but thankfully, the monster¡¯s own aggressiveness was its undoing. It shot past Ray as it was attempting to strike. Neither of them managed to connect, but the Imitator was faster to react. Just as it flew past, its backside exploded into a new form. Ray twisted around, just in time to see a deformed tail heading straight for him. A tail with mandibles and small scuttling legs running along its¡ªno, that was a giant centipede emerging from the Imitator¡¯s ass. Options flitted through his head. With a start, he realized he knew what to do. Ray set his mouth just as the centipede arrived. He didn¡¯t need to dodge with too much effort. Timing his evasion and effort just so, Ray swished to the side by two feet so that the centipede shot past him. Then he slammed in his Soulstrike arm, turning the end into a grasping point with the application of True Mana. The Imitator jerked to a halt as Ray caught its ¡°tail¡±. ¡°Got you now,¡± he shouted. Before the monster could react, he yanked. The strength in his constructed arms always surprised Ray a little. This time, he had pulled so hard that the Imitator was bodily pulled from his flight to be slammed to the ground. That impact made the floor crack and squished its wings and half its back, its greyish matter spreading out like a pool of oil. Wasting no time, Ray shot in. He kept the Soulstrike arm in the shape of a fist and smashed it in, setting off a huge explosion of crimson flecked, black-and-white energy. Even still, that didn¡¯t kill the monster. Bits and pieces of it rolled away from the explosion, little chrome globules somehow escaping the fiery burst. A bit of distance away, more of those silvery flecks were appearing from nowhere and everywhere. Rising out of the ground, seeping out of the wall. The hell were they coming from? Had to be the Reconstitution ability he had read. Nothing else came to Ray¡¯s mind. As the creature reformed, Ray used Lifeblood Soulform to draw up the flying Greater Windbane Maw. He was not about to do nothing still while his opponent was busy. ¡°More food,¡± the Imitator said, now nearly back to normal. Or, as normal as it had been before starting the fight with Ray ¡°All I wanted from you was more food. Must you make this so difficult?¡± Ray frowned, then stood straighter. ¡°Alright, fine. I¡¯ll give you one more Mana fruit.¡± To show his sincerity, he pulled it out too, then held it out for the monster. ¡°In return, you¡¯ll stop hounding me for more food. Deal?¡± ¡°Certainly.¡± With his gait halfway between human and whatever the strange talons had provided during the battle, the Imitator approached. The smile was back. Ray couldn¡¯t be sure if it that slash of a grin on its mouth had ever left, even during the fight. When it was about ten or so feet away, Ray chucked the fruit straight at it. ¡°Catch!¡± Or rather, he moved his arm like he was about to throw it. Even the monster was startled, stopping as it moved its head in expectation of a fruit coming flying in its direction. But the Mana fruit never left Ray¡¯s grip. Instead, the draconic maw fired off its fiery laser from the side. Fast as the monster might have been, the Imitator didn¡¯t see it coming. No speed in the world would help when one couldn¡¯t even catch sight of an attack. The flying maw¡¯s overpowered breath washed over the entire area. It burned away the Imitator in no time, the monster¡¯s form disappearing inside the laser breath. Ray didn¡¯t hold it there. Instead, it forced the draconic maw to paint the walls with its chaotic fire, to destroy the ground in the same manner. No more Reconstitution. Not on Ray¡¯s watch. There was so much firepower that Ray was even forced to create an Impervious Shell and Mottling Sphereguard in a shielding form. The final notification confirmed his success. [Enemy Defeated¡ª Lesser Imitator] Tier 8 Monster: Lesser Imitator [Level 20] x1 Essence: +1,600 Knowledge: +3 True Mana Restored: +200 Essence to Level 23: 27,240/30,500 Knowledge to next Threshold: 609/800 Okay, that was decent. If Ray played things right, he ought to be able to get to level 23 just inside this dungeon. He ought to remember to use Spiritsorb on the next one he encountered. ¡°Good work, soldier,¡± Ray told the maw. ¡°You are now my official mimic-killer.¡± He offered it a short salute before dismissing it. Now he had a good strategy for dealing with the Imitators without getting into pointlessly long-winded fights. Ray decided to get moving. Hopefully, one of these corridors or chambers would reveal more of what he was supposed to do. He tried flying straight out of the room since the ceiling was gone. That was when it turned out the roof wasn¡¯t gone. It had just transformed into the ceiling. B2 Chapter 2 (69): Imitator Dungeon Ray really couldn¡¯t be blamed for thinking he was looking at the sky. Alright sure, the heavens looked weird through the seemingly missing roof. But how was that supposed to clue him in that a mimic would not only take the form of a ceiling, but would also disguise itself by looking like the sky? Insanity. Just as he was about to pass through where the ceiling should have been, the sky split. A line of pure darkness opened up, then widened, all in a fraction of a second. Ray didn¡¯t even see the teeth before they snapped close around him. He was already halfway through before his heart had lurched at the change and he had desperately brought his ascent to a halt. Too late. The huge mouth closed around him, and the only reason the fangs didn¡¯t gore him all over was because of his wings drawing in close, providing the minutest of buffers against the teeth. Primordial Gauge finally activated and told him there was an Imitator above him. Well, thanks. Above Ray, the darkness was changing in colour. It was becoming that chrome material again, the white-grey consistency that had made up the last Imitator. And it was rapidly closing around his head. Muttering out a curse, and still stuck at his spot, Ray called up his trusty mimic-killer. The draconic maw materialized somewhere outside, because he could feel the mental connection, but definitely couldn¡¯t see it. It made him wonder just how far away from his body he could make a construct appear. Of course, such considerations were quickly snuffed out as he was being eaten. Ray tried to lift up his feet as his True Mana construct got to work. It was hard. For the first time, he could feel the scorch of his own powers upon him. The sensation was painful, to say the least, and he had to apply a good bit of his Recovery to his lower body. Thankfully, it was even more effective on the actual target. The Imitator¡¯s giant mouth opened wide as a throaty scream deafened Ray. But at least that let him go. He had to reconstruct his mostly crushed wings to keep himself from landing hard on the floor, but he was now free. More than that, he was now capable of dishing out just the payment a tricksy little mimic deserved from tempting him and trying to bite him in half. This time, he just spammed Spiritsorb after Spiritsorb. The monster took some beating. It had tried to change its shape to something smaller and more agile after the draconic maw had unleashed its fiery ire. But with Ray piling on with the relentless attacks, it had little to no space to do anything. In moments, it was simply a burnt out puddle. [Enemy Defeated¡ªLesser Imitator] Tier 8 Monster: Lesser Imitator [Level 21] x1 Essence: +1,680 Knowledge: +3 True Mana Restored: +210 Essence to Level 23: 28,920/30,500 Knowledge to next Threshold: 612/800 [Lifeblood Graveyard Activated] Spiritsorb has absorbed the soul of a defeated Lesser Imitator. Please select which Aspect of the targeted soul to retain. Soul Aspects
  • Mimic Form [Tier 5]: Assume the full form of any being that you have consumed. While in this form, your true nature is suppressed and cannot be detected. Activating any other ability dispels this form. At Tier 6, this skill can store up to 6 different forms.
  • Fluid Form [Tier 6]: Partially combine current form with other forms. At Tier 7, this skill can combine up to 7 different forms at once.
  • Digest [Tier 5]: Absorb a portion of whatever you consume so that you may adapt it to your form.
  • Malleable Matter [Tier 5]: Passive ability that makes your physical form fluid and malleable, that can be shaped around and into anything. Can be condensed to harden and vice versa.
  • Reconstitution [Tier 4]: Use pieces of similar matter to add to your body. Added matter can bring in new forms, if such forms were stored in the original vessel. At Tier 4, this skill can draw from 4 different sources at once.
  • Lesser Imitator Glob [Tier 7]: Amorphous chunk of a Lesser Imitator that can change shape due at a moment¡¯s notice and be combined with other Globs.
Ray blinked at the offerings. He realized he could create his own mimic. How insane was that? He couldn¡¯t do it just after killing one of these monsters, though. By the looks of things, he would need at least two more kills with a Spiritsorb thrown into the fights. It looked like Imitators needed Mimic Form, Malleable Matter, and most likely, Lesser Imitator Globules to function fully as a mimic. That¡¯s what he understood from all that, at least. A hefty cost, just to have his own mimic. But then again, he didn¡¯t have anything better to replace the useless Brighthorn Soul Aspects at the moment. Ray also understood that he already had the entire function of a mimic. That was how his powers worked, after all. He absorbed the skills and other aspects of his opponents, then created his own versions of them. That was, in a sense, mimicry. Not much different from the Imitators he had fought so far. For now, Ray took in Malleable Matter. The other two he¡¯d get from his next kills. Before moving on, he look straight up. Where the Imitator had been, there was indeed a ceiling. Flat and white like the floors and the walls. He tutted. ¡°Figured,¡± he muttered, staring accusingly at the ceiling. Ray couldn¡¯t help but be suspicious as he moved on. In the first fight, he had seen a glut of those Globules that made up the Imitators coming from everywhere. Plus, there was the one that had copied the ceiling had tried to eat him alive. He dismissed then resummoned the Greater Windbane Maw again. ¡°Shoot fire at everything here,¡± he said. ¡°Leave no stone unburnt, got it?¡± The draconic maw couldn¡¯t answer¡ªalthough it would have been nice if it had been capable of nodding¡ªbut it began following his order. As soon as they headed out, it started torching the dungeon. Perfect. He crushed a True Mana shard as they moved. Just one was enough to fill him up to capacity. That was good. He¡¯d have to see how he could acquire more, but before that, he didn¡¯t want to use them all up too soon. Ray was pretty certain he was killing off dozens upon dozens of the little critters, but he didn¡¯t receive any notification for doing so. He supposed they had to be an actual monster. After all, just as there were monstrous and alien animals in this Tower, there had to be monstrous and alien bacteria too. It wasn¡¯t like he got experience for annihilating hordes of those daily. Although, he supposed he ought to be thankful he hadn¡¯t caught some rare disease yet. No Essence, but no illnesses either. A good trade-off. If only these things were the Elementals from his Objectives. Then he could at least be making progress towards Objective completion. Ray did end up meeting more Imitators. He had been right to be suspicious of everything. His next would-be killer was the floor. A literal stretch of stone tiles that looked no different from the rest. Ray had only noticed without his construct torching it because its form had rippled as the walls and ceiling was washed with chaotic flames. Hmm. This could be a good spot for testing. Ordering his construct to halt its arson, Ray used his new spells. First went Project Presence. The sensation was rough. His whole body shivered from within, the sizzling sensation almost making him want to scream. It lasted only a second though, thank goodness, though the subsequent disorientation was very difficult to get used to. Primordial Gauge had warned him to prepare by closing off as many of his body¡¯s senses as he could, but it still hit hard. It felt as though Ray had lost his body. He was definitely incorporeal now. His eyes saw more colours than he could name, his ears heard strange sounds he couldn¡¯t, and his sense of smell made the dungeon seem impossibly musty. Even his perception had heightened. He could sense the life of other creatures¡ªImitators, of course¡ªfarther off. When Ray looked around from his new spiritual vantage, he found himself looking at¡­ himself? Oh, so the spell¡¯s description was literal. It had physically projected his spirit and transferred his consciousness to said projection. This was wild, to say the least. He looked weird. Standing there with his eyes closed and hands held to the side like an overly polite schoolboy. Then the floor rumbled. He looked down to see the Imitator was assuming its real form, opening its mouth wide to swallow him up. Huh. So it had detected his spirit and considered it edible. So strange. Ray was almost tempted to see what happened if it ate him, but he had another spell to try. As such, he activated Spectral Step. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Back in his physical form, Ray found himself transported into the Imitator¡¯s mouth. With no small amount of screaming and some desperate help from his draconic maw construct, Ray eventually killed off the Imitator before he was eaten. [Enemy Defeated¡ªLesser Imitator] Tier 8 Monster: Lesser Imitator [Level 20] x1 Essence: +1,600 Knowledge: +3 True Mana Restored: +200 [Level Up!] Reward
  • +5 Intellect, +5 Spirit, +2 Vitality +2 Agility, +10 allocatable free stats.
  • 1 True Mana Tier Point
Essence to Level 24: 20/33,900 Knowledge to next Threshold: 615/800 Ray clambered upright, breathing hard. Damn. He hadn¡¯t aimed Spectral Step properly, so it had directed him to his last-used spell. Plus, the disorientation had contributed to the chaotic feeling and the True Mana drain had been big. Well, lesson learned. But hey, there was the level up he was looking for. He assigned the Tier Point to Lifeblood Graveyard to take it to Tier 10 and assigned all of his free points to Spirit. There. Now he¡¯d hit Spirit¡¯s next Tier threshold with his next level up. Since he had used Spiritsorb, he was free to grab the Mimic Form ability. One more left. Ray also tried testing Abstract Conversion. It looked like he could pick one kind of Mana to absorb, then immediately pick another to convert that absorbed Mana into, so long as he had something of the target Mana in his possession or vicinity. This had the potential of being quite powerful. He tested it then. A quick poke around with Primordial Gauge showed him the dungeon was stuffed to the brim with strange, colourless Mana. A variant he didn¡¯t recognize. The bigger problem was that Ray didn¡¯t have a specific target he wanted to convert to. Sure, he had the Flight Mana crystal, but would Abstract conversion use it up if he tried converting to Flight Mana? He kind of wanted to keep it in reserve till he found a way to get more Flight Mana¡­ Oh. He had an Empty Mana crystal too. Its name made him think there was something called Empty Mana, but that wasn¡¯t the case. The crystal was just hollow. So, Ray focused, using up a small amount of his own True Mana, alongside the strange Mana he drew in¡ªPrimordial Gauge informed him it was Mimic Mana, interestingly¡ªand filled up the Empty Mana crystal. In seconds, it glowed silvery-grey, just like the Flight Mana crystal. Which hadn¡¯t been used up. Ray smiled. So all Abstract Conversion needed was the target Mana to be in Ray¡¯s presence. It didn¡¯t need to consume any bit of the target Mana. Neat. He¡¯d have to remember that, going forward. For now, Ray focused on completing the dungeon. He came across two more of the Imitators. The third one gave him the Lesser Imitator Globules, the last just granting him some nice Essence. [Enemy Defeated¡ªLesser Imitator] Tier 8 Monster: Lesser Imitator [Level 21] x2 Essence: +3,360 Knowledge: +6 True Mana Restored: +200 Essence to Level 24: 3,380/33,900 Knowledge to next Threshold: 621/800 Eventually, Ray came across another little Dungeon Obstacle. It was a blank wall. [Primordial Gauge¡ªDungeon Obstacle] Imitation Wall In their efforts to contain their failures within the dungeon, the succeeding Imitators decided to employ trickery as a means of imprisonment. One cannot get out if one cannot even find the exit. As such, a simple wall of mimicry prevents anything from emerging. Even force fails, for the consistency is too great to barge through. Ray stared. He was pretty sure this was the direction he had to go. Except, there was no doorway or exit or anything like that, apart from the one he had just come through. Well, the Dungeon Obstacle had said that this was a prison of trickery. Something to fool the Imitators. Because that¡¯s what he got from the description. One of the three walls that had no doorways was fake, and Ray was going to have to find which one and get through it somehow. Although¡­ had the dungeon¡¯s creators sought to fool the Imitators with more Imitators? That seemed strange. Ray focused on his objective. He could burn through the fake wall, just as he had burned down the others. But then, there was the rest of that warning. The idea that he couldn¡¯t destroy or get through the mimic-made barrier with just the brute power of his construct nagged at him. He had already used the chaotic fire continuously enough, even if at a much reduced capacity, that he¡¯d had to use another True Mana shard. Not good. Then Ray recalled he had a completely new construct to try out. Holding out his hand, he cast Lifeblood Graveyard once more. The Imitator that formed wasn¡¯t like the ones he had fought so far. His was a shapeless, somewhat slimy blob. Instead of the chrome skin that the others boasted, this one was dull reddish-black. At least it was moving in its spot a little. A sign of life. Otherwise, Ray would have started to worry he had done something wrong with his summoning. ¡°Hey, little buddy,¡± he said. Like his other construct, it didn¡¯t respond. ¡°Can you help me figure out which of these walls is a mimic just like you?¡± It didn¡¯t move. ¡°Uh, my bad. An Imitator just like you.¡± At that, the little red-black blob got moving. Huh. Temperamental little mimic, wasn¡¯t it? It was also pretty small. Ray wouldn¡¯t have had trouble cuddling it. Wasn¡¯t it supposed to be at Tier 10, thanks to the Tier of Lifeblood Graveyard? He would have expected something much more¡­ substantial at that Tier. The constructed Imitator reached the wall to Ray¡¯s right. Then it dove right into the wall. Ray blinked. There had been a small ripple, like the plain white surface was liquid instead of solid stone. For a moment, he wondered if he was supposed to follow his construct inside the wall too, though that seemed ridiculous and dangerous. Then the seemingly smooth stretch of the dungeon flickered. It became an Imitator, its surface going from the white of the stone to the shiny grey-white of the rest of its kind. Except for one spot where it was reddish-black. A rumble emanated from deeper within the wall, and Ray tensed. But all that happened was that his constructed mimic burst out like it had been spit from a mouth. ¡°Welcome back,¡± Ray said. In answer, its form glimmered and changed until it looked just like the wall. ¡°Well, now I see how you can turn into stuff. At least you¡¯re big now.¡± It was indeed as tall and wide as the actual wall. In other words, its original size was misleading. It basically didn¡¯t matter. Ray scratched his head. ¡°But how does this help¡­?¡± He was really starting to think the entire exercise had unfortunately been fruitless. Even the draconic maw flew in closer, almost grudgingly so, like it had been fearing it would need to step up. Ray froze. ¡°Hold on, hold on.¡± He turned around looking back at the way he had come. Then he headed back. ¡°Hey, Imitator. Come over here.¡± His constructed Imitator reassumed its original bloblike form and followed. The plan was simple. So simple, in fact, that it actually worked. When Ray led his mimic back to the wall that was actually an Imitator¡ªthat had again transformed back to copying a blank wall¡ªit dove in again. This time, though, it didn¡¯t disappear. Instead, it formed a tunnel. Ray grinned. ¡°Can¡¯t believe that actually worked.¡± After seeing the construct take the form of a wall, Ray had gotten a new idea. All he had to do was tell his own little mimic to take the form of the entryway between the wall instead of the wall itself. And the passage beyond too, of course. Right as he had planned, his Imitator attached itself on top of the actual Imitator and began to transform. If there was a struggle between the two, if the actual one was resisting the intrusion of the constructed mimic, then Ray wasn¡¯t able to tell. To his eyes, it just looked like the wall was dissolving in the middle to reveal the same kind of corridor he had walked through. With a tiny hint of trepidation, Ray proceeded in. His draconic maw followed. ¡°No, you don¡¯t have to burn anything here,¡± he said. His flying draconic maw almost looked disappointed. The trek was long. Not surprising. Ray had been warned that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to brute force his way through the mimic wall. He realized it was because of its sheer mass. The wall was so long and thick, he probably would have ended up expending way too much True Mana. ¡°Thanks, little buddy,¡± Ray said to the mimic as it returned back to normal after depositing him in another chamber. This one thankfully had an exit. He dismissed it, then began moving. There were another couple of mimics in his path. Both were easily taken care of thanks to his construct spewing its chaotic flames. [Enemy Defeated¡ªLesser Imitator] Tier 8 Monster: Lesser Imitator [Level 20] x2 Essence: +3,200 Knowledge: +6 True Mana Restored: +200 Essence to Level 24: 6,580/33,900 Knowledge to next Threshold: 627/800 Then he finally reached the last chamber. [Primordial Gauge¡ªDungeon Obstacle] Room But Not The exit to the dungeon remains shrouded in imitation. After all, the Imitators decided that if there was a Lesser Imitator that could pass through their trickery, here would be one final guardian that would prevent any from getting out. By force, if necessary. Ray was really starting to wonder who were these more successful Imitators. Had the one he had just passed through been one of them? It had been pretty big. Similarly, the one before him was huge too. It wasn¡¯t hiding. The monster made it clear that it was the entire large room before him, the walls, ceiling, and floor all the same greyish-white chrome in colour. Primordial Gauge was acting up too. He had dismissed the spell the last time against the wall Imitator, imagining that he would see something he had already seen. But maybe it was different. So, he let it run its course this time. [Primordial Gauge] Greater Imitator [Monster] [Tier 9] [Level 23] Artificial creatures that have gained sentience and control to such a degree that they are now more or less independent. Capable of assuming nearly any form, given the consumption of the right pieces, their potential for growth as both individuals and as a society is thought to be frighteningly potent. The greater variants are often ones that have attained a certain level of intelligent proclivity above the level of mindless animals. Skills: Mimic Form [Tier 6]: Assume the full form of any being that you have consumed. While in this form, your true nature is suppressed and cannot be detected. Activating any other ability dispels this form. At Tier 6, this skill can store up to 6 different forms. Fluid Form [Tier 7]: Partially combine current form with other forms. At Tier 7, this skill can combine up to 7 different forms at once. Channel Mana [Tier 5]: Channel up to 5 different kinds of Mana to create different effects, depending on the variant of Mana channelled. Digest [Tier 5]: Absorb a portion of whatever you consume so that you may adapt it to your form. Malleable Matter [Tier 6]: Passive ability that makes your physical form fluid and malleable, that can be shaped around and into anything. Can be condensed to harden and vice versa. Reconstitution [Tier 5]: Use pieces of similar matter to add to your body. Added matter can bring in new forms, if such forms were storied in the original vessel. At Tier 5, this skill can draw from 5 different sources at once. Advanced Form [Tier 6]: Advanced stage of transformation that allows the Imitator to occupy and mimic anything upon observation. At Tier 6, this skill allows attaining a mass of up to 60 tonnes. Most of the list of abilities were the same, but the sixty tonnes at the end took Ray aback. That was a lot of mass. It also, it allowed transformation with just observation. That sounded way too overpowered, if you asked him. The description also said a greater amount of intelligence. It made sense if these things had been put here on purpose to prevent anything from getting out. That also suggested he wasn¡¯t going to be tricking his way out of the encounter. Though¡­ he didn¡¯t want to. Ray could feel a little grin etching itself on his face. He wanted to face and beat that thing. How else was he going to get all the Essence he needed? So, Ray stepped forward and attacked. For just a second, the ridiculousness of fighting a room almost made him laugh. Then, just as his draconic maw flew in with its mouth flaming, a spear of the same material that made up the Imitators struck his construct. The maw flew back, zipping away from the spike. But the Greater Imitator had achieved what it wanted it. It began to change form. The monster turned¡­ Ah, shit. It turned into Ray. B2 Chapter 3 (70): Greater Mimicry Ray could hardly believe the audacity. A mimic that had turned into him without even having interacted with him directly? How messed up was that? To be fair, the Greater Imitator didn¡¯t look exactly like him. It resembled more the first Lesser Imitator¡¯s form Ray had met near the beginning of the dungeon. A clearly male human body, weirdly unclothed but lacking any genitals. It was hairless too. The only real similarity between it and Ray was the similar build and height. But it was the mimicked draconic maw construct that made Ray frown. After attacking his construct, the Imitator had allowed a chunk of its own body to float up and turn into a chrome version of the Greater Windbane Maw, complete with the wings coming out from the corners of the head. Ray supposed it wasn¡¯t surprising. One of the skills¡ªAdvanced Form¡ªhad described this phenomenon. He just hadn¡¯t expected it to be the Greater Imitator¡¯s go-to. The fake construct roared out, perhaps trying to intimidate the originals. ¡°Yeah, yeah, you¡¯re loud,¡± Ray said. ¡°But can you breathe fire?¡± The fake construct didn¡¯t answer. Instead, it flew straight at the original with its jaws wide open and seeking to chomp it in half. Ray shouted at his flying draconic head, but it was already on top of things. It evaded the fake¡¯s charge easily. Then it turned and attempted to counterattack, though the mimic version¡¯s speed made that difficult. He was considering assisting his construct, but his attention was dragged back to the Imitator who was charging at him too. Setting his body, Ray waited until his opponent got in close. Just within the range of Soulstrike. Then he thrust his hand forward, activating the spell in the same instant. The arm of True Mana appeared in a millisecond. A large, monochrome limb rising off Ray¡¯s shoulder and tapering to an impaling point shot at the onrushing Imitator that was still over twenty metres away. A point within the outer range of his spell. But just as Ray slammed it, the imitator created its own version almost simultaneously. An oversized chrome arm burst out of the mimic¡¯s shoulder, before blocking Ray¡¯s one. In the very next second, another huge arm burst out of the mimic¡¯s gut and thrust itself straight at Ray. Cursing, Ray jumped to the side to prevent himself from being impaled. It was a close call. The side of his Shaper Raiment was ripped open, but at least he suffered no wounds. For the time being, Ray disengaged and stepped back. His thoughts ran fast. The constructs were still engaged so he couldn¡¯t rely on them, and if he created more, then surely the Imitator could do so as well. That it hadn¡¯t done so already was perhaps a stroke of luck. The bigger problem was that Ray couldn¡¯t use any more different spells. Otherwise, his opponent would just throw copies right back at his face. Basically, he¡¯d be better off fighting this thing with only the spells he had already used so far. This fast-thoughts thing from crossing the Tier 2 of Intellect was coming in quite handy. Even as Ray planned, the monster only charged in for another attack. It created more arms, all in an effort to overwhelm Ray. He was not giving it the opportunity to do so. Maintaining good distance prevented some of the blows from landing. For the rest, Ray recalled all the lessons Gritty had imparted about fighting and used that. He held his two True Mana arms close and blocked a bunch of hits from the Imitator. Trying to get his own hits off proved difficult. There were just too many arms, too many blows raining in. Ray was forced on the back foot, even after he kept a good distance. But then, he could create use Soulstrike more too. It was calculated. The Imitator¡¯s relentless assault made it very susceptible to surprise, which Ray used to full advantage. He called up a third Soulstrike, crafting the arm over his back and head to lay it down like a shield. It took the brunt of the subsequent blows, leaving the monster wide open to receive a quick one-two from Ray¡¯s original set of True Mana arms. The Imitator drew back, then immediately retaliated. Ray stepped to the side, blocked another few blows, then punched with an upper cut from distance to stagger his opponent back. It went like that for a while. The next exchange sent the monster reeling after a straight jab to its jaw. After that, Ray hammered away with several quick punches to its midsection. Every blow made his chaotic energy corrupt away bits and pieces of the Imitator¡¯s body, causing the strange, malleable flesh to rupture or liquify or even turn tumorous. Ray grinned. It was a bit wild to think he was fisticuffing against a monster with magical arms but he could do this. So long as his construct kept the fake one busy, so long as he wasn¡¯t distracted. But it seemed the Imitator was tired of the game. It was now the monster¡¯s turn to draw back. ¡°Had enough?¡± Ray asked. The Imitator began changing form. Ray tensed. He was doing so well. But now his opponent had decided to pull out the big guns. Damnit. It was much the same as it had been with the first Imitator. Wings burst from its back, a centipede tail lashed out, its legs turned hard and rocky and huge. Ray created another flying draconic maw construct, but the Imitator responded with several of its own. Really not looking good. More than that, he didn¡¯t want to get drawn into another furious fray. He could, sure, but was it really necessary? With everything the monster was creating, there was almost no way he¡¯d be able to get a proper hit in easily. Which wouldn¡¯t even matter. All those punches and jabs that had left so much damage were already being healed up by the globules seeping out of the ground and from the walls. Ray needed some other way of dealing with this Greater Imitator. A way that his own mimic could help with. He quickly crushed another True Mana shard and summoned his construct, ordering the blob to become the tunnel it had been the last time. It worked fast, thankfully. The passageway reformed, cutting through the middle of the chamber, though Ray didn¡¯t intend for it to go in a straight line. As such, he ordered his mimic to form it into a loop. Then he dove in. A second later, the monster attacked with incredible ferocity. All its constructs, all the things it had materialized over its body, all of them attacked at once. Every single bit of it, including the Imitator itself, dove in behind Ray into his mimic¡¯s tunnel. Just what he was going for. Ray was already running as fast as he could. It felt like his legs were getting more exercise than they had in a while. Had he always ended up relying on his wings that much? He pushed aside the idle thoughts and focused on his mimic. A quick mental order to loop back the entrance to the curving side of the tunnel ensured that the tunnel now only had one opening¡ªthe one Ray was hurtling towards. All his pursuers not far behind him were now trapped. Turning around just as he reached the end of the looping passage, Ray used Primal Spiritcraft. He called up the draconic maw to take its place at the end of his arm. Immediately, he made it fire. The compressed laser-fire breath roared into the tunnel with the impact of a bomb going off. Ray would have been flung back by the momentum, but he used his wings to hold himself steady. The Imitator wouldn¡¯t be able to see from within the tunnel, so he had nothing to worry about. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ¡°Sorry, buddy,¡± he told his mimic construct. ¡°Just hold on a little longer.¡± The chaotic fire had to be hurting. He could already see the tunnel cracking and bulging as he filled up the whole space with ferocious black-red fire. It was working, though. Nothing from the Greater Imitator emerged from the tunnel. Everything was caught. There was no escape. Ray had made sure of it. His flames would be crushing and burning everything within the passageway. Then the tunnel exploded. Burning chunks shot out in every direction. Ray flinched instinctively, covering himself against the blast. [Enemy Defeated¡ªGreater Imitator] Tier 9 Monster: Greater Imitator [Level 23] x1 Essence: +2,070 Knowledge: +3 True Mana Restored: +230 Essence to Level 24: 8,650/33,900 Knowledge to next Threshold: 630/800 Ray twisted around. His draconic head had indeed killed off the copycat maw. It was a puddle of burning, silvery mess. He gave his construct a thumbs-up. ¡°Good work.¡± Since it wasn¡¯t smart enough to respond, Ray dismissed it. His other construct didn¡¯t even show up, though. There was no sign of it anywhere. Nothing among the burning chunks of shiny, grey-white matter. It really had sacrificed itself to let Ray take down the Greater Imitator. The small bloom of guilt was pushed back a bit when he received the notification for clearing the dungeon. [Dungeon Cleared¡ªImitator¡¯s First Conquest] Rewards
  • 2 Mimic Mana shards
  • 5 True Mana shards
  • 1 True Mana Tier Point
  • 1 Inert Imitator Globule
  • +1,800 Essence
  • Reputation: +15 Cunning
Essence to Level 24: 10,450/33,900 Ray was pretty glad to have received the True Mana shards. That meant he had more of them than he had started the dungeon with. The Tier point went to Lifeblood Soulform to take it to Tier 6. He had begun to consider how he might combine his personal mimic with his other constructs. What if he disguised his Greater Windbane Maw as a part of the natural environment with the help of the Imitator, then ambushed a foe that got too close? That would be perfect. He would need to put some more Tier Points into Lifeblood Graveyard, though. What if he came across more Soul Aspects as useful as the Imitator¡¯s ones? It had taken a hefty three slots. Not inexpensive at all. He kept the Mimic Mana shards and the Inert Globule inside his Bag of Holding for the moment. Time to head out.
The dungeon¡¯s exit opened up a short corridor away. Ray went outside, then stopped to stare. This new Floor was very different from the first one. It looked like the Imitator that had disguised itself as the ceiling hadn¡¯t been lying. Unless he was still inside the dungeon and being tricked by an all-powerful Imitator. There was a non-zero chance of that being true, considering his Objective to kill an Arch Imitator. But Ray didn¡¯t feel like this was fake. Not the sky peppered with downward spiralling clouds, like tornados that never touched down. Not the gargantuan, mountain-sized spiralling growths that speared into the twisted heavens. Not the lay of the cliffs stretching out before him in the far distance, like he was standing at the foot of a continent-sized stairway. Hmm, was Ray allowed to just sit down and take a moment to absorb everything going on? He supposed he was, but it wouldn¡¯t be the ideal course of action. The important thing was that he had to decide what his course of action was going to be. It was a bit said he was in kind of the same position he had been in at the beginning of the First Floor. No map, no guidance, no certainty of where he was supposed to go. Maybe that was just the typical first-time-on-the-Floor experience. He didn¡¯t like it, though. As such, his next plan involved him heading towards the nearest landmark he could spot. Those giant, spiralling growths. Before he set out, though, he sent a message to Mary Felds. Ray: Hey, Mary. Second Floor Greetings. Hope you¡¯re still alive. If you¡¯ve figured out some kind of layout for the Second Floor, mind giving me some directions? Despite waiting several minutes, Ray didn¡¯t receive a reply. That signalled one of three things. Either the chat didn¡¯t function here the same way it did on the First Floor. Or Mary was dead or otherwise incapacitated. Or, as was more likely, she was simply ignoring him. Ah, well. Ray got going. As he headed out, he called up his flying eyeballs. Yes, two. Now that he had crossed the Intellect Tier, he felt no uncomfortable twinges or anything like that when using two extras streams of input. Ray didn¡¯t forget to use his mimic Soul Aspects to cloak his flying eyeball. It essentially made the entire construct except for the whites and the slit pupil into that grey-white chrome consistency. With a little force of will, Ray was able to make it take the form of the surroundings, effectively camouflaging the majority of the eyeball. Even the wings that let it fly were hidden. This was great. Two extra eyeballs made his field of view widen even more. It was definitely weird, though it felt strangely natural at this point. Then again, Ray was almost afraid of just how much input he would receive if he created like a dozen eyeballs. He could so easily imagine his brain exploding. Of course, a brain didn¡¯t actually detonate. But sensory overload was not a fun experience. Sending the flying, almost-invisible eyeballs off to scout ahead of him, Ray followed not far behind. Hmm. They gave him an idea about a combination of spells that he could perhaps cast. As they travelled, Ray found that the area he was travelling through was quite densely packed with trees. Thankfully, they were short enough that he could maintain a height of about thirty feet over them with his Soaring Wings. On occasion, he would brush the canopy with his feet, but he got past the trees without great difficulty. The woodlands obscured a lot, so he didn¡¯t see many monsters. He did catch sight of what looked like a moving plant jumping between the branches. Weird. It zipped by too fast for him to get a good look at it, and it was too far for Primordial Gauge. As he neared the distant cliff, the first spiralling growth loomed in. It was so much huger than he had thought. Calling it mountainous was doing its height great injustice. A better description was an inverted, purplish-grey tornado that had solidified. Ray was getting the feeling that he had made a good decision to come to this thing as a landmark. He jerked himself to a halt when he noticed what one of his eyes spotted. People. Ray had to blink and stare. He had already found people. More and more, coming to this giant spire was turning out to be a great call. Except¡­ there was definitely something strange about them. They were too far away for Primordial Gauge to activate, but just looking at them made his senses go haywire. Those weren¡¯t normal people. They were all dressed in strange, unfamiliar armour that were all the same. Armed with spears, bows, and even short swords sheathed at the waist, they stood guard before some palisades that ringed the base of the spiral growth, alert and ready to respond should something appear. In other words, they gave Ray the sense of an organized military group. People who were familiar with the spire and had been here a while. People who couldn¡¯t be regular, new Denizens from the First Floor. For a moment, Ray wondered if these people were from a different Tower. Virko had warned about a chaotic transfusion of Denizens from other Towers but had also said that they were going to be weaker than him. Those guys down below looked kind of strong though¡­ Which suggested they might be people native to the Tower. Sometimes, Ray really wished he could talk to that System entity he had met way, way back when he had first been lifted off old Earth. Ray decided he was not going to go accost these people without first finding out more. He had scouted this far. What was there stopping him from scouting more? He looked up. Well, one of the eyeballs did, granting him a good view of the cliff face. He had a feeling he would not be able to climb past that huge cliff with just his wings and their limited elevation. Whatever. There was a lot else to explore and discover before he engaged with the cliff or the spire. For the time being, Ray settled down in an area not too far from the spire, but not too close either. He let one eyeball keep a watch on the distant group of men, while making another scout out the forested areas around him. Ray himself decided to sit and wait. The flying eyeballs were fast. He was confident they would find something soon. Of course, Ray couldn¡¯t sit completely still. He had to keep moving, in fits and bursts, when the eyeball scoured and entire area and wanted to move farther. Wouldn¡¯t do let it get out of his range of control. Ray looked around. The trees looked a little strange. Maybe it was the light. They definitely weren¡¯t a species he recognized¡ªnot that he was a plant expert, despite his forays into biomechanics research¡ªbut more than that, it was their appearance that bothered him. They looked fake. Not the mimic fake kind, which would have been difficult to tell. No, these were more like the fake plants people showcased around their homes. The wood looked too artificial, the leaves were too rubbery. He was almost tempted to try poking the bark or tearing off a leaf. Primordial Gauge offered him no clues either. While he waited for his eyeball to come across something interesting, he tried to plan what he could do next, in case he didn¡¯t find anything besides the spire. His musings were cut short when the eyeball spotted something quite interesting. More people. Except, these ones were a lot more familiar. Especially considering they were fighting a giant plant that had already captured one of their own. With a grin, Ray summoned his wings and headed out. B2 Chapter 4 (71): Forest Amalgam Ray reached the plant monster before it managed to kill off everyone he was attempting to rescue. He even got there in time to ensure the captured woman wasn¡¯t dead either. Considering how far he had travelled from his original position near the exit of the dungeon, he figured he ought to have been proud of himself. There was no time for that, though. The monster, despite being an absolutely stationary plant, was proving quite troublesome. At least, for the others. The monster itself was a hodgepodge mess of plant matter. A wide, central trunk was surrounded by a humongous variety of fauna in every direction. On one side was what reminded him of a rafflesia, another side was completely covered with roses and thorns. Venus flytraps flew around the area via thorny vines, while pitcher plants were mortaring acid everywhere. That thing was definitely a piece of work. Ray used Primordial Gauge to get a proper look at what he was facing. [Primordial Gauge] Forest Amalgam [Monster] [Tier 9] [Level 20] When the forest is assailed by forces that cannot be defeated by natural means, it is inevitable that the will of all those living within the woodlands manifests much more tangibly. The power of every facet of the forest is combined into one, forcing challengers and foes to face the full wrath of the forest. Skills: Undergrowth [Tier 7]: Constantly pull in nutrients from beneath the ground, restoring your Recovery. At Tier 7, this skill enhances Recovery regeneration by 14%. Fluid Form [Tier 7]: Partially combine current form with other forms. At Tier 7, this skill can combine up to 7 different forms at once. Channel Mana [Tier 5]: At tier 5, channel up to 5 different kinds of Mana to create different effects, depending on the variant of Mana channelled. Vine Shot [Tier 6]: Send vines to do your bidding in a wide area. At Tier 6, this skill throws out 12 vines. Sunlight Eater [Tier 5]: Absorb sunlight to convert to Mana. At Tier 5, this skill creates 5 Mana per minute. Miniature Minions [Tier 6]: Send out a horde of small minions to do your bidding. Minions can be modified to carry out different purposes. At Tier 6, this skill can create 60 minions, which can perform up to 3 functions. Burgeon Roots [Tier 7]: Bolster your underground network of roots and send them bursting out to attack your foes. Can be used to sap Recovery and Mana from enemies. At Tier 7, this skill absorbs 21% of the foes¡¯ Recovery and Mana. ¡°Hey!¡± someone shouted. ¡°Who the hell are you?¡± Ray¡¯s perusal of the monster¡¯s sheet of skills was rudely interrupted by a brick-faced man in light leather armour who was running away from several attacking vines. He wasn¡¯t even looking at Ray. When some of the vines got too close, he slashed them apart with a curved sword whose edge glowed with an icy blue light. ¡°I¡¯m here to help,¡± Ray said. ¡°Is your friend still alive?¡± The man hacked apart another double vines. ¡°She¡¯s not my friend.¡± ¡°That wasn¡¯t my question.¡± The man finally got himself some space from all the monster vines, his dirty brown hair swinging into his eyes. He looked Ray in the eye and said, ¡°Do you think she¡¯s still alive?¡± Ray looked forward. Far ahead, the monster was busy dealing with the third member of the group of not-friends¡ªa woman who was pelting the Forest Amalgam with spears of gleaming green crystals. She had on a dark shirt and trousers, accompanied by a frock that almost looked like a priest¡¯s. Her black hair was pulled into a braid, one that was dyed blue. Now really wasn¡¯t the time to wonder if that dye had lasted all the way from the start of her journey through the Tower, or if it was new. Had to be the latter, right?- The woman captured by several of the vines had basically been mummified. It was difficult to tell if she was alive. By looking, that was. ¡°She¡¯s hanging on,¡± Ray said, having discovered that Primordial Gauge worked. ¡°Can you focus on freeing her?¡± ¡°We¡¯re barely surviving here, buddy. The hell do you think is going on here?¡± ¡°I might be able to create an opening for you. Once I¡¯ve done that, it¡¯ll be your job to get your companion out of the monster¡¯s clutches. Only then can I go all out.¡± ¡°All out? The hell¡ª¡± Ray used Lifeblood Soulform and created two winged, draconic maws. The man shut up as they appeared next to him, almost menacingly. ¡°They¡¯ll guard you while you get the captured woman out of there. Now, follow me and hurry.¡± He shot forward, leaving the other man to catch up as fast as he could. Immediately, the plant monster¡¯s attention turned upon him. Several of the vines switched from attacking the woman to shooting at Ray. Two of the sedan-sized pitcher plants aimed in his general direction and threw huge globs of acid at him. Ray wasted no time using Soullife Cloak. A sizzling sensation preceded a portion of his soul severing away and retaining a chunk of his Recovery and Mana. Ray paid it no attention, casting Mottling Spiritguard to summon the dozen sparking orbs to safeguard him. The orbs defended him against all of the Forest Amalgam¡¯s attacks. Ray could pay them absolutely no mind. Instead, he focused on attacking. A quick cast of Spiritsorb with some extra True Mana ensured that the monster would grant him a Soul Aspect once it was dead. Next, Ray sped up with his wings on his back, shooting forward at a blitzing speed while casting Soulstrike with both Talismans. For a plant, the monster could sure defend itself very rapidly. A wall of thorns almost seemed to materialize in front of Ray. Burgeon Roots came out quick . They took the brunt of his attacks, disintegrating as their bark split and their innards oozed, liquified, putrefied, and spat out rotten pustules. But the main body of the plant was safe. Safe enough to cast Miniature Minions. The droning that took to the air reminded Ray of an army of bees. He quickly drew himself back, looking around till he found the guy he had tasked with the rescue duty. ¡°You done over there?¡± The man hauled his unconscious not-friend onto his shoulder, his wide eyes professing that he was half out of his mind. ¡°Yeah!¡± Ray¡¯s distractions had meant the guy had little trouble, especially because his other companion was burning away any bits of the tree that tried to get close. Her green fires had a toxic feel about them, like they burned and poisoned. Possibly something to do with her class. But the plant monster wasn¡¯t going to let them off the hook that easily. With the wall of thorns blocking Ray from doing anything worse, the Forest Amalgam could momentarily turn its attention to the others. Which it proceeded to do by literally leaping off the ground to crash upon them. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°Wasn¡¯t it supposed to be a fucking plant?¡± the conscious woman screamed. She and her unconscious-woman-bearing companion both continued yelling and cursing as they ran. But they weren¡¯t going to get away in time. Not with how fast the Amalgam was falling. Ray flew forward as fast as he could, knowing that he wasn¡¯t going to reach them before they were crushed. Not as he was. But with Spectral Step activating, he flashed through time and space to appear right beside one of his flying draconic maw constructs. Like the last time, the sudden drain on his True Mana reserves was heavily palpable. But no time to focus on that. Ray had teleported in to grab the hapless trio¡ªduo? He dragged the man and the woman onto his shoulder as the momentum he had started with continued, even through the use of Spectral Step, carrying him and his burdens off with him. He was slowed down just a bit by the additional weight, but still fast enough to escape the crash. The world shook at the impact of the Amalgam¡¯s landing, but they were mostly safe. Except for the army of bees flying at them. ¡°Get back,¡± Ray said, letting the man go. He staggered away, cursing the bees following him. They were small, and flew too fast, so Ray wasn¡¯t able to get a good enough look at them. But they had to be bad news, so he wasted no time ordering his two constructs to torch as many as they could. Ray himself was protected by his Spiritguard orbs. They zoomed around him, taking out more and more of the bees with little trouble. Somewhere farther off, the other woman was burning the bees that were attacking her. Basically, they were all free from the monster itself. Which meant, it was Ray¡¯s turn to finally end this encounter. The Forest Amalgam brought its entire wrath to bear solely upon him. The pitchers mortared more acid blobs, the flytraps shot at him with snapping jaws, a storm of roots emerged from the ground underneath. All seeking to attack and end Ray at once. His spells kept him safe. An Impervious Shell with Lifeblood Soulform underneath him, another cast of Mottling Spiritguard to create another dozen defensive orbs. Ray had ample time and space to direct his two constructs to point at the Amalgam and unleash their chaotic, fiery breaths at once. At the same time, he used Primal Spiritcraft to create another draconic maw over his hand. This too fired a compressed laser of chaotic fire. Three beams of massive, burning energy rocketed into the Amalgam simultaneously. It was small wonder that the monster basically exploded moments later. A meteor shower of burning plant chunks that chaotically corrupted under the influence of Ray¡¯s flames hammered around them all. [Enemy Defeated¡ªForest Amalgam] Tier 9 Monster: Forest Amalgam [Level 20] x1 Essence: +450 Knowledge: +3 True Mana Restored: +200 Essence to Level 24: 9,100/33,900 Knowledge to next Threshold: 633/800 Pitiful Essence gain, but that was what he got for helping other people kill monsters. Not that he really regretted it at that moment. ¡°Holy shit,¡± the man said. ¡°That was wild, dude.¡± Ray grinned back. ¡°Sure was.¡± Since he had used Spiritsorb, he got a handy little list of Soul Aspects as the monster¡¯s corpse burned with chaotic, corrupting flames. The choice was easy. Ray ignored everything else there and picked Miniature Minions. Who wouldn¡¯t want hundreds of tiny, magic bees harassing their opponents all at once? He could see a lot of potential applications, especially when he combined it with his other Soul Aspects. For instance¡ªmimic bees. Or hundreds of tiny draconic maws capable of shooting compressed lasers like his own little army of stormtroopers. The possibilities were incredible. Only issue was that Ray had now filed up all of Lifeblood Graveyard¡¯s slots. He would need to raise its Tier again in case he came across something useful.
With the trio out of mortal peril, it was time for introduction and some context sharing. They settled down in the same area where they¡ªwell, Ray¡ªhad killed the Forest Amalgam. The conscious ones of the trio wanted to get moving, but some basic intel would be good. Ray went first, since he figured he had the least to add. He explained that he was from the First Floor of the current Tower itself, that he had come up earlier that day, and that he was trying to figure out the lay of the land and where he ought to go. On the other hand, none of the trio were originally from the Tower of Forging. This Tower was entirely new to them. In fact, they hadn¡¯t even been a trio before. They had started off as a group of five before their numbers had been whittled down by the Tower¡¯s challenges. ¡°It was tougher than we expected,¡± Jacob, the man Ray had first spoken with, said. ¡°We lost a couple of guys. One of them in the Imitator dungeon, the other to a different monster elsewhere.¡± Ray didn¡¯t want to seem insensitive to the tragedy of their loss, so he did his best to remain patient and let them work around to explaining what they had discovered so far. ¡°There¡¯s more of us scattered all over the place,¡± the woman, Lottie, said. Their third companion had still remained unconscious, though they hadn¡¯t found anything wrong with her yet. The hope was that she would regain her senses before long. ¡°We¡¯ve been trying to level up before we make a push for the spire.¡± Since Ray had already admitted having visited the giant, spiralling growth from a distance, they didn¡¯t need to explain further. What they did explain was that the three of them hadn¡¯t even reached their class evolutions yet. Ray wasn¡¯t really surprised by that. Virko had said some of the newcomers would be weaker. But he hadn¡¯t thought he would end up meeting non-class-evolved people out in the wild already. He was almost afraid to ask if they were in the minority or the majority of those here. ¡°Do you have like, actual Objectives that are making you push towards those spires?¡± Ray asked. Lottie nodded. ¡°Most of us do yeah. Get past the spires, it says.¡± ¡°For a lot of us,¡± Jacob added. ¡°Huh,¡± Ray said He explained how he had no Objectives relating to them whatsoever. Curious, how different people could get so vastly different Objectives. Then again, their Vocations weren¡¯t Tower Conqueror. He had a feeling that these two, and most others who had received Objectives about capturing the spires, had similar Vocations. ¡°We¡¯re going to make the real push in the next couple of days,¡± Jacob said. ¡°You in?¡± Ray blinked. He wasn¡¯t even sure he had the full context of everything that was going on here, much less being close to making a decision about joining up with random people he had just met. ¡°If you guys aren¡¯t from the Tower of Forging originally, where are you from?¡± Ray asked. It made sense they weren¡¯t from Ray¡¯s Tower. Maya¡¯s stipulation had been to ensure everyone had their class evolved before being allowed to ascend to the Second Floor. Meanwhile, Mary Felds had made everyone using her tactic to climb the Tower to first level themselves up and face as many challenges as possible before doing so. These people had been about to be eaten alive by a plant monster. Ray wasn¡¯t trying to think unkindly of them, but there was so much he could massage the truth. ¡°All three of us are from the Tower of Enlightenment originally,¡± Lottie said. ¡°We got the option to switch to a more difficult Tower once we completed our First Floor challenge, and this Tower was the hardest option we got.¡± Well, at least Ray had to give them proper due for their guts. ¡°You know people from other Towers then?¡± Ray asked. Considering he hadn¡¯t received any options to go to a more powerful Tower, it was a safe assumption that the Tower of Forging was the hardest around. Unless¡­ his Vocation had something to do with it. After all, he couldn¡¯t really conquer anything if he just kept switching from one Tower to the next. Had to stick to one to completion before moving on to the another. ¡°Oh, yeah,¡± Lottie said. ¡°Bunch of people from a few other Towers are all over. I think your Tower¡¯s originals are still in the majority, but yeah, us newcomers are a sizable chunk too.¡± Jacob tutted. ¡°Not that it matters. This Second Floor¡¯s new to everybody.¡± ¡°Not completely,¡± Ray said. ¡°Let me ask you this, you guys must have seen the humans guarding the spire, right? Have you seen any sign of any Sylvans?¡± Lottie and Jacob looked at each other. ¡°Sylvans?¡± Ray was almost tempted to laugh. Newbies. ¡°They¡¯re the ones who take care of the Floors. Tall alien people that are usually kind of elfin with these big horns coming off their heads and elbows and knees that look pretty close to the big spire over there. Usually got curved weapons and they¡¯re often kind of racist if you ask¡ª¡± ¡°Oh, them.¡± Lottie got a look of recognition on her face. ¡°We know about them. There¡¯s one on the spire. Somewhere up there, at least.¡± ¡°Yeah, that thing killed a guy a while back,¡± Jacob said grimly. Ray shook his head. ¡°Well, that figures.¡± That left the main question. Why in the world were people working with the Sylvans to keep other people out. Because that was essentially what was happening, according to Lottie and Jacob. The humans guarding the spire refused to let anyone get close. They would need to be confronted and defeated if they all wanted to progress deeper. ¡°There really are no ways around?¡± Ray asked. ¡°I¡¯m not afraid of needing to face off against anybody, so long as they aren¡¯t ridiculously stronger, but it seems far-fetched to think we have to face these people, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Lottie and Jacob shared another look. Ray had a hard time reading into it. ¡°I think it¡¯s best if we let the leader explain the rest,¡± Lottie said. ¡°We¡¯ve already been here too long. She¡¯s probably going to glare us to death if we take any longer.¡± Fair enough. It wasn¡¯t like Ray was pressed for time. Plus, he was now curious who this leader even was. A rustle pulled all their attention to the last member of their little party. The woman with the short blob of blonde hair and plant-monster-ruined armour stretched, yawned, and finally woke up. She blinked at them with bleary blue eyes. ¡°Oh, hello,¡± she said, fixing on Ray. ¡°You¡¯re new.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Ray.¡± He stretched out his hand, but then stopped. ¡°I¡¯d shake, but your hands are filthy, sorry. Nice to meet you.¡± She looked down at herself with a heavy grimace. ¡°Oh yeah, I¡¯m a mess. But yeah, nice to meet you too. I¡¯m Alice. Alice Felds.¡± B2 Chapter 5 (72): Former Coach Well, the name of the last member of the party he had rescued had just about cleared things up for Ray. Why the leader would glare at them for being late. Why the leader was so invested in them. Why she was the glaring type. ¡°You must be Mary¡¯s sister,¡± Ray said as they got going. Alice¡¯s eyes lit up. Her rosy cheeks and carefree smile were quite the far cry from the frosty expression her sister often wore. ¡°You know her? You must be from this Tower originally, then! That¡¯s so cool.¡± Ray laughed good-naturedly. ¡°Yeah, we met a couple of times.¡± Alice had shown a lot more interest in him after they had taken turns explaining how he had dropped in and killed the Forest Amalgam. ¡°No, I actually wasn¡¯t the one to rescue you,¡± Ray said. He nudged his chin at the right person. ¡°It was your not-friend, actually. I just gave him the opportunity to do so.¡± Alice frowned at Jacob. ¡°Not friend?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t listen to him,¡± Jacob muttered. They continued on their way for a while. The trio had a route mapped out that wouldn¡¯t have them confronting other monsters, though Ray wasn¡¯t sure he actually liked that. Especially considering the poor return he had gotten after killing that Forest Amalgam. Maybe after he was done talking with Mary, he could focus a bit more on grinding up to Level 24. The leader was located by a small lake. It made Ray think of underwater monsters he could try fighting. Like the Glidescales and Scarserpents he had faced before. But considering they had basically camped out over there, chances of those kinds of monsters even existing were slim. Mary Felds ignored all of them, even Ray, when they walked up to her on the lake shore. She grabbed her sister and pulled her into a short hug, before dragging her away to have some private words, all while looking quite angry. Alice Felds looked like she was about to get an earful. She looked back at Ray, Lottie, and Jacob with pleading eyes, but they all looked away. Ray was actually interested in their little encampment. There were what looked like makeshift beds. Well, bed was being generous. More like a patchwork of leaves and softer earth to create a spot for sleeping. A couple of people were sparring in a cleared field. There was even what looked like a small smithy, an outpost of sorts in the distance, and actual guards too. He whistled in appreciation. ¡°You¡¯ve got an entire base without a Base Node, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°We made do,¡± Jacob said. Mary eventually walked up to them. Alice didn¡¯t accompany her. She once again ignored Ray and barked at the others for a report. He had to wonder if she had been like this with the Ascenders too. Lottie and Jacob both straightened like privates in front of their brigadier general. They quickly explained everything about their encounter with the Forest Amalgam, including the fact that Ray had come in and essentially killed the monster single-handedly. Lottie also added that he was the one who had basically allowed Alice Felds to be rescued. ¡°Alright, dismissed,¡± Mary said. ¡°You two can get going and get some rest. Prep for your next mission afterwards, understood.¡± They both saluted and said, ¡°Yes ma¡¯am!¡±, before hurrying off. ¡°Were you a drill sergeant back on Earth?¡± Ray asked. ¡°I was a coach,¡± Mary said. Ray blinked. ¡°A¡­ coach? Of what? Death glaring isn¡¯t a professional sport anywhere as far as I know.¡± ¡°Why are you here, Raymond? I don¡¯t have the time to deal with the testiness of someone who can¡¯t even work well with others.¡± Had Ray sounded testy there? He realized he probably had. Ray would need to keep a better hold on his emotions. Although, it wasn¡¯t entirely his fault. ¡°Well, excuse me if I¡¯m a little miffed you ignored the message I sent you.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t I just explain? I don¡¯t have the time for people like you who¡¯ll just end up getting killed.¡± ¡°You know, you¡¯re being awfully rude after everything we accomplished on the First Floor. After everything I did.¡± She leaned forward so that her uncompromising face was mere inches away from his, like daring him to butt her in the head, sure that he¡¯d be the one coming away with a split lip, a broken nose, and some missing teeth. ¡°If you hadn¡¯t noticed, we¡¯re not on the First Floor anymore.¡± Mary turned and began walking away. Sighing, Ray followed. ¡°Alright, then,¡± Ray said, channelling his utmost patience. ¡°Enlighten me. What¡¯s so special about the Second Floor?¡± She waited until she had walked around a quarter of the perimeter of the lake, barking at a few others here and there along the way. Ray stuck to her like an annoying gnat. ¡°It¡¯s not about specialty,¡± Mary finally said. ¡°It¡¯s about difficulty. We¡¯re all positive you have to climb to the higher cliff levels to complete all of our Objectives. And the only way to get to higher ground is via the spire.¡± Ray shook his head, disbelievingly. ¡°That can¡¯t be possible.¡± ¡°Have you tried heading towards the cliffs and climbing them? Go do that. Once you¡¯re automatically repelled, come back and tell me how possible it is.¡± As much as Ray wanted to refute that, he had little trouble believing it to be true. The impression he had gotten was that there were a lot of safeguards on the current area preventing anything located here from going higher up. That was why there were those guards on the spire. ¡°So you and the rest of this ragtag band are going to make a concerted push to capture the spire?¡± Ray asked. He didn¡¯t hide his disdain from his voice. Not after how what he had seen from Lottie, Jacob, and Alice. ¡°Unless those guards are pretty weak, I¡¯m not sure you¡¯re got the firepower you actually need.¡± Mary squinted her eyes a little at him. ¡°Are you trying to arrogantly imply our chances will be much better with you on our side?¡± ¡°I mean¡­ I did beat the Floor Lord. And yes, I know that sounds arrogant, but facts are facts.¡± Mary actually laughed. A short, derisive snort, but there it was. ¡°You might want to let out a little air from your head, Raymond. I¡¯ve only been here for a couple of days longer than you, but I¡¯ve already got people here who are stronger than you. Over level 25, even. You¡¯re not the hotshot you think you are.¡± Level 25 already¡­ That just made Ray smile. So, for all their whining, there were at least ways of getting much stronger on this section of the Floor. After all, he was more than certain that almost everyone who had come to the Second Floor had to have been weaker than he had been when they had arrived. So the fact that they could earn that many levels here meant Ray could do so as well. Fantastic. ¡°Unbelievable, you know,¡± Ray said. Mary frowned. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Just the fact that you¡¯ve only been here about two days longer than me and already got the whole picture and recreated the Ascenders on the Second Floor is impressive.¡± Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°And now you¡¯re trying to butter me up?¡± ¡°I mean¡­ facts are facts.¡± Mary took a deep, resigned breath like this was exactly the direction she had foreseen the conversation going. ¡°We¡¯re going to begin our assault tomorrow. The only question is if you want to be a part of it or not. Like I said, this isn¡¯t the First Floor. You can¡¯t just go around and do your own thing, expecting to succeed anyway. This needs cooperation. Teamwork. Order.¡± She raised an eyebrow at him questioningly, almost knowingly, like she knew this was more than just a matter of deciding if he wanted to work with Mary¡¯s little group or not. According to her, this was a test of whether Ray could push aside his apparent arrogance and work for her group. Forget making a decision, Ray was not at all certain about the whole situation here. He still wanted to verify most of what he had been told. But most of all, he didn¡¯t like being told what to do. It took away from what he was trying to achieve. If anything or anyone was going to control him and what he did, it was going to be him and nothing else. This wasn¡¯t a question of arrogance. Mary¡¯s words irked him because it felt more realistically like a question of selfishness. Even worse, he realized that it went a level beyond than what he was currently bothered about. If Mary was trying to control what he ought to be doing, then it could be argued that the guards on the spire were doing the same, if indirectly. They were preventing him from going further. Limiting his freedom. Controlling his journey. If he wanted to attain that overarching level of control, then wouldn¡¯t it be his best bet to join up with Mary¡¯s pseudo-Faction and take the fight to the guards? ¡°Tomorrow, huh?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Then I think I¡¯ve got some time to think about it before I make up my mind.¡± Mary looked like she had been fed a rock. ¡°You have to think about it?¡± ¡°Now who¡¯s the testy one?¡± ¡°Fine. Not like my plans hinge on your participation.¡± This time, when she turned away, there was a note of finality about her. ¡°Good luck on your climb, Raymond.¡±
Ray didn¡¯t need luck. What he needed was information and some tests. ¡°Hey, you got a minute?¡± he asked. Alice looked up from where she was whittling away at a piece of wood with a small knife. She smiled when she spotted him. ¡°Hey!¡± Ray had looked all over the camp before he finally found her. It had only taken a minute after Mary had left that he had realized he was essentially friendless on the Second Floor. Apart from just causing a weird bout of loneliness, it would be detrimental to his journey to have literally no one to rely on even an emotional level. So here he was, ready to fix that. ¡°Nice carving,¡± he said. He meant it. Ray was always appreciative of skills he didn¡¯t possess. ¡°What is that? A reindeer?¡± ¡°Yep!¡± She showed it to him. Up close, it was even more intricate than he had thought. ¡°What¡¯s up? Pretty sure you¡¯re not here to appreciate my crafting skills. If it¡¯s about my sister¡­¡± Bubbly and cheerful though Alice Felds might be, she was still Mary¡¯s sister. Smart would probably be an understatement if Ray took the time to know her. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about your sister,¡± he said, waving it away like it was nothing. ¡°I¡¯ve talked with her before. It¡¯s nothing new. I just wanted to ask if you¡¯d mind if I occasionally poked you in chat?¡± The concerned expression she had attained now melted back into amicability. ¡°Sure! I totally get that. I was so lonely when I first got to the Second Floor. Took a while before I met others.¡± She leaned forward a little, tilted her head sideways, and lowered her voice. ¡°Especially people that were actually likeable.¡± Ray laughed. ¡°I¡¯ll try to be likeable. It¡¯s not hard.¡± ¡°Cool!¡± Her face gained a measure of seriousness. ¡°So, um, about what you spoke with my sister¡­¡± Ray didn¡¯t know how much she knew, but he figured it was safe to assume Alice had the overall gist. ¡°I know you guys are planning a big foray to capture the spire, or something along those lines. But there¡¯s still some time before that. So, I want to do some exploring and figuring things out on my own. Hopefully, it won¡¯t take too long.¡± ¡°Gotcha. I guess that makes sense.¡± Ray went on to ask a bit about her side of things. What she had experienced, what monsters she had fought, how she had gotten stronger on the floor, and anything else interesting she had discovered. Her answers were pretty helpful. They helped Ray form a mental map of where he ought to go and what he had to do. ¡°Thanks, Alice,¡± he said when she was done. ¡°I think all that will help a lot.¡± ¡°No problem. If you¡¯re heading out now, just be careful. Not just the monsters but the people. Then can be, uh, a bit aggressive.¡± ¡°Hmm, I¡¯ll keep that in mind. See you.¡±
Before Ray headed out, though, he finally came to a decision after some thought. He had realized just how much he still didn¡¯t know even after talking with Mary. Just went to show how annoying the conversation with her had been. He found the leader of the little pseudo-Faction back again at the lake itself. This time, instead of the shore, she was on the water. Her ice powers had frozen a small chunk, upon which she stood. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Ground too dirty for you to rest your feet on?¡± There were a few other people not too far away, close enough that they might overhear, but Ray didn¡¯t really care. It was time to clear some things up. Though, he supposed he could come at it a little less combatively. Mary turned around, expression as frosty as the surface she was standing on. ¡°There¡¯s a certain kind of peace in standing wherever you want. I guess someone who flies all the time wouldn¡¯t really get it.¡± Ray laughed. ¡°Got me there.¡± ¡°So, you final decided?¡± ¡°I finally decided on some clarifications, yeah.¡± She frowned. ¡°Clarifications?¡± ¡°Let me ask this¡ªyour plan is to assault the spire.¡± He pointed back with a thumb. ¡°With all the people you¡¯ve gathered, you¡¯re going to attack the guards, defeat them, and then climb to the second cliff. That right?¡± Mary nodded a little hesitantly, like she was expecting Ray to catch her out. ¡°And once you¡¯re all done with that,¡± Ray continued. ¡°You¡¯re just going to leave the spire behind and journey onwards, is that right?¡± Mary was starting to see the issue Ray was slowly getting. ¡°The higher areas are definitely more likely to hold all we need for our Objectives. It makes no sense to linger on the spires.¡± ¡°That¡¯s where you¡¯re wrong. Didn¡¯t you tell me that there are people here who are stronger than me? Level 25 and higher? They couldn¡¯t have been stronger than me before coming here, so in other words, they all got that strong after coming to the Second Floor and in this area, specifically.¡± Mary¡¯s face darkened. ¡°There are going to be ample opportunities for growth above too.¡± ¡°Of course. But if you left this place too early and had no way of coming back, then you¡¯re essentially squandering a lot of growth. That might not matter to you, Mary.¡± Ray nudged his head back. ¡°But considering what I¡¯ve seen, I think some of these people back there could sure use some beefing up before going any farther to any harder places.¡± That started a small argument behind Ray. Some were considering his point, others deriding it. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine, they¡¯ll have better opportunities up top.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± ¡°We might need some more time here.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve got no time.¡± ¡°But I need to train¡­¡± [New Personal Achievement¡ªChaotist!] You¡¯ve fractured a group of your own fellows! Your ability to manipulate and misdirect can come in quite handy at times. Reward
  • Reputation: +25 Chaotic, +20 Cunning
[Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 200-point threshold, your Chaos now builds Insanity even faster, at 16% per successful hit, and inflicts Tier 4 Insanity upon proc. Really, System? Ray hadn¡¯t been tricking and misdirecting and manipulating anything. All he had done was point out the fallacy in Mary¡¯s actions. Alright fine, that had resulted in her little group seemingly splintering right in front of her eyes, but that hadn¡¯t been Ray¡¯s intention. Not really. What he had wanted was for them to realize how much potential growth they were squandering in their hurry to get to the top of the cliff. Ray kept his eyes fixed on Mary, who was having a lot of trouble keeping her face placid and expressionless. Besides the obvious coldness, of course. ¡°Why are you trying to sabotage this?¡± she hissed. Ray raised an eyebrow. ¡°I¡¯m not. I¡¯m only pointing out what¡¯s best for everyone. Instead of just rushing up the spire and leaving behind either the guards to recover it or let the monsters from this area rise up as well, secure it so that other people coming up have the option of doing everything they need to here before moving on. So that everyone can maximize their potential.¡± He couldn¡¯t hold back his smile. Ray had turned the whole, original argument Mary had struck him on its head. She had insinuated that Ray was too selfish. That he was looking out only for himself, had no care for any Faction or groups of people, that he would always pick himself over the collective. And that was fine. That might even be true to an extent. But the point was, Mary couldn¡¯t fling that as an insult when she herself was little different. After all, if she was working for the good of the collective, then she would do what was best for everyone. Not just the few who were in her group already, but everyone else as well. All the people who would be coming in after them. If she was going to pull the altruism card, then she couldn¡¯t afford to not think of all the Denizens, past, present, and future, now could she? ¡°So there you go,¡± Ray said. ¡°That¡¯s my decision. I¡¯m going to take a hike and fulfil my potential. If you guys are still around then, maybe we can talk and figure out how we¡¯re going to tackle the spire. If not¡­¡± He shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ll figure out something on my own.¡± While the conversation rumbled on behind him, Ray decided to get going. No time to waste. The forests¡¯ monsters weren¡¯t going to kill themselves and offer up their Essence to him on a platter. ¡°You¡¯re making a mistake,¡± Mary said as he walked away. ¡°Oh, yeah? And what mistake might that be?¡± ¡°You won¡¯t win this Floor alone. You¡¯ll see, Raymond. When this Floor chews you up and spits you out, you¡¯ll learn your lesson way too late.¡± ¡°Maybe. Maybe not.¡± He offered her a pointed glare, was kind enough to lower his voice when he answered. ¡°But at least I¡¯ll have a clear conscience I didn¡¯t use anyone for my own ends.¡± To that, Mary didn¡¯t answer. She only wore her frosty glare like she could freeze his heart if she looked long and hard enough. With a parting wave, Ray left. It was time to hunt. B2 Chapter 6 (73): First Elementals A few minutes before Ray got going, he received a Mana fruit reward from the dungeon he had set up on the First Floor. Neat. So he would continue to receive the fruits despite being on an entirely new Floor. That took care of any food and drink problems. Ray¡¯s first task was to head straight for the cliff face. Sure, Mary had proclaimed that they were impassable and unclimbable, but he still wanted to test that. The truth of what he had been told made itself apparent even before he reached the actual cliffs. There was some kind of resistance fighting against his progress. It was as though Ray was pushing through denser and denser air, until it was the consistency of molasses. Walking just wasn¡¯t going to work, so he began using his wings¡¯ jet-like power to drive himself forward. ¡°This is really irritating,¡± he said through gritted teeth. Normally, the Tower¡¯s restrictions weren¡¯t so¡­ blatantly obstructive. Rarely was there any magical barrier or a sudden, inexplicable obstacle that couldn¡¯t be worked around. At least, that had been the case on the First Floor. This felt way too artificial. Crude and obtrusive. Ham-fisted, almost. Not the work of the System, if he had to guess. Nevertheless, after a good while of struggling, Ray made his way to about a hundred feet from the face of the cliffside. That last gap was going to take all the effort he had needed to expend so far combined, but he would push his way to it. He would not be held back. The cliff face looked too normal. Just a regular old shelf of craggy rock that, if he was a skilled climber of any sort, he should have been able to traverse. Maybe if he could just push through this¡­ Ray grimaced and was forced to stop as the effort became too much. This was insane. He tried using his constructs. They suffered the same as him. Slowed down, unable to force the issue. It felt as though the harder he and they pushed, the stronger the resistance grew. But Ray wasn¡¯t giving up just yet. He paused to gather his energy, taking a little while to secure his footing at his current location. Then he summoned several of his Soaring Wings with their jet-capable, spiky feathers. Greater Windbane Maws materialized on both his arms using Primal Spiritcraft. Next, he used Soullife Cloak to buff his speed even further. Then he launched himself. The multiple sources of sudden momentum were powerful. Especially when combined. The maws on his arms fired their compressed laser breaths as one, all the feathers of his wings fired off, and Soullife Cloak boosted his speed even higher. Plus, the transition from stationary to moving at an incredible speed happened extremely quickly. Whatever strange force was acting against Ray didn¡¯t have the time to react properly. He was certain it was that latter aspect that let him reach the cliff. By the time the resistance grew to the strength of a mountain pushing back against Ray, he had just barely reached the cliff face. Which was when the resistance disappeared entirely, making Ray crash hard into the cliff. His spells disappeared as his vision blacked out for an instant, the pain running livid across the entire front of his face. Ray instinctively sent some Recovery to fix everything that was broken¡ªhis nose, some of his ribs, and the heavy ache on his shoulder too¡ªbut it wasn¡¯t enough. He didn¡¯t know when he had fallen to the ground, but the force had reawakened. In no time at all, Ray found himself pushed back past the original position he had started from. ¡°Oi, hold up,¡± he said through a groggy mouth. ¡°Let me get back there! I made good progress.¡± When he finally came to a stop, he was basically back at the tree line, which was almost three hundred feet away from the cliffside in his estimation. ¡°Fuck,¡± he muttered. It was hard to believe he had just been utterly fooled by whatever defensive mechanism or enchantment had been cast upon the cliff. For a moment, he considered trying to come up with a different idea to combat the difficulty. But he didn¡¯t want to waste any further time. Who knew when Mary Felds would launch her assault. For all that Ray didn¡¯t want to bend to anyone¡¯s will, he also wasn¡¯t against helping out. He just wanted things to be fair, which meant granting himself the same opportunity to get some Essence and hopefully level up. As such, Ray went back into the forest. He had already sent out some of his eyeballs to scout around. Mimicked up as they were, they wouldn¡¯t attract too much attention. In fact, one of them had already found another plant monster for Ray to fight. Of course, they¡¯d had to stick to a certain distance from Ray to remain properly active. But Lifeblood Soulform¡¯s Tier was high enough that their range had increased a lot. Ray didn¡¯t even bother engaging the plant monster. He knew how to take care of these things. To him, they were essentially free Essence. Dismissing the flying mimic eyeball for a moment, he summoned his Greater Draconic Maw, both as a construct and on his arm using Primal Spiritcraft. A quick, combined laser breath made the plant monster explode. That wasn¡¯t the only one. Over the next couple of hours, Ray and his flying eyeballs located three more of the monsters that he killed in the same manner. [Enemy Defeated¡ªForest Amalgam] Tier 9 Monster: Forest Amalgam [Level 20] x4 Essence: +7,200 Knowledge: +12 True Mana Restored: +800 Essence to Level 24: 16,300/33,900 Knowledge to next Threshold: 645/800 Simple as it was to kill the Amalgams, his method did expend a good deal of True Mana. The only source of more True Mana shards Ray had found so far were the dungeons on the Second Floor, of which there were none in their area. Just that Imitator dungeon. Even more reasons for him to get on top of the cliff as soon as possible. But not before he had at least reached level 24. Fortunately, and interestingly, his scouting revealed the existence of the Elementals he had been tasked to kill. Following his eyeball¡¯s guidance, Ray was able to locate a group of them about an hour away from the Mary¡¯s encampment. ¡°Damn, I don¡¯t know what I expected,¡± Ray said when he finally got the monsters in view. The word Elementals brought to mind some kind of strange beings that were entirely of a certain, well, element. Ray wasn¡¯t at all surprised to see Wood Elementals inside of a forest. He just hadn¡¯t expected them to look like so¡­ varied. Some looked like trees, others like bushes, and others resembling parts of plants like vines or fallen branches. Then there was a completely different set that was a mix of humanoid and plant. Nymphlike creatures, big or small, thick or thin, where some had leaves for hair, some had the skin of wood, and some simply looked like regular people wearing a ghillie suit. For a moment, Ray actually hesitated. A lot of those Elementals were the least monstrous monsters he had seen in the wild. What would happen if he simply¡­ refused to complete one of his Objectives? Would the System force him to remain on the Floor until it was completed? He really wished he could ask somebody with experience in these matters. Like that System entity he had met all that time back. Ray¡¯s rather merciful thoughts were harshly ended when his flying eyeball was spotted. Somehow, one of the Elementals noticed his construct and made a beeline for it. The thing looked somewhat like a monkey, just with arms of wood, head full of leafy hair, and vines automatically emerging from its body to help it swing between the trunks. Its approach was obviously aggressive. Ray ordered his eyeball to get out of there, but the plant monkey was fast. As soon as it got within spitting distance of his flying eyeball, it chucked out a vine and caught the construct. Ray¡¯s vision went dark. Just the portion of it that was covered by the separate eyeball. That his field of view was still expanded meant the eyeball was still alive, though. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Which was why, with a little application of True Mana, Ray was able to convert it to a draconic maw. He rushed forward to see what exactly had happened. The strangely wooden screeches of the monkey and the sudden roar of the construct both dragged him onwards until he was in sight of the little brawl. The Elemental was trying to animalistically eviscerate the construct. Meanwhile, his brave draconic maw kept attempting to get off a fiery breath to burn the offending plant down, though it wasn¡¯t having a ton of luck. The little monster was too agile and too strong, sporting too many abilities for the construct to counter. Ray was about to jump forward and assist, but he realized he wasn¡¯t the only one who had been drawn to the battle. The commotion had attracted the attention of all the other Elementals in the vicinity. They arrived in a rapacious horde. A full-on assault squad of magical tree beings jumped at Ray¡¯s poor construct. Never mind that the draconic head could barely survive against one treelike monkey. The rest of the Elementals were determined to get in on the action and tear the flying head apart. The monsters were more vicious than piranhas. Screaming and shrieking loud enough to wake the dead, they attacked with such ferocity, calling them rabid would have been an understatement. In seconds, the construct had dissipated to flutters of chaotic, black-red energy. Well, that took care of the last of his mercy-borne hesitation. Settling his grimace, Ray created two new constructs. Both were Greater Windbane Maws. With the duo firing blasts of chaotic flames from either side, and with Ray charging in from the middle with another spectral draconic maw grafted onto his hand with Primal Spiritcraft, the horde of Elementals didn¡¯t last long. Some of them were too fast to be killed that way. Ray took care of most, but a few like the monkey were able to get away from his chaotic pyre. Although, those ones didn¡¯t retreat. They merely got far enough from the flames to reroute and attack him directly from a different angle. Only to be faced with a dozen sparking chaos orbs thanks to Mottling Spiritguard. Ray had only summoned the orbs when the monsters themselves had gotten close enough. Some of them had flung in attacks from range, like spiky thorns or thorny vines. Those Ray ordered his constructs to handle. Frustrated, the Elementals attacked directly, and that was when Ray blasted them all with the Spiritguard orbs. [Enemy Defeated¡ªWood Elemental] Tier 8 Monster: Wood Elemental [Level 18] x9 Essence: +12,960 Knowledge: +27 True Mana Restored: +1,620 Essence to Level 24: 29,260/33,900 Knowledge to next Threshold: 672/800 Alright, wow. That was a crap ton of Essence for killing a bunch of Elementals rather easily. Ray was actually having a little trouble believing that he had almost reached his level up with such convenience. Huh. No wonder those other people had reached level 25. Of course, he wasted no time ordering his eyeballs to scout out more of them. Considering they had found only one group after a few hours, it was no surprise that finding the next group proved difficult. Ray was getting a little tense. He only needed one more solid encounter and he¡¯d be at level 24. That would be good enough for him. But he was a little wary of the time it was taking. Mary¡¯s group might launch their assault at any moment. It would have been ideal if he was present. Sure, he wouldn¡¯t be sacrificing his growth if they couldn¡¯t wait, but in an ideal world, he hit his level up and joined them in time. His heart lurched a little when he received the message he had been dreading from Alice. Alice: Sis told me not to bother contacting you, but just so you know, we¡¯re beginning the assault now. Since I can send you a message, that means the monsters clearly haven¡¯t gotten to you yet. Stay safe and join us if you can. Ray had to wonder how much she knew about his last conversation with her sister. Mary had to have told her that Ray had acted like a selfish prick, though the younger Felds sister was probably intent on forming her own conclusions. Whatever the case, Ray was thankful that Alice wasn¡¯t hostile from the get-go. But that also meant that Ray was obligated to be as honest as he could. Ray: Good luck out there. Don¡¯t push yourself and remember that retreat IS an option. I¡¯m a little busy right now, but I¡¯ll try to get there as soon as I can. Don¡¯t depend on it, though. Alice: You¡¯re busy? Ray: Yes. He wondered if he had finally pissed her off, because she had nothing further to say. If so, Ray was a little saddened, but it was fine. He had a clear conscience, at least. Despite reinforcing his goal of ensuring his own progression before acting on behalf of anyone, Ray nevertheless sped up. He had his eyeballs hasten their search for more Elementals. Why wasn¡¯t he finding more of them? Surely there had to be more of them in this huge forest. His search went on for long enough that he ended up near the spire. And it was there that he discovered his next batch of monsters to fight and kill. They were entranced by the battle ongoing farther ahead. Ray himself was tempted to take a moment to observe what was going on, but he had to take advantage of his opportunity first. He executed the same manoeuvre as he had on the first group of Elementals. Except this time, he wasn¡¯t letting any of his constructs suffer needlessly. It would have been easy to achieve that. If he attacked from range with his constructs¡¯ compressed laser beams, then he could take out the entire miniature horde with great ease. Ray, however, had other plans. He hadn¡¯t used Spiritsorb last time because Lifeblood Graveyard was already full. Even if he had a Soul Aspect to integrate from the dead Elementals, he had no space to store it. There was basically nothing from his collection that he was willing to replace. Which meant the only solution for him was to expand the number of slots he had available. To that end, Ray had to get close enough to use Primordial Gauge. If he did that, though, he would alert the monsters. That would turn the encounter far too difficult and time consuming. The compromise came in the form of Project Presence. Detecting Ray himself would be bad, but just detecting his construct wouldn¡¯t be the end of the world. It would also allow him to experiment with one little combination he had been hoping to try. As he sent off one of his draconic maws, he used Project Presence again. He made sure to ¡°dim¡± as much of his original senses as he could. Closing his eyes, reducing his breathing, turning as still as possible while holding nothing, and focusing only on himself. Just as Primoridial Gauge had guided him the first time, Ray created a spectral version of himself that held all his senses, minus touch. It was still as wild as always. He couldn¡¯t really move, could only just gently float forward along with the Greater Windbane Maw construct. This spirit form was untethered from the tangible world, so all the little laws of physics and such had no effect upon him. Even his sight was still warped, the colours ranging in a far different spectrum than what he was used to. Focus. Pulling his attention back to where it needed to be, Ray attempted to channel True Mana through his spirit form. He had used Project Presence. Next came Spectral Step. This time, he noted where the spell was being cast from. The world jerked and Ray was suddenly by his construct¡¯s side, slowly approaching the Elementals that were still distracted by the fight far ahead. It wasn¡¯t just the sight, of course. The sound of battle was louder now, and even the forest¡¯s little noises were different here. Smoother, more muted, like it didn¡¯t want to attract the Elementals¡¯ attention. So, Ray had been right. Project Presence allowed him to cast spells from his projected spirit. He felt much, much lighter though. Like he had expended a huge source of what made up his spiritual form. Mana. Of course. In his case, it was True Mana that he had used up. Hmm, did Project Presence hold enough True Mana to use more expensive spells like Primal Spiritcraft? Ray didn¡¯t think so. That was fine. All he needed from it just then was Primordial Gauge. [Primordial Gauge] Wood Elemental [Monster] [Tier 8] [Level 18] Spirit of the forest itself, imbued with power. When a Forest Amalgam¡¯s power wanes and the need for constant protection abates, then the consciousness that makes up such gargantuan creatures begins to disperse. These dispersions retain a part of the original physical forms, and such for Elementals. Skills: Undergrowth [Tier 6]: Constantly pull in nutrients from beneath the ground, restoring your Recovery. At Tier 6, this skill enhances Recovery regeneration by 12%. Channel Aspect [Tier 6]: Channel your stored Soul Aspect. At Tier 6, this skill manifests the stored Aspect at Tier 6. Vine Shot [Tier 5]: Send vines to do your bidding in a wide area. At Tier 5, this skill throws out 10 vines. Sunlight Eater [Tier 5]: Absorb sunlight to convert to Mana. At Tier 5, this skill creates 5 Mana per minute. Leaf Storm [Tier 4]: Create a storm of bladed leaves to blind and lacerate your foes. At Tier 4, this creates a storm in a radius of 8 meters around a specific target. Burgeon Roots [Tier 5]: Bolster your underground network of roots and send them bursting out to attack your foes. Can be used to sap Recovery and Mana from enemies. At Tier 5, this skill absorbs 15% of the foes¡¯ Recovery and Mana. Alright, yep. Just as he had thought. The Elementals really didn¡¯t have anything worth taking. Most of those were already Soul Aspects he had rejected from the Forest Amalgam. So, without further ado, Ray executed his plan. While the Elementals turned to attack his incoming construct, he made his projected presence dissipate, returning to full focus on his actual body. A body that already had another draconic maw on the arm plus one more flying beside him. ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± he said. Together, the two of them fired simultaneous laser breaths at the gathering Elementals. It worked out just as Ray had hoped it would. With the monsters converging on his distant construct, the laser breaths had an easy time of burning through them all. The few that escaped were taken out by the now-free distant construct. In no time, Ray had levelled up again. [Enemy Defeated¡ªWood Elemental] Tier 8 Monster: Wood Elemental [Level 18] x7 Essence: +10,080 Knowledge: +21 True Mana Restored: +1,260 [Level Up!] Reward
  • +5 Intellect, +5 Spirit, +2 Vitality +2 Agility, +10 allocatable free stats.
  • 1 Skill Tier Point
Essence to Level 25: 5,440/37,500 Knowledge to next Threshold: 693/800 [Stat Tier] Your Spirit has advanced to Tier 3. You are now in greater tune with the universe around you. Your Mana Core has advanced. You can now channel 1 additional variant of Mana alongside True Mana. Absorb the requisite amount of Mana of the new variant into your Mana Core to attune your spirit to it. There. The level up he had been seeking was now his. Although, attaining another Skill Tier point wasn¡¯t exactly what he was looking for. But the stat tier break looked delightful. He could naturally generate and use a different kind of Mana aside from just True Mana. That had the potential of opening up incredible new opportunities. Ray now had a tone more to think about with regards to his progression. Not now, though. Ray quickly put five of his free stat points into Intellect, and the other five into Vitality. All done. Now he could rush straight to the battle up ahead. B2 Chapter 7 (74): Battle for The Spire As Ray rushed ahead, he sent off quick messages to both the Felds sisters to ask what was going on. He tried not to feel irritated. It wasn¡¯t that surprising Mary had ended up not caring about the point he had brought up and just gone on ahead with the assault. A part of Ray had known this was bound to happen. It had still annoyingly stung, though, like a mosquito he thought he had squashed coming back to pierce him with its bloodsucker. And it didn¡¯t get better when he received no reply. Relax, he told himself. They were in the middle of a fight. Most people wouldn¡¯t be in any state to reply to any messages in such conditions. These people weren¡¯t organizers and commanders like Maya, who could remain away from the thick of things, thus free to respond. Plus, there was no time for frustrations and annoyances. He could deal with that after making sure not everyone died and this whole operation became a failure. The spire loomed enormously before Ray as he approached. It was veritably the size of a mountain, the sides of which rotated up and up but not at too steep an incline. This ensured that people could traverse its height without even needing to actually climb for the majority of it. Although, with how much it reminded Ray of the Growth Mana the Sylvans had used, he wasn¡¯t intent on interacting with that spire much. The eyeball flying farther above provided him with a unique perspective. Whatever plan Mary had concocted appeared to be working. Her group had pushed back the spire defenders. A handful of them lay dead nearer the base, while most of the rest held ground higher up the slope. Two were retreating even farther up, but their motion was too regular. Too disciplined. Ray blinked. Ah, they were running towards something, not away from anything. His immediate thought was that they were running off to return with reinforcements, but with the System in play, that should only need a message at most. Not actual people playing the part of messenger pigeons. Ray had to stop them. Whatever they were up to, it could not be good. As such, he focused on sending his eyeball zipping past the actual battle. If he himself tried to rush through¡­ well, it wasn¡¯t going to be possible through that mess. Everyone was flinging their powers like this was the last time they would get to do so. Which he supposed was true for some of them. But where Ray would have been too big of an entity, his flying eyeball could definitely squeeze through. It gave him a little time to observe the specifics of the fight. Someone powerful, likely one of those who had gone beyond level 25, was leading the charge. He used a huge sword alongside what looked like armour made of stone to beat back the enemy guards. Their foes were no less powerful, though. Despite Mary and her group having taken care of a few of them, they had rallied. They all seemed to be using the same set of skills. Translucent, glowing golden armour and armaments adorned all the guards. The armour seemed to be doing an exceptional job of protecting their wearers from other Mana-based abilities while the weapons cut and smashed apart their opponents¡¯ powers without great difficulty. On one side of the fight, Mary was taking care of the wings by using her ice powers. A miniature glacier was forming around her, which even the guards¡¯ golden armaments were having trouble repelling. Ray couldn¡¯t spot Alice anywhere, though he did see Jacob in the mix, fighting toe to toe with a guard using a spear. And then his eyeball was through. Perfect. Rerouting his attention, Ray focused on his next spell just as the two runaway guards grew bigger in this third sight. Then he used Spectral Step. The world shifted and twisted. He needed a second to recover as soon as he reappeared about ten feet behind the guards, which also granted him time to use up another True Mana shard to top his capacity off. If he couldn¡¯t kill the guards quickly, he might just need it, considering how much trouble the others were having. But he never got the chance. Primordial Gauge fired at the same time as his third vision went dark. Fully dark, even reverting back to his original point of view. Which meant that the eyeball had just been killed. Ray twisted around to see a spiralling spear of Growth Mana jutting out of the ground nearby. Flutters of black-red energy burned away, the last remains of his construct. Immediately, he moved back, summoning Soaring Wings as he did so. Just in time. Another spear of a similar build cracked in, splitting the ground where he had stood a second ago. Ray looked up to see a Sylvan descending down the side of the huge spire. He grimaced. Of course, things weren¡¯t going to be that simple. He had to wonder if Mary had known about the Sylvan¡¯s presence. Had she deliberately forgotten to inform him? Not that he couldn¡¯t see why after their last conversation. ¡°I was wondering when one of you would show up,¡± Ray said. ¡°All out with the enmity this time, huh? Not bothering with any pretences about killing a Brighthorn or something?¡± The Sylvan didn¡¯t reply, only silently staring Ray down. There was something definitely strange about the alien. He moved too stiffly, too purposefully. The eyes too. He had a weird, emotionless glint to them, like he couldn¡¯t even see Ray at all. Only a target to kill. Ray would have used Primordial Gauge to try and suss out if there was anything that stood out in his list of abilities, but the Sylvan attacked too quickly. Ah, what the hell. Ray had faced enough of them to know what to do. This Sylvan¡¯s curved sword was larger than the ones Ray had seen them use so far. Almost as tall as its wielder. Despite its size, the Sylvan slashed and sliced with it like it was as weightless as cotton candy on a stick. Ray had no trouble dodging the swings itself. The combination of Soullife Cloak and his wings boosted his speed enough to get away from his foe¡¯s attacks. Both the swings of the sword and the follow-up bursts of Growth Mana spiralling out of the ground. Of course, this meant hitting the Sylvan was difficult for Ray too, as he was forced to keep moving to evade the attacks. He didn¡¯t have much luck with Soulstrike and even Mottling Spiritguard failed to land any hits. For one, the alien was too fast. For another, his defence was strong too. Whenever he paused, he constructed a ring of rising spires to shield himself. At one point, Ray managed to carve enough distance to set up his next sequence of attacks. While the Sylvan was once again hidden behind a bulwark of spiralling growths, Ray summoned a Greater Windbane Maw construct. He made it fly a bit of distance away before making it ready to fire off its compressed laser breath at a signal from him. Next, he used Spiritblood Stake for the first time. The spell worked almost instantaneously. A spike of black-red energy materialized over the spot where the Sylvan stood, before driving itself down with the speed of a lightning bolt. It was likely that which forced the Sylvan to burst out of his barricade of spiralling growths. That was when the maw fired. The Sylvan was caught directly by the blistering stream of chaotic fire. But even as he was sent flying off the side of the spire, he didn¡¯t yell out or make any sound at all. What was up with that guy? The problem, though, was that the Sylvan wasn¡¯t dead. Ray would have received a notification and some Essence if so. Even after taking a direct hit from a construct¡¯s fiery breath, the Sylvan had survived. Was his level that high? Surely this random Sylvan on some random mountainous protrusion of Growth Mana couldn¡¯t be as strong as Olgolair the Floor Lord. But just as he arrived at the edge of the slope, he saw the Sylvan climbing back up. Sure, the alien was wounded and bleeding profusely, a chaotic, pulsating mass of flesh silling blood from higher up his chest, but he was alive. He was still intent on killing Ray. The eyeball revealed that the two guards were two-thirds of the way up the mountain. They would reach the top and then the next area on the cliff soon. Ray had no time to waste if he wanted to stop them. Throwing a quick curse at the Sylvan, he hurried after his real targets. The Sylvan was attempting to come in hot pursuit, but Ray was fast on his wings. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Kiss my dust, you bastard,¡± Ray threw back. And then froze in confusion as he spotted the guards higher up turning away from the spire top. What were they doing? Where were they going if not to the next area to call reinforcements? Did they have a redoubt somewhere close by? Ray¡¯s momentary distraction at the sudden change was enough for the Sylvan to get back close enough to be a nuisance. Cursing, Ray decided to give the Sylvan a taste of his own medicine. He used Lifeblood Soulform once more and created the buzzing monsters he had obtained from the Forest Amalgam. They were exactly as he hoped they would be. Over a hundred little monster bees, glimmering with chaotic energy, all rushed at the Sylvan. He attempted to protect himself with his Growth Mana like he had before, but the spiralling growths had large enough gaps between them for the bees to slip through without difficulty. And then they began attacking, their little stings leaving spots of bubbling, blistery, flesh-mutating chaos all over the Sylvan¡¯s body. Now Ray could rush off without needing to worry. For all that the Sylvan had defences and counters to many of Ray¡¯s spells, fucking bees was not something he knew how to deal with. Hell, Ray himself wasn¡¯t sure how he would combat them easily. He supposed he had his construct¡¯s flames to retard them with. Focusing on his current goal, Ray twisted around and around the mountainous exhibition of Growth Mana as he climbed higher. Farther beneath him, the battle was still progressing well. Mary¡¯s group had pushed even higher up the mountain. The guards were now focusing entirely on defending themselves and staying alive, even if they were forced to give ground. Which made Ray even more suspicious about what was awaiting them all from wherever the two men higher up had gone. Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t reach them in time. While Ray was about to follow his eyeball and get behind them, he was faced with only one guard. The other had already gone on. Ray cursed under his breath. He hadn¡¯t used Spectral Step because of how much True Mana it consumed, but that had clearly been a suboptimal decision. Now, the guards had seen his approach and had decided to split up. One to keep him busy while the other completed the goal. As he reached the guard waiting for him, Ray made sure to use Primordial Gauge. [Primordial Gauge] Ash Velan [Denizen] Path: Path of Golden Oath [Rare] Class: Hoplite [Uncommon] [Tier 2] at Level 28 Skills: Golden Armament [Tier 6]: Arm yourself with armour and weapons of sacred gold. Armaments are constructed with Tier 6 Gold. Spear Storm [Tier 5]: Your skill as a spear-wielder allows you to call upon the sacred spear skills of Golden Oath. Steady Shield [Tier 5]: Your skill as a shield-wielder allows you to call upon the sacred shield skills of Golden Oath. Auric Fortification [Tier 4]: The aura of gold around yourself lessens the impact of Man-based abilities. At Tier 4, all such abilities have their effectiveness reduced by 16%. Marked Armament [Tier 4]: Your armament is now marked by your soul. So long as you are within a certain distance, your armament will return to you automatically. At Tier 4, this spell returns the armament to the wielder so long as it is within 20 meters. Ray frowned a little. That was only a few skills for someone at level 28. Maybe these people on the Second Floor were different somehow. ¡°You¡¯ve come far enough, imposter,¡± the man in golden armour said. ¡°Imposter?¡± Ray asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about. Did your friend run off because he was too afraid to face me?¡± The poor attempt at an insult was actually a hidden ploy to understand more about what was going on. It was nice the guard fell for it. ¡°We weren¡¯t aware you were all gathering strength, hidden inside your dungeons and forests,¡± he said. ¡°I will admit we underestimated you and have paid the price. But do not think for a moment that you will succeed and take your evilness to the Second Cliff. The Lostcaller will stop you.¡± Ray¡¯s heart skipped a beat. A Lostcaller? That was one of those monsters in his Objectives. What was one those doing with these people? Well, he assumed it was a monster of some sort. ¡°Relying on a monster, are we?¡± Ray asked. ¡°If that¡¯s what you end up doing, then I don¡¯t see the point in you fanatically protecting this spire against us imposters.¡± ¡°And that is precisely why the likes of you need to be stopped.¡± ¡°Who are you?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Are you from a different Tower and just got here early? Or¡­?¡± The man, apparently, didn¡¯t think Ray was worth answering. He decided to attack. The battle proceeded in a very evenly-matched fashion. Ray hadn¡¯t been worried about the level disparity to begin with, and he was proven right not to. It was his actual skill as a fighter that proved more troublesome. He had some unique abilities with his spear. Sometimes, he would throw it at Ray. It was easy to dodge, and Ray had pretended to swoop in the first time to take advantage. The man, believing Ray ignorant of his abilities, had stabbed with his free arm, his spar materializing only a moment before contact. But Ray had summoned Mottling Spiritguard at the same time too. One orb blocked the spear, the rest hammering into his opponent. That was where the man¡¯s shield skills came into play. It blocked all the orbs completely, leaving no scratch on the glowing golden plate of curved metal. That was, essentially, how Ray¡¯s battle against the fellow proceeded. No matter how he tricked and swooped and attacked, no matter which spells he used, the guard¡¯s shield was a surefire, impassable barrier. Forget Spiritguard, it even stopped the fiery blasts from his summoned draconic maw construct and even a direct blow from Soulstrike. All the while, Ray managed to either block or dodge the different ways the guard¡¯s spear attacked. Simple stabs and whacks were easy to stay out of reach of. Even the ranged skills, while intriguing¡ªthe man could summon a storm of them erupting out of the ground or send a flight of them falling upon Ray¡ªweren¡¯t difficult to evade. It was then that Ray realized that he was being toyed with. That the guard was executing the same manoeuvre his brethren were performing on Mary¡¯s group. Stalling. Holding their ground until this Lostcaller arrived to save them all and wipe out everybody on Ray¡¯s side. So annoying. Maybe this was the difference between fighting another regular tower-climbing Denizen versus¡­ whoever this member of a discipled unit was. Ray wasn¡¯t fighting another new Denizen. He was face-to-face with a real soldier. The guard suddenly jumped back, twisting his shield around to protect himself against a blast of white energy. At the same time, Primordial Gauge fired off and Ray turned too. Someone was coming up. The newcomer arrived in a storm of crackling white energy. Ray didn¡¯t recognize the dark hair or the scraggly beard or the lanky build, but he was certain he had seen the man near the front of Mary¡¯s group. ¡°Looks like you could use a hand,¡± he said. ¡°Although, I¡¯d rather let you handle this guy and take out wherever his friend went.¡± His voice was even. Measured. If he held any feelings regarding Ray, it was difficult to pick them up. ¡°What about the others?¡± Ray asked. ¡°We broke through. Mary, Lottie, Castor, and a few others are all going to be coming up before long. We¡¯re worried these guys are up to no good.¡± ¡°You¡¯d be right. They¡¯re trying to call down some kind of monster that¡¯s supposed to stop us.¡± The newcomer cursed. ¡°Then you keep him busy. I¡¯ll take care of his friend.¡± ¡°Hey, wait!¡± Ray¡¯s call went unheeded as the man rushed off. Great. Now he¡¯d have to deal with this idiot of a guard and the Sylvan approaching rapidly form behind. His bees just hadn¡¯t been able to finish the job. Though, when Ray looked back, he found the Sylvan looked hardly himself anymore. Covered in corrupted sores, oozing blood and flesh, looking all the world like a zombie. ¡°Ah, you¡¯ve arrived,¡± the guard said, his spirits clearly lifting. ¡°Good timing. Gut this imposter.¡± Ray blinked. A human ordering a Sylvan around? And here he had thought Derrick Orden trying to take control of the Sylvans with a sneaky deal had been audacious. But Ray was already forming a plan. A way to take care of both of his opponents at once. With no time to waste as the Sylvan was already here, basically, Ray made sure his wings were on his back, then used Mottling Spiritguard. Then he used it again. And again. Thirty-six sparking orbs spun around him like overexcited moons orbiting their planet. Ray attacked immediately. Having risen to the air, he was free from the Sylvan¡¯s Growth Mana protrusions, while one of his orbiting orbs deflected away the guard¡¯s thrown spear. The rest of them shot to his opponents. A volley of smashing orbs kept the Sylvan busy as he was forced to erect another barricade of hornlike Growth Mana. This allowed Ray to focus only on the guard. He slammed two Spiritguard orbs at the man, who had brought up his impassable shield again. But Ray was ready for it. With a little more application of True Mana, he was able to convert both Spiritguard orbs into Greater Windbane Maws. The draconic heads slammed in and grabbed the guard¡¯s shield and spear. Both constructs were powered by enough force and momentum to overcome the guard¡¯s strength, pushing aside the armaments to leave the man wide open. Ray grinned. Now, to end this. He had already created another draconic maw on his arm using Primal Spiritcraft. As soon as the two other maws had pulled aside the man¡¯s arm, Ray fired a compressed laser after raising the spell¡¯s Tier twice with the Mana Infuser ring. For the first time, he actually hit his target. For the first, and last, time. For the laser breath overcame the guard¡¯s golden aura and armour, tearing through his body and leaving him a chaotically burning wreck, flesh and bone growing wildly out of control. Immediately, Ray dismissed his first two constructs. He twisted around to face the Sylvan, who was still inside his Growth Mana bulwark. Ray¡¯s grin didn¡¯t disappear. Oh, he knew how to get past that too, now. He converted another of the chaotic orb. This time, he turned them into Miniature Minions. It was something he had noticed the last time he had called up that Soul Aspect. As their name implied, they were small. Small enough to fit through the gaps of the Sylvan¡¯s barricade. While the majority of the horde of Minions kept the Sylvan distracted, Ray was delighted to find he could attain fine control over his tiny constructs. He made sure two of them flew to either side of the Sylvan trying to swat away the other flies. Then he applied some more True Mana to convert them to draconic maws, which immediately fired off their laser breaths. The Sylvan was stuck. Stuck fighting off the bees, stuck inside the barricade of his own making, stuck between two giant dragon heads that were belching fire in a compressed beam. It took only a few seconds for the Sylvan to die. [Enemy Defeated] Blade Rifter [Tier 3] Sylvan: [Level 24] x1 Hoplite [Tier 2] Human: [Level 28] x1 Essence: +6,400 Knowledge: +6 True Mana Restored: +520 Essence to Level 25: 11,840/37,500 Knowledge to next Threshold: 699/800 Ray would have been taken a little moment to exult in his victory, but then, a sudden roar ripped out over the entire spire. The sound was loud and eerie, shaking him to the soul. He was pretty sure that had to be the Lostcaller. B2 Chapter 8 (75): Lostcaller There was something massively strange about the noise the new monster made. It was as though the sound itself was disturbing space around him, making everything flicker and distort as though he was suddenly in a grainy, old-timey film. Ray wasn¡¯t the only one who heard and was shaken by the roar. Some of the members of Mary¡¯s group, including Mary herself and her sister, were rushing upslope. But when they heard the roar, they all came to a halt too. Thankfully, the ripping noise didn¡¯t last long. Nevertheless, even after it was done, Ray¡¯s ears rang loud and uncomfortable. A part of him wanted to ask Mary¡¯s group about the rest of the guards. Had they beaten them all? Couldn¡¯t be, because there were only a small handful of them climbing higher. The rest of the group was likely still entrenched against the spire¡¯s defenders. It made Ray frown. Shouldn¡¯t Mary Felds, the leader of the group, be there with the majority of her followers? Wasn¡¯t she supposed to lead them personally? Maybe this was a more complicated manoeuvre that required her to be personally elsewhere. It just made Ray glad he wasn¡¯t a leader of anybody. What he was actually interested in, however, was locating the source of terrifying noise. So, without waiting for Mary or any of the others to catch up to him, Ray dismissed and resummoned his wings before taking flight. Thankfully, it was only a short trip to where the last guard had gone. He didn¡¯t have his eyeballs to guide him because he had dismissed the construct to make way for the maws. But he knew the path well enough. Besides, the sounds of furious battle and the strange lightshow farther ahead guided him better than anything else could have. ¡°No!¡± Ray arrived just in time to see the man who had gone on ahead falling prey to the Lostcaller. Moving far too fast to see properly, the Lostcaller ripped a wide gash open on the man¡¯s chest before slamming him with a combination of fire and lighting, both black as night. ¡°Go!¡± Ray yelled to the draconic maw construct he summoned with Lifeblood Soulform. ¡°Catch him!¡± The man had been blasted off the side of the spire. Ray couldn¡¯t even tell if the unfortunate guy was still alive after taking that kind of damage. But on the off chance he held on to a sliver of life, Ray¡¯s construct could save him. The next roar pulled Ray¡¯s attention back to the monster at hand. A noise that was ten times worse now that he was up close and personal with the Lostcaller. A noise that seemed to rip through the fabric of the world, making an entirely different one shimmer in its place like a temporary holographic projection. When it ended, Ray was finally able to focus on the monster itself. The creature¡¯s form reminded him of a gorilla. Thick and overlong arms, shorter legs, and a well-built torso. But that was where the similarities to a normal animal back on Earth ended. This was a monster through and through. The Lostcaller sported a skeletal head with eyes that burned with black fire, a head that rested on a skeletal, spiny neck that stretched out like a giraffe but sinuous like a snake. Its machete-sized claws ruptured the ground wherever it stood. The ashen flesh on it writhed like it had a life of its own. Creepy didn¡¯t even begin to cover the Lostcaller. Thankfully, Ray was now close enough to use Primordial Gauge on it. [Primordial Gauge] Lostcaller [Monster] [Tier 11] [Level 34] Often times, those who have purposefully lost their ways can only be brought around by one thing only. A punishing application of spiritual force. Lostcallers corral evil spirits, wielding fire and lightning like whips and brands to deliver their judgment. Skills: Dead Rift Roar [Tier 8]: Merge the living world with the spirit realm with a cry of your mighty voice. At Tier 8, this skill makes all attacks perform 32% extra spirit damage and lasts 80 seconds. Black Ember [Tier 9]: Channel embalming fire that seals your foes¡¯ attacks. At Tier 9, this skill supresses the last attack from your foe before this spell hits for 27 seconds. Dark Lightning [Tier 9]: Send a crackle of spiritual lighting though the realm of the dead to emerge and strike the living. Moulding Flesh [Tier 10]: Manipulate your flesh to form different shapes to grant you different functions. Spirit Phase [Tier 9]: Temporarily exist in the spirit realm, making your body insubstantial and existing in two worlds at once. Enhances speed and resistance to Mana-based abilities. Alright, wow. A Tier 11 and level 34 monster. This was beyond anything Ray had faced so far. Even worse, those abilities looked like they would be a pain in the ass to deal with. No wonder the guards were adamant this monster would take care of Ray, Mary and the rest of them. Just about ten levels stronger¡­ Ray grinned. Then activated Goliath Eater. Immediate power flooded him. His limbs felt lighter and stronger at the same time, his body had grown more solid and capable, and even his senses tingled like they were working overtime. Ray also used Vengeful Plunder, ready to boost his stats with every hit he landed on that thing. Fighting the Lostcaller turned out to be just as annoying and hard as he had expected. Ray tried to start off with a Spiritblood Stake, hoping the monster would lose its health over time as it moved around. But a deft splash of pitch black fire over its head snuffed out the spike of chaotic energy descending from above. Ah, right. Sealing flames. Ray should have figured they would be great as a defensive tool. A bolt of the same flames caught Ray too. He cursed, quickly smothering the fire and healing up the burns with some of his Recovery. When he checked, he found his access to Spiritblood Stake had been removed. The spell was greyed out. Not selectable. Well, looked like he was going to have to do this the old-fashioned way. Ray flashed forward on his wings, eating up the distance between himself and the monster. He had cast Mottling Spiritguard too, crating a dozen orbs of chaos to race alongside him. As soon as he was close enough, he sent all twelve orbs to assail the monster, while he created another dozen as a defensive measure. The monster responded by immolating itself in those black flames. Ray¡¯s orbs collided against the lightless fire and immediately died. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. No problem. That last exchange had counted as ¡°hits¡± for the purpose of Vengeful Plunder. Ray could feel his stats rising rapidly as a rush of power similar to Goliath Eater enveloped him. The problem was that it didn¡¯t seem enough. With another roar that made the world flicker around Ray¡ªwhich he understood now was the effect of the Dead Rift Roar skill¡ªthe monster seemed to partially vanish as it moved at a blistering speed. Right, another skill. Spirit Phase, or whatever it was called. Spirit Phase¡­ wait a minute. Could Ray¡ª There was no time to test hypotheses when the Lostcaller flashed into a spot right in front of him and swung its arms so fast that they blurred. Ray was throwing himself back, maintaining his shield of sparking orbs. The monster¡¯s swiping arm seemed to phase right through the orbs before striking him hard. His Shaper Raiment tore, as did his chest underneath, and he was hammered back downslope. The pain was blinding, but a quick application of Recovery healed the worst of the injury. Though, it didn¡¯t take care of everything. His vision remained distorted as though the monster was continuing to use Dead Rift Roar, a painful sizzling sensation eating away within. Black flames rose around the Lostcaller as it prepared another attack. What was worse was that it was bulking up too. A part of it, at least. The writhing flesh shifted from off its torso to gather around one of its arms, forcing it to become a massive pillar of flesh bigger than the monster itself. Ray, however, wasn¡¯t interested in suffering another blow. He threw himself back, while creating the Impervious Shell barrier using Lifeblood Soulform. That huge arm looked like it would rely on a direct physical impact rather than the spirit damage of the last attack. A more physical barrier that was also stronger was the way to go. But even then, Ray flew back, not willing to exchange blows. Not unless it was on his terms. The Lostcaller slammed its oversized arm into the shell. Its power was massive. The shell flew back, its front surface cracking so hard that the monster¡¯s fist momentarily punched out through the back. Then it immediately twisted around to attack its original target. But Ray was already on the move. He had flashed forward with Soullife Cloak active and his wings jetting his speed to incredible levels. At the same time, he created a couple dozen sparking orbs with Mottling Spiritguard, sending two of the spheres straight at the onrushing Lostcaller. The trick was to use the same surprise he had with the guard. Just as the orbs reached the Lostcaller, which had created another cloak of black flames over itself, the orbs changed into two draconic maw constructs. They immediately attacked the right and left arms of the monster, clamping their spectral jaws around the limbs and jerking the Lostcaller¡¯s momentum to a stop. Opening it up to Ray¡¯s rushing attack. He charged in on his wings, grafting a draconic maw to his arm with Primal Spiritcraft. In just a blink, he was right in front of the monster, unleashing a blast of compressed, fiery breath. The monster phased right through. Ray hadn¡¯t realized that Spirit Phase would allow it to turn so much of its body entirely transparent. It turned even more spectral than the draconic maws holding it back, its arms slipping through the jaws as its body traversed through Ray¡¯s body. With a quick twist, Ray turned to see the Lostcaller coming to a stop and turning too. Their speeds were evenly matched. Then it grew wings just like him. His skin crawled as he watched the flesh writhing off the monster¡¯s oversized arm to form two large and fleshy flaps waving off its shoulder. It took to the air, immolating itself with dark flames once again. There were so many fires this time, it almost turned white with brilliance, forcing Ray to squint his eyes against the blinding light. It was going to attack. He knew it. Ray had to stop it. With as quick a motion as he was capable of, he activated Soulstrike. Two enormous True Mana arms rose off his shoulder. He dismissed the constructs at the same time, applying more True Mana to turn the end of the arms into the giant draconic heads. Now he was ready. Just as the Lostcaller shot in a like a meteor at Ray, he slapped the two draconic arms together at the exact spot where the monster would pass through. Ray had also made the maws fire their laser breaths as they collided together. It was no surprise, then, that they exploded. The blast was so powerful, Ray himself was thrown off his feet to tumble over the side of the spire. He used a bit more Recovery to reduce the pain of the flashing burn, but his bigger focus was on getting back to the spire. When he arrived back at the spot where the blast had occurred, he found the Lostcaller was already getting back to its feet. Ruined feet, but still alive and standing. Ray grinned anyway. He had figured out that the entirety of the monster couldn¡¯t be incorporeal at the same time. There had to be a portion that was still in this world. It would have been tremendously difficult to target that portion directly, but that was where something like an explosion came in handy. Now, he just had to repeat that exercise. He just had to make sure he didn¡¯t get hit. The Lostcaller tried firing its spectral lighting. That Dark Lightning attack that really was unseeable. But Ray¡¯s Spiritguard orbs that he hadn¡¯t exhausted yet did well to revolve around him at a fast pace. They were enough to protect him. ¡°Come on,¡± Ray said. ¡°What are you waiting for? Attack me again, you monster.¡± The Lostcaller replied with another Dead Rift Roar. Ray was getting used to the disorienting effects by now. Except this time, the monster wasn¡¯t satisfied with just a simple flicker. Its roar continued, even after its mouth closed, the spectral world turning more and more real around Ray. His heartrate picked up. What was it doing now? A second later, the rate of its attacks turned relentless. More blasts of lightning came out of nowhere. It added the black flames to the mixture as well, streams and fireballs coming in hot and fast. There were so many that Ray was practically blinded, unable to see anything beyond his little protective circle of revolving Spiritguard orbs. He was quickly forced to call up more of them. Several had already fallen under the Lostcaller¡¯s ceaseless assault. Did that thing have no lack of Mana? Ray felt it approach without actually seeing it attack. He simply instinctively activated Lifeblood Soulform to call upon Impervious Shell. It was all he could do when the monster gave him no room at all to dodge. The defence failed. Ray was unsurprisingly blasted off his feet as the shell was bashed backwards. When he had landed again, he found himself almost entirely in the world that the Lostcaller was trying to summon. The hell was going on? All around him, the land was blasted and broken. Dead black trees covered the muddy grey earth. Whirls of dull gold and riven ash filled the sky. And that smell¡­ Ray¡¯s nose cringed. It was like flesh burning. The Lostcaller approached, burning with power. Shit, shit. Ray forced himself to rise, to face his enemy. He forced himself to think. With the monster now wise to his strategy, while also employing its own rather successful counter-idea, how was he going to turn this around? And then it turned out Ray himself might not need to figure anything out. A sudden bursting sensation from within him preceded the manifestation of a Tower Node. Ray frowned. It was the disgusting one. The Tower Node of the Fleshcrafter. ¡°What do you want?¡± he asked. The Tower Node blinked, the flesh within its glassy case turning brilliant white for a second. For whatever reason, the Lostcaller stopped. It almost appeared¡­ hesitant. Then the world broke. Ray was once more fully back in the real world, inside the Second Floor of the Tower of Forging, upon the mountainous spire they were trying to reach the top of. Back. He grinned. He was back again. A spear of ice crashed in, landing nearly upon the monster. It dashed back, only to move even farther away as a spinning sword arced through the spot it had been a second ago. Ray looked around to see the Felds rushing towards him. ¡°I knew you were going to come!¡± Alice shouted. Before Ray could reply, the Lostcaller shrieked shortly, then whipped around and dashed off upslope. Was it actually retreating because there were more people? That didn¡¯t feel right. Ray looked down at his sudden allies. ¡°Keep up!¡± They were still a bit far, but Ray was certain he saw the two sisters focusing on two different things. Alice smiled widely back at him as her sword spun back to her hand. Mary, however, was frowning at the Tower Node. Ray would have taken the time to frown at it too, but there was no time to waste. Dismissing and resummoning his wings to reset the timer, he crushed another True Mana shard before rushing after the Lostcaller. He would have to keep an eye on when Goliath Eater ran out. Losing its effects now would be disastrous. He didn¡¯t understand, though. Why was the monster running away? With the power it had displayed, it could handily deal with both Ray and his reinforcements. Ray looked at the Fleshcrafter Tower Node suspiciously. It had stopped blinking now that the Lostcaller had run off. But why had it showed up in the first place? All Ray could think of was the monster¡¯s writhing flesh somehow seducing the Tower Node to appear into being. The Lostcaller appeared in the distance before long. But it wasn¡¯t the monster that caught Ray¡¯s attention. It was the bridge. The top of the cliff was connected to the peak of the spire with via a long, stone bridge. An arch stretched underneath it as support, its thicker ends held on the cliff face and the spire. Was that what the Lostcaller had run off to guard? No, it wasn¡¯t standing in front of the weathered stone structure. The Lostcaller had positioned itself closer to the centre of the peak, where the tip of the spire rose even higher and narrowed significantly as it speared towards the sky. That¡¯s when, with a gasp, Ray saw it. It was difficult to see, what with the monster burning wide swathes of the area with black flames and lightless lightning crackling everywhere around it, but the gleaming white shape was unmistakeable. The Lostcaller was guarding a Tower Node. B2 Chapter 9 (76): Gone Too Soon It was too far for Ray to tell what Tower Node that was. Primordial Gauge just didn¡¯t extend that far. Not a real issue, as far as Ray was concerned. It didn¡¯t look like the Lostcaller could use the Tower Node. Wouldn¡¯t that be a sight¡ªa monster of all things channelling the power of a Tower Node. Ray turned to his right. The bridge was right there. Completely unguarded and undefended, as far as he could see. He could take it with ease. No way was he turning his back on that thing, though. Ray attacked. The monster was wise to his tricks now. Like before, he sought to trap it by using a couple of his constructs to hold it in place before causing another explosion right on its head. Hopefully, the next one would take care of something even more vital than its legs. The problem was that the monster refused to let any attacks get close. It moved too fast, even quicker than the Spiritguard orbs could fly. And if Ray tried to use a numbers superiority to trap the Lostcaller, it just sent out more of its flames to take the orbs out from range. Ray even tried to shoot it from a distance with a draconic maw¡¯s fiery breath using Primal Spiritcraft. But they just phased right through the monster. It was keeping a good chunk of its body intangible. Spiritual. Damn creature was way too smart. Even worse, that was only for the first few moments. It took less than thirty seconds for the momentum to shift. Again with the irrepressible barrage of black flames and lightning. Forget attacking, Ray was quickly left barely defending himself with cast after cast of Mottling Spiritguard. The hammering assault from the Lostcaller was depleting his True Mana reserves way too quickly. Until a shining bolt of white light shot at the monster. Ray got a bit of reprieve as Alice rushed over, covered in gleaming white light that sprayed bolts at random at the Lostcaller. Now the monster was on the defensive, using its flames to repel her attacks. ¡°I¡¯m here just in time,¡± she yelled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ve got your back.¡± Ray offered her a comradely nod. ¡°Where¡¯s your sister?¡± Her answer was lost in the Death Rift Roar that made the world flicker again. A shadow of fear passed over Alice¡¯s face, though it quickly turned to determined resolution. ¡°She¡¯s right behind me,¡± she said, before rushing off to meet the monster head-on. ¡°Be careful,¡± Ray warned her, though he couldn¡¯t tell how much she heard because the battle was already underway. At least, by the looks of things, she wasn¡¯t weak. Alice Felds held her ground against the Lostcaller, a monster that had to be several levels stronger than her. Her blows were powerful, and so was her defence. The white light around her turned to shimmering plates of armour wherever the monster struck. That surefire protection allowed her to rain blows upon her adversary with heedless aggression. Impressively, she was beating back the Lostcaller for a little while. Buthe monster¡¯s black, sealing flames came into play all too soon. Her glowing pieces of armour disappeared one by one. Every fiery black blast she blocked temporarily took away her protection. Even the light on her sword was sealed away after one interaction where she was momentarily awash with the dark fire. Then it was the monster¡¯s turn to hammer in. While Alice was able to block the majority of the Lostcaller¡¯s physical attacks, she failed to see the spectral, half-invisible bolts. Ray wanted to help but getting in between that fight was dangerous. For Alice, especially. He didn¡¯t want to distract her, nor did he want to accidentally hit her. What a fucking conundrum. Alice Felds was suddenly thrown back by one bolt striking her on the chest. Ray¡¯s heart leaped into his mouth. He had seen enough. Rushing forward, he sent several Spiritguard orbs circulating around her in a defensive formation. They would protect her while he took on the Lostcaller directly. ¡°I¡¯ll create an opening,¡± Ray said. ¡°You try to get in a direct hit, if you can.¡± She didn¡¯t argue. Ray himself had already pushed away the sad feeling that he alone wasn¡¯t going to get all the Essence from this fight. The monster was just too powerful. Maybe he could win on his own, given enough time, but he wasn¡¯t going to forcefully push away the only possible friend he had on the Second Floor. Ray charged forth, but then halted as the monster shifted attention. It sent a veritable river of black flame and spectral lightning hurtling down the slope while it itself faced higher up. Where a path of ice had formed to lead straight to the spire¡¯s peak. Straight to the Tower Node. Mary Felds was heading for the treasure that the Lostcaller was desperate to protect. Ray wanted to scream at her for not prioritizing the monster, but maybe that was a good thing. Her unerring charge straight for the Lostcaller¡¯s main priority had taken the heat off Ray and Alice. Which meant they ought to be able to get in behind and attack. So, as the Lostcaller charged upslope after a rushing Mary Felds, Ray constructed a draconic maw to fire a compressed, fiery laser. Meanwhile, Alice slashed her sword to send arcs of burning white light after their foe. They arced through the air pretty fast, even curving as they travelled like they had a bit of tracking power too. Ray had to wonder what in the world her class was. But their attacks failed to land. The monster was a combination of too fast and too intelligent with its spontaneous phasing. And then Mary had reached The Tower Node. A brilliant illumination made everything too difficult to see. Ray was forced to squint his eyes against the blinding glare. At the same time, the Lostcaller ripped out an ear-rending howl, a cry so full of dismay that even Ray¡¯s heart quailed on hearing its anguish. That anguish led to desperation. A desperation manifesting in a form of an attack Ray hadn¡¯t seen yet from the monster. Lighting and flames erupted around the monster¡¯s claws. So dark, they looked like they were carved out of nothingness. An instant later, the Lostcaller dug both arms into the spire¡¯s surface. All its power rushed underground as it started doing something, and the whole spire began shaking. ¡°Not good,¡± Alice yelled as she trembled and quaked her way upslope. Ray was spared the tremors as he was able to take flight, but that didn¡¯t really help. Mostly because the monster had gained too much distance. He wasn¡¯t able to reach it in time. Not before the spire shattered. Cracks spread under the surface with the speed of a lightning bolt. The entire side of the spire broke under the Lostcaller¡¯s assault. Burst of black flame and dark lightning spurted out from fissures all over the spire¡¯s side. In seconds, entire chunks were falling off. ¡°Landslide!¡± Ray yelled. This really wasn¡¯t good. Being airborne meant he was able to evade the worst of the landslide. But with the way his wings¡¯ elevation worked, Ray was tumbling down the side of the spire along with the chunks of its surface crumbling and crashing downslope. He tried protecting himself as best as he could. Impervious Shell wasn¡¯t going to work on such an unstable surface, but summoning a dozen Spiritguard orbs did help. They warded off the worst of the debris and protected him from getting his head smashed in. For someone who ought to have revelled in chaos, Ray was definitely having trouble keeping up. Things eventually stopped rumbling, however. When the side of the spire finally settled down, allowing Ray the opportunity to climb back up, he didn¡¯t get a move on as quickly as he should have. Mostly because the spire had shattered open. It turned out the whole, ginormous structure was some sort of egg. What the Lostcaller had done was break apart the shell to reveal some kind of pulsating flesh underneath, seeping out a pinkish liquid that roiled down the side of the broken spire like magma. Ray couldn¡¯t tell what it was, but it was huge. At least half again as tall as the spire he had just climbed. The hell was that thing? All he could think of was that the Growth Mana that this whole spire had to be made of had somehow grown into an actual living being underneath. Insane. The bigger issue was that the Lostcaller itself was turning its attention back up to the peak, and it was too far from Ray now. There was no way he would reach it, not before it reached Mary. She had encased her location in ice. A giant cold prism surrounded her and the Tower Node, but Ray had serious doubts it would be enough. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. His fears were proven moments later when the Lostcaller rushed up the slope and hammered straight into the prism. It was too big, of course. Mary had been smart enough. But the Lostcaller just pushed its arms inside using Spirit Phase, which was enough, because it then unleashed its flames and lightning within Mary¡¯s prism. Ray might not have exactly liked Mary, but he wasn¡¯t cruel enough to let her die. He was already flying upslope over the broken ground as well as he could. It was going to take too long, though. The monster had broken the side of the spire in such a way that Ray¡¯s ascent was heavily stymied because of a lack of surface to elevate himself off of. He was forced to seek out the specific spots where he could climb higher. Even when he flew to the other side of the spire, he just found it shattered apart like the rest of it. Which was bad because the Lostcaller had destroyed Mary¡¯s barricade and was now about to assault her directly. She was still too focused on the Tower Node, where a line of blinding light had her connected to the Node. If Ray had to guess, she couldn¡¯t even move. A perfectly vulnerable state for the monster to pounce and kill her. If not for her sister, that was. Where Ray was still stuck downslope, Alice was somehow able to make her way up there. That was actually frustrating. He had wings for crying out loud. Why was he only ambling to where he actually needed to be. The next few moments made Ray completely forget about his annoyance. He stared as the monster got in close, ready to strike down Mary Felds. A part of him still hoped that she¡¯d be able to break free from whatever was going on between her and the Tower Node. That at the last moment, Mary would rally and survive against the Lostcaller. But it never happened. What did happen, however, was the fact that Mary¡¯s sister reached her just in time. With a scream, Alice Felds threw herself to the top of the spire, white light speeding her along with whatever strange skill she was using. Her attack from behind simply phased through the monster. But when the Lostcaller rose into the air on wings of writhing flesh, immolating itself to turn into a meteor before hammering at Mary, Alice was there to defect the blow. She had jumped up too, her sword shining as she held it in a guard position for an instant before she collided with the Lostcaller. Then she screamed as the monster¡¯s meteoric rush struck her, sending her burning and flying off the spire¡¯s side. But she had done enough. The Lostcaller itself had been deflected. Instead of hammering in at Mary Felds, it now flew off to the side to crash land on a different spot further downslope. A spot that was on Ray¡¯s level. Not that he was paying attention to where the monster had gone. His eyes had been riveted to Alice, to the body of the woman burning with black fires, crashing down with no less of a powerful impact than the Lostcaller. He was already trying to fly over to where Alice had landed, but Mary got there first. It seemed her business with the Tower Node was done. Almost as though the Node had been holding her back until her sister had been dealt with. Ray didn¡¯t need to get close to see the extent of the damage. Alice¡¯s whole body was burned and blistered. Her clothes were in a smouldering mess, much of her golden air was still aflame, and one of her eye sockets was charred entirely, still steaming as though the eyeball had been vaporized. Ray¡¯s stomach roiled at the sight, his heart beating hard. ¡°No!¡± Mary was shouting, shaking her head. Her eyes were wide and tear-strewn, her expression collapsing. ¡°No, no, no, no, no.¡± Ray was a little frozen. What could he do? Was there anything anyone could do? Still alive, though. Alice was still momentarily alive, though that wasn¡¯t going to last for long. So much blood. So many devastating injuries. And neither Ray nor Mary had a way of doing anything about them. Another Dead Rift Roar rolled over the spire. The whole world flickered. But the monster¡¯s scream was drowned out by the one from Mary Felds. ¡°I can¡¯t hear you, Alice,¡± she yelled over the noise. ¡°I can¡¯t hear you.¡± It became obvious why a moment later. When Ray forced himself to look properly, he found that most of Alice¡¯s tongue had burned away too. She was trying to talk but couldn¡¯t get any words out. Fuck. Ray didn¡¯t know where the idea came from, but he found himself constructing his mimic with Lifeblood Soulform. He opened his mouth, allowing the black-red Imitator to observe the inner workings. Then, after he passed on his intention, the construct slithered over to Alice¡¯s mouth. Mary didn¡¯t even try to stop it. Barely even reacted as a foreign mass compressed itself inside her sister¡¯s dying mouth. To form¡ªand graft¡ªa small tongue. ¡°You¡¯re¡­ okay,¡± Alice said, staring at her sister. Mary¡¯s eyes filled with tears as she began sobbing. She had cracked apart. Ray¡¯s heart quailed too, twisting like a cloth being forcefully dried. He didn¡¯t want to be here. Didn¡¯t want to see this. Didn¡¯t want to be an interruption in this personal moment between two sisters, one of whom was dying. Or maybe he just didn¡¯t want to feel like he had felt with Randall all over again. The Lostcaller¡¯s approach gave him an excuse. An angry excuse. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of that son of a bitch,¡± Ray said as he got going. ¡°Now?¡± Mary said. ¡°You¡¯ll take care of it now?¡± Another little stake drove into Ray¡¯s heart, but he steeled himself. It wasn¡¯t hard. Rage was pounding far harder than guilt, almost smothering his thoughts. He shouldn¡¯t be reacting this heavily. How long had he even known that woman? With another yell, the Lostcaller bounded towards Ray. He dismissed and resummoned his wings, crushed a True Mana shard, then rushed the monster too. Ray held nothing back. Neither did the monster. A salvo of black flames and spectral lightning slammed in at Ray, but he managed to push through by casting enough Mottling Spiritguard to safeguard his body. It helped that he was moving incredibly fast through the constant attacks as well. He was already crafting his own counters as he pushed through. Two draconic maws ad formed using Primal Spiritcraft, one on each arm. Over his shoulder, two giant True Mana arms flashed forward to strike at the monster courtesy of Soulstrike. The Lostcaller phased through everything. Like Ray, it was moving with incredible speed too. It dodged his Soulstrike impales, then evaded the fiery laser blasts from his two maws. Even when Ray made the emissions from his grafted Greater Windbane Maws cross so that they detonated with a humongous explosion, the Lostcaller moved through the explosion without taking much damage. It was still well enough to continue attacking him. Ray flashed past. As much as his impulses drove him to slam into the monster, to bring his full fury to bear and try to tear it apart, that wouldn¡¯t work well. He had seen Alice losing her powers with every exchange. The black flames had sealed away her abilities one by one. Ray couldn¡¯t go through that. It was why he was staying mobile and fast. Though, the reminder of Alice brought on a fresh wash of anger that made him try a different tack. It was difficult. Costly. He knew he wasn¡¯t supposed to do it. But it could just be what was needed against a creature like that. Especially when it was throwing another furious salvo of a spectral, mostly-unseen lighting storm at him again. Ray cast more Mottling Spiritguard to both replace the orbs he had lost and add to the total tally. Now he had enough to go on the direct offensive again. He flashed at his target. The monster¡¯s attack was too furious though. Despite the best efforts of his Spiritguard orbs, the lightning was slipping through. He was focusing too much on keeping away the sealing flames. No surprise, then, that Ray got hit by stray bolts of black lightning. Except, that wasn¡¯t the real Ray at all. He had cast Lifeblood Soulform to create another Imitator that had taken the exact shape of Ray. A copy good enough to fool even the Lostcaller. The real Ray, farther off to one side, had sent out several of his orbs. He¡¯d even had space to crush another True Mana shard. With the Lostcaller already having immolated itself once more, they wouldn¡¯t do much. In fact, the monster didn¡¯t even care that there were almost a dozen sparking orbs headed for it. It had great faith that its black flames were surefire protection. But Ray was prepared. Before the orbs connected, he had them surround their target and then instantaneously turn them all into Greater Windbane Maws. Then they all fired their compressed laser breaths at once. Ray¡¯s brain felt like it was splitting apart. He still recalled that warning from the First Floor, when he had created too many constructs. The same situation had arisen again. But there was nothing for it. Didn¡¯t matter if his world spun out of control, didn¡¯t matter that his mind was losing itself. He was killing that fucking monster no matter what. But even that detonation wasn¡¯t enough. A chaotic inferno the size of an airplane hanger overtook the entirety of the spire top. Somehow, someway, the Lostcaller survived out, burned and blistered though it appeared. Might have something to do with the fact that it had ripped out another Dead Rift Roar. The way the world had rippled had made Ray¡¯s condition far worse. And now, the monster was heading straight for Ray. The real one, this time. He could have gotten away, of course, but the sudden disappearance of all of his Greater Windbane Maw constructs had cleared his mind. Ray remained bent over, clutching his head, breathing ragged. It was only the corner of his eye that showed him what was happening. The corner of his eye that told him when to use Project Presence. His focus and senses all split again. He saw the world twice, heard wild sounds overlaying on one another. Pain flared through his head. So much so that he actually fell to his knees. But he retained just enough concentration, just enough willpower, to cast one more spell. Spectral Step. Ray had managed to time it just right, forcing up on his feet at the same time. As the Lostcaller passed through his projected spirit, Ray had teleported away from his original location. To reappear at the exact spot his spirit was located. At the exact spot that the monster was passing through. It was definitely a bold move. An experiment, in truth. Good thing it turned out to be successful. Ray¡¯s hastily drawn hypotheses proved to be correct. He reappeared inside the monster. His body felt an immense pressure as the world shifted in the space of a blink. Then his chest was crushing the Lostcaller¡¯s ribcage, his hand punching up through the monster¡¯s gullet. His other hand had ripped through the wings of writhing flesh. It all happened in a split second, but it was enough. Two beings couldn¡¯t exist in the same physical space at once. Just as Ray had hoped, Spectral Step made his reappearing body displace anything that was in the location where he teleported to. That spell had always had the potential to be overpowered, but it was only now Ray was exploring its real strengths. With another ear-piercing howl, the Lostcaller fell apart to dozens of fleshy and bony pieces on the ground just behind Ray. He turned around to see them all burning with black flames. And then they fell still, charred to nothing. [Enemy Defeated¡ªLostcaller] Tier 11 Monster: Lostcaller [Level 34] x1 Essence: +3,740 Knowledge: +3 True Mana Restored: +340 Essence to Level 25: 15,580/37,500 Knowledge to next Threshold: 702/800 [New Personal Achievement¡ªVengeance Empowered!] You have defeated a far stronger foe after it has dealt you a grave, emotional wound. The determination to exact vengeance has filled you with great strength. Reward
  • Reputation: +20 Ruthlessness
[Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 150-point threshold, your Ruthlessness boosts all your damage dealt even further. All damage inflicted gets a 15% bonus, including damage from any afflictions. Ray would have slumped in mental and a physical exhaustion just then, but he received a surprising communication from an even more surprising source. Mary: There are people coming, Ray: What? Mary: People, you fucking idiot. There¡¯re people coming across the bridge. From over the cliff. B2 Chapter 10 (77): Citizens of The Tower What Ray really wanted just then was to plop down and relax. The battle, the death, the constant use of spells and True Mana shards, they had all taken a toll on him. But Mary had actually taken the time to warn him. The least he could do was show up. It took his exhausted body more time than was probably ideal, but he managed it. When he reached the spot on the spire where the bridge was connecting it to the cliff, he found Mary Felds there. She had brought her sister¡¯s body with her. Alice¡¯s corpse rested at her feet. The sight made Ray¡¯s heart squeeze, but what stood before them was what arrested his attention. There was basically a small battalion on the bridge. They wore similar uniforms as the guards they had fought, though more expressive and slightly richer-looking. What was stranger was the mounts they were riding. The guards¡¯ armour and weapons had made Ray think of a more medieval-ish society, so he assumed they would be riding horses. What the mounted members of the battalion instead rode on were dinosaurs. Literal, living, breathing raptors that were bigger than ostriches. Ray couldn¡¯t help but stare. ¡°Ah, is that the companion you indicated was closer by?¡± the man in front asked. His armour was more gold than black. A long silver braid swung down from under his lobster-tail helm. Clearly, the guy was the leader. Mary looked over. Even from the distance, Ray could see how her expression was simply¡­ dead. It wasn¡¯t even the coldness she normally held onto. Just empty. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s him.¡± They called him in, but Ray was already walking over. ¡°Who are you?¡± Ray asked once he was within speaking distance. He couldn¡¯t help but be tense. After all, the dino-riding man¡¯s subordinates had tried to kill Ray and Mary and everyone else not that long ago. They were the ones responsible for Alice¡¯s death, even if indirectly. ¡°As I have been explaining to your companion here,¡± the man said, indicating Mary. ¡°We are the rightful citizens of the Kingdom of Everstead. We were alerted about the commotion on Spire 14, so we came to investigate, and once we learned the real reason behind the battle, we hurried here as fast as we could to halt the needless bloodshed.¡± Ray¡¯s eyes found Alice again. Mary was looking down at her dead sister too. He had to wonder what Alice had said with her dying breath to calm Mary down like that. She had been¡­ a little unhinged, when Ray had left. Not that he blamed her. ¡°You believe them?¡± Ray asked the only other person in the vicinity he knew was real. Because he was starting to wonder the exact placement of these foreign people. Well, maybe from their viewpoint, he was the foreigner here. But it was starting to become clear that these people believed they belonged here. Even without the consideration that they thought themselves a part of some kingdom, Ray was beginning to wonder if they were actual people or if they were some strange simulation of the System to populate the Second Floor. ¡°We have no other option.¡± Despite the deadened expression, Mary¡¯s voice trembled a little with suppressed emotion. ¡°They outnumber us. What would you do instead? Fight?¡± She put so much emphasis on the idea of combat, Ray couldn¡¯t even consider it without feeling embarrassed. ¡°It¡¯s hard to trust when your people have been trying to kill us,¡± Ray said. The man on dino-back nodded. ¡°Of course. We understand the predicament. Regardless, I suggest considering your options. We can assist you, if you¡¯d like, but if you choose to ignore it, then you can move on as you see fit.¡± ¡°Why would you help us? Also, you said you learned about the real reason behind the commotion. What real reason, and where did you learn it from?¡± ¡°All legitimate questions that we will be happy to answer. But we are offering you our hand in kindness. Would it not be better for everyone to go to a more civilized spot and conduct business there?¡± Ray still wasn¡¯t sure he wanted to trust any of them, but Mary was right. They had little choice. She was already walking forward in acceptance, her sister¡¯s body in her arms. Sighing, Ray followed her. ¡°Alright, then. Let¡¯s go.¡±
Ray was thankfully granted a dinosaur to ride too. He was a little apprehensive about riding a beast that could very well rip his head off with little trouble, but they appeared tame enough. So, shutting his fear down, Ray got on and rode off with the rest. It was a uniquely strange experience. There wasn¡¯t much bounce to it. It almost made him think the saddle had some strange suspension mechanism going on, but that couldn¡¯t be it. As they travelled and he got to see more of this Everstead kingdom, he was definitely sure they didn¡¯t have anything as advanced as suspension. Ray¡¯s earlier assumptions were correct. The tech level made him think of medieval times. Maybe early Renaissance, at best. He saw carts on the dirt road, houses made of mud and thatch, some wooden huts here and there. Very basic, primitive stuff. ¡°You had questions, yes?¡± the leader asked Ray and Mary. The silver-haired man had introduced himself as Caleb. He was the lord of this land, the caretaker of everything on Cliff Three, as he called it. They were at the head of the procession, along with a couple of others from her group. After sending word down the spire, they had waited until the rest of Mary¡¯s pseudo-Faction had come in. The lack of mounts meant most travelled on foot, but there were just enough raptors to allow two of the more powerful members to accompany Ray and Mary at the head of the party. One of whom, strangely, was the guy who had passed Ray earlier on to stop the guards from setting the Lostcaller loose on them. His name was Timothy. Apparently, Ray had succeeded in saving the fellow. He had even thanked Ray as they had started their journey. Despite the end of the fighting, the mood was sombre and still tense. Most of the Denizens didn¡¯t suddenly trust these people who claimed it was all a big mistake. For good reason, Ray supposed. This mistake had caused death. Alice wasn¡¯t the only one who had perished. This was true for both sides, actually. Just as many of the Denizens held onto hard faces and hostile postures, Ray noticed that several people from Everstead were shooting them unfriendly looks. He had to wonder if any of them were related to the guards who had died on the spire in any way. ¡°We did,¡± Mary said. She held her sister¡¯s body close to her own on the mount. ¡°Please explain how exactly you came to learn about us and why you are assisting us.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Caleb cleared his throat. ¡°Please hold any further questions till I am done.¡± Ray had been intrigued they were capable of understanding each other¡¯s speech. But this wasn¡¯t an unprecedented phenomenon. After all, the Sylvans hadn¡¯t spoken English either and communication had occurred seamlessly between them all. Another thing that made Ray frown a lot. The guy was called Caleb. That was such an Earth name, it really threw him for a loop. Caleb¡¯s story took his mind off of wondering about the nature of the monsters. Apparently, the Everstead kingdom¡¯s leaders had been informed by a highly respected merchant that the people rising up the Spire were actually the Denizens they were supposed to host, as a part of the Tower of Forging. Not the Imitators they were guarding against. It was only very recently that their kingdom had become a part of the Tower, so they were still ironing out some kinks. ¡°Wait a minute,¡± Ray said. He looked around, noting the gigantic spires, the strange sky with the half-baked tornados. ¡°Are you saying you aren¡¯t part of the Tower itself?¡± Caleb shook his head. ¡°Not at all. We are the Everstead kingdom, on the southeastern corner of the Marsden continent. I believe you Denizens were transported here as part of your challenge.¡± Ray was about to argue that assertion but he received a warning look from Mary. He kept quiet. For now. There was definitely something fishy going on, though, and he¡¯d be damned if didn¡¯t find out what it was. ¡°Does this highly respected merchant go by the name of Virko?¡± Mary asked. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°He does not.¡± Caleb stopped to think for a moment. ¡°Although, the Halftyr did mention another of his kind was within this so-called Tower, and it was this other Halftyr he received the information from. I assume that is this Virko.¡± ¡°Ah, I see.¡± Mary: Don¡¯t reveal much about your specific Objectives. We don¡¯t know how they relate to these people. Ray: I¡¯m aware. She didn¡¯t reply, and he figured she was sending a copy of that message to just about everyone in the group. It was best not to reveal anything they didn¡¯t have to. They couldn¡¯t trust the strangeness just yet. But even if Ray couldn¡¯t ask anything directly, he could at least take a peek at Caleb with Primordial Gauge. Hopefully, it wouldn¡¯t alert him. [Warning!] Primordial Gauge has been blocked by Robes of the Velvet Night and Lord¡¯s Heritage [Tier 8]. Ray scowled, though he quickly fixed his expression. Hopefully, no one had seen that. This was like Virko all over again. When Ray had tried to use the previous version of Primordial Gauge on the Halftyr merchant, he had been blocked by an item and a skill then too. Annoying that this Lord had similar powers. ¡°How did you come to become a part of the Tower?¡± Mary asked. ¡°The Floor Lord selected us as part of his challenge. He said he would gladly share his profits from running the Floor with us so long as we cooperated. Why he picked us of all people is a mystery to me, though I imagine His Majesty is aware.¡± ¡°But we were fighting the Sylvan on the spire,¡± Ray said. ¡°I was, at least. It¡¯s wild to think we¡¯d be attacked out of the blue by a Sylvan. You know, the people who are meant to be guiding the Denizens.¡± Of course, there was more than enough proof that the Sylvans cared little about actually guiding anyone. In fact, if word of what had happened on the First Floor had gotten out, then Ray wouldn¡¯t be surprised if that Sylvan had been out for vengeance. But Ray was mostly trying to throw off Caleb. It was strange how the Sylvan hadn¡¯t even spoken during their battle. ¡°I suspect that Sylvan wasn¡¯t aware of you being Denizens and was convinced by the guards there to halt you,¡± Caleb said. ¡°In case you were Imitators.¡± Ray wasn¡¯t totally convinced by that line of reasoning, but he also got the sense that poking holes into Caleb¡¯s tapestry wasn¡¯t going to do him much good here. The truth would need to be discovered some other way. He focused on the journey. Ray wasn¡¯t the only one marvelling at the things they passed by on route to their destination. Instead of regular animals, the people in this world had apparently harnessed dinosaurs to do all their bidding, not just riding. Small triceratopses were pulling carts and wagons along the dirt roads. Winged, feathery reptiles flitted overhead, scrolls bearing messages tied to their talons. There was even one girl carrying a dinosaur baby on her shoulder like it was a little pet or something. This place was a smidge insane. They passed by farmsteads for what felt like an hour or two before arriving at a modest town. This they passed through as well, though there was a bit of fanfare there. Someone had tipped off the townsfolk that there was a procession coming up. They thronged the streets to see the soldiers and the foreigners. Several pointed at Ray like he was mandril at a zoo with an especially colourful rear end. A couple of kids pointed and laughed at him too, and he gave those brats a nice middle finger. Though, what were they laughing at? Was there some rumour circulating about him? No, couldn¡¯t be just him. Almost all of the Denizens were subject to stares and whispers and giggles. Even, Ray noticed with a grit of his teeth, the ones bearing the dead. They pointed unabashedly at Mary, disregarding the stony look on her face or the dead body of her sister cradled in her lap. They did the same for the other Denizens in the back who carried their fallen comrades. ¡°Apologies,¡± Caleb said, bowing his head a little. ¡°Some people are not that sensitive.¡± Sensitive? This wasn¡¯t even about sensitivity when Ray stopped to think for a moment. Death was a sombre business. Shouldn¡¯t they be hushed, perhaps a little fearful of what might have caused the deaths? Even anger at the deaths of their own, like the kind some of the guards displayed, would have been preferable. They passed through the town before long, and it was another hour or so before they finally reached their destination. ¡°Welcome,¡± Caleb said. ¡°To my humble abode.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t look very humble to me,¡± Timothy muttered. Well, it was humble if the basis of comparison was the stuff back on Earth. But after all the mud huts and log cabins they had seen so far, a proper brick-and-mortar manor definitely looked like the height of comfort and luxury. ¡°Please, make yourselves at home.¡± Caleb clapped and the gates ahead opened. Several servants rushed out. ¡°I will have my retainers assist and guide you. It is the least we can do after everything that has happened.¡±
Caleb said he would meet them all later where they could discuss matters together. First, the Denizens could rest, recuperate, and refresh themselves. Ray got the best treatment he had enjoyed since this whole Tower business had started. An actual bath, a room to call his own, a comfy bed and couch, even some light refreshments with more food being cooked for a feast later. He took the time to relax, to unwind like he hadn¡¯t done in a while. It was so good to have running water cleanse him and take a bite out of a juicy apple. All within an hour, though. What he really needed to do was think and talk. Sending a message to Mary got him nothing. She was once again ignoring him. Ray thought he had heard her enquiring about burial options, and considering it was a private matter for her, he had decided to stay out of it. Even if something within him still curled into the foetal position with guilt and wanted to pay his respects to Alice. A guard in front of Ray¡¯s door, posted to apparently accommodate his every wish, decided to accompany him, apparently to ¡°guide¡± him so he didn¡¯t get lost in the manor. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine,¡± Ray tried to insist. ¡°Look, I¡¯ve never gotten lost once in sewer levels, so a manor is a piece of cake for my navigational skills.¡± That was a lie. Ray distinctly recalled losing his way and basically giving up on Vampire the Masquerade. But this guard didn¡¯t need to know that. ¡°I insist, sir,¡± he said. No, Ray was the one insisting here, but the guard didn¡¯t care. ¡°It is my duty to ensure your stay here is as perfect as possible.¡± Outside of being rude, Ray had no other recourse but to let the strange guy follow him. Thankfully, he stayed out when he reached Timothy¡¯s room. ¡°Come in,¡± Timothy said after Ray knocked on his door. ¡°Oh hey, Ray. Fancy meeting you here.¡± Fancy was definitely the word to choose. Timothy was wearing an actual robe, his reddish-brown hair still wet from a shower. He was gently swirling a glass of what looked like chilled wine. ¡°You look like you¡¯re enjoying yourself,¡± Ray said as he took a seat on the couch and tried the wine. It was a bit too sweet for his liking, but the chill refreshed him. He held up the glass. ¡°They just bring this to you when you ask?¡± ¡°Yep! Five-star room service, if you ask me.¡± Ray took some time to enjoy the wind, but he couldn¡¯t keep the real question out of his mouth for long. ¡°So, what do you think?¡± ¡°About what?¡± ¡°You know.¡± Ray shrugged his shoulders, less in noncommittal and more to indicate everything in general. ¡°All this. These people, this kingdom, whatever all this is. There¡¯s something fishy about it all.¡± Timothy frowned. ¡°I think you should relax a bit. You, and Mary.¡± ¡°Yeah, sure. But that doesn¡¯t mean we can¡¯t¡ª¡± ¡°You guys went through a lot. We all did.¡± Timothy took a long sip of his wine, the ice clinking hard enough to fill in the gap while he drank before he resumed talking. ¡°And now, we deserve to rest if only a for a bit. Maybe only for a day. Don¡¯t think that lord is going to let us freeload here indefinitely. So while I¡¯ve got time, I¡¯m going to kick back and relax. I deserve it.¡± It was Ray¡¯s turn to frown. Relax? How could anyone relax when they might very well be in enemy territory for all they knew. But Timothy was unwilling to talk about anything tense. And here Ray had thought he could make a new a friend by leveraging the fact that he had saved the guy. He did not want to befriend someone so¡­ not on his wavelength. Ah, well. Mary had been kind of responsive the last few hours. Maybe there was some hope yet. The thought of Mary Felds reminded him of her sister, and that made his heart fall. Eventually, after another hour of talking about inconsequential things Ray honestly didn¡¯t even remember after leaving Timothy¡¯s room, they were all invited to the feast. ¡°Please,¡± Caleb said. He was dressed in finery¡ªa brilliant green robe studded with small emeralds and a small circlet on his head like he was a prince of some kind. ¡°Take a seat.¡± Ray and the rest of the Denizens did so. Mary had also arrived at some point. She was dressed in her regular old white robes and armour. Her expression was still empty, though there was some of her old coldness in her despair-sunken eyes. They had other guests too. Important personages of this area of the realm and the family members of Caleb. The food was pretty good. Ray actually started thinking along the lines of Timothy. They had been missing a lot in the Tower. Scrumptiously roasted chicken, fish filleted and oven-baked, what tasted like alfredo fettucine. Ray¡¯s stomach was really happy as the feast drew to a close. ¡°And now,¡± Caleb said after the dishes had been cleared and they had been served more wine. ¡°It is now time we discussed the matter at hand¡ªthat of how we will be conducting ourselves while we are here.¡± ¡°We?¡± Mary asked. ¡°You make it sound like you¡¯ve already prepared how you want us to interact.¡± Mary¡¯s perceptive words made several of the dignitaries straighten in their chairs. They knew now they weren¡¯t dealing with idiots. ¡°We have some ideas, yes,¡± Caleb said. ¡°But before I explain our offer, we would like to hear what you have to say about your overall intentions in our kingdom.¡± ¡°You already know that from your merchant, don¡¯t you? We have some System-mandated tasks and a challenge from the Floor Lord we need to complete while on the Floor. Once those are accomplished, we will be able to access the Third and final Floor of the Tower. That is the sum of all of our goals here.¡± ¡°Correct. We know as much. But what won¡¯t know is the specifics. For instance, for all we know, one or more of these tasks you mention may end up being detrimental for us.¡± Ray frowned. Of course. The conversation was always going to come back to knowing more about Ray and the rest of the Denizens. After all, they were foreigners here. That these people had welcomed them with open arms and such good treatment was already kind of a blessing. It would have made just as much sense if they had thrown the Denizens into prison, if not outright kill them, after they had already clashed and killed some of their own. ¡°Well, we¡¯ve given the general gist,¡± Ray said, taking the conversational reins from Mary. ¡°I think you owe us a general explanation of what this deal entails too.¡± The dignitaries and important personages all exchanged some quick glances, but Caleb¡¯s eyes remained focused on the Denizens. ¡°As you wish. Turnabout is fair play. You see, the deal we had in mind is thus¡ªin return for us granting you the information, and perhaps the opportunities, to complete your Objectives, you would perform some tasks for us.¡± ¡°What kinds of tasks?¡± Mary asked. ¡°Ah, but here we get into the specifics again, don¡¯t we?¡± They were again at an impasse, neither side exactly willing to divulge the meat and potatoes of their intentions first. But Ray had other ideas. He realized that they were in the exact same position Mary had told him about when they had first met these people. That their choices were very limited. Ray was not about to pass up this golden goose of a chance to learn more about this Floor. ¡°I don¡¯t speak for the rest of my fellow Denizens,¡± Ray said, raising his voice. ¡°But I for one am willing to sign onto this deal, provided I like the exact terms. So, let¡¯s get down to business, shall we?¡± B2 Chapter 11 (78): Deal The conversation after the feast didn¡¯t last long. Not for Ray, at least. After all, he didn¡¯t want to discuss the specifics of his Objectives with so many other people present. It turned out the rest of them felt similarly too. With Ray having broken the dam, one by one, they all went forward and asked to speak privately to determine the specifics of the deal. For if Ray could throw himself out of the collective¡ªa group headed by Mary, whom he still didn¡¯t wish to work under or with, not directly¡ªthen so could the rest of them without looking bad. Nevertheless, there were still some intriguing pieces of information that they all ought to be privy to, which Caleb almost reluctantly informed them about after Mary called him out on it. The kingdom had its capital on Cliff One, the highest area on the Floor. Both the main residence of the ruler and that of the various nobles who were the most important all resided there as well. It was more than likely that some, if not all, of the ascending Denizens would end up there too. They also learned that if they refused to cooperate with the people of the Floor, they would lose the hospitality they had been receiving. No more free meals and lodging at the lord¡¯s manor. No more having guards accompany them like their personal retainers. No more of the nice guy act. Apparently, they could still pay for whatever they wanted or needed, so there was that. It just wouldn¡¯t be free. ¡°Manipulating, conniving¡­¡± Timothy¡¯s harsh whispers at that pronouncement had fallen to mutterings too low for Ray to hear, even if he was sitting right beside the guy. ¡°Where is the Floor Lord,¡± Mary said. ¡°At Cliff One?¡± Caleb nodded to indicate her assumption had been correct. ¡°I¡¯m certain you will meet her there, if your journey and your tasks take you to Cliff One.¡± There were more contextual questions that some of the others asked. Like what was the state of the kingdom, if there were any conflicts they needed to be wary of, and the things of that nature. Caleb assured them that they wouldn¡¯t be drawn into the political matters of Everstead, for which Ray was thankful. He was here to grow and advance. Not play Europa Universalis. Though, that line of questioning made Ray wonder about the kingdom¡¯s boundaries. Where did the kingdom¡¯s edges coincide with the Tower¡¯s edges? Caleb assured them all that there had been no noticeable changes to Everstead. The borders were just as they had always been. People could move through them as they always had. Though, Ray was certain that meant the citizens of the kingdom, not the Denizens. But if the Denizens did go there, what exactly would they see? How did that work with the various Cliffs and what they had seen so far? As curious as Ray was to see the phenomenon going on there, he wouldn¡¯t have time to make a journey of that kind. One of the main reasons he had decided to work with Caleb was because he would now have some space to work on all the things he had neglected. Ray should never have had to test his idea combing Project Presence with Spectral Step against the Lostcaller. Ideally, he would have figured out its kinks in a safe environment before using it against a foe. It wasn¡¯t that he regretted using the combination against the monster, but that didn¡¯t mean it was ideal. Plus, there were all the other stuff he hadn¡¯t tested yet. He still needed to try out Channel Prayer that he had taken from Derrick Orden. Then there was the Mana conversion ability with the Tower Nodes of the Ingestor and the Abstractor. So many Tower Nodes to test¡­ That did remind him about the Tower Node he had seen on top of the spire. The one that had gone missing while he had fought and killed the Lostcaller. Well, not missing in truth. Ray was pretty sure he knew who had it now. ¡°True Mana shards?¡± Caleb asked. After their feast, Ray had been one of the first to corner the lord of Cliff Three for a more private discussion about their deal. Ray nodded, pulling out a True Mana shard. He held up the lightly glowing white crystal. ¡°This is a True Mana shard. You¡¯ve never seen anything like this?¡± ¡°We have dealt with shards before, yes, though not of True Mana.¡± That was a little disappointing. ¡°So you wouldn¡¯t be able to trade with these, then? My idea was that I might have been able to earn some more by working with you.¡± It was interesting that Caleb didn¡¯t insist any of the Denizens address him as lord or anything official like that. Ray figured at least some of the more hostile looks the Denizens had received was because of their reluctance to adhere to the kind of decorum the citizens of Everstead subscribed to. Caleb and the majority of the citizens didn¡¯t seem to care, though. Intriguing. ¡°Hmm, I believe we might still be able to make it a part of our deal,¡± the lord of Cliff Three said. ¡°Would you mind lending it to me for a few days? I might be able to acquire some more, but I will need to show it rather than simply name or describe it.¡± Ray wondered just how exactly Caleb would manage that, but the lord was reluctant to answer, so Ray didn¡¯t push it. ¡°What can you tell me abut Elementals?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Do you know where I could find some on Cliff Three?¡± ¡°Elementals, hmmm. There aren¡¯t many, but we should be able to locate some for you, yes.¡± ¡°I¡¯d also like some open space where I could test certain abilities. Spells and the like. I hope there¡¯s a field or training ground or something along those lines I could borrow.¡± ¡°Of course. That too can be arranged.¡± ¡°And one more thing. Could you make sure the pathway up the spires remains open? We¡¯re not the only Denizens who will use them. I would hope the others coming after me won¡¯t have to¡­ go through the same ordeal I did.¡± ¡°Oh, of course. That has already been arranged with the guards. Don¡¯t worry.¡± Caleb looked a little apologetic. ¡°Now, perhaps we can move on to our side of the bargain?¡± ¡°Right, right. Please go ahead.¡± Ray had perhaps taken a few too many concessions from the guy without letting him get any of his side of deal in edgewise. He supposed he could pipe down and let the poor fellow speak. ¡°We would like you to take care of some of our infected,¡± Caleb said. ¡°Infected?¡± That immediately brought to mind the Objective about the plague that was supposed to be on the Second Floor. ¡°Are they infected by some kind of plague?¡± ¡°Yes, exactly. I am surprised you already know.¡± He paused, as though expecting Ray to elaborate, but when Ray remained silent, he went on. ¡°While we are dealing with them, it would be of great benefit if you could assist as well.¡± ¡°Deal with them¡­ how, exactly?¡± ¡°You would need to kill the infected before they infect the others.¡± Ray blinked. Caleb hadn¡¯t even minced his words, though now it made sense why he had looked apologetic. He understood he was asking a lot. ¡°You want me to kill your sick?¡± Ray asked. ¡°This is no mere sickness. The infected cannot be cured. They aren¡¯t even people anymore, not by any stretch of the definition. Imagine them as¡­ as perhaps zombies. You cannot cure such creatures. You can no longer see them as part of your society, as one of your kind anymore. They are now worse than rabid animals, and they must be put down.¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Ray swallowed a little. Zombies? The System wanted him to take care of a zombie plague? It was also weird that Caleb, a seemingly medieval lord, had the idea of zombies. Though, maybe he was speaking in a different language, from the perspective of a culture that had zombie-like creatures in their mythos. The System was just translating it to what Ray could most easily understand. There were definitely certain cultures like that back on Earth. It wasn¡¯t impossible, he supposed. ¡°I don¡¯t know how I feel about killing sick people,¡± Ray said. ¡°I¡¯d like to see them for myself, and if they really are zombies, then I¡¯ll help.¡± ¡°Of course. Just remember that your side of the deal depends on the completion of our side of it.¡± ¡°I¡¯m aware. Are the others getting similar tasks?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone else would appreciate me revealing the terms of their bargains. After all, I doubt you would enjoy everyone else knowing what exactly you have agreed to. That is why you sought out a more private meeting, yes?¡± ¡°Not really. I wanted a personal meeting because I don¡¯t want to have to wait and listen to others. This is a much better use of my time. But fine, I won¡¯t pry. I think this is good enough to be going on with, for now. Though, I¡¯m definitely going to need some specific information as part of our agreement.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Ray was still a bit concerned about the infected business, but he decided he couldn¡¯t really make a decision until he had seen them for himself. If they really were mindless, predatory zombies, he would kill them. If not¡­ well, he would see later. The Objective had said to defeat the plague. Not to kill everyone infected by it. The two might go hand in hand, but they also might not. Despite having told Caleb that he wouldn¡¯t pry into the deals of others, Ray still got a hold of Timothy to do just that. ¡°They asked me to kill some infected people,¡± Ray said. ¡°Not sure if I want to, not until I see them for myself, but at least I¡¯m getting some good returns. What about you?¡± Timothy was back in his room, once again lounging in bed with a wine glass. At least he was wearing more than a robe this time. ¡°Hmm, I¡¯ve got some small tasks here and there. I told them my skills and they tasked me with doing some deliveries.¡± ¡°¡­that¡¯s it?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Yeah. Pretty easy. I¡¯m getting some good stuff in return too. Sweet deal, if you ask me.¡± Ray had at least enough respect for privacy to not enquire what exactly Timothy was getting in return. If he said it was a good deal, then that was enough. ¡°Do you know what other people are getting?¡± he asked. Timothy shrugged, taking another sip of the chilled red liquid. ¡°I know Austin is helping with farmwork and Subham is working with the construction crew here. I get the feeling we¡¯ve all got some varied tasks.¡± Ray was still pretty suspicious. Mostly about the fact that these people were keeping the Denizens separate, but he also had a feeling Timothy wasn¡¯t telling him everything. Whatever. ¡°I¡¯m going to relax for a week before I start, though,¡± Timothy said. ¡°Stipulated it into my contract.¡± Ray almost pointedly asked the guy if he was happy wasting an entire week doing nothing, but he carved the words into a better question. ¡°You signed a contract?¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± He blinked at Ray over the rim of his glass. ¡°You didn¡¯t?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Maybe they¡¯re drawing one up for you as we speak.¡± ¡°Huh. Maybe.¡± Ray was not at all sure he liked the idea of contracts. He didn¡¯t want to be bound that tightly. Just the fact that he was, in a sense, working for these people didn¡¯t sit well with him. The conversation with Timothy only reinforced Ray¡¯s resolve not to befriend the guy. Just not worth it. An hour later, Ray did manage to have a fruitful conversation with someone else, though. Well, somewhat fruitful. It was almost a stroke of luck that he had found Mary Felds. After a whole lot of fruitless searching and with zero hope his message would receive a reply, Ray had enlisted the help of his guiding guard. That had worked. The man had somehow located her near the manor¡¯s gates. It was a little busy there. A handful of retainers were readying a carriage, harnessing a small triceratops to pull it. Mary was standing a little too close. ¡°Leaving already?¡± Ray said. He drew back a little, indicating his need for privacy. ¡°Yes,¡± Mary said, walking over to join him. She looked little better than she had at the feast. Worse, actually. Even her eyes were dead. ¡°I¡¯m heading to Cliff Two.¡± Ray blinked. ¡°Wait, already? You made a deal with them to get to Cliff Two early? Why?¡± ¡°Because my Objectives lie on higher Cliffs. I¡¯ve got no reason to stick around longer than I have to.¡± Ray had a feeling her sister¡¯s death had stripped away the last of Mary¡¯s ability to care about others. She was focused entirely on her goal now, to the exclusion of all else. ¡°What about levelling up? You¡¯re missing out on all the Essence here.¡± ¡°Does it look like I care about levels?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t need strength to achieve your goals?¡± ¡°Strength?¡± She laughed. It wasn¡¯t pleasant, didn¡¯t sound sane at all. ¡°How much did your strength help you when you were fighting that Lostcaller?¡± ¡°Really? How the hell do you think I beat it if I hadn¡¯t been strong enough?¡± ¡°Your strength didn¡¯t fucking save my sister.¡± She might as well have stabbed him. Ray didn¡¯t have an easy reply to that. He had some answers to that, certainly, but they probably would have made things worse. Mary had just lost her sister, probably the only person in the Tower she really loved. Ray decided not to slap her with the truth. ¡°I¡¯m guessing you¡¯re not going to tell me what deal you struck with these people?¡± Ray asked. ¡°I¡¯ll go first, as a gesture of goodwill. They asked me to kill their infected.¡± ¡°Infected?¡± Huh, interesting. She hardly seemed bothered by the fact that he was supposed to kill the infected. ¡°From what I gather, it¡¯s like some kind of zombie plague,¡± Ray said. ¡°Hmm.¡± ¡°Your turn.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been tasked with finding a certain culprit. Supposedly, this person is causing havoc within the kingdom, one of which is likely this plague that you¡¯re dealing with.¡± ¡°Woah.¡± Ray got killing infected people, and two others got construction and farmwork. He didn¡¯t even remember what Timothy had, but it was equally mundane. ¡°How come you got such an interesting task, and the rest of us all got grunt work?¡± For just an instant, there was a glint in Mary¡¯s eye that overcame the despair, listlessness, and coldness. ¡°I think you¡¯ve got what it takes to figure that out, at least, Raymond.¡± Then the glint was gone. The retainers were almost done fixing up the carriage and hitching it to the triceratops. The bucket of feed had nearly grown empty too. That dinosaur sure could eat. But it all meant Ray was running out of time to talk with Mary. As such, he decided not to beat about the bush. ¡°What did you do with the Tower Node?¡± he asked. She immediately tensed. Her eyes narrowed, like she was suspicious that Ray would steal it in short order. ¡°I have it with me. Why?¡± ¡°Just curious.¡± There was more Ray could have said about it. Most of it would have been on the accusatory front, though. All he could think of was that fact that she had gone ahead to take the Tower Node while her sister had fought the Lostcaller. But he waited to wait to see if Mary asked anything about his Tower Nodes first. She had to be curious. She had to know that he had a lot of them too. But Mary remained silent, giving him no opportunity to continue the conversation along those line. Mostly because he didn¡¯t want to upset her, as there was one last thing he wanted to ask. ¡°Before you go,¡± Ray said. ¡°Can I ask you something about Alice?¡± Another tensing of her shoulders. She looked frostily at him. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Did you bury her somewhere over here?¡± Mary considered him for a while. It was probably pretty evident on Ray¡¯s face that he had a lot more questions he would have love to know the answers to. What had Alice said before she had died? Why had Mary prioritized getting the Tower Node over the safety of her own sister? How had she recovered her senses and her purpose with such little time for grief? But he kept silent, because satisfying his curiosity wasn¡¯t as important his recollection of Alice. He might not have known her for long, but he respected her enough to respect her memory. ¡°I can ask the guard who was assigned to me to take you to her,¡± Mary said. ¡°If you want.¡± Ray nodded. ¡°That would be nice. I¡¯d like to pay my respects. And I¡¯m sorry.¡± Sorry, not for his part in it. The guilt was his to deal with. Sorry, because a woman had lost her beloved sister. Mary nodded back, if stiffly. ¡°Thank you. We¡¯ll meet again, higher up, I¡¯m sure.¡± With everything taken care of by the retainers, Mary spoke with a retainer for a bit, then allowed herself to be ushered into the carriage. In moments, she was gone, the trembling of the ground receding as the triceratops led the carriage away. Heaving out a big sigh, Ray headed back inside and decided to rest. Tomorrow, he would get started on figuring shit out.
Next day, the guard who had been assigned to Ray led him to an empty field somewhere far behind the manor. It was nice to find that no one was there, although the guard remained within calling distance. Ray wasn¡¯t exactly enthused to have an audience, but it looked like it couldn¡¯t be helped. He was a bit worried. After all, he hadn¡¯t yet revealed his abilities, especially his Tower Nodes. Couldn¡¯t be helped, if he wanted to test things. The Tower Node of the Fleshcrafter materialized in front of him still in its disgusting form of a chunk of meat trapped inside a glass cage. The sight made Ray throw a surreptitious glance at the guard who stood near the edge of the field. It was obvious he was trying very hard not to look. Sighing, Ray ignored him. It was inevitable these people would eventually learn about his Tower Nodes. He wasn¡¯t intent on hiding them if it meant he never actually got to use them. Ray cast Primal Spiritcraft, the focused on Channel Prayer. Nothing happened. He stood still for a moment, wondering what was going on. Never before had Ray encountered a moment where a spell didn¡¯t respond to him. It wasn¡¯t even like he was somehow out of True Mana. And then it hit him. ¡°Oh, please no,¡± he said. Just to be sure, he tried casting it by focusing on it as he did with all his other spells. It still didn¡¯t work. ¡°Fucking¡­¡± he muttered. ¡°Fine. Channel Prayer.¡± This time, the spell did work. Ray swallowed down another curse. Derrick Orden had always needed to yell out his abilities. His spells needed a vocal command, not just an application of will. Ray figured it was a trait of his class. He just hadn¡¯t expected that trait would carry over with the spell itself, even if Ray¡¯s class had no such silly requirements. Channel Prayer activated, bringing with it a blue screen full of all his options. B2 Chapter 12 (79): Testing, Testing Ray felt a burst of eagerness roil through him as the spell activated. It had been a while since he¡¯d had a clear enough opportunity to test the new abilities he had earned. He was determined to make the most of it. [Channel Prayer] Channel Prayer has found multiple items above Denizen-grade. Please select which item you would like to draw upon. Tower Node of the Marauder Tower Node of the Mentor Tower Node of the Skycaller Tower Node of the Fleshcrafter Tower Node of the Ingestor Tower Node of the Abstractor It wasn¡¯t surprising at all that he had the option to pick one from all his Tower Nodes. Ray didn¡¯t need to ponder the choices as he had already figured out which he was going to go with. Fleshcrafter. It felt like it was the best choice, but Ray also understood there were some inherent risks with that option. For instance, what if that Tower Node ended up providing him with abilities that were essentially similar to what he already had? Primal Spiritcraft was a modification of his flesh, in a sense. He could also already create constructs using Lifeblood Soulform. Still. Ray figured he¡¯d give the System the benefit of a doubt and assume it had figured things out enough to not give him something redundant. [Channel Prayer] You have selected Tower Node of the Fleshcrafter. You have obtained the following abilities:
  • Fleshform Manipulation
  • Fleshboon
  • Untamed Flesh
  • Untamed Flesh has been converted to Fleshed Exchange by Path of Lifeblood Chaos
Huh. So those were the abilities he could get from the Tower Node of the Fleshcrafter. The first ability was pretty clear on what it would allow Ray to do, although he would still need to read its description. It was the second that was more confusing. Fleshed Exchange? What in the world was that supposed to do? Also interesting that his Path had affected one ability, but not the others. Was the Tower Node itself restricting how much his Path could affect the powers it granted to Ray? If so, why wasn¡¯t it restricting both abilities? Maybe the latter modification was actually something beneficial, whereas the first wouldn¡¯t have been. If it was a matter of choice which ability could be modified by his Path, Ray wished it had been left up to him. Well, at least he could look more into his new abilities. A little information Request brought up the details. [Information Request¡ªChannel Prayer] Fleshform Manipulation [Utility] A flesh manipulation ability that makes the wielder¡¯s body malleable. Wielder¡¯s body can now be transformed to increase or decrease mass without impairing bodily functions. Certain modifications will affect the wielder¡¯s stats, and modification can be performed on both musculature, skeleton, and all organs. Fleshboon [Passive] A passive ability that allows your flesh to knit itself back together after receiving an injury at a significantly enhanced rate. Fleshed Exchange [Utility] A flesh manipulation that can be switched between defensive and offensive forms. In offensive form, the ability causes all of the wielder¡¯s other attacks to carry with it a tiny growth of flesh. This flesh grows as soon as the attack touches the foe. Rate of growth is enhanced as more attacks hit the foe. In defensive form, the wielder can embed layers of chaos underneath patches of secondary skin that detonates on a foe upon contact. Ray¡¯s eyes widened. Alright, his new abilities were all super cool. Or at least, the descriptions were really exciting. Whether the actual abilities would stand up to scrutiny could only be determined via some testing. But that was why Ray was here. Why he had selected this out of the way field so that he could do whatever was necessary. Flesh manipulation went first. Ray had less than 3 minutes with the trio of abilities, so he tried to be a little fast about it. The ability was definitely intriguing. Just as it said on the tin, he could modify his own body. He experimented with his arm muscles first, since they were the least likely to cause any unintended and lastingly harmful consequences. It took only a second of focus to reduce the muscles there,. His arm grew much thinner and turned sticklike, much easier to move. He could also do weird shit like making his forearm thin but ballooning up his fist. Pretty wild. And comedic too. The leg muscles received a similar treatment. His testing was more focused this time. Ray tried to find the right balance of adding and streamlining his muscles to increase his movement speed while keeping the limb strong. It was kind of insane to realize he was essentially replicating months if not years of exercise that regular people could go through in just seconds. Then again, he was also capable of flying with little effort. The unfortunate part about experimenting was that there was nowhere near enough time to figure out his ideal state of muscles. Plus, it wasn¡¯t like he could keep himself in that state perpetually. It was only while the spell lasted for those 3 minutes. As such, Ray decided he would practice more with making instantaneous modifications, such as granting himself a boost to his speed. He even slowly but surely learned how to create extra sets of organs. For instance, what happened if he lost his heart or his lungs? It would be very handy if he could recreate ones as good as new with his skill. He actually tested it out with one of his kidneys. Creating an extra one inside him caused a stake of pain at his waist to grow and grow, which only relieved when Ray used Fleshform modification to open a slice on his waist and let his old kidney slowly pop out as the new one took its place. Ray was really, really thankful that the process of replacement came naturally to him. It was just taking the new organ and placing the old connection to the new one¡¯s biological terminals. Definitely easier for things like kidneys, lungs, and the heart. He did not want to test it with the spinal cord. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Ray told the guard, who was trying very hard not to look aghast at Ray¡¯s activities. There was quite a bit of blood, what with all the bodily tinkering. ¡°I¡¯m perfectly fine. I¡¯ve been using a little bit of my Recovery to make sure it doesn¡¯t actually harm me, you see.¡± Fleshform Manipulation would have been more ideal if he could have learned how to fix any injuries and wounds. He couldn¡¯t really modify his skeletal structure, so that was one negative. The other thing was that wounds were complicated. Sure, he could perhaps learn how to reknit and reconstruct an organ¡¯s structure back how it used to be. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. But that wouldn¡¯t help if the organ itself was diseased and decaying. Fleshform manipulation couldn¡¯t get rid of pathogens. Ray was free from diseases in this world, as far as he had experienced, but still. That still applied to actual wounds too. He couldn¡¯t manipulate a chunk of debris or a broken weapon out of his body, nor could he remove all the internally haemorrhaged blood. Plus, he had Fleshboon as a passive ability to help with wounds. No, it was better to construct a whole new organ with his skills and just replace the faulty one. With all that testing done, Ray moved on to his other active ability. Fleshed Exchange. The description had stated there were two forms for it. The defensive and offensive forms. Since he didn¡¯t have an actual target to test the offensive form on, he figured he would test the defensive version. He supposed he could smack the guard who annoyingly followed him everywhere, but he quelled the silly urge. When the ability activated, Ray found he could modify his skin. Specifically, he was able to create thin flaps of new skin over the one he already had, and under this new skin went chaos. It was definitely something to see a small patch of chaotic black-red energy creep over half his forearm. A little bit of will was all it took to cover up the energy with new skin. It looked so normal. So natural. Ray hardly felt any new weight on the area he had used Fleshed Exchange. Though, that did change when he applied the ability to more places. The gradual increase in weight as he moved from one patch of skin to the next was difficult to notice, but it became a lot clearer when he applied it all at once. Not surprising. The skin was the largest organ a person had. Point was that it wasn¡¯t necessary for him to do it all over his body. This spell was about making an enemy regret getting too close. As such, he only ought to put it in places most likely to be impacted. It was a little saddening he couldn¡¯t test the offensive capabilities just yet, but that was alright. He¡¯d just have to wait until he faced a new monster sometime later. ¡°Mimic time,¡± Ray said. He said it out loud as sort of a signal for himself. But more than that, he was curious about the guard¡¯s reaction. The man had been eyeing Ray¡¯s Tower Node¡ªbefore it had disappeared¡ªand then the associated powers Ray had tested. How was he going to react when Ray exhibited a very different power? The word ¡°mimic¡± made the guard jolt a bit. Ray was definitely curious at that reaction. Was the guard one of those who had been stationed on the spire, or was it a more general feeling towards the Lesser Imitators that these people were so desperate to keep out? Ray focused on what he needed to do. He had the mimic transform into various objects in the area. The fence posts. The patch of ground it stood on. Even the guard¡¯s sword. When Ray tried to actually wield the last one, he found he couldn¡¯t pull the sword out of its sheath. It made sense. The Imitator construct had copied it while it was inside the guard¡¯s sheath, so of course it couldn¡¯t imitate what it couldn¡¯t even see. Funnily enough, it could mimic the guard too, though Ray quickly made that disappear before the man got offended. The biggest test came when the construct transformed into Ray again. Mostly a pretty good copy, if Ray was being honest, even if it was disappointing the construct couldn¡¯t cast spells like he could. That, he admitted, would have been a little too overpowered even for his tastes. There were some interesting applications, though. Like, the Fleshed Exchange ability hadn¡¯t stated it had to be his own flesh he could trap some chaos under. It was no difficult a matter to turn his Imitator form into basically a bomb of chaos. He covered its whole figure with another layer of skin, secreting black-red energy underneath. Now, as soon as anyone or anything struck it, the fake skin would burst and spill out a detonation of chaos. Very devious, if Ray was asked. Although, in the middle of a fight, he wouldn¡¯t be able to do that quickly. He would need to prep it beforehand. That did limit the applications to some extent. Ray also understood that a lot of the Imitator construct¡¯s applications would be situational. It could turn into whatever it saw, so seeing something new could create new opportunities and use cases. At the same time, it did retain information about what it had turned into before. Ray could still make it turn into a tunnel from the Imitator Dungeon. There was no indication of how many of these transformation choices it could retain, although, his recollections of the ability descriptions gave him somewhat of any idea. Since Lifeblood Graveyard was holding it at Tier 10, Ray could assume he had at least 10 different transformations possible through the Imitator construct. He would need to be careful about when he ran out. With his Imitator tests done, Ray turned his focus to his new spells. He retained the Imitator¡¯s presence. It would now act as his spell-test dummy. Ray cast Spiritblood Stake on the Imitator then had it move around. There was the slight glow of a faint, black-red stake impaling the construct from its head through the middle of its torso. Ray grimaced and apologized a little. That looked painful as all hell. It worked as the descriptions stated, though. The further the Imitator went from the spot where it had been hit by the spell, the more it took spirit damage. This damage was continuous, so after some time, the Imitator actually disintegrated once the spell power had built up enough. Hmm. Just as he had feared, it didn¡¯t seem super practical to use in a battle. Especially against fast foes like the Lostcaller. Although, that was balanced by the fact that he only needed to get it off once in a battle. Ah, well. Ray did have a ton of options to work with. Afterwards, Ray, his Imitator construct, and the guard all worked together to bring in a large rock and a large pail of water to the field. With those, Ray tested the combination of Project Presence and Spectral Step again. He could try working with a different spell, but most things he could cast either wouldn¡¯t hold still like a projection of his spirit would or wouldn¡¯t be as True Mana efficient as the spell he went with. ¡°Do you need me to remain here?¡± the guard asked, a little apprehensive. He clearly didn¡¯t want to stay close by. Ray wondered if it was because he thought the experiments were a little insane, or if he was scared of the Imitator. There was definitely some tension in the air, radiating entirely off the guard, due to his proximity to the construct. What was with these people and their hatred for the Imitators? ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Ray said. ¡°You don¡¯t have to stay nearby if you don¡¯t want.¡± He grinned at the Imitator, who only looked back impassively. ¡°I¡¯ve got me, myself, and I to count on.¡± The third mention of himself was true because, as the guard began departing, Ray created another mimic construct to transform into himself. Three sets of hands were stronger than two. ¡°Alright, stand back,¡± Ray said. The Imitators obeyed, falling back for a moment. Ray used Project Presence to send his spirit partially into the rock. The world distorted and there was once more that heavy, splitting sensation he still couldn¡¯t get over. It left him too disoriented. But he refocused and quickly used Spectral Step. The spell took his actual body straight into the rock too. He knew the experiment was dangerous, but thankfully, nothing bad happened. The part of his body inside the rock¡ªwhich was his lower left leg¡ªmaterialized inside his target. It displaced the matter within. This made the stone shatter as the mass there was pushed out into the surrounding rock. With so much matter getting compressed into such little space, it was no surprise the pressure became too great and the rock rumbled around Ray¡¯s feet. He grinned. So Spectral Step was strong enough to overcome even solid matter. That was an incredible discovery. Ray hadn¡¯t been convinced after trying it out against the Lostcaller. After all, that was a biological body. Mostly soft. Liquid, in truth. He¡¯d had his doubts that his body would be able to displace something stronger than it. But it turned out it could. Ray¡¯s next test with the water revealed that he could replicate the same experience with liquids pretty easily. He already figured that, but it was good to test nevertheless. The displaced water splashed out of the large pail and drenched half his lower body. It was the force of the displacement that Ray took note of. Strong. Strong enough to kill. Just as it had done with the Lostcaller. Ray knew he could probably test a few other things if he let himself come up with more ideas. But all the recent testing had taken up too much of the day. He still needed to actually perform the tasks he had been assigned, and he had wanted to find some things out for himself too. So, as the last piece of exercise before he headed out, Ray decided to check his Status. [Status] Raymond Dominick Race: Human Class: Spirit Carver [Epic] [Tier 3] Vocation: Tower Conqueror [Epic] Path: Lifeblood Chaos [Legendary] Level: 24 [15,580/37,500] Mana: 2,150 Recovery: 968 Perks: Riotous Life, Carving Affinity Gear Raiment: Gold-Chased Shaper Raiment Footwear: Drakescale Boots Headwear: Unseen Feathered Headband Handwear: Supple Gloves Accessory: Mana Infuser Ring Accessory: Silver True Mana Bracelet Accessory: Armament: Valorous Back Shield Armament: Talisman of Greater Scourge [Tier 5] Armament: Talisman of Life [Tier 5] Stats Vitality: 64 [+33] [Tier 2] Resilience: 4 [+10] [Tier 1] Strength: 4 [Tier 1] Agility: 16 [+10] [Tier 1] Intellect: 115 [+123] [Tier 3] Spirit: 100 [+115] [Tier 3] Reputation Knowledgeable: 702 [Intellect boost: +45] Chaotic: 215 [15% Insanity (Tier 4) buildup] Tenacious: 65 [Vitality boost: +10] Indomitable: 85 [Resilience boost: +10] Cunning: 145 [8% critical chance] Thorough: 55 [Pierce Tier 2 defences] Benevolent: 60 [Refunds 15th spell Mana cost] Heroic: 60 [+10 to all stats when foe stronger] Ruthless: 150 [15% bonus damage] Cooperative: 60 [+10 to all stats in a party] Hallow: 30 [Removes first True Mana cost in an encounter] Devout: 20 Adept: 50 [10% bonus Essence from Objective completion] Spells Soulstrike [Offensive] [Tier 4] Primordial Gauge [Utility] [Passive] [Tier 5] Spiritsorb [Offensive] [Utility] [Tier 3] Lifeblood Graveyard [Passive] [Tier 10] Primal Spiritcraft [Summoning] [Tier 5] Mottling Spiritguard [Barrier] [Tier 3] Soullife Cloak [Utility] [Tier 6] Lifeblood Soulform [Summoning] [Tier 6] Spectral Step [Utility] [Tier 5] Project Presence [Utility] [Tier 5] Spiritblood Stake [Offensive] [Tier 5] Skills Goliath Eater [Buff] [Tier 3] Dual Wield [Tier 3] Killer Instinct [Passive] [Tier 2] Mana Imbuing [Passive] [Tier 3] Adaptive Breath [Passive] [Tier 3] True Mana Skill Vengeful Plunder [Utility] [Tier 1] Ah, it was good he had gotten another look at his Status. It reminded him about stuff he hadn¡¯t fully considered yet. Namely, his third Accessory slot and the new Reputation points of Adeptness and Devoutness. He didn¡¯t even know what the latter did, and the former wouldn¡¯t even come into play until he completed his Objectives. Well, the refresher was nice. Now he could focus on actually finding another Accessory. For now, though, Ray decided to head out before the day ended. He really wanted to see what in the world was up with these Infected. B2 Chapter 13 (80): Ram, Bam, Lam Ray was guided by his guiding guard to the infirmary in the town they passed. They had commissioned a couple of the raptors to ride. Ray was still a bit apprehensive about it, and the dinosaur really did look like it was considering how well Ray would taste. Nevertheless, as the guard got on his mount, Ray followed. The townsfolk didn¡¯t take as much notice of him as they had done the first time, when he had come in via that large procession as part of a huge group. Or maybe they just didn¡¯t want to offend the guard. Whatever the case, Ray was happy to be able to look around without feeling self-conscious. Not that there was a ton to see. The houses and other buildings were drab, colourless affairs. Some at least had interesting purposes. Ray spotted an apothecary with a bunch of herbs hanging from the ceiling, a smithy where a blacksmith was hammering away at what looked like a piece of armour, and even a small tavern, though it looked derelict just then. ¡°Are they subdued because of the plague?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Or is it normally like this?¡± The guard took a bit of time to reply. ¡°A mixture of both, I would say.¡± They saw some of the other Denizens working here and there. Lottie was helping with the construction as well. Ray paused to say hello to her, but she wasn¡¯t very responsive. Her mood was black. Jacob had died on the spire. Ray expressed his condolences, neglecting to say that Jacob had insisted nobody was his friend, and moved on. They reached the infirmary before long. Ray caught its odour before he actually saw the building. There was a heavy rankness in the air. A stench of filth, blood, and corpses. And something else on top of all that. Something familiar, though he had absolutely no idea where he might have smelled it. The odour was somewhat sickly sweet but made him think of gelatine, for whatever reason. When they reached the infirmary, Ray found there was almost nothing save a bunch of bodies. Dead, rotting bodies. ¡°Wasn¡¯t this supposed to be an infirmary?¡± Ray asked. ¡°You know, a place where people get treated? This looks more like a badly-tended morgue.¡± The guard had a hard look on his face. ¡°As Lord Caleb no doubt explained, there is no curing the Infected. They must be killed before they can spread their disease any further.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, I know. But the way you¡¯ve stored them here means no one can actually use the infirmary if they¡¯re sick in some other way. They run the risk of contamination this way, don¡¯t they?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°No?¡± ¡°Once the Infected are no longer living, the infection itself becomes a lot less contagious, so far as we have discovered.¡± ¡°¡­huh.¡± That was highly irregular and strange. Ray¡¯s musings on that discovery didn¡¯t last long. He was soon inside the barnlike building, close enough to actually see what happened to the dead. It clicked then. The smell. The one that he had failed to recognize at first but could now recall where exactly he had encountered it first. It had been back at the spire, right after the Lostcaller had destroyed an entire side and revealed the pulsating, bloody, and fleshy matter underneath the spire¡¯s surface. That had smelled the exact same. This plague the Everstead people were suffering was the same kind of growth from the spire they were guarding. It proved to be true when Ray actually got a good look at them. The guard removed the tarp covering the bodies, making Ray gag a little as the stench intensified. The same pulsating, pinkish and purplish pustules and growths covered the corpses. They all glistened, wet with blood and other fluids. The way some of them had split across the belly, chest, neck, and head showed how some of the Infected had ended up dead. Ray did notice more pointed methods of death too. Bloody stab holes, slashes across the neck, that sort of thing. Some had definitely been killed. Intriguingly, the corpses all looked rather¡­ Ray wasn¡¯t sure how to describe it. Greying and white, rotting even in the areas that weren¡¯t infected by the strange growths. Ray tamped down his reactions. He was here for a reason. One was to observe what the infected were actually afflicted with. The other¡­ he turned to the guard. ¡°Can you take me to where I can buy some health poultices or other medicine or the like?¡± Nodding, the guard turned to lead him away. As he did so, Ray quietly cast Lifeblood Soulform to call up his mimic. He tasked it to get a good look at the corpses so that it could copy them later. Depending on how things went later, it might come in handy. Ray followed the guard to the front of the infirmary, where a lone old man was taking care of a small stall. He looked at Ray with rheumy eyes. ¡°Uh,¡± Ray said. ¡°Do you have anything like health potions or poultices? Something that can help me fix up a wound in a jiffy.¡± ¡°Potions and poultices?¡± he rasped. ¡°This look like some kind of witchy brewery to you?¡± ¡°If I can¡¯t get those here, then what can I buy?¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you take a look at the shelves?¡± Ray frowned. The man was being uncooperative on purpose. He looked at the guard for some assistance, but the man was pointedly looking away. No help was coming from him. The shelves held nothing other than a bunch of ointments he couldn¡¯t even read the labels of. The handwriting was spidery and was in a language he was absolutely unfamiliar with. Ray highly doubted there was anything helpful for him here. Annoying. ¡°Why don¡¯t you give him the Rejuvenating Tincture, you old coot?¡± someone yelled from the back. The words came out weird, like three people had said them at once. Which turned out to be kind of true when Ray turned around to see who had spoken. He had a hard time not gasping. It felt like he was looking at a walking starfish with reddish-gold skin, just one that had been blown up to about his size. But instead of a mouth in the centre of its body where all the arms met, there were three different mouths and eye pairs on three of its top arms. The creature was using the other two limbs like legs to walk forward. The garb was strange too. Clad in what looked like leather straps studded with bits of metal that jingled a little as it moved. Its midsection was entirely covered with those leather-and-metal wraps. Grumbling, the old man shuffled through a door at the back of the stall. ¡°Nasty old codger,¡± the walking, talking starfish¡¯s top head said. ¡°You have to really poke him to get anything out of him.¡± ¡°Um, I see. Thanks for stepping in, I guess.¡± Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. It was the head on the left side that spoke next. ¡°No problem. You didn¡¯t seem to be one of them, and you seemed sort of new, so I thought I¡¯d step in.¡± ¡°Wh¡ªwho are you?¡± He had almost said what are you, but that would have been the height of rudeness, so he had amended it at the last second. Not that he wouldn¡¯t have liked an answer to his original question. Ray looked at his guard as though the man would introduce them, but he continued pretending everything outside his immediate vicinity ceased to exist. He had even stepped back, like he wanted to get away. Ray was starting to get the feeling the guy didn¡¯t actually like his job of tailing a Denizen. ¡°My name is Ram,¡± said the first head on top. ¡°Bam,¡± said the second. ¡°And I am Lam,¡± said the third on the right. ¡°Ram, Bam, Lam,¡± Ray said. It was a great thing he had seen quite a few odd stuff in the Tower already, so he wasn¡¯t as weirded out as he probably should have been, talking to a three-headed starfish. ¡°Nice to meet you.¡± Nevertheless, he tried using Primordial Gauge on the guy. [Warning!] Primordial Gauge has been blocked by Accountant¡¯s Scrutiny [Tier 9]. Accountant¡¯s Scrutiny? What in the world was that skill supposed to be? ¡°Oh, a curious Denizen,¡± Ram said. ¡°Careful now,¡± said Bam. ¡°Curiosity can get you killed.¡± Clearly, he¡ªthey?¡ªhad detected his use of Primordial Gauge. It would have been a mite embarrassing at being caught red-handed, but Ray had so many questions about this whole thing, shame was very low on his emotional priority list. Thankfully, after airing his confusion about his new acquaintance, Ram, Bam, and Lam were willing to indulge his curiosity. ¡°We are what you would call in your language the Holdstar,¡± Ram said. ¡°The Holdstar are an omniverse-faring race and tend to have dealings and relationships with all sorts of entities. In our specific case, we three were hired by the Tower Lord as an auditor to look into certain accounting matters through the Tower.¡± Ray had more questions about Ram¡¯s race, but he asked the easier question first. ¡°An auditor? Is there something wrong with the¡­ accounts, so to speak?¡± It wasn¡¯t difficult to figure that this was sort of like a business venture for the Sylvans. They had come here with a certain number of resources, had possibly spent a certain amount of currency on said resources. Now, it seemed the Tower Lord wanted a proper accounting of it all. Bam lowered his voice. ¡°There is definitely something wrong with the Second Floor accounts. That¡¯s why we¡¯re here, as independent auditors looking into matter.¡± ¡°What exactly is wrong?¡± ¡°Missing purchases. Certain entries in the books not reflecting reality. Certain expenditures simply not occurring despite being reported. We suspect the usual laundering and bribery afoot.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Ray looked at the store again, the sounds of the old man bustling about in the back punctuating their conversation. ¡°To be fair, the Second Floor is pretty different from the First. What with incorporating a real, live kingdom.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the thing, though.¡± Lam said, quietest of all. ¡°It¡¯s not¡ª¡± ¡°Hush, hush!¡± Bam said, voice loud over Lam¡¯s. ¡°We don¡¯t need to tell him everything.¡± ¡°Tell me what?¡± Ray asked. He was appreciating being told information for free for a change. Going back to having to pay for it, one way or another, was not going to be fun. Ram cleared his throat, and the other two went quiet. ¡°We suspect things are not what they seem here.¡± ¡°I figured that. But what makes you suspicious?¡± ¡°Well, the Tower Lord allocates a certain budget to each of his Floor Lords to oversee a certain Floor, yes? In return, each Floor Lord must reveal their exact plans for their Floor to the Tower Lord before receiving the funds. As far as the Tower Lord has told me, the Second Floor was never supposed to be¡­ this.¡± Ray blinked. ¡°Then what was it supposed to be?¡± ¡°Something about a scavenger hunt Objective for the Denizens and a few other things, none of which seemed to have been implemented. Instead, we have this strange, foreign kingdom incorporated into the Floor.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re investigating how the Floor Lord got the budget to get a kingdom on the Floor?¡± ¡°Yes. Unless it wasn¡¯t the Floor Lord at all, but the System itself that caused this. Strange anomalies certainly crop up from time to time. We just need to get to the bottom of whatever happened here.¡± ¡°Well, there you go,¡± Bam said with a nasty tone. ¡°You¡¯ve gone and done it, Ram. You told the Denizen everything. What you going to do next, turn him into another head and stick him on you too? Only place left is the backside.¡± Ram didn¡¯t answer, and as intrigued as Ray was about what he had just been revealed, his questioning was interrupted by the arrival of the old man. He came up to the counter from the back with a small satchel in his arm. It was filled with tiny glass vials that tinkled as he moved. ¡°Here ye go,¡± the old man said. ¡°Some Rejuvenating Tinctures. That ought to be enough.¡± It wasn¡¯t a question. It was a statement. The man was officially tired of them. ¡°Thank you,¡± Ray said, accepting the satchel. ¡°How much is it going to be?¡± ¡°Free of charge.¡± He spat those words out like he¡¯d been forced to do so with a burning brand stamped on his ass. Ray, however, grinned. ¡°Really? Totally free?¡± He looked around a little suspiciously. ¡°I¡¯m not on camera, am I?¡± ¡°What?¡± That came from all three people who weren¡¯t Ray. Well, five, if one countered Ram, Bam, and Lam as separate entities. ¡°Never mind,¡± Ray said. He disappeared the satchel into his bag of holding. ¡°I think we¡¯re good here.¡± He turned to the guard. ¡°Time to get going.¡± The man nodded, obviously quite relieved they were finally going to get a move on to the main business. That of killing the Infected. ¡°You never told me much about yourself,¡± Ram said. ¡°O mysterious Denizen.¡± Ray turned his grin onto the Holdstar. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m just some lowly, curious Denizen. Maybe when we meet again, I¡¯ll have more stories to tell you about myself.¡± ¡°Certainly you have some stories about yourself from the First Floor,¡± Lam said. ¡°What did you do there?¡± Ray had a small series of flashbacks then. He had fought Sylvans and killed Brighthorns, cleared dungeons and taken Tower Nodes, fought and killed more Sylvans and Brighthorns, defeated an enemy Faction, killed more Sylvans¡­ Oh, and he had killed the Lord of the First Floor too. Couldn¡¯t forget that. ¡°I worked with a bunch of other people to complete the Floor Lord¡¯s Objective down there,¡± Ray said with as straight a face as he could manage. ¡°And that basically got me here. Not much to tell, sadly.¡± ¡°What was the Objective?¡± Ram asked. ¡°Nothing too difficult. Just bringing one of the wandering Brighthorns to the Floor Lord alive.¡± ¡°Ah, I see.¡± The trio began waving oddly. All three of its starfish arms began moving from one side to the other. Ray had to wonder if the motion caused them discomfort and they still did it anyway. ¡°Then this is farewell for now, Denizen. May we meet again.¡± Ray nodded, offered a wave of his own. ¡°Until next time, Ram, Bam, and Lam.¡± All three heads smiled, probably happy he had recalled their names. Ray turned back to the guard, making sure to dismiss his mimic construct from within the infirmary. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go.¡±
Their journey to where the living Infected were located took quite a bit longer. The guard informed Ray that the Infected tended to stay far away from civilization. That made sense. With how viciously they were being treated, they wouldn¡¯t want to be spotted by healthy people and be immediately targeted for execution. But Ray wondered if it was just that, or if it was also because they didn¡¯t want to spread their contagion if they could help it. Moreover, it sounded like a conscious decision. Caleb had described them more zombielike. Maybe Ray was attaching too much of an assumption to them, and their actual reason for staying away from other people was just a bestial nature driven by the need for survival. The actual location turned out to be some woods far from any place where people stayed. In fact, by the looks of things, they had nearly travelled to the edge of the cliff. Ray could fall off and get back down to Cliff Four from here. ¡°This forest is full of them,¡± the guard said. ¡°Once you enter, you will come across them in no time. They also tend not to run away, so you shouldn¡¯t have any need to chase them.¡± He smiled, for the first time ever, though it had no trace of humour. ¡°Unless you¡¯re very frightening, of course.¡± Chuckling a little, Ray said, ¡°Me? Frightening? Please.¡± Ray ought to ask the guard¡¯s name, with how long they were spending time together. But also, his intent was to leave for Cliff Two as soon as he was done taking full advantage of the opportunities of Cliff Three. He was pretty sure the guard wasn¡¯t going to follow him there. So what would be the point of asking for names, especially from a guy who clearly didn¡¯t like Ray? He got off his raptor mount, resisting the urge to rub his ass. Damn, he was sore after such a long ride. How did people ride for so long? Their hindquarters had to be wooden planks, geez. Really would have been more preferable to fly, but Ray hadn¡¯t wanted to use up any more True Mana shards than was necessary. ¡°Alright, then.¡± Ray set his shoulders. ¡°I¡¯ll get going.¡± ¡°To kill them, yes?¡± Ray looked back. There was a shrewd glint of evaluation in the man¡¯s eyes. Clearly, he wasn¡¯t one to be taken in easily. Maybe that was why he was assigned to Ray in the first place. ¡°Of course,¡± Ray said. ¡°That¡¯s part of the deal, isn¡¯t it? I take care of these Infected for you, and in return, you give me all the information I want.¡± ¡°Right. I¡¯ll wait here. Once you¡¯re done with the business, I can go in and confirm.¡± ¡°Makes sense. I¡¯ll try to make sure all the bodies are in one place.¡± He grinned. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure I¡¯m not, you know, too frightening.¡± This time, the guard didn¡¯t smile. Lousy ass. It was only after Ray entered the forest that he summoned his flying eyeball. Time to find where these Infected were. Not to kill them, regardless of what the guard and his superiors wanted. Not unless it was absolutely necessary. First, Ray was going to see if they really were mere zombies, or if he could talk. B2 Chapter 14 (81): The Infected The guard was right. It did indeed take Ray no time at all to find the Infected. He followed his flying eyeball for maybe fifteen minutes at most, which was a drastically short time compared to their journey to the forest, when the flying Scouring Eye spotted the first supposed zombie. He didn¡¯t really act like a zombie. Sure, the infected man had the sores and pustules of Growth Mana Ray had spotted on the corpses in the infirmary. Half the man¡¯s face was taken over by the glistening, slightly-pulsing growths, his shoulders and upper arms also padded by the same. Though he walked with a stoop-shouldered gait, he did so with purpose. Definitely not zombielike. Ray got close enough to use Primordial Gauge on the man. At least this wasn¡¯t a trap. The spell hadn¡¯t alerted him to anyone else sneaking up on him. [Primordial Gauge] Adrian Altin [Denizen] Class: Farmer [Common] [Tier 1] at Level 12 This Denizen¡¯s skills are locked due to affliction: Growth Mana Infection. Alright, damn. Even Primordial Gauge said these people were infected. To the point they even no longer had access to their skills. That was wild. He supposed that only added fuel to the healthy people¡¯s fire of getting rid of these Infected. Ray stood straight. He made sure he was visible. His heart started thudding a little, but he had already decided he was going to accost these Infected and decide for himself. ¡°Hey!¡± he said loudly. The man turned around with surprising adroitness. Acute consciousness floated in his eyes, as well as a present intelligence. He definitely didn¡¯t give the vibe of someone who had lost their mental faculties like a brain-eating ghoul. Nevertheless, the man immediately assumed an attacking stance. All he had was his bare fists and all he wore were some dirty rags. Still, he faced Ray with a determined expression, ready to fight for his life. After all, why would a seemingly healthy person appear here if not to exterminate the Infected. ¡°I want to talk,¡± Ray said. ¡°Can you understand me?¡± ¡°Of course, I can.¡± The man¡¯s words came out thick and congealed, like he had something stuffed down his throat and was forced to speak around it. Ray grimaced as his imagination spat out delightful pictures of those tumorous growths lodged inside a windpipe. ¡°Good, then we can talk.¡± ¡°Why would you want to talk with me? Aren¡¯t you here to kill us all?¡± ¡°That depends on the talk, actually.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t trust you.¡± Ray sighed. ¡°Look, I don¡¯t want to kill anyone unless I have to. Does it really hurt to at least give this a shot? What have you really got to lose?¡± The man grumbled something under his breath, but then relaxed just a tiny bit. ¡°Fine. What do you want?¡± ¡°Let me explain the context. I¡¯m not one of you. As in, I¡¯m not a citizen of your Everstead kingdom.¡± ¡°Neither am I.¡± Ray paused. Well, he was right. A kingdom wouldn¡¯t kill its own citizens. ¡°Point is, I¡¯m a Denizen. Long story short, I¡¯ve been tasked to kill you because as a Denizen, I¡¯m immune to your illness.¡± At that, the man¡¯s face fell. He even cursed out loud. ¡°Were you¡­ really hoping I was getting infected since I¡¯m close enough?¡± Ray asked. ¡°So what if I was?¡± Ray sighed again. ¡°I¡¯m trying to be friendly here, pal. I understand you¡¯ve got every reason to be hostile and defensive, but please, for the love of¡­ I don¡¯t know, whatever is important to you, just give me a chance, will you?¡± The man hesitated. For the first time, he actually relaxed, dropping his hostile stance. ¡°What¡¯s your intention here?¡± ¡°To figure out the full context of the situation, because I think there are missing pieces I haven¡¯t been told.¡± Ray hadn¡¯t dismissed his eyeball. In fact, he now had two out, both of them keeping a watch over the area to alert him in case the guard dropped in. ¡°What have you been told?¡± the man asked. Ray told him. ¡°Huh.¡± The man¡ªno, Adrian, as Ray decided to refer to him¡ªsat down. Maybe it was difficult to keep standing for long in that infected state. ¡°Of course. Why would they tell you we¡¯re still alive and breathing, not actually monsters. They want you to kill us, after all.¡± ¡°How did this all start?¡± Ray asked. There were other questions he could have asked. He wondered how many of them there were in the forest and how they had all gathered here. Was there anyone helping them, besides Ray? Surely not every single healthy person in the kingdom believed them to be savage monsters. What about their family members and close friends? What had happened to them? But he held himself back. Those questions didn¡¯t need to be answered just then. In fact, if Ray thought about it, just the truth that the man before him was sane and sensible, if sick, was enough for him. ¡°We were cursed,¡± Adrian said. Ray frowned. ¡°Cursed? By whom?¡± ¡°By the first true ruler of this whole Tower thing we were brought into.¡± ¡°True ruler¡­ You mean the Tower Lord? Or wait no, the Floor Lord? Why would the Floor Lord curse you?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t say. Rumours abound that the original one who used to control all the matters on this Floor of yours disagreed with the king, to the point that he decided to curse everyone in the kingdom with this affliction. Afterwards, there was mass chaos as the kingdom did its best to curb the spread of the affliction.¡± The information jolted Ray a bit. Why had the Floor Lord brought in this kingdom from some other world only to have a huge row with the ruler and curse everybody in it? How had the Floor Lord cursed everyone? No skill could be that powerful, right? If it was, then how strong was the Lord of the Second Floor? It begged the question of the Lord¡¯s location too, but Ray was already floundering a bit with the implications. What would that Holdstar auditor make of this information? Nothing the trio had said had hinted they knew about this major disagreement. Ray blinked. ¡°Hold on¡­¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Adrian asked. ¡°Never mind, I was just thinking out loud.¡± He put his thoughts to action. Ray: Mary, I¡¯ve just learned something REALLY vital. Get back to me asap. She didn¡¯t reply, of course, so Ray carried on with the conversation. ¡°That¡¯s a pretty big revelation,¡± he said. ¡°Nobody in the kingdom told me about this.¡± He didn¡¯t doubt the information because he was pretty sure it was correct. After all, that Growth Mana spire had exhibited the exact same kind of pustules and tumours within it, just upscaled enormously. ¡°Not surprising, is it?¡± Adrian asked. Ray shook his head. The man started returning to his original stance, the tension returning to his form. ¡°That enough for you, or do you need more?¡± ¡°Enough to be going on with, definitely. But I still need to kill you, so to speak.¡± The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I¡¯m guessing there¡¯s a lot more of you in these forests, yes? You don¡¯t need to tell me how many or where, but what you do need to do is get yourself and the rest of your¡­ fellows out of dodge. You understand?¡± ¡°What will you be doing?¡± Ray summoned his mimic construct, ordering it to take the form of one of the corpses they had seen in the infirmary. Adrian gasped. ¡°I¡¯ll be doing that, but on a bigger scale. I need to convince the guards that you¡¯re dead, so they¡¯ll leave this place alone and you can return and stay here in peace.¡± There was a strange look on Adrian¡¯s face. An almost scared expression, fixed on the Imitator construct and what it had turned into. ¡°I know you guys have a thing against these Imitators,¡± Ray said. It wasn¡¯t that he couldn¡¯t see why they¡¯d have a problem with mimics. After all, if a mimic grew strong enough, there was the potential the monsters would start upending society by pretending to be actual people. ¡°But this one¡¯s just a summon, so don¡¯t worry about it.¡± ¡°As you say.¡± With a clearly forceful jerk of his head, the man turned to face Ray. ¡°We will do as you say. But I¡¯d like to ask¡ªwhy did you decide to assist us? Wouldn¡¯t it be simpler for you to kill us altogether?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know if going around and making sure every single member of a group is killed would be simple.¡± Ray knew he was stronger, so actually killing them wouldn¡¯t be a chore. It was finding every last one of them that would have been a pain. And he missed the Essence gain, that was for sure. ¡°But I don¡¯t make a habit of going around and killing people undeservedly.¡± Adrian slowly nodded. ¡°I can respect that.¡± ¡°Oh, here¡¯s one more thing.¡± Ray divvied up some of the tinctures the old man had given him¡ªfree of charge, he reminded himself with a withheld grin¡ªand gave them to Adrian. The Infected accepted it with a surprised look. ¡°Surely you didn¡¯t purchase these for us?¡± ¡°No, but I think I have enough. You and your friends might have more need of them.¡± ¡°I¡­ appreciate your kindness.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mention it.¡± Ray could have asked more questions to Adrian, was genuinely curious if they were holding up or simply biding time till their infections grew worse and killed them. But there was no time. The guard would be wondering where Ray had gone. So instead, Ray smiled and waved farewell. ¡°Let¡¯s get to work.¡±
It took about half an hour or so before Adrian returned to the spot he had met Ray and assured that everyone was finally out of the forest. Ray nodded, then sent out his mimic construct to get to work. In the middle of the forest, it turned itself into a similar pile of bodies to that of the infirmary. Interestingly, it didn¡¯t react when Ray attacked it. He had to make the bodies look like they had been killed personally by him, so Ray called up a flying Greater Windbane Maw and torched the bodies all at once. ¡°Sorry,¡± he told his Imitator construct. ¡°You¡¯re always the butt of this kind of stuff, but I swear it¡¯s not on purpose!¡± The mimic construct remained admirably composed. ¡°Perfect,¡± he said, when it was all done. His handiwork looked genuine. Now, all that was left was to hope Adrian and his people actually had hidden smartly somewhere else. Back outside the forest, Ray found the guard waiting at exactly the spot he had left the man. It was as though he hadn¡¯t moved even an inch in the whole hour Ray had been gone. He was starting to get the feeling that his chaperone was a tiny bit cooked in the head. ¡°All done,¡± Ray said. The guard raised an eyebrow. ¡°That was quick.¡± ¡°Really? It¡¯s been like, over an hour, at least?¡± The guard only grunted, then marched into the forest. Ray didn¡¯t follow. He trusted in his Imitator construct¡¯s ability and was happy enough to let the fellow come to his own conclusion. It took less than twenty minutes for the guard to return and find Ray leaning against a tree. ¡°Excellent work,¡± he said briskly. ¡°Great!¡± Ray clapped his hands. ¡°That means we can get started on my side of the bargain, yes?¡± The guard nodded. ¡°Yes. We can begin.¡±
Ray would have liked to verify that the Infected actually were alright before leaving, but he couldn¡¯t find a good enough excuse to get away from the guard. Plus, the speed with which they were leaving meant he couldn¡¯t let his eyeball roam and locate the Infected either. Ah, well. He just had to hope they were alright. Ray wasn¡¯t truly concerned about them. His goal was simply to not be the one to kill them all. While he didn¡¯t want them to die after what he had seen and heard, he also knew he was in no position to champion their cause and defend them against an entire kingdom who wanted them dead. Speaking of which, Ray was trying to figure out how he could wheedle some more information that might confirm what the Infected man, Adrian, had said. ¡°What¡¯s your king like?¡± Ray asked. ¡°He is great and magnanimous,¡± the guard said, almost automatically. ¡°May his reign last an age.¡± ¡°That tells me everything,¡± Ray muttered. He raised his voice. ¡°Has he always been the king in your lifetime, or is he recently ascended?¡± ¡°He is an old king. He was the ruler during my father¡¯s time as well.¡± Considering the guard didn¡¯t look young at all, this king had to be an old codger by now. Ray asked some more questions about the Everstead monarch. Things like what some of his biggest policies were, if he had gone to wars, how he was compared to the previous ruler, and so on. The guard¡¯s answer was always taciturn and, well, guarded. It was like he had figured out Ray wanted to ferret out something through the questioning. His curiosity was just a veil. All Ray learned was that the ruler was great, liked food more than diplomacy or wars, was great, had built a big palace in the capital, and had he mentioned great? Useless info. Ray would need to discover what actually happened with the Sylvan Floor Lord some other way. But even that told Ray something. All the talk of greatness suggested someone of strong ego, someone who thought highly of themselves. It was easy to see how such a person could get into arguments, even with important, powerful people like the Floor Lord. ¡°We¡¯ve arrived,¡± the guard said The dungeon before them was situated in a very out-of-the-way corner of Cliff Three. The building was tall and wide, bigger even than the manor of Lord Caleb, though it didn¡¯t cover as much ground. It was also vastly run down. The stench from within was already burning Ray¡¯s sinuses a little. ¡°Thanks for leading me here,¡± Ray said. ¡°Remember to grab the files,¡± the guard said. ¡°If they haven¡¯t been corrupted already.¡± Ray nodded. ¡°And you¡¯ve got the other stuff?¡± The guard handed him a folded page. ¡°There¡¯s the map to the points of interest you want. All the monsters and such you may wish to face that we know about.¡± ¡°Excellent. Thank you.¡± ¡°You said it may take you a few days to clear everything?¡± Ray got off the raptor. He patted its reptilian snout and for once, the dinosaur didn¡¯t look at him like a snack. ¡°Yeah. I think you should take your mount with you. I¡¯ll be sad to say goodbye, but I can move faster on my own.¡± The guard took the reins, and after a nod of farewell, began leading it away along with his own mount. Ostensibly, he was supposed to be heading back to his Lord¡¯s place. Ray would return there after taking care of all of his advancement here on Cliff Three. He had his doubts, though. After all, the guard had clearly been assigned to Ray to keep an eye on him at all times. It wouldn¡¯t be surprising if the man even sneaked into the dungeon behind Ray. Nevertheless, the guard did disappear from Ray¡¯s view. Time to focus on the dungeon. [Primordial Gauge¡ªDungeon] Ruptured Philosophers¡¯ Hole [Tier 10] Dangerous experimentation is part and parcel of an avid natural philosopher¡¯s life. Sometimes, this danger grows out of hand. Literally. Discover the truth behind the experimentation and avoid succumbing to their numbing, corrupting effects. Huh. That sounded like a dungeon born from the experiments of mad scientists. Well, it was a Tier 10, so Ray was going to go in anyway, even if it hadn¡¯t already intrigued him with all of its truth-finding and whatnot. The stench intensified as soon as he got in. Corrupting effects¡­ Ray¡¯s stomach roiled. Just the smell itself made him feel as though his innards were being decayed somehow. It looked just as bad¡ªmaybe worse¡ªthan it smelled too. The first corridor Ray entered was splattered with blood, draped with curtains of rotting, sickly intestines, and dotted with bits of what had to be flesh here and there too. Ray did his best not to gag. He could deal with this. He had seen worse. It took no time at all for Ray to come across the first Dungeon Obstacle. Very prompt, compared to his last dungeon run. He appreciated that. [Primordial Gauge¡ªDungeon Obstacle] Living Flesh Mana is not to be tampered with. Especially not Growth Mana. Such tampering can lead to unforeseen abominations, which you will need to bypass before you are absorbed. Absorbed? The hell was that supposed to mean? Ray hurried on a little farther, hackles raised to the ceiling. He rounded a corner and came to a large room. There, he stopped and stared for a few moments. Living Flesh was certainly an apt way of describing what Ray was seeing. Chunks of bloodless flesh were literally moving about the room as though they had been imbued with a life of their own. Ray had no idea what animal or creature they might have come from, but it was unmistakeably meat from something. Some were lean cuts, others were torso-sized slabs, and yet others were no bigger than his fingers. All of them sported some kind of sense organ too. Mouth with sharp teeth, beady little eyes, what looked like nostrils. There were a few that even had little arms and legs, tipped with claws. Wild. A quick look with Primordial Gauge informed him that they were Flesh Elementals. That perked Ray up. Hey, if he was completing his Objectives while fighting weird monsters, why shouldn¡¯t he be happy? [Primordial Gauge] Flesh Elemental [Monster] [Tier 7] [Level 18] Unrestrained use of Growth Mana led to corrupted creations imbued with a mockery of life. Difficult to tame or direct, these creatures exist purely out of spite for everything else that lives. Skills: Flesh Surge [Tier 6]: Force your flesh to grow in the moment before an attack, enhancing the damage dealt. At Tier 6, damage is enhanced by 12%. Flesh Corruption [Tier 4]: Lave a bit of your body on anything you attack. This piece then proceeds to corrupt. At Tier 4, corruption occurs at 8% per minute. Corrupt Bloodspill [Tier 5]: Throw out a storm of blood that burns acidly. At Tier 5, the radius of this skill is 15 meters. Consume [Tier 6]: Eat a portion of your foe¡¯s body to restore your Recovery and Mana. At Tier 6, this skill returns 12% of Recovery and Mana. For a little bit of time, Ray considered whether or not he ought to just fly through. But then he wasn¡¯t about to pass up an opportunity to claim more Elemental kills. So, he summoned up a couple of the Greater Windbane Maw constructs and fired them off. He had been distant enough that the monsters hadn¡¯t sensed him. He was free to act as he saw fit. Which let his constructs take care of most of the Elementals with no trouble at all. Of course, some escaped the blasts of lasering fire, immediately retaliating towards Ray. He was prepared for that. Primal Spiritcraft had another spectral maw grafted to his arm, which allowed him to spray the entrance of the room with chaotic fire. That took care of the rest of the Elementals charging towards him. They died with throaty, warbling cries, their fleshy bodies splitting and bursting, popping meaty chunks and splattering blood everywhere. [Enemy Defeated¡ªFlesh Elemental] Tier 7 Monster: Flesh Elemental [Level 18] x13 Essence: +16,380 Knowledge: +39 True Mana Restored: +2,340 Essence to Level 25: 31,960/37,500 Knowledge to next Threshold: 741/800 Ah, good. He¡¯d be hitting level 25 soon enough at this rate. Ray walked into the chamber the Flesh Elementals had been in. The locations within the dungeon were so covered in grime and gore, it was hard to make sense of what actually formed the dungeon¡¯s structure. But now, for the first time, Ray paid actual attention. He discovered just what sort of experiments they had been doing in this dungeon. B2 Chapter 15 (82): Flesh Dungeon The remains of old bodies lay on several little mobile beds, like the kind used in operating theatres. It was the nature of the remains that had Ray intrigued. They looked as though most of their flesh and organs and ripped free from their skeletons, leaving some rotten and dried pieces behind. Maybe that was how the Flesh Elementals had formed. They had formed straight off these bodies. Human bodies, Ray noted. At the distant end of the room was a table filled with tools. Ray recognized a lot of them as surgical implements. Scalpels, forceps, tweezers, and the like, though of a style he didn¡¯t recognize. What was more interesting was the hornlike growth. Ray fixated on it for a while. That had to have come from a Sylvan. So what in the world was it doing here? Of course, it was the Sylvans that mostly used Growth Mana. The Flesh Elementals had been created via unrestrained use of Growth Mana, so it kind of made sense why the horn was present here. But what Ray was more curious about was how it had arrived inside this sprawling laboratory. Curse. That¡¯s what Adrian had said. That the Infected had been cursed by the original controller of the Floor, who had to be a Sylvan Floor Lord. Were the people of Everstead experimenting with how to remove the influence of the curse from their victims here? Damn it. Now would have been a great time to have his guard around. Ray could have asked the fellow some pointed questions. Of course, he probably wouldn¡¯t have received any real answers. But it would have been worth it to see him squirm as Ray pieced things together. Unable to find out more, Ray moved on. Flesh Elementals tried to ambush him in the corridors and out of the little side rooms he passed. Ray was aware of them long before their encounters thanks to Primordial Gauge. He looked through several of those side chambers, trying to see if there was anything interesting in them. Most were either empty, or too filled with gore to get anything useful. By the time he arrived at the next major room, Ray had killed a bunch more of the Flesh Elementals. The level up was quite appreciated. [Enemy Defeated¡ªFlesh Elemental] Tier 7 Monster: Flesh Elemental [Level 18] x18 Essence: +22,680 Knowledge: +54 True Mana Restored: +3,240 [Level Up!] Reward
  • +5 Intellect, +5 Spirit, +2 Vitality +2 Agility, +10 allocatable free stats.
  • 1 True Mana Tier Point
  • 1 Empty Shard
Essence to Level 26: 17,160/41,300 Knowledge to next Threshold: 795/800 Ray plugged half the free stats into Intellect while the rest went into Vitality. He also put the True Mana Tier point into Lifeblood Graveyard. The Empty Shard turned out to literally be a useless shard of¡ªoh wait. He had received an empty crystal a while back. Either as a dungeon reward or something else, Ray wasn¡¯t sure. But he had never used it before. How could he have forgotten about it for this long? Ray quickly poked through his Bag of Holding and pulled the crystal out. It was exactly like the shard. Colourless, kind of cloudy inside. The shard¡¯s description was exactly what it had been for the crystal. He could pour in Mana of any variety into both of them, then use them as a regular shard and crystal. Deciding to keep them in mind for eventual use, Ray entered the next major area. Only to be faced with a pit of bubbling, disgusting liquid. [Primordial Gauge¡ªDungeon Obstacle] Switch in the Pool At the bottom of the cesspit lies a switch that is the only way forward. The caretakers of this dungeon did not wish for anyone to discover the true secrets within, and as such, secreted away the means of opening the way forward in as gruesome a manner as they could. But beware sinking into the cesspool. One such caretaker yet remains within¡­ Well, wasn¡¯t that ominous as fuck. Ray looked around. No way this weirdly-placed switch was the only method of going forward. True to the notification¡¯s words, Ray couldn¡¯t see any openings or anything of the sort. No windows, no doors, no secret hatches, not even any vents. Only the doorway he had entered through. Primordial Gauge wasn¡¯t offering him anything either. The method to open the exit had to be entirely mechanical. Ray supposed he could spend a while trying to see if he could locate the opening on his own. However, this wasn¡¯t a fun little escape room. As proven by the rotten tentacle that slithered out of the bloodlike muck. Gusting out a sigh, Ray blasted the tendril of bone and gristle with a Spiritsorb. It reared back into the pool. He was not entering that thing. That was fine. He had other option to exhaust. With a little flick of his wrist, Ray called up his Imitator construct. Together, they waited until another tentacle pushed out of the cesspool. ¡°That¡¯s what you need to be,¡± Ray said, ordering the construct to transform. As it began doing so, he smacked the rotten tendril with another Spiritsorb until the offending tentacle was gone as well. Oh, yes. No getting into the muck with those things there. His Imitator turned into a slithering tendril that seeped into the disgusting liquid. Ray made sure to attach an eyeball to the thing, just so he could see and guide it. He could have directly ordered it to get to the bottom and press whatever switch was there, but he was curious. Ray blinked as his third eyesight opened up. It was convenient that his eyeball¡¯s vision wasn¡¯t too impeded even in the red murk it had descended into. But holy crap, there were a lot of those tendrils under the surface. What was worse was that they immediately went into a frenzy as soon as the Imitator tendril with the eye sank under the surface. Ray actually jolted a little where he stood. The reaction was viscerally drawn from him. It was just because of how ridiculously vicious the tentacles had turned on the fake one. Almost as if they knew it was fake and were incensed by the copy. As it was, Ray¡¯s constructed mimic tendril didn¡¯t last long. Ah, well. It was a good experiment. Next up, he created a bunch of the mimic tendrils. Well, when it got more than three, he started to get that stinging sensation right in his head, so it grew quite difficult to focus. But he didn¡¯t need to. Not when his constructs had enough intelligence to carry out his order. The handful of fake tentacles dived in. Ray constructed one of them to only be the eye, flapping with its wings in an effort to swim, just to test the actual tendrils¡¯ reactions. His assumption that the tentacles had something against the Imitator construct was verified soon after. The only damage the eyeball suffered was as a side-effect of the tentacles trying to attack their fake brethren. In fact, it so happened that while the tendrils were busy with the fakes, his eyeball managed to swim all the way to the bottom of the murk. Ray cheered it on as it pressed on the switch. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. A heavy rumble ground out through the whole structure. Ray shook along everything else. Above him, the ceiling was splitting apart. It was retracting to either side, slowly pulling away to reveal a passageway that went farther in a floor above Ray. So that was where it had been hiding all this while. His Imitator constructs didn¡¯t make it out. Ray wondered if he could get more Essence by trying to kill those tendrils. But then, it was pretty obvious that it would be a pain in the ass. Ah, whatever. He had more of the dungeon to explore. There were more of the Flesh Elementals everywhere. Ray was forced to use Spiritsorb more often than not, killing one monster after another. They just didn¡¯t seem to end. He even had to crush another True Mana shard to refill his Mana capacity. What was worse was that he wasn¡¯t really learning anything from the rooms and corridors he went through. Too grimy, too dirty, everything covered in blood and rot. Immune to disease though he might be, Ray was not touching any more of the infected-looking things than necessary. By the time he arrived at his next obstacle, he had killed over a dozen more of the Flesh Elementals again. He had to admit that they were a really good source of Essence. In fact, he was now even eyeing yet another level up in this dungeon. [Enemy Defeated¡ªFlesh Elemental] Tier 7 Monster: Flesh Elemental [Level 18] x14 Essence: +17,640 Knowledge: +42 True Mana Restored: +2,520 Essence to Level 26: 34,800/41,300 [Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 800-point threshold, your Knowledge has raised your Intellect by 60. Knowledge to next Threshold: 837/1,000 The Dungeon Obstacle was a sight to behold too. Ray was equal parts disgusted and fascinated. It was quite literally a giant blob of flesh that seemed to be pulling all the other Flesh Elementals towards it and grafting them to its body. Fleshy tendrils and meaty appendages trailed off its main body. [Primordial Gauge¡ªDungeon Obstacle] Flesh Guardian A corridor that leads to the greatest secret of all must be guarded by all beings. But to do so alone would be inefficient. As such, the Flesh Elementals of the dungeon have gathered together to form one angry mass. Get past the guardian by any means necessary. Ray tried to focus on the fact that he was supposed to get past that thing. Primordial Gauge simply called it a Greater Felsh Elemental, sporting mostly the same abilities as its normal kind, just at higher Tiers. Problem was that it literally filled up the entire corridor. Ray wasn¡¯t getting past it easily. Especially because attacking it with one of his spells only seemed to make it grow bigger. That wasn¡¯t strictly true. His chaos attacks did cause it to rupture and take damage, but it also made new flesh, bone, and blood grow chaotically on the huge monster¡¯s body. That just made the problem of it filling up the corridor worse. It was approaching him too. Slowly getting closer and closer. Since Ray was pretty sure getting in physical contact with that thing would be bad news, he had to retreat as well. At this rate, he would be pushed back to the dungeon floor he had risen from. ¡°No way,¡± Ray said. He called up two flying Greater Windbane Maw constructs. At the same time, he crafted one on his arm with Primal Spiritcraft too. Together, the three of them fired an enormous blast of their compressed laser breaths. Of course, the Greater Flesh Elemental couldn¡¯t stand up to that attack. What did take Ray a little aback was the sheer time he and his constructs needed to continuously keep firing. That thing was big. The chaotic fires combined and exploded, tearing apart the Elemental and sending its fleshy and bloody chunks flying everywhere. But the fires had to keep digging and digging and digging. There was simply no end to the monster. Ray was almost starting to consider if it was like that Imitator wall back at his first dungeon on the Second Floor. The one that would have cost way too much Mana to get past. Then, thankfully, the monster died as his laser breaths broke through. [Enemy Defeated¡ªGreater Flesh Elemental] Tier 8 Monster: Greater Flesh Elemental [Level 20] x1 Essence: +1,600 Knowledge: +3 True Mana Restored: +200 Essence to Level 26: 36,400/41,300 Knowledge to next Threshold: 840/1,000 Hopefully, the greater variants of the Elementals still counted towards his Objectives. Ray made his way through the muck of corrupted, twisted flesh. He decided to fly through with Soaring Wings. The chances of slipping and falling were too high. Oh, and tripping too. Bone, blood, and meat lay everywhere with no order. Ray did his best to ignore the toothy mouths opening and closing and the entrails moving on their own. That was when he saw his next Greater Flesh Elemental. Oh, please no. He had already used up too much True Mana trying to take just one of them out. More of them really was going to deplete his reserves. He spotted something potentially helpful. A room to the side. The door to it had already been reached by the front end of the monster, but it was moving slow. If he got there in time¡ª Ray got a better idea. He quickly summoned his Imitator construct, sending it shooting to the room. It performed its job with admirable efficiency. Just before the Flesh Elemental covered up the entire doorway, the mimic finished copying it to memory before returning to Ray in quick order. ¡°Great,¡± he said, the black-red blob bouncing like a reflection of his own excitement. ¡°Now it¡¯s your turn to become a room.¡± By the time the Greater Flesh Elemental reached him, Ray was safely ensconced in his own little fake room. Even better, he made his handy little construct turn the door into a stretch of wall. It managed to fool the monster. The Greater Flesh Elemental squished and squelched past, the noise sort of reminding Ray of someone vomiting. Controlling his own queasiness was a lot of work. Visual was one thing, but an auditory assault wasn¡¯t something he was prepared for. Ray had to remain within the room a little too long, but it was better than using up another huge chunk of his True Mana. Although¡­ maybe there was another way. He tried to get his plan across to his construct to see if it could obey the more complex set of instructions. It wasn¡¯t really working. Kind of annoying, actually. But maybe the issue was that his construct simply wasn¡¯t smart enough. Which was why he decided to put his first Vitality Tier break to proper use. The sensation of splitting his mind was very odd. All he tried to do was direct enough thinking power, enough intelligence to his construct for it to do what he needed. In turn, that made it difficult for him to think. It was as though a buzz filled his head. He could only focus on one thing before the buzz grew incredibly uncomfortable. Getting past the Greater Flesh Elementals. That was all he had to focus on now. Simple and direct. He could do that. At least the Imitator construct had finally grown smart enough to enact Ray¡¯s plan. While keeping the ¡°wall¡± of the room facing the corridor, he made it open its door on the actual right wall. Normally, that would probably not have even opened because of the stones making up the wall, but Ray had also commanded it to move its space. As he passed through the doorway, the room he had been in moved its space along with him, so that it was now taking up the space opposite the doorway in the wall. Essentially, the Imitator was moving itself through the wall by shifting the space its room occupied. Ray just kept up with it. The buzzing sensation in his head was a constant companion. Ray couldn¡¯t focus on what he was supposed to be doing in the dungeon. It was fine. Hopefully. Essence. It was always about gaining Essence, wasn¡¯t it? The buzzing grew stronger, so he stopped thinking. He could get started on his real objectives once he was done with this bit. That was fine. At some point, his Imitator construct opened up to a large room. Larger than the one it formed after copying the side room. Was Ray in a new, actual room? It was hard to tell. But he retained enough consciousness to know that his foggy brain was making it difficult. As such, he dismissed his construct. Ray blinked as consciousness slammed back with full force. Holy shit. He was definitely not trying that again unless really, really necessary. Good thing he had pulled his full intellect back in. He got the feeling he was definitely going to need it in this room. It was cleaner here than all the rooms and corridors he had seen on the dungeon¡¯s second floor so far. He browsed around. Letting his guard down a little since Primordial Gauge didn¡¯t alert him to any other presences. There were cabinets filled with files in a language Ray couldn¡¯t read. Nevertheless, he was certain there would be someone who could, so he searched around until he found one that looked important, resting inside the drawer of the table at the very front. There was so much here that he needed to tell Mary about. He made sure to take some extra. Caleb wanted a bunch of them, as the guard had reminded Ray before entering the dungeon, but he wanted some for his own inspection. Ray found more operating tables and surgical tools. In another locked cabinet that he broke open, he located a bunch of Growth Mana crystals. So intriguing. He had found a lot of evidence of Growth Mana everywhere, yet the main origin of that variant of Mana was missing. Apart from that one guy on the Spire. So, unless¡ª A door opened and closed somewhere farther off. At the same time, Ray¡¯s Primordial Gauge went off. Someone had arrived. Someone close enough for his spell to detect. Speak of the devil. Just as he had been wondering, a Sylvan had appeared. Ray hurried forward to the only other door of the chamber. He pushed it open, heart beating fast, and entered the largest room he had come across yet inside the dungeon. It was like an archive. The sort that were filled with rows upon rows of shelves, all stuffed to the brim with documents and folders. But the shelves and cabinets had all been thrown to the floor. They were lying on the ground, a large number of them broken and shattered, but all stacked against each other to basically form a second floor on top of the real floor. A squishy, squelching noise drew Ray¡¯s attention to the centre of the room. The Sylvan had moved out of Primordial Gauge¡¯s range, but the alien was aware Ray had arrived. ¡°Come in closer,¡± he said, voice horribly warped. As Ray approached, he saw why. The Sylvan was mutated and afflicted, just like the Infected he had seen. There was an alertness to him, though. A gleaming, mad intensity to his eyes. Ray crushed a True Mana shard because he was pretty sure he knew what was coming. As it was confirmed by the Dungeon Obstacle notification a moment later. [Primordial Gauge¡ªDungeon Obstacle] Hidden Originator A remnant of the past has materialized in your presence. Secure your victory and earn your freedom from the confines of the dungeon and the murky past it locks within. It was probably pointless, but Ray decided to voice his question anyway. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°I am one who awaits,¡± the Sylvan said in that mangled voice. ¡°And you are my entertainment till the fated day arrives.¡± ¡°Yeah, well this entertainment is going to cost you.¡± Ray tensed as the Sylvan started ambling towards him. But then, a Tower Node flashed to life to his left. The Fleshcrafter had appeared, and it was heading straight towards the Sylvan. B2 Chapter 16 (83): A Giant Mouth ¡°Hey,¡± Ray shouted at the Tower Node of the Fleshcrafter. ¡°Where the hell do you think you¡¯re going?¡± It didn¡¯t listen to him. Didn¡¯t even bother responding with a blink or something along those lines. The Tower Node simply kept floating towards the curiously watching Sylvan. ¡°My, my, what strangeness appears,¡± he said. His voice was starting to turn a little uncomfortable to listen to. Wet and squelching, like the Greater Flesh Elementals moving past Ray¡¯s mimicked room. ¡°As if this Affliction wasn¡¯t bad enough.¡± It wasn¡¯t surprising at all that the Fleshcrafter found a dungeon full of flesh interesting, one way or another. But why now? What was so interesting about the Sylvan that it had appeared in this instant instead of anywhere else they had encountered all sorts of fleshy constructs? Despite knowing it probably wasn¡¯t going to be helpful, Ray used Primordial Gauge on the Sylvan anyway. [Primordial Gauge] Ankel Sui Fifty-fort [Denizen] Race: Sylvan Path: Path of Core Growth [Epic] Class: Acrobat Assaulter [Uncommon] [Tier 3] at Level 19 This Denizen¡¯s skills are locked due to affliction: Growth Mana Infection. Well, if nothing else, it had at least shown Ray that the Sylvan was quite weak. Or rather, Ray¡¯s perception of strength had changed. He had almost always fought those who were far stronger than him. So having an opponent several levels weaker was unusual. Nevertheless, Sylvans were vicious warriors. He¡¯d do well not to underestimate Ankel just because he was infected. Although, that begged the question of whether the Sylvan was even capable of fighting in his condition. After all, Primordial Gauge had stated that the skills were blocked. Surely that meant Ankel couldn¡¯t use any of his abilities. The Tower Node had come to a reast next to the Sylvan, not really doing anything. Ray frowned. ¡°I hope you didn¡¯t just suddenly decide to switch sides¡­¡± Ankel laughed. ¡°If you wish to reclaim it, why don¡¯t you come and take it, then?¡± ¡°You do realize your skills are blocked off, right?¡± ¡°Come and face me, coward!¡± Ray sighed. Then jerked his arm forward and cast Spiritsorb. The Sylvan tried to dodge, but his lumbering gait faltered as he was weighed down and unbalanced by the pustules on his legs. The first Spiritsorb missed because of his fall, but the second hit him square in the chest. Ankel cried out as he was struck, the spell causing his chest to begin to mutate. Flesh split, bones spiked out, blood boiled as the vessels wormed everywhere. That was when the fleshy growths all over him began moving. The pustules and tumours literally ripped free from their locations and converged to the point where Ray had hit Ankel with Spiritsorb. They all began squeezing into the Sylvan¡¯s body, heedless that they had left more wounds elsewhere. ¡°Is this your doing?¡± Ray asked the Tower Node. It still didn¡¯t blink. Ray was not appreciating its mysterious behaviour. The Sylvan began rising. Laughing too. ¡°Ah, I hadn¡¯t realized it would take this form. I have so much more to report when it is time.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Don¡¯t you see, little human?¡± Ankel paused, an almost euphoric look passing across his face as his skin ripped in places while the flesh underneath bulged and deformed. ¡°Blessed Burgeoner, that felt incredible.¡± He focused again on Ray. ¡°This mad flesh comes from unrestrained Growth Mana. And Growth Mana comes from us. See it now?¡± ¡°You¡¯re trying to see what happens when you infect yourself with Growth Mana?¡± ¡°Precisely! And my oh my, you brought me the key I was missing. The final puzzle piece.¡± He stared almost lovingly at the Tower Node. ¡°Who would have believed that all I was missing was a Tower Node.¡± Ray wasn¡¯t sure what exactly had changed. When he used Primordial Gauge, the space where the skills should have gone were still blocked. But then, he recalled something. One didn¡¯t need any abilities to use a Tower Node¡¯s powers. Ray himself had used the Tower Nodes of the Marauder and the Mentor without any extra, System-granted skills. The Sylvan here had to be doing the same thing, which meant that the Node¡¯s allegiance really had shifted to Ankel somehow. But that couldn¡¯t be right. How could a Tower Node just up and float over to a new master? Ankel pointed at Ray. ¡°It shan¡¯t be so easy this time, human.¡± Ray ignored it and focused on himself. Primal Spiritcraft to Channel Prayer to Fleshed Exchange. It only hit him now, when he was pressed for time, how lengthy it felt that he had to go three spells deep before the actual effect he wanted manifested into existence. Kind of nuts, if he was being honest. The Tower Node shifted in its spot, like there was a strong, stormy wind blowing against it. ¡°Ha!¡± Ray said. While he felt as though he still retained some measure of control over the Tower Node, it was hard to see it in effect. Ray cast Spiritsorb against Ankel, but the Sylvan dodged. He was moving more fluidly now, despite the ungainly look of the flesh stuffed within his body. A couple more of Spiritsorbs all missed. Grinning, perhaps believing he had the upper hand, Ankel charged at Ray. His massive, tree-trunk fists slammed in to crush his target. Ray waited until the last moment, waited until he was sure the Sylvan wouldn¡¯t be able to dodge. Then he dived. As the Sylvan sailed past, Ray struck bare-fisted against Ankel¡¯s side. The punch exploded. Ray had used Fleshed Exchange to trap chaotic energy underneath a new layer of skin. It was ostensibly supposed to be a defensive ability, but he had seen the offensive applications as soon as he had read the description. Ankel staggered as he came to a stop. He recovered quickly though, whirling around even as his waist mottled, spilled blood, and oozed flesh. Ah, alright. It was interesting but the ability from the Fleshcrafter Tower Node wasn¡¯t that powerful. Ray didn¡¯t mind. He had only used to assert his dominance, to prove that he still retained at least some measure of control over the Tower Node, regardless of whatever the Fleshcrafter wished. He had earned it. It made him curious, though. Had both he and his opponent channelled the Tower Node¡¯s power, one after the other? Was that even possible? Questions for later. Right now, he had to take out this annoying enemy. Ray crafted up a Soulstrike arm, smashing it at the onrushing infected Sylvan once more. He dodged it, arcing to one side before charging straight at his target. But Ray simply pulled the arm in closer with a rapid withdrawing motion. Just as Ankel leaped at him, the impaling point slammed in and pinned the Sylvan to the ground. He screamed. ¡°Unhand me, you mongrel! You shall pay gravely.¡± ¡°Struggling is pointless,¡± Ray said. With all his skills locked away, the Sylvan had posed next to no threat at all. ¡°But I don¡¯t want to kill you. If you answer some questions, I¡¯ll let you go.¡± ¡°You think you can threaten me?¡± ¡°I can torture you, if you¡¯d prefer.¡± The Sylvan grabbed the impaling point of the Soulstrike arm. His palm sizzled and started growing chaotically, but he didn¡¯t appear to care. ¡°There is nothing you can do to that will make me oblige to your little demands. I am the superior being here. You¡¯re just a human!¡± Ankel was being annoying enough that Ray didn¡¯t feel bad about torturing the guy a little. He summoned the Greater Windbane Maw construct and made it start chewing off the Sylvan¡¯s arm. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Alright, alright!¡± Ankel said after some moments of screaming and chewing. He panted as Ray called off his construct. ¡°What do you wish to know?¡± Well, that had been easy. In fact, this whole final encounter had been a bit too easy for a Tier 10 dungeon. Nevertheless, Ray proceeded with his inquiry. ¡°What are you doing here, Ankel?¡± Ray asked. The Sylvan¡¯s eyes bugged out a bit, though whether that was in surprise that Ray knew his name or because the name was being butchered by Ray¡¯s probably awful pronunciation was hard to tell. ¡°Should I not be asking you that, mongrel?¡± Ray made his flying draconic head snap its jaws next to the infected alien¡¯s ear. Ankel winced. ¡°Just answer my questions. How long have you been here?¡± ¡°For a long while. A long, long while. Almost as long as I¡¯ve been here in the Tower, it feels like. I don¡¯t actually remember, now that I think about it.¡± ¡°What were you doing here?¡± ¡°Investigating. Growth Mana was abused. The Floor Lord and I wished to get to the bottom of it. We were tricked by these false Denizens. The ones who proposed they would work with us, then only sought to claim what we possessed.¡± The Sylvan spat in disgust. False Denizens? The Sylvans wouldn¡¯t allow any Denizens to actually work for them, would they? They were supposed to guide the Denizens up the Tower via reasonable challenges. But their idea of reasonable definitely wasn¡¯t great and they did work with Denizens when needed. The Wild Tides had been quite chummy with them. But Ray got the sense the Sylvan didn¡¯t mean Denizens in the sense of people climbing up the Tower. What he was actually referring to were the people from this Everstead kingdom. ¡°So they betrayed you?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Was that what the whole argument with the king was about?¡± ¡°Argument? There was no argument. Only outrage at the betrayal, at their gall to think this Floor was theirs to rule.¡± Ray tutted. ¡°You and your Floor Lord should have just done it yourself instead of hiring an entire kingdom.¡± ¡°Kingdom?¡± The Sylvan actually forgot about his pain in his surprise. ¡°What in the world do you mean by kingdom?¡± ¡°I mean¡­ your Floor Lord hired an entire kingdom of these fake Denizens, right? The Everstead kingdom?¡± ¡°I know not what you speak of. We employed some of your kind who were actually never your kind to begin with.¡± ¡°Yes, I know. They weren¡¯t actually Tower Denizens from Earth. They¡¯re people from elsewhere.¡± ¡°No. They were never people.¡± The Sylvan suddenly laughed, a mad light in his eyes. ¡°Ah. Ah! It seems they have gone far beyond when I left them.¡± ¡°What do you mean they were never¡ª¡± The dungeon began shaking. It wasn¡¯t the kind of trembling that had occurred when the ceiling had split open to reveal the main passage. This was worse. Everything was shaking hard, cracks popping up like critters of the undergrowth running in fright. Ray could hear things breaking and falling in the distance. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± He barely got the words out with how much his teeth chattered. ¡°This dungeon¡­¡± The Sylvan winced as Ray was forced to pull out the Soulstrike arm. ¡°It¡¯s collapsing.¡± This was confirmed when a Dungeon Obstacle notification popped up. [Primordial Gauge¡ªDungeon Obstacle] The One Beneath Actions within the dungeon have awakened one who has remained dormant since birth. A being that cannot be fought or beaten by any normal means. A creation of flesh that seeks to only consume. In its grasp, the entire dungeon is in peril. Escape, lest you end up as pulp. What in the world was this Dungeon Obstacle? A creature that couldn¡¯t be fought or killed? That reminded Ray of the Eternal Guardian. Was it something that ridiculously powerful? Ray desperately wanted to see it, wanted to at least get close enough to use Primordial Gauge on it, but he had no idea where it was. More importantly, he had to focus on getting out of there. Especially since the whole room was breaking apart. ¡°Where¡¯s the exit?¡± ¡°I do not know¡ªargh.¡± The sudden cry came about as a result of a chunk of the ceiling falling upon them. Ray was able to draw back in time, but the injured and infected Sylvan wasn¡¯t so lucky. The falling masonry crushed half his body, splattering blood and gore everywhere. At the same time, a loud roar came from below. From far, far below, well lower than the floor Ray had been on after entering the dungeon. That had to be the monster the Dungeon Obstacle warned about. The noise made it sound like it was deep underground. Ray was about to get moving, but he hesitated. The Sylvan was still alive. Rescuing and helping him was out of the question. He was basically dead, regardless of his technical condition. But maybe Ray could end his suffering. ¡°A last question, Sylvan,¡± Ray said. ¡°Answer me, and I¡¯ll make sure you don¡¯t die a long and painful death. Where is the Floor Lord now?¡± ¡°I am not¡ª¡± ¡°And if you don¡¯t know, then where was the Floor Lord?¡± ¡°On the first cliff. That¡¯s where we met them.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Ray cast Mottling Spiritguard. While the majority of the orbs protected him from the falling debris, he made one of the nearer ones shoot straight at the Sylvan. It crushed Ankel¡¯s head, killing him instantly. [Enemy Defeated¡ªSylvan] Acrobat Assaulter [Tier 3] Sylvan: [Level 19] x1 Essence: +2,850 Knowledge: +3 True Mana Restored: +190 Essence to Level 26: 39,250/41,300 Knowledge to next Threshold: 843/1,000 Safeguarded by his Spiritguard orbs, Ray got moving. It wasn¡¯t easy at all to barge through a rumbling dungeon while not taking any damage. At least, not when the monster far underground decided to interact directly. Bloody tendrils waved through the air, shooting at anything that was alive. In most cases, this was Ray and his accoutrement of spells. Occasionally, however, the tendrils would go for a stray Flesh Elemental. He even saw several of the tentacles trying to pull a gigantic Greater Flesh Elemental down into the ground. Ray himself was kept safe by the sparking orbs. They turned into slicing arcs that slashed through any of the tendrils that got too close to him. The roaring grew a lot more intense when he reached the end of the corridor. The monster¡¯s pull had had strengthened too. Ray was physically hauled down, like gravity had grown much more powerful. He tried to keep flying, but at this rate, he wasn¡¯t even sure where he was. Everything was too broken to recognize. Ray found himself staring down, just to see if he could locate what exactly was causing all this. He really shouldn¡¯t have. A sinkhole had opened up at the bottom of the dungeon. It revealed an enormous mouth. A giant, bottomless cauldron of flesh ringed with teeth that were each as big as Ray himself. It was this huge mouth that was sucking in everything in the dungeon. He swallowed. That was a monster that dwarfed even the Greater Flesh Elementals. But it wasn¡¯t fear that entranced him. It was heady excitement. Just how much Essence would he receive as a reward for killing something like that? His ambitious ideas were interrupted when several broken parts of the dungeon rushed at Ray all of a sudden. A huge section of the roof, several massive chunks of the wall and the floor, lots of random paraphernalia like cabinets and beds, and of course, a few Flesh Elementals caught in the maelstrom. Ray wasn¡¯t at all certain he¡¯d be kept safe by his sparking orbs. Best to avoid them if at all possible. And the only way to do that was by throwing himself into a different corridor he didn¡¯t recognize. A corridor that became trapped as soon as he entered. The opening Ray had flown through was suddenly blocked off by what looked like one of those Greater Flesh Elementals. On the other side, debris left no room for anyone to get through. Ah, crap. Ray might well and truly be stuck. When he attacked the Flesh Elemental with Spiritsorb, it only grew outwards as its flesh split and then chaotically grew even more. Ray tried to carve out some space with Soulstrike, but it wasn¡¯t working. His heart lurched as the whole corridor began falling, making him lose his balance and his aim. Blood burst through the cracks in the walls, dozens of tendrils shooting in and destroying everything. All the while, he was heading straight for the gigantic monster¡¯s gullet. They all slammed down. The corridor probably hit the floor, which explained why their descent jerked to a halt so hard that Ray smacked into the ceiling. Or perhaps it was also that fact that the whole corridor imploded under the pressure, burying Ray under the rubble and flesh. That added to the difficulty of emerging out of the dungeon, but he wasn¡¯t dismayed. Even if Ray himself found it hard to get past all these obstacles, he had a different hope. Quick casts of Lifeblood Graveyard created an imitator and a flying eyeball construct. Together, he ordered them to get out of the dungeon via any means possible. Such a command would probably not have been easily translatable. Constructs tended to do much better with direct, specific orders. But Ray lent them his intelligence. His mind split again, but he was getting used to the sensation now. It wasn¡¯t like he himself could think his way out of this place. He was stuck. Which was where his constructs came to the rescue. The eyeball and the mimic went off. The Imitator turned into a fleshy tendril as it sought to serpentine its way between the debris. It opened pathways just big enough for the eyeball to squeeze through as well. ¡°Go,¡± Ray whispered. ¡°Faster. Faster.¡± His constructs still met obstacles, of course. They came across Flesh Elementals trying to stop them, tendrils rising out of the monster far underneath to catch them. But with Ray¡¯s own intelligence empowering them, they were able to evade or bypass most. It helped that one of his constructs could turn into anything in the vicinity to hide its presence. The ground around Ray¡¯s actual locations started shifting. Sinking. The gigantic mouth was drawing them all ever closer. He could hear it much closer and clearer now. So loud. His ears felt as though they were being squeezed by the noise. The stench had grown impossibly strong too. He couldn¡¯t take this any longer. Ray tried to desperately climb out on his own. He could barely move his arms, and his spells didn¡¯t really have any effect on non-living matter like the broken dungeon walls. But he dug desperately anyway. Come on. Too late. All too late. Ray was suddenly free falling. When had he reached the huge mouth? Everything plummeted around him. Ray just remembered to summon his wings, but it wasn¡¯t helping much at all. The world closed around him. Light disappearing, his senses sinking into nothingness, drowned out by the terrible noise and the awful odour. Was he already in the gullet? It was too lightless to be sure, but the foreboding feeling haunting his soul suggested so. Shit. Shit. He had to get out. He had to do something. What else could he do? What else was he capable of? Why couldn¡¯t he think of anything¡ª Light bloomed, blindingly bright, in one corner of his vision. It began growing, taking up a third of his sight. Was he free? No, a part of him was. A part of him that was enough. Fleshy tendrils had grabbed him. Their touch burned. He was literally being dissolved. The mouth far above had closed now, shutting off the world and sinking him in darkness, happy to digest everything it had swallowed. Ray tried to think through the pain and the panic. What was he supposed to do? What had he planned? A part of him was free, but most of him was being eaten alive. How was he¡ª Ah, right. Ray opened his eyes. He saw nothing, of course, but the action helped him focus. Spectral Step. The world blurred, distorted, set Ray¡¯s already haggard mind afire. Light. So much light. He was out. [Dungeon Cleared¡ªRuptured Philosophers¡¯ Hole] Rewards
  • 1 Tower Node of the Fleshcrafter
  • 15 True Mana shards
  • 1 True Mana Tier Point
  • Adamantine Gravity Boots
  • +2,000 Essence
  • Reputation: +15 Ruthless
Essence to Level 26: 41,250/41,300 B2 Chapter 17 (84): Core Considerations Ray took some time to rest after his ordeals in the fleshy dungeon. That was a horrible name to call it, but the System¡¯s name for his experiences over the last few hours was definitely not as elegant. He was enthralled by what he had received, however. Well, apart from the fact he was missing only fifty Essence from a level up, but he was trying not to be hung up about it. In the list of rewards where it said he had earned a new Tower Node, it really was a new one. He still retained control over his other Fleshcrafter Tower Node. Basically, Ray now had two of them. He had discovered that interesting tidbit when he had bemoaned the fact that he¡¯d been forced to leave behind the Tower Node in the same spot he had killed the Sylvan. But then, a quick focus had summoned it right next to him. Not just one. Two of them. That was when the dungeon clearing reward had made sense. He had been awarded a different Fleshcrafter Tower node that existed on the Second Floor. Ray wasn¡¯t sure why he hadn¡¯t considered that there would be more Tower Nodes across the Tower from the same Paragon. It opened up a lot of interesting possibilities. For now, though, he focused on the power of the Tower Nodes before him. Twice the Nodes meant twice the power of the associated Paragon in his grasp, right? Although, that didn¡¯t seem to be the case when he used Channel Prayer via Primal Spiritcraft. It still showed him only the three same abilities he had seen before, with no changes at all. Both the Tower Nodes¡¯ descriptions were exactly the same too. The same information that he could modify and manipulate the flesh of either himself or of any targets in his vicinity. Hmm. There was something he would need to test once he moved on to his next monstrous encounter. Ray also tested the Gravity Boots. They were pair of white, knee-high boots that worked exactly as their name suggested. He could stand horizontally on tree trunks, at an angle on sloped debris, even upside-down on branches that could bear his weight.. Basically, all surfaces were his for standing upon, regardless of how gravity was supposed to act. An even more curious fact was that the original gravity just didn¡¯t work while he was wearing the boots. It was natural to think that, while his boots attached his feet horizontally to a tree trunk, the rest of his body would sway and bend due to the real gravity still acting downwards. But that didn¡¯t happen with the Gravity Boots on. It was as though the very plane of gravity affecting Ray was stuck to the sole of the new boots, always only affecting him in the direction of the surface his feet rested upon. A neat little pair of boots, no doubt. Too bad their utility didn¡¯t come close to overtaking the usefulness of the Drakescale Boots. Ray was not discarding free Knowledge gain¡ªand thus Intellect and spell power gain¡ªwith every kill. Ray also assigned his latest True Mana Tier point to Mottling Spiritguard, taking the spell to Tier 4. It was his lowest Tier ability, and he didn¡¯t want it to languish behind the rest. Lastly, Ray focused on the dungeon itself. Or what remained of it. The whole structure was just gone. That enormous monster hadn¡¯t been able to swallow everything, of course, but the majority of everything Ray had gone through was eradicated. All that was left was that huge sinkhole, thought that too was covered up by a mound of rubble and earth. Ray didn¡¯t care. He flew up with Soaring Wings and decided he was killing that giant flesh monster no matter what. Alright, fine. Maybe not no matter what. He wasn¡¯t that stupidly stubborn. But expending three True Mana shards to see if he could destroy that thing wouldn¡¯t be awful. Maybe four. He had gained enough to spare a few extra, right? Ray could afford to splurge a little. He created several of the Greater Windbane Maws. His mind actually began hurting once more, and he received the warning that he was crossing the limit of his Intellect Tier. But Ray didn¡¯t care. He crafted a couple of the draconic maws on his hands using Primal Spiritcraft, then used it even on the Soulstrike arms as well. All in all, Ray had about a dozen of maws active. So many that he had to use a True Mana shard just to top himself back up. Then he fired all the maws at the same time. The debris mound exploded, as did what felt like the inside of Ray¡¯s head. A symphony of splitting thoughts, fleeing consciousness, and horrendous bursts of chaotic fire on the ground all screamed out at him. He almost fell from where he was floating thanks to Soaring Wings. But it worked. Flaming debris went flying everywhere. Ray watched with wild eyes as the sinkhole opened up, revealing the opening that led to the monster underneath. It also let the stench rise back up, but he was getting used to it. Hmm, that might actually not be a great thing. A part of Ray was tempted to descend and use Primordial Gauge on that thing. He would love to see just how strong that monster was supposed to be. But he would be finding out soon enough anyway. Ray used another True Mana shard. All those maws firing at once had very rapidly depleted his True Mana reserves. It was actually a little frightening how quickly they had consumed Mana, and also a little relieving that he had been able to break through with the True Mana he had in total. Definitely wouldn¡¯t have been possible without breaking the first shard. But now, Ray was ready once more. So was the monster, it seemed. Another heavy groan emanated from below, a rumbling roar that once again began pulling Ray towards that enormous maw. Not just him alone, of course. All his constructs were being dragged into the huge hole. All the better for them. With another application of will, Ray and his draconic maws once again all fired their laser breaths. A dozen jets of chaotic fire entered the lightless abyss. A dozen streams of power that all crashed into one another in the centre of the enormous flesh monster. Ray was shaking as he fired the compressed flames from both his arms, barely holding onto consciousness as his head felt like it was being pulled apart. He was just thankful that he was able to see just what the ultimate reaction was. The explosion that occurred within the huge monster sent up a volcanic eruption of chaotic flames. A bunch of the constructs were struck by the rising, corrupting column. Ray himself was burned by the edge too. It was hard to evade in his state. Thankfully, he still flew backwards and avoided the worst of the blasts. Plus, the loss of several of the constructs helped remove the splitting headache. Ray regained enough consciousness to send in some Recovery to fix his wounds. Though, sadly, there was no fixing his Shaper Raiment. [Enemy Defeated¡ªArch Flesh Elemental] Tier 10 Monster: Arch Flesh Elemental [Level 30] x1 Essence: +3,000 Knowledge: +3 True Mana Restored: +300 [Level Up!] If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Reward
  • +5 Intellect, +5 Spirit, +2 Vitality +2 Agility, +10 allocatable free stats.
  • 1 True Mana Tier Point
Essence to Level 27: 2,950/45,300 Knowledge to next Threshold: 846/1,000 Ah, there it was. The level up he had been looking for. Ray had hit two levels in one dungeon. He considered that a pretty great return. Too bad there were no more dungeons on Cliff Three. In fact, from everything he had heard about the Second Floor, it seemed there just weren¡¯t as many dungeons or even explorable areas as there had been on the First Floor. Although, he now had to consider just how much of what he had been told was true, and what was false. The Sylvan in the dungeon had complained that the people Ray had interacted with were ¡°fake Denizens¡±. Ray wasn¡¯t truly sure what that meant, and he cursed the fact that the dungeon¡¯s collapse had interrupted his interrogation. But one was thing was for sure¡ªhe would be a fool to trust everything he had been told. Primordial Gauge alerted him that his chaperone wasn¡¯t far away. Sighing, Ray composed himself before meeting the fellow. ¡°Did you find everything you sought?¡± the guard asked as he appeared on his raptor, leading Ray¡¯s dinosaur by the reins. ¡°The documents, especially?¡± He nodded. ¡°Yeah, got everything. Let¡¯s go meet Lord Caleb.¡±
Ray didn¡¯t stick around long with Caleb. He just handed off some of what he had recovered, alleging that most of the rest had been too destroyed to bother bringing. They didn¡¯t know he was keeping some of them for his own purposes. They asked him to rest for the day, but he was a little too keyed up. Rest would be good. But his body was screaming at him to keep going, to keep advancing. He still hadn¡¯t received a new spell via levelling up. It had been so frequent before his class evolution, and he had learned after a little inquiring that it was very common to receive fewer abilities at higher level ranges. Ray had no business wanting to be common or normal, though. He wanted to accelerate his growth, if possible, and part of that growth was acquiring better and better option. The class evolution into Spirit Carver had already showcased just how much variety he could add to his build, especially in a utility sense. He wanted more of that. More abilities that could complement what he already possessed. Surely those wouldn¡¯t be too hard to come by. He decided to compromise. As the day ended, Ray opted to research his Mana Core, while leaving the rest of what he wanted to achieve for tomorrow. Caleb possessed a handful of Mana Core related literature. Unable to understand the writing, Ray managed to convince the lord to lend him one of his clerks to read it out loud. ¡°The Mana Core is a manifestation of the soul,¡± the clerk, a blonde woman who looked more like a teenager, said. She reminded Ray of interns, someone stuck doing a thankless but meaningless job that others didn¡¯t really care about. ¡°Um, like the soul, the Mana Core does not stick to strict definitions and is therefore boundlessly potential.¡± Ray nodded sagely. ¡°I like boundlessly potential. Does it say any specifics about what a Mana Core is capable of? You know, beyond the basics of storing and circulating Mana.¡± ¡°Oh, yes. As it is the reflection of a person¡¯s soul, it also closely reflects that person¡¯s Ascension Class, Vocation, and other similar matters. Even more specifically, it controls the amount and consistency of Mana conduits a person can possess, Mana-related skills that one can channel, the variants of Mana one can generate, and even the ability to control other Mana Cores.¡± That last one made the girl go hushed, like it was some kind of taboo ability that most people steered clear of. ¡°Control other Mana Cores, you say?¡± Ray asked with a raised eyebrow. The girl clapped her hands over her mouth like she had let slip some dangerous secret. Ray grinned. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t tell anyone you told me.¡± ¡°Well, Lord Caleb did tell me to tell you everything in the Core Script, so I did¡­¡± ¡°And you¡¯re doing a good job, don¡¯t worry. Anything else interesting in there?¡± The girl looked down at the pages again. ¡°There¡¯s a lot of stuff about imbuing different kinds of Mana and awakening your Mana Core¡­¡± She flipped a couple of the pages. ¡°Oh, and you can also transfer Mana Cores from one person to another.¡± ¡°Is that a fatal procedure? Can someone live without their Mana Core?¡± ¡°No. Your Mana Core is your soul, right? How do you live without that?¡± ¡°Good point.¡± She went on to describe a few other stuff and elaborate the various functions she had mentioned, which Ray listened to intently. Once she was done explaining things, Ray came to the realization that hastening up his levelling wasn¡¯t really going to help him earn new spells. She too confirmed that almost everyone¡¯s rate of attaining new skills slowed down the more one they evolved their class. That was slightly disappointing. Ray was still going to earn Essence as fast as he could, of course, but he would need to rely on other methods to earn new skills. And thanks to the explanations he had received from the clerk, he was starting to figure out a way to do just that.
The next day, Ray got started on making use of all the info he had obtained after completing his tasks. Although, the information mostly contained directives to head out and complete more tasks hidden within monster-hunting jaunts. Ray supposed he didn¡¯t really mind as he was gaining more Essence. Still, it kind of felt a bit hypocritical. Refusing to work for Maya¡¯s faction but now doing what this fake kingdom wanted him to. He focused on the task ahead. The first one had been to head to a road out near the eastern end of Cliff Three. It had apparently been taken over by monsters called Vilewyrms. Needless to say, Ray was quite intrigued. Vilewyrms sounded like they were naturally related to Viledrakes. Caleb had mentioned there were Viledrakes on higher Cliffs, so Ray was hopeful he could prep for facing down his actual target by taking on the Vilewyrms. Get a taste, so to speak. It took him a few hours to get to the designated location on the raptor mount. Ray would once again have preferred to fly, but the guard insisted on accompanying him, and he couldn¡¯t very well carry the fellow. So dinosaur riding it was. The village nearby informed them the same thing Ray had learned at Caleb¡¯s manor. Once they approached the road, the Vilewyrms ought to make themselves known. Which proved to be true when Ray reached the centre of the highway. Primordial Gauge acted up, informing him that there were monsters approaching. Creatures called Vilewyrms. Ray focused Primordial Gauge on one to check out its skills. [Primordial Gauge] Vilewyrm [Monster] [Tier 9] [Level 23] Children of the great Viledrakes, Vilewyrms are wingless drakes that are known to burrow into mountains and cliffs to make their homes. Abandoned caves are often the leftovers of such creatures after they have outgrown their original burrow. Younglings are known to hunt often in search of food to produce their own Mana. Skills: Crushing Scales [Tier 6]: Manifest hardening of scales, claws, and the rest of the body that allow them to crush through metal and rock. Mana Breath [Tier 7]: Emit breath of pure Mana that can last for up to 3 minutes and 30 seconds at a stretch. Rampage [Tier 7]: Pour out reserved energy to heighten all damage dealt, entering into a state of enraged aggression. At Tier 7, this skill boosts speed and all damage direct dealt by 14%. Pack Hunt [Tier 5]: Raise all stats by 13% for every member of the species present in the vicinity. Enhanced Charge [Tier 7]: Build up power to charge a large distance, crashing into your target. At Tier 7, this skill carries the wielder up to 14 meters. Ray went through the skills pretty quickly. They seemed rather basic. He wondered how much better they would be for the Viledrakes. As for the Vilewyrms, they turned out to be sedan-sized lizards that moved like Komodo dragons on four legs. Though, they were a lot faster, and looked a lot more dangerous too. Pretty wild, considering Komodo dragons freaked Ray the fuck out. These Vilewyrms had a horned draconic head similar to the Windbanes he had killed a while back, though theirs were short, spiky, and numerous. Their scales were dirty brown, their eyes pitch black. It was the consistency of their scales that caught Ray¡¯s attention. They seemed extra hard, gleaming just a tiny bit like they were made of newly-polished metal. Ray¡¯s mount growled low in its reptilian throat as the monster¡¯s approached. He had learned how to soothe it¡ªa little stroking under the gullet calmed it down. He grinned at the guard. ¡°You want a piece of them too?¡± The guard wasn¡¯t amused by Ray¡¯s friendly demeanour. ¡°Were you not insisting that you be the only one to handle the matter? I assume so that you can hoard all the Essence.¡± ¡°I was!¡± He really had done so with Caleb. No shame in admitting that. ¡°I was just making small talk.¡± ¡°Would you not prefer making small work of the monsters instead?¡± Sighing, Ray turned as the first of the Vilewyrms arrived with screeching cries. The guard was right. He¡¯d be better off killing these things as fast as he could before moving on. Ray wasn¡¯t interested in letting the monsters get too close and start attacking him. As such, he created two of the flying Greater Windbane Maw constructs and sent them forth. At the same time, he created one on his arm with Primal Spiritcraft. As his constructs went ahead and distracted the first monster, Ray fired off a laser breath from the draconic head on his arm. The laser struck hard enough to push the Vilewyrm back. But it didn¡¯t kill the monster. When Ray shut off the jet stream of chaotic fire, the monster staggered in place, clearly wounded. Blood burst out through the gaps between several of its scales. Veins and arteries had overgrown through a bunch of them too. The monster wasn¡¯t dead, though. It roared out, half in agony and half in rage. Until the constructs shot their point-blank laser breaths too. The Vilewyrm got blasted right in its draconic face. With bursting eyeballs and tongue choking into its gullet, the monster quickly fell. Alright, fine. So it was going to take a little more effort than Ray had thought. Big deal. [Enemy Defeated¡ªArch Flesh Elemental] Tier 9 Monster: Vilewyrm [Level 23] x1 Essence: +2,070 Knowledge: +3 True Mana Restored: +230 Essence to Level 27: 5,020/45,300 Knowledge to next Threshold: 849/1,000 Except, the problem was that there were a lot of the monsters suddenly closing in from all sides. Ah, it looked like Ray was about to have his hands full. ¡°I will leave you to it, then,¡± the guard said, leading away Ray¡¯s raptor after he had dismounted. Ray nodded, then focused on the onrushing monsters. ¡°Go ahead and tell the village the road¡¯s safe.¡± He grinned. ¡°I¡¯ll be done by the time you get there.¡± B2 Chapter 18 (85): Wyrms, Wolves, and Treants Ray was correct to be confident. It did indeed take just about as long to kill the Vilewyrms as it took the guard to get back to the village. Although Ray wouldn¡¯t say it was easy. As the monsters rushed in as a group, probably to take advantage of Pack Hunt, Ray rose into the air on Soaring Wings. Despite being the offspring of drakes, according to their description, they had no wings. Ray had a clear advantage over them that he would be a fool not to exploit. Ensconced in his aerial safety, Ray decided to pelt shot after shot of Mottling Spiritguard. This wasn¡¯t like Spiritsorb, where he actually had to aim and cast directly by himself. All Ray did was simply cast the spell to summon up the fourteen orbs and have them turn offensive. Then he zipped over the battlefield, allowing his orbs to target the nearest monsters he passed by. There were two main benefits to this approach, aside from the fact that staying airborne trivialized dealing with the monsters. One was the fact the sparking orbs of True Mana could change their shape depending on the application. In this case, where the targets sported hard scales that even protected them against attacks like the laser breaths, a better attacking approach was needed. Specifically, an spear-like approach. That was why Ray made the sparking orbs turn into long, pointed javelins that stabbed into the tiny gaps between the monsters¡¯ scales. It worked marvellously. Ray wasn¡¯t at all surprised to see the hides of the Vilewyrms breaking apart with welters of blood. The Vilewyrms turned into living pincushions of ruptured flesh in no time at all. It was gruesome, but oh boy was it effective. The monsters began falling one by one in rapid succession. It had been a good idea to raise Mottling Spiritguard¡¯s Tier. The Vilewyrms themselves couldn¡¯t retaliate easily. Ray had noted no effective long-ranged attacks in their repertoire, which proved to be true. Most just screeched and shrieked at him and his two constructs as they all flew over the flightless lizards. There was that Mana breath that several flung at him, but it was never a danger. They all failed to even come close to hitting him. The majority of the blasts petered out within twelve to fifteen feet from the monster¡¯s mouths, whereas Ray could climb up to thirty feet with his wings. They also had no tracking at all, so it was easy to treat them as projectiles and swerve away. Of course, the monsters got desperate. Several used Rampage before attempting an Enhanced Charge. That threw them several feet into the air. Fourteen meters was far higher than Ray could reach on his wings even, so he was in some danger of being hit by a cannoning monster. Soullife Cloak made sure that wasn¡¯t too much of a problem. Ray dodge the meteoric monsters without difficulty. The annoying bit was that it made hitting the monsters harder too. His orbs kept missing when the Vilewyrms simply charged straight into the air. Their motion was too fast, too sudden. Hmm, unless¡­ Ray tried a different tack. He pushed extra True Mana into Mottling Sphereguard to take it to Tier 7. Then he cast it three times in quick succession, creating over forty of the orbs spinning rapidly around him. There were so many now that his vision was almost completely obscured. But it worked. That was all that mattered. When the monsters charged at him again, Ray made sure that the outer layer formed defensive barricades. Because they were at the same Tier as the Enhanced Charge, the Vilewyrms didn¡¯t break through. Instead, they hit the defensive wall created by the orbs, losing their momentum entirely before crashing back to the ground. Which was when Ray manipulated his orbs to open up holes within the defensive wall. Small holes that were nevertheless just big enough to let the sparking orbs squeeze out and attack the now stationary monsters. Like before, they stabbed and speared into the Vilewyrms to end them. In that manner, Ray managed to kill all the Vilewyrms in the area after almost twenty minutes of effort since the guard had left. [Enemy Defeated¡ªVilewyrm] Tier 9 Monster: Vilewyrm [Level 23] x8 Essence: +16,560 Knowledge: +24 True Mana Restored: +1,840 Essence to Level 27: 21,580/45,300 Knowledge to next Threshold: 873/1,000 Good thing the guard had taken the second raptor along with him. That meant Ray could zip along with his wings to reach the village just in time. ¡°Told you I¡¯d get here by the time you started telling everyone that the road¡¯s clear,¡± Ray said. ¡°So it would seem,¡± the guard said, not even bothering to sound impressed. At least the villagers were a lot more appreciative, Ray got a round of thanks from almost everybody who heard the news, and several went off to confirm it. When they returned after about half an hour, they thanked Ray even more profusely and began preparing carts and dinosaurs. He had learned a bit of the context about the whole thing. It was supposedly an important route. The only real road linking the village to the rest of Cliff Three. Ray had done them a big favour. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you and the rest of the guards get around to killing the monsters?¡± Ray asked. He already knew why, having asked Caleb. But he was wondering if the answer would be different from the guard. ¡°It looks it was pretty important to these people.¡± ¡°We would have, had we been able,¡± the guard said. ¡°You arrived around the same time we received the distress call from the villagers. As such, we struck down two birds with one stone by allowing you to handle it.¡± He looked back. ¡°Why, do you mind?¡± Ray shook his head. ¡°Just curious.¡± And slightly disappointed, for the man had said the exact same thing Caleb had told Ray. He had hoped for something a little different. They journeyed on. The next monsters Ray had to take care of were some flying wolves. Apparently, the shepherds out on the pastures didn¡¯t just deal with regular predators. Oh no, they had to contend with massive canine monsters dive-bombing their sheep from up in the clouds. Not literally clouds, which was good for Ray, because he could fight them aerially. ¡°For once,¡± he said as they reached the location where the wolves were preying on the surprisingly mundane sheep. Not even dinosaur sheep. Just regular fluffy animals. ¡°I can see why you¡¯d want me to handle this thing.¡± The guard only grunted. Observing the cloud-studded sky reminded him of the strangeness of the Floors again. Those half-tornado clouds seemed perpetual. Though, despite seemingly lacking a sun, at least the clouds allowed in enough light for a day and night cycle. Then there were the gargantuan spires too. Spires that might just be eggs for monsters within¡­ After a bit of talking with the poor, harried shepherd, Ray got to work. The pasture was wide. With all the sheep having been brought in, Ray didn¡¯t have to worry about protecting any of the animals. So instead, he focused on taking down the monsters flying far above. They were still a little too high, but Ray solved the problem easily. He took some recently sheared wool with him. The scent of the sheep still etched into the wool attracted the predators. Ray had his Greater Windbane Maw ready on his arm with Primal Spiritcraft. As soon as the first monster got close enough, jaws opened wide and wings spread out as it charged at him, Ray waited. And waited. And wait¡ªnow. He fired off the laser breath right as the huge wolf was only a couple of feet away. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The only reason to wait that long was because Ray didn¡¯t want to miss. Only once the monster was fully committed to the charge, unable to second-guess or do anything but attack, did he blast out the compressed fire. Of course, the wolf¡¯s onrushing momentum meant that it could still crash through the flames and get to Ray. If he had remained still. With a jerk, Ray rose above the monster, sending it careening forward, immolated in chaotic flames. The winged wolf had no defences like the last monsters he had faced, so it wasn¡¯t a difficult endeavour. Another blast of compressed, fiery chaos upon the burning wolf as it lost control of its flight ended the monster. [Enemy Defeated¡ªWinged Wolf] Tier 8 Monster: Winged Wolf [Level 22] x1 Essence: +1,760 Knowledge: +3 True Mana Restored: +220 Essence to Level 27: 22,640/45,300 Knowledge to next Threshold: 876/1,000 Ray quickly turned around. More wolves were dashing in like sharks drawn to blood. He grinned. Time to take them all out. The exercise went about as well as expected. Ray used Mottling Spiritguard to take advantage of the fact that flying wolves appeared to have next to no sense of self preservation, even after watching several of their comrades falling to Ray¡¯s spells. They just wanted that sheep wool. In fact, Ray used a similar tactic that had worked so well against the Vilewyrms. The ring of the Spiritguard orbs blocked the monsters¡¯ onrushing charges, stalling them in the air. Ray took advantage of that stunned state and struck out with Soulstrike. One blow with the True Mana arm was enough to end most of the wolves. With keening howls, they fell out of the sky, their bodies burning with chaotic, black-red fire. There was a small subgroup within the pack of flying wolves that weren¡¯t as easy to kill. These ones hung back, looked larger and somehow wiser than their smaller brethren. Ray immediately understood that they were a slightly superior kind he¡¯d need to put more effort into dispatching. Since they weren¡¯t obliging him by charging and dying, Ray was the one who had to go after them. He had to charge after them. This led to an actual dogfight as they zipped through the air, both sides focusing on dodging while also trying to get hits in. If Ray focused too much on any one of the larger Winged Wolves, a couple of others would swoop into claw and bite him. He had to stay on his toes. Figuratively. It was getting a little frustrating, so Ray evened the odds by summoning three Greater Windbane Maws. That helped turn the tides. Of course, Ray had to be smart about deploying them. He couldn¡¯t just send them all out to harass the flying wolves. At the same time, just keeping them close to defend him wouldn¡¯t work either. Both would make his opponents too wary. So instead, Ray applied a mix of both. Two of the maws chased down the Winged Wolves one by one, while the other one belched fire from a distance. But when one of the wolves got too dangerously close, it also made sure to quickly change its stance and defend Ray with gusto. Allowing him to take pot shots at the wolf monsters with a draconic maw grafted to his arm. It took a while. Maybe almost another half hour. He had to dismiss and reapply Soaring Wings a few times and even crush another True Mana shard. But after some time, Ray had finally knocked the last Winged Wolf out of the air. [Enemy Defeated¡ªWinged Wolf] Tier 9 Monster: Elder Winged Wolf [Level 24] x5 Tier 8 Monster: Winged Wolf [Level 22] x14 Essence: +35,440 Knowledge: +57 True Mana Restored: +4,280 [Level Up!] Reward
  • +5 Intellect, +5 Spirit, +2 Vitality +2 Agility, +10 allocatable free stats.
  • 10 True Mana shards
Essence to Level 28: 12,780/49,600 Knowledge to next Threshold: 933/1,000 Excellent. Another level. Even if it wasn¡¯t a new spell, Ray would accept the reward of True Mana shards graciously. ¡°There,¡± Ray said when he descended and met the guard who was riding back into the field. ¡°All done.¡± The man surveyed the wolves with minor distaste, before nodding and heading off. They spoke a bit with the shepherds and convinced him that everything was now alright. He believed them. Apparently, he had watched the whole battle from some private vantage point. Ray received some more thanks before heading off to his next source of Essence. This task turned out to be a bit more emotionally involved. A few children had been taken from a different village by a monster. Terrible as the news was, Ray would have told them that a rescue sounded like a hopeless cause. Monsters wouldn¡¯t normally kidnap anyone, would they? The children had to have been killed. Still. The tearful parents of the missing children were hoping Ray could defeat the monsters in time. No harm in trying, he supposed. Ray noticed that the guard¡¯s face continued to look impassive. That asshole hadn¡¯t even looked sad for the parents¡¯ plight. Was he some kind of emotionless monster? Deciding to keep his complaints to himself, Ray got going. The culprit of the case was a Treant. Ray was sure he had heard that name before. Wasn¡¯t it a popular monster from somewhere? At least, it had to have existed in some cultural folklore from back on Earth. Maybe he had heard about it from a myth. Whatever the case, the main point was that it was a wood-based monster. Having dealt with the Wood Elementals, Ray was well-versed on how he was going to handle the encounter. A guide from the village took Ray and the guard to where the monster had been spotted in the nearby woods. Afterwards, it was just a matter of using his mimic and eyeball constructs to scout around the area until they located the target. The guide had already run off to safety, the guard following the young boy along with the two raptor mounts. Leaving Ray alone to kill the Treant. But where he had expected a giant, sprawling, treelike monster, he discovered that the Treant¡¯s name was a lot more¡­ literal. Ray did find a tree, but it looked more like a huge anthill made of wood. Relevant, because the monsters awaiting him were gigantic ants. Wooden mandibles and rootlike legs, bodies that looked like bristly, thorny bushes. No doubt there was some sort of debilitating, if not fatal, poison involved. Treants. Tree ants. Ray wasn¡¯t sure if he had just heard wrong, or if it was just spelled differently. Whatever the case, he prepared to fight. First step was using Primordial Gauge. [Primordial Gauge] Treant [Monster] [Tier 7] [Level 22] Ants born of the woods. They conjoin trees to form huge, anthills of wood. Despite being made of fauna, their primary diet is flesh. They are known to decompose their captured prey within their anthills before devouring them once softened. Skills: Identifying Scent [Tier 4]: Leave a small odour upon a target to determine its main information. Only information up to this skill¡¯s Tier revealed. Poison Spit [Tier 6]: Shoot out a burst f poison that slowly deteriorates your foes¡¯ health and Recovery. At Tier 6, this skill reduces the Recovery by 6% per minute. Bullet Snap [Tier 5]: Lunge forward to snap at foes with an overpowered bite. At Tier 5, this skill covers up to 10 meters of distance. Pack Hunt [Tier 5]: Raise all stats by 13% for every member of the species present in the vicinity. Woodcraft Manipulation [Tier 6]: Employ the ability to shape and manipulate wood to do your bidding. Woodcraft Manipulation? That sounded pretty interesting. Ray couldn¡¯t see any useful application for himself, personally, but he could definitely tell it would be a great find for some people. Hmm¡­ Ray summoned up his Imitator construct. Then gave it a quick command to transform into one of the Treants over yonder before diving into the wooded anthill to find any children. That didn¡¯t require him to insert a part of his own thinking power into the monster. Ray was starting to realize the difference in situations that required it. It was independence. When the construct would need to make complex judgments and decisions for itself, that was when Ray needed to offload a part of his own intellect to the creature. When his commands were clearly defined, even if a bit extra, there was no need. The Imitator Treant charged into the anthill like it had always belonged there. The other ants didn¡¯t seem to mind. Ray was a bit surprised at that. Weren¡¯t ants supposed to use complex pheromones and other identifying scents to tell each other apart? Had his construct managed to imitate that as well? Maybe it was a lot stronger than he had realized and appreciated so far. Having also hidden a Scouring Eyeball on top of the Imitator¡¯s head, Ray had no trouble seeing what was going on even after the fake Treant disappeared. The anthill¡¯s interior was definitely interesting. If he had still been a researcher, it would have enthralled him. As it was, Ray was far from bored as he observed the tunnels of wood, the leaf-wrapped cocoons holding their young, and the eggs that looked like they were made of thin wood. His focus was on the captured children the Imitator eventually located, however. Hmm. Now how to get them out? Ray created another Imitator construct, turning it into a giant ant as well. He did the same for a few more constructs. His head began hurting badly again, but that was fine. Ray wasn¡¯t personally and directly involved in the process. He could take a bit of pain. Those children had to have suffered far worse. Ray sent out his rescue force. They went and performed their job admirably. As soon as the next group of fake Treants arrived at the imprisonment chamber, the first Imitator convinced the couple of guarding Treants to go take a break. The new ones would relieve their duty. The actual ants were fooled into doing so. This left Ray¡¯s Treants to do whatever they wanted. While the first one ensconced one of the children into its body, one of the other Imitators turned from an ant into a child, complete with the digesting cocoon. A perfect replica. Ray actually laughed a little as the first Imitator returned with the captured child in tow. It had actually worked really well. Now to repeat the process. While his Imitators remained busy, Ray focused on freeing the poor child. The kid was alive, thankfully. Ray ignored the splitting headache and did his best to pull apart the cocoon and clean the child until the next one arrived. And then another. Three in total. That was enough. There was a fourth, but he had already passed away. Ray stared down at the dead boy¡¯s face. His heart felt like a stone in his chest. The kid¡¯s skin was cold. Clammy. Almost whitish grey, like the underbelly of a fish. Even his blood was sickly now, looking slimy silvery and reflective in the low light where his skin had split. Plucked from life so early. What a cruel world these people lived in. Ray stood back up, dismissing some of the Imitators and deciding it was time to stop the Treants for good. B2 Chapter 19 (86): Mana Variants Ray focused on taking out the Treants. The way to do so was pretty easy. All he did was convert some of his remaining Imitators within the anthill into flying draconic maws. This allowed them to strike from within, where the ants had a lot less defending going on. It didn¡¯t take long before the Treants were all in a tizzy. They buzzed about, trying to stop the flames from spreading, evacuating the anthill en mass. Ray was just glad the anthill was made of wood. Organic matter burned so well under his chaotic flames. Sure, the ¡°burns¡± didn¡¯t leave ash so much as corrupted living matter, but it did cause damage and destroy most of everything it touched. Even better, the panicked state of the Treants made them easy pickings. Dismissing another of the Greater Windbane Maws within the burning wreck of the anthill, Ray summoned a couple more outside it. He himself crafted another of the maws along his arm. He realized he wasn¡¯t using his new spells as much¡ªChannel Prayer with the Fleshcrafter powers. But he didn¡¯t really care for these ants that much. Those skills could come later. As it was, Ray and his exterior constructs took pot shots at the monsters. They burned under their fiery assault. Easy Essence, really. It helped that they had all gathered together just outside their aflame home. They had little room to dodge and weren¡¯t prepared for the assault. Since they couldn¡¯t fly either, Ray had no trouble evading the worst they could do while remaining airborne and highly mobile. But then, things changed when the queen of the Treants emerged from the anthill. Ray¡¯s construct inside the anthill died all of a sudden. He had received the briefest glimpse of a gigantic ant that made the tunnel break apart to accommodate its enormity, before the monster had lunged far too quickly for its size. The construct had died in one hit. She was already burning, though, probably due to her size making it unavoidable. There was that, at least. Ray drew back, letting his constructs deal with the last of the monsters outside. He had to prep for that Treant queen. A quick cast of Mottling Spiritguard had the sparking orbs revolving around him like satellites on steroids. He also primed the draconic maw on his arm, maintaining the flames smouldering in its mouth so that it would be ready to fire in an instant. Alright, maybe this was when one of his new spells would come in handy. Primordial Gauge informed him exactly which hole the Treant queen would come out of. Just as it came close, Ray sent one of his Spiritguard orbs shooting towards the monster. The Treant queen stopped at the hole, on the cusp of emerging out into the dying daylight. Ray gave it no chance to do anything further. He used Spectral Step next. The world blurred as he was taken straight to the hole. Didn¡¯t matter if he was disoriented or not, he was in position. So, Ray fired. The draconic maw on his arm shattered out the compressed laser breath in a massive stream that was almost as wide as the hole¡¯s opening. At the same time, all the Spiritguard orbs revolving around Ray and building up their centripetal force now slammed in at the monster with an enormous burst of speed. The Treant queen was smacked by too many spells at once to even consider surviving. Even Ray himself was blasted back as a huge explosion rocked the opening. That spelled the anthill¡¯s death knell. Unable to take any more damage, it crashed down and crushed the last of the monsters. That last explosion had thrown Ray back pretty far, allowing him to evade the collapse. [Enemy Defeated¡ªTreant] Tier 7 Monster: Treant [Level 22] x9 Tier 7 Monster: Treant [Level 23] x11 Tier 8 Monster: Treant Queen [Level 26] x1 Essence: +34,420 Knowledge: +63 True Mana Restored: +4,880 Essence to Level 28: 47,200/49,600 Knowledge to next Threshold: 999/1,000 Oh, so close. Ray was sure he¡¯d be hitting level 28 and another Reputation threshold soon enough. He was mostly done on Cliff Three now, though. This was the last of the potential Essence gathering spots that Caleb had informed Ray about. There were some Elementals on the cliff as well, but the Everstead citizens didn¡¯t interact with them and hardly knew where they existed. Ray constructed more Imitators and bid them to turn into himself. Then he carried the children, the three alive and the one dead, back to the village. The relief and celebration of the successful rescue were dampened by the fact that one of the kids was dead. Nevertheless, all the village folks were appreciative and grateful. Ray moved on afterwards. They returned to the manor for now. It was getting late. Ray could rest up and then take out the Elementals tomorrow. That was, if he could find them. After dinner, Ray met up with Caleb again. ¡°Here,¡± the Lord said. ¡°I have something for you. A small gift of appreciation after your exploits on Cliff Three.¡± He handed Ray a briefcase sized box. Ray opened the lid and gasped a little. ¡°True Mana shards!¡± Ray said. ¡°And a lot of them too!¡± Ray took some time to count. There were twenty five. An excellent addition to the haul he had already gathered. ¡°Yes, the man I contacted on Cliff One finally figured out how to create more using the one you shared,¡± Caleb said. ¡°I can give you his contact information, since you¡¯ll be heading there soon, yes?¡± Ray nodded. ¡°Right. Thank you. I¡¯m going to see if I can find some more of the Elementals here before moving on. Although, I did want to carry out one last experiment.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Ray didn¡¯t reveal too much of what he intended, but he gave the gist that he needed a good amount of Mana. ¡°Do you have any information about locations where Mana is thick and plentiful? And also, maybe crystals or shards of specific Mana variants? I¡¯ll be happy to pay for them, at a reasonable price.¡± ¡°Hmm. I¡¯ll need to converse with my chamberlain to see if such information is readily available or not. As for different variants of Mana in crystals, that can be provided. Though that depends on which you want.¡± ¡°Of course. I also wanted to see just how many kinds of Mana there are, but I can find that out on my own from your library. Now, how much would the Mana crystals cost?¡± Caleb smiled with genuine friendliness. ¡°We can just add it on to the True Mana shards as a gift.¡± Ray smiled back. ¡°Thanks!¡± After that conversation, Ray took a good night¡¯s rest before heading to the library with the clerk in tow before breakfast next day. ¡°All the kinds of Mana?¡± the girl asked. Ray nodded. ¡°As many as you can list. Although, I¡¯m guessing there might be a lot, and I don¡¯t want you to list every single one, especially when some are probably much better than others. Do you happen to rank them or sort them according to usefulness or rarity or power or something like that?¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Oh, yes. We do keep records like that.¡± She flipped through a bunch of pages in the document. ¡°We have some of the most dangerous, rare, and powerful kinds of Mana here. Do you want me to list those, sir?¡± ¡°Yes, please.¡± Clearing her throat, the girl began. ¡°Here are some of the variants of Mana noted for powerful uses¡ªLife, Death, Abyss, True, Origin, Mimic, Obliteration, Spatial, Temporal, Revered, Curse, Faith, Growth, and Consumption Mana. The list is not exhaustive and there are other variants of Mana that remain unobserved by the authors that are capable of great power.¡± Ray was very, very intrigued by a lot of what he heard. ¡°Do you have descriptions?¡± ¡°Oh, yes, of course. Which ones would you like to know, sir?¡± Some of them sounded like he could figure them out just by what they were called. Like, Life and Death Mana no doubt handled how life and death occurred. They sounded ridiculously powerful, and at the same time, very obvious. It was the ones like Origin Mana or even Revered Mana that he couldn¡¯t easily figure out. Some of the others, like Abyss, Curse, and Faith Mana were guessable, but Ray doubted hearing further descriptions from the clerk was going to satisfy him about those. If possible, he would have loved to be able to experiment with them. Ray informed the girl about the ones he needed more information about. ¡°Origin Mana is described as the Mana that is best suited to empower Mana Cores and all the Mana-related abilities that one can acquire,¡± she read. ¡°Curse Mana is said to enhance debuffing abilities a great deal. Faith Mana allows one to channel the power of Paragons directly and with greater potency. Abyss Mana channels the power of nothingness.¡± Ray nodded. It was interesting she had mentioned Paragons directly and not Tower Nodes. He supposed it made sense, since they were originally a kingdom from outside of the Tower of Forging. Tower Nodes only existed in Towers, but not so Paragons. While a lot of them were cool, no doubt, Ray was most attracted to this Origin Mana. He felt as though his Mana Core was the least explored aspect of his growth. Of course, going by their very basic descriptions wasn¡¯t going to grant him a good picture. Ideally, he would have had the chance to test them out. He had some hope that Caleb could provide him with some crystals of the various Mana types. Doubtful, considering the discussed variants were supposed to be rare. The next best hope lay in the following document that the girl procured for Ray. It listed the various locales where different Mana types congregated the most. Aside from being necessary for determining how best to use the Ingestor and Abstractor Tower Nodes, that would also be important if he wanted to imbue a new variant of Mana into his Mana Core. Ray didn¡¯t want to rush the process. It all depended on whether the Mana type was an interesting one or not. A kind that would complement the one he already used, the powers he already had. Or at least, an avenue he hadn¡¯t fully explored yet. That was why Origin Mana sounded so good. ¡°Um, I don¡¯t think this will be helpful¡­¡± the girl said. ¡°Oh?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°Well, sir, it lists the specific locations by their names. You wouldn¡¯t happen to be familiar with the local names, would you?¡± ¡°Oh¡­ no, not at all.¡± They brainstormed for a few minutes before deciding that it was best they draw a map and the clerk would point out the locations Ray could find different kinds of Mana concentrations. He kept wondering how exactly they had determined that these places had these kinds of Mana, but the clerk had no idea. The map wasn¡¯t super helpful. Mostly because the kinds of Mana that were located in a high enough density to be noticed weren¡¯t great. There was only one variant that was in her list of rare and powerful kinds, and that was Obliteration Mana. While that was no doubt powerful, Ray wasn¡¯t certain that was what would be ideal for him. Getting a new Mana variant would, ultimately, not be a satisfying endeavour on Cliff Three. At least Caleb was later able to provide him with a few different kinds of Mana crystals. Some were actually rather interesting. One was a Malady Mana crystal. Apparently, that one allowed one to create different kinds of illnesses to afflict others with. Interestingly, it also had the power to heal other people¡¯s illnesses too. Ray supposed he saw the benefit of them possessing something like that. Another was Rhythm Mana. Apparently, this one could control vibrations of all sorts. Ray was actually quite intrigued by that one. He could already imagine setting off earthquakes and messing with sound. There was a lot of potential for anyone who specialized with Rhythm Mana. The few rest were a bit too basic. Ultimately, Ray decided he would wait till he reached Cliff Two before deciding to imbue any new Mana variants into his Mana Core. There just weren¡¯t options that appealed to him here. For now, it was time to kill some Elementals and get himself to level 28.
The journey all over Cliff Three took up the rest of Ray¡¯s day. For once, the guard chose not to accompany him, allowing Ray to zip across the cliff as fast as his wings could carry him. There weren¡¯t many Wood Elementals. The ones Ray did find were a little stronger than the monsters he had beaten on Cliff Four before joining the battle for the spire. Fighting Elementals was actually fun. Ray knew how to take care of them easily and they granted him a really good dose of Essence. [Enemy Defeated¡ªWood Elemental] Tier 8 Monster: Wood Elemental [Level 20] x23 Essence: +36,800 Knowledge: +69 True Mana Restored: +4,600 [Level Up!] Reward
  • +5 Intellect, +5 Spirit, +2 Vitality +2 Agility, +10 allocatable free stats.
  • 1 Skill Tier Point
Essence to Level 29: 34,400/54,200 [Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 1,000-point threshold, your Knowledge has raised your Intellect by 70. Knowledge to next Threshold: 1,098/1,250 Ray added the Skill Tier point to Mana Imbuing. He wasn¡¯t sure how that was going to help that specific skill, but he wasn¡¯t going to let it flounder in its current state for long. There was a different kind of Elemental on Cliff Three. Earth Elementals. Turned out that mud could concentrate enough to gain sentience with the help of Mana. Lumbering golems of condensed earth had filled up one of only two quarries on Cliff Three, though this one was abandoned. Ray cleared without too much trouble, though it took a good amount of time. Earth wasn¡¯t susceptible to his Lifeblood Chaos powers. It wasn¡¯t organic, after all. As such, Ray had to rely on the power of direct impacts to take them down. It helped that he could make the sparking orbs of Mottling Spiritguard take on just the right shape to suit any situation. In this case, he needed them to assume bludgeoning forms that could crush the Earth Elementals under weighty blows. Ray tried to see if there was a greater version of those Elementals somewhere int eh quarry, but he found nothing. Ah well, the ones he had killed were good enough for another level. [Enemy Defeated¡ªEarth Elemental] Tier 9 Monster: Earth Elemental [Level 24] x17 Essence: +36,720 Knowledge: +54 True Mana Restored: +4,080 [Level Up!] Reward
  • +5 Intellect, +5 Spirit, +2 Vitality +2 Agility, +10 allocatable free stats.
  • 1 Skill Tier Point
Essence to Level 30: 16,920/59,200 Knowledge to next Threshold: 1,152/1,250 More True Mana crystals. He wasn''t going to turn them down, of course, but would granting him a new spell really hurt? Ray assigned the free points in the same spread as he had done before. Half to Intellect and half to Vitality. He was getting quite close to the next Vitality Tier break. He spent his final night on Cliff Three just catching up with others. Apparently, Jacob had already moved on to Cliff Two. Lottie was still hoping to earn some more Essence before heading up. She would see if she could hit level 30 before going farther. Her plan was to return to Cliff Four and grind some more there before going straight to Cliff Two. Good plan, in Ray''s opinion. Meanwhile, Timothy was only interested in Ray''s account of the Flesh Dungeon. ¡°What kind of loot does it have?¡± he asked. The guy was so shameless. He hadn''t even bothered asking anything about Ray, not even a ¡°How are you doing?¡± ¡°Just fleshy bits and pieces, really,¡± Ray said. He already had the Tower Node, the dungeon''s main loot. ¡°Some Mana crystals. Nothing too fancy. Lots of Essence, though. You should be able to level up some.¡± ¡°Oh, alright.¡± He didn''t bother hiding the disappointment in his voice. Ray waited a bit for Timothy to ask anything actually substantial about Ray, but when it didn¡¯t come, he gave up and went away. And he hadn''t even been selfish about it. Ray had taken the time to ask what Timothy had been up to, what his plan going forward was, how was he enjoying the manor, and so on. All he had received were terse replies that made it clear the other guy wasn¡¯t interested in actual conversation. He didn¡¯t want to be a friend. Ray got the message loud and clear and moved on. What a waste of his time. Though, ironically, as Ray was settling down for the night, he received an intriguing message via the chat. Kredevel: Hello, Ray. It took a little bit of time, but we have finally made it to the Second Floor. Ray sat bolt upright in his bed. Belatedly, he realized he was going to miss it when he moved on, but he barely registered the thought. The more important consideration was the fact that he didn¡¯t need to bemoan the lack of real friends on the Second Floor. Because the friends he had made were now coming up. Ray: We¡¯ve got so much to talk about, Kredevel. You came at a great time. Kredevel: We do? Ray: Yes! Don¡¯t rush up the Floor too quickly. There¡¯s a lot more going on here than meets the eye, and I can¡¯t explain everything through chat. So maybe wait on Cliff Four till I come and meet you. Kredevel: Hmm, about that waiting¡­ I am afraid that might not be possible. For one of us, at least. Ray: What do you mean? Kredevel: Well, you see, your friend Gritty, the blood-drunk woman, has already left. Ray: Of course. Left where? Kredevel: I am afraid I do not know. Ray sighed. Of course. It was just like Gritty to ruin off and do whatever crazy shit her mind latched onto. Then again, she had said she wanted to tackle the Floor on her own, mostly. Ray: Well, we can meet up, at least. I¡¯ll come down soon. They decided to meet up the next day, at the lake that Ray had met Mary. He was looking forward to it. B2 Chapter 20 (87): Old Friend, New Cliff It was nice Ray could head out to Cliff Four with minimal fuss. It was a bit distant from Caleb¡¯s manor. But his new Soaring Wings after the class evolution allowed him to fly much, much faster than he had been capable of before. As such, Ray hadn¡¯t needed to use up more than three True Mana shards to get to the spire that led down to Cliff Four. The journey reminded him of one of the first conversations he¡¯d had with Caleb. Hadn¡¯t he stated that the kingdom¡¯s borders weren¡¯t impeded by the Tower¡¯s bounds? Ray couldn¡¯t tell how that worked with the cliffs. As far as he was able to tell, the Second Floor of the Tower was basically like a four-step pyramid. Each cliff formed a higher step and grew smaller, and their only connection to anything else was the cliffs above and below them via the cliff faces. So where were the so-called borders with other kingdoms that Caleb had talked about? Ray could already construct the answers he would no doubt receive. Oh, they were located below Cliff Four. Denizens just can¡¯t access it so they can¡¯t see. But it was there. If Ray was asked, it all smelled too fishy. At the bottom of the spire, he had to shrug off some of the venomous looks he received from the guards as he went on. They clearly detested him for killing one of their kind. Not his fault one of the guards had tried to kill him. Ray was obliged to defend himself. Interestingly, the spire was back to normal. In the fight against the Lostcaller, the monster had destroyed a huge chunk of its surface to reveal that there was something growing underneath it. A mountainous, pulsating mass of flesh that the Fleshcrafter would no doubt salivate over. There was no sign of it now. Either the guards or someone else had fixed things, or the spire had regrown its surface on its own. It took about another half an hour before he met Kredevel at the lake shore. Ray grinned wide as the Sylvan came into view. ¡°You look lost in thought, Kredevel,¡± Ray said. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Kredevel turned with an expression of pleased surprise, smiling at Ray. ¡°The turns of your human phrase are never going to stop being new to me.¡± He looked back at the water, where the image of the enormous spire in the distance rippled on its surface. ¡°I was wondering what sort of world I¡¯ve come into.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Yes. You see the spire there?¡± ¡°Yeah Unrestrained Growth Mana.¡± Kredevel looked at him with surprise again. ¡°I see you¡¯ve learned quite a bit while you¡¯ve been here.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not all I¡¯ve learned. But tell me what you¡¯re thinking first.¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing much. This is the kind of strength that I can only aspire to. That fact that we are seeing manifestations of it in such world-spanning forms means someone must have amplified it.¡± ¡°Amplified it? How can one amplify Mana?¡± ¡°With Amplification Mana, of course.¡± ¡°¡­of course.¡± Ray wasn¡¯t about to ask how one could acquire this Amplification Mana, though that did bring up a line of conversation he had hoped to pull Kredevel into anyway. ¡°So my Mana Core can now be attuned with a new kind of Mana, aside from just True Mana.¡± ¡°Truly? That is excellent news. Well done.¡± Ray nodded graciously. ¡°Thanks. I was wondering what kind of Mana I should imbue into my Core, and funnily enough, I was considering Origin Mana as my top pick. Do you know much about it?¡± ¡°That is indeed a strong choice, just as True Mana was. It will allow you to grow in a direction that not many Denizens can lay claim to.¡± Kredevel frowned a little. ¡°But the reason behind that is because Origin Mana is rare. Have you found a location to imbue it from?¡± ¡°No. That was one of my other problems. I might be able to make my own Origin Mana though, if I can find even a small source of it. Guess I just need to find that.¡± ¡°Oh. How can¡ªah, I understand. Using the Tower Nodes.¡± ¡°Right.¡± Ray possessed the Tower Nodes of the Ingestor and the Abstractor. Those would work well together to grant him basically any kind of Mana he wanted. All he needed were two things. A location where he could draw in a lot of Mana, any kind of Mana, and one instance, however small or big, of the kind of Mana he wanted to convert it all into. It would be up to Ray to discover where he could find the right variants of Mana on the Cliffs. ¡°What about you?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Are you thinking of any new Mana types to complement your Growth Mana?¡± Kredevel shook his head. ¡°If I can attain the true heights of power that Growth Mana is capable of, then I shall be happy.¡± ¡°True heights¡­¡± Ray looked over the spires reaching into the cloud-studded sky. His Sylvan friend laughed lightly. ¡°Those may be an unattainably great height. A display of power I can only dream of.¡± ¡°Well, I do hope you keep it to your dreams.¡± Ray had been considering how much he wanted to dive into the gruesome details he had discovered. It was best to be open. Kredevel was someone he trusted fully. He explained further how he had encountered more results of unrestrained Growth Mana. Ray didn¡¯t go into the very gory details of the Flesh Dungeon, but Kredevel¡¯s grimace confirmed he got the disgusting gist. ¡°That is rather¡­ horrific,¡± Kredevel said. Ray laughed a little. ¡°Oh, there¡¯s a lot more.¡± He went on to inform his friend about all the inconsistencies and the general fishiness about the people on the Second Floor who claimed to have been incorporated into the challenge by the Foor Lord. Ray didn¡¯t hide the fact he had ended up killing one of the Sylvans on the spire too. ¡°Are you saying the Floor Lord is missing?¡± Kredevel asked. He was carefully avoiding talk of his dead comrade. Ray nodded. ¡°The Sylvan I met in the Flesh Dungeon didn¡¯t know either, though he did say there was some kind of argument between the Floor Lord and the ruler of this kingdom.¡± He frowned. ¡°You seem a bit too disappointed about that.¡± Considering Kredevel had basically sworn off working with his Sylvan superiors, Ray couldn¡¯t be faulted for wondering why his Sylvan friend seemed troubled. ¡°It troubles me because I need to meet the Floor Lord to make things right,¡± Kredevel said. ¡°For all the Sylvans of the First Floor.¡± Ah, right. So far, Ray had been the one delivering contextual information about the Second Floor. He had yet to learn about the First Floor. Kredevel informed him that he and Maya had been able to convince the Sylvans to drop their enmity. Despite the grievous losses both the Sylvans and their Brighthorns had suffered, it wouldn¡¯t be to anyone¡¯s benefit if they all continued their enmity. As such, Kredevel had agreed to help them by finding the Floor Lord and presenting the facts. Unfortunately, that was going to be quite difficult. ¡°When are the other Sylvans coming?¡± Ray asked. ¡°It¡¯s not like you can go back down to the First Floor.¡± ¡°That is the concern¡­¡± ¡°When are they arriving, Kredevel?¡± ¡°Within the next few days at most.¡± Ray wondered what sort of complications that was going. He just wanted to continue levelling up and climbing the Tower. Why did he have to keep getting mired in these kinds of conspiracies and other business? They couldn¡¯t do much about the arrival of the other Sylvans. Kredevel looked a little panicked and wanted to talk with Caleb and the other lords of the Cliffs. Ray wasn¡¯t sure if that was such a good idea. If they were hiding things, if they were opposed to the Sylvans as Ray had discovered, then they could end up impeding Kredevel instead of assisting him. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°They might keep tabs on this cliff too,¡± Ray said. Kredevel¡¯s expression only grew more troubled at that. ¡°Ah. That means they are likely to know when my brethren arrive.¡± ¡°Exactly. Which means we have about¡ªwhat? Three to four days?¡ªto work with until they cause a stir. It¡¯s going to take figuring out how exactly these people might respond that¡¯ll help us decide what to do.¡± Kredevel looked lost in thought. ¡°I am afraid I have no basis to judge their actions. So, I will unfortunately need to depend on you.¡± ¡°Unfortunately?¡± Kredevel laughed. ¡°I meant as in my contributions to the planning may be unfortunately limited. I would like to be of use.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t lie, Kredevel,¡± Ray said. He looked away, not fully comfortable about the direction that their conversation might take. ¡°I don¡¯t want to get dawn into this. I¡¯m supposed to head up to the Cliff Two soon. Keep getting more levels and Essence, finish climbing the Floor.¡± ¡°How are your Objectives coming along?¡± ¡°They¡¯re coming along¡­ slowly.¡± Now that Kredevel had mentioned them, some of them might actually benefit from the presence of more Sylvans. It could help force the people of Everstead kingdom¡ªthe leaders of Everstead kingdom¡ªto reveal the truth, and that would only aid in unveiling what had actually happened on the Second Floor. ¡°Nevertheless,¡± Ray said. ¡°I want to keep progressing. And I really think you should too. This Floor has some tough challenges. There¡¯s already one person rushing to complete her goals way too quickly and she¡¯s already suffered a heavy loss. You shouldn¡¯t prioritize your goals over your own progress too much.¡± ¡°But for you, your goals are your progress, is it not, Ray?¡± ¡°I suppose they are.¡± They couldn¡¯t figure out any plans too quickly. It just needed more thinking, more planning, not a rushed solution. As such, they decided to think it over and talk again later. For now, they continued on to the second bit in Ray¡¯s itinerary for the day. Defeating some Wood Elementals. It was nice to see that the forests had repopulated with the monsters in short order. System shenanigans, according to Kredevel. One or more Denizens shouldn¡¯t be allowed to wipe out all creatures from an entire Floor and deprive other Denizens the chance to gain more Essence. ¡°They¡¯re not that hard to beat,¡± Ray said. ¡°Especially if you¡¯ve got ranged abilities.¡± Having evolved his class, Kredevel was actually pretty adept at taking out groups of monsters on his own. The Elementals fell to his Growth Mana powers in no time at all. It was a bit weird to see a Sylvan fighting and grinding monsters. A part of Ray still held onto the idea that the Sylvans were supposed to be the guides for the actual new Denizens to the Tower. They even had their own levelling methods, using certain training crystals, as Kredevel called them. But since he no longer had access to those, monsters it was for him. Interestingly, Kredevel said that Maya had managed to strike a deal with the Sylvans to obtain some of those training crystals too. It eased up the process of reaching level 20 and a class evolution for people. In other words, it wasn¡¯t just an injection of Sylvans that they were likely to see soon. There would be people coming in quicker too. Kredevel wasn¡¯t the only one killing the Elementals, of course. Ray joined in too. He was not going to pass up some minimal-effort Essence. It took about an hour or two longer, but Ray eventually had neared another level up as well. [Enemy Defeated] Tier 8 Monster: Wood Elemental [Level 18] x21 Tier 9 Monster: Forest Amalgam [Level 20] x2 Essence: + 33,840 Knowledge: +69 True Mana Restored: +4,180 Essence to Level 30: 50,760/59,200 Knowledge to next Threshold: 1,121/1,250 A good run, honestly. Ray was now really close to breaking through to level 30 and reaching another Reputation Threshold with his Knowledge. But their time together was coming to an end. Ray decided that he was going to move on to Cliff Two, though they were going to keep in touch. Meanwhile, Kredevel would continue levelling up on Cliff Four. They decided that an early confrontation with the people of Everstead wasn¡¯t going to be good. But one thing was starting to be clear. The people of Everstead were most likely the enemy of the Sylvans. Of course, there had been that one Sylvan fighting for the Everstead. But when Ray had reported to Kredevel that the Sylvan hadn¡¯t spoken once, had attacked completely suddenly with no warning, had basically acted so strange, he had said that there was something quite wrong. It only reinforced the impression that the Everstead kingdom was not to be trusted. ¡°I fear we won¡¯t get any proper answers till we reach the source of everything,¡± Kredevel said. Ray nodded with no small amount of resolution. ¡°We¡¯ll find everything where the king and the other important people are, I¡¯m sure of it. Cliff One, here we come.¡± Kredevel took a deep breath before letting it out slow and easy. ¡°Enough of all this, though. Let us speak of lighter matters, my friend. Or at least, more personal matters. Tell me about your experiences on the Floor.¡± ¡°Well, I already did, basically, didn¡¯t I? The dungeon, the fight on the spire, the weird people. That¡¯s all there is to it.¡± Unconvinced, Kredevel shook his head. ¡°You gave me a rote summary of the main plot. But you neglected to elaborate the associated feelings. The little details about yourself.¡± Kredevel smiled. ¡°That is what I am interested in now, Ray.¡± Slowly, Ray smiled too. Had he really been moaning about a lack of friends thanks to that dickwad Timothy? Ha, well who needed that ass when he had good old Kredevel to rely on. So, Ray told him all about his experiences on the Second Floor. Properly this time.
Before leaving Cliff Three, Ray headed over to where Alice was buried. Mary had left instructions with a guard on where the location of the grave was, and Ray was guided there. Apparently, Mary had also said that he might come asking. Despite having not received any answer from Mary yet, he had to appreciate her foresight in the matter. Alice¡¯s grave was located near the spire to Cliff Two, which made things quite convenient. Not that Ray was rushing things. He was here to pay his respects, and he was going to take his time doing so. The headstone bore Alice¡¯s full name, along with a small quote. ¡°The will to survive, the will to win, can always be found within us,¡± it read. ¡°Never give up. For you do not fail when you fall. You only fail when you refuse to rise back up.¡± Poignant. Ray wondered if that was what Alice had said to her sister in the end. He could see how something like that would light a fire in Mary¡¯s spirit. He shook his head. Pondering things like that wasn¡¯t why he was here. Instead, he closed his eyes and remembered the moments he had been with Alice. He impressed her face on his mind, her friendly attitude, her cheerful and positive demeanour, her unflinching courage against her foes. Ray had known her for the briefest of times, but she had been the kind of person to leave a powerful impression even in those short moments. He was not going to forget her. Once Ray was done¡ªafter leaving a little flower he had picked up near the cliff¡¯s edge to lay down on her grave¡ªhe headed for the spire. The guard who used to accompany him everywhere went with him one last time. ¡°I¡¯m surprised you¡¯re not coming up,¡± Ray said, not bothering to hide his snideness. The guard didn¡¯t spare him a smile, even at the end. ¡°My duties cease beyond this point, sir.¡± ¡°What¡¯s your name? You¡¯ve been with me all this time, but you¡¯ve never told me your name.¡± ¡°My duties are not to reveal my name, sir. I am just one guard of many.¡± Ray was getting better at smelling lies when he heard one, and this had to be one. Ah, well. He hadn¡¯t expected a satisfying answer to begin with. The journey up the spire was almost pleasant. A small company of armed med accompanied him like Ray was some kind of hero receiving an honour guard. It was almost embarrassing. Thankfully, it took them only about half an hour to make it to the top. The raptors made good time. Another small company was waiting for him there. These soldiers were led by a man who looked quite similar to Caleb, if a bit older. He had the same golden uniform and similar silver hair on his head, hanging via a braid along his back. ¡°Welcome.¡± The old man¡¯s words were stiff and formal, nowhere near as welcoming as Caleb¡¯s had been. His expression was strictly professional too. No affability at all. ¡°Please come with us. I will take you to my abode, where we may discuss matters further.¡± ¡°Thanks for the welcome, and for coming personally,¡± Ray said. ¡°You really didn¡¯t have to go to so much trouble just for me.¡± ¡°Oh, I did.¡± He turned his raptor around. Ray noticed the dinosaur was attired in armour, where the rest were more or less naked. This lord was definitely more ostentatious than Caleb. ¡°Please, follow me.¡± Ray did so, the guards maintaining a respectful distance behind him. The journey to the new lord¡¯s manor was quite interesting, mostly because Cliff Two was quite different from Cliff Three. Where the area Ray had just left had been mostly rural, filled with villages and farmland, this new one was very urban. They entered the gates of a city basically half an hour after reaching Cliff Two. A city that felt almost as big as the entirety of Cliff Three itself. Ray rode in silence as he took in the sights. This whole area was a lot more developed than the one he had been in. The roads were wider, the stone houses and buildings sported slate roofs and chimneys. People walked along tree-lined thoroughfares, but also rode carriages pulled by crested, pickup-sized dinosaurs Ray didn¡¯t recognize. Drains pulled away runoff water, artful shops caught his eyes here and there, and restaurants tried to seduce him with enticing smells. Before long, they arrived at the lord¡¯s manor. It almost seemed smaller than Caleb¡¯s one on Cliff Three, but that was because the city all around them made it feel that way. Ray was pretty certain¡­ he realized he didn¡¯t even know the lord¡¯s name yet. ¡°Welcome to my little home,¡± the man said, almost as though he had sensed Ray¡¯s thoughts. ¡°You must be quite tired and famished. Rest assured¡ªall hospitality that is due from a host will be granted to you for at least a while.¡± Ray dismounted his raptor as they all stopped. ¡°Thank you. Although, I admit I never caught your name.¡± ¡°Cory. I am Lord Cory of Cliff Two, but please, call me Cory.¡± Ray was used to the fact that people inhabiting the Floor had names similar to those back on Earth. It still felt a bit surreal to hear this old-timey, fantasy lord to call himself Cory of all things. After about half an hour of resting and refreshing in a chamber not dissimilar from the one he had occupied in Caleb¡¯s manor, Ray was invited to dinner with Cory. The affair was again much the same as he had experienced before. The main difference was that they had the full discussion about the deals and everything else right while they had food. It was good they had it while sitting. As the conversation started and progressed, Ray got the feeling Cliff Two was going to be a far different experience from his last area. ¡°You understand?¡± Cory asked, all business. He hadn¡¯t even bothered pretending to be curious what Ray had been up to in the on the previous Cliff. Though, he already knew enough, most likely. Ray swallowed down another spoonful of pasta. It was actually pretty good. ¡°I do. But I don¡¯t necessarily agree.¡± ¡°A shame. For, if you do not agree, then we cannot¡ª¡± ¡°Host me any longer. Yes, I know.¡± ¡°Oh? That is incorrect.¡± Ray paused. ¡°It is?¡± ¡°Yes. After all, we cannot allow you to progress to Cliff One unless you complete the tasks we have set out for you. We cannot allow you to go free if you do not agree.¡± B2 Chapter 21 (88): Moves And Countermoves Ray blinked. Just to confirm, he asked the lord to repeat his last sentence. Maybe he had heard it wrong, maybe Cory was kidding. Because surely the lord wasn¡¯t threatening Ray to complete their tasks? It turned out, unfortunately, that they were. ¡°As I said already,¡± the lord said, taking a bite of his steak. ¡°You must remain here, on Cliff Two, if you will not agree to our demands.¡± Ray¡¯s mouth twisted into a scowl. ¡°And what exactly are your demands?¡± ¡°Why, simple. You only need to complete a set of tasks and then we can all be on our way.¡± Ray waited with more patience than he actually felt as Cory went on to outline what specific tasks Ray was supposed to deal with. It was¡­ terrible. Menial. They wanted him to help build and repair roads and buildings. They thought he would make a fantastic delivery guy. They believed that he could farm really well, for some reason. They also thought that he could occasionally take part in a few select fights, surrounded by a huge audience who would all bet on the likelihood of his survival. Needless to say, Ray was willing to throw the napkin he had been offered for dinner right into Cory¡¯s face. It almost felt insulting to have been offered tasks like that after everything he had accomplished on Cliff Three. ¡°Didn¡¯t Caleb send any indications of what I¡¯d like to do?¡± he asked ¡°He offered some suggestions, yes. However, he is not the lord of this Cliff. I am. As such, the final decision of what you will do resides with me.¡± Basically, Cory had ignored everything his colleague had said and instead, wished to impose his will on Ray. It made him wonder what sort of government was at work because it felt quite tyrannical. ¡°And if I refuse,¡± Ray said. ¡°You¡¯re going to imprison me here until I agree?¡± ¡°If we have no other option, then we will need to resort to the only recourse left to us.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± Ray leaned forward, as curious as he was angry. ¡°Why go to so much trouble? The lord of Cliff Three had stipulated that even if I didn¡¯t work with them, I could still do whatever I wished. I just wouldn¡¯t have any help from them while doing it. Why go out of your way to antagonize me further?¡± ¡°We are antagonizing no one,¡± one of Cory¡¯s dignitaries said in a raspy voice. Another said, loud and shrill, ¡°If you will not cooperate, then it is hardly our fault that you are openly against us.¡± Ray was tempted to prod further because stopping the conversation was going to signal his body to get ready for the next phase of whatever the fuck was going on here. A next phase that would be quite violent. He didn¡¯t want to let it get that bad, though. ¡°I¡¯ve got no quarrel with you,¡± he said. ¡°Since we clearly can¡¯t agree to work together, how about we part agreeably, at least?¡± ¡°You have heard our terms,¡± Cory said, voice loud and ringing. ¡°Do you agree or disagree, Denizen Raymond Dominick?¡± Ray tutted. The flash of anger he had experienced was now receding, giving him some space to think. To come up with a better alternative than immediately making himself public enemy number one of an entire kingdom. ¡°Can I at least take some time to think it over?¡± ¡°What is there to think over?¡± It was the first dignitary who had spoken. ¡°Your choices are simple. Either you agree to cooperate or¡ª¡± ¡°Or I remain imprisoned. You almost make it sound like you¡¯ll kill me if I refuse to work with you.¡± The dignitary grumbled, almost like he wanted to give in to Ray¡¯s bait of working together ¡°As you wish,¡± Cory said. ¡°You may take this evening to come to a decision. We would like to know by tomorrow morning what you have decided to do.¡± ¡°You got it.¡± It was actually remarkable how quickly Ray¡¯s anger had disappeared as he got a better understanding of the situation. In fact, as he was being led away to his room, his body felt pretty relaxed. This was just another problem to solve. Annoying, yes, but one he could figure out. Ray understood that the people of Cliff Two was antagonizing because he was an antagonist to them. In fact, maybe the people of Cliff Three were too. There was ample evidence of that, with how the guard who had chaperoned him had always acted. But no, the bigger likelihood was that people of Cliff Three had become antagonistic towards Ray. And it had happened after Ray had retrieved the files from the Flesh Dungeon for them. Ray hadn¡¯t noticed any outward signs of enmity from Caleb. Most likely, the lord had decided to remain seemingly friendly so that his counterpart on Cliff Two could set the proper trap. Of course, all that could just be Ray¡¯s thoughts turning a little too paranoid. Maybe Cory¡ªand his dignitaries too¡ªwere just assholes. But Ray didn¡¯t think it likely. They must have rediscovered something sensitive in the folders he had granted them, and they must have deduced that Ray knew about it too. As such, he had to be stopped. By the time Ray reached his room, he was starting to figure out what he could do to turn things around. Without resorting to violence, that was. A part of him was actually tempted to pull out all the stops and start the proper questioning. Everything he had learned, from the Flesh Dungeon, from the infected Sylvan, from Ram, Bam, and Lam, all indicated that the people of this Everstead kingdom were hiding something. Something huge. Maybe if Ray could get a proper hold of Cory, he could do to the lord what he had done to the Sylvan and get the truth that way. But he decided to leave that was a last resort. The kingdom had been useful to his growth so far, and he was loath to throw it all away so quickly. ¡°This is it, huh?¡± Ray asked. His room was much smaller than the one had been gifted in Caleb¡¯s manor. The bed was unmade and plain. Besides the bed, there was no furniture at all save one, rickety chair. No curtains or carpets either. Maybe they liked austerity here. ¡°I got a much nicer place on Cliff Three, you know,¡± Ray said. Instead of replying, the guard closed the door behind him and left. Sighing, Ray decided to lie down and start working on his plan for tomorrow. And of course, for the rest of the Cliff Two. Ray: I really hope they didn¡¯t kill you, Mary. Mary: I can assure you that I¡¯m not dead. Ray: Oh so NOW you reply to me. Did you even see my earlier message? It¡¯s literally right there. Mary: I heard you paid your respects to Alice. Thank you. She would have appreciated it too. She caught him off guard. Ray hadn¡¯t been prepared for the sudden shift to the sombre. Ray: How did you know? Mary: I visited the grave today. Heard it from the guard. Ray: These damn guard are everywhere. But you should thank me. If it hadn¡¯t been for me stipulating that the Everstead people would need to keep the spires open for travel, you wouldn¡¯t have made it there so easily. Mary: Yes, thank you for that too. Huh. Ray hadn¡¯t actually been expecting her to be so forthright about her gratitude. He asked about actual matters of import. Mary didn¡¯t seem very interested in his experiences, though, not even when he said that it was likely due to his discoveries that he was being targeted. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Mary: Are you truly being targeted, or is it your mere imagination? Remember that I was tasked with discovering the origin of the plague. This journey has led me to discover much of what you have found already. Ray: Right. That¡¯s why you¡¯re not surprised. Mary: I am mildly taken aback that they would target you so heavily. I was never really restricted. That was strange. Why were they acting against Ray if they allowed Mary to go about and discover the exact same things that he had? It made no sense. Ray was in no position to question it, though, especially not when Mary herself didn¡¯t know much of why. For now, she counselled him to stick to the Everstead people¡¯s good side. He could still make use of them. That was what he ought to focus on. Mary: It returns to the same question. Are you too proud to work with others? Ray: The things they¡¯d have me do are more like working FOR others. Mary: Whatever. You know what I mean. Ray: Fine. I¡¯ll think about it. But mind telling me what you¡¯ve discovered so far? You¡¯re looking for the Floor Lord, aren¡¯t you? Mary: I haven¡¯t found anything new that you haven¡¯t. But I have located the Floor Lord. So now, I¡¯m going to go find her and confront her. That jolted Ray a bit. Mary had already found out where the Floor Lord was hiding? That felt far too fast. Ray: Confront her? Whose¡­ side are you on here? Mary: The side that is helping me advance to the Third Floor. He supposed he couldn¡¯t argue against that logic. As much as he was forming a negative impression of the Everstead kingdom, as much as that impression was rooted in reality, he knew his experience wasn¡¯t universal. Mary might truly be benefiting from whatever deal she had struck with them. It still rankled Ray that she was more or less taking the sides of people who were now quite against him, but he kept his thoughts to himself. She already thought him too selfish to work with others. Ray: Where is the Floor Lord? Mary: I¡¯ve already told you. She had? He thought with a frown for a brief moment. Then froze where he was lying on the hard bed. Ray: Cliff Three? She¡¯s on Cliff Three? Mary didn¡¯t answer. The chat window closed as she left. Ray cursed as he sat up. The Floor Lord was on Cliff Three? Had she been there all this time? How had he not noticed or found out? Where exactly was she? For a moment Ray was tempted to sneak out of the manor and go back to Cliff Three before the showdown between Mary Felds and the Lord of the Second Floor went down. But that would essentially be breaking a pseudo-contract he had established with the Cory, the lord of Cliff Two. He was stuck. Good thing he knew someone who wasn¡¯t stuck. Ray wasted no time locating Kredevel in the list of people he could contact via the chat and shoot him a message. Ray: Kredevel. This is urgent. Are you still on Cliff Four right now? Luckily for Ray, Kredevel answered in record time. Bless him. Kredevel: Yes. What is the matter? Are you alright? Ray: I¡¯m in a bit of a bind, but that¡¯s not the issue I want to discuss. The real matter is that I found the Floor Lord. Kredevel: What? Where? On Cliff Three? Wait, no. You¡¯ve already moved to¡ª Ray: On Cliff Three, actually, yeah. He mentioned everything he had learned from Mary. The more important part was that he was in no position to do anything about it just then. Kredevel, however, very well could. Kredevel: The only problem that leaves is finding the exact location of the Floor Lord. Ray: Yeah¡­ I¡¯m starting to understand why she never told me the exact location. What a crafty woman. She had probably figured out Ray would want to interfere in some way, but had still left him that tantalizing clue. So close yet so far. Kredevel: I believe I know what I must do. Ray: Are you going to head there directly? Now? Kredevel: Yes. I suspect that Mary Felds hasn¡¯t seen the Floor Lord yet, only suspects the locations she needs to be at. As such, I can get there ahead of time and pretend to be the Floor Lord. Ray had a ton of counters to that. Kredevel was far too weak to pretend to be the Lord of the Second Floor. Plus, how was he going to find the exact location that he was supposed to be for his crazy plan to even work? And why was Ray so concerned about whatever happened to this Floor Lord in the first place? He realized that he was selfish. The truth. That was what Ray wanted. Mary Felds might have gotten to it before him, but that didn¡¯t mean she could do whatever she wanted with this truth now. Ray should at least be allowed to get on the same footing as her before things went down. Ray: You decided what you¡¯re going to do? Kredevel: Yes. I don¡¯t need to find where the Floor Lord is. I will simply enter this Cliff Two and pretend to be the Floor Lord from the get-go. It will draw them all to me. Ray blinked. Foolhardy, crazy, but it could possibly work. Ray: Good luck. Sorry I can¡¯t help more. Kredevel: No, you¡¯ve done enough. This is none of your concern, after all. Fear not. I will deal with this in due order. Ray: Maybe. But remember how we were talking about what moves we could make when things got to a head? Well, things are getting to a head now and I think it¡¯s time we made the first move. We need to use the fact there are more Sylvans coming. Can you tell me if they¡¯re all coming together or if they¡¯re coming in batches? Kredevel: In smaller groups, yes. Separated by a small time interval, of perhaps half an hour or so. Well, that was basically together for Ray¡¯s purposes. But that was good. Ray: Great. I can make good use of that. Kredevel: I What are you going to do? Ray told him about the entire conversation with the old guys that ruled Cliff Two, with how the lord was pushing very exacting terms. But Ray was planning to turn the tables on them with the reveal of some vital information. Something they couldn¡¯t refuse. Like the knowledge that the Floor Lord might soon be reinforced with a small battalion of his kind. Kredevel: Risky, but also, ingenious. Force them to confront us with wildly off expectations so that we can then overcome them with ease. That was definitely the plan. Though, how well that would eventually be executed was anyone¡¯s guess. Plus, things were already going to be a little wild with Kredevel¡¯s plan to interfere with Mary Felds soon. If he got captured or worse, who was going to inform the incoming Sylvans about the whole business? Kredevel took care of that part. He was going to leave a message that only the Sylvans would be able to find. Perfect. Ray: And afterwards? Your plan kind of hinges on the Floor Lord¡¯s actual intentions aligning with our assumptions, doesn¡¯t it? Kredevel: We will deal with that when the time comes. That was as good as a plan as any. At least, when they were making one in such short notice. After all, Mary might already be moving in to confront the Floor Lord, if she had indeed found the chief of the Sylvans on this Floor. Kredevel had no time to waste. Same went for Ray. He headed straight to where he could find Cory. There was a guard outside his door, the same guy who had led him here. Once Ray impressed upon him just how urgent the situation was, with a quick mention of the Floor Lord, the man led him straight to the chamber he had last met his host. Cory appeared moments later, dressed in a long robe. ¡°What is the matter?¡± His voice was a little testy. Clearly, he didn¡¯t enjoy having his rest interrupted. ¡°You say you have news about the Floor Lord?¡± ¡°Yes. I have information. But it isn¡¯t free.¡± Cory¡¯s eyes were awash with scepticism. ¡°What kind of information?¡± Ray had a lot of considerations driving what he had to say next. He couldn¡¯t just tell Cory about what Mary had told him. That wasn¡¯t going to work. Most likely, Cory and every other important member of the Second Floor¡¯s administrators under the Everstead kingdom already knew where Mary was headed. Or at least, they knew her location, and what she intended to do. Plus, they also knew that Ray was on their tail. Supposedly. After all, he must have learned something incriminating about the Everstead kingdom in that Flesh Dungeon. It was why they were suddenly quite hostile to him now, after all. Hostile, without tipping everything into outright aggression just yet. Both sides still wanted to make the best use of each other. Which was why Ray had to tell Cory about the ¡°Actual¡± Floor Lord about to make an appearance. It was essentially a betrayal of Kredevel, but that was what they had planned for. ¡°Fake?¡± Cory asked. ¡°The Floor Lord about to be discovered by the investigator isn¡¯t real?¡± ¡°What I meant was that Mary is mistaken in her search,¡± Ray said. ¡°She won¡¯t find the real culprit. The Floor Lord is pretty cunning.¡± ¡°And how can you be so sure that you know where the Floor Lord is truly at?¡± Ray smiled. ¡°Let¡¯s stop the pretence that any of us are ignorant of what¡¯s really going on here. We all know what the Floor Lord wants, and why she wants it. This Floor was never supposed to be yours, Lord Cory. It was never supposed to be Everstead kingdom¡¯s. And now the Floor Lord wants it back.¡± Cory had tensed as soon as Ray had begun talking about ending pretences. But by the time he paused, that tension had gone away. Hmm. Curious. ¡°And fooling the investigator is part of her ploy to take back the Floor?¡± Cory asked. ¡°I¡¯m glad we¡¯re not pretending that the Floor belongs to you. But anyway, the Floor Lord can¡¯t take back the Floor alone. She needs assistance. Allies. Fellow Sylvans who will help her reconquer what she considers to be hers.¡± It took a few more seconds for Cory to realize what Ray had implied. His eyes widened as he said, ¡°More Already?¡± Ray nodded. ¡°All this time, the Floor Lord has been waiting until more of the Sylvan contingent arrives from the First Floor. Now, they¡¯re going to arrive. Not a lot of them. Not yet. But enough for the Sylvans to start carving a foothold on the Second Floor.¡± Cory cursed something that Ray couldn¡¯t decipher. ¡°We must end this threat.¡± ¡°Immediately.¡± The reasonings and logic Ray had provided were apparently enough for Cory to get to work. Either that, or he wasn¡¯t willing to take any chances. Whatever the case, Ray had succeeded. He detailed the exact location the ¡°actual¡± Floor Lord was going to appear, and how she most likely meant to join up with the rest of her ascending kind. ¡°This information is highly valuable.¡± His eyes squinted a bit. ¡°If it can be trusted.¡± Of course. They weren¡¯t ever going to fully believe Ray at face value. ¡°But clearly, it¡¯s good enough to make you take action.¡± ¡°And in return, you want to ignore all the tasks we would have you do and instead, use our information to hunt monsters.¡± That wasn¡¯t a question, but Ray answered anyway. ¡°More or less.¡± Cory turned to the guard he had assigned to keep Ray under watch. ¡°Give him what he wants.¡± Ray turned his smile onto the guard, who maintained a carefully impassive face. ¡°Excellent.¡± ¡°Perhaps.¡± The tone in Cory¡¯s voice made Ray swivel his head back to the lord. ¡°But you have traded information for information. There is one more matter you are forgetting. Don¡¯t you wish to earn more True Mana shards?¡± Ray scowled. ¡°Info not good enough to just tell me where this person who can create the shards is?¡± ¡°It is simply a different matter. Let us make another deal. You perform one task, and I will tell you the location of the shard smith.¡± ¡°What task?¡± ¡°Simple. Your distaste stems from the mundanity of what we would have you do, yes? Then fear not. In the following task, you will have the freedom to exercise your powers to their fullest, deadliest extent.¡± His eyes met Ray¡¯s, dots of darkness that offered nothing beyond what he said. ¡°Tomorrow, I want you to kill some of our people.¡± B2 Chapter 22 (89): Thieves ¡°You want me to kill random people?¡± Ray asked. Perhaps Ray was being a little uncooperative. Cory had already explained they were far from random. These were supposedly thugs and gangsters who caused massive disruptions in the day-to-day life of the proper parts of the city. Cory even had proof. He had produced official-looking documents that included portraits and testimonials of thugs committing crimes from a wide variety of people. One account told a story of how they had robbed a bank and left nearly a dozen people dead. Another showed a portrait of them hanging some unfortunate townsfolk. Nevertheless, Ray wasn¡¯t one to take blind orders to kill others. ¡°The evidence we have provided is not enough?¡± Cory asked. Ray didn¡¯t hide his glare. ¡°You¡¯re asking me to take your evidence at face value.¡± ¡°This is, ultimately, the bargain we have struck. You refuse to perform tasks that you deem menial. You refuse to take care of greater troubles that we suffer because you are too suspicious. If you continue to remain so unaccommodating, then perhaps we should call it all off.¡± They really had Ray in a bit of a bind. On purpose, no doubt. Cory, the bastard, wanted to impress his superiority upon Ray even after he had been so kind as to inform them about what was really going on with the Floor Lord. Of course, most of what Ray had said was still mostly treachery, but Cory had no way of determining that yet. ¡°Fine, then.¡± Ray had trouble not spitting out the words. ¡°I¡¯ll do one of your older tasks. The one where you had me delivering some nonsense or other. I¡¯ll do that. Happy?¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Cory¡¯s haughtiness only sharpened. ¡°You think that mere task is enough for me to divulge something as immense as the location of our Mana shard source?¡± Ray really wanted to gut the guy then and there. ¡°You know, things could be a lot worse for you, now. We could have chosen not to cooperate when Caleb first met us. We could have decided the fact that everything we were supposed to expect had been upended was a terribly suspicious thing and decided to get to the bottom of it all then and there. But we didn¡¯t.¡± ¡°A good thing you didn¡¯t. You would have suffered a grave consequence, otherwise.¡± ¡°Oh, would we have? I get the feeling you don¡¯t want us working together. We kicked the asses of your guards not long ago. You don¡¯t want a repeat of that. That¡¯s why you¡¯ve separated us all, to make sure we don¡¯t become a collective thorn at your side.¡± ¡°Really? Is that what you think? And yet you still decided to work for us on the Cliff Three?¡± Ray would have lashed out with his next reply, but the door to the lord¡¯s meeting room burst open. An attendant from outside charged in, looking dreadfully harried. Cory turned with a frown, but that quickly melted away to a look of concern upon seeing his attendant¡¯s expression. Concern that deepened when the man didn¡¯t even wait to be beckoned before rushing at his lord to whisper harshly into Cory¡¯s ear. Ray wished he could hear what was being said. But he had a pretty good guess already. Ray: Kredevel¡­ not to distract you, but did you start? Kredevel: Not yet. But soon. Why? Ray: The lord here is quite agitated. Be careful. Kredevel: Fear not. As you are wont to say¡ªthey won¡¯t know what hit them. Ray wished him luck before closing the chat. Sounded like Kredevel had things well in hand. Cory dismissed his attendant roughly, then faced Ray. ¡°Fine. You can have your task. I will tell you the location of the Mana shard forger once you have completed your delivery. The guard I assigned you will give you the details. Now, if you will excuse me¡­¡± Despite his final proclamation, Cory didn¡¯t wait to see if Ray protested his abrupt departure. In just a few seconds, the man was gone. Ray had a fun time holding back his grin. ¡°Any clue what¡¯s going on?¡± he asked the guard. The man looked a little worried too, though he marshalled his expression. At least this one wasn¡¯t as emotionless as Ray¡¯s last liaison had been. ¡°I cannot say. We must wait till my lord returns if we wish to know more.¡± Ray, having no intention of waiting for Cory of all people, began exiting. ¡°I¡¯m going to need the details Cory mentioned. But for now, I¡¯m heading to bed. See you in the morning.¡±
With the conversation done, Ray had forced himself to sleep, even though the excitement of the events about to go down were definitely affecting him. A part of him wanted to be a part of whatever showdown was about to occur with Kredevel, the other Sylvans, and the Everstead kingdom. Another part of him wanted to be present when and where Mary was about to confront the Floor Lord. There was just a different kind of pull, because finding the Floor Lord would close the circle of this Floor¡¯s mystery. But Ray tried not to concern himself with any of that. He was here to grow stronger. He was here to gather Essence and become more powerful. He was here to climb the Tower. Almost everything else was entirely secondary to those goals. As such, Ray would first complete his personal goals and then see what sort of fallout awaited him. Of course, his intentions could very easily be derailed. Kredevel could get in serious trouble and Ray was not about to abandon his friend, no matter how much Essence he could have gathered while he was helping Kredevel out. That was just out of the question. For now, though, Ray focused primarily on completing this weird delivery he had been granted. He had to drop off a package to a location not too far from the lord¡¯s manor. A location that, funnily enough, coincided with these gangsters that Cory had directed him to take out first. News ran that they had been active here not long ago. The lord of Cliff Two hadn¡¯t been successful in eradicating them. The gang members had entrenched themselves too deeply with the communities they sheltered in. If Cory or the administration of the city tried arresting them, they would incur the ire of the local residents. Apparently, it didn¡¯t matter if Ray incurred their wrath. He tutted as he walked through the city. Really, they could have just pointed to how the mobsters were causing trouble in a different, more affluent section of Cliff Two, and then taken them out. Cowards. Ray ignored the matter. His goal was to get this package to the tall, churchlike building he could see in the distance. Also interesting was the fact that the guard had actually described Ray¡¯s target as churchlike. It was the first time Ray had seen evidence that these people had a certain faith they adhered to. The guard hadn¡¯t elaborated on what exactly that faith was. Ray paused before he reached his target location. Some kind of commotion let loose loud shouts, crashes, and what sounded like people fighting. He hurried ahead. Ray arrived just in time to see a group of masked and hooded people running out of a hole in the side of the tall building. No, wait, that wasn¡¯t just any hole. A door had been blown off its hinges so hard, a chunk of the wall had crumbled around it too. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°Stop them!¡± an older man hurtled out of the same hole, huffing and puffing. He looked like he was about to fall over. ¡°They¡¯ve taken my treasure. Stop them!¡± ¡°What treasure?¡± Ray asked, even as he summoned his flying Greater Windbane Maw to give chase. ¡°Hurry,¡± the old man gasped out. ¡°They mustn¡¯t escape.¡± Grumbling to himself, Ray rushed after they thieves. Maybe he should have dropped the package he had been entrusted on the man, but he didn¡¯t even know if that was the right recipient. The robbers were a little too fast. What in the world had they taken that had this man almost keeling over in exhaustion trying to get it back? Ray¡¯s flying maw had reached them and was trying to burn the culprits with its chaotic flames. It wasn¡¯t having much luck. The men were not only fast, they also displayed strong abilities. A strange blue aura arose every time the fiery breath got close to immolating them, an aura that suppressed the flames before they could catch on their targets. Ray called up his Soaring Wing and shot after them. Soullife Cloak further boosted his speed. He was getting used to the sizzling, separating sensation of a chunk of his spirit remaining rooted to his starting spot. He had also called up several Mottling Spiritguard orbs. Soon as he got close enough, they¡¯d strike out. It was wild, weaving through the streets, rushing past buildings and other people who flung themselves out of the way. No one jumped in to assist Ray. Surely the old man had to have called up the guards. Though, if he had also told them about Ray rushing after the culprits, they might never show up. Essentially, Ray had to deal with the thugs himself. But just as Ray started nearing his targets, they split up. ¡°Hey!¡± Ray shouted. ¡°Stick together, damn it.¡± Fuckers. Ray created another construct using Lifeblood Soulform, this time calling up his personal Imitator to give chase as himself to the ones Ray wouldn¡¯t be following. At least it was clear which of them carried the large package they had robbed from the poor old guy. Ray was pretty certain they hadn¡¯t switched it up or tried to pull the wool over his head some other way. That was the real thing. So, ignoring the other two, Ray flew straight for the man carrying away the theft. ¡°Not so fast!¡± Ray shouted as he finally reached his target in a small intersection where the street joined another road. Ray had gotten close enough for Mottling Spiritguard to shoot at his target. They turned to spears as they flew in. Ray didn¡¯t want to kill the man outright, so he tried to control where exactly the Spiritguard not-orbs landed. Unsurprisingly, the thief was agile enough to dodge a few of the spears and even used a strange ability to deflect the other chaotic energy spears. It was as though a web of glowing blue strings had suddenly appeared behind the man¡¯s back. They strangled the chaotic spears before the former orbs could stab in. But Ray hadn¡¯t thrown all the chaos spheres at his enemy. He had also shot one ahead of the man, immediately using Spectral Step to appear just a few feet ahead of the robber. Despite the way the world shifted disorienting him, he still managed to carve up a Soulstrike into a grasping point. The thief was fast, both in his movement and his thoughts. Ray had appeared before with no warning. There shouldn¡¯t have been time for the man to dodge. But he dashed just past the grasping Soulstrike arm. Only to run straight into Ray¡¯s outstretched wings. ¡°Ha,¡± Ray shouted as the thief lost his footing and tumbled hard to the ground. Ray rounded, bringing his arm around to bear on the man as well. All he was about to do was threaten the fellow and force him to relinquish whatever it was he had had stolen. But Ray was interrupted from doing so when his companions arrived. Of course, they weren¡¯t able to do anything to Ray. Not only had he sensed them using Primordial Guage, but he had also kept that flying draconic maw in reserve. As soon as the other two reappeared, which he had considered wasn¡¯t an impossibility, he had bidden his Greater Windbane Maw to take the fight to them. Like the first man, though, they were strong and skilled. One of them wrapped a whip around the jaws of the flying maw, his Strength great enough to send the beast flying off to one side. The other, a woman, flashed at Ray with two thin knives aimed straight for his face. He stopped her with a cast of Lifeblood Soulform. An Impervious Shell materialized beside Ray, stopping the woman in her tracks. She crashed into the hard shell, shouting in pain and frustration. The woman might have been foiled, but even that momentary distraction had been enough. Ray¡¯s first target had already risen and ran off. Only to come face to face with Ray himself, as an Imitator this time. Unlike Ray himself, the Imitator could change forms with perfect ease. The thief overcame his surprise once more and started another mad dash away from them all, but Ray sent a quick command to his construct. One of the fake Ray¡¯s arms lengthened into a version of the tendrils he had faced in the Flesh Dungeon. Damn thief was fast, but not faster than the fleshy tentacle lashing out. Fake Ray got a hold of the package and robbed it out of the thief¡¯s hands. Ray grinned. Now, it was his turn to skedaddle. Another quick command had the Imitator dash straight to him. The woman had rounded the Impervious Shell, but after depositing the rather heavy package in Ray¡¯s hands, the construct immediately began fighting off the woman with no regard for its own safety. What a brave soldier. Ray summoned more Spiritguard orbs around him. ¡°Come and get it back, if you want.¡± The thief dared to do just that. More of the glowing blue threads looped all around him. But it turned out his rush at Ray was a mere distraction. Because, as Ray leaned forward to engage his opponent, a whip shot in. Just as the tendril from the Imitator had done, the whip latched onto the package Ray held. Not the stolen one he had recovered, but the original one given to him by Cory. He was too surprised to react in time. In the blink of an eye, the package was out of Ray¡¯s hands and in the grip of the third thief. He cackled at Ray before immediately running away. Ray made to rush after the guy, but he was blocked by the woman. His Imitator construct had fallen too, just as the Greater Windbane Maw had been defeated. ¡°Hey!¡± Ray shouted after the running thief. ¡°You¡¯re forgetting your real package.¡± ¡°Are we now?¡± the woman¡¯s words were laced with her hard grin. The first thief that Ray had retrieved the old man¡¯s goods from approached too. Ray hadn¡¯t taken the measure of the people he had pursued. Everything had been moving too fast. There had been no time to use Primordial Gauge actively. Now, he checked very quickly just to confirm that they were indeed weaker than him. It would have been nice to look through their skills, but they were about to attack. No time. Again. ¡°Keep it,¡± the first thief said. Ray paused. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You heard me. You can keep that monk¡¯s shit. The valuables you had came straight from the lord, didn¡¯t it? Well, we¡¯ve got our jackpot then.¡± Maybe Ray should have taken the time to look through the skills of his thieves. A second later, the first thief called up a sphere of pure darkness in his hands. One that exploded and doused everything in complete, lightless gloom. ¡°Hey!¡± Ray shouted. ¡°Are you running away?¡± They didn¡¯t confirm by replying of course, but the answer came in the sound of their footsteps. In the way they receded rapidly in multiple directions. Ray cursed. He had nothing to create enough light to see with. The Scouring Eyeball didn¡¯t help either. When Ray tried blindly rushing through it anyway, he ended up crashing into a nearby wall. He cursed again, his voice coming out odd since his nose felt crushed. He had to send in a bit of Recovery to heal it. With no other options available, Ray rose straight up. His wings took him over the cloud of darkness. It didn¡¯t help. Emerging from the gloom didn¡¯t help. The thieves were long gone. Ray looked everywhere but saw no signs of them. They were no signs of them anywhere. He had¡ª With a wild yell, one of them launched at him from a nearby building. Ray yelled out, lashing out with a hard kick, but failed to land it properly. The last thief wasn¡¯t gone. Bastard had hidden away, somehow suppressing his presence to evade even Primordial Gauge, and was now attacking Ray directly. The whip cracked against Ray¡¯s leg, wrapping around his ankle. Immediately, his whole body went stiff. He plummeted. Electricity. Fucker had some sort of electric ability that was shocking the life out of Ray. Heavy sparks of electricity waved off the last thief and cut across the reminder of the Spiritguard orbs. Every single one of the protective spheres of chaos disintegrated. Ray was left defenceless. ¡°Time for you to die, fool!¡± the thief yelled as he leaped. Ray couldn¡¯t move. He tried using his spells, but this thief was the one who possessed that strange blue aura, the one that debuffed other abilities. No surprise that even the True Mana arm from Soulstrike was suppressed by the strange aura. The man was a few instants from crashing right on top of Ray. But there was still one option left. He had to bless the fact that his Intellect had crossed into Tier 3. Ray cast Project Presence. All the spells he had tried using had a tangible, physical presence. It was why the thief had been able to counteract them with his electricity and his aura. But not Project Presence. The man had no counters to Ray throwing his incorporeal spirit at the guy. In the next instant, he passed through Ray¡¯s spirit. Spectral Step. Ray¡¯s teleporting emergence made the man explode. Blood and guts went flying everywhere, his body covered in flesh and innards. Fragments of bones rained alongside the blood on the street below. Thankfully, Ray recovered fast. He had used his Recovery to take care of the debilitating effect of the electricity, regaining enough motor control to land on his feet. [Enemy Defeated¡ªHuman] Thunderwhip Bandit [Tier 3] Human: [Level 27] x1 Essence: +4,050 Knowledge: +3 True Mana Restored: +270 Essence to Level 30: 54,910/59,200 Knowledge to next Threshold: 1,124/1,250 Ray looked around at the remains of the thief. His mood grew sourer and sourer. It wasn¡¯t just because he was covered in gore and body parts. It was because he had a good idea of just who he had been attacked by. It was starting to look like Cory had been right. Ray would need to deal with that damn gang. B2 Chapter 23 (90): Eighteen Against One Ray went ahead and returned the recovered package to the old man. He didn¡¯t know what was so precious about the crinkled, oddly-shaped thingamabob, but the man seemed to care a great deal, which was all that mattered. Though, he didn¡¯t appear to care about it so much that he could overcome his fright upon seeing Ray¡¯s state. ¡°Yeah, sorry.¡± Ray looked at his blood-cloaked clothes. And his bits-of-human-coated arms. ¡°Uh, I¡¯d appreciate if you had some place I could clean up.¡± The old man eventually overcame his hesitation and accepted his package. ¡°Thank you, kind sir. Yes, please follow me.¡± [New Personal Achievement¡ªAll Helper!] You have helped someone far beneath your station! For someone like you, the situation and circumstance never matter. If there is assistance needed, you are sure to step up. Reward
  • Reputation: +25 Benevolent, +10 Heroic
Ah, interesting. It made Ray wonder how many achievements he was missing out just because his experiences were often restricted to what he could face on this Tower. Would he have a far greater variety of Reputation if he had an actual world full of real opportunities? Was there an achievement for succeeding in a business, owning a house, or even becoming a parent? The old man went through the hole in the side of his building. As Ray followed, he learned a bit more about what was going on. Apparently, this wasn¡¯t uncommon. Cory had been right. Those gangsters often preyed on the locals of the area, and they had little recourse on how to counteract them. They were too entrenched among the people they hid within, people who formed much of the backbone of the city¡¯s more menial needs. Retaliation there was difficult. ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m here,¡± Ray said, after he had cleaned himself up. ¡°I know a mere place to clean up is no worthy payment for your deeds, kind and brave sir,¡± the old man said after Ray had emerged out of the small bathroom. Ray waved it off. ¡°It¡¯s fine, don¡¯t worry about it.¡± ¡°What will you do now?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got a confrontation to face.¡± The old man¡¯s expression darkened. He nodded with resolution, though. ¡°I wish you good luck.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Ray was about to get going, but he paused. ¡°There is one thing I wouldn¡¯t mind knowing. A few things, actually.¡± Ray had realized that he was caught in the ecosystem of the people running things on the Second Floor. They had a specific agenda. They had a certain goal when it came to interacting with him, providing him with specific information. They had a certain bias. Something that a random person like this temple-keeper might not. Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t learn anything new that was super useful. Random temple-keepers weren¡¯t well versed in what sort of monsters prowled Cliff Two, weren¡¯t able to tell him much about any specific kinds of Mana, and certainly didn¡¯t know if there was a way to get to Cliff One without needing to climb up the spire. However, Ray was able to confirm that there were indeed Viledrakes on the Cliff Two. Not in the city, but farther out, far to the west where the land was much wilder. ¡°One moment,¡± the old man said. ¡°Before you depart.¡± It took only a minute for the frizzy haired man to return. He held up a small box. Ray immediately recognized. ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°Please, take it,¡± the man said. ¡°It is the least I can offer.¡± Ray opened the box to find Mana crystals. Just like what he had gotten from Caleb, though those had been True Mana shards. The crystals were smaller, slightly duller. But they were varied. In fact, as Ray observed each crystal one by one, he found one he needed more than any others. Origin Mana. ¡°This is great,¡± Ray said. He gave the old man the biggest smile he could muster after having exploded through another human being. ¡°Thanks a lot!¡± The old man¡¯s happy expression stuck with Ray as he headed out. It left a weird sensation in his heart. Such a wholesome little encounter jarred with the reality he was about to face before long. Ray did begin to see the disparities in the different areas, though. He had thus far stayed near the more affluent neighbourhoods. The lord¡¯s manor was centrally located, and the richer nobles, merchants, and the like had all set up residences around it. Houses of clean white stone and roofs of dark, polished slate. Roads lined with carefully tended trees. People in rich clothes. In contrast, the far southeastern side of the city was a lot poorer. The houses here were more shacks not dissimilar from the ones Ray had seen on the Cliff Three. What few people he saw scurried away on their business, always wearing drab greys and browns. No dinosaurs here, save for a few messenger raptors hurrying around. Dingy. That was the impression Ray got from these people. He also got had a feeling that if the Infection spread here, these people would be affected a lot worse than the nobles. At least Cory knew of the proper location of the gang. It was a large, rundown building, an abandoned warehouse lying in secluded corner of the city near the cliff edge. Absolutely no one was around it. Pretty telling. Ray had considered approaching the place directly, but there was no point in exposing himself just yet. So instead, he sent out a small group of Scouring Eyeballs to scout out the place. They didn¡¯t take long to report their findings. The first man they spotted was located behind a chimney on the roof. He was keeping watch over the area around the warehouse with a looking glass held to his eyes. Ray was thankfully still out of the man¡¯s visual range. There were others his eyeballs pointed. Guards behind the door, windows through which some could be seen lazing about. This wasn¡¯t going to be an easy operation. An outlook reinforced by the fact that all the men appeared capable and dangerous. Cory had stated that none of them were higher than level thirty, so Ray ought not to have too much trouble. But still. High twenties were no pushovers. Ray located the man he could approach with the least amount of trouble. Primordial Gauge didn¡¯t indicate there was anyone near the fellow besides the one companion he was speaking with. It was that conversation that had made Ray decide to target those two first, though not for killing. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. No, he wanted to find out just what they had to discuss. Ray remained distant from them. If they had perception abilities like his Primordial Guage, he would never be detected. All thanks to Project Presence. The world twisted and shifted again as Ray¡¯s consciousness was thrown to about three feet from the walls of the warehouse. He was now right underneath the balcony where the two men were talking. More than close enough to hear everything they said, all while remaining unseen. It was mostly idle chatter. Of course, he hadn¡¯t expected to hear anything useful. But on the off chance he might catch something, Ray gave them some of his time. He was rewarded when he caught the kind of snippet he had been waiting for. ¡°You heard about the last odd job we getting?¡± one asked. ¡°Huh?¡± The other looked bored, though the conversation¡¯s new direction aroused his interest. ¡°All I know is that it¡¯s about throwing off some scent for some¡­ creature.¡± ¡°Yeah, a fucking starfish.¡± ¡°When are we going to stop with dealing with this kind of shit? First the flesh stuff, then fighting those aliens, and now this starfish?¡± Their conversation devolved into lots of bickering but Ray had heard enough. So odd. He could understand the Everstead kingdom was hiring random thugs to investigate things like the Flesh Dungeon, where most of these people would be unwilling to risk themselves. But deluding Ram, Bam, and Lam? And facing off against other Sylvans? Because the way those two had said ¡°aliens¡± sure sounded like how Ray always referred to the Sylvans¡­ Just before the timer for Project Presence ended, Ray cast Primordial Gauge just to take note of the interior of the warehouse. There were eighteen people all total that he had to deal with. He focused on one at random and found that Cory¡¯s report was accurate. Mid 20s in level. Ray had this in the bag. His consciousness slammed back into his real body. As always, it took some time for him to adjust back to the more corporeal. Once he had adjusted back, though, it was go time. Ray¡¯s plan was simple and familiar. His targets were all located conveniently in one spot. He would be a fool not to take advantage of that. The first step was creating a lookalike of one of the gangsters with his mimic and sending it forth to retrieve the package the bastards had stolen. Of course, for that to succeed, he needed a distraction to keep them busy. That was where his second construct with Lifeblood Soulform came into play. A swarm of chaos bees buzzed into the warehouse and immediately went crazy. Shouts and curses emerged through the doorway as the bees got busy. That allowed Ray¡¯s Imitator construct to slip. The actual gangsters were too busy dealing with the fake bee assault to even cast any suspicious glances towards the disguised Imitator. Ray had to once again allow his mind to split a bit. The command of ¡°find the package and return it¡± was a bit too complex, so he had to sacrifice a bit of his own intelligence. That was fine. Ray wasn¡¯t actively engaged. Yet. He could afford the headache and the reduced mental activity. By the time the Imitator rushed out through the doorway with the package in hand, most of the gangsters had gathered within. Their formerly annoyed yells had grown to screams of rage. The bees weren¡¯t even attacking anymore. Now, upon Ray¡¯s command, they had split up and kept away from the gaggle of pissed-off men and women. Keeping them all busy inside the warehouse, just as Ray needed them to be. His head rebelled once more as he created more constructs. He almost felt like fainting. Thankfully, the feeling faded as the Imitator returned and disappeared upon delivering the package. In its place, three Greater Windbane Maws took to the air, surrounding the warehouse in no time at all. Not all the gang members had gone into the warehouse. It was a little sad that there was still one guy on top of the roof. Ray supposed that was the duty of a lookout. The man spotted the constructs flying into position. Thankfully, they were all too fast for him to do much more than yell at his comrades down below that there were disembodied heads flying past him. Too slow. Too late. The monstrous draconic maws got into position and immediately breathed out a tremendous stream of chaotic fire. Ray ignored the lookout¡¯s scream. The three jets of black-red fire crashed into the warehouse and set off a disastrous detonation. A part of him had been afraid that the bluish aura that had suppressed some of his spells earlier would be active here too. But that was part of what Project Presence had been about¡ªto test if there was a spell-suppressing ability active. Nope. Looked like it was only an ability used by a specific gangster rather than an effect from some item or anything like that. As it was, the warehouse more or less exploded. Ray winced, but only because his bees were still inside. They definitely weren¡¯t surviving a blast like that. But the bees weren¡¯t his main concern, of course. As much as he had tried to plan to take out as many of the gangsters in one blow as he could, there were still survivors he had to tend to. There was the lookout from the roof who had jumped away as soon as the maws had begun firing. A handful of people in various states of wounded barged out of the burning wreck. It was nice that the warehouse was made of wood. That meant Ray¡¯s flames had a lot of fuel to chaotically corrupt. Ray was a bit distant from the warehouse as he had conducted his constructs to take care of the first part of his plan. That was why the lookout had spotted the flying draconic maws but not Ray himself. Now, as the survivors emerged, it was his turn to step into the fray. With the bees gone, Ray¡¯s mind had returned to its fully functioning state. He was more than ready to face down these bastards. Calling up Soaring Wings with Primal Spiritcraft, Ray shot straight to his first target. He had called up a gaggle of his Spiritguard orbs around him. As such, he didn¡¯t even need to directly attack just yet. As long as he flew by close enough, the chaotic orbs shot in and speared his enemies. Several fell in that manner. But the ones running in madness weren¡¯t all Ray had to deal with. There were those among the gangsters who had survived almost fully intact. One such member jumped right out of the roof of the burning warehouse. Ray wasn¡¯t quite close enough, not for his Spiritguard orbs. But he cast Soulstrike as soon as he saw the man rising out of the roof. The arm of True Mana shot out even faster than the man could jump. Ray turned it into a slicing end and slashed through his target¡¯s lower torso. ¡°It¡¯s just one man!¡± someone shouted. It was the woman with the knives from the thieving trio. ¡°It¡¯s¡ªit¡¯s you!¡± She had emerged from some other side of the warehouse, more or less unscathed. Ray grinned at her. ¡°It¡¯s me.¡± Another man came up to stand beside the woman. A small mace glowed with green light in his hands. ¡°We can take one lone guy. It will be a cinch.¡± The woman scoffed. ¡°You think you¡¯re some tough shit? Well, you¡¯re in the wrong neighbourhood.¡± That was definitely a statement, considering how most of her party had to be burning away inside the no-longer-standing warehouse. Several of her companions were screaming outside as they were consumed, fully or partially, but the corrupting effects of the chaos flames. It wasn¡¯t just them either. The explosion had sent burning debris flying to strike the nearby houses too. This had caused even more people in the neighbourhood to emerge and run away, all screaming as well. Some of them were hurt by the fires too. That last bit made Ray press his lips together. He hadn¡¯t intended the devastation to catch people who weren¡¯t directly involved. Fuck. Focus. He kept his eyes on the people gathering before him. They were preparing to fight him all at once, all of them prepping their weapons and skills. They all ranged around him, their faces bristling with fury and hate. He had attacked their turf. He had burned down their home, massacred their companions. For just a second, the gravity of his actions hit him. How many friendships had Ray destroyed in a just a couple of minutes? How many relationships had he prematurely ended? He was going to blame those intrusive thoughts entirely on the fact the collateral damage of that blast. ¡°What are we waiting for?¡± one man shouted as he charged at Ray. ¡°Let¡¯s gut that bastard.¡± He charged. Ray¡¯s face hardened, all thoughts unrelated to the fight fleeing his mind. This was it. He had to fight, he had to kill, he had to confront a bunch of people at once and come out alive. The challenge invigorated him. Enlivened him. Mostly because he was pretty sure he had never faced a determined, powerful group of people attacking him all at once before. There was no holding back, of course. Ray cast Mottling Spiritguard to call up storm of chaotic orbs. They spiralled around him for a bare instant before he flung them outwards. His attackers mostly survived the barrage of chaotic orbs but hitting them had never been Ray¡¯s goal. One orb had shot far behind Ray, and with the last of his True Mana, Ray cast Spectral Step to create a lot of distance between himself and his adversaries. He breathed. There. Now he had the space he needed to crush a True Mana shard and refill his True Mana stores. The stinging pain of a lack of Mana left him in no time. Ray had to do it all in a second. The surprise at his teleportation lasted only that long. Just as new True Mana reverberated through his spirit, a knife flew in at his face, shining and coated with a buff from some ability. Barely, just barely, Ray dodged it. Those added points to his Agility came in handy. Only to take a stabbing blow at his lower back. Ray thrust out his wings. The woman wo had appeared just behind him squawked as she was pushed back. Her knife went with her, blood spurting out from the wound on Ray¡¯s lower back that she had left. Not for long. Ray sent a quick burst of Recovery to fix it. At the same time, he used Soullife Cloak and shot higher into the air. Just in time. Just as he left, the spot where he had been standing crackled as a boulder of green energy crashed in, shattering everything in a wide radius. But Ray was gone. It was time for him to actually retaliate against these fucking goons. Ray went ballistic. B2 Chapter 24 (91): Dungeon Beckons Ray cast Mottling Spiritguard. Once, twice, three times in quick succession. They revolved around him faster and faster, spinning quickly enough to make Ray dizzy if he tried to focus on them. The high numbers were necessary. The gangsters flung their attacks at him, but the orbs defended him, letting absolutely nothing through to harm him. Except, apparently, for gas. The Spiritguard orbs couldn¡¯t protect him from something as insubstantial as toxic gas. That was easily fixed with a little bit of motion, though. Ray had to get going anyway. He had to attack, to take the fight to his opponents. Several men tried to attack him directly. One of them had formed some kind of gleaming violet barricade around himself. His companions followed in close behind as the strange barrier pushed against the storm of chaotic orbs that were striking everywhere and against everyone. None of their chopping, stabbing, or smashing blows could get past the barrier. All but the use of Soulstrike. Turning the True Mana arm into a grasping point allowed Ray to grab hold of the spherical barricade. Then he used it like a stone to crush the two other men just behind him. One screamed as he fell, half his body mashed to bloody pulp. The other tried to run. Ray was having none of it. He chucked the barricade. It crashed into the runaway man, smashing him back as the spherical shield itself finally shattered apart. Someone tried to take advantage of the distraction to swoop in and stab Ray in the back. The Valorous Back Shield protected him from the man¡¯s red spear. And then the assailant froze. Ray had opened his third eye on his back. The sudden appearance of the Scouring Eyeball on the back of Ray¡¯s head thanks to Primal Spiritcraft had made the man pause. A fatal mistake. He tried to correct his error, rushing in with his spear, but Ray cast Soulstrike again. The True Mana arm emerged from his back with the impaling point this time. It stabbed through the screaming man¡¯s midsection and raised him aloft in the air. Blood from the wounded, shrieking, dying man rained around them all. Ray twisted, eyes darting to his next target, lashing out where appropriate. Another Soulstrike bashed away a ranged attack from someone else before slamming into the attacker herself. She was sent flying, her body mottling under the effects of the chaos. A tall man evaded the storm of chaotic orbs, which were absorbed into a dark hole hovering over his head. He charged with blistering speed, seeking to take Ray¡¯s head off with a large axe. Asshole had gotten close enough to do it too, what with Ray being distracted by all the people around him. But then a draconic maw flew in. The dark hole hovering over the man didn¡¯t affect it one bit. It slammed in, clamping its jaws around the unfortunate guy¡¯s head. He went down with a muffled scream, the axe clanking to the ground. Ray was still turning, twisting to face more threats. A Spiritsorb socked one of the charging people in the face, allowing one of the orbs to finish him off. Someone else got in close to slash at him with ethereal claws. The blow even landed. But the man screamed as he fell back. The second skin Ray had hastily constructed before battle exploded with hidden chaos under the fake skin. Now, there was the defensive capabilities of Fleshed Exchange coming into play. Yet another guy got in too close. His strike never landed though. Ray had already teleported with Spectral Step. He reappeared next to the woman with the knife who had been batting away the Spiritguard orbs. She wasn¡¯t able to react in time to Ray¡¯s sudden appearance. Despite the disorientation, Ray retained enough control to slam his fist into her face. A fist that was quickly surrounded by a draconic maw grafted via Primal Spiritcraft. Ray¡¯s monstrous hand-head basically ripped off half of the woman¡¯s head. She fell, dead before hitting the street. His motion was practiced. Efficient. Ray brought his arm to a halt, aimed it one of the last gangsters still standing, and fired. The laser blast of chaotic flames sent the man flying off his feet to strike the wall of the building on the other side of the street hard enough that blood splattered. The destruction continued. Two people attacked him at once, striking in from either side. Ray drew in his wings just in time. They got stabbed and shredded in a second by his two enemies¡¯ powers, but they did their job. They hid the fact that he had created another salvo of Spiritguard orbs. As the wings fell in tatters of chaotic black-red energy, the orbs burst outwards and took care of the duo. Their screams unfortunately hid yet another assaulter landing on top of Ray. Thankfully, Primordial Guage had warned him just barely in time. It was instinct that made Ray use Spectral Step to get away. He targeted the nearest use of a spell¡ªa Spiritguard just about to attack another gangster¡ªand reappeared there. But the orb had already attacked, turning into a spear that impaled the man¡¯s torso. As such, Ray reappeared inside his target. The explosion of blood and other fleshy bits wasn¡¯t anything new at this point. Ray recovered from the constricting pressure of teleporting into something in record time, only to realize he was holding a piece of the man he had torn apart. A piece of the man¡¯s spine. The shock of it didn¡¯t even register. Especially when the spine was writhing like a snake, turning almost alive with a will of its own under the influence of the chaos, sporting its own flesh and blood vessels. A wild screech pulled Ray back into the proper fight. He faced the woman who had tried to attack him from above. She charged at him, face twisted into an inhuman expression. It was instinct that drove Ray. Just as she got in close to swing her sword, Ray slashed his own arm. The living spine thrust at the woman. She couldn¡¯t duck, couldn¡¯t dodge, couldn¡¯t evade. Ray¡¯s makeshift weapon struck her at the throat, where the spine continued to chaotically grow and twist. The woman fell, clutching at her neck and contorting on the ground. The chaos of the battlefield seemed to run through Ray like a dozen spirits possessing him and leaving him one after the other. It went on and on, blood and flesh spraying. A seemingly unending stream of death and screams. It felt like there were far more of them than he had counted earlier, but in truth, some of them were returning for seconds. Ray¡¯s attacks weren¡¯t always as fatal as he assumed. He didn¡¯t come out unscathed. One man chopped into his upper arm. Another woman stabbed into his leg. Someone drenched in enough blood to be dead managed to gnaw off a piece of Ray¡¯s face. But he survived. He lived. He killed. The Spiritguard orbs smashed into all his opponents, harassing and harrying the gangsters when not outright killing them. A Greater Windbane Maw chomped and spewed flames, crushing and burning in tandem. True Mana arms slashed and impaled with wild abandon. At one point, Ray suffered a blow hard enough to knock him to the ground. He had gone down to his knees. A loud, painful ringing drowned out all his thoughts. But that was fine. He still knew what he had to do. Even if he was incapacitated¡ªfor his Recovery was almost depleted and Soullife Cloak had returned his tucked-away True Mana and Recovery earlier¡ªhe had other ways to fight. Other ways to make others fight. The pain in his head didn¡¯t lesson. It only worsened, for Ray split his mind, grafting spectral draconic maws to the end of his True Mana arms and imbuing them with his own intelligence. They tore apart the remainder of his enemies where he personally couldn¡¯t. A flood of flames covered the entire area and destroyed several more buildings in the neighbourhood. Those that survived the flames themselves were then devoured by the maws attacking directly. A fact worsened for Ray¡¯s enemies when a third one came into being. The painful ringing subsided. It took some time, but Ray realized he had been still in one spot for a little too long without suffering any direct contact from anyone. He couldn¡¯t hear any more screams either. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. [Enemy Defeated¡ªHuman] Barricade Overlord [Tier 3] Human: [Level 28] x2 Thunderwhip Bandit [Tier 3] Human: [Level 27] x2 Despoiler [Tier 2] Human: [Level 24] x5 Brigand [Tier 2] Human: [Level 25] x5 Outlaw [Tier 2] Human: [Level 26] x6 Essence: +56,600 Knowledge: +60 True Mana Restored: +5,110 [Level Up!] Reward
  • +5 Intellect, +5 Spirit, +2 Vitality +2 Agility, +10 allocatable free stats.
  • 1 New Spell: Spirit Devour [Tier 5] [Offensive]
  • Spirit Devour has been converted to Anima Charybdis by Path of Lifeblood Chaos
Essence to Level 31: 52,310/64,600 Knowledge to next Threshold: 1,184/1,250 Ray dismissed his True Mana arms converted into draconic maws. The pain didn¡¯t subside at their disappearance, and he couldn¡¯t fix that with Recovery since he basically had none remaining. But this was why he had gotten those health tonics from that cranky old man. They sure came in handy now. Ray popped open one of the vials from his Bag of Holding and swallowed the slightly thick red liquid inside. Immediately, he began to feel better. The wounds on his body lessened in pain and his head could once again process normal thoughts. Wild. These tonics were almost magical in their effect. He swallowed down one more, just to be sure, then put the rest away. They would need some time to work their full magic. For the time being, Ray focused on his notification and what had happened in his surroundings. He looked around, swallowing a little. So many dead. So many he had killed. No point in mincing that fact. Ray didn¡¯t regret it, and he definitely didn¡¯t regret the huge Essence gain, but there was something¡­ strange about the situation. His thoughts felt turgid and slow, but instead of a sombre heaviness, it was more like his mind was trying to disassociate from it. This wasn¡¯t the first time he had fought and killed people. There had been that group of Wild Tides assholes who had murdered Randall in cold blood. But was that it? Was it the fact that these people from Everstead weren¡¯t really human beings from Earth like him and the Wild Tides that was making him feel¡­ not much at all? Or was it that he was getting more and more used to killing? It was easier to focus on his gains. Enough Essence to almost reach the next level. Fantastic. And finally, finally, he had his new spell. Anima Charybdis. Anima Charybdis. Ray wanted to cry a little. Who the fuck was in charge of naming these things? It took him a couple of minutes to even remember what Charybdis even was. A sea monster from the Greek myths. Featuring in Odysseus. Wait, no, shit, that was the hero¡¯s name. Featuring in the Odyssey. How did one not hate a spell name that made one feel stupid? Ray focused on the description of the spell itself. That lessened his frustration at the name quite a bit. [Information Request¡ªSpells] Anima Charybdis [Offensive] [Tier 5] An offensive spell that tears out chunks of the souls of foes within an area and coalesces them for the caster¡¯s use. Coalesced soul fragments can be used to regain Recovery and Mana or used as a further devastating blast. At Tier 5, this spell affects an area of radius 10 meters at a distance of up to 10 meters from the caster, reducing all affected foes¡¯ Recovery and Mana by 10%, and costs 150 True Mana. Ray smiled. That was a definitely a unique little spell he had gained. A couple of things that weren¡¯t directly stated in the description really attracted him. One was that it didn¡¯t seem to be a spell that had to be targeted specifically. It affected everyone within an area, so essentially, Ray would just need to group his enemies into one spot then use it for maximum effect. The other was the fact that this was the first time he had an ability that operated as some sort of Lifesteal. He would not only be dealing damage, he would also be healing himself and replenishing his True Mana stores. That had a lot of potential for coming in quite handy. And if he didn¡¯t need any topping up, he could just use the gathered soul pieces as an attack. Neat. Ray stopped glazing his new spell and spent his free points. He put four in Intellect, and the remaining six to Vitality to take it to a clean 100. [Stat Tier] Your Vitality has advanced to Tier 3. Your Path can now affect your stats. You are now capable of imbuing life into 50% more constructs than before. Mental and spiritual toll has been reduced by 50%. Oh, cool. So he could make even more of his constructs come alive. Since he could create three at any point of time, due to the limits of his Intellect Tier, this suggested he could potentially make all three of his constructs come alive without suffering any more than he did now. In fact, with less suffering, potentially, since it said the toll had been halved. Ray decided to get going. There was a lot he had to test. Enough of his time had been wasted on these pointless errands. He took one last look around. The burning of the warehouse and other buildings had stopped by now. Ray¡¯s black-red flames had completed their chaotic corruption. The formerly wooden structures had turned into twisted versions of themselves, sporting hairy roots, spongy innards, vines that strangled the whole contorted contraption. Many of the pieces of human bodies had suffered the same. Some of the flesh and innards writhed by themselves, while others had turned into grotesque, but thankfully stationary, abominations of living matter. It only reinforced the strange emptiness Ray felt, despite the massive death and destruction he had caused. Ray delivered the package he was supposed to have given the old man originally. He was thankful, but Ray didn¡¯t wait to discover what the parcel was, nor did he wait to converse with the man further. All he did was clean himself up in the small washroom again before leaving. Cory was surprised Ray had returned so early. He was even more surprised that all the gangsters were dead. ¡°Why?¡± Ray shrugged. ¡°Aside from being just the kind of criminals you said they were, they tried to kill me. So I paid them back in kind.¡± ¡°It took a threat to your own life to make you act against them?¡± ¡°Guess it looks that way.¡± ¡°But is that the truth?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care to discuss it.¡± Ray hardened his expression. ¡°I¡¯ve done my part. Now¡ªwho¡¯s the person who makes the Mana shards?¡± Cory considered him for a moment. It almost looked like he wasn¡¯t going to reveal the information he had promised, and Ray could feel a vein pulsing on his forehead. But then the lord of Cliff Two sighed. ¡°His name is Marvis,¡± Cory said. ¡°You can find him on¡ª¡± ¡°Cliff One.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°But where exactly?¡± ¡°On the west end of the capital.¡± ¡°Thanks. I¡¯ll be going now.¡± ¡°Already? I¡¯m assuming you wish to go to a dungeon and do whatever else it is you Denizens do. But wouldn¡¯t you prefer to rest after the day¡¯s exertions?¡± Ray noted how Cory had called him a Denizen. There was almost a dismissive tone to it. ¡°I¡¯m good, thanks. I¡¯ll see you later.¡± Cory was correct, though. Ray did decide to take a break before actually heading to the closest dungeon. He had learned earlier that it was on the eastern side of the Cliff. He could get to it in about three hours at a steady pace on a raptor. Which meant his wings would take him there in a third of the time. Basically, Ray had some time to rest. He just didn¡¯t want to do it in the middle of Cory¡¯s manor. Instead, he settled down in a small, wooded area far from the city walls. He had to admit, it was refreshing in a way that this Floor had proper trees for a change. There was only one spot that held actual trees on the First Floor, and that had been in the shadow of Sector 1, where the Floor Lord had parked his dumb ass. Ray had never actualized to himself how nice it was to have trees around again. The way they provided a cool shade against the glare of the day, the way the roots formed a nice little hollow for him to rest in, the way the leaves swayed gently in the breeze. It was no surprise Ray fell into a peaceful nap and woke up feeling much more refreshed than he had expected. Alright. Time to head to the dungeon. Ray did indeed reach it in about an hour from leaving the city. Half an hour to reach his sleeping spot, then another half an hour or so to get to the dungeon itself. The sky was growing darker when he got there, so it felt like an appropriate time to head into the tunnels. The dungeon was located in a section of the cliffs that stood apart from the actual cliffs that formed Cliff One. The jutting tower of rock reminded him of the pictures of Devil¡¯s Rock he had seen back on Earth. A humongous, flat-topped butte of rock thrust out to reach for the sky, like a mountain that had been chopped in half. [Primordial Gauge¡ªDungeon] Shattered Cliff [Tier 13] A chunk of the cliffs that form Cliff One was once sheared away from the main escarpment. It suggests that the cliff once extended far deeper onto Cliff Two than it does currently. Standing alone against the elements, it has been weathered down by the aeons till it turned into the home of elementals and drakes that could no longer live in the wilderness. Elementals and drakes. Ray smiled. Just the monsters he needed. Also, a Tier 13 dungeon. The strongest he had been in yet. He would do well to be wary of whatever obstacles he was going to face. The tunnels reminded him of the very first area he had been stranded in when he had first arrived at the Tower of Forging. That blasted tutorial zone full of those Feathered Imps. He almost missed those little guys as he entered the dungeon proper. It was dark, but not too lightless, thankfully. Although, it made him think of the utility of his spell accoutrement. Could he get a spell just to light up dark areas? There had to be something like that in existence, although it was unlikely Ray would get something that unrelated to combat via simply levelling up. Maybe there was a specific dungeon about summoning lights. Virko had said that different dungeons specialized in different things. It wasn¡¯t long before Primordial Gauge warned Ray about enemies up ahead. Earth Elementals. Monsters he had faced and killed already. They ought to be no trouble. Although, the Dungeon Objective that popped up suggested there was more to it than simply killing the monsters. [Primordial Gauge¡ªDungeon Obstacle] Stairway of Bodies The path ahead lies higher than you might be able to reach normally. But no matter. You have a host of bodies upon which you may climb and ascend towards your goal. Ray halted himself just outside the opening to the chamber indicated by the Dungeon Obstacle. There was something almost relaxingly straightforward about dungeons and the challenges they offered. No politicking, no people being bastards, no complications. Just a damn good exercise for both his brain and his growing prowess. With a grin, Ray rushed in to meet his first challenge in the dungeon head on. B2 Chapter 25 (92): A Titan The room was pretty big. Easily spacious enough to hold a basketball court and a bunch of stands around too. Spacious enough to hold more than two dozen Earth Elementals as well. They were a bit different from the ones Ray had fought in that abandoned mine on Cliff Three. Where the mine ones had been lumbering hunks of compressed earth, these ones looked like they had been hewn straight from the stone surrounding Ray. In fact, if they hadn¡¯t been moving and were straight up against the walls, they¡¯d have been camouflaged pretty well. Good thing they weren¡¯t. Ray was pretty sure dealing with them while they tried to attack him stealthily, even with the assistance of Primordial Gauge, wouldn¡¯t be great. Thankfully, he had the actual Dungeon Obstacle to guide him. All he was supposed to do was get to that opening on the wall. The only exit in the room, other than the entrance Ray was coming through. The first of the Elementals were spotting him. They were hurling towards him, their stance changing from bored disinterest to enraged aggression. Ray tensed a bit, then quickly figured out his plan of action. He knew what he had to do here. He would have rushed to the opening¡ªhe had figured out how to get to it already¡ªbut first, he had a spell to test. So, as the monsters neared, Ray cast Anima Charybdis. A ring of dark energy bloomed on the ground approximately ten meters away. The monsters were definitely within ten meters of him by now. Enough of them to show just how effective the new spell could be. Six of the Earth Elementals froze as the energy blazed to life, an aura of deep crimson blooming around the area. In the next second, the energy snapped. The red light tore and shredded, ripping over, across, and through the monsters caught within the spell¡¯s area of effect. As the Elementals staggered in place, cracked and broken all over, black-red energy shot out of their stony wounds. They all coalesced at a point over the area of effect. Ray gazed at the sphere. It was pretty different from the Spiritguard orbs. Where they sparked with chaotic energy, this one was smooth and glimmering, like it was made of glass. Ray knew what to do, though. With a quick focus of will, he made the glassy, red and black orb descend upon the monsters. It landed with a violent, shattering crash, unleashing an explosion. The blast was powerful. Ray himself was sent staggering back at the force behind the shockwave. While it didn¡¯t kill all the Earth Elementals caught in its radius, four of the six monsters were crushed and destroyed. The remaining two were terribly injured too. [Enemy Defeated¡ªStone Elemental] Tier 10 Monster: Stone Elemental [Level 26] x4 Essence: +10,400 Knowledge: +8 True Mana Restored: +1,040 Essence to Level 31: 62,710/64,600 Knowledge to next Threshold: 1,192/1,250 Oh, alright. So these weren¡¯t Earth Elementals. They were Stone Elementals. Ray wasn¡¯t exactly sure what the difference was, aside from rock-chucking skills and a stonier exterior. But hey, who was he to argue against the idea of lumbering monsters that could be killed easily. It had been a good test too. The new spell was definitely something he could use, especially when facing larger groups of monsters. The commotion had drawn more of the Elementals towards his area, though. They were rushing towards him. The whole horde of them at once. Even the injured ones were standing back up, apparently not too debilitated by Ray¡¯s last attack. He grimaced. While he was tempted to face them down and get himself a bunch more Essence, it would be a bit of pain. While powerful, Anima Charybdis cost a hefty amount of True Mana. Plus, even ten meters wasn¡¯t a big enough radius to take out the whole group of monsters in one or two more casts. The area was too large, the Elementals were too spread out, and worst of all, they were numerous enough that a different group would attack him while he tried to take care of one batch. Ray had just been lucky he had even managed to take out four of them at once. No need to push things. So, he focused on his real objective. Reaching the exit that led deeper into the dungeon. A quick cast of Soullife Cloak and summoning his wings with Primal Spiritcraft had him ready. The opening was still a little higher than he would have been able to reach just by flying. The warning from the notification about the Dungeon Obstacle was right. It was higher than the thirty maximum feet his wings could take him alone. But that was the thing. They weren¡¯t alone. Ray had other things to augment his flight, other spells he could use to boost his maximum elevation. The Elementals attacked from a distance. Turned out these different ones had some different skills too. Literal chunks of their body burst apart and rocketed at Ray like they had been shot from a sling. Ray was ready for something like that. He cast Mottling Spiritguard to summon up a storm of revolving chaos orbs. His surefire defence was just that. Surefire. They protected him against the barrage of craggy, bruising rocks from the monsters as he flew through their midst with ever-increasing speed. He made sure not to use up all his Spiritguard orbs. One kept revolving, front to back, over and under Ray, instead of around his side, while the rest kept him safe against the Elementals¡¯ attacks. Just as he reached about twenty feet from the wall, Ray launched the chaotic orb while ramming the brakes on his own flight. All the momentum of his charge transferred to the sparking, black-red ball. Its constant revolutions had also imbued it with meteoric speed, all of which combined to send it shooting straight to Ray¡¯s target. That little opening high up on the rocky wall that he couldn¡¯t reach with simple flight. He could, however, get to it with a cast of Spectral Step. The world twisted and contorted as Ray was deposited on a lip of stone almost fifty feet above his original location. Despite the disorientation, Ray smiled. That had been a great success. Even the twisted feeling in his head was leaving fast. He was getting used to the disorienting effects of Spectral Step. The Elementals down below had rounded to face him. Several were trying to attack from range with their rocketing rocky parts. They didn¡¯t reach him. Ray was out of their range. He was sad to just leave them, though, especially when he was so close to a level up. ¡°Fine,¡± Ray muttered. He called up his Greater Windbane Maws. All three of them went flying forward, jaws bristling with chaotic flames. Ray commanded the to unleash their fiery breaths with as much force as they could eject. The lasers attacked with crushing ferocity. They were strong enough to crack apart the rocky monsters below via the sheer force behind their impact. The Stone Elementals tried to fight back, but they weren¡¯t having much luck. Not only did the maws fly too fast for them to aim properly, but they were also struggling to defend themselves. That meant the number of rocks that shot everywhere decreased over time. The flying draconic heads were able to dodge even more easily. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Though, things did change as the massacre went on. With the other monsters dying, the remainder started hiding behind their fallen comrades. The rocky bodies, dead though they were, acted as decent barricades against the chaotic flames. Unwilling to waste too much time or True Mana, Ray called his constructs off. He had more than enough Essence now. [Enemy Defeated¡ªStone Elemental] Tier 10 Monster: Stone Elemental [Level 26] x11 Essence: +28,600 Knowledge: +33 True Mana Restored: +2,860 [Level Up!] Reward
  • +5 Intellect, +5 Spirit, +2 Vitality +2 Agility, +10 allocatable free stats.
  • 10 True Mana shards
Essence to Level 32: 26,710/70,400 Knowledge to next Threshold: 1,225/1,250 More True Mana shards as a reward. It wasn¡¯t bad, but he had regained most of the True Mana he had used from the death of the monsters, so it wasn¡¯t like he needed a big chunk. But since he had received a spell last time, it was unlikely he was getting another anytime soon. Ah, well. Ray moved on. The tunnel slowly twisted to his right as it continued rising upwards. He appreciated the fact that the passages themselves didn¡¯t seem to be rigged against him. No traps, no surprise monsters jumping out of nowhere. Nothing indicated by Primordial Gauge. It was all too peaceful for what was supposed to be a Tier 13 dungeon. Ray decided to keep his senses on high alert. The next room proved to be an even wilder challenge than the last one. It was also much bigger. Calling it cavernous would have been doing it a disservice. The huge cylindrical hollow he ended up in could easily have housed the Empire State. If there hadn¡¯t been the giant Earth Elemental standing in the middle of the room, that was. Ray was just about to focus Primordial Guage on the gargantuan monster, but he was interrupted by a new Dungeon Obstacle notification. [Primordial Gauge¡ªDungeon Obstacle] Giant Climber¡¯s Hollow Up and up. That way lies your objective. If the previous chamber¡¯s exit was too high, then this one¡¯s is unfathomably out of reach. However, reach it you must. And there is only one way you can do so, assuming you have no strange climbing powers or items. Ray was unfortunately lacking any strange climbing powers or items, which meant the System¡¯s terrible hint was all he had to go off. It wasn¡¯t bad because of its vagueness. Ray already knew what he had to do. It was obvious as soon as he had seen the titanic monstrosity slowly turning to face him. The System was just too ham-fisted in its attempt to be coy and mysterious. However much Ray might have wanted to fight the damn stone giant, he knew he couldn¡¯t defeat his only ticket to the next exit. It was in the name of the Dungeon Obstacle. Giant Climber¡¯s Hollow. This little cylindrical hole was all about climbing a gigantic Stone Elemental, all so he could get out of here. The monster roared. Ray was forced to clamp his hands over his ears at the sound. It made the whole chamber shake, dust and pebbles falling all around him. Then the enormous Stone Elemental attacked. For such an enormous monster, its fist smashed in way too fast. Of course, Ray was still faster. With Soullife Cloak active, sizzling away a chunk of his spirit to keep in reserve, and his wings shooting out little chaotic jet streams, he was able to dodge the monster¡¯s direct blow. Still. The impact unleashed a shockwave that nearly made him lose control of his flight. Plus, he was forced to call up Mottling Spiritguard to defend himself against the volley of broken earth and rocky missiles flying at him. Even worse was the fact that the Stone Elemental¡¯s roar had called in other monsters. Vilewyrms appeared, crawling all over the tall chamber¡¯s side like monstrous geckos. The nearest ones jumped at him. Ray saw the combination of their skills even before they were put into effect. Rampage and Enhanced Charge made the overgrown lizards shoot meteorically at Ray, like cannons firing at him to dislodge him from the air. He was forced to keep moving. To keep dodging, even with multiple casts of the Spiritguard orbs doing their best to protect him. The problem came in climbing the monster. It moved around too much. Plus, Ray couldn¡¯t fly straight up its stony legs. There was no surface for his wings to keep him afloat off of. The monster also kept attacking. That made things extra annoying. It dug its hands into the sides of the tall chamber, then dragged them forward to throw an avalanche of broken rocks at Ray. He had to shelter behind Impervious Shell. It was actually surprising the construct held, though he supposed the Tier of Lifeblood Soulform was quite high now. But that didn¡¯t work when the monster raised its enormous leg and stomped down. Ray had a pretty good feeling that huge weight was not something his Impervious Shell construct would handle. As such, he had thrown himself backward. The titanic Stone Elemental¡¯s foot crushed down with blisteringly quick speed, making the entire area shake. But Ray was safe. Well, safe from being quashed. Several of the Vilewyrms attacked him from the sides. They were the ones that had shot in with Enhanced Charge. There was a whole horde of them. Ray barely managed to summon up another salvo of Mottling Spiritguard in time, though the monsters were already upon him. He weaved and dodge between the reptilian monsters. straight up punching one that got close. It was such a good thing he had used Fleshed Exchange before entering the dungeon proper. The Vilewyrms that reached him received a nasty reminder to stay the fuck away. ¡°Get back!¡± Ray shouted. ¡°I don¡¯t have time to deal with you assholes.¡± It was easy to call on Soulstrike next. He swiped the entire arm along the ground. It took some time to move the True Mana arm, and he suffered several attacks for it. One Vilewyrm munched on his leg, another shot a Mana Breath that reduced a good chunk of his garb to tatters. But it was worth it. Ray smashed aside the annoying monsters so he could focus on the real issue. That damn gigantic Stone Elemental. It was attacking again. Bringing its other massive foot down to squash Ray. He gave it no opportunity to do so, shooting to the other side of the room. At the same time, he called up two of the Greater Windbane Maws to keep any more of the pesky Vilewyrms busy. That, combined with another couple Mottling Spiritguard salvos, ought to be enough. ¡°Hey!¡± he shouted up at the huge monster. ¡°You¡¯re not going to hit me like that. Come at me yourself, coward!¡± The monster turned around, its motion making the whole chamber tremble. Despite Ray¡¯s taunt, it still tried killing him from a distance first. More stones came flying at him, more stomps that attempted to crush him to bloody pulp. Ray continued blocking as many as he could and evading those he couldn¡¯t. All the while, his mind tried to think of frantic ideas that could work. Maybe he could use the Imitator construct to imitate enough rocks to climb that huge bastard. Maybe he could try using his draconic maw as makeshift jetpacks and shoot himself straight up. Or maybe he could somehow replicate the trick he had pulled on the giant¡¯s much smaller cousins. Send a spell high enough to where Spectral Step would take him where he needed to be. Shit. None of those would work. Well, they might, if he was extremely lucky. Things changed when the monster grew tired of Ray. It roared again. This time, Ray let the noise pass through him, letting his Recovery fix up the damage to his ears so he could hear properly again after the behemoth was done. He grinned when the huge Stone Elemental smashed its fists straight downwards at him. Ray was able to dodge that. It was the height of luck that none of the Vilewyrms had gotten to him again. He was thankful for it. Ray managed to withstand the impact of the giant¡¯s fists on the ground. His grin widened. ¡°You idiot.¡± That was all Ray had needed. He shot to the huge stone arms and landed on them with his wings. The enormous monster began to rise, but Ray didn¡¯t remain still. He kept moving, rising up the length of the huge arm with the aid of his wings. The Stone Elemental¡¯s other arm slammed in, but Ray was moving too fast. All he felt were rocks pinging off his Valorous Back Shield. Almost there. He had almost reached the spot where he could jump off the monster and glide straight to the hole he was supposed to enter. The exit was almost at hand. Almost, but not quite yet. Just as Ray reached the shoulder, the spot from where he could have located the direction he was supposed to head next, the Stone Elemental jumped. Ray cursed loudly. It was such a dick move. The ceiling came in way too fast. Ray just barely managed to leap off his titanic ride before he was smashed to pulp against the dungeon¡¯s roof. Even then, he wasn¡¯t safe. As the monster crashed into the ceiling, huge chunks of rock broke off and rained all around. Ray could use the jet stream from his wings to move around and dodge, even if he was losing elevation way too rapidly. Not getting hit by the falling rocks was his main priority. That was when he saw it. The hole. The exit. It was way too far. No. Shit, shit, shit. Ray had gotten way too close to be losing all his progress now. He was still falling, still trying his best not to get hit by the bigger rocks. Some had already struck him, leaching gashes on shoulder and a wound on his head, but they weren¡¯t serious. The more immediate concern was the fact that he had almost lost the exit. If he didn¡¯t do something now, he would fall back to square one. No way. The idea was wild. He only came up with it because he had been frantically thinking about it not too long ago. Soaring Wings wouldn¡¯t be able to take Ray to the exit. They would lose elevation long before he even came close to where he had to go. So, he needed some other means of maintaining his height while pushing himself towards his goal. That was where the Soul Aspect of the Greater Windbane Maw came into play. Ray called on them. Not as constructs. No. What he did was use Soulstrike to create two True Mana arms, then cast Primal Spiritcraft with the help of Mana Imbuing to turn the ends of the arms into draconic maws. ¡°Fire!¡± Ray shouted. They did. With full fury, they unleashed their laser breaths upon the world in the opposite direction to the hole in the wall where he needed to be. His momentum shifted. A little too fast. Ray ended up colliding against the wall of the huge chamber. The stunned feeling lasted just a second. He pushed himself off, applying a bit of Recovery to make sure he was fully conscious, then redirected the jet streams from the draconic maws. ¡°Left!¡± he shouted. ¡°Left!¡± They did take him left. As he swung to the other side, the huge monster crashed down and struck the area he had slammed into. The whole chamber shook, more rocks raining down. But Ray made it. He yelled out in triumph as he hurtled through the opening, the momentum of the constructs dragging him along the floor before he dismissed them. But the Stone Elemental wasn¡¯t letting him go that easily. It thrust its enormous at the tunnel and pulled the entire rocky section out, with Ray still inside. ¡°Fuck!¡± B2 Chapter 26 (93): Through The Mountain Dungeon Panic tried to assail Ray, but he kept, if not a cool head exactly, at least enough of his wits to know what to do. With the way the huge monster was crushing the entire mountain around while pulling it out into the chamber, Ray was going to be squashed into meat and bone pile in seconds. But he countered by converting his draconic maw constructs into Impervious Shells. Three of them on three sides, with the rest of the area covered by a cast of Mottling Spiritguard, where he had ordered all the orbs to close in on him in a packed defensive formation. Still. Ray¡¯s breath caught as all the rocks around him were compressed by the monster¡¯s enormous strength. Even if he wasn¡¯t crushed, he would suffocate in short order. It wasn¡¯t that all the air was trapped. There was light, which meant there were holes in the compressed rock, where the air could come through. But the rising panic made breathing hard. But there was light. A gap he could take advantage of. Ray just had to bless whatever bit of him allowed him to even think in such a situation. He summoned his mimic as the rocks crushed in closer. The heavy grinding noise was starting to chafe his ears, but he did his best to ignore it and focus on giving his Imitator construct the right command. The black-red blob shot out through the gaps with blistering speed. Despite the crushing all around him, Ray grinned. His smile grew wider when the Imitator punched the huge Stone Elemental. Ray¡¯s order had been simple. Get outside through the gaps and transform into the monster¡¯s enormous arm. Well, it sounded simple to him, but the command had still needed him to split his mind. Thankfully, with the recent Vitality Tier break, there was no stinging headache accompanying his imbuing of consciousness into his construct. The Imitator¡¯s success had kept his smile alive through the panic. Shouting in a rocky voice, the huge monster staggered back, its grip on the crushing rock loosening. Ray¡¯s makeshift prison began crumbling. He, his constructs, and his sparking orbs had been squeezed hard by the Stone Elemental, but they expanded away from him as the rocks fell away. He fell too. Not for long. He dismissed all the constructs save the gigantic black-red arm assaulting the Stone Elemental¡¯s boulderlike head. Then he called up his Soaring Wings and jumped off. The tunnel, now opened into a massive hole gouged out of the tall chamber¡¯s side, was too far away. No matter how powerfully his wings¡¯ jet streams fired, they wouldn¡¯t get him to his target location. Ray was prepared for that though. He crafted two draconic heads, aimed them straight down, then launched their laser breaths with all the power he could manage. That provided just the elevation boost he needed. His True Mana was running dangerously low, so he summoned a True Mana shard in between his teeth from the Bag of Holding and crushed it in his jaws. The taste was like water. Essentially flavourless. Ray reached his target location just as everything shook again. His Imitator construct had rammed itself against the Stone Elemental hard enough to make the monster crash into the wall. ¡°Go,¡± Ray shouted, as he turned. ¡°Tear that thing apart.¡± He had commanded his construct to turn into as much of the Stone Elemental as it could mimic. Turned out even at Tier 11, thanks to the Tier of Lifeblood Soulform, it could only copy one limb of such a gigantic creature. The actual Stone Elemental was countering. It clawed at the mimic version of its limb, hammering at it and tearing away huge chunks. Poor Imitator construct wasn¡¯t going to last long. Ray was tempted to get going. How long was the Imitator going to hold out against such a powerful opponent? But that monster had caused him so much trouble. Plus, he had begun to take down enormous creatures, starting with that ginormous Flesh Elemental at the Flesh Dungeon. So, Ray summoned a couple more of the Imitator constructs. Maybe one Imitator alone couldn¡¯t mimic the entire length and breadth of such a titan, but that was why Ray had more. He had them turn into different parts of the huge monster. One formed a huge limb leg to kick with, the other turned into a second arm to grapple the monster¡¯s midsection. Ray sent out his little mimic army to finally take down that huge asshat. Together, the Imitators were extremely effective, compared to one alone. While the first Imitator had mostly been reduced to just a hand clamped over the actual Stone Elemental¡¯s face, it still managed to distract the monster enough for the others to get to work. The second arm punched away at the midsection of the huge Stone Elemental, shattering apart its stomach and chest. When the monster tried to stop the Imitator, it simply dodged before wrapping itself around the monster¡¯s arm and chest, effectively trapping it. This allowed the leg to come with powerful, ramming kicks and stomps. Ray and the whole chamber were shaking harder than an earthquake. This was nuts. He couldn¡¯t remain just a passive audience, though. As such, Ray held up his arms and pointed them at the monster. They still had the Greater Windbane Maws grafted on them thanks to Primal Spiritcraft. Ray fired. With the ground providing a strong footing, he wasn¡¯t thrown backwards. Instead, the compressed laser of chaotic fire cannoned into the monster hard enough to fling it back again. While the flames¡¯ chaotic effects weren¡¯t effective against its non-organic body, the blasts alone held a huge amount of power. Enough to start tearing through their target. In moments, the combined assault had broken down one leg and crushed half of the monster¡¯s chest. The trapped arm fell next. Ray was destroying it bit by bit. When the Stoen Elemental¡¯s free arm tried to thwack the Imitator constructs, Ray made sure to aim the lasers at the monster¡¯s face. His first Imitator exploded, taking the Elemental¡¯s entire head. It took only a second more for the whole monster to come crashing down. [Enemy Defeated¡ªStone Elemental] Tier 12 Monster: Arch Stone Elemental [Level 30] x1 Tier 9 Monster: Vilewyrm [Level 24] x14 Essence: +33,840 Knowledge: +45 True Mana Restored: +3,660 Essence to Level 32: 60,550/70,400 [Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 1,250-point threshold, your Knowledge has raised your Intellect by 80. Knowledge to next Threshold: 1,270/1,500 He had to wonder if he was going to reach another level in this dungeon before long. Surely there were more challenges up ahead, right? More monsters to fight and kill. As much as he was looking forward to an actual Viledrake somewhere inside the dungeon, he knew he would get a ton more Essence from killing weaker, more numerous monsters. He moved on. That had been one annoying Dungeon Obstacle. Ray was really hoping there wouldn¡¯t be others that tested his patience as much, at least. His wishes were unfortunately not answered as he came to his next obstacle before long. It took about five minutes of journeying through twisted passages before the whole area started shaking. His heart joined the trembles too. What was going on now? Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. A blue box answered him. [Primordial Gauge¡ªDungeon Obstacle] Living Walls The birthplace of Stone Elementals is one you¡¯d expect. Stone itself. But in such an area, that is no comfort. After all, stone is everywhere. Ah, shit. He looked around, his heart hammering even faster. Was he already¡ª Yep. The rocks started cracking. Ray only had enough time to call up a salvo of Mottling Spiritguard to form a defensive barricade around himself before the walls and ceiling broke to reveal dozens of Stone Elementals. Ray cast another salvo of Mottling Spiritguard as half of the first group all tried attacking the emerging monsters. They took a tiny moment to recover from coming out of their walls¡ªcocoons? Eggs?¡ªbefore attacking. It was that moment of recovery that Ray did his best to take advantage of. He was going to gut them. As the Spiritguard orbs rammed into the Stone Elementals with bludgeoning blows, Ray used Anima Charybdis on the nearest ones. There were so many within ten meters of him that using the spell while centred on himself was his best bet. Black-red tatters of shredded monster souls all conjoined over Ray in a matter of seconds. A moment later, Ray had it slam down just in front of him, while erecting an Impervious Shell construct as a stop-gap against the blast. The massive detonation sent out a shockwave that sent the nearer monsters flying back. Some died immediately, while others were injured severely. It was enough. Ray had created some space. Now he could get to work directly. Casting Soulstrike twice brought up two True Mana arms with striking ends to smash apart the rocky monsters They were hard. Resilient. Blow after blow made them crack, but not fully crumble. It was a bit annoying just how much Ray had to hit them. It got really frustrating when they counterattacked. He had believed he could be fast enough to destroy them before they could even muster up an attack. That was not to be. They fired off chunks of their bodies in rocketing blasts. Ray protected himself with more Mottling Spiritguard spheres. That was the easy part. The harder part was when they faked their deaths. Several crumbled into the ground. Ray thought that he had defeated those ones, but it turned out they were simply moving through the earth to reappear around him, over him, and even under him. The solution to tricks like that was simply to keep moving. Good thing Ray was quite adept at that. The tunnels weren¡¯t small and claustrophobic like others he had been. There was space, especially after the way the area had crumbled to allow the monsters to emerge in the first place. Ray had room to manoeuvre. When he kept destroying monsters and evading or defending against their attacks, the Stone Elementals finally resorted to simply churning up a sandstorm. Ray had no counter to something like that. This would have been a great time to store something like goggles in his Bag of Holding, but he sadly hadn¡¯t had that much of a foresight. He had very little normal sight too, what with the sand getting in his eyes. It was ridiculous. A sandstorm inside the tunnel of a dungeon? Really? Worse was the fact that Ray was getting hit. He kept moving, since it was better than being a sitting duck, but the lack of visibility made him occasionally move into the monsters. One smashed his leg hard enough to break it. The pain was bad enough to rip a scream out of him, which turned into a cough as he choked on the sand. He retained enough presence of mind to use up some Recovery to fix the injury, but moments later, a flying stone came in and dislocated his shoulder. More Recovery saved him. Fuck it, he couldn¡¯t even curse in this stupid storm without swallowing down flying sand. This was hell. Ray stretched both his arms out wide, constructed Greater Windbane Maws at the ends of both limbs with Primal Spiritcraft, and aimed them at either side of him. Next, he also dismissed his Soaring Wings only to resummon them differently than normal. Instead of both on his back, he called one on his back and the other on his chest, so that they stretched out perpendicular to his body. This allowed Ray to spin in place. The wings¡¯ jets fired, and as Ray began to rotate like a top, he fired the laser breaths from both his grafted draconic maws. The chamber shook as the streams of compressed fire shot outwards and began flooding the entire area as he spun faster and faster. That did it. The monsters finally stopped attacking, finally stopped being annoying. Even when they tried appearing right on top of Ray, he had counters prepared, sending out orbs of chaos to destroy them. The more he used Spiritguard, the more he was loving that spell. Best versatile ability he had in his possession. Ray only came to a stop when the notification popped up in his line of sight. [Enemy Defeated¡ªStone Elemental] Tier 10 Monster: Stone Elemental [Level 26] x16 Essence: +41,600 Knowledge: +48 True Mana Restored: +4,160 [Level Up!] Reward
  • +5 Intellect, +5 Spirit, +2 Vitality +2 Agility, +10 allocatable free stats.
  • 1 True Mana Tier point
Essence to Level 32: 31,750/76,600 Knowledge to next Threshold: 1,270/1,500 Excellent. Another level up. Ray could always use extra Tier points to boost his spells further. He added the new one to Lifeblood Graveyard. With the way this dungeon was progressing, Ray was expecting to come across some kind of ability he could add to his crucible. He added the free stat points to Intellect. Tier 4 would be his soon. He was sure of it. Maybe by the end of this dungeon. That would be great. Ray kept moving. He once again didn¡¯t have to go far before he came across his next Dungeon Obstacle. It was like this dungeon was filled with them. Not that he was complaining. More monster killing opportunities meant he was gaining more and more Essence. [Primordial Gauge¡ªDungeon Obstacle] Pit of Ascension Despite the name, you are supposed to go down the hole to go forward. However, this is the path newly mature Vilewyrms are supposed to rise. If they can manage to climb to the top, then they are considered ready to face the world. The dark hole was riddled with a bunch of caves all along its side. That was how Ray was supposed to descend. Jump or glide from cave to cave until he reached the bottom. Simple enough. Except for the fact that the caves were no doubt filled with monsters who¡¯d attack as soon as he appeared. Primordial Gauge already confirmed he wasn¡¯t alone here. Taking a deep breath, Ray jumped forward. He had already cast Mottling Spiritguard around him to create a defensive barricade. They would prevent the monsters from reaching him even when they launched surprise attacks out of nowhere, hopefully giving him room to retaliate. It went just as he planned, thankfully. The monsters did indeed jump out to attack him as soon as he landed on the lip of the cave, as he was warned by Primordial Gauge. But they were then pushed back by the chaotic orbs. The sparking spheres smashed into the leaping Vilewyrms, beating them back. The caves were small. Ray had almost no room at all to move himself, much less use a big spell like Soulstrike to call up large True Mana arms. It would be impossible to control and manoeuvre them in this tight space. That was why he had smaller spells like Spiritsorb to do the job. Even if they weren¡¯t that strong in and of themselves, Ray had boosted his Intellect a lot. Seemingly weaker spells were more than enough to take care of these Vilewyrms. It was helped by the fact that the sparking orbs smacked them, that these were slightly weaker, and that Ray had the Mana Infuser ring. But Ray¡¯s descent down the dark pit was mostly eventless. He kept landing from cave to cave, taking out the monsters that attacked and granting himself more and more Essence. Occasionally, the caves he missed or ignored spat out their own Vilewyrms. The monsters jumped from above, thinking they could surprise him. He only tutted. Mindless beasts didn¡¯t realize he had Primordial Gauge and Mottling Spiritguard covering him. Idiots. About ten minutes later, the bottom came into view before long. It glowed, like there was a pool of lava down there or something. He wouldn¡¯t have been surprised if that was indeed the case. When Ray reached the bottom, he found it indeed be the case. It wasn¡¯t a pool, though. More like a whole river of magma stretching out into the distance. [Enemy Defeated¡ªVilewyrm] Tier 9 Monster: Vilewyrm [Level 22] x12 Essence: +23,760 Knowledge: +48 True Mana Restored: +4,160 Essence to Level 32: 55,510/76,600 Knowledge to next Threshold: 1,318/1,500 Ray looked around. There were more Vilewyrms all around him, though these were smaller, less well-defined. Younger. The last Dungeon Obstacle had mentioned something about the maturity of the monsters. He was starting to get the sense this dungeon was a breeding ground for these Vilewyrms, and he had just arrived at what was potentially their nursery. He sniffed. Of course. Monsters being nursed in lava. What else was he supposed to expect? [Primordial Gauge¡ªDungeon Obstacle] Stream to the Ruler A river forms from the offshoot of mountains. Even a river of magma, though the molten runoff that forms lava may not appeal in the same way that cool streams from melting snow might. Nor are they as serene as their watery counterparts, for they may hold an unfathomable danger that the peaks of mountains rarely see. Ray barely paid attention to the notification. Yes, yes, he got the deal that he was supposed to get to wherever this stream of lava led. Or originated, rather. But the more important fact was that he was on lava. His nostrils burned. He looked around. The Vilewyrms here weren¡¯t approaching him. If anything, the nearby ones were staying well away, slowly retreating with fearful looks. That overgrown lizards could actually look fearful was news to Ray. Serpentine species just didn¡¯t have the tools to express complex emotions, as far as he knew. Maybe it was different for monsters in the Tower of Forging, though. For a moment, he stepped forward to attack. Then his feet grew uncomfortably warm. Ah right. He had stepped on a thin stone floating on lava. Yeah, no. This wasn¡¯t going to work. Ray looked at the monsters again. These¡­ weren¡¯t interested in fighting. In trying to rip his head off like all the others had been so far. Had he really been about to attack them? Was he that blinded by his hunger for Essence? Was this need for Essence controlling him? He cursed. No. Killing underdeveloped, immature monsters that didn¡¯t even mean him any harm was not going to do. Alright, sure, maybe he was about to have a fight to the death with their giant ass mama or papa, possibly turning them all into orphans in the process. But hey, killing infant monsters was a good line to draw, regardless. Ray flew over the river until he arrived at another tunnel opening. He noticed some curious details as he moved. The little Vilewyrm appeared to be munching on what looked like the remains of Stone Elementals. So strange. Was there some sort of weird relationship between the Elementals and the Vilewyrms? They certainly had worked together in that first, huge room. Whatever the case, Ray forgot all about it as he entered what had to be the final challenge of the dungeon. The proverbial boss room. One that held a Viledrake. B2 Chapter 27 (94): Viledrake The arena Ray entered was gigantic. Figured. So much about this dungeon had been huge, so far. There had been that enormous Stone Elemental, the huge chamber it had resided in, the high heights he had been forced to climb. And now, in the final room of the dungeon, he was once again in awe of the enormity. The gigantic circular room could have held a football stadium along with the parking lots to boot. Sheer walls rose so high on either side, their tops would have been dark, if the ceiling hadn¡¯t been missing. The sky with the twisted clouds peeked down through the opening. The scale of everything here definitely made Ray feel small for a moment. Far ahead of him, he spotted the monster he was no doubt supposed to face. The fact that it was big even from this distance of at least a couple hundred feet meant it had to be massive up close. Taking a deep breath, Ray stepped forward. He got ten feet in when the notification appeared. [Primordial Gauge¡ªDungeon Obstacle] Magma Lift The only way out through the dungeon¡¯s final frontier is onwards and upwards. But such a sheer height cannot be climbed or scaled. Instead, it is the dungeon itself that will allow you to rise, so long as you can survive alongside the ruler it holds in its heart. As soon as the strange notification faded, waterfalls of lava crashed down into the chamber from all sides. Ray stared. There were openings in the rocky wall far, far up. He had missed them before, despite their size. Now, streams of burning, glowing lava rushed through the holes and crashed down into the chamber. They were lifting the whole chamber up. Well, the floor. It appeared that Ray was standing on a giant island, and the falling magma was raising it higher. Alright, so that was what the Dungeon Obstacle meant. Neat. He tensed as he moved a little closer to the centre of the chamber. At the same time as the lava had begun falling, the monster in the middle of the chamber had begun stirring. Ray decided to stare after he got close enough to use Primordial Gauge and check it out properly. [Primordial Gauge] Viledrake [Monster] [Tier 13] [Level 38] Monstrous remnants of one of the past¡¯s most viciously carnivorous creatures. Few remain out in the wilderness. They make nests in the most extreme of locations, harnessing the power to channel pure brutality. It is said that only when pushed to the limits will a Viledrake reveal its true form¡­ Skills: Imbued Scales [Tier 10]: Wreathe yourself in scales that can channel your chosen variant of Mana, enhancing itself with the Mana¡¯s tangible properties. Magma Swiftness [Tier 11]: Enhance your motion with the heat of Molten Mana. At Tier 11, this skill boosts speed by 22%. Molten Aura [Tier 12]: Suppress all other variants of Mana within your presence. Vile Breath [Tier 10]: Emit a breath of pure Mana that can last for up to 5 minutes and 50 seconds at a stretch. Molten Rampage [Tier 11]: Pour out reserved Molen Mana to heighten all damage dealt, entering into a state of enraged, vaporizing aggression. At Tier 11, this skill boosts all damage by 22%. Molten Burst [Tier 9]: Condense Molten Mana to any point on your body before unleashing it in a devastating detonation. At Tier 9, this skills erupts in an area 18 meters. Magma Storm [Tier 10]: Unleash a storm of devastating blood of the earth. At Tier 10, this skill creates 10 magma clouds that can be configured to either rain lava or detonate in an explosion that covers an area of 20 meters in radius. Lava Shower [Tier 9]: Dig into the ground and send an avalanche of burning meteors upon your foes. At Tier 9, this skill sends 9 meteors of Molten Mana up to 27 meters away. Vile Form [Tier 12]: Unveil your true form upon the loss of your health. Molten Mana, was it? That sounded powerful. Fit the theme of lava and magma, certainly. Ray stared at the huge monster. A part of him was reading through the list of abilities his spell informed him about, while the rest just took in the huge monstrosity he was witnessing. It was entirely serpentine. Ray could see no legs. Considering the Vilewyrms had strong, powerful limbs with which they moved pretty quickly for oversized lizards, it was surprising to see the Viledrake lacking legs. Unless¡­ even its limbs were part of this secret, final form thing. Aside from the missing legs, the monster was very much a scaled-up version of the Vilewyrms. Dark, scaly skin. A huge draconic head. Ridged horns and spikes covered a large portion of the monster, with the largest spikes shooting off its shoulders, just behind its head. Strange fissures ran across the length and breadth of the monster too. What were they about? Ray was answered when the Viledrake woke up for real. Its eyes were entirely black, like holes of darkness. Not so the rest of its body. Not any longer. Not when lava rose though it, lighting the Viledrake up from within. Magma ran along the fissures and through many of its spikes and horns. Smoke singed out of several of the crack on its body, little gouts of fire bursting here and there like steam from a giant clockwork machine. Fucking¡­ Ray was still about fifty feet from the monster, and he was already being backed by the heat. Sweat beaded his brow and gathered at other, less comfortable places. What had the Dungeon Obstacle said? That he had to survive this beast until the arena-sized lava elevator reached the top? Well, he¡¯d be hard pressed just to survive this incredible heat. There was a certain momentousness to the situation. Despite the fact that Ray was facing the strongest monster he had seen on the Second Floor yet, he wasn¡¯t scared so much as awed. The Viledrake had a larger than life feeling to it. An aged wisdom to its stature, a gravitas in its bearing. Ray almost expected the monster to talk to him. Then it roared, its mouth growing molten hot, and charged. Ray focused on the fight. The monster was fast. Though, that was expected, considering it was Tier 13 and level 38. He used Soullife Cloak to reserve a portion of his Recovery and True Mana while also boosting his speed. Just as the huge monster closed in¡ªit was so much larger up close¡ªhe called on his Soaring Wings and got away from its gaping jaws in just the nick of time. The heat baked Ray alive, the wake of the monster¡¯s charge nearly knocking him out of control of his flight. He managed to retain control and turn, twisting to see that the Viledrake¡¯s charging impact had broken the island. Its body quickly rushed through the hole submerged into the magma underneath, a surge of it rising up and covering the area. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. A little bit of reprieve. Ray shook himself, imagining some mental slapping. He could take this monster. Maybe not easily, but he could. He just had to stop feeling awed. Ray quickly cast of Mottling Spiritguard and brought a round of sparking chaos orbs revolving around him. They wouldn¡¯t be super effective at protecting him against something like the Viledrake, but they were comforting to have alongside. Just as Ray called up a flying draconic maw, the monster reemerged from beneath the island. This time, it crushed through a different section. One that was nearly right under Ray. It opened its jaws wide and sought to swallow him whole in its burning mouth again. Ray dodged away quickly, the heat spurring him on. Shit, he couldn¡¯t even get close to that thing. Even worse, all of the Mottling Spiritguard spheres he threw as he evaded left next to no damage on the Viledrake. Its body glowed hotter than ever. The heat waving off the monster suppressed Ray¡¯s spells, even more oppressively than that gangster¡¯s blue aura had done a while ago. The Viledrake crashed under the rising island again, but not before using a different skill. Lava Shower. Its tail whipped up an avalanche of magma and broken bits of the island, all flying in at Ray. He called on the Spiritguard orbs again, and just for insurance, crafted an Impervious Shell in front of him. That formed a surefire defensive combination that protected him from the monster¡¯s ranged attack. But not from the monster itself. He felt like it was moving too fast. Magma Swiftness was working overtime to boost its speed. Just as the storm of lava and burning meteors crashed in and around Ray, the Viledrake emerged once more and tried to eat him again. Damnit, he was already busy defending against one of its monstrous attacks. Why did it have to be so overaggressive? He couldn¡¯t even dodge back since everything was apocalyptically raining lava around him. While Ray¡¯s one-and-done spells took care of the first attack from the monster, he cast a couple of quick Soulstrike arms to stop the monster¡¯s direct charge with the arms themselves. They weren¡¯t able to halt the Viledrake for long. The strength behind the arms was enough to hold back the monster¡¯s serpentine charge for just a bit, but then the head and body glowed. Lava and magma burned bright and hot, turning the monster into the molten matter. Needless to say, Ray¡¯s True Mana arms began disintegrating. The monster¡¯s charge resumed with the same fury. Thankfully, he had been able to use Spectral Step to teleport himself to the tattered shreds of chaos. Sure, it took him too close to the charging monster¡¯s side, it singed his skin and immediately began burning his Shaper Raiment. But it was still a whole lot better than getting eaten. Ray was already throwing himself back, flying fast so that the pressure of the dragging air snuffed out the flames on his clothes. He had been on the defensive for far too long. Ray summoned his Greater Windbane Maw construct to come in and fire off its fury. It did so, the laser of chaotic fire crashing into the last bit of the monster¡¯s side before it disappeared under the broken island again. To prepare for the monster¡¯s next attack, he crushed a True Mana shard. The construct¡¯s hit wasn¡¯t a ton of damage. Of that, he was pretty sure. Ray¡¯s thoughts moved fast. How was he going to deal with the extreme heat this monster presented? Most attacks wouldn¡¯t even reach the Viledrake without disintegrating in its molten aura. He as pretty sure it wasn¡¯t just the heat alone. Molten Aura powered by its Molten Mana was suppressing everything. The Viledrake emerged, this time, pretty far from Ray. Its body glowed with burning, molten heat. He frowned, reminding himself that the blast from the construct had worked to some degree. Fast and powerful. That was what Ray would need against a creature like this. It rushed at him once more, this time entirely aboveground. Maybe it had grown tired of skulking under the surface. Whatever the case, Ray definitely appreciated a more head-on challenge. But it wasn¡¯t just the monster itself shooting at him. Roils of magma poured off the monster¡¯s body and took to the air around it. They burned and smoked, forming clouds where fiery sparks shot through their innards like lightning. Ah. So that was a proper Magma Storm. Ray focused. What had he come here to do besides just fight a monster, gain some Essence, and hopefully earn another level by clearing the dungeon? That was right. He had wanted to test out the full extent of the Fleshcrafter Tower Node. The Node blinked to life just beside him, as though he had actually called into being. Damn. Was that thing about to be as annoying as the Marauder¡¯s Tower Node? His considerations were cut short when the air grew too warm. The monster was approaching at a speed that still took Ray aback, considering its sheer size. And then it was upon him, its assault now aided by the fact that there was magma raining and exploding all around them. Ray cast Mottling Spiritguard a couple of times, making sure he kept moving as he did so. The Tower Node had disappeared as soon as the Viledrake had gotten close. It was still within reach, though. Ray could feel it in the back of his mind. He just couldn¡¯t attack with it just yet. The Tower Node¡¯s power needed a clearer window to work its fleshy magic. A window Ray was pretty sure he knew how he could carve out. As he dodged the monster¡¯s huge jaws and the blobs of magma trying to slam into and detonate on him, he noticed the wound near the monster¡¯s tail. The wound left by his draconic maw not long ago. That was what he had to focus on. Not that it was easy. Everything was so chaotic. The heat was getting terrible, his flesh and skin literally cooking while he was still alive. All the explosions were letting off far too much smoke, not only reducing Ray¡¯s vision but also suffocating him hard. He wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand an assault like this for long. Even without getting eaten by that gigantic monstrosity. At one point, the monster once more emerged from underneath, crushing aside the island in its haste to eat Ray. He dodged backwards again. He was getting better at it. Moreover, Ray aided his motion using Primal Spiritcraft. Two draconic maws grafted to his arm belched out a compressed laser blast that basically acted like jetpacks to send him flying far faster than his wings could manage on their own. The distance was necessary. His True Mana was running out, but the Viledrake¡¯s Magma Storm appeared unending. Ray had been pelted enough by a rain of vaporizing lava. But more than safety, he wanted to turn the tables. He wanted to go on the offensive. The Viledrake charged his position once again. Its storm followed, of course. But first, it had a different idea in mind. It opened its jaws wide and blasted out its own lasering breath. Of course, a Viledrake¡¯s breath attack was a huge, horizontal geyser of magma. Ray was forced to dodge. He continued flying to the side. This thing was like fucking Godzilla, just shooting out a laser and destroying everything just to strike its target. It was even moving faster than him. Ray was in literal danger of being hit by the lava laser beam hot on his tail. He could have tried using the draconic maws to boost his speed again, but his True Mana was almost out and he needed room to replenish. So instead, he halted his flight. Then flipped over just in time. The Viledrake¡¯s lava beam passed just a hair under Ray. But pass it did. Even if it felt like his eyeballs were boiling inside of their orbits and blood was about to steam out from all his pores. He survived. That was what mattered. Because, now he could charge straight at that fucking beast. Ray moved fast. As fast as he could. Faster, even. The draconic maws on his arms were gone, replaced by hands that could crush another True Mana shard to bring him to full capacity. Instead, the maws went to his back, acting like actual jetpacks as they fired their laser breaths. The Viledrake shot at him at the same time. Clearly, it was all in on attacking directly. Perfect. Ray turned around, dismissing the draconic maw constructs on his back. Instead, he called up two True Mana arms using Soulstrike, then used Mana Imbuing and Primal Spiritcraft to call up the larger spectral Greater Windbane Maws on them. Then he fired their compressed lasers. The Viledrake countered with its own breath. Its lava beam emerged even as it continued to charge. Ray cursed. He had hoped to at least be able to hit the monster for a little while. As it was, the two chaos lasers and the lava laser met with a detonation that made the whole chamber shake. The blast was so bad that Ray was knocked straight out of his flight. He coughed as he got to his feet. That explosion had thrown smoke and debris everywhere, bits of burning lava raining all over even without Magam Storm coming into play. Ray¡¯s visibility had gone to shit, but that was alright. Primordial Guage informed him that his opponent had sunk into the lava underneath again. Bastard of an overgrown snake just refused to stand still and die. He was ready for it this time, though. The ground shook, almost imperceptibly, before the island broke under Ray¡¯s feet and the monster emerged. He was already moving. Ray had headed outwards, his wings carrying him away from the point of impact. The Viledrake was rounding on him to take him out from above, its body spewing molten magma everywhere, but Ray had already acted. A quick cast of Lifeblood Soulform had his Imitator turning into the gigantic Stone Elemental arm it had copied back in the tall chamber. An arm that punched the current monster he was dealing with right in the face. The blow was delightfully hard. Ray was sure he saw the Viledrake¡¯s eyes widen in stupefied surprise as it crashed down on its left. No time to waste. The Imitator¡¯s next order was to wrap around the monster and keep it held in place. Then Ray could¡ª No. No, he couldn¡¯t. The Imitator was already vaporizing away at the immense heat as the Viledrake¡¯s entire body glowed with lava filling it up. Ray grimaced, then acted. His True Mana arms with their draconic heads were still active, and he set them to fire their laser breaths once more. He crushed another True Mana shard since he was using up so much Mana with his spells. This was becoming annoying. The Viledrake rose despite the huge black-red arm trying to keep it trapped down. But though the Imitator failed its job, it still contained the monster at one location just long enough for Ray¡¯s follow-up to make contact. The laser breaths hammered in, tearing huge gashes that bled lava all along the monster¡¯s side, leaving massive, blistering wounds. That was something interesting Ray had noticed. Despite the fact that it looked like it was made of rock to hold all that lava, the Viledrake was actually fleshy. How else would the chaotic flames have corrupted its blood, bones, and body? Another lava beam erupted from its mouth. It struck the chaos lasers and exploded again, but Ray was ready this time. He had begun moving as soon as the monster had fired its lava breath while dismissing the True Mana Soulstrike arms. If his assumptions were right, then it was time for the final phase of his plan to take down the Viledrake. Ray flew fast. The detonation at the contact of the lasering attacks hadn¡¯t been as massive as last time. He was able to emerge from the smoky, suffocating cloud enveloping the battlefield within seconds. Just in time to see that the Viledrake hadn¡¯t moved from its position. Because it was changing. Vile Form was activating. B2 Chapter 28 (95): The Power of Tower Nodes All that lava the monster had drawn into its body had been on purpose. The transformation mentioned by Primordial Gauge had begun even before Ray had realized. Roiling magma burned in the monster and emerged through the large horns on its shoulder to form gigantic infernal wings. At the same time, they were pouring into invisible casts to create legs. The Viledrake was turning from a mere serpent into an actual dragon. Its howl was ripping the air, which miraged around the monster as it bent under the heat. Everything shook, dozens upon dozens of lava gouts rising like little geysers around their lord. It would have been awestriking. Was awestriking. Ray just had no time to enjoy it. Not when he had fired another little laser blast with a draconic maw grafted to his hand. Not when he had used Spectral Step to teleport to right in front of the monster as it transformed. ¡°Now!¡± he shouted. His Tower Node of the Fleshcrafter heard him. Ray was burning up, barely protecting himself with his Spiritguard orbs revolving to keep away the lava bursting all around him. But he had to focus. He needed to channel the Tower Node¡¯s power and end it. Within the glassy prism of the Tower Node, the flesh pulsed and writhed. Manipulate flesh, either yours or others. That was what he could do with the Tower Node. That was exactly what Ray proceeded to do. As the monster regained its original form, summoning enough power around it to drown Ray with the immensity of just its presence, the Tower Node acted. The Viledrake¡¯s howl changed from one of enraged triumph to pure agony. All the wounds Ray had left ripped further. Streams of burning flesh tore out through the wide cuts. All the corrupted bodily matter writhed under the influence of the Fleshcrafter¡¯s power. Ray¡¯s ears went completely deaf as the monster¡¯s shriek reached a fevered pitch as two of its legs collapsed. That¡¯s when Ray¡¯s True Mana disappeared. This was what he got for not fully testing out his abilities before using them in life-or-death situations. He hadn¡¯t realized just how costly the Tower Node¡¯s ability would be, or even the fact that it consumed his True Mana. After all, he had used the Marauder and Mentor Tower Nodes without needing any True Mana at all. This was bullshit. Fucking Scamcrafter. Since Ray wasn¡¯t able to complete the fatal job, the Viledrake survived. Its lava wings blast out a heatwave as it was about to take off. Ray cursed again, even though he didn¡¯t hear it so much as felt the vibrations course through him. That¡¯s when it hit him. Just as the monster started ascending, Ray used the last bit of his Recovery to fix up his ruined ears. Sound returned in a glorious rush of audible power. But so did about a third of his Recovery and, more importantly, a good chunk of his True Mana. All stored away thanks to Soullife Cloak, but now returning because he had run out of both his expendable stats. The Tower Node had disappeared as soon as he had lost his True Mana, but now it reappeared, like it had sensed that he had regained enough to use it. No. Not the first one. This was his newer Fleshcrafter Tower Node. Ray grinned. Then exercised the power of the Tower Node once more. The Viledrake never managed to leave the ground. Ray never got to see its majestic, lava-formed wings in action. With the power of the Fleshcrafter Tower Node, he reached into the wound he had left near the monster¡¯s shoulder, then ripped. As his True Mana rapidly depleted once more, the entire side of the Viledrake seemed to come off. Its howl of agony was bad enough to make his ears cringe again. But the monster crashed back down, the whole island shaking at the impact. Lava ran off its side and pooled around it like blood. Its left wing, separated from its body thanks to Ray¡¯s use of the Tower Node, now fizzled and began drying to hard rock. The Viledrake tried rising. Lacking a couple of legs and a wing, and a shit ton of blood, wasn¡¯t stopping it. ¡°Not on my watch,¡± Ray said. He crushed another True Mana shard, then approached. Shakily, the Viledrake rose by a foot, about to fire off another Magma Storm or some other ability that would no doubt have been a pain in Ray¡¯s ass. But he acted first. Three things crushed the Viledrake. An Imitator construct turning into the giant arm once again to punch the living daylights out of the beast, two Soulstrike True Mana arms with draconic maws at their ends, firing off a compressed laser breath, and a Spiritsorb to make sure he got a Soul Aspect as it died. Alright, maybe that was four things, technically. Despite the monster¡¯s heat suppressing Ray¡¯s spells, he definitely got in some good damage this time. Enough to finally kill the Viledrake. [Enemy Defeated¡ªViledrake] Tier 13 Monster: Viledrake [Level 38] x1 Essence: +4,940 Knowledge: +3 True Mana Restored: +380 Essence to Level 33: 60,440/76,600 Knowledge to next Threshold: 1,321/1,500 [Lifeblood Graveyard Activated] Spiritsorb has absorbed the soul of a defeated Viledrake. Please select which Aspect of the targeted soul to retain. Soul Aspects
  • Imbued Scales [Tier 10]: Wreathe yourself in scales that can channel your chosen variant of Mana, enhancing itself with the Mana¡¯s tangible properties.
  • Viledrake Maw [Tier 12]: Draconic maw of a Viledrake that can spew concentrated beams of Molten Mana and summon lava gouts around the body.
  • Vile Breath [Tier 10]: Emit a breath of pure Molten Mana that can last for up to 5 minutes and 50 seconds at a stretch.
  • Magma Tail [Tier 12]: Draconic tail of a Viledrake that can unleash a storm of Molten Mana with a single swipe.
  • Eruption Wings [Tier 11]: Condense Molten Mana to form wings constructed from pure lava, leaving a burning trail in the wake of your flight.
  • Molten Rampage [Tier 11]: Pour out reserved Molten Mana to heighten all damage dealt, entering into a state of enraged, vaporizing aggression. At Tier 11, this skill boosts all damage dealt by 22%.
  • Molten Burst [Tier 9]: Condense Molten Mana to any point on your body before unleashing it in a devastating detonation. At Tier 9, this skills erupts in an area 18 meters.
  • Magma Storm [Tier 10]: Unleash a storm of devastating blood of the earth. At Tier 10, this skill creates 10 magma clouds that can be configured to either rain lava or detonate in an explosion that covers an area of 20 meters in radius.
Ray sat down. The Viledrake was definitely dead. Where the monster¡¯s had been filled and lit up with magma before, it was now dark. All that lava was hardening and breaking, turning into crumbly rock in a matter of minutes. He still hadn¡¯t reached level 32 yet, and he wasn¡¯t going to with the end of the dungeon, but that was alright. The Soul Aspect options intrigued him a great deal. Essentially, he was going to get access to Molten Mana with almost all those options. Just as he had gotten access to Mimic Mana with the Imitator Soul Aspects. Though, it was intriguing he hadn¡¯t received Vile Form as an option. Maybe that ability needed an innate physiological feature he lacked as just a human. Onto his actual options. Ray wasn¡¯t that interested in maws or wings, considering he already had powerful ones. Same went for scales and breath. That narrowed his choices significantly. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Molten Burst and Magma Storm appeared to be very similar abilities, with the only difference being their range. Molten Rampage was very intriguing. Boosting his damage by a percentage amount dictate by the Soul Aspect¡¯s Tier was incredible. Since Lifeblood Graveyard was at Tier 12 now, Ray would be gaining a 24% buff. That was huge. Two questions made him hesitate, though. First, was that ability going to offer him Molten Mana directly? As in, could he tangibly summon lava with it? The description wasn¡¯t clear on that front. Next, was it really going to boost all damage, or just damage restricted to Molten Mana, or some other specific restriction that wasn¡¯t outlined? Besides those questions themselves, Ray was also super intrigued by the idea of possessing a tail. Practically speaking, it wasn¡¯t going to add a ton of utility to his toolset. But it would add some nice variety. Plus, there was just something awesomely cool about a giant dragon tail that could swipe and unleash bursts of lava at his opponents. That, combined with the uncertainty about the boosts from Molten Rampage, made Ray go with the Magma Tail. With all that done, he got to his feet. The island was still rising, even after passing the openings on the wall that was spewing lava. About a minute later, it reached the peak. [Dungeon Cleared¡ªShattered Cliff] Rewards
  • 20 True Mana shards
  • 1 True Mana Tier Point
  • Adamantine Mana Vestments
  • 5 Molten Mana Shards
  • 1 Skill Tier Point
  • +2,600 Essence
  • Reputation: +25 Tenacious
Essence to Level 33: 63,040/76,600 The rewards were pretty interesting. A Tier point for one of his skills, which would most likely go to Goliath Eater, so he could use it even more often. Unless¡­ There was a different skill he could use it on. He held that thought for now. Ray¡¯s had cut short his considerations as he stared at the new garment slowly materializing. It was quite different from his Shaper Raiment. Where the raiment had been fancy half-uniform, half-robe, this was entirely robe. But instead of being made of cloth or even silk or something along those lines, it appeared to be constructed from hexagonal links of some kind of shimmering material. Ray would have almost called it chain mail, but for the links were neither rings nor silver. They were white. He focused on Primordial Gauge to grant him more information about his potential new gear. [Primordial Gauge] Primordial Gauge indicates there is an item nearby interacting with Mana. Adamantine Mana Vestments [Tier 10] Garment fashioned for ascetics who sought to control any and all forms of Mana they came across. The links that weave the raiment together can be imbued with Mana, granting the caster a specific bonus, depending on the Mana that has been imbued. Caster can apportion different variants of Mana to different portions of the raiment. Reduces the damage taken from Mana-based abilities by 60%. Sleeves Mana: [None] Leggings Mana: [None] Torso Mana: [None] Ray looked consideringly at his new reward. Loathe as he was to get rid of the Shaper Raiment and how much it helped boost his speed, he knew he couldn¡¯t keep it around forever. It was already torn and rent in several places before he had entered the dungeon, and now, much of it had been reduced to burnt tatters. He was pretty sure the next big battle would turn him basically naked. Funny how he had bemoaned the inability to call upon his little Feathered Imps but was now facing the possibility of being vulnerably naked again, just as he had in that tutorial zone. Ray pulled off the Shaper Raiment. What was left of it, at least. ¡°You¡¯ve served me well, old friend.¡± It was hard being solemn while talking to a piece of clothing. ¡°But it is time we parted. You need rest. A good retirement. Heaven.¡± He considered it for a second, imagining it was speaking back. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me,¡± he said with a smile. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine. I¡¯ve got something new to protect me.¡± With that, he unceremoniously dropped the Shaper Raiment and began pulling on the Adamantine Mana Vestments. Ray had very little idea of what exactly Adamantine was supposed to be, but he had figured it was going to be heavy and metallic. Not so. Not on his new gear. While the Vestments weren¡¯t soft or light, exactly, he wouldn¡¯t have called it uncomfortably heavy either. It took him about a minute or so to put it on. The fit was snug almost like it was made for him. System shenanigans, no doubt. Ray hadn¡¯t yet come across any loot that he would have been physically unable to use, one way or another. Now to fill up those slots he had seen with Mana. The description hadn¡¯t stated anything about the Mana running out. Ray had some trouble believing that any Mana he put into the Vestments would last indefinitely. But then again, this was a Tier 10 garment. It had better need a long time to use up the Mana he fed it. Question was, what Mana was he going to insert into its weaves? The first answer was easy. Since Ray really didn¡¯t want to miss the bonus to his movement speed from the Shaper Raiment, he picked Flight Mana. He still had that crystal he had received a long while back. Now was the time to make use of it. So far, he had held himself back from using it because he felt like he could use it as a last-gasp trump card in dire straits. Just channel it into the Tower Node of the Songstress and call in a gigantic Everair monster to fight on his behalf. How cool would that have been? There was no point in holding it in reserve any longer, though. Not when he could create another himself. Ray had earned that Empty Mana crystal not long ago. He pulled it out now. Next came his two Tower Nodes, Ingestor and Abstractor. He had gone for using Abstract Conversion at first, but that wasn¡¯t going to work. The skill made the Mana morph into a physical affect. It didn¡¯t allow him granular control over the converted Mana. That was fine. He had the Tower Nodes to rely on. It was strange using both Tower Nodes at the same time. There was a pressure in his head, a weight pressing in on his mind, like he had a big headache building up. A migraine to end all migraines. Thankfully, the feeling didn¡¯t actually materialize. Ray could focus. The Ingestor Node had already begun drawing in Molten Mana from his surroundings. The quickest of glances with Primordial Gauge had revealed just how much of it was in the area. Everything was awash in brilliant, orange-gold energy. Molten Mana. And they weren¡¯t even at the bottom of the dungeon any longer. Ray could only imagine how much more Molten Mana the Ingestor Tower Node would have been able to draw there. The Abstractor Tower Node got to work a moment later. Ray focused its attention on the Flight Mana crystal in his hand. Thankfully, the Tower Node didn¡¯t consume the crystal to get the imprint of Flight Mana that it needed. Instead, what it consumed was all the Molten Mana that the Tower Node of the Ingestor was swallowing. Ray could feel the Mana gathering and twisting. He was growing uncomfortably, unbearably hot again. The temptation to curse was strong, but only the reminder that he was doing this on purpose, that he needed to do this, kept his mouth shut. For about thirty seconds. ¡°Fuck,¡± he muttered. ¡°This makes Cali droughts look like a breeze.¡± At least it was working. The Abstractor Tower Node had gathered enough Mana from the Ingestor Tower Node to begin conversion. Ray suddenly felt a little bit chillier, a little less warm, as the air turned breezy. He could see it now too. Strands of wispy grey and shining silver threading through the orange Molten Mana, concentrated around the Abstractor Tower Node. Ray smiled, licked around his mouth and spat out sweat. It was surprising not to see it sizzle. He felt his connection to both Tower Nodes extend to the Mana they had around them. Ray could use the Mana they had gathered to a certain extent. Well, gathered wasn¡¯t quite accurate. The Ingestor Tower Node seemed to be condensing the Molten Mana closer and closer to itself, turning the area around it from glowing orange to molten gold-white. Almost like it was turning into a star. Meanwhile, the Abstractor Tower Node couldn¡¯t hold on to the Mana it converted. That was why Ray was feeling the breeze. Wisps of Flight Mana kept escaping from its creator. But he was done letting them escape. Instead, he directed the Flight Mana to come to him. Immediately, the breeze began concentrating around him, buffeting hid body and colling him down. It felt so pleasant, Ray was almost tempted to keep it going. He couldn¡¯t waste that much Mana for long, though. So, he focused again, this time making the Mana come to his new garb. Ray had realized that there wasn¡¯t really any point in using up the Empty Mana crystal. He didn¡¯t need to use up the Flight Mana crystal to imbue Mana into the Vestments. Not when he had so much Flight Mana coming in from the Tower Node of the Abstractor. He had expected to need to use up his Mana crystal, either for the Tower Node or the garment. It took about a minute to concentrate all the gathered Flight Mana into the hexagonal links of his new magic robes. They had begun to glow. True to Flight Mana, they shimmered a brilliant silver. When Ray was done, he checked the Vestments¡¯ description again, focusing only on the imbuing section. [Primordial Gauge] Adamantine Mana Vestments [Tier 10] Sleeves Mana: Flight Mana [10% bonus to evasion and movement speed] Leggings Mana: Flight Mana [10% bonus to evasion and movement speed] Torso Mana: Flight Mana [20% bonus to evasion, movement speed, and flight] Ray grinned. Just as he had expected. Imbuing the Vestments with Flight Mana had granted him the movement bonus that he¡¯d had from the Shaper Raiment. In fact, if he wasn¡¯t mistaken, this was a much better bonus than what he had enjoyed before. It made him wonder what other combinations he could achieve using other kinds of Mana. Actually¡­ Ray focused on the Tower Node of the Ingestor, pulling at the Molten Mana it had gathered. It took him about another minute to condense enough Molten Mana into his new garb to change the torso¡¯s hexagonal links from silver to glowing orange. The colour change. That was the sign that the imbuing had been completed. [Primordial Gauge] Adamantine Mana Vestments [Tier 10] Sleeves Mana: Flight Mana [10% bonus to evasion and movement speed] Leggings Mana: Flight Mana [10% bonus to evasion and movement speed] Torso Mana: Molten Mana [All attacks are now imbued with Molten Mana, causing an additional 10% damage and leaving burning trails of lava.] Oh, huh. ¡°Neat.¡± Cool as it sounded for all his attacks to do more damage, he wasn¡¯t sure he needed it, nor was he certain about the reaction between the chaos and the lava. Plus, he had the last Soul Aspect he had gathered. The Viledrake¡¯s tail would be enough Molten Mana for him. Ray wasn¡¯t averse to having a different variant of Mana in place of Flight Mana for one of his garb¡¯s slots. He just needed some variety first. A part of him wanted to test the monster tail he had acquired, but there was something else dragging at his attention. The Tower Nodes had reminded him about one crucial thing. With rapidly growing anticipation, he put away the Mana crystals he had and pulled out one he needed. The Origin Mana crystal. Spitting away some more sweat that had gathered, Ray grinned at the Abstractor Tower Node. ¡°Job¡¯s not done yet, buddy.¡± B2 Chapter 29 (96): Origin Mana As much as Ray would have liked to pretend that he was in full control of his Tower Nodes, that wasn¡¯t really the case. There were limits to his use of them. As was proven shortly after he had pulled out the Origin Mana crystal when both Tower Nodes started shutting down. Moments later, they had blinked out of existence entirely. Ray glared. ¡°Really? Right when I was about to start imbuing new Mana into my Mana Core?¡± He supposed it wasn¡¯t surprising. There were limits to the other Tower Nodes too. After all, the Tower Nodes of the Fleshcrafter had used up a ton of his True Mana and then disappeared until he had regained enough to use them again. Similarly, the Ingestor and Abstractor Tower Nodes had probably performed their quotas of ingestions and abstraction and were now recovering. Ray could still sense them in the back of his head. They were still there, awaiting his summons for when they were done resting up. But when he tried to draw on their powers immediately, they refused to cooperate. All the Mana they had gathered were disappearing. Such a waste. Not that Ray truly minded. The dispersion of the Molten Mana was quickly cooling down the area. He was not going to say not to air that wasn¡¯t baking him alive. Still. The temperamental Tower Nodes reminded him of old laptops whose fans had become clogged with dust and dirt. They heated up too easily, could only be used for a little while before they had to rest and cool down. With nothing left to do just then, Ray sent a message to Kredevel. Ray: Everything alright, buddy? He was really hoping his friend hadn¡¯t come to any harm. If Kredevel had suffered¡ªor worse, died¡ªand Ray had been out here fighting random monsters, then he knew the guilt was going to knife him in the back at every random moment. It reminded him of Randall, at the fact that he had been there and had still been able to do nothing to save his friend. Of course, Kredevel couldn¡¯t have died. The chat function wouldn¡¯t even work if someone passed away. Ray had heard about it on the First Floor. If Kredevel was dead, he never would have been able to send a message at all. Still. As the minutes ticked by without Ray receiving any replies, his heart definitely started quailing. Ray jolted when the answer finally arrived. Kredevel: Things are¡­ certainly strange. Ray: Kredevel! Are you okay? What¡¯s going on? Kredevel; I am alright. And by your exuberance, I will assume you are alright as well, especially since I really don¡¯t have the mental bandwidth to worry. Ray: Yeah, yeah, I¡¯m fine. Don¡¯t worry about me. What¡¯s going on over there? It took some time for Kredevel to fully explain what had happened since the last time they had spoken. The more Ray listened, the more his mouth gaped and his eyes widened. Apparently, the information Ray had passed on to Cory had stirred up a little militia from the Everstead kingdom. They had gone to investigate the disturbance on Cliff Four, just as Ray had intimated, and had come face to face with a horde of angry Sylvans. Of course, the first batch they had faced hadn¡¯t been a whole lot. With their victory seemingly assured, they had attempted to eradicate the Sylvans entirely. And it was then that the trap had sprung. More Sylvans had appeared, and together, they had defeated and wiped out the people of Everstead kingdom who had come to apprehend them. Kredevel didn¡¯t say what he had told his brethren to make them kill the Everstead people as soon as they appeared. It wasn¡¯t something Ray needed to know. The point was that the Sylvans had fallen in line and acted just as Kredevel and Ray had hoped they would. With the first force down, the Sylvans had wasted no time in pushing forward. They had rushed the spire and risen to Cliff Three with next to no problem. Kredevel had insisted that they needed to take the Everstead by surprise, and so, they had ranged out to attack their foes head-on. They had left a couple of Sylvans behind to greet any newcomers into the area and send them to immediately reinforce the main force. All of whom, led by Kredevel, were now conducting a guerrilla war on the Cliff Three. Since there were no major towns, and much of the Cliff was either farmland or blanketed with forests, the Sylvans had decided to hide there and lure in the Everstead kingdom. Kredevel: Right now, we are locked in a deadly combat between their forces and ours. Ray: But your main goal isn¡¯t to fight, is it? Kredevel: No. We wish to locate the Floor Lord, wherever she may be. I suppose you haven¡¯t come across the exact location yet, have you? Ray: If only. There wasn¡¯t much any of them could do. It was hard to believe that Kredevel had actually started some kind of guerilla war. Ray wondered what sort of combat Kredevel and the other Sylvans were getting drawn into, and what sort of actions they were taking against Everstead kingdom. How were they retaliating? Answers to questions like that would take too long, though, so Ray didn¡¯t bother. Instead, he just confirmed a couple of things. Ray: What will you do, once you¡¯ve found the Floor Lord? Kredevel: We will receive new orders from the Floor Lord and will then proceed accordingly. Ray: I might be able to get the Floor Lord¡¯s exact location. If I¡¯m lucky¡­ Kredevel: From Mary Felds? Ray: That¡¯s right. I doubt she¡¯ll be willing to help, though. Kredevel: That would be tremendously helpful, if you can manage it, although we are experiencing a bit of a reprieve. Ray: A reprieve? Kredevel: I am unsure why, but there seems to some issue distracting the Everstead for the time being. Their assault isn¡¯t as ferocious as we expected. Ray couldn¡¯t fathom what had caused the Everstead to ease up. For now, he promised that he would act on it soon and ended his conversation with the Sylvan. Then he called up Mary. Unlike most times, she was quite responsive, offering a reply to Ray¡¯s query only a minute after time had passed. Ray: Did you find the Floor Lord? Mary: It was you, wasn¡¯t it? You have a hand in this. Ra: Idk what you¡¯re talking about. Mary: You¡¯re the one who tipped off the lord of Cliff Two. He¡¯s the one who sent down an investigation and mobilized the rest of Cliff Three. Ray: I can¡¯t tell if you¡¯re awed or if you¡¯re annoyed. Mary: I am not AWED. If anything, I¡¯m incensed. I was this close to finding her. This close to confronting her. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Ray tried to cajole the information about the Floor Lord¡¯s location out of Mary but had little luck. She was wise to his tricks. He did manage to learn what she was intending to do next. Ray: You want to stop the Sylvans. Why? Mary: That is none of your business. Ray: Let me guess. You¡¯re still biased and angry after what the Sylvans did on the First Floor. You still want to make them pay. You think you can beat them. Mary: None of your business. Ray: Which one of your objectives are you fulfilling, Mary? Mary: None of your business. Ray: Do you mind at least hearing me out on why you shouldn¡¯t be helping the Everstead? Mary: None of your FUCKING business. And that was the end of that. The chat window disappeared as Mary went dark, clearly unwilling the continue the conversation. If Ray had to guess, she was also not in the right state of mind. Nevertheless, Ray informed Kredevel that he might have a wild Mary Felds come after him. Kredevel thanked him for the information. Ray sighed as he sat back after the conversation ended. Everyone was busy with their own thing, while he was here. Fighting monsters, raising his level, growing in power¡­ without using said power. Yet. That was the big qualifier. He didn¡¯t need to use it yet. But something told him that the need might arise before long. Well, he had certainly enjoyed his growing power. No way would he have been able to deal with all those gangsters and all the monsters he had faced so far as easily as he had if he hadn¡¯t been powerful. Ray couldn¡¯t discount that. But still. There was some sort of¡­ overarching threat that was missing. Back on the First Floor, he¡¯d always had it in the back of his head that he would end up fighting the Floor Lord. That wasn¡¯t necessarily true here. Hell, the Floor Lord was missing entirely. Then again, with the way things were going, Ray might have his work cut out for him. He had a feeling the Everstead kingdom would be more than an adequate challenge. With a grimace, he remembered just how Primordial Gauge had failed against Cory. The lord of Cliff Two was strong. No doubt, there were others just as powerful all over the Everstead kingdom. With the way things were going, Ray might just end up standing at odds against his apparent hosts. Which reminded him¡­ Ray: Hey, Ram, Bam, Lam. Hope you guys are doing well. Please let me know if you¡¯re okay, or if you need any help. I heard some troubling things¡­ He didn¡¯t receive a reply. Not in the next minute, not in the next half an hour, not even after he waited for over an hour. Ray¡¯s heart felt like it was slowing down. He could only hope the Holdstar trio were okay, though his mind kept conjuring terrible images, fuelled by what he had done to the gangsters. Stupid, overactive imagination. He decided to distract himself by paying attention to his real goal in coming to the dungeon. Finally. It was time to get a new variant of Mana. Ray got to his feet and summoned his Tower Nodes again. It looked like they were ready. Although, it had only been a few hours since they had disappeared, so he wasn¡¯t sure this was going to work. How much Mana would he even need to imbue his Mana Core with a new variant? Ray supposed he was about to find out. The next step was pulling out the Origin Mana crystal from the little box he had received from the old temple-keeper. It shone opalescent. Mostly white, but if Ray moved it around, the edges made light twist apart into iridescent hues. Pretty. He was actually glad that using the Abstractor Tower Node wasn¡¯t going to consume the Mana crystal. Ray focused. Activating both Tower Nodes recalled the same situation as the last time he had used them. Molten Mana swirled up from below, gathering faster and faster, deluging the area with oppressive heat. He began sweating, baking, quite glad his new robes appeared very heat resistant. In fact, he changed its resistance. A moment of concentration made the sleeves turn from to silver molten orange as he imbued them with Molten Mana. Immediately, Ray felt better. His new robes gaining the new resistance was protecting him against the heat. He had to wonder if it was going to safeguard him against fire, or even lava itself? No time for idle thoughts. Ray was supposed to be focusing on his Mana Core. The Tower Node of the Abstractor was performing its job admirably. More and more of Molten Mana that the other Tower Node gathered was being converted to Origin Mana. Through Primordial-Gauge-fuelled eyes, Ray saw that his targeted Mana was the same kind as the crystal. Mostly shining white, but with hints of iridescence strewn throughout. Unlike Flight Mana, which had attempted to escape like it was some kind of uncontainable gas, Origin Mana turned out to be heavier, sinking and settling upon the ground. Good. That made it easy for Ray to work with. Primordial Gauge guided Ray on how he was supposed to go about condensing a new variant of Mana into his Mana Core. The act was simple. At first, at least. He just had to focus on the Mana being gathered and pull it into him. The Origin Mana obeyed. All of the gathered mass began flowing towards him, entering his body and his spirit like he was some sort of Mana vacuum. Ray¡¯s spirit grew heavier. Rapidly. It became tangible weight, making his body feel like it had gained several hundreds of pounds in no time at all. The panic and fear caught him by surprise. Primordial Gauge assured him that this was the correct process. There was no other way to get his Mana Core a new variant. So, Ray bore through it, ignoring the growing panic. He could handle this. He would. But his spirit kept expanding. More and more Origin Mana entered his soul. Possibly his Mana Core too. Ray was just having a hard time to tell because his body had been dragged to the earth, where he now lay and was hyperventilating against. It didn¡¯t stop there. He was being dragged into the ground. The rocky island was cracking under his face, as were his cheekbones. Fuck. As if the external pain wasn¡¯t bad enough, the internal, spiritual pain joined it next. The Origin Mana he had taken in didn¡¯t belong. Not yet. It was like replacing his flesh with little spiders that were then eating away the bits of him that hadn¡¯t been converted into biting spiders. Hold on. Hold on. It wasn¡¯t enough just to remind his head. So, Ray did his best to vocalize through pain-gritted teeth. ¡°Hold on.¡± ¡°Hold on.¡± ¡°Hold on.¡± At some point, Ray¡¯s voice failed him. He realized he was putting a lot of faith in the guidance of nothing more than a spell. But he had a reason to keep going. A reassurance that this would indeed work. The more he drew in the Origin Mana, the more something felt like it was sparking to life within him. A sensation of fleeting euphoria cut through the pain every time he felt like fainting. It made Ray think of jump starting a car. Just a little more, and he¡¯d be able to start his engine. Just a little longer. Although, how long he could keep it up was anyone¡¯s guess. Ray was being crushed against the earth. For him, gravity appeared to have increased a hundredfold. Half his whole face felt like it had been broken, his nose pulped and his teeth slowly starting to follow the suit of his cheekbones. His ribs were shattering in his chest too. Basically, he was being squished. There was a reason he couldn¡¯t talk. Couldn¡¯t even scream, despite desperately wanting to do so. Just a little longer. All that had kept him alive¡ªand conscious¡ªthus far was careful application of his Recovery. He could do this. For how long, he wasn¡¯t sure, but he would. Just a little longer. And then it happened. All the Origin Mana he had taken in had finally found a home within his soul. All the pain he had gone through had been worth it. Ray¡¯s spirit suddenly shattered. That probably wasn¡¯t the best way to describe it, but the sensation wasn¡¯t describable in the first place. What mattered was the fact that his soul was reconstructing itself. His Mana Core was reforming, having finished reforging all the Mana conduits within him. He could now control Origin Mana. [New Personal Achievement¡ªCore Specialist!] You have attuned a second variant of Mana into your Mana Core! Your hunger for all the kinds of Mana that exist in the world will not stop here. Reward
  • Reputation: +50 Knowledgeable
  • New Skill Evolution: Mana Imbuing >>> Origin Resonance
Knowledge to next Threshold: 1,371/1,500 Ray wasn¡¯t sure how long he just lay there. Just enough Recovery to fix up his arm allowed him to pull out another of the tonics and place the bottle against his mouth. He let it do its job, after taking care of the worst of the pain with the fledgling remainder of his Recovery. Distracting himself was easy. He had acquired¡­ a new skill evolution? First time. He hadn¡¯t even known skills could evolve, though that wasn¡¯t surprising. Ray¡¯s spells had technically been evolving ever since he had gotten access to them. He focused on it to see how exactly Mana Imbuing had been upgraded. [Information Request¡ªOrigin Mana Skill] Origin Resonance [Utility] [Tier 5] An Origin Mana skill that allows the wielder to imbue any variant of Mana the wielder has access to into any part of the wielder, including spiritual extensions such as Mana-based abilities. Imbued Mana variants grant the wielder different capabilities, depending on the variant imbued. At Tier 5, this skill allows imbuing of up to 5 variants of Mana at a time and costs 100 Origin Mana. Ray stared. He felt like Mana Imbuing used to have a lot more going on. Or maybe, the System was just reducing the description to what he needed to know. Fair enough. He was excited. It was easy to see all the cool applications this had, especially considering he could perform Mana Imbuing¡ªno, Origin Resonance¡ªon his spells too. Ray couldn¡¯t wait to be healed up enough to start testing. More than the skill, though, it was the fact that Ray was starting to feel the Origin Mana swirling within him that made him feel better and better. It lent him a certain weight, a certain feeling of being more present in the world while also somehow being less stuck to it. Weird. But hey, he had a new Mana type under his control! How cool was that? Ray didn¡¯t heal up anytime soon. His body didn¡¯t fix itself as fast as he would have liked. As such, he closed his eyes and decided he¡¯d sleep. Rest. And when he was back up the next day, he was in a perfect position to start testing. B2 Chapter 30 (97): Guarded Visit Ray closed his eyes and breathed in deep. A new variant of Mana. It was exciting. Enthralling. Could he acquire more? He supposed he ought to hold his horses. He had just attained Origin Mana. Forget getting more, first, he had to get properly acquainted with it. See what all the fuss was about and if he had actually been correct to believe that this was indeed the best choice for him. Ray opened his eyes. The clouds were still studded with those half-twisters high above. But, as ever, they let in enough light to call it daytime. He held out his hand. Mana Imbuing. But it wasn¡¯t Mana Imbuing any longer. Origin Resonance now. The skill took a small portion of the Mana he regained from defeating enemies and used it to replace a bit of his body with Mana, allowing him to do things like grafting draconic heads in place of his actual flesh and blood. With how many enemies Ray had defeated since first acquiring the skill, he was sure he had passively imbued enough Mana to replace his entire body with it. Not that he could actually feel it. But he already had proof. After all, in the last dungeon, he had effortlessly constructed his draconic heads on his shoulders and back to make them act like jetpacks. He concentrated on Origin Resonance and imagined his Mana moving his arm. Origin Mana, not True Mana. His arm seemed to bubble inside as the Mana flowed through it. At the same time, Ray used Lifeblood Soulform to call up his newest Soul Aspect from the Viledrake. A large tail emerged from Ray¡¯s back. It was just like it had been for the Viledrake, a rocky, craggy appendage that extended out and quickly gathered lava along its length. Molten Mana. Just calling up the tail had made the Mana variant that the Viledrake had used start to smother the area with heat. Thankfully, Ray was safeguarded against it. But the fact that Molten Mana was here was what he had been seeking. Ray used Abstract Conversion to turn some of his True Mana into the Molten Mana. The burning magical energy settled within him, threatening to burst out. Ray focused the overheated Mana into his arm. He gasped. In short order, his arm had turned into a limb of pure lava. ¡°No fucking way,¡± he breathed, voice hushed like if he spoke too loudly, it would dispel whatever illusion was making him possess a magma arm. With great care, Ray moved his arm around. Experimented with it. Origin Resonance had worked. Definitely, positively, perfectly. It had imbued his entire arm with his chosen mana variant. But more importantly, what could Ray do with his new arm? The heat wasn¡¯t bothering him. He actually touched his arms together and found, miraculously, that his non-lava, fully-fleshed arm didn¡¯t burn. It wasn¡¯t harming his new Vestments either, something Ray was quite thankful for. Wait, did this mean that Ray was basically immune to all kinds of heat? Could he walk through a raging inferno so long as he had a part of him cosplaying a lava lamp? He really wished he could test that, but non-Ray lava was no longer nearby, sadly. It took only a little bit of focus to make his arm return to normal. But his testing wasn¡¯t done. Molten Mana was only one variant. Ray had at least one more he wanted to figure out. He used the skill again. Origin Resonance sent more Origin Mana bubbling through the limb. This time, Ray used Mimic Mana. He had to use Abstract Conversion after calling on his Imitator construct first, of course. The result was surprising. Then again, Ray didn¡¯t know what he was expecting to happen by imbuing Mimic Mana. His arm warped. Ray could see through it. It looked like it was turning transparent, but it felt more like it was turning into glass. There was the slightest of distortions of light at the edges. But it wasn¡¯t done. Ray got the sense, thanks to Primordial Gauge, that this transparency was merely the preliminary stage. With a little more focus, Ray was able to make his arm actually mimic the Viledrake tail. It was so weird to both have a giant tail flowing from his back and also jutting out of his shoulder like an oversized, lava-breathing worm. Ray dismissed it, though the excitement bubbling in his gut didn¡¯t disappear. He could once again see so much potential for it. And he had just tested his own arm. What about the rest of his spells? Ray decided to test the rest later. He wanted to get going. A few minutes of searching showed him the path he was supposed to follow to get down the giant tor. He hurried down it. His descent was pretty quick with the help of his wings, but he didn¡¯t want to rush too much and accidentally throw himself down several thousands of feet. When Ray reached the bottom of the butte, he came to a stop. He wasn¡¯t alone. The guard was waiting for him. ¡°You!¡± Ray said. ¡°What the hell are you doing here?¡± And why hadn¡¯t Primordial Gauge warned him about the guy? The man was impassive as ever. It apparently meant nothing to him that Ray had just descended down a Tier 13 dungeon. ¡°I came to speak with you, Raymond Dominick,¡± the guard said. Ray couldn¡¯t help but glower. ¡°I don¡¯t remember ever telling you my full name. It¡¯s unfair, you know. You never told me your name.¡± ¡°Because it isn¡¯t important. Yours is, however. Now, listen.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll listen after I understand how you got here. Don¡¯t you realize how wild it is that I just came down a mountain of a dungeon and you of all people are here to greet me?¡± ¡°Ha, please.¡± Uncharacteristically, the guard smiled dismissively, though it disappeared quickly. ¡°I didn¡¯t come here to greet you. Listen to my message. Will you assist us on Cliff Three to defend our homeland against the invaders?¡± Ray licked his lips. Had this guard seriously come all this way just to proposition Ray to help his side against the Sylvans? ¡°Why are you asking me?¡± ¡°Because you are a natural enemy of Sylvans. You would be a great asset in our war against them.¡± ¡°So you want me to fight for you?¡± ¡°You will be appropriately remunerated for your service.¡± Ray¡¯s glower didn¡¯t abate. This asshole actually had actually come here on a recruiting mission. ¡°Sorry, pal, I make it a habit of not working for anyone.¡± ¡°Have you not already been doing so?¡± This guy¡­ Ray was hoping he could stop scowling but the guard really wasn¡¯t making it easy. ¡°Will you not at least do me the honour of hearing out what I have to say?¡± the guard asked. ¡°Allow me to finish the full offer before you make a decision on whether to reject or accept it.¡± ¡°There¡¯s nothing you can say that will change my mind.¡± Ray sighed. ¡°But fine, go ahead. Get it out of your system.¡± The guard blinked, probaby at the choice of words in an unfamiliar phrasing. He went on regardless. ¡°If you choose to assist us in this matter, if you choose to help us against this grave peril that threatens our kingdom and the livelihood of all our fair citizens, then we will grant you sure, safe, and direct passage to the Third Floor.¡± Stolen story; please report. ¡°What do you mean by sure, safe, and direct passage? Do you even know how I¡¯m supposed to get to the Third Floor?¡± ¡°We will allow you free roam of all of the Second Floor. All the way up to the ends of Cliff One. Surely, the way to your Third Floor will be evident someplace you have access to, so long as you are able to go everywhere.¡± A desperate idea. Remove all artificial barricades erected by the Everstead kingdom in return for assisting the kingdom against its enemies. Certainly not a bad deal. If the participants ended up surviving. ¡°It¡¯s interesting,¡± Ray said. ¡°But I decline.¡± Strangely, the guard didn¡¯t seem that disappointed. Though, he hardly ever showed any emotion, so that wasn¡¯t actually surprising. ¡°I see.¡± The man began walking away. ¡°Then I wish you fair fortune on your travels, for however long the Everstead kingdom stands.¡± Now that was intriguing. It sounded he didn¡¯t believe his homeland would last long against the might of the Sylvans. That couldn¡¯t be right. Ray had fought against the Sylvans, knew their collective strength pretty well, just as the guard had stated earlier. He had also fought against the guards and army of the Everstead kingdom. Side by side, he would definitely put the Everstead as a notch above their enemies. Sure, the Sylvans might individually be stronger as warriors, simply due to their fighting proficiency. But they couldn¡¯t be more powerful than an entire kingdom¡¯s fighting force. And the Everstead citizen¡¯s were generally at a higher level. Then what in the world was this guard suggesting? Intrigued as Ray was, he didn¡¯t take the bait. Now wasn¡¯t the time to extend the conversation. He had places to be, monsters to kill, growth to assure, and hopefully, a trio of Holdstar to find. Once he was certain the guard was gone on his raptor, Ray set off.
A part of him wanted to return to the city and find out himself where Ram, Bam, and Lam were. But that would take up too much time. He would end up spending too long searching, because he was pretty certain Cory was either too busy or unwilling or just didn¡¯t know where the alien accountant was supposed to be. So instead, Ray sent off another message to Ram before focusing on his actual needs. Finding more monsters to gain more Essence. He hadn¡¯t been told if there was another dungeon on Cliff Two, so that was perhaps out of the question. Instead, he went to the areas the clerk girl had indicated where certain monstrous populations existed. First up was the large lake to the south of the city. The location wasn¡¯t that far from the spire that Ray used to rise up to Cliff Two. ¡°Woah,¡± he muttered. That lake was pretty big. Long enough that Ray couldn¡¯t see the opposite shore easily. He would have considered this to be a home for more Glidescales or Scarserpents, but that wasn¡¯t the case. While the monsters likely did exist somewhere in the lake¡¯s depths, what Ray was supposed to face here were more Elementals. Water Elementals. There had been reports from locals that several people had been killed, either drowned when trying to swim, sail, or even just fish while on the lake¡¯s banks, or plain abducted. That last one was what had worried the locals worried. They could avoid the lake if it was dangerous, even if it was far from ideal. However, the danger took on a whole another dimension if the lake came to them. Which was why Ray was here. Technically, he wasn¡¯t here to solve the locals¡¯ problem for them. It was more that this was where there was a known monster-related problem, which happened to indicate a location where Ray could gain some nice Essence. Or maybe he ought to just stop overthinking if he was working for someone or not and just get on with the monster-hunting business. ¡°What?¡± Ray asked, staring at the lake¡¯s placid surface. ¡°Am I too pretty for you to abduct me, huh? I¡¯m standing right here.¡± He prodded a toe onto the surface, setting off a series of ripples. Still nothing from Primordial Gauge. ¡°Come on, we don¡¯t have all day.¡± Since the monsters weren¡¯t obliging, Ray took matters into his own hands. He cast Lifeblood Soulform to recreate the Viledrake tail. The rocky, black-red appendage extended over Ray¡¯s head to hover over the lake, its reflection twisting around on the watery mirror. Then he made it burst aflame¡ªa-lava? Blobs of magma erupted from the length of the tail, smoking and dropping onto the lake. Great steaming gouts of water rose in little explosive geysers wherever the lava contacted the lake. In only a few seconds, the entire place was soon covered with a dense layer of overheated steam. It afforded Ray an opportunity to get an interesting test out of the way. With Origin Resonance, he once again turned his arm into a limb made of pure lava. That was supposed to grant him heat resistance, right? When he touched his face or his Vestments, neither burned, though the grass at his feet charred to ash and acrid smoke at a single brush of his fingers. So clearly, his arm was impossibly hot. Not that it hadn¡¯t been before. But literally, this time. But the more important matter was that Ray hadn¡¯t fully gotten heat resistance as he had expected. The steam felt warm. Too warm. Ray was sweating, despite the sudden surge in local humidity that had turned the air into mostly water, and his skin was definitely red and boiling where it was exposed. He was starting to feel like a cooked lobster. So Molten Mana couldn¡¯t make him immune to all sources of heat. That was a shame. Although, there were still a few more tests he¡¯d have to perform. Later. Right now, the water was bubbling, and it wasn¡¯t just because he had dumped a ton of magma into the lake. The Water Elementals were finally arising. They were no different from the Earth and Stone Elementals he had seen before, at least in their makeup. Monstrous beings constructed of pure water, towering above Ray. He could see the rest of the world through their transparent but distorting bodies. With warbling, gurgling cries, they rushed him. Ray tensed a little. But he grinned too. Time to fight. He drew back as they approached. It would be better if he got out of the steam and could see properly without being boiled alive. He was pretty sure a lot of his more physical spells weren¡¯t going to work on these watery creatures. As was proven the next second when he swiped the Viledrake tail through one of the Elementals. It broke the monster into two. But as soon as his tail¡ªlava-less because Ray wanted to test only the effect of physical force first¡ªpassed through, the monster reassembled itself. All the broken water coagulated back into the original body in a mere second. It was Ray¡¯s turn to be faced with an assault. The Water Elementals were fast, rushing over the ground to drown him within them. He was quick enough to get away from them, of course. But then they fired ranged blasts of their water. Blasts that were alive. Ray blocked one shot of liquid with the Viledrake tail, but after splattering apart at the impact, the dispersed water concentrated back into one blob and immediately began trying to get past his tail to get to him. Huh. That was actually a pretty neat ability. A spell that almost had a life of its own. He wondered if they had a consciousness-imbuing ability much like he did. Maybe he should have checked these Water Elementals with Primordial Gauge. Ray didn¡¯t want to spend time exchanging pointless blows with the monsters, however. He cast Mottling Spiritguard and fired the orbs at the Elementals rushing him. The chaos power within the orb wasn¡¯t going to work on the water. That was fine. He just used Abstract Conversion and Origin Resonance to convert it into a blob of magma with the Molten Mana generated by the Viledrake tail construct. The reaction was exactly what Ray had hoped for. The Spiritguard orb glowed as it turned molten orange. As soon as it connected with its target, both the orb and the Water Elemental exploded with a detonation of steam. This time, the monster didn¡¯t resurrect itself. How could it, after Ray had basically vaporized most of its body? There was no time for him to come to appreciate how effective that had been. Even when the explosion had sent burning, superheated chunks of hardening lava-rock into the nearby monsters, making them partially vaporize too. No, Ray had to target the other monsters with the rest of his Spiritguard orbs. Well, the rest of his Molten Mana orbs, more accurately. He supposed he could have reignited the Viledrake tail¡ªwhich he had to resummon since the timer had gone out¡ªwith Molten Mana too. Then he could have swiped it through the monsters and taken them out all at once. But his Molten-Mana-imbued Spiritguard orbs were doing a great job on their own. The monsters were exploding, sending chunks of rock, lava, and water, all heated high enough to poke holes through Ray, flying everywhere. But that was why he had the tail and a few of the orbs in reserve, to protect himself against them detonation¡¯s fallout. Soon enough, all the monsters were dead, leaving Ray standing on a burning, steam-logged shore. [Enemy Defeated¡ªWater Elemental] Tier 10 Monster: Water Elemental [Level 25] x12 Essence: +30,000 Knowledge: +36 True Mana Restored: +3,000 [Level Up!] Reward
  • +5 Intellect, +5 Spirit, +2 Vitality +2 Agility, +10 allocatable free stats.
  • 1 New Accessory: Jade Earring of the Originator
Essence to Level 34: 16,440/83,200 Knowledge to next Threshold: 1,407/1,500 Ray checked to make sure there were no more Water Elementals emerging from the steaming surface of the lake before allowing himself to bask in another level up. He added six of the free points to Intellect to take it to a clean 200, while adding the rest to his Spirit since that was the next Stat Tier break he wanted to hit. Except, he received no notification about breaking another Stat Tier. Hold on. Was the next Tier break at 250 instead of 200? That would explain why he wasn¡¯t receiving a sign from the System. Annoying, but whatever. Just a few more levels anyway. The accessory was a lot more interesting, though. It really was an earring. Thankfully, not one he¡¯d have to pierce his ear to plug in. It had a small clasp that would allow him to dangle it from his ear. The jewellery itself was simply the white clasp with a small, star-shaped iridescent crystal hanging from its bottom on a chain. Neat. Earring of the Originator. Now wasn¡¯t that an intriguing name, considering he had Origin Mana. Time to check what Primordial Gauge had to say about it. B2 Chapter 31 (98): Lockdown Primordial Gauge revealed that Ray¡¯s new accessory was definitely something he ought to consider adding to his active collection. [Primordial Gauge] Primordial Gauge indicates there is an item nearby interacting with Mana.
  • Jade Earring of the Originator: Earring crafted by a failed Paragon. Naturally draws in and stores Mana from the environment, converting it to Origin Mana. [Tier 7]
Considering how costly Ray¡¯s sole Origin Mana skill was, he would do well to add it to his collection. He clasped it to the bottom of his ear. It added a tiny bit of weight that he would no doubt have to get used to when moving. At least the chain wasn¡¯t so long that that the crystal at the end would bang against him. No more monsters had emerged from the lake, even while Ray had been busy with his level up rewards. That was a shame. He attacked the water itself again, throwing down more magma with the Viledrake tail. But still no more Elementals emerged. Had he already taken care of them all? Hmm¡­ Ray took a little tour of the lake¡¯s edge, travelling along its shore while throwing down more and more lava to force any hidden Elementals to come out. It wasn¡¯t a very effective method. He ended up crushing two True Mana shards before he found another batch. It could have gone the same way as last time, but Ray tried a different tack. Anima Charybdis was built for taking out groups of monsters, so Ray put it to good use. While water itself was immune to the chaotic corruption of the black-red energy, the spell still stole away a chunk of the monster¡¯s souls to coalesce them together into a powerful bomb. That led to an explosion that destroyed about half the Elementals Ray was facing. He grinned. Oh yes, that was quite effective. To mop up the remainder, Ray used his Viledrake tail to cough up Molten Mana, which the Water Elementals had no response to. He didn¡¯t use Abstract Conversion and Origin Resonance to turn his other spells to their Molten Mana versions this time. Not when he had no Origin Mana crystals or shards to replenish his supply. That was the new problem Ray had encountered a little while ago. Crushing True Mana shards refilled his True Mana supply, but not his Origin Mana supply. Crud. Thankfully, powerful swipes from his Viledrake tail, alongside its ability to throw a flying avalanche of lava, were enough to take down the Water Elementals. [Enemy Defeated¡ªWater Elemental] Tier 10 Monster: Water Elemental [Level 25] x9 Essence: +22,500 Knowledge: +27 Mana Restored: +2,250 Essence to Level 34: 41,940/83,200 Knowledge to next Threshold: 1,434/1,500 With that batch down, Ray considered flying around some more until he had scoured the lake and drawn out all the Elementals within it. Not a terrible plan. Hopefully, his next level up would replenish all the True Mana shards he was using up. By the time it was nightfall, Ray had circuited around the entire lake and left the shore a burning, steaming mess. But he had killed a lot of monsters too. He was happy about that. [Enemy Defeated] Tier 10 Monster: Water Elemental [Level 25] x27 Tier 11 Monster: Greater Glidescale [Level 28] x2 Tier 4 Monster: Scarserpent [Level 18] x12 Essence: +82,300 Knowledge: +150 Mana Restored: +9,470 [Level Up!] Reward
  • +5 Intellect, +5 Spirit, +2 Vitality +2 Agility, +10 allocatable free stats.
  • 5 True Mana Shards
  • 5 Origin Mana Shards
Essence to Level 35: 41,040/90,200 [Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 1,500-point threshold, your Knowledge has raised your Intellect by 100. Knowledge to next Threshold: 1,584/2,000 Needless to say, all the free points went to Intellect to get it closer to the next Tier break. He also appreciated the fact that he had Origin Mana shards to go along with his True Mana ones. Just what he had been looking for. Ray basked in the glow of a job well done at the end of the day. He ought to inform the locals that their lake problems had been taken care of. Then he glanced at the conditions of the lake itself. Water steaming and bubbling, chunks of rocks and stones floating everywhere like flotsam in a flood, the shore burning and smoking here and there. Ray supposed he could wait a bit before telling the locals. Or maybe, they could just discover their newfound freedom from monstrous oppression themselves. That, too, was a perfectly solid plan.
Ray was sleeping out in the wilderness that night when he received it. The message he had been waiting for. Ram: Ah, Ray. How good of you to contact us. Lam: Yes, yes. I admit, I was a bit sceptical at first, but you have blown my expectations away. Bam: I, however, still maintain my solid distance. However, I will admit your benevolent interest is a pleasant surprise. Ray was still groggy from waking up in the middle of the night. It was so dark out, the words on the glowing blue chat window felt blinding. He tried to send a message back but stumbled a bit. Ray: Urgh. Lam: Bah, I take it back! Clearly, he has fallen into a stupor. Bam: Replying has been a waste of time, it seems. I was right to withhold my judgment. Ram: Now, now, the humans merely have fascinating conversational nous. Ray: I¡¯m just sleepy, geez. You picked a weird time to reply back. Ram: Oh, yes, that too, I suppose. We should remember humans aren¡¯t nocturnal. Ray was rapidly gaining back proper consciousness. He wasn¡¯t even sure that the System¡¯s chat function had some sort of alarm function that had awoken him, or if it had just been that awfully bright glow. Probably the latter. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Lam: To answer your question, if your groggy mind can even comprehend information at the moment, we are alright. The pressing matters you sought to report to us were already known. Ray: I¡¯m sleepy, not stupid. But I¡¯m glad you¡¯re okay. Bam: Yes, your goodwill does you credit, though not enough for me, just yet. Ray sighed. It was almost like he had the trio right before him. Ram: We do agree, though, that the situation here has gotten quite dire. Ray: So you aren¡¯t alright? Ram: Oh no, we are quite fine. Especially since we have had some assistance. But that is the quandary. The fact that we needed assistance, when our job is simply to perform some accounting of what is going on here, is troublesome. Ray: Where are you right now? Ram: We are in the capital of Cliff Two. Secreted away, lest we be caught in more trouble. Why? Do you wish to meet us? Lam: Don¡¯t tell him where we are! Bam: I also vote on withholding such vital information. At least until he is less groggy. Ray: I am not groggy. He was quite glad they couldn¡¯t see him yawning wide enough to make hippos jealous. Ram: Come to the Holy Shackles shop, close to the Leaf Blower¡¯s Tavern. Ask for me there. The craftsman there will help you. I¡¯ll send a message that you¡¯re coming. Ray: Alright, I¡¯ll meet you there. He had no idea where that was supposed to be, exactly, but he figured he could find out without trouble once he reached the city itself. Ray needed to head there anyway. His time on Cliff Two was coming to an end. He had to ensure his passage up to Cliff One wasn¡¯t blocked. It was a little surprising that Ram, Bam, and Lam had built up this weird network. Maybe they had a ton of money or valuables to spare. Or they had discovered some dirt over this poor craftsman. Whatever the case, that was further proof the Holdstar trio seemed to have things in hand. That was relieving. Ray would have liked to take care of more monsters before going to meet Ram, Bam, and Lam, but that wasn¡¯t going to be effective. His next targets were at the face Cliff One. That meant journeying across the entirety of Cliff Two to reach them. Highly unideal. So for now, he went straight to the city first. Ray found that things weren¡¯t exactly as peachy as he had hoped. The gates were locked and guarded, and the battlements were being prowled by patrols of those gold-and-black armoured soldiers. This wasn¡¯t looking good. He could have gone through the gates. Or tried to, at least. After all, they shouldn¡¯t be locked completely. The city had to survive. But Ray had a bad feeling about a direct approach like that. The meeting with that guard from Cliff Three had set him on edge. He had no idea what the man had told his superiors, but for all he knew, the Everstead people operated on the same mantra that the Wild Tides were so fond of shouting out. If Ray wasn¡¯t working with them, then he had to be working against them. To that end, it would be in his best interests not to get caught by the guards or any other authority here. That didn¡¯t mean Ray¡¯s little urban trip was now cancelled. He just had to be a little creative about how he entered and went through the city. Ray¡¯s plan was simple. He was going to take advantage of just how varied his armoury of spells had become after his class evolution. He got himself into position under the lee of some trees, significantly far from the city walls. It took about an hour or so for Ray to memorize just how often the guards walked past the same point. He also noted the position of any lookouts and such. The spot he aimed for didn¡¯t have any specific people keeping an eye on it, apart from the group of four soldiers that passed it every seven to ten minutes. Of course, the following patrol would have that stretch of the wall within their line of sight long before those seven to ten minutes passed. That was why Ray had to time things right. He had to start moving from under the shade of trees before a patrol passed his selected spot, so that he could cross over as soon as they had passed. Things would have been a lot simpler if he could have just flown over the walls. Unfortunately, the elevation limits of Soaring Wings wouldn¡¯t let him. The walls were almost fifty feet high by his rough estimation. Ray could attempt boosting his ascent with his draconic maws acting like jetpacks, but that would unleash far too much noise. Instead, he had a lot more elegant of a solution lined up. Spectral Step. Ray¡¯s heartbeats sped up as the time came. Soon. Soon he would need to move. It would have been a lot more convenient if he could have waited right under the walls, but the soldiers had cleared out hundreds of feet before them to ensure they had a good line of sight. The guards got into position. Ray¡¯s hands curled into fists. Now. He rushed forward as fast as he could. Soaring Wings was already on his back, boosting his flight, which was also sped up thanks to a cast of Soullife Cloak and replacing the imbued Molten Mana in his Vestments with more Flight Mana. His speed was unrivalled, fast enough to make him zip across the entirety of the space in less than fifteen seconds. Ray¡¯s heart thundered as he came to a halt before the wall. The guards were passing his position. They hadn¡¯t seen him. He was clear. It had worked. No time for relief or exultation. Ray cast Mottling Spiritguard. He concentrated so that he called up only one chaotic orb instead of fifteen. The spell actually listened. Perfect. He couldn¡¯t act with the Spiritguard orb just yet, though. First, he had to use Origin Resonance. Summoning just the tip of the Viledrake tail was enough to grant him the Molten Mana for the purposes of Abstract Conversion. With Origin Resonance, he imbued the Molten Mana into Spiritguard orb. It began turning from a sphere of sparking black-red energy to a weighty orb filled with bright-hot magma. Weighty. That was the property Ray was looking for. Now for the next part. Dismissing his tail, Ray cast a True Mana arm using Soulstrike, turning its end into a grasping point and grabbing the Spiritguard orb. His heart was pounding hard with how much time this was taking. He even had sweat beading his brow. But he focused. He could do this. Pulling his True Mana arm back, he chucked the orb over the wall. It flew. Ray almost laughed in relief. He could have attempted to throw it with his own hand, but he knew he didn¡¯t have anywhere near enough strength for it to succeed. But his True Mana arms definitely did. Ray counted. One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. Three Mississippi. Now. He cast Spectral Step. The world shifted. Ray was hit so hard with the disorientation, especially because when he reappeared and stabilized, he was mid-flight, that he almost vomited. Tamping down the urge to throw up non-existent food, Ray spread his wings and shot straight down. He reached the ground a second later, dismissing his wings in the next instant. Ray had to hide behind a building. It had worked. It had worked. That had been a bit exhilarating, but he had executed it perfectly. He hadn¡¯t been seen. There weren¡¯t guards yelling about an unidentified flying object. There were no patrols rushing to his locations. It took some time for his heart to calm down, though. Holy shit, that had been a lot more pulse-pounding than he had expected. At least Ray was able to figure out the next stage of his plan. His earlier assumption had been correct. The city was tense. It wasn¡¯t a complete lockdown. There were still a few people here and there. But it was easy to see that things were quite oppressed. Soldiers did patrol the streets nearly everywhere. The few people Ray did see out and about all moved furtively and went about their business as quickly as possible. Ray wondered if there was a curfew going on. Just the cherry on top he needed. He was prepared for something like this, though. A cast of Lifeblood Soulform brought up his mimic construct. ¡°No, my tricksy minion,¡± he said. ¡°You don¡¯t have to go anywhere. All you have to do is give me your Mana.¡± Ray used Origin Resonance and Abstract Conversion next. With the Imitator present, Ray got Mimic Mana pretty easily. Origin Resonance had him imbuing all the converted Mimic Mana over his entire body, especially his face and his Vestments. Then he turned into one of the random passers-by. Perfect. If only he¡¯d had this when they had been trying to trick Derrick Orden the first time. Ray didn¡¯t seem to have transformed to himself. When he looked down, he found that he was covered in thin film of reflective liquid, like he was covered in mercury. But he took some careful steps towards a windowpane and smiled. Oh yes, that was definitely not Ray. Confident in his disguise, Ray headed out. Time to find wherever the Leaf Blower tavern was. What an odd name. Most of him wanted to shirk away from meeting any of the patrolling soldiers, but he knew it would be less suspicious if he stopped acting suspicious. So, to cure himself of his own hesitation, Ray approached a patrol with a smile that decidedly didn¡¯t feel like his own. ¡°Hello there.¡± His voice hadn¡¯t changed, but that ought to be fine. These random guards wouldn¡¯t recognize it. Hopefully. ¡°Could you fine fellows tell me where the Leaf Blower tavern is? I seem to have lost my way.¡± ¡°You¡­ lost your way?¡± one of the men asked. He had probably raised his eyebrows but it was hard to see under that helmet. ¡°Yes.¡± Ray hoped his smile looked apologetic and stupid enough. ¡°This is my first time visiting. I came to see my brother. He¡¯s the first in the family who moved here, you see. Even has his own little family now! I¡¯m so proud of him, you have no idea. I¡¯ve always wanted to be just like him. You know how it is with little brothers. But sadly, I was just never talented or¡ª¡± ¡°Alright, alright.¡± The guard whom Ray had accosted pointed down the street. ¡°Go down and take the second right. You¡¯ll reach Haversham Street. From there, go straight until you reach Abby¡¯s Holy Shackles Workshop, and then you turn right again and you¡¯ll see the tavern at the end.¡± Ray hoped his eyes lit up. ¡°Thank you greatly for your generosity, good sir. I will never forget your kindness.¡± ¡°Go on, then,¡± one of the other soldiers said. ¡°Don¡¯t stay out for long.¡± Ray wasn¡¯t sure when the last time was that he had bowed, but he performed his best approximation as the soldiers moved on. Whew. That had gone better than he had expected. He wondered if there was a class that specialized in acting, lying, and smooth-talking. Following the directions led Ray to his destination before long. It wasn¡¯t actually the tavern he was heading for. The soldier had already told him where to finds his main target. The Holy Shackles workshop. It turned out to be a small crafts store on the side of the street. The place looked run down like it was going to go out of business any day now. Ram, Bam, and Lam had found an interesting hideout. ¡°We aren¡¯t open right now,¡± the proprietor said when Ray entered, his appearance ushered in with the tinkle of a small bell against the doorway. There was no one else inside the small shop, so Ray wouldn¡¯t be in trouble if he talked. ¡°I¡¯m not a customer,¡± he said. That made the man with the greying hair and beard at the counter sit up and take notice. His bored expression was replaced with curiosity. ¡°Who are you, then? What do you want?¡± Ray lowered his voice. ¡°I was told to come to you to find someone. Several someones.¡± The proprietor swallowed. He was tense now. His eyes squinted like he had a scanner in his head that was determining if Ray had any ill intentions. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about, sir. You¡¯re not in the right place. Why don¡¯t you go¡ª¡± ¡°Let¡¯s cut the crap, shall we?¡± Ram hadn¡¯t given him a passcode or anything like that, so Ray would have to forge on with his best convincing act. ¡°I want to meet the Holdstar. They¡¯re my friends. Surely, they¡¯ve told you I¡¯d be coming, right? Ram, Bam, and Lam. That¡¯s their names.¡± None of that seemed to reassure the proprietor, for whatever reason, but his posture slowly relaxed, even if the scrutinizing look never went away. ¡°I see. I thought you were one of the guards coming in with a disguise. But it looks you¡¯re the real deal, since you know them.¡± Ray laughed. Damn, the guy was actually close. ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous.¡± The man lowered his voice and leaned forward. ¡°They¡¯re down the alley to the side. There¡¯s a small building with a broken wall. If you go in and reach the end, you¡¯ll see them waiting there.¡± Thanking the man, Ray quickly left. The directions were simple enough. He found the indicated building with the hole in its wall. Going through brought him into a warehouse of sorts, filled with towering rows of crates and sacks. It definitely wasn¡¯t small. Was he in the wrong place? He even reached the spot that the man had indicated. The back wall, where he was supposed to have reached Ram, Bam, and Lam. If they were even there. That¡¯s when Primordial Guage went off. Ray wasn¡¯t alone. But his guests were not the ones he was expecting. It was perhaps his instinctive use of Mottling Spiritguard to protect himself that saved him from a grievous injury, if not worse. Something flew in with the speed of a cannonball, something that registered to Ray as nothing more than a spear of burning, crimson energy. It hit one of his sparking chaotic orbs and exploded. The detonation wasn¡¯t impossibly strong, but Ray was still staggered back several steps. ¡°Bastard survived!¡± someone shouted. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter.¡± A different voice, a woman¡¯s but just as loud. ¡°Kill him!¡± Ah, shit. So Ray¡¯s fears were right. He had been set up. Fuck. B2 Chapter 32 (99): Crimson Spear-Wielder Ray was drawn into a fight almost immediately. He would have loved some time to come to terms with the fact that he was about to be embroiled in a brawl instead of meeting up with someone he had considered a friend. He really would have liked to ponder who it was that had betrayed him. Was it the proprietor of the shop, or was it really Ram, Bam, and Lam? Sadly, there was no time for stray thoughts. He had to focus on surviving the sudden assault. More of the ranged attacks with burning red spears shot in, but his Spiritguard orbs provided a very surefire defence against them. Ray was well protected. But that changed when the first of his assailants swooped in. The warehouse was structured a little too familiarly. Boxes and sacks filled almost the entirety of the space all around him, arrange in such a way that there were little corridors to walk through in between. It was through one of these corridors that a man in a roguish outfit and twin knives rushed in to attack directly. Ray¡¯s response wasn¡¯t immediate. He had to master his impulse to cast a spell as soon as the man appeared. Instead, he allowed his attacker to get in close. Not hard, considering that the man was moving with incredible speed. Just as he got close to the swirling array of Spiritguard orbs, he leaped. Somehow, likely with a skill that Ray wished he¡¯d had the time to check using Primordial Gauge, the man shot through the orbs without suffering any damage. It was like he had phased through them. This time, Ray held nothing back. He let his impulse run wild. A quick cast of Soulstrike brought up the True Mana arm an instant before the man¡¯s long knives reached Ray. The impaling point pierced through the would-be killer¡¯s midsection, drawing out a scream as his blood splattered everywhere. He wasn¡¯t alone, of course. Several of Ray¡¯s Spiritguard orbs smashed against a larger fellow that had rushed in behind his roguelike companion. The man survived the orbs¡¯ attack. His body glowed with golden light, clearly some kind of highly effective defensive buff. He roared as he brought his huge club down to crush Ray to a pulp. All he got was a smack by the True Mana arm for his troubles. Ray brought around the same Soulstrike that he had used to impale his first attacker, bashing his second one with its ¡°forearm¡±. Both the impaled man and his larger companion went flying, crashing through several crates and sacks. ¡°You bastard!¡± someone screamed. A woman in the distance fired shots of purplish energy at him, but there were enough of the Spiritguard orbs remaining to keep him safe. Her attacks weren¡¯t alone. More of the red spears shot in, as did other attacks like giant crystals, bombs, and other abilities. Someone even summoned shadowy hounds to rush Ray¡¯s position. Clearly, they meant to overwhelm their opponent with the sheer number of abilities all acting at once. Ray cast Mottling Spiritguard once, twice, three times. He had to. There were just too many skills aimed at him. But Spiritguard alone wasn¡¯t going to be enough. Ray cast Lifeblood Soulform to give life to a flying draconic maw to counterattack his assailants. They killed it in short order, though. Drats. And then the attackers finally broke through. A glowing arrow found a chink through his defence. It wasn¡¯t that Spiritguard orbs, which were less orbs then and more flat shields that rebuffed everything thrown at Ray, weren¡¯t effective. They were. But the enemy possessed abilities that Ray hadn¡¯t foreseen. The arrow never struck the Spiritguard defence. That was because a little portal had appeared in front of it just before it made contact with Ray¡¯s defence. A second portal materialized at almost the exact time, belching out the arrow within the little sphere of protection that Ray had constructed. The shot found its mark. Ray yelled out as the shining arrow found its mark and pierced his shoulder. Immediately, Ray fell to one knee. His body jolted. Paralyzed. This was¡ª Fuck, this was electricity. Something was burning. The world juddered. It was all Ray could do to not fall face first to the floor. Shit, shit. Not good. He couldn¡¯t move, couldn¡¯t get the arrow out of his shoulder and free himself from the deadly grip of the electric arrow. But he was still conscious. He could still cast his spells and channel his Mana. His Mottling Spiritguard orbs were fading, but they had lasted enough to prevent any of the attackers from taking advantage of Ray¡¯s state. Yet. That wasn¡¯t going to last long. Ray managed to cast another Soulstrike. Just barely moving his arm through the shocking binds was enough. He followed it up immediately with Primal Spiritcraft, grafting the spectral Greater Windbane Maws on the ends of both his True Mana arms Then Ray let his consciousness split, imbuing life into his summons. His head didn¡¯t feel like it was splitting in two. Sure, the world faded to a great extent for Ray. He experienced less of it. Fewer things registered through his senses. But his thoughts were still clear, struggling only against the electric binds from the arrow that had gripped his body in shocking pain. The two draconic maws took care of defending Ray against his attackers. That left him free to focus on the main goal¡ªgetting the fucking arrow out of his shoulder. It was hard to tell how long it lasted, but it was too long. Ray just couldn¡¯t get his arm or any other part of his body working. That was the point of electricity. Complete debilitation of the nerves. He could almost appreciate his assailants¡¯ strategy. Ray called up his Soaring Wings on his back. Then he made them flap backwards to push him forward. The sudden forward momentum was just what he needed. As he smacked into the floor, the impact of his shoulder against the floor bent the arrow just right. It would have been a big gamble. He could very easily have snapped it off and dug the point deeper into his body. But Ray¡¯s new Vestments had absorbed a good deal of the arrow¡¯s force. It had pierced barely an inch or two into his shoulder. Short enough that falling to the floor at the right angle forced the arrow painfully out of him. Free. He was finally fee. Ray forced his wings to work. The timer for one of the Soulstrikes had already run out, and only one was still left shooting chaotic flames and snapping at anyone that had tried to get close. But the first had done its job. Now, it was Ray¡¯s direct turn. He recalled his full consciousness, letting the True Mana arm return to its normal, lifeless state. A quick use of his wings took him to a nearby second level that ran along the wall of the warehouse. One of the ranged attackers had been taking potshots from the edge. He staggered in surprise as Ray appeared in the blink of an eye. Casting Primal Spiritcraft again brought up the draconic head on Ray¡¯s actual hand this time. He fired its breath in the next instant, giving his opponent no time to prepare. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. The man had mistaken believed that Ray would attack directly, thinking the aura around him would be enough to safeguard him against any spells. He had crossed his wand-like iron rod of weapon in front of his chest like it could guard against a physical blow. Ray¡¯s laser blast sent him screaming and flying off the balcony. It wasn¡¯t enough, though. This man wasn¡¯t the one who had shot that electric arrow at him. Where was the archer? There was no time to find his main target. Of course, Ray had cast Mottling Spiritguard as soon as he had taken to the air to continue protecting himself. Good thing he had. Just as Ray took care of the man on the balcony, a spear of crimson energy shot at him, seeking to take advantage of his apparently distracted state. A Spiritguard orb counteracted it, though the detonation caused by the impact sent Ray slamming against the nearby wall. That attack had been powerful. The next second, his balcony collapsed. His assailant had targeted his platform, making Ray crash down. Maybe he had forgotten that Ray had wings or believed he would be too surprised to use them. But Ray¡¯s instincts were on overdrive. The Soaring Wings of black-red energy stretched out, slowing Ray¡¯s fall and allowing him to land harmlessly. Except, he was immediately attacked by the red-spear wielder. The man in gold-chased black armour fired off several ranged spear attacks in quick succession. None of them got past Ray¡¯s Spiritguard defence. He cast the spell again and again, sending half of the orbs to counterattack the man. But the spear-wielder had a powerful defence of his own. As soon as the orbs reached him, he spun his spear like some crazy king-fu master. The spinning crimson disc formed a shield that stopped the orbs completely. No matter what form they took, they couldn¡¯t get past. That kept the man busy, though. Ray used Soulstrike to take advantage, but he was forced to redirect the attack to a different enemy who had shot in far too close. This one was weaker, at least. He bashed away Ray¡¯s True Mana arm with its slicing end, but Ray switched it up to a grasping end and grabbed the man¡¯s sword in the next exchange. Then he flung the man and his sword aside. It was instinct driving Ray to throw himself back with his Soaring Wings. Instinct that saved him again. A millisecond later, the spear-wielder sailed through the spot he had been and crashed into a towering column of crates, all of which burst apart under a detonation of crimson energy. Fucking hell, that guy was relentless. The supposition was proved in the next second when he turned and immediately continued attacking, without a moment¡¯s pause. The distance had allowed Ray to use a Soulstrike against the guy, but he dodged Ray¡¯s swipe and then pinned the True Mana arm with a spear impaling it into the ground. Who was this guy? The armour clearly indicated a man affiliated with the Everstead military. So was Cory acting against Ray directly now? His assailant didn¡¯t give him any time to ponder. The man just attacked and attacked. Ray couldn¡¯t meet him blow for blow, of course. He was a mage, not some warrior or rogue type class who had a proficiency with a chosen weapon. His best bet was to not meet the spear-wielder head-on. Trying to create some distance wasn¡¯t working. The man took care of the volleys of Spiritguard orbs without difficulty. Ray threw himself back, used his Viledrake tail to throw out streams of lava to zone the guy and then take care of him. But the man used a skill that made ethereal red spears pop out of the ground, and then began using them like stilts in a flood. What a fucker. Ray focused on his Fleshcrafter Tower Node. Fleshform Manipulation worked to make him a better melee fighter. His body grew lighter and faster and hardier all at the same time, his reaction time improving rapidly so that he could see and react to his enemy¡¯s ceaseless impaling assaults. He also used Vengeful Plunder to raise his stats the man didn¡¯t care about dodging the Spiritguard orbs. Every blow, blocked or otherwise, counted as a hit for Vengeful Plunder, so Ray was receiving a powerful boost from that as well. But that growing power counted for little when he couldn¡¯t hit the guy. The man was just either too evasive or had one or more ways of blocking Ray¡¯s spells. The Spiritguard orbs never penetrated through his spinning spear shield. Ray¡¯s Soulstrikes were all bashed away or pinned back. Taking a long-range potshot with a draconic maw¡¯s breath only showed him how fast the man was at evading. This guy was annoying. Ray went far, far back. All right. So this guy just wouldn¡¯t rest. Then Ray would¡ª A massive wall of energy slammed towards Ray. His eyes widened. He hadn¡¯t even seen it appear. The man or woman or gigantic troll behind the strange skill appeared through a portal and instantly disappeared behind a huge wall of shining white and gold energy. A wall that was crashing at Ray with the speed of an avalanche. The use of Soulstrike as an arm to push back against a skill that huge was instinctive. What other defence did Ray even have that would work against something like that? It did work, though. Somehow, the True Mana arm held back against the force behind the wall, at least when Ray used both arms. But it had also distracted him from the spear-wielder, who swooped in to take advantage. Ray probably would have been impaled, but his mind was working furiously fast. Bless the Intellect Tier breaks. He cast Lifeblood Soulform to create the Impervious Shell. That stopped the man with the spear, if for a while. His impaling thrusts came with so much power, the spear punctured through the shell everywhere, Ray¡¯s defence rapidly cracking and breaking apart. But it was enough. He cast the same spell again, this time calling up his Imitator construct. Simultaneously ordering his construct to take his form, Ray used Origin Resonance to cloak himself with Mimic Mana to turn himself into the floor and lay down. The timing was perfect. He let his True Mana arms fade as the Impervious Shell fully dismantled. The assailant¡¯s spear stabbed through and impaled the construct¡ªthe fake Ray. It took some mental effort to not wince at his Imitator¡¯s suffering. But that successful impale also meant the wall had stopped advancing, so as not to hit the spear-wielder. Which gave the real Ray the perfect opportunity to act. He used Soulstrike once more, casting it from underneath. The man was flying over him, he and his spear just about to push the fake Ray back quite far. But he never fully succeeded. The new True Mana arm rose up sharp and fast, the slicing cutting into its target. Even still, the man was fast and powerful. He kicked back against the impaled Imitator construct just in time. Instead of slicing the man himself in half, all Ray managed to do was take off the spear-wielder¡¯s arm and shoulder. He grinned as the blood splattered over and around him. Maybe his opponent wasn¡¯t dead, but that wound was devastating. The wall of energy crashed apart as the big, troll-like woman yelled out. There was a huge, spiked club in her hands, and she slammed it down with enough speed and power to pulverize Ray. But the blow never landed. Ray was well-prepared. The Imitator construct was far from dead, despite suffering that stab from the spear-wielder. Instead, it had transformed into a different construct now. The flying Greater Windbane Maw roared out its humongous compressed fiery laser of chaos, blasting the giant woman back with its power. Ray almost laughed. There was just a different kind of pleasure in seeing his powers magnify with Vengeful Plunder and all his other boosts coming into play. It took him a little by surprise, how powerfully he could send others careening back. But there wasn¡¯t time to stare and enjoy. Ray was already getting back to his feet, shedding his cloak of Mimic Mana to face the wounded spear-wielder. He had to stick close. The assailant¡¯s presence was what had prevented the rest of his cronies from attacking Ray from range, in case they accidentally hit their comrade. Ray frowned. The man¡¯s arm¡­ was already growing back. Even as blood pulsed and pushed out through the gory wound, new flesh and bone were growing, covered in a net of fine blood vessels. How high was this guy¡¯s Recovery? ¡°There¡¯s someone else here,¡± a woman shouted from farther off. Was that the archer? And more importantly, someone else? ¡°Kill that bastard, quickly!¡± The spear-wielder took those words to heart. Ray did his best not to be distracted by the sounds of distant commotion, of new screams and the clash of different abilities elsewhere. Despite the massive wound¡ªalbeit one that was quickly regenerating¡ªthe man attacked with relentless fury. Ray was once more pushed back, forced to defend himself and somehow try to eke out and opportunity to strike. The spears seemed to come in from everywhere. They flew in swarms, erupted out of the ground, came rushing in with furious impaling motions. Ray¡¯s Spiritguard orbs were too busy defending him to counterattack his opponent. He wasn¡¯t getting any further boosts from Vengeful Plunder, not when he wasn¡¯t landing any attacks of his own. That was fine. The power he had gained was enough. He was fast enough to match the man¡¯s incredible speed, and that was enough. But the man continued to be relentless. The spear-wielder sent out a tidal wave of crimson energy that Ray blocked with his Impervious Shell. Despite only being powered by one hand, the crimson spear punched through the shell, goring Ray in the chest. Thankfully the impact wasn¡¯t too bad as he had fling himself back, his Recovery fixing up the injury in as second. He kept moving though. More spears burst out, these ones coming from the wall behind Ray. He flew straight up, through the whole in the broken balcony. The perch provided just enough room to crush a True Mana shard and fire off his Primal Spiritcraft-ed laser breath, but the man dodged that too. At least Ray was able to knock his follow-up spear chucks out of the air with the draconic maw¡¯s breath. But damn it, they were in a stalemate. How? The guy was too strong. Ray focused on his Fleshcrafter Tower Node. Tower Nodes. He had multiple. Time to make use of them before the man¡¯s wound was fully healed. The spear-wilder would have come in again, but then, the screams and shouts got much closer. Both Ray and his opponent turned to see the giant woman falling back with an earth-shaking crash. A spur of bone the longer than the man¡¯s spear emerged from where she had been stabbed in her chest. But it wasn¡¯t her wound that made Ray¡¯s eyes widened. The blood pouring out of the injury wasn¡¯t polling to the ground. Instead, it was travelling up the woman¡¯s body and masking her head. Suffocating her. She had not one but two problems to deal with. Blood. Blood being manipulated in that fashion¡­ It couldn¡¯t be, right? Gritty was here? Here? B2 Chapter 33 (100): Double-Team Ray looked around, his eyes still wide. He didn¡¯t have to search for long, though. The spear-wielder was already moving, tackling a slight figure wearing strange armour that looked like it was made of bones. Gritty engaged her opponent with her habitual ferocity. Blood and bones sprayed everywhere, the spear-wielder¡¯s counters meeting Gritty strike for strike. But then she managed to land a deadly blow. Her hand reached out and grabbed the man¡¯s wound, ripping the newly-forming arm free from its shoulder. The spear-wielder fell back with a loud scream. What? The man hadn¡¯t even screamed when Ray had literally chopped his arm off. So unfair. ¡°What are you staring at, wingman?¡± Gritty shouted. ¡°Come on in and help me kill this bastard.¡± The spear-wilder had jumped back, creating some space between them. This allowed several others of their enemies to rush in and defend the guy Ray was quickly assuming to be their leader. He hadn¡¯t noticed before, in the fury of the fray, but they were all armoured black like him. Ray didn¡¯t get to reply to Gritty. Everyone was cursing and shouting again, their voices melding together into a discordant cacophony. He cast Lifeblood Soulform to summon up his constructs. They wouldn¡¯t last long, but since he could impart life and intelligence into them without splitting his mind, he did so. ¡°Help, Gritty,¡± was his command, though they probably didn¡¯t hear it. Not that they needed to. The two draconic maws got to work. That ought to be enough. Ray focused on the spear-wielder himself. His arm wasn¡¯t coming back. Ray then understood that scream hadn¡¯t been one of agony. The man was just annoyed as all hell that his Recovery was dry. At least, Ray saw no other reason why his arm couldn¡¯t regenerate as it had done before, unless there was some ability from Gritty preventing him. Also possible. Ray faced his opponent. He couldn¡¯t help but grin. The tables really had turned. The guy actually looked frightened for a change, his relentless aggression from before now giving way to greater caution. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Need a hand?¡± ¡°You foul¡ª¡± Ray raised his arm and fired off another draconic maw laser. Despite the close range, the man could still dodge. He countered with his spears, with them coming in a storm again. But there was a key difference, this time. He couldn¡¯t attack as he had done so far. Too much blood loss. It was finally affecting him. What was even better was the fact that Ray¡¯s own power was still growing. Vengeful Plunder continued to be active, so the Spiritguard orbs shooting at the spear-wielder were raising his stats bit by bit. He was not going to be stopped. This power was showing its effect not just in his rising speed and Resilience against his opponent¡¯s attacks, but also in the way Ray¡¯s own spells weren¡¯t as easily stopped. The spear-wielder¡¯s spinning spear shield couldn¡¯t hold back the Spiritguard orbs any longer. Not when Ray made several of them attack at the same time. The man was blasted off his feet. Bits of his exposed skin twisted and corrupted under the chaos¡¯s effect, but he was mostly fine still. Apart from the bleeding stump of his missing arm. Ray pressed his advantage. His arm turned into a draconic maw, courtesy of Primal Spiritcraft, and he fired off another laser breath. While the maw itself seemed mostly the same, he couldn¡¯t help but grin at how the laser was much larger and fierier. The chaos roiled with vicious power. Somehow, the man was still able to react in time. He sent another little wave of crimson energy. It crashed against Ray¡¯s maw¡¯s laser breath, setting off a powerful explosion. Ray wasn¡¯t daunted. This fight was his to win. He knew this. He cast Soulstrike next. Two True Mana arms spread out on either side of him. Then he slammed both arms in. The man still reacted. He jumped back, letting the black-red arms crash together. Then he summoned another crimson spear, calling them to rise up from under the True Mana arms. Both of Ray¡¯s Soulstrike limbs rose, driven up by the spear, creating an opening that led directly to Ray himself. An opening through which the spear-wielder and his spears rushed in. Ray had his Spiritguard orbs. The orbs formed a wall of black-red energy. They didn¡¯t last long, though, exploding as soon as the spears flew in. The detonations were so fierce, Ray was forced to erect a secondary defence against them. Impervious Shell stood strong against the shockwaves. Then the shell broke. The real spear crashed through, stabbing in with such force, that the pointed end got him. Agony burned across his chest. Blood welled, waterfalling down to the ground. That spear-wielder still had that much strength, even with the wounds he sported. But Ray had strength too. Power that had grown faster and faster. Power, and the way he could win. He had used Primal Spiritcraft, but instead of turning his hands into draconic maws, he applied it to his head. His own head. The chaotic energy gathered around his skill, clasping over his cheeks, mouth, and hair. It reformed his head into a Greater Windbane¡¯s head. His senses changed too. Vision narrowed, hearing funnelled down to what he focused on, and his sense of smell became so sharp that he drowned in it. Blood, blood, and more and more blood. Ray opened his long, wide jaws. Then fired his laser breath just as the rest of the Impervious Shell broke apart. The man never found the time to dodge. He had expected the Primal Spiritcraft maws on Ray¡¯s arms, so far as he had seen. That it would appear around Ray¡¯s head wasn¡¯t something that had occurred to him. He took it right in the face and body. The sheer power behind it sent him flying back, his spear falling out of his grip, pulling out of the wound it had inflicted. Ray didn¡¯t give his opponent any time to recover. He pushed some Recovery to the chest injury and already had his wings on his back. Then he flew in, Soullife Cloak making his speed blurringly fast. The spear-wielder, sans any spear, got to his feet just as Ray arrived. Only to face a gigantic draconic maw crunching into him. Ray had pushed some extra True Mana into Primal Spiritcraft using the Mana Infuser ring and raised it by another couple of Tiers. This had caused the draconic head he had summoned¡ªon his hand now, after he had dismissed the one around his head¡ªto grow huge. As soon as the oversized jaws closed around their screaming target, Ray unleashed the fiery breath. The man¡¯s screams didn¡¯t last long. ¡°How are you doing, Gritty?¡± Ray asked, turning to the rest of the fight now that his part was dealt with. She didn¡¯t answer him. Probably because she was busy fighting a tall man with twin axes revolving around like a bladed cyclone. Despite moving fast, Ray was able to notice that he wore the same black armour of the others. He really had been targeted by Cory¡¯s soldiers. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. He rushed in to lend his hand. She had already killed several of their enemies, but there were still enough left to overwhelm her. The fact that she already hadn¡¯t been was a testament to her growth. Ray took a ranged pot shot at one of the soldiers trying to attack her with javelins. The laser breath from his draconic head took the man square in the chest. Another kill for him. That unfortunately alerted the rest of them to his presence. He was ready for it. After killing the spear-wielder, he was definitely buoyed up with confidence. Ray could take them all. He knew it. But the problem wasn¡¯t more fighting. The problem was that he had been discovered. The problem was that they had decided to flee. ¡°He¡¯s down!¡± someone shouted. Ray had a feeling the ¡°he¡± was the spear-wielder, not Ray himself. ¡°Retreat! Retreat!¡± That voice was familiar. It was the same one that had yelled out about Gritty¡¯s arrival. True to the shouted command, the survivors tried to disengage from the fight and get out of the warehouse. Ray was distantly surprised the whole place was still standing, despite the furious battle going on within. ¡°What the hell are you waiting for, wingman?¡± Gritty shouted. She pushed back the spinning axe man, bashing him back with what looked like a spade made of pure bone. The man went staggering back. ¡°Kill them before they get away!¡± For a second, Ray hesitated. Was he supposed to vengefully rush after pathetic fleeing idiots and kill them one by one? Was he supposed to turn into a ruthless monster and ensure no one made the mistake of ambushing him again? Then his quickly-thinking mind reminded him of just how much trouble he was going to land in if those soldiers returned to Cory. They had System chat, didn¡¯t they? Cory likely already knew about it all. But this went beyond just fighting off and surviving. He had to send a message. Cory thought he could kill Ray by sending some soldiers? Well, he had another think coming. ¡°Fuck!¡± he shouted, then flew. At least it wasn¡¯t stupidly difficult. Ray managed to kill one of them before he even left the warehouse. Another potshot with his draconic maw sent a laser blast that struck the man right on the back. The soldier tried to heal himself with his Recovery, even tried to protect himself with some kind of defensive skill as Ray fired again. But just as the compressed fiery breath connected, Ray appeared before his target with Spectral Step, still with the draconic maw around his hands. It was a small matter to reach forward and crush the soldier¡¯s skull with the biting force in his hand. ¡°You good?¡± Ray shouted. Gritty had finished dealing with the axe-wielder and was now fighting off two other soldiers on her own, blocking their path to the warehouse¡¯s exit. ¡°Just go.¡± Ray didn¡¯t argue. He shouldn¡¯t have even wasted time. Of course, he had already called up two flying draconic maws with Lifeblood Soulform and sent them rushing after the escapees. It was no great matter to impart just enough intelligence for them to carry out pursuit mission. He got going, crushing another True Mana shard as he went. The flying draconic heads had caught up to their targets, who were fleeing together. Idiots. Ray used Spectral Step again. His reappearance came alongside that of a Soulstrike True Mana arm, which he immediately swiped into his targets. One of the trio, a woman, was able to dodge. The other two went flying back. Ray fired off the draconic maw on his arm at the woman, but she dodged easily, then swung her sword at him with a wild yell. He jumped back, then cast Mottling Spiritguard, making all the orbs attack. She wasn¡¯t anywhere near as skilled or powerful as the spear-wielder. It took no time for the orbs to overwhelm her defence and then destroy her. Her exploding armour preceded her body bursting apart, deformed violently by the corrupting chaos. Someone screamed to Ray¡¯s left. One of the soldiers had survived Soulstrike. But all he managed was one step forward before he too died. The draconic maws crashed in, tearing him apart. One ripped off his arm. Another took his leg. Ray hadn¡¯t even recalled giving them orders to brutalize his enemies. Especially because it would have been so much more efficient to simply fire of them laser breaths, even if that would have taken up a chunk of his True Mana. Ray put the soldier out of his misery with one of the Spiritguard orbs turning into a short spear that stabbed through the man¡¯s heart. [Enemy Defeated] Adamant Barbarian [Tier 3] Human: [Level 32] x1 Hoplite [Tier 2] Human: [Level 30] x2 Vanguard [Tier 2] Human: [Level 31] x3 Spear Culler [Tier 4] Human: [Level 35] x1 Essence: +27,100 Knowledge: +21 True Mana Restored: +2,200 Essence to Level 35: 68,140/90,200 Knowledge to next Threshold: 1,605/2,000 Ray added his free stats to his Intellect as he began hurrying back towards the warehouse. He wasn¡¯t truly worried about Gritty. The more important matter was regrouping and then deciding what to do. It was a bit of a shame he was leaving the soldiers¡¯ bodies like that, but it couldn¡¯t be helped. Better to hurry to safety than to pointlessly try hiding the corpses. Cory surely had to know about Ray and the assault on him, as well as the fact that it had failed. Ray: Please tell me you¡¯re alright. Gritty: Didn¡¯t I tell you not to contact me unless I contacted you first? Ray: ¡­seriously? He received an answer in person, for just as he reached the alley with the warehouse, he found Gritty emerging. ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± she said, walking past him quickly. ¡°We need to get you kitted up.¡± ¡°What?¡± Ray looked past her at where the warehouse sat like it hadn¡¯t just had a battle raging inside. ¡°What about the others? They dead?¡± Gritty glared at him. ¡°What do you think? I¡¯m covered in blood.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that kind of normal for you?¡± She rolled her eyes, though there was a hint of a smile playing on her lips as she physically grabbed him by his new robes and dragged him away. ¡°Hey, careful,¡± Ray said. Trying to slap her hand away. ¡°These are new. I just got them.¡± Her bone armour was fading, revealing the same black armour with the hints of gold around it that the Everstead soldiers were fond of. Ray was starting to get an idea of how Gritty had gotten all the way to Cliff Two in the short time she had been here. ¡°You and your powers of infiltration¡­¡± he muttered. She didn¡¯t respond, only more or less carrying Ray single-handedly into the workshop where he had received the terrible intel. That made him straighten up and tense a bit. Time to find out just why and how he had been sold out. The proprietor¡¯s eyes widened in fear as Gritty and Ray entered. He looked like he wanted to bolt, though there was nowhere for him to run. ¡°Look, I¡ª¡± ¡°You¡¯ve got some nerve just standing there after you sold me out,¡± Ray said. He didn¡¯t detect anyone else in the place with Primordial Guage, but that didn¡¯t let the tension fall from his shoulders. Gritty held up a hand. ¡°It¡¯s not what you think.¡± That was directed at Ray. He frowned at her. ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°There was a mistake. A misunderstanding¡­ and it was kind of your fault.¡± ¡°My fault?¡± The sudden spike of anger jolted Ray a bit. ¡°Also, what the hell are you even doing here, Gritty?¡± ¡°All in good time. First, we need to get to somewhere safe.¡± She faced the proprietor, who looked mightily relieved that she was taking his side on the matter. ¡°Albert, is he still there?¡± ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡± Ray stared from the middle-aged guy to Gritty and back again. ¡°Ma¡¯am? What in the absolute fuck is going on here?¡± ¡°All in good time, wingman. Albert, open the door and prep for the others who are going to be here. You know the drill.¡± The proprietor nodded like a schoolboy caught red-handed. He led them through the small door behind and into another alley. Gritty ushered him through and they were once more off. Ray did make sure to shoot one last glare at the now white-faced proprietor before he followed. This alley was thinner and dingier. They had to climb over some walls and walk through trash and people¡¯s clothes until they finally reached another doorway at a dead end, hidden behind some old crates. ¡°The longer this goes on,¡± Ray said. ¡°The more I¡¯m left suspicious of everything.¡± Gritty grinned, then rapped a strange pattern of knocks on the door. About half a minute later, a different set of knocks returned from behind the door. Gritty hesitated for a second. A panicked look came on her face, which made Ray¡¯s heart skip a beat, and then she grinned like a fucking demon. ¡°You gave me a heart¡ª¡± She interrupted him by returning the knock. It was correct, because the door proceeded to open. Revealing the Holdstar trio inside. ¡°Ah, Ray!¡± Ram said. ¡°You¡¯re safe. I am quite glad to see you well.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, quite well,¡± Lam said. Bam stared unapologetically. ¡°Perhaps a little too well, considering the circumstances.¡± Scowling after Gritty, who once again led the way forward, Ray followed into a small apartment. There was almost nothing inside, not even any proper lighting. Just a bedroll, a chair, and a window covered with slats that let in the least amount of light. ¡°You know, you¡¯re kind of right,¡± Gritty said. ¡°This is dodgy as all hell. If you didn¡¯t trust me, I¡¯d say you were about to get murdered right about now.¡± Ray was having pretty much entertaining the same notions. He forced his thoughts to reroute back into a proper, productive line. ¡°Are you sure we¡¯re going to be safe here?¡± ¡°We have been safe and undetected here for the last few days,¡± Ram said. ¡°I think a few more should raise no difficulties.¡± Ray didn¡¯t feel that certain, but it wasn¡¯t like he could offer them a better alternative place to stay. And last few days? Ray himself had only been on Cliff Two for a few days. Just how long had Ram, Bam, and Lam spent here? How long had Gritty? ¡°Then I think we¡¯ve got a lot of talking to do.¡± Ray turned to glare at Gritty. ¡°Starting with what in the world you¡¯re doing here on Cliff Two.¡± B2 Chapter 34 (101): An Unlikely Group They had an interesting discussion as the day wore on. Ray learned a lot more than he had expected from Gritty and Ram, Bam, and Lam. ¡°So you snuck your way through an army of enemies?¡± Ray asked. ¡°All because they were being annoying about letting you fight actual monsters.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Gritty said imperiously. ¡°Those bastards were supposed to be helping us.¡± ¡°That is true¡­¡± Ray had made that deal with them for helping all the other Denizens climbing up the Tower of Forging. Clearly, that deal had gone out the window with the latest conflict. Gritty, upon arriving to the Second Floor, had discovered that the only way forward¡ªvia climbing the gigantic, spiralling spire¡ªwas blocked. She had rapidly finished gaining all the Essence she could on Cliff Four and had immediately set out for higher Cliffs. ¡°Wait,¡± Ray said. ¡°I thought Kredevel said you rushed to Cliff Three as soon as you got out of the Imitator Dungeon.¡± Ray wasn¡¯t sure if that was exactly what his Sylvan friend had reported, but it had sounded like that, at least. Gritty shook her head. ¡°He¡¯s slow and doesn¡¯t keep track of everything. I beat Cliff Four and then tried to climb it.¡± ¡°But you couldn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Nope.¡± Which was when Gritty had proceeded to carry out her typical infiltration powers. He recalled well just how she had been able to get into the Wild Tides. Her infiltration had been a key component in their victory over Derrick Orden¡¯s cultlike Faction. Of course, the blooming war had helped. Around the same time that Gritty had resolved to get to Cliff Three by hook or by crook, Kredevel had launched his fake Floor Lord offensive. ¡°So you didn¡¯t actually bother exploring Cliff Three and came straight to Cliff Two?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Not straight to Cliff Two,¡± Gritty said, a bit indignantly. She was probably one step away from yelling at Ray to stop assuming the worst. ¡°I got myself some good Essence first.¡± ¡°How much Essence could you have gained in a day or two?¡± ¡°Well, killing people does give you a ton of Essence.¡± Ray blinked. She was right. If she had fought against the Everstead¡ªor why would she even need to fight when she could have killed them stealthily by pretending to be one of them¡ªthen she would have accrued a ton of Essence in a pretty short time. He was also not surprised at all that she was that nonchalant about killing. ¡°They¡¯re pretty strong, though,¡± Ray said. ¡°And there¡¯s a lot of them. I can see you not having much trouble killing them, but with how many of them there are out there¡­¡± ¡°There¡¯s actually not that many. Well, there might have been before, but there¡¯s definitely not enough of them now.¡± ¡°Not enough? What do you mean?¡± ¡°They¡¯ve got this weird epidemic running amok that¡¯s causing them a lot of trouble.¡± She shrugged. ¡°Medieval society going through their black death phase, I guess.¡± Ray¡¯s eyes widened. Black death. Plague. ¡°Oh, I think it¡¯s a lot worse than that.¡± ¡°It is,¡± Ram said. ¡°It is the same plague you were involved with, Ray.¡± Ray could picture it already. The affliction that corrupted flesh and caused it to grow cancerously, even worse than what his chaos did, running amok among the soldiers that the Everstead had mustered. He could see it easily laying low their numbers. ¡°So that was the inexplicable situation that Kredevel had mentioned,¡± Ray muttered. ¡°What?¡± Gritty asked. ¡°Nothing.¡± He turned to Ram, Bam, and Lam. ¡°Do you know how they caught it? They were being so careful about it and everything.¡± ¡°We do not,¡± Lam said. ¡°Certainly not a part of our investigation.¡± Bam nodded sagely. ¡°Although, many things come down to money, so I assume someone wasn¡¯t paid enough to perform their job correctly and made a mess of things.¡± Ram corroborated their suppositions with a simple nod. Ray wasn¡¯t sure what to make of that, but that line of thinking gave him a small reminder. He hadn¡¯t ever killed the infected. Instead, he had helped them. Had they finally stepped up and retaliated against those who were determined to repress them? Had they somehow afflicted the rest of Everstead with the plague? ¡°What is this plague?¡± Gritty asked. ¡°I heard some of the soldiers talk about it like the end of the world.¡± She squinted her eyes at him, hands at her hips. ¡°And why were you involved with it, wingman?¡± ¡°Uh, long story. Just a deal I made with them on Cliff Three.¡± He grinned. ¡°You¡¯d have known if you weren¡¯t so bullheadedly avoiding any contact. But the plague,¡± he went on, raising his voice to cut off Gritty¡¯s words that were no doubt about to scathe him. ¡°Is something that the Floor Lord did by making Growth Mana go haywire in non-Growth-Mana-capable bodies.¡± That made Gritty forget about Ray¡¯s call out of her choice. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ wild. And she turned it into an actual plague that¡¯s running crazy through this whole kingdom?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what it looks like.¡± ¡°She¡¯s insane.¡± Ray had to bite his lips from saying look who¡¯s talking. Ray turned his focus on the Holdstar trio for now. ¡°When did you start being targeted by Cory?¡± ¡°About the same time that the Sylvans announced their aggressive presence,¡± Ram said. Bam made a strange sound in his mouth that sounded a bit like tutting. ¡°You should have told us the Floor Lord would be summoning reinforcements before making a move.¡± ¡°As I¡¯ve already explained, it is not the Floor Lord,¡± Ram said. ¡°Wait, hold on.¡± Ray looked between the three Holdstar on the same starfish-like body. ¡°You know it¡¯s not the actual Floor Lord who started all this?¡± ¡°We¡¯ve made our own deductions, yes.¡± Lam stared pointedly at Ram. ¡°And our deductions suggest¡ªonly suggest, mind you¡ªthat the Floor Lord isn¡¯t acting against the Everstead directly. Not yet. Not after taking her first direct action, because that¡¯s doing all the work for her. Or would have, eventually, if these new Sylvans hadn¡¯t taken up her cause.¡± ¡°Back up a bit,¡± Ray said. ¡°I know you said your investigations led you here and the financial discrepancies suggest the Floor Lord is the root of the problem.¡± That alone had been a pretty big revelation for Ray. ¡°But how did that lead you to think she doesn¡¯t even want to fight, especially now that she can fight back?¡± Ram, Bam, and Lam went into a little explanation on how they had come to their conclusion. Apparently, it wasn¡¯t just about regaining control over the Second Floor for the Floor Lord. She also had to recoup all her losses. It was starting to make sense. On the First Floor, the Sylvans had been harvesting Mana itself, especially in the form of Mana fruits. The Lord of the First Floor had intended to use them to pay back all the money the Tower Lord had spent to get the Floor Lord going on the First Floor. There was a similar situation for the Lord of the Second Floor. She was charged with not only running the Second Floor, but also returning everything the Tower Lord had spent on her operation. With interest, according to the Holdstar. ¡°But shouldn¡¯t that mean she¡¯d want to defeat the Everstead and take over everything they¡¯ve got?¡± Ray asked. ¡°There¡¯s got to be some decent wealth that she can extract from them.¡± ¡°From these people?¡± Bam asked, a little incredulously. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°These fake people?¡± Lam added. ¡°Fake people?¡± Gritty said. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Ram stared between the only humans in the dark room. ¡°They aren¡¯t from your world, are they? Then imagine where could they have come from.¡± ¡°Some other world¡­¡± Ray understood that seemed implausible but come on. They were in some kind of magic tower with talking aliens and they all had access to this insane System that granted them weird-ass powers and¡ªand Ray could go on. The point was that humans from a different world, from a different planet, didn¡¯t faze him in the least. ¡°Are you saying they¡¯re lying about where they¡¯re from?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Of course,¡± Lam said. ¡°Have you not figured out that yet?¡± Gritty bared her teeth. ¡°No need to be patronizing, starfish.¡± ¡°I figured there was a lot about them that was fishy,¡± Ray said. ¡°But to lie about their origins.¡± He shook his head. ¡°I guess I shouldn¡¯t be surprised. But if they¡¯re not a human civilization from some other world, then where did they come from? Who are they?¡± All three of the Holdstar looked up, but briefly, before looking back at Ray. It gave him the sensation of a shrug. ¡°We don¡¯t know the truth,¡± Ram said. ¡°The finances don¡¯t reveal that. What they do reveal is that their idea of wealth is very material. They are a society that sees power in bartering and trading, of exchanging physical goods and services. And these do not need to be anything that relates to Mana.¡± That was the key difference. The Sylvans had their entire civilization revolving around Mana. That was why they had been so insistent on gathering all the Mana fruit on the First Floor. Though, that brought up a different kind of question. ¡°If the Floor lord wants to recoup the costs of the Floor,¡± Ray said. ¡°Then what was her original plan to do so? There¡¯s no Mana fruit here or anything like that. Unless there¡¯s some other form of Mana I don¡¯t know about. Also, what could she have given the Everstead to make them work for her at first and run the Second Floor?¡± Ray held his breath a little, expecting Ram, Bam, and Lam to refute that the Floor Lord had ever hired the Everstead. That she had ever struck any sort of bargain and granted them anything in exchange for their assistance and cooperation in running the Second Floor. ¡°The Tower Lord granted her a vast reserve of Mana crystals, shards, and pearls. The vast majority of all that went to essentially hiring the Everstead. In return for a vast amount of the aforementioned Mana, these Everstead have apparently decided to assist the Floor Lord with the Second Floor.¡± ¡°Until their relationship soured.¡± Gritty butted in physically, standing between them. ¡°Wait, so, if these people aren¡¯t even people from another planet, then where the hell did the Floor Lord hire them from?¡± None of them had the answer to that. Ray tried to think of possibilities, but it was impossible. People could only come from Earth. The only people from Earth were Denizens. If these people weren¡¯t Tower-limbing Denizens, then what in the world were they? ¡°They can¡¯t be people from other Towers, can they?¡± Gritty asked. ¡°I heard there were people from different Towers entering our Tower.¡± ¡°No,¡± Ray said. ¡°I met people from other Towers.¡± He tried not to let his face crumple a bit as he recalled Alice Felds. ¡°They were normal people. Not¡­ this medieval Everstead society.¡± They couldn¡¯t figure it out. Even after trying to brainstorm possibilities, none of it made any sense. Rays frustration at the strange mystery subsided when Ram, Bam, and Lam explained how exactly they went about performing their accounting. They apparently had a skill that could catalogue nearly everything in terms of Mana crystals, shards, and pearls. Of course, this didn¡¯t mean that the Everstead had literally extracted the sum total of their entire existence from the Floor Lord before agreeing to work on the Second Floor. As such, the Holdstar had also documented the presence of Mana forms among the Everstead society. Both their current possession and their historical presence. It turned out they had indeed received a powerful injection of Mana crystals and shards throughout their whole society. Several normal citizens had received actual stipends of said Mana forms from the government to run all their businesses and other needs. Ray was a little boggled to receive an economics lesson where people used magical Mana instead of actual money. But it made sense. These three strange aliens were pretty smart. ¡°But now you can¡¯t go on with your investigations,¡± Ray said, looking at the door. ¡°Because Cory wants you and he¡¯s not going to be friendly.¡± A weird, rhythmic, and wet sound came from Ram. It took a few seconds for Ray to understand that the alien was laughing. ¡°We will discover what we need to find,¡± Ram said. ¡°Eventually, if not immediately. But yes, the Everstead are afraid of what I might further uncover.¡± ¡°Which means they¡¯ve got something very juicy hidden,¡± Gritty said with a little smile. ¡°Exactly!¡± ¡°Or, they are simply afraid of us because we¡¯re affiliated with their enemies,¡± Lam said. ¡°So it is natural for them to want to keep us restricted.¡± Bam nodded vigorously in agreement. ¡°Plus, for all they know, we might not even be accountants. We could be assassins in disguise. Saboteurs ruining their war effort. Spies relaying all their vital information to their enemies.¡± Ray tried imagining the Holdstar trio attempting subterfuge of the assassin-spy sort, and it made him laugh. ¡°As much as I¡¯d like to find out what their little secret is, I¡¯ve got more important things to do,¡± Gritty said. Ray raised an eyebrow at her. ¡°Like killing them all instead?¡± ¡°Of course. But also, I could capture one of them and do a little interrogation. That should reveal everything.¡± This time, Ray imagined Gritty using her blood-based abilities on some poor soldier and had to suppress a shudder. His chaos powers were terrifying, but there was something horrific on a completely different scale when considering abilities like the one that allowed Gritty to control other people by controlling their blood. ¡°So you¡¯re set on leaving soon?¡± Ram asked, turning to Gritty. She nodded. ¡°I brought you Ray, didn¡¯t I? Now I can get away in peace.¡± Ray looked between the two of them. ¡°You know, you never explained how you two met or how you arranged this hideout.¡± He looked back at the doorway, with a glare this time. ¡°Or who that guy in the workshop is.¡± Gritty laughed. Then explained that part of their story. Apparently, they had met in much the same way Ray had met the Holdstar trio. Basically, it was a coincidence. After Gritty had infiltrated into one of the Everstead military squads, her squad had been assigned to find and detain Ram, Bam and Lam. She had actually done her job with due diligence, foregoing killing the others to actually locate wherever the Holdstar trio had been hiding. It hadn¡¯t taken her long to discover them¡ªstrange alien beings left a strong impression in people¡¯s minds. But instead of handing them over to her superiors, she had decided to converse and get to know them. And now they were here. ¡°The identity I took up within the squad is the friend of that old guy¡¯s daughter,¡± Gritty said. ¡°So I was able to get in touch with the guy, and with some threats and such, we got all this going.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Ray said, blinking a little. ¡°The identity you took up?¡± ¡°Well, how do you think I managed to get in and remain untroubled so far?¡± And all that without something as easy as Mimic Mana, which Ray had access to. Although, she had gone through the Imitator Dungeon. It was likely she had received some sort of reward that allowed her to change her appearance without too much trouble, even if it wasn¡¯t an apparent ability that registered under Primordial Guage. Come to think of it, Ray had always ended up looking at people¡¯s skills and abilities when related to their classes and nothing else. It was limited that way. If people possessed True Mana skills from Tower Nodes or other powers that didn¡¯t come through advancing their class and Path, it wouldn¡¯t register on Primordial Gauge. ¡°Anyway,¡± Ray said. ¡°I¡¯m not here to stay for long either.¡± He turned to the Holdstar trio. ¡°I guess I don¡¯t know what you¡¯ve got planned, but I hope it doesn¡¯t count on me.¡± ¡°What do we have planned?¡± Ram mused. Lam growled. ¡°Why, aren¡¯t we confronting that thieving, stealing, robbing bastard of a lord? The one that calls himself Cory?¡± ¡°Confrontation?¡± Bam sounded like he was being strangled. ¡°Please, we cannot confront anyone. I suggest we leave immediately. Seek out the Floor Lord and report the findings we¡¯ve discovered so far, especially since forging ever farther onwards has now become impossible.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say impossible,¡± Ram said. ¡°You know what I mean!¡± They bickered among themselves. Ray had always thought the Holdstar were actually pretty united on all fronts, but it seemed they still disagreed on certain things. ¡°What are we?¡± Ram eventually asked, his voice raised to quell his two companions¡¯ shouts. ¡°Tell me. What are we?¡± ¡°We are¡­ an accountant.¡± ¡°Yes. Lest you forget, there are two definitions of accounting. One is the kind we engage in normally. The one where we tinker with finances and economics. The other¡­¡± Ram¡¯s expression hardened. ¡°The other is where we hold others accountable for their actions.¡± ¡°Ha!¡± Lam said. ¡°So we are confronting in the end, then!¡± ¡°No, we are compromising.¡± ¡°Compromising?¡± both Lam and Bam asked at once. ¡°Yes. We will wait to find an opportune time to meet Lord Cory. Not yet. But soon, perhaps. There will come a time when we can act. Unless things become truly untenable and we are forced to flee.¡± Ray nodded. ¡°I see the compromise now.¡± They would essentially bide their time until the right moment came to pass. That was when they would decide whether to carry out this confrontation against Cory or whether to escape to the Floor Lord while they still could. ¡°Why?¡± Gritty asked. They all turned to face her, and she just raised an eyebrow. ¡°I mean, why go to the trouble of confronting him? I know you¡¯ve got your own description of accounting, but that¡¯s not what you were hired for, was it?¡± Ram answered. ¡°We are doing what is right. That counts for a great deal. I would not be satisfied personally till we reach the bottom of this mystery.¡± ¡°There is also a bonus to recouping some of the Tower Lord¡¯s losses!¡± Lam said. ¡°Or at least, finding a way to do so.¡± Bam hissed. ¡°They don¡¯t need to know that part!¡± Ray laughed. ¡°I get it.¡± ¡°What about you?¡± Gritty¡¯s eyes glinted as she faced him. ¡°Those three are going to confront Lord Cory. I¡¯m going to go on and fight. But you still haven¡¯t decided what you¡¯re going to do.¡± ¡°Simple. I¡¯m going to keep doing what I set out to do. Finish up this Floor and climb higher up the Tower. And to do that, I¡¯ll need a way to get to Cliff One.¡± Gritty frowned. ¡°Good luck with that.¡± ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry. This conversation gave me an idea of just how I could do that.¡± ¡°How so?¡± ¡°Easy. I¡¯m going to help the Everstead and make them take me to Cliff One.¡± ¡°Explain.¡± Ray smiled at her scowl and told her his plan. He also thanked her. It was her report about the state of the war, and more importantly, the state of the plague, that gave Ray the idea. ¡°So you¡¯re going to heal them?¡± Gritty asked. She sounded more sceptical than scandalized, which Ray decided to take as an improvement over scowling. ¡°Can you actually do that?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have to test it out but if the idea I¡¯ve got works, then I¡¯m definitely going to take full advantage of it.¡± ¡°You would help the enemy?¡± ¡°Not exactly.¡± Ray had trouble not rubbing his hands like an evil mosquito. ¡°I¡¯m going to help them just carefully enough to help us, actually.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡± ¡°I do. That¡¯s good enough.¡± Gritty stared at him like she wanted to pry open his skull and read whatever he intended to do straight from his brain. ¡°I wish you luck on your endeavour,¡± Ram said. Lam and Bam nodded along. ¡°So do I,¡± Lam said. ¡°And I,¡± said Bam. ¡°Because your insanity will need it.¡± ¡°Especially if you end up drawing her out.¡± ¡°Her?¡± Gritty looked from the Holdstar trio to Ray. ¡°What¡ª¡± Her eyes widened. ¡°You¡¯re doing this to flush out the Floor Lord?¡± Ray grinned. ¡°Exactly.¡± B2 Chapter 35 (102): Unconventional Healing Ray and the others left before long. Mostly because they all decided that staying there wasn¡¯t going to work, no matter how much dirt Gritty had on the workshop¡¯s proprietor. Ram, Bam, and Lam were indeed going to do an accounting confrontation, but they had decided there was no point in doing so with Cory. He was likely not responsible for the majority of the finances of the Everstead. Just that of his Cliff, to some extent, and that too up to the amount that he had been allocated from higher up. Essentially, if the Holdstar wanted to do any true accounting, they would need to rise to Cliff One and confront the king of Everstead himself. With the possibility of that looking quite slim, Ram and the other two had instead decided to head down and find wherever the Floor Lord was. Ray had suggested them to wait, since his ultimate plan revolved around flushing the Floor Lord out of hiding. They had declined. At least they would be travelling with Gritty for a while. That reassured Ray, to an extent. ¡°Be careful,¡± Ray told Gritty before they departed. He had no idea when he would ever see any of them again. ¡°I know you¡¯re pretty good at killing people and you¡¯ve killed a bunch of the Everstead already, but still.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, I¡¯ll be sure not to die.¡± She only tried to look annoyed. ¡°The same goes for you.¡± Ray scoffed. ¡°You think I¡¯m dying before I reach the top of the Tower?¡± She gave him a quick hug before scurrying out of the room. The gesture had surprised Ray, if pleasantly so. Ray called up Kredevel before actually implementing his plan. He didn¡¯t want to get into it and have Kredevel find out from some third-party that he was seemingly betraying his friend. Kredevel: You intend to double cross them, then? Ray: Essentially. Kredevel: And you believe they will be duped. Ray: Not exactly. I believe they have no choice BUT to be duped. He went on to explain how much the plague was wreaking havoc on their army. After all, it was a major reason that the Sylvans were succeeding against them. It wasn¡¯t just the fact that a lot of the Everstead forces had been afflicted by it, somehow, and were now incapacitated from participating in any actual battles. There was also the fact that they had to coordinate their forces with far greater precision and control. They no doubt wanted to minimize the amount of people that caught the plague. In fact, Ray suspected that the Everstead weren¡¯t able to bring the full might of their forces to bear upon the Sylvans because of that. It wouldn¡¯t do to get their whole army infected by the plague too. Their priority wasn¡¯t defeating the Sylvans or the Floor Lord. Their priority was containing the plague itself. Which was where Ray came in. He, hopefully, could provide a path for them to rid themselves of the plague with the help of the Tower Nodes of the Fleshcrafter. Of course, there would be trouble in getting into a position where he could actually use the Tower Nodes. The Everstead had to know that he had killed those soldiers who had come after him. But Ray was counting on their desperation, and on the fact that they couldn¡¯t know about the Tower Nodes yet. Ray: What¡¯s even better is that I won¡¯t be able to do it for long. The Tower Nodes can only be used for a limited amount of time. Kredevel: Which means they will only send their most important combatants to you. Ray: Yep! If I can get to know who these important people are, and what they¡¯re capable of, I can pass on the information to you. Kredevel: I wish you luck in your endeavour, then. That would be tremendously helpful. Ray paused for a second, but then forged on anyway. No need to hesitate now. Ray: Of course, they could be so powerful that it might not matter what kind of information I give you. They¡¯ve got some pretty crazy people in their lineup. He went on to describe what he had experienced when he had tried to use Primordial Gauge on one of the lords. Cory and Caleb, and likely quite a few others, all outclassed Ray. The thought made him frown. This was it. This was what he had been missing. The overarching threat that he hadn¡¯t properly actualized. The equivalent to the Floor Lord from the First Floor. It was just the fact that the threat wasn¡¯t crystallized into one figure that had made him not realize it. Ray didn¡¯t have a singular enemy he most likely would need to confront in the end. With the way things were going, he might need to fight an entire kingdom. As such, he needed to be strong enough to take them down, no matter who they sent. If he was having trouble defeating just one disposable spear-wielder, then that meant he had a lot of room for improvement. Ray took a deep breath. Alright. He knew what he had to do. He just had to remain alive to do it. Kredevel: That is why this plague has been a blessing. It affects them all, regardless of their level. They cannot escape it. Until now. Ray: Then I hope you¡¯ve got what it takes to take them down. It felt casually cruel to say it like that. This was a giant gamble of Ray¡¯s own making, one that could jeopardize all the gains that the Sylvans had achieved on the Second Floor so far. But Kredevel didn¡¯t argue against it. He knew Ray¡¯s ultimate goal. More importantly, he supported it. If Ray was successful, he would end up drawing out the Floor Lord, wherever she was now. The Sylvans might even be able to convince her to lend a hand to those who were fighting so valiantly for her. Ray could very well tip the balance of the war in the Sylvans¡¯ favour. Big risk for big regards. Kredevel: Fair fortune, my friend. Ray: You too. Good luck. Make sure you don¡¯t die, no matter what. Kredevel: I shan¡¯t. With that conversation done, Ray took a deep breath, then headed out. This was going to be the tricky part.
Ray raised his hands as he entered the manor compound. It was a weird reflex from growing up on Earth. Back home, they were all afraid of others holding weapons. Now, in this world of Systems and skills, Ray could trap his hands behind his back and still unleash a lot of his spells to wreak devastation. Strangely, it was the Everstead who insisted that he keep his hands raised as he entered the compound. They had access to the System. A lot of them had access to powerful skills. Then why in the world were they so insistent on having him keep his hands straight up like they were afraid he¡¯d pull out a gun? Whatever. If Ray wanted to secure a meeting with Cory, he would need to comply with their demands. At least they weren¡¯t crazy yet. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Weirdly, Cory didn¡¯t let Ray get too close. ¡°Halt!¡± a guard yelled. Ray halted. Even though he was still over fifty feet from the person he had come to meet. ¡°You have great nerve coming here in this fashion.¡± Cory was trying to keep it together for the sake of his followers. Even from this distance, Ray could see that he was struggling a little. His eyes had sleepless bags, his face was ashen and grave. Cory was not taking this war well. ¡°I find it difficult to believe you can truly cure the plague.¡± They were far enough that they needed to raise their voices to be heard clearly. A little annoying, but there wasn¡¯t much Ray could do about it. ¡°I said I might be able to,¡± Ray yelled. ¡°I still need to test things. It might not work. But I figured you¡¯d be willing to give it a shot regardless, considering you¡¯ve got nothing that works.¡± Ray had been banking on that very fact. He had counted on the Everstead kingdom¡¯s desperation to ensure his own safety. ¡°How do you intend to cure the plague?¡± Cory asked. ¡°I have some abilities that can manipulate the flesh of others. I¡¯ve already seen first hand what kind of affliction this plague causes. If you remember, I was involved in investigating it on Cliff Three. I like to think I¡¯ve got some expertise.¡± ¡°Flesh manipulation¡­ I should have known one such as you would possess such dangerous abilities.¡± ¡°We¡¯re not here to judge my abilities. We¡¯re here to judge whether I can actually heal your people from this plague.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Clearly, Cory remained unconvinced. But he also had no choice. Even if his mind told him not to accept Ray¡¯s offer, if it turned out he could indeed heal others from the plague, then it wasn¡¯t an opportunity they could pass up. ¡°Why would you assist your enemy?¡± ¡°You¡¯re not my enemy. Or you weren¡¯t, as far as I knew. The mix-up that happened was because you and your soldiers stupidly believed that I was the one you were looking for.¡± ¡°Mix-up?¡± someone growled. Another hissed, ¡°Stupidly?¡± Cory held up a hand. He wasn¡¯t interested in bickering. Ray¡¯s heart thudded a little. He would be lying if he said his whole body wasn¡¯t tense. After all, he was surrounded by people who had every reason to want him dead. ¡°My question stands, Raymond,¡± Cory said. ¡°Why would you help us?¡± ¡°Why have I ever helped you, Cory?¡± The rest growled some more at his blatant use of the lord¡¯s name without any honorifics. But Cory merely bared his teeth. ¡°Because you are a mercenary who is always seeking his own profit.¡± ¡°Exactly. I want to strike another deal. My help in return for at least granting me passage to Cliff One. Let¡¯s talk about the specific details about the exact help I can offer, the frequency and the information I want in exchange, all that kind of stuff. You understand, right?¡± ¡°I wish I didn¡¯t.¡± That actually made Ray laugh. ¡°So, what¡¯s your choice?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Are you going to take a chance on me and see if I can actually be of use?¡± There were a lot of disagreements to that. Loud and vocal ones. Actually, not just disagreements. There was a good chunk of the gathering who wanted Ray dead on the spot. Good thing then that they weren¡¯t making any decisions regarding him. That was entirely up to Cory. ¡°I will need proof,¡± Cory said. ¡°Wait here, and I will bring your first¡­ patient.¡± Ah, so he was supposed to demonstrate his capabilities right here, in front of everyone. He¡¯d be taking out two birds with one stone. Reassuring Cory and also quelling all the outcry around him. Ray complied. Cory didn¡¯t himself go get whoever he was supposed to heal. After what felt like fifteen minutes, a couple soldiers brought another one of them instead. The man was definitely infected. Ray was actually surprised that the soldiers had brought him so casually. Weren¡¯t Cory and the others afraid of catching the affliction? Although, now that Ray looked closer, he saw that Cory was being protected by a strange, shimmering veil over him. Huh. Some sort of skill or item that stymied the spread of the plague? Whatever the case, Ray¡¯s task was clear. He looked down at the man at his feet. The poor fellow was suffering from the same cancerous growths that the rest of the afflicted had attained. Pustules covered his arms and shoulder, and one of his legs looked like it had been blown up into a fleshy balloon. His head was bulbous and shot with veins, but not too bad just yet. ¡°You¡¯re in a terrible state, huh?¡± Ray said. The man groaned back unintelligibly. Ray closed his eyes to concentrate for a moment, then called up the Tower Node of the Fleshcrafter. It blinked to life beside him, the flesh within its glassy cage writhing to life. He didn¡¯t want to reveal the existence of the Tower Node to the Everstead. At least, he didn¡¯t want them to know was that he possessed any. Thankfully, there was an easy way to make sure it remained hidden, even when it was outside. At the same time that the Tower Node had appeared, Ray had called forth his Imitator construct. The summoning was fast, as was the construct¡¯s execution of his command. Before anyone was aware, the sludgy construct had covered the Tower Node while also transforming its appearance to look like an extension of Ray¡¯s Vestments. Ray himself got close enough to the Tower Node to make it brush up against his leg, thus enhancing the illusion. Hopefully, no one had seen the Tower Node. Not for long, at least. Focusing on the man before him, Ray got to work. ¡°This better work,¡± he muttered. The man groaned back at Ray again. Ray concentrated on the power of the Tower Node, on its ability that allowed him to manipulate flesh itself. He recalled his act against the Viledrake. The image of pieces of the monster tearing free from its main body was still fresh in Ray¡¯s mind. He needed the same kind of power now. Not as strongly, though. He needed more precise control. But that should be fine. He was substituting power for precision. Sacrificing it. He didn¡¯t want to rip this man to smithereens of meat. All he wanted to do was remove the cancerous growths ravaging his body. A connection formed between Ray, the Tower Node, and his subject. He couldn¡¯t properly describe it. What he could understand was the fact that it felt like he had become a dam. A barricade holding back much greater power. It was like the Tower Node wanted him to unleash flesh-tearing frenzy and reduce the man to a thousand bloodied bits. Ray took a deep breath to steady himself. He wasn¡¯t going to lose to a Tower Node¡¯s impulses. This power was his to wield. Nobody, not even the Fleshcrafter, was going to wrest control from him. Slowly, Ray applied the same kind of excising control he had implemented against the Viledrake on the man. He watched with bated breath as the pustules on the man¡¯s arm started coming off. Ray could apparently dry them up before plucking them off, leaving the arm mostly uninjured. Fuck, it was disgusting work though. And tiring. Holding back the Tower Node¡¯s power was causing a good deal of strain on his mind. The man continued groaning as Ray worked, though he eventually fell silent. It concerned Ray a bit. Was he even alive any longer? Thankfully, Primordial Gauge confirmed that he hadn¡¯t killed off his patient yet. Good enough. He continued working. Ray realized that if he could force the flesh to obey his command, then he could force it to reknit. He could make it make it heal, in a way. Close any open wounds, reattach any torn ligaments and such, cut off blood flow in severed vessels. Things like that. It probably wasn¡¯t true healing like the kind that Joaquin was capable of. Though, that made him think there had to be a Tower Node of the Healer or something like that. Point was that it was good enough for the man in front of him. Time passed and Ray continued to work, but he was making progress. He managed to pull out the corrupted, Growth-Mana-afflicted flesh from the man. His head returned to normal, losing the pulsing veins. Even his leg had greatly reduced in swelling. [New Personal Achievement¡ªPlague Healer!] You have healed a being from a cancerous plague! For once, you have chosen to apply your powers directly to heal rather than destroy. Reward
  • Reputation: +25 Benevolent
[Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 100-point threshold, your Benevolence now refunds you the Mana cost of one spell every thirteenth spell. Refunded Mana is equivalent to the cost of the thirteenth spell used in a chain. Ah, that was nice. It had been a while since his last achievement. Of course, all that excising had left the flesh near Ray. A chunk of the bloodied, pulsing, oozing mass had fallen to the ground around him, He really wasn¡¯t squeamish. It was difficult to be, considering his chaos normally made living bodies twist and contort in unfathomable ways. But having literal chunks of corrupted meat next to him was a whole other ordeal. ¡°Done!¡± Ray announced. ¡°Your friend should be as good as¡ªwell maybe, not as good as new, but close enough, I think.¡± ¡°We will be the judge of that,¡± Cory said. He ordered the same soldiers who had brought in the man to go and retrieve the fellow, who was still faint. Whatever the men did, whatever process they used to check the state of Ray¡¯s patient after he had been pulled away, actually worked. After one of the soldiers reported to their superior, Cory looked back at Ray with a look of awe that was visible even at this distance. ¡°You actually did it,¡± he said. Ray grinned. ¡°Of course I did. There was never any doubt.¡± ¡°Although, you do not look as though you could do it again.¡± Damn, was it that obvious? He wiped some sweat off his brow and wished he could somehow make the disgusting remains of the man¡¯s illness disappear. ¡°It does take some time to recharge, yes,¡± Ray said. ¡°It?¡± Cory asked. ¡°My ability to manipulate flesh, yes.¡± Ray tried not to wince. He was revealing more than he wanted to, but it was unavoidable. ¡°I won¡¯t be able to heal anyone else for today. But it did work. So is that proof enough? Can we get started on figuring out the actual details of my deal?¡± Cory looked consideringly at Ray. There were no protests this time, no calls of separating Ray¡¯s head off his shoulders. They were all impressed by his display. In truth, he wasn¡¯t sure how much he had succeeded, even if he had received an achievement for it. For all he knew, the man would look as bad as he had before Ray had worked his magic in only a few hours. Maybe all Ray had done was remove the corrupted flesh, but the real illness was still buried within his body. But he figured even temporary reprieve would be welcome. He had helped. He had succeeded, even if only for a time. That had to count for something. ¡°Alright,¡± Cory said. ¡°Let us discuss¡­ this new deal of yours.¡± Ray grinned. Oh, yes. He was pretty sure he had just secured his ticket to Cliff One. To the end of the Second Floor for him. B2 Chapter 36 (103): Against The Wind Ray didn¡¯t have much difficulty convincing the Everstead people that he couldn¡¯t just heal whoever they brought up to him willy-nilly. He needed a break. His powers were limited. Only after recharging could he work his magic and get rid of the infection. It made sense. An act that powerful needed a great deal of Mana and effort. Of course it couldn¡¯t be used repeatedly in a short timeframe. After all, Ray wasn¡¯t lying. He was using the power of the Tower Nodes to perform this little healing miracle, and the Tower Nodes were temperamental at best. He could only utilize their power up to a certain extent before he needed to let them take a break. Forcing the issue wasn¡¯t going to help. Still, it was something Ray could take advantage of. Which he proceeded to do. ¡°You need a certain kind of Mana to enact this healing?¡± Cory asked. Ray nodded. ¡°Yes. A specific variant of Mana, called Origin Mana. I have been trying to make it a part of my Mana Core for a while, though I haven¡¯t succeeded yet. But what I do have is a way to convert other kinds of Mana, especially Mana I gain from killing monsters, into Origin Mana.¡± ¡°Ah, I see. That is certainly a rather unique skill.¡± ¡°Quite. But you see why I¡¯m obsessed with killing monsters now, right? I need to do it, if I want to get more Origin Mana.¡± Cory nodded resolutely. ¡°You appear to have no other choice in the matter.¡± ¡°Yes. But I will warn you, it isn¡¯t just Mana that is the issue.¡± ¡°No?¡± ¡°No. The ability has a long cooldown as well. I won¡¯t be able to use it for a whole day, usually. Maybe I could push it to half a day, if the situation was an emergency. But in most cases, a limit of once per day is what I can manage.¡± That had made Cory¡¯s face darken, though he didn¡¯t question the matter. He did ask if there was a way to speed up the process, but Ray had sadly shaken his head. Just System restrictions. A successful conversation, all told. Ray was now set to do what he really wanted. Monster hunting. Lying to Cory¡¯s face hadn¡¯t bothered Ray in the slightest. Cory was a man who would have been happy to see Ray dead if he hadn¡¯t been so crucial to Everstead operations. Why should he feel guilty about creating bold falsehoods, especially when it was to his benefit? The nearest monsters Ray was directed to were more Elementals. Wind Elementals, in fact. He was being accompanied by another guard, a woman who was unfamiliar to him. Ostensibly, she was supposed to be his guide, quickly taking him to all the locations where he could fight monsters and gain Essence. And Mana too, according to what the Everstead knew. ¡°Are you equipped to deal with Wind Elementals, sir?¡± the woman asked. The ends of her hair that had come out of the bottom of her dark helm were flapping this way and that in the wind. ¡°They¡¯re not your usual variety of monsters.¡± ¡°I¡¯m surprised I wasn¡¯t told of their existence before,¡± Ray said. That clerk girl hadn¡¯t mentioned them. He didn¡¯t truly blame her. As a clerk, she likely knew a lot less about the monsters on Cliff Two than the military and the government administration did. ¡°Well, you do now. The question remains whether you can defeat them, however. We tend to leave them alone because they remain unaffected by most traditional means.¡± ¡°I think I can handle them.¡± ¡°I certainly hope you can,¡± the guard said as she began retreating. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It won¡¯t take me long.¡± The wind was picking up, heralding the arrival of the Elementals themselves. Ray strode forward to meet them. His supposed guide brought up a good point. These monsters were definitely not like any others Ray had faced so far. They weren¡¯t even similar to the Water Elementals. The Wind Elementals were amorphous and almost invisible. Or would have been, if Ray didn¡¯t have Primordial Gauge allowing him to see Mana. When he focused his sight to look at the world and the magical energy that drove it within the Tower, the Wind Elementals bloomed bright in his vision. They didn¡¯t stick to any specific form. Where the Earth, Stone, and Water Elementals had all been hulking humanoids made of their specific element, the Wind Elementals held to no such notions. Some flapped with wings like they were birds. Others were sleek and long, swimming through the air like fish. The more Ray looked, the more weird shapes he found. Some were gigantic and monstrous, while others were small and easily ignored. He realized these Elementals reminded him of the Wood Elementals he had burned on the Cliffs One and Two. But the guard was right. Ray wasn¡¯t going to be able to beat them easily. Not with most of his spells needing some kind of physical target to act on. Nevertheless, he had ample tools in his arsenal to try. The Wind Elementals got close enough to make his hair start ruffling and his Vestments press close on his body. It was time for Ray to act. He cast Lifeblood Soulform to summon up the Viledrake tail. As it appeared in its black, craggy mass, lava bloomed along its entire length. Molten Mana burned like a star, the heat so intense that the air itself began to twist. Ray grinned. Twisting air was just what he needed against Wind Elementals. Where the wind had grown into a gust, it now quickly disappeared. The Wind Elementals screamed and screeched as they stayed far away from the heat. Ray pressed his lips together. The Elementals weren¡¯t trying to suicidally attack him, regardless of what they faced. It seemed they had a stronger sense of self-preservation than other monsters. He was forcefully reminded of the Duskshell he had afflicted with Insanity back on the First Floor. The memory made him smile, though at the time, Ray had been fuming. He focused. Quick swipes from the tail showed him just how far he could extend his new appendage. Not too far. Maybe forty feet if he really stretched it. Far enough to catch a few of the Wind Elementals off guard. The heat from the Molten Mana killed those monsters very quickly. But the rest of the Elementals fled farther back. Ray wouldn¡¯t be able to reach them easily. It wasn¡¯t a problem, though. He had already figured out what he had to do. Ray cast Mottling Spiritguard. Orbs of chaos leaped to life around him. They spun with Ray at the centre, moving so fast that they turned into black-red streaks in his field of view. Streaks that slowly turned orange as Ray used Abstract Conversion and Origin Resonance. Then he fired the orbs into the distance. It worked, just as he had expected. The Spiritguard orbs, now burning molten orange instead of the chaotic black-red, crashed through the gaggle of Wind Elementals like cannonballs firing into an approaching army. Basically, they tore the monsters apart. Seeing that they wouldn¡¯t be able to run away, the monsters finally chose to go on the offensive. Ray got ready to defend himself. His defensive Spiritguard orbs weren¡¯t going to protect him against slicing winds that rammed in with the force of hurricanes. Well, not unless he changed them to be filled with lava. The same trick he was using to attack them would work well to defend him too. Their blasting wind would dissipate so long as he heated up the air enough, countering the monster¡¯s wind-based attacks with his own currents of whirling air. Ray could, of course, summon up an Impervious Shell, but where was the fun in that? It was just extra exhilarating to see his idea work out. Not as well as he expected, to be fair, since the powerful winds still made it through and let gashes across the exposed skin of his hands. His face would have received an unintended shave if he hadn¡¯t covered it too. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. But it was enough to safeguard him against the monsters¡¯ counters. These creatures were weak. Ray turned back to the woman who had accompanied him here. ¡°See,¡± he shouted over the wind. ¡°I told you. I got this.¡± She didn¡¯t appear impressed, though. If anything, she looked more fearful, and suddenly began gesticulating to some point behind Ray like he was about to be backstabbed or something. ¡°Relax,¡± he said as he turned around. There was a reason the guard was agitated. The Wind Elementals weren¡¯t about to let themselves fall so easily, so had now decided to band together to stand against Ray. Quite literally. The different Elementals had all conjoined together to form an amalgam that towered over him, slowly approaching like a glacier. The monsters¡ªmonster?¡ªwas even visible to the naked eye now. A humongous, misshapen mass of compressed air, threaded through with shining white energy alongside compressed silvery strings here and there. Ray whistled. ¡°Impressive.¡± They chose to prove just how impressive it was by attacking. It was almost as though a large part of their body dissolved, turning into wind. Heavy, powerful, unstoppable wind. The Elemental¡¯s attack was so strong that the very earth was being uprooted. Chunks of rocks and broken trees went flying, the air turning into a churning funnel of destruction worse than any hurricane or tornado could ever be. Needless to say, Ray had no real defence against it. He had his Mottling Spiritguard orbs revolving hard and fast around him, and he was forced to switch them to defensive stance. Filled with Molten Mana though they were, the orbs could still turn into curved barriers that shielded Ray against the immensely powerful wind. Still, they were all blown away. Far behind Ray, the guard yelled out as she was lifted off her feet. Clearly, she hadn¡¯t retreated far enough. Ray himself was shouting as he was flung back. At least his barriers prevented him from crash-landing and crushing his body. He was starting to see how fighting a literal storm proved to be such a challenge for most people. Trying to stack barricades weren¡¯t working either. Even when Ray summoned up an Impervious Shell to add to the overall defence, the wind still blew it all away. Ray had to consider himself lucky he wasn¡¯t being hit by the flying debris. At one point, he fell into a hollow in the ground. A location where the Elemental¡¯s ravaging storm had uprooted a large tree and torn away a lot of the earth to boot. The intensity of the striking wind reduced just enough for Ray to gather his thoughts. Enough of a reprieve for him to figure out a counter to the situation. He threw out one arm from the hollow, casting Lifeblood Soulform to summon up an Impervious Shell in front of him. This gave just enough time to use Primal Spiritcraft next. As the dark shell was ripped off the ground, the draconic maw that had formed around Ray¡¯s hand fired off its compressed laser at the Elemental. The wind threw his arm¡ªand this his aim¡ªoff, but it was enough. His first blast of the chaotic beam of fire had reached close enough to the Elemental. Close enough for Ray to use Spectral Step. Ray appeared right in front of the monster. Right before the point where it was blasting everything with irrepressible wind. He was safe. Of course, the monster redirected its attack soon enough. It reared back effortlessly, setting off another rushing torrent of destructive air. Ray¡¯s ears were smothered with a deafening roar, his whole body flying off like it had been shot from a circus cannon. But not before he had cast Lifeblood Soulform three times straight. Greater Windbane Maws formed around the enormous Elemental, immediately unleashing their fiery breaths. Actually fiery, because Ray had used Origin Resonance to once again imbue his spell with Molten Mana. As such, the constructs fired off lava. Ray was flung away too far and too fast to see the immediate effect of his spell combination, but he regained control soon enough. Then he had to hold himself back from whooping in triumph. His plan had worked. The three flying draconic maws were tearing the monster apart. With screeching shrieks, the smaller Elementals were trying to break free from the amalgam they had formed. But Ray¡¯s constructs acted faster. In about twenty more seconds, the entire gathering of Elementals had been destroyed. Everything was blessedly wind-free. [Enemy Defeated] Tier 10 Monster: Wind Elemental [Level 25] x14 Tier 12 Monster: Greater Wind Elemental [Level 29] x1 Essence: +38,480 Knowledge: +45 True Mana Restored: +3,790 [Level Up!] Reward
  • +5 Intellect, +5 Spirit, +2 Vitality +2 Agility, +10 allocatable free stats.
  • New Spell: Soul Stitcher [Offensive] [Tier 5]
  • Soul Stitcher has been converted to Spirit Mirrorlink by Path of Lifeblood Chaos
Essence to Level 36: 16,420/97,600 Knowledge to next Threshold: 1,650/2,000 A wide smile bloomed on Ray¡¯s face. Excellent. Another new spell. And its name looked pretty interesting too. He would have to see just what it would allow him to do. ¡°So you did have it in the end,¡± the guard said from behind. Ray turned to find the woman in a bit of a dishevelled state. Her helm had been ripped off to leave her hair in a tangled mess, her face was scratched and smudged with dirt, and she was walking with a bit of a limp. ¡°Told you, didn¡¯t I?¡± Ray said. ¡°Could have been faster,¡± she muttered. Ray wanted to move on to the next location where he could gain more Essence. The day wasn¡¯t old yet, so they could definitely spare some time. As they got moving, Ray peeked at what his new spell had to show him. [Information Request¡ªSpells] Spirit Mirrorlink [Offensive] [Tier 5] A primal spirit spell that sends out a bolt of spiking spiritual energy at a selected target that then shackles the target to one or more secondary targets in the vicinity. Attacking any of the shackled targets causes all targets to take damage. At Tier 5, this spell seeks additional targets in a radius of 10 meters and transfers 15% of damage to all targets. Ray read through the description a couple of times. That was pretty interesting. It wasn¡¯t as overpowered as he had been kind of hoping, but he could see how it would combine well with the area of effect spells he already had. In fact¡ª No, actually, he was starting to see how he could combine it with Spiritblood Stake. He never used that spell because it just wasn¡¯t dynamic or effective enough in a fast-paced fight. But if he got a Spell Synthesis point, he now knew where he was going to use it. ¡°The next group of monsters to the east?¡± Ray asked as they reached the road. The guard nodded. They were once again travelling on dino-back. Ray wasn¡¯t exactly happy to return to humping on the ridged back of a raptor, especially because he was back to square one in terms of likability. This wasn¡¯t the raptor he had grown kind of close to on Cliff Three. Ah, well. ¡°The monsters are not Elementals, mind you,¡± the woman said as they travelled. ¡°So be on your guard.¡± ¡°What kind of monsters are they?¡± Ray asked. ¡°You¡¯ll see.¡± Well, wasn¡¯t that fucking cryptic. Ray decided he would see and there was no point in pushing the woman needlessly. Though, he did have other things he wouldn¡¯t mind talking about. ¡°I hope you don¡¯t feel too bad that you have to babysit me instead of joining the rest of your comrades in battle,¡± Ray said. He tried to be conversational. With how his relationship with the guard from Cliff Three had gone, he wasn¡¯t keen on re-experiencing the same thing with this woman. ¡°Babysitting is my current duty,¡± she said, her voice a little clipped. ¡°As this is my charge, there is nothing for me to regret.¡± ¡°So you don¡¯t mind not fighting against the Sylvan invaders?¡± ¡°If they ever manage to come before me, I will do my part to repel them.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t answer my question.¡± The guard was silent. Maybe she was unwilling to reveal the truth of her feelings, which Ray supposed was reasonable. Most people didn¡¯t want to confide in strangers. ¡°You know,¡± Ray said. ¡°I kind of regret it.¡± She looked at him sharply. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Oh, don¡¯t mistake me. I¡¯m not saying I regret not fighting in this little war. What I kind of regret is not helping the Denizens who got caught up in it. There are a few of my kind who are right in the thick of it and are now fighting for their lives.¡± ¡°Yes, I am aware. They were contacted by the lord of Cliff Three, I believe, and many of them chose to fight the Sylvans and defend Everstead.¡± ¡°They would have been better off ignoring it and just climbing the Tower.¡± ¡°Like yourself.¡± ¡°Yep.¡± That made her mouth curl in distaste. ¡°Not everyone can be so selfish as yourself and remain so disaffected by such a great conflict that has put so many lives in danger.¡± Ray laughed a little. Now, where had he heard the selfishness line before? ¡°You¡¯re calling me selfish? When you¡¯re here with me too?¡± The curl of distaste turned into a flush of sudden rage. ¡°This is my duty. Do you truly believe I wouldn¡¯t have gone if I didn¡¯t need to babysit you?¡± She stopped all of a sudden, her mouth a big ¡®o¡¯ of surprise. Ray grinned at her. ¡°You see? It¡¯s not that hard to admit it, is it? You do feel bad for not being a part of the frontlines with your compatriots.¡± She didn¡¯t answer him, didn¡¯t even offer him a glower or any sort of acknowledgement. With a snap of her reins, she forced her mount to speed up and hurry onwards, like she wanted to be rid of him as soon as possible. Ray performed the same motions and did his best to keep up. Maybe it was better not to annoy or antagonize the guard, but it was still better than the sheer apathy he had faced before. They arrived at a long series of large fences with a big gate in the middle. Several more soldiers were waiting there, though they ushered in Ray and the guard without really checking anything. ¡°Why are we here?¡± Ray asked with a bit of a frown. His hackles rose. Maybe they hadn¡¯t really forgiven¡ªand certainly not forgotten¡ªthe fact that he had killed a whole bunch of them not that long ago. Maybe he was being lured into a trap he wouldn¡¯t be able to escape from. Skin itching with rising tension, Ray summoned up a draconic head construct and sent it flying off. For all that they might have drawn him into a trap, nobody stopped or even reacted to his construct. That reassured him a bit. It was possible that he was overreacting, that there was nothing to be afraid of from these guys. He would be fine. The landscape in front of them rapidly began to change. They dipped down into a valley, the land rising on either sides as though to wall them in. And then Ray saw the target. The monster he was supposed to kill. His breath caught. That was no monster. Not the wild kinds he fought and killed. That was one of the same raptors he was riding, just another specimen of the domesticated dinosaurs the Everstead favoured. Except, there was one major difference. The dinosaur was infected with the same plague running riot through the kingdom Everstead. B2 Chapter 37 (104): Plagued Ride ¡°This isn¡¯t what I agreed to,¡± Ray said, his voice catching in his throat. ¡°What did you not agree to?¡± the guard asked. He stared at her with a growing scowl. ¡°Don¡¯t act dumb. The deal was that I¡¯d be taken to where you know for sure there were monsters I could take down. I¡¯m not here to kill your infected dinosaurs for you.¡± ¡°But I thought the deal was for you to gain Essence. That is what we agreed to. We¡¯ve brought you to where you can avail yourself of the opportunity to gain a great deal of Essence with minimum effort and fuss. Are you going to reject it so off-handedly simply because it offends your sensibilities?¡± Ray wondered if she was getting her revenge on him after he had tricked her into revealing that she was indeed missing not being able to join the battle. She certainly seemed to be taking a lot of pleasure in taunting him. ¡°So, what?¡± Ray asked. ¡°You¡¯re going to tell me this is all you can offer? If I want Essence elsewhere, I need to go find the monsters on my own?¡± ¡°Correct.¡± Ray looked past the woman to where the infected raptor was lying on the ground. So many of its scales had fallen off its body, flesh pulsing and oozing out at every such location. That the raptor was still breathing looked like a small miracle. It wasn¡¯t just this dinosaur, of course. He could already see more of them in similar states farther off. No doubt there would be even more once Ray explored the whole area. The guard continued to look at him expectantly. Challengingly. ¡°Are you going to truly decline?¡± There was a new inflection in her voice. She didn¡¯t spell out what exactly Ray would be declining, but he got the gist all the same. He wouldn¡¯t just be declining the wishes of the Everstead. More importantly, he would be declining the mercy he could deliver to these poor, infected beasts. A mercy only he could deliver with any notion of safety. Ray looked sharply at the woman. ¡°You lied.¡± Her mouth crooked up into a little smile. ¡°It took you that long to figure it out?¡± ¡°I tend not to assume most people are lying to my face if I can help it.¡± She shook her head. ¡°What¡¯s it going to be, sir?¡± Ray looked back at the poor dinosaurs again. They were suffering¡­ needlessly. These were just beasts. Why had the Floor Lord decided to transmit the infection to them too? How had she done so? Why couldn¡¯t she be satisfied with the havoc she was causing among the citizens of Everstead kingdom? ¡°Fine.¡± Ray sighed. ¡°I¡¯ll k¡ªI¡¯ll help them.¡± The guard nodded, like she had known that Ray would agree eventually. She led the way forward. Ray reached and looked down at the first infected raptor. It looked up at him mournfully through exhausted, half-dead eyes. He grimaced. It had done nothing to deserve such a fate. And now, it was up to him to deliver it and the rest of its infected kind from the pain and torture they were living through. He cast Mottling Spiritguard to make a salvo of chaotic orbs revolve around him. One shot down at the nearest dinosaur, turning into a spear as it pierced through the raptor¡¯s brain through its eye. Killed instantly. [Enemy Defeated¡ªDinosaur] Tier 13 Monster: Greater Raptor [Level 28] x1 Essence: +3,640 Knowledge: +3 True Mana Restored: +280 Essence to Level 36: 20,060/97,600 Knowledge to next Threshold: 1,653/2,000 No, System. Not enemy defeated. These poor creatures, these infected dinosaurs, weren¡¯t any enemy of his. Ray did note that they were Greater Raptors. A powerful creature. If there were a lot of them in this fenced off compound, then he was going to attain a lot of Essence. Unlike every other time, the prospect of gaining more Essence didn¡¯t excite him one bit. Huh. Was this the first time he was feeling this way? The guard nodded. She bent down to murmur some words to the dead raptor, words that almost sounded like a sort of prayer. He didn¡¯t ask what they were. They sounded private. She led Ray further into the compound. There were indeed more of the infected dinosaurs that Ray was supposed to assist by taking their lives. None of them could be helped in any other way. Not after the infection had taken root. With how limited Ray¡¯s power was, the Everstead would never consent to him using his Tower Node abilities to try and heal them. Even he knew that he had nowhere near enough gas in the Tower Nodes to take care of the hordes upon hordes of monsters here. He got to work. Gruesome and depressing though it was, Ray walked over the entire area, going wherever the guard led him, killing the dinosaurs one by one. Not a single one of them resisted. Not the raptors, not the triceratops or any others, not even those small, birdlike ones that he had seen flitting about in the populated areas of the Cliffs. They definitely weren¡¯t flying around here. Ray killed them all as quickly and mercifully as he could. ¡°The last of them,¡± the woman said as they reached the rear of the fenced zone. Ray ought to have been at least a little amazed at the creature before him. It looked like a T-rex, or perhaps some other large, carnivorous dinosaur that was of a similar build. It too was infected, just like the rest. Not moving, not even seeming to breathe. Just another one that he had to kill. There was something quite grave about killing a majestic beast like that. Strangely, he hadn¡¯t ever felt like that when he had faced monsters that were no less majestic. When he had fought that Viledrake, when he had first faced down a Duskshell or a Greater Windbane. None of those creatures had elicited this sort of almost¡­ respectful reaction from him. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Was it because these weren¡¯t truly aggressive monsters that automatically saw him as their enemy? Or was it because he didn¡¯t bear them any real ill will? Nevertheless, Ray killed them. It was what he did best, after all. [Enemy Defeated¡ªDinosaur] Tier 13 Monster: Greater Raptor [Level 28] x8 Tier 13 Monster: Greater Triceratops [Level 26] x7 Tier 13 Monster: Greater Diplodocus [Level 29] x2 Tier 12 Monster: Archaeopteryx [Level 23] x11 Tier 14 Monster: Greater Tyrannosaur [Level 30] x1 Essence: +94,880 Knowledge: +87 True Mana Restored: +7,470 [Level Up!] Reward
  • +5 Intellect, +5 Spirit, +2 Vitality +2 Agility, +10 allocatable free stats.
  • 1 True Mana Skill Point
Essence to Level 37: 17,340/105,400 Knowledge to next Threshold: 1,740/2,000 Ray was glad for another level up. He hadn¡¯t realized he would so effortlessly kill so many creatures that he really would earn another level, but he wasn¡¯t about to complain. Even if the way he had gained the Essence was ultimately distasteful. ¡°That was the last of them, I hope,¡± he said. The guard got up from where she knelt next to the fallen T-rex. She had taken a bit of extra time to send the huge dinosaur off properly. Ray was once again tempted to find out just what kind of last rites she had performed for the departing dinosaurs, but he kept his mouth shut. ¡°We are mostly done, yes,¡± she said. ¡°Except for one last thing.¡± Ray tensed as the woman came to stand right before him. She was almost as tall as he was, so didn¡¯t really need to tilt her head to look him square in the eye. ¡°Three more strikes, sir,¡± she said. ¡°And you are free to go.¡± Ray¡¯s heart turned cold as a stone sinking in a pond. Three more strikes. One each for the woman, her raptor, and the other mount Ray had ridden into the compound on. They really had planned this pretty well. ¡°I thought you were only lying about why you couldn¡¯t go and join the rest of your comrades in the war,¡± Ray said. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize your regret was a lie too.¡± Her dark eyes turned fierce. ¡°I do regret that I cannot join them. But it cannot be helped. I am not important enough to undergo healing, and since I have no way of getting better, I do not wish to endanger the kingdom with my continued existence. That I have even been allowed to go on for this long is already a blessing. I couldn¡¯t ask for anything more.¡± ¡°Except for me to spend effort killing you.¡± Ray tilted his head questioningly. ¡°When you could very well do it yourself.¡± ¡°Are you asking me to kill myself?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that basically what you¡¯re doing right now?¡± She ground her teeth together but had no reply to that. ¡°Tell me something,¡± Ray said. ¡°What would you do if you were healed up and good as new?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t play games with me. I can¡¯t be healed up. There is no point in considering such foolish fancies.¡± ¡°What if I told you that doesn¡¯t have to be a fancy?¡± ¡°I refuse. There are far better candidates who deserve healing. I am not deserving of such a blessing. This is why you must kill me, here and now.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°¡­why? Because I¡¯m asking you to. Because I want to die, before I become a danger to anyone else. I will be of no use to anyone in my current state. The only good I could do is to permanently get out of everyone¡¯s way.¡± ¡°Is that right?¡± Ray made a show of considering it. ¡°I was feeling bad for the poor animals, which is why I ultimately agreed to free them from their pain. You, on the other hand, are no innocent little beastie. I don¡¯t feel an ounce of sympathy. You really think I¡¯ll spend time and energy killing you just because you asked?¡± ¡°Time and¡ªtime and energy?¡± Her voice rose in volume with every word. ¡°Don¡¯t lie. You can kill me with a mere swipe of your hand. It costs you nothing. You are choosing to withhold the mercy you could give me.¡± ¡°Yes. Yes, I am.¡± ¡°You¡­ you would force me to commit suicide?¡± Ray sighed exaggeratedly. ¡°I can¡¯t just kill any random person because they asked me to. I mean, I don¡¯t even have any proof that you¡¯re actually infected. For all I know, this could be some elaborate scheme to trick and trap me.¡± The guard blinked at him. Then, with no small amount of anger, she began pulling off her armour. Her arms were free first, revealing angry veins running all over her skin. Then came her legs, mottled and twisted in much the same way they had been for the man whom Ray had healed yesterday. When she took off her breastplate and lifted her gambeson, Ray had a hard time not grimacing at the tumorous growth bulging on one side of her stomach. ¡°Is this proof enough for you?¡± she asked scathingly. ¡°Fine,¡± Ray said. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of it.¡± She actually looked happy that Ray had supposedly agreed to end her life then and there. Some people really were cooked in the head. Before dealing with the guard, Ray decided to end the lives of the last two raptors in the area. Neither had shown any signs of the infections yet, but since they had come into the compound where their infected brethren had lain, they had no doubt caught it, if they hadn¡¯t had it simmering within them already. Ray found himself being a lot less reluctant to kill the raptors. Even though they looked healthier than the ones whose lives he had ended so far, he didn¡¯t hesitate. Perhaps he had gotten a little too used to killing innocent creatures. As it was, Ray ended their lives with the last of his Spiritguard orbs spearing through their skulls. Not really clean, but quick all the same. The guard took a deep breath as Ray turned to her. She tensed a bit, then visibly forced herself to relax. Her eyes were closed, her expression fearful for a moment before she forced it to turn calm and accepting. The tremble on her lips didn¡¯t go away, though. It was nice she had closed her eyes. Ray had no trouble calling up the Tower Node of the Fleshcrafter and getting to work. Not the one he had used yesterday, which he still wasn¡¯t sure if it was ready or not. The one he had called up was the second, newer Tower Node that he held in reserve. Ray concentrated. He ran through the exact actions he had performed yesterday, the specific ways he had channelled the Fleshcrafter Tower Node¡¯s flesh-manipulating powers. Next, he healed up the woman before him, all at once. It took some very precise control to make the Tower Node perform what its counterpart had done yesterday, but all at the same time. He couldn¡¯t have it rip off the corrupted, cancerous growths bit by bit. Otherwise, the guard would become wise to his little trick and start rebelling or doing something else even more profoundly stupid. So instead, Ray had to focus the Tower Node¡¯s power into multiple pathways, each acting on a different portion of the woman¡¯s body. Each held back from acting until Ray gave the signal. When he unleashed them all at once, the woman gasped and staggered back. The corrupted veins on her arms and shoulders emerged from beneath her skin. All the twisted flesh on her legs came off at the same time. Her stomach seemed to cave in as the tumour pulled free. All of it came with blood. Lots of blood. And pain too, no doubt. The woman screamed as she retreated, then fell. Ray was acting already, though. Knitting her good flesh together to close the wounds, closing up the torn blood vessels from spilling too much of her blood. ¡°Hold still,¡± he said. She actually complied. Despite looking horrified at first¡ªmost likely at the fact that Ray had healed her instead of killing her, and not at the fact that she was covered and surrounded by her own blood and corrupted flesh¡ªshe remained still. That allowed Ray to move around her and continue using the Tower Node¡¯s power, while still keeping it hidden behind his back. It took a while, but Ray was eventually done. He had attempted to be a little thorough, especially since the woman wasn¡¯t protesting and he wanted the healing to work. By that point, the Tower Node had disappeared though. He wouldn¡¯t be able to call upon it for a day at least. The woman rose to her feet shakily, looking down at her blood-drenched self. ¡°You didn¡¯t kill me.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Ray said. ¡°Oops. My aim slipped.¡± She looked up at him, then laughed. It was tinged a bit with hysteria. ¡°What am I supposed to do now? Especially that I have been healed by a murderer like you?¡± ¡°That¡¯s just rude. I was defending myself.¡± It did bring up a complexity he couldn¡¯t really grasp then. Ray hadn¡¯t hesitated to kill the soldiers attacking him in the warehouse. It had been life or death then. But he¡¯d harboured qualms about killing this guard, going so far as to trick her and heal her up. A killer. And a healer now, too. Did that make him some kind of hypocrite? Was he merely bending to the whim of every situation and reacting accordingly, with no real central conviction to guide him other than some vague, everyday sense of morality? What the hell was even controlling him right now? He shook his head. Pointless considerations. He didn¡¯t regret killing those soldiers in the warehouse, and he didn¡¯t regret helping this soldier either. ¡°You could do whatever it is you wanted to do,¡± Ray said. ¡°Before you got so obsessed with dying. But frankly, I don¡¯t care. Fuck off. I¡¯m done with all this. Time for me to get out of here.¡± Leaving the woman behind, Ray began heading out of the compound. She¡¯d be fine. The dead would no longer transmit the infection, so she wasn¡¯t in danger of catching it again. For now, Ray went straight Cory¡¯s manor. It was time he headed to Cliff One. Finally. B2 Chapter 38 (105): The Final Cliff The next day, Ray was asked to heal up another important Everstead soldier before he was going to be allowed to climb to Cliff One. Ray obligingly took care of the man. He also took a peek at who exactly he was healing up with Primordial Gauge. Ray: He¡¯s a long-range fighter type. They seem to prefer pinning their opponents down and then taking shots at you from a distance. Ray recalled how there had been a bunch of ranged attacks on him at the warehouse. Clearly, it was a strategy the Everstead, at least the ones on Cliff Two, had practiced and perfected. Kredevel: Any other details? Ray: Lots. Level 40, a Tier 3 class, some buffing skills that improve damage with every successful headshot and also grants a bonus when at a vantage point. Basically, you need to be aware of points on battlefields you could be fired at from. Kredevel: Essentially, we will need to carry out scouting that will locate any vantage points so we can set traps there. Ray: Exactly. Kredevel: I see. Thank you, this will be highly valuable. They called off the conversation afterwards. Kredevel had also provided a little update earlier about the war. Ray hadn¡¯t helped so many of the Everstead yet that the tides had turned. The Sylvans were still capturing a lot of Cliff Three. Their guerilla tactics were paying off. Ray was glad to hear that. He had a feeling things were going to change before long, though. That was why he had warned Kredevel to hurry up and secure himself and his fellow Sylvans a proper footing. Eventually, Ray would heal up someone truly powerful, and then the Sylvans would be in trouble. Though, of course, there was the reverse possibility. Ray would give them the opportunity to deal a serious blow to the Everstead, and if they succeeded, they¡¯d gain a strong boost to their momentum. And so much of war was about momentum. Even Ray knew that. Before Ray headed off for Cliff One, he chatted up Gritty and the Holdstar trio. Gritty: Didn¡¯t I tell you not to contact me unless I contacted you, wingman? Ray: Really? Even now, after we already met in person? Gritty: I could be in the middle of a fight! I could be flaying a person alive! You never know when I¡¯ll be busy. Ray: It¡¯s not forcing you to answer, you know. I just wanted to make sure you were alright. Gritty: I¡¯ve killed off eight more people since the last time we met. Ray was about to reply that wasn¡¯t exactly the answer he was looking for. But then, what better answer was there to the question of how okay Gritty was than the amount of bloodshed she was causing? Ray: I had a specific request, if you don¡¯t mind. Gritty: What¡¯s your offer? Ray had the sudden image of Eustace Bagge pop up in his mind, but he kept it to himself. Probably a good thing Gritty couldn¡¯t see him laugh. Ray: I¡¯ll sing you a song. Hmm, what do I hate? Oh yeah, I¡¯ll sing you the Christmas song by Mariah Carey. I¡¯ll make you hate it too. Gritty: I can almost hear you laughing, you know. Ray did actually laugh at that. Ray: But listen, I think you should go meet Kredevel. Or at least contact him. The way we¡¯re planning to do things, you could be pretty crucial. Gritty: Planning on healing and betraying the Everstead from the inside? Ray: Yes. You make it sound like the most heinous shit possible, but yes. And you could be the lynchpin. Gritty: By killing the ones you heal? Ray shouldn¡¯t have been surprised she had caught on so quickly. Just because she acted crazy didn¡¯t mean she wasn¡¯t crazy smart too. Ray: Yep. Since you¡¯re already there, you¡¯re in a perfect spot. Think about it. Gritty: Hmm, alright. I¡¯ll think about it. What about you? Are you really going up even higher when all the action is down here? Ray: I think I¡¯ve got all the Essence I want from Cliff Two, and I want to keep my cover too. So, Cliff One it is for me. Gritty: Well, just don¡¯t get caught in any traps. I¡¯d hate to have to come and rescue you. Ray: I was just about to say the same. Stay safe out there. Gritty: Well, you see, I¡¯m in my element. I should be perfectly fine, even when my opponents are strong. But unless you¡¯re about to tell me your element is secretly taking out a kingdom from within while pretending to be helpful, I think you¡¯re going to need luck more than me, wingman. She had a point there. Ray wouldn¡¯t say this whole operation was his element. He would indeed have been better off if he was taking on the Everstead in a direct confrontation, like he had with the Lord of the First Floor. Except, there was no need for him to fight against the Everstead, especially when they were ready to help him in return. Things were tense, of course. Hell, things could easily boil over and devolve into pure aggression before long. But for now, things were fine. He could keep it that way, at least until it stopped benefiting him. Ray: I¡¯ll be fine, I promise. But just so you know, there¡¯s people fighting on the side of the Everstead now. Gritty: What? Ray: Actual Denizens on their side. The Everstead must have offered them a one-way ticket to the Third Floor, and they probably jumped at the chance. Gritty: You¡¯re saying I might have to fight Mary Felds? Ray: Uh¡­ Idk. No idea what¡¯s going on with her. Gritty: It¡¯s nice, though, that you recognize that these Everstead aren¡¯t people. Ray paused. Had he basically admitted the Everstead weren¡¯t people like he and Gritty were? All because they weren¡¯t from Earth? He had, hadn¡¯t he? Gritty: That¡¯s why it hasn¡¯t really made me feel anything when I killed them. It¡¯s like I can smell it in their blood, you know. That these people I¡¯m killing might just not be people at all. They don¡¯t feel human. Ram, Bam, and Lam had suggested the same. That the Everstead weren¡¯t humans like the Tower-climbing Denizens were. Ray: It doesn¡¯t matter. Gritty: What? Ray was right. It didn¡¯t matter. He was reminded forcefully of the woman he had healed, how she had spoken softly and kindly to the dying dinosaurs. Ray: Idk what they are or aren¡¯t, but they ARE real. That¡¯s what matters. She was silent for a while. Ray wondered if she was about to go off on a spiel on why that did actually matter. Gritty: Don¡¯t die, wingman. Ray: You too. He took a few minutes of breathing room. The conversation with Gritty had turned out somewhat more intense than he had been expecting. After that, Ray left a message to the Holdstar trio. Neither of Ram, Lam, or Bam replied, and he couldn¡¯t exactly force them to tell him their current state. Gritty mentioned that they were alright the last she had seen of them, which was after Ray had left. He¡¯d have to take solace in that for now. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Finally, Ray tried talking with Mary. Except, her chat window never popped up. It was greyed out. She was dead. Ray was stunned at the implication for a few moments. What the fuck? Mary Felds couldn¡¯t just die. She had off-the-charts main-character syndrome. Her dying with nobody knowing or mentioning was basically unfathomable. There was practically no way for him to figure out what was going on with her either. He could inform Gritty and Kredevel, ask them to let him know if they found out anything. Maybe he could also ask someone like Cory, though he was doubtful that would result in anything positive either. Could Mary actually have confronted the Floor Lord? Had she been killed? He swallowed. It was just a little insane to consider. After Ray was done with all his conversations, he reminded Cory that Cliff One awaited him. Finally, it was time to get going. Ray had a guard accompanying him to the spire that would take him higher up the Floor. It was the woman he had healed yesterday. He couldn¡¯t say he was sad to see her keeping him company, though he had definitely thought she¡¯d be bounding off to fight right about now. ¡°The commanders are waiting to see if my symptoms are truly gone,¡± she said, by way of explanation as to why she was still babysitting Ray. ¡°They¡¯re wary of the plague resurfacing.¡± Ray nodded. ¡°I see. That makes sense.¡± Of course, they would wait to ensure that Ray really had healed up their soldiers. That also explained why things hadn¡¯t yet changed in the war, though of course, Ray had literally only assisted two people. But the point was, it was probably going to be a lot later than his initial assumption about when things would take a turn. They reached the mountainous spire of amplified Growth Mana several hours later. The woman hadn¡¯t seemed too bothered at the fact that she had a new mount now. Maybe she had never been that attached to her original one either. His ascent went the same as the last time Ray had climbed a spire, the one that had taken him to Cliff Two from Cliff Three. He had guards accompanying him, the woman leaving him at the foot of the spire while a contingent whose armour was blacker than gold ringed around Ray like an honour guard as they began spiralling up. ¡°Thank you,¡± the woman said from far behind. Her words were a little difficult to make out due to the distance, but they were clear enough. ¡°I have a lot to think about now, but I won¡¯t forget what you¡¯ve done for me. For us.¡± Ray smiled and waved. Huh. Someone was actually appreciating him for once. When was the last time anyone had done that? It took about another hour before they reached Cliff One. Ray was sorely tempted to ask if the spire really was the only way to get to Cliff One. Surely, there had to be some secret entrance and exit. Maybe rank-and-file soldiers just didn¡¯t know about it. Cliff One made Ray gasp when he crossed the arched bridge and onto the plain of golden grass atop the enormous cliff. It was beautiful here. The grass wasn¡¯t just a pretty, wheat-like gold. They were soft too, and many bore small white tufts like dandelions that flew through the air. He thought they¡¯d make him sneeze or feel itchy or something like that, but there was nothing of the sort. Instead, it felt more like being touched by snowflakes, just pleasantly cool instead of icy cold. They smelled slightly sweet too. Just fragrant enough to make him feel good without being cloying. Black-barked trees lined the roads and formed little woodland clumps here and there, their bough bearing leaves that reminded him of Fall. Yellow and orange and cozy. Small lakes glimmered under the daylight here and there. This was all so comforting and nice. Ray had no trouble seeing why the rulers of Everstead preferred this as their home. The soldiers led him along a stone paved road. No important delegate came to receive Ray this time. Maybe he was too far beneath the lords who resided on Cliff One. Not that he would have preferred to be dealing with another Cory just then. Ray was enjoying the scenery for about anther hour or so before they arrived at a small castle. Just a simple, square keep with walls and some smaller buildings within the compound. Ram, Bam, and Lam had warned him that these Everstead weren¡¯t people. So had Gritty. But then, how in the world had they come up with architecture that came straight out of historical encyclopaedias? How had they structured their society to be so humanlike? What in the actual fuck were they if they weren¡¯t even real people? Questions he didn¡¯t need to consider too much. He had a goal, he had his tasks, he had a need to grow and advance, and that was all he had to focus on. The castle finally held someone who gave Ray a proper welcome. A fancily-dressed man came with a retinue trailing in his wake. Clearly the lord of this little castle. ¡°Welcome, Raymond Dominick,¡± he said. His voice reminded Ray of olives being pressed into wine. ¡°It is good that you have finally arrived. Come, come. We have no time to waste.¡± Ray blinked. Not exactly the welcome he was hoping for. Where was a relaxing rest and some food to eat? Not that he was hungry, having eaten another Mana fruit not long ago. Still. He was starting to miss the gracious hospitality he had received all the way back on Cliff Three. The lord led Ray through some winding stone-lined corridors before they arrived at a large but mostly empty room. His retainers hesitated at the doorway for some reason, though they reluctantly entered behind their leader after some time. There was nothing inside but a bed, and a man lying on top of it. Another of the infected. ¡°Help has arrived, my son!¡± the lord announced joyously. ¡°You won¡¯t have to suffer any longer.¡± He turned to Ray, eyes expectant. Almost demanding. Ray didn¡¯t like that look one bit. ¡°I trust you can take care of this, yes? Please, go right ahead and work your magical healing.¡± ¡°Uh, didn¡¯t anyone tell you?¡± Ray asked. The lord frowned. ¡°Tell me what? And I understand you Denizens have a certain way about you, but I shall expect you to adhere to the proper mannerisms here.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, my lord.¡± ¡°Oh, no need to apologize. We all make mistakes sometimes.¡± The man¡¯s face bulged a little in growing rage. Behind him, several of his retainers stood to their full, not-very-threatening heights, all glowering at Ray. ¡°You must have difficulty parsing our language and our customs,¡± the lord said through gritted teeth. ¡°The System doesn¡¯t always translate things with perfect accuracy, or so I¡¯ve been told, even though all I know suggests you should be aware of the proper form of address. But I will excuse your repugnance so long as you do the job you¡¯ve been called forth to do.¡± Oh, yes. Ray was not liking this new lord one bit. And here he had thought things couldn¡¯t have gone worse than his initial experience with Cory. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, my lord,¡± Ray said. ¡°But I thought you would have been informed by the lord of Cliff Two. I¡¯ve already expended my healing capacity for the day. If you give me some time¡ª¡± ¡°You are capable of performing emergency healing. Do so now.¡± Ray shook his head. ¡°I can¡¯t. I don¡¯t have the power for that yet, either.¡± ¡°Then what good are you?¡± The man¡¯s voice rose, his words turning into yells that reverberated around the room. ¡°You think I brought you here to avail of my hospitality while you sit on your arse and do nothing? Don¡¯t annoy me, you uncouth little dog. Or I will slap a collar around your neck and throw you into the kennels where you belong.¡± Ray was silent for a moment before taking a deep, calming breath. ¡°A few more hours.¡± Boy, was it hard to keep a neutral expression after hearing that little tirade. His hands itched. ¡°I understand it¡¯s difficult seeing your son in such a condition. But give me just a few more hours, and I promise I¡¯ll be ready.¡± Ray¡¯s new host looked like he wanted to continue arguing, and probably insulting too, but one of his retainers mustered the courage to speak first. He surprisingly took Ray¡¯s side and suggested there would be no harm in waiting a few hours. The young lord would survive a bit longer. He was supposedly quite strong. Mollified by the reminder of his own son¡¯s innate power, the lord finally allowed Ray to get away. Ray kept his feelings in check as he was shown to his actual housing. Only when the door was finally closed behind him did he sink into the small bed he¡¯d been given and let his thoughts take their course. On and on, he kept getting these reminders why he shouldn¡¯t be working for anybody. Not for the Everstead, not for anyone. First there was Cory, demanding that he do everything the Everstead asked or be imprisoned. Now there was this jumped-up lord refusing to use the bare minimum of logic and acting like Ray was just a tool. Yeah, well, fuck them all. Ray closed his eyes, took a deep breath, tried to centre himself. He was working towards something. After all, he couldn¡¯t lie that he had received as good as he had given. All the growth he had managed so far had been sped up thanks to the assistance he had received from the Everstead. He would still be languishing on Cliff Three, probably several levels weaker to boot, if he hadn¡¯t had them on his side. Mostly. But was it worth it, really? When they kept turning abusive instead of amicably collaborative? About an hour and half later, Ray set out to rediscover his way back to the room of this afflicted lordling he was supposed to heal. There had been no guards posted outside his room, surprisingly. Still, he managed to find a servant, who then pointed him in the right direction. Unlike his room, the lordling¡¯s bedchamber was guarded. ¡°Are you going to make me wait while your lord¡¯s son suffers?¡± Ray asked. The guards had refused him entry so far. ¡°Or are you going to let me do the job I came here to do?¡± The guard remained unimpressed. ¡°We cannot allow just anyone entry into such a private chamber. Begone. Come through the proper channels, if you must.¡± ¡°Your little lordling doesn¡¯t have much time.¡± Ray would be damned if he was sent chasing after that puffed up lord¡¯s coattails. ¡°Are you ready to face our lord¡¯s ire if his son dies because of your misplaced faith in your duty?¡± They still looked reluctant. But Ray could see their defence was crumbling. He pushed on. ¡°You know, you could come inside and keep an eye on me, if you¡¯re really afraid I¡¯ll do something,¡± he said. Then he twisted the knife. ¡°Unless you fear for your lives. Unless this duty is only for show, and you¡¯re actually too afraid to risk yourselves for your lord.¡± That finally did it. With their bluff called, the guards caved in and allowed him entry. One of them followed him inside, though he remained close to the doorway like he wanted to be sure he could bolt if he stared feeling even mildly off. The other ran off. Probably headed to find his lord and bring him in. Ray ignored them both and approached the sleeping lordling. He pulled off the covers, unsurprised to see that the young man had the same twisted flesh and corrupted veins from the plague that Ray had seen on others. The lordling¡¯s chest was bloated, his jaws and cheeks swollen like small balloons, and his arms and legs covered with pustules and bulbous growths. This was going to take some work. Taking in a deep breath, Ray got to work. He summoned the Tower Node of the Fleshcrafter and made sure it floated behind him so no one would see. Then he concentrated its power on his patient, getting started on removing the corrupted flesh and closing up the wounds that popped up all over the young man. Ray closed his eyes to concentrate harder for a moment. Something strange flowed through him. It was as if all the energy going through the Tower Node suddenly reversed direction and went into him instead of his targeted patient. A livid, corrupting power that thrummed with extreme potency. He opened his eyes, heart picking up the pace. The sight awaiting him made him swallow. He¡­ wasn¡¯t in the large but mostly empty bedchamber any longer. Ray was in the presence of a Paragon. B2 Chapter 39 (106): Flesh Follower The vista before him was shoreline. On one side stretched a boundless ocean, its waves gently lapping at the land. On the other side stretched a flat plain that was soon lost to the horizon. Neither had anything on their surfaces. No boats or anything of the sort upon the water. No mountains or trees or grass or anything else at all upon the brown land. Everything seemed empty as far as Ray could see. He even tried using Primordial Gauge and looking at any potential Mana through his eyes. Still nothing. But then the shoreline changed. There was something. A strange sort of creature, small and difficult to make out, coming out of the water and onto dry land. Ray tried to approach and see what exactly it was, but he couldn¡¯t move. He was rooted to his spot. Oh yes, he was in whatever plane a Paragon resided in. Said Paragon appeared before him just a moment later. Another creature crawled out of the water¡¯s surface. It began to change and morph rapidly, turning from a slick, amphibious being into one that rapidly took on humanoid form. By the time it reached Ray¡¯s location, it looked like those musculature manikins displayed in doctor¡¯s offices for young patients. ¡°So we finally meet,¡± the Paragon said. His voice had a depth to it unlike anything Ray had ever heard. The sound made his non-existent head vibrate. ¡°You must be Raymond Dominick.¡± Ray felt the urge to nod, even though he couldn¡¯t. ¡°I am. And by the looks of things, I¡¯m guessing you¡¯re the Fleshcrafter.¡± ¡°Correct.¡± ¡°I¡¯m surprised it took this long for me to draw your attention, with how much I¡¯ve been using your Tower Nodes so frequently. What finally caught your attention, if you don¡¯t mind me asking?¡± ¡°You simply crossed a certain threshold.¡± Ray felt like frowning, though of course, he couldn¡¯t really do so. ¡°Threshold? Of what?¡± ¡°Did you not know? Strange. I was under the assumption that, since you possessed Tower Nodes already, you would know this.¡± ¡°Know what?¡± ¡°The more you use a Tower Node outside of its intended functions within a Tower, the more you spread the influence of the associated Paragon. Tower Nodes are a way to channel a Paragon¡¯s power for the Tower¡¯s purposes without letting the Paragon do anything about it. Unless someone uses the Tower Node outside its intended bounds and function, of course.¡± ¡°And I¡¯ve been using your Tower Nodes so much that now you can do something about it?¡± ¡°To a miniscule extent, yes. All thanks to you. Thus, our meeting. Are you not awed?¡± ¡°I¡¯m slightly nonplussed, is what I am.¡± That damn Marauder hadn¡¯t told him anything about using Tower Nodes causing a Paragon¡¯s influence to spread. ¡°But thank you for the information. It¡¯s helpful. Do you mind telling me what you¡¯re planning to do, now that you can do something?¡± The Paragon leered at him, the muscles of his mouth pulling away to reveal a toothless interior. ¡°Why should I do anything when I have loyal followers such as yourself at my beck and call?¡± Ray was surprised at that. ¡°Woah, woah, woah. Who in the world suggested I was your follower? Just because my actions unintentionally benefited you doesn¡¯t mean I did them for your benefit.¡± The Fleshcrafter leaned back to stand straight. ¡°As I feared. You aren¡¯t truly one of mine. But fine, then. Why don¡¯t you become one of mine?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got no intention of working for any¡ª¡± Well, that was a bit of a hypocritical lie. ¡°I¡¯m not in the habit of working for Paragons, sorry.¡± ¡°But you haven¡¯t even heard what I have to say, yet. All you must do is simply spread my word, bring people under your fold. Make everyone follow you. You will only need to share with them the bounty that is my power. It is quite simple, believe me. In fact, you won¡¯t have to do anything at all, if you so choose. That is all I ask. And in return¡­¡± ¡°In return?¡± He grinned toothlessly again, like he figured he had caught Ray¡¯s attention fully. ¡°In return, I will grant you one wish. Any boon, any power, any greatness that I can give you, you may claim it for yourself.¡± Ray was silent for a moment. ¡°What did you mean that I wouldn¡¯t have to do anything at all? You said just a bit earlier that I ought to spread your word, whatever that means.¡± ¡°Ah, my word is already spreading. My following grows, day by day, hour by hour. You must simply exercise restraint. You have been helping stem the flow of the Flesh Plague, yes? Cease doing so. Even if your efforts are meagre, even if they will not change the final outcome, it would serve us both well if you finally stopped acting against it.¡± ¡°So you want to me to stop healing people from this plague?¡± The exposed muscles all over the Paragon¡¯s body writhed. ¡°Yes. Stop.¡± Ray shook his head. ¡°I can¡¯t. I already made a deal that I have to honour. I can¡¯t simply renege on it and stop carrying it out.¡± ¡°Why? Are you a slave to whoever you made this deal with? Do they threaten your life or that of those you care about?¡± He leaned forward again, his eyes bulging from their fleshy orbits. ¡°Were you not one who prized control over all else? Why, then, do you allow yourself to be controlled by your word to those who do not even care about you?¡± There was more he could have said just then, but Ray got the implication. Why was he determined to stick to his word to people who would have been happy to see him dead? Why was he supposedly not in control anymore? ¡°Why do you want to keep the plague going?¡± Ray asked. ¡°How does it help you?¡± ¡°Are you interrogating me, little Denizen?¡± In their current sizes, Ray wasn¡¯t that little when compared to the form the Paragon was in. But he had to wonder where the godlike being actually was. How big was his real body? ¡°I want to know the full story before I make any decision,¡± Ray said. ¡°It looks like there¡¯s already some vital info that¡¯s been kept from me. It¡¯s hard to continue trusting when things like that happen.¡± ¡°Hmm. I suppose you do have a point.¡± The Paragon began pacing, the muscles on his manikin-like body continuing to writhe. ¡°The plague is a symbol of my power. All those who are afflicted with it become vessels for a bit of my power. In essence, the more people afflicted with the plague, the more my influence spreads far and wide.¡± ¡°And what exactly are you going to do with this influence? What are you hoping to accomplish?¡± ¡°Ah, but that is the question, isn¡¯t it?¡± He didn¡¯t elaborate further, but he had come to a stop, facing the shoreline. Ray watched it too, eyeing the point where the waves hammered the beach. More creatures were coming out of it. All amphibious, all some sort of prehistoric creature that could live on both land and in water. Ray understood all of a sudden. He remembered that writhing, massive piece of flesh he had seen when the Lostcaller had cracked apart one of the giant spiralling growths. ¡°You want all this influence so you can act directly. So you can create some kind of fleshy abomination. A big one. Worse than any of the Elementals I¡¯ve seen so far, even that giant mouth. But why?¡± ¡°That one was certainly a piece of work, wouldn¡¯t you say?¡± He turned back around to face him, smiling again. Ray was really starting to hate that smile. ¡°Did you know that others of my kind have already taken over various Towers?¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°The System will not acknowledge it easily, but once a Tower¡¯s function¡ªto raise a set of Denizens as far as they will go¡ªis complete, the guardrails keeping the Paragons in check are¡­ relaxed. And the Paragon at the lead within the Tower is in the perfect position to take advantage.¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. That was a lot of shocking information to take in. Ray was about to ask about the reason behind the Paragons¡¯ takeover, but then, the Fleshcrafter spoke first. ¡°And in this Tower of Forging, I will be the one to rule. I cannot afford not to, not when others of my kind have pillaged Towers across the omniverse.¡± He stared down at Ray, bringing his full focus to bear. ¡°So what say you, Raymond Dominick? Will you be my loyal servant my mortal disciple, and bring an age of living flesh?¡± Ray swallowed. He hadn¡¯t expected to receive so many revelations here. ¡°Is that what you asked your last disciple? He did sound kind of crazy at the end, but it looks like it wasn¡¯t just him. His master was just as insane too.¡± ¡°Derrick Orden, you mean? Oh, he was quite enamoured with the idea. It¡¯s an ambitious one, so it appealed to his sensibilities.¡± ¡°But this plague isn¡¯t even really yours or has anything to do with you. This plague came from the Sylvans and their unrestricted Growth Mana use. It¡¯s got nothing¡ª¡± Then Ray paused. Did it really have nothing to do with the Fleshcrafter? The Sylvans were the originator of this Flesh Plague as the Paragon called it. Specifically, the Floor Lord of the Second Floor was. On the surface, it didn¡¯t look like it had anything to do with the Fleshcrafter, other than the fact that the plague¡¯s effect corrupted the flesh of its victims. But then, Derrick Orden had been the original carrier of the Fleshcrafter Tower Node. It was arguable that he was supposed to find all of them in the Tower of Forging. And Derrick Orden had been allied with the Sylvans. The Lord of the First Floor had teamed up with him. Ostensibly, it was to beef up both their forces against the Denizens of the First Floor. At least, that was what most of them assumed. But there was obviously more going on. When fighting against the Floor Lord, Ray had found evidence that he¡¯d had greater plans. The Sylvan had possessed more Tower Nodes, intending to use them for a grand master plan, and it probably included the Fleshcrafter Tower Node too. Derrick Orden would no doubt have been instrumental in that sense. But since both Derrick and the First Floor Lord were dead, the one to carry out the plan must have changed. It had shifted over to the Lord of the Second Floor. Ray wished he still possessed an actual head so he could shake it. It all made too much sense. Why else would she be so insistent to spread this affliction, this Flesh Plague? Except, Ray was apparently a hitch in their plans. A big enough hitch that the Paragon himself had to come down and try to stop him. ¡°I could ask any power, you say?¡± Ray asked. The Paragon¡¯s eyes seemed to bore into him. ¡°Anything that I can provide, yes.¡± ¡°Then what if I asked for the power to rid anyone and everyone of this plague of yours? Don¡¯t tell me that¡¯s not something you can provide.¡± The Fleshcrafter turned away from him, walking along the beach before returning to Ray. ¡°I could grant you such an ability. A power far beyond the meagre one you have been executing so far. But of course, it would come at a cost.¡± ¡°The cost being that I help proliferate this plague of yours everywhere first.¡± ¡°Or simply no longer stand in its way, yes.¡± Defeat the plague. That had been his Objective from the System from the very beginning of reaching the Second Floor. It was very likely he wouldn¡¯t be able to advance through to the Third Floor without completing it. And yet, this Paragon was asking him to forego it. To, in a way, rebel against the System itself. ¡°Tell me something, Fleshcrafter,¡± Ray said. ¡°Did you ever climb a Tower like I¡¯m doing now?¡± The Paragon stared at him with those bulbous, half-out-of-the-orbit eyes for a moment. ¡°How else do you think I climbed to my current position?¡± Ray laughed softly. ¡°Then you probably know all the tips and tricks one needs to reach higher and higher.¡± ¡°Obviously.¡± ¡°Then answer me one more thing¡ªcan you climb up to a higher Floor without completing all the objectives you¡¯re set?¡± Another piercing stare. When the Paragon spoke again, there was a strong finality to his words. An even greater depth than what he had shown so far. ¡°It seems this conversation was pointless from the beginning.¡± ¡°Not pointless for me. I learned a lot. So, thanks for that.¡± ¡°I was under the impression your need for control wouldn¡¯t find its limit at an uncaring System, but it seems my assumption was incorrect.¡± ¡°You¡¯re mistaken. If the System gave me an Objective to make sure everyone in the world was afflicted with this plague, I still wouldn¡¯t decide to help you. Your assumption was wrong. But it¡¯s not your assumption about my adherence to the System that¡¯s wrong. It¡¯s about my fucking character.¡± ¡°So it would seem. Begone, then. My influence shall spread regardless of what you could ever do.¡± Ray would have dearly liked to get in the last word, but the strange world of evolution he had been summoned to disappeared. He rocked on his feet, realizing he had returned to the lordling¡¯s bedchamber. It took him a minute or two to regain his bearings. He was back at the exact spot, both in space and time, where he had left the room. The lordling was still in bed, slowly losing blood as Ray pulled off his corrupted flesh. He focused on his actual job, trying his best to not let the conversation with the Paragon interfere with his concentration. Good thing the Tower Node of the Fleshcrafter was still working. Ray didn¡¯t feel any strangeness from it. Whatever growing influence the Paragon had boasted clearly didn¡¯t extend to messing with the Tower Nodes directly. Not yet, at least. Ray would need to be wary of it. It took almost half an hour before he was done working on the lordling. By that time, he had gained a small audience. The actual lord had arrived. He had been a little horrified to see all the bloody mess around his son, but Ray had firmly warned him to stay back. Actually, he¡ªand his retainers too, Ray recalled¡ªhad come close enough that they were probably infected too. Not good. Thankfully, they had enough wits not to interfere. They even assisted Ray when he asked for things like moving the afflicted young man around so Ray could reach his patient¡¯s whole body. Eventually, he was done. He was sweating a little and feeling weirdly weary, but the success made him feel elated enough to ignore the fatigue. The young man himself opened his eyes and looked around. He was still weak, but not for long. It turned out that he possessed a strong healing skill, one he activated as soon as he regained consciousness. That more than anything proved that Ray had succeeded. After all, the affliction sealed away the System of all those who were infected. ¡°Well done, Raymond Dominick,¡± the lord said. ¡°Well done indeed. Please, wait in your chambers. We will have a great feast to celebrate my son¡¯s recovery, and you shall be the guest of honour.¡± Gone was his frosty lordliness. He looked truly thankful. Ray wanted to attribute his earlier rudeness to the harsh feelings of a distraught father, but comments like dogs and collars and kennels still burned in Ray¡¯s ears. ¡°I don¡¯t know, my lord,¡± Ray said. ¡°Do mangy mutts belong at the table of a lord¡¯s feast?¡± His words cut through the growing euphoria in the room like the gong of a mourning bell at a festival. Ray blinked. Oh, geez. He had been in medieval-land so long on the Second Floor that he was starting to think of similes medievally too. The man was starting to look furious again. How dare this stupid alien actually talk back to the lord in such a manner? But before he could reply, the young man on the bed spoke up. ¡°Pease father. We have no time for feasts and such. Remunerate the man appropriately and then let him go. I must leave as soon as I can.¡± The lord immediately forgot all about Ray and turned to his son, starting to fuss and protest his departure. With great stoicism, the son declined all his father¡¯s endeavours and maintained that he was going to leave as soon as possible. Honestly, if Ray was the guy, he¡¯d be doing all he could to get out of this little castle too. Although, one word did catch Ray¡¯s interest a lot. The young man mentioned something about a war. The war. Frowning, Ray used Primordial Gauge on the guy. [Primordial Gauge] James Colbrook [Denizen] Path: Path of Divine Valour [Epic] Class: Crusader [Epic] [Tier 4] at Level 45 Perk: Final Stand Skills: Valiant Strike [Tier 8]: Valorous spell enhances your attacks with divine energy, causing a radiant explosion after crossing a threshold. Successful detonation raises the Valour Reputation. At Tier 8, this spell requires 4 consecutive this to activate the threshold. Divine Bulwark [Tier 7]: Summon a radiant shield that absorbs incoming damage for some time. If the shield is broken, it explodes. At Tier 7, this shield blocks up to Tier 7 attacks and explodes after 14 seconds. Righteous Bond [Tier 10]: Allies that defeat enemies in your vicinity have all their stats raised. At Tier 10, this spell raises all allies within 20 meters to boost their stats by 10% for every enemy defeated, with each boost lasting 1000 seconds. Unyielding Conviction [Tier 5]: Passive spell that indicates your unyielding resolve. You are immune to all fear and charm effects up to a Tier above this spell. At Tier 5, all mental affliction attacks at or below this spell¡¯s Tier raises your Spirit by 5. Consecrated Ground [Tier 8]: Sanctify the ground beneath your feet, healing allies who stand within it and burning enemies with holy energy. At Tier 8, this spell covers a radius of 10 meters, where healing is increased by 10%, and enemies take 5% additional damage. Ray stared at the notification. This guy¡­ Not only did he possess an Epic Path and an Epic Class, he was also at level 45. Even the most cursory look through his list of abilities impressed Ray. This guy was an absolute force to be reckoned with. No wonder he wanted to go to the battlefield as soon as possible. He would end things there real quick if he could properly contribute. Maybe Cory had sent Ray here on purpose. He wasn¡¯t healing some random noble¡¯s son. Ray had fixed up someone who could really help turn the tides of the Everstead kingdom¡¯s war against the Sylvans. And this was only one guy. How many people like that existed on Cliff One? Was this James a one-off, or were there more just as strong? ¡°I¡¯ll be fine without a feast, thank you,¡± Ray said loudly. They turned to him, some of the retainers looking incredulous that he would dare interrupt such an important conversation between father and son. ¡°But I would like to discuss my payment later, if you don¡¯t mind. Perhaps¡­ in a few hours?¡± While he ignored the shocked looks, he didn¡¯t shy away from the evaluating glance from the young man. His eyes was keen and intelligent Yep, people like Cory really wanted this guy on the frontlines. He probably had been on the frontlines before he had contracted the plague. And now, thanks to Ray, he would return to causing whatever havoc had had been wreaking on his enemies. With a parting smile that he hoped was no less sharp than his words, Ray left the room. He had to tell Kredevel about the new development, and Gritty too, if she had agreed to the plan. And then, he had a lot of exploring to look forward to on Cliff One. B2 Chapter 40 (107): Appearance It was hard to discuss the issue of Ray¡¯s reward for his services. The lord didn¡¯t want to talk to him and instead wanted to fuss around his son because of the lordling¡¯s impending departure. That gave Ray time to talk to Kredevel and Gritty, of course, though there wasn¡¯t a lot to discuss. They theorized a bit on where the lordling was most likely going to go and how they could counter him. Gritty, who had agreed to be the secret hammer of their operation to take out the healed-up Everstead people, suggested attacking James head-on. Ray and Kredevel quickly came up with better suggestions. But even that discussion was mostly short. It ended with them asking Ray what he was going to do next, and since he had no good answer, it got him thinking afterwards. What he wanted to do was get out of this castle and start seeing what Cliff One had to offer him. For some reason, he doubted it had a lot of monsters to spare. It just¡­ looked so serene and peaceful. So idyllic. Too perfect. Not a place that one associated with monsters. Still. He wasn¡¯t going to be sure until he explored for himself, until he actually asked around. Honestly, Ray would be happy if he could just find a couple of strong dungeons. But the problem was that he couldn¡¯t just go out. Well, he could. There wasn¡¯t even anyone guarding him like there had been on the last two Cliffs. He had a lot more freedom here than he had expected. It would just be a very irresponsible act, and he didn¡¯t want to worsen the already strained relationship he had with the lord. About an hour later, near the end of the day, he finally got his summons to speak with the man directly. Ray wasn¡¯t interested in niceties and formality. Thankfully, neither was the man himself. They discussed matters shortly. ¡°I just want some information about what kind of monsters there are on Cliff One and where they are,¡± Ray said. ¡°Plus the location and any other information about all the dungeons on Cliff One.¡± ¡°Well, now hold on, you simply can¡¯t¡ª¡± Ray wasn¡¯t interested in any negotiations. He¡¯d had enough of those on Cliff Three. ¡°Those are my ironclad terms of negotiation. You either make arrangements to immediately grant me what I¡¯ve asked for, or you can start thinking about explaining to your superiors why your son is the only person who got healed on Cliff One. Ever.¡± The threat was very clear. Clear enough to make the lord glare at him. Despite Ray¡¯s obvious unnegotiable stance on what he had demanded, the man still tried to reason and bargain with him. Ray just stared impassively and didn¡¯t reply. He¡¯d had great lessons on the impassivity from the guard on Cliff Three. Eventually, the lord sighed. ¡°I will begin making arrangements to give you all the information you seek. But you must remain at our beck and call. There can be no delays when we need someone healed.¡± ¡°Sure, sure. Just make sure to get what I want.¡± For all that he was a bastard, the lord turned out to possess a good source for the kinds of information Ray had requested. That was why he had gone out in the evening on a monster hunt. There were more Wood Elementals on Cliff One, with their locations having been documented by both the locals and special professionals who catalogued the presence of monsters in the area. As those Elementals weren¡¯t going to pose much of a threat to Ray, he headed out before night fully fell. It went just as he expected. The Wood Elementals were basically the same as the ones he had faced on Cliffs Four and Three. Creatures of various shapes made of wood, leaves, and roots. The only difference was that the wooded bits of these Elementals were black instead of normal brown. The leaves they sported were varying shades of bright yellow and vivid orange. Basically, they were emulating the kinds of trees Ray had seen all over Cliff One. That didn¡¯t make them much stronger, however. He dealt with them in short order, especially since he now had access to Molten Mana to burn them directly. They did provide him an opportunity to test his latest spell. Spirit Mirrorlink threw out a spike of black-red energy aimed at a specific target. The Wood Elementals were fast, but Ray¡¯s spell shot faster, stabbing into a monkey-like monster. Then the spike exploded into a black-ed aura. Ray understood what was happening. Just as the description had indicated, the aura caught several other monsters nearby, all of them now linked together via their souls. When Ray blasted his primary target with a Spiritsorb to the face, every single other monster that had been caught in the aura all screeched out in pain. Their bodies burned with black-red energy. It didn¡¯t kill them, as it had killed the actual target, but it clearly hurt. He grinned. Alright, this spell was going to be quite effective. [Enemy Defeated¡ªWood Elemental] Tier 9 Monster: Wood Elemental [Level 24] x14 Tier 9 Monster: Wood Elemental [Level 23] x7 Essence: +44,730 Knowledge: +63 True Mana Restored: +4,970 Essence to Level 37: 62,070/105,400 Knowledge to next Threshold: 1,803/2,000 A good chunk of Essence for the work of one night. It was a little sad the Essence requirement per level had risen so high, but there wasn¡¯t much he could do. At least Ray had a peaceful sleep. The next day, he was tasked with healing up another soldier. A woman. By the looks of her armour and the way she held herself, she was definitely some kind of commanding officer. He peeked at her status with Primordial Gauge. While the skills were blocked off because of her infection, it showed that she was level 42. Definitely worth peeking at again after the healing. Ray followed the same process as he had done with the lordling. A careful healing, a peek at her status with Primordial Gauge, then informing Kredevel and Gritty about the latest powerful addition to their enemies. It was interesting to note that the Everstead were prioritizing people with strong buffing and healing abilities. Both of Ray¡¯s latest patients had skills that would bolster others against debuffs and status afflictions. Against the Flesh Plague itself too, most likely. Afterwards, Ray went hunting for some more monsters. The guard took him along very specific routes and to very specific locations. He was never taken close to the centre of Cliff One, where he supposed the most important nobles and the ruler of the Everstead kingdom resided. They clearly didn¡¯t trust him enough for that. Ray didn¡¯t mind. As long as he was being given the right opportunity to face down more monsters, he¡¯d be happy. That day, he took out more Stone Elementals. The monsters were no challenge to him. It was almost boring. What kept Ray going and using his full power was the fact that he was earning a good deal of Essence to get closer to his level up. [Enemy Defeated¡ªStone Elemental] Tier 10 Monster: Stone Elemental [Level 28] x17 Essence: +47,600 Knowledge: +51 True Mana Restored: +4,760 [Level Up!] Reward
  • +5 Intellect, +5 Spirit, +2 Vitality +2 Agility, +10 allocatable free stats.
  • 5 True Mana Shards
  • 5 Origin Mana Shards
Essence to Level 38: 4,270/113,600 Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Knowledge to next Threshold: 1,854/2,000 What was interesting about the encounter, besides the fact that he had earned another level up, was that Ray had discovered the method the Elementals formed. Apparently, it was a variant of Mana being imbued into their surroundings that gave them life. Life Mana. A simple experiment with Primordial Gauge allowing his eyes to check the Mana in the area and then using Abstract Conversion to see the local Mana¡¯s effects. He had aimed at nothing in particular. What happened was that the air in front of him twisted and turned, this way and that, like it had come alive. It had come alive. Because of Life Mana. Ray had wondered if there was a Tower Node that was causing this in the area, but there was no way to find it. He had tried to use his Primordial Gauge-blessed eyes to check out if there were any Mana concentrations that suggested the presence of a Tower Node, but it didn¡¯t work. Ah, well. He had other System stuff to check. Ray plugged in the extra stats to Spirit, determined to take it to Tier 4, just like his Intellect. Plus. It was boosting his total Mana capacity a lot, so now he¡¯d have a ton of True Mana and Origin Mana to work with. The Spell Synthesis point was what truly got his attention, though. He had been planning for it for a while now. With no hesitation, Ray used it to combine Spirit Mirrorlink and Spiritblood Stake. Checking out the new spell proved that he had made the right decision. [Information Request¡ªSpells] Spiritscourge Chain [Passive] [Tier 6] A passive primal Spirit spell that imbues all of the caster¡¯s direct offensive spells with the ability to damage multiple targets at once. Every blow inflicted by the caster unleashes an aura of spiritual linking. Any enemies caught within the aura takes a fraction of the damage from the caster¡¯s attacks, even if not targeted directly. Linking aura and damage deal indirectly stacks with every blow. At Tier 6, this spell unleashes an aura from every spell up to a radius of 12 meters and transfers 18% of damage dealt from the main target. Ray read through the description but found himself focusing on one phrase. Stacking. So every single cast he would perform would send out this spirit-linking aura, which would cause anyone caught in the aura to take partial damage. And if they got caught multiple times, they¡¯d take even more damage? 18 would turn to 36 would turn to 54 and so on. Ray almost laughed maniacally. That was a bit insane. Oh yes, he was going to have to test it out soon. The days proceeded in that manner. Ray healed up one or two powerful members of the Everstead military while spending the rest of the day trying to find more monsters to kill. There weren¡¯t a ton of variants in the monsters he was facing. Nothing really new. He killed more Winged Wolves that was plaguing the forests on the eastern side of Cliff One. A large lake infested with Glidescales was his next destination. More Wood Elementals and a few Forest Amalgams fell prey to him the following day. It was much easier to kill the monsters now that all his spells affected them so tremendously with Spiritscourge Chain. By the end of his sixth, rather routine day, Ray had earned enough Essence to hit level 39. His stats had risen quite high and his Spirit was very close to hitting the 250-mark Tier break point. Two straight True Mana Tier points¡ªone for his spells and one for his skills¡ªwent straight to Lifeblood Graveyard and Vengeful Plunder. The first granted him another slot in Lifeblood Graveyard in case he came across another ability to add to his collection. Meanwhile, the second boosted his ability to grow even more powerful in extended battles. Just what he needed. While the days wore on in an increasingly familiar pattern, things weren¡¯t so swell everywhere else. Kredevel: We took some heavy losses today. And we were so close to securing a path to the Spire. It is honestly rather frustrating. Ray¡¯s Sylvan friend had gone on to explain how they had encountered a powerful member of the Everstead military who had given them a run for their money. Gritty should have taken care of the fellow, but she had been foiled. Ray: They¡¯re getting wise to our trick. Kredevel: I believe so, yes. Gritty mentioned that there had been a reverse trap awaiting her when she had gone to assassinate the fellow. Ray: Yeah. She¡¯s lucky she came out of it alive. Alive, but still injured and reeling. While she¡¯d heal up, which had allayed Ray¡¯s worries, she wouldn¡¯t be able to perform her strategic killing for a while. It wasn¡¯t just because she would need some time to recover. If the Everstead kingdom was now aware of their strategy, then there was no point in attempting the same thing again. Kredevel: We will need a new tactic. Ray: Right. I¡¯m still sad your Floor Lord still hasn¡¯t showed up to help you, although we figured this would be the case. Ray had gone on to reveal everything Ram, Bam, and Lam had mentioned about the Floor Lord to Kredevel. The Sylvan himself had his own background knowledge about the Floor Lord, and he knew that their collective endeavour wasn¡¯t necessarily going to draw out their leader to him and the rest of the Sylvans. They had both hoped they would be proven wrong. With Ray healing up the plague victims, it should have flushed out the Floor Lord. Not yet, it seemed. Ray: Have you figured out a new plan of operations, then? I don¡¯t want to see you get hurt. Kredevel: It is unfortunately too late for us to try and negotiate. At this rate, I would not be surprised if they blame us for this plague too. Ray was starting to feel worried not just because of the fact that Kredevel had lost that last contest, but also because he, Ray, was the catalyst for the change in fortunes. It had been a gamble to heal up the infected Everstead members. Sure, it had just been one battle. But if this was a sign of things to come, they needed a new strategy. Fast. Kredevel: I will think some more. For now, we are staying cautious and avoiding any further engagements, especially ones where we know their more powerful warriors are present. Ray: I¡¯ll see if I can come up with anything too. Stay safe, Kredevel. Kredevel: You as well. I hope you know that since they have discovered that the deaths of their last few healed-up warriors have all been orchestrated, their suspicions will go straight to you. Ray: Oh, don¡¯t worry. They¡¯ve been suspecting something foul from me since the moment I suggested the idea of healing up their plague. Kredevel: Regardless. You are not the only one who bemoans that you cannot help your friend in his time of need. That made Ray smile. Ray: Thanks, buddy. We¡¯ll all get through this, I¡¯m sure of it. Good luck. After his conversation with Kredevel was done, he tried to talk with Gritty. The chat with her was short and unwelcoming. She was fuming that she had been beaten and had been forced to retreat. Her mind was focused entirely on how to get back at her foe, who it turned out had been the very lordling Ray had healed up the first time he had reached Cliff One. Of course, that wasn¡¯t exactly a healthy state of mind to be in, but he didn¡¯t contradict her. She had her own way of doing things. Keeping his promise to Kredevel, Ray did try to think of some kind of plan for the Sylvans to tackle their more powerful foes. The Everstead were now superior numerically and possessed soldiers and combatants who were much stronger in levels too. Nothing came to his mind yet. Ray liked to think of himself as intelligent enough, but he lacked the kind of tactical cunning that could come up with insane strategies swiftly. He wasn¡¯t some sort of war leader. He still held the hope that something would come to him as time went on. So for now, he focused on doing what he did best and earning more Essence to level up. Ray was hoping the seventh day would get him close to hitting level 40, but he never got the chance. Instead, he got an invitation. ¡°A dignitary from Cliff Three has come to meet you, sir,¡± said the guard who had been accompanying him over the last week on all his monster hunts. ¡°It is important, so we must head there right away.¡± ¡°Important, huh?¡± Ray asked with a raised eyebrow. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me Lord Caleb himself came to see me.¡± ¡°I am unfortunately not aware of the details. The command came straight from my lord, and I cannot disobey.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯d still like to get some growth done once this is over, so let¡¯s hurry.¡± Ray was curious why Caleb himself would personally come to meet him. Didn¡¯t he have a war to conduct on Cliff Three? A part of him suspected that this might be the beginning of some sort of retaliation for their suspicion that he was helping their enemies, but they couldn¡¯t do anything to him just yet. There were still a lot of them that needed healing. They had one battle courtesy of one combatant whose assassination attempt had been foiled. Victory for the Everstead wasn¡¯t set in stone. Yet. They travelled back towards the edge of Cliff One. The guard confirmed that they were heading to the spire that Ray had used to climb up here. Looked like Caleb wasn¡¯t so desperate to meet Ray that he would come barrelling straight to the castle he was staying at. Except, they never got to meet Caleb. Mostly because the person Ray was supposed to meet was coming to him. About two-thirds of the way to the spire, where the edge of the Cliff was now visible, a rider on a Raptor neared them. The guard pulled to a stop as the rider came close enough to be recognized. Ray frowned as he followed his guide¡¯s motion. The man approaching them looked familiar, but not one he was expecting. That was¡ª ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Did Caleb get impatient and send you out to meet me?¡± Ignoring the question, the approaching guard made a strange gesture. The man beside Ray started to argue something but quickly stopped at another gesture. Ray looked between the two of them. What in the world was going on? With obvious reluctance, the guard who had brought Ray this far turned his Raptor around and began riding away. ¡°Hey, where are you going?¡± Ray asked. ¡°My duty is done,¡± he said without even looking back. ¡°He will perform the rest.¡± Ray turned to face the impassive man who had accompanied him all over Cliff Three. He had come to a stop about ten feet from Ray, his face as unreadable as ever. ¡°Uh, what¡ª¡± The guard cut Ray off. ¡°I will warn you this once. Cease assisting the Everstead. Cease your attempt at stymying the flow of the plague. Cease trying to use the Tower Nodes of the Fleshcrafter for your silly plans. Cease all that, and you may come out of this meeting alive.¡± Ray¡¯s heart spasmed in his chest. His mind whirled with too many thoughts all crashing together at once. He knew. This guy of all people knew. But that didn¡¯t mean the rest of the Everstead knew, because he was asking Ray to stop helping the Everstead? Why? Wasn¡¯t he one of them? ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± Ray said. His skin itched, his muscles tensed, his body almost throwing himself off his Raptor. Even his mount was starting to move a little agitatedly. ¡°How do you know all this? Who are you?¡± ¡°Your answer, Raymond Dominick. What is your answer? Will you cease?¡± Ray scowled. ¡°You didn¡¯t answer me and yet you expect me to answer you?¡± The guard got off his Raptor. His mount immediately bolted. The guard didn¡¯t pay it one lick of attention, those impassive, depthless dark eyes still fixed squarely on Ray. It was that sudden departure of the Raptor, more than anything else, that told Ray that this meeting was not at all what it seemed. He quickly got off his mount too, which also proceeded to run away in the direction he had come from, though he didn¡¯t dare take his eyes off the guard. Every instinct in his body was screaming at him to run too. To copy the Raptors and get the fuck out of there. Holy shit, no one and nothing on the entire Floor had made him feel this way. Who in the¡ª The guard¡¯s form began changing. A shimmering cover overtook the black-gold armour and the rest of his form. Ray blinked. That reflective, mercury-like second skin¡­ that was exactly what he could do with Mimic Mana. What¡ª The reflective cover disappeared all at once, dissipating into a hundred little motes of sparkling white light. Revealing the guard¡¯s true form. In place of armour, he now wore a flowing, ankle-length robe with an artfully carved silver breastplate. His form had lengthened so that he was taller, his figure turning thin and narrow. Even his skin had changed from a pale brown to dusky purple. But the most telling change were the horns. Dark curling protrusions of Growth Mana emerged from the elbows, the knees, spiking out with such thickness on the head that it looked the horns had replaced all the hair. This¡­ was no guard. This was no Everstead pretend-human at all. Ray was standing before a full-fledge Sylvan. A powerful Sylvan. ¡°Now,¡± she said. Her voice resounded over and over like they were in an empty room throwing overlapping echoes over them. ¡°Make your decision, Raymond Dominick. Cease, or perish at the hands of the Lord of the Second Floor.¡± B2 Chapter 41 (108): The Missing Floor Lord Ray really, really couldn¡¯t be blamed for staring agog at the sight he had been presented. The Floor Lord had come to him. The Floor Lord, the Sylvan who had been missing all this while, the strongest being on the entirety of the Second Floor as far as anybody knew, was now standing before him. He really couldn¡¯t be blamed for just being frozen for a few moments. Like a deer caught in the headlights of a car about to run it over. His thoughts were running, though. All the questions about the guard himself had transformed to the ones he so dearly would have liked to ask the Floor Lord directly. Had she really been a minor soldier within the Everstead kingdom all this while? How had she held onto a changed appearance like that for so long? Mimic Mana, of course, but the use case seemed extremely powerful. And most importantly, why was she hiding? Why was she biding her time and secreting herself when there were others of her kind sacrificing them¡ª ¡°The Fleshcrafter,¡± Ray said. His voice was actually shaky, so he cleared his throat and was happy that it steadied itself. ¡°You¡¯re so bent on working for the Fleshcrafter that you¡¯ll let even your fellow Sylvans die at the hands of the very enemies you want to kill.¡± ¡°Your pointless accusations have no bearing on what I asked you,¡± the Floor Lord said, impatience growing on her face and her words. ¡°Answer me. Will you cease, or will you die?¡± She took one step forward. Her horns glimmered under the day¡¯s dying light, dark as jet and reflective like obsidian. Ray was a bug caught in a spider¡¯s web. He wanted to continue the conversation so he¡¯d have time to actually see what this Floor Lord was capable of with Primordial Gauge. ¡°I don¡¯t think my options need to be so black-and-white,¡± Ray said. ¡°I was doing all this to help your followers.¡± ¡°Your assumptions were greatly misplaced. But I am not here to entertain them.¡± ¡°But you are here. You presented me with a choice. And my choice is that I don¡¯t want to die. But I still want to¡­ help the Sylvans against the Everstead kingdom who stole the Floor from you.¡± ¡°What makes you think they stole this Floor?¡± Ray straightened, storing that tiny bit of information away. ¡°I heard you had an argument with the leaders of the Everstead. That you¡ª¡± ¡°Enough. What gives you the right to assume you deserve to know anything, you mere insect?¡± Unlike her form as the guard, she definitely wasn¡¯t shy about showing emotions now. She hid nothing of her disgust for Ray. ¡°I¡ª¡± ¡°You are an up-jumped little Denizen who delved into matters far above his station. That I even give you the opportunity to live is more than you deserve. I will ask one more time, and if you do not promise that you will cease, if you do not surrender your Tower Nodes to me immediately afterwards, then I will pick them out of the remains of your shattered corpse.¡± Ray¡¯s heart spasmed again like he was about to go into cardiac arrest. Alright, Gritty had been absolutely correct. This Floor Lord was undeniably insane. He made a show of being scared. It wasn¡¯t hard to make his legs shake. His every sense was telling him that he was outmatched, and his best bet would be to comply with her and get away. But she had not only demanded his unconditional surrender, she was also determined to take away all the Tower Nodes he had earned. No fucking way. Ray used Primordial Gauge while trying to look like he was scared but still attempting to think things over. What he found only made him shake harder. [Primordial Gauge] Fyrlea Erd Seventh-sealed [Denizen] Race: Sylvan Path: Path of Core Growth [Epic] Class: Cosmic Caller [Epic] [Tier 5] at Level 55 Skills: Call of the Cosmos [Tier 7]: Summon a pool of the boundless void upon the battlefield. This simulacrum of the cosmos allows you to extend the reach of all your spells by acting as a medium to use them from. At Tier 7, this spell creates cosmic blobs of up to 2 meters in diameter at a distance of 21 meters from the caster. Sylvan Dominance [Tier 8]: Aura of astral projection that automatically refills Mana. This Aura manifests in the element of the wielder¡¯s Path. Your extended presence will note the aura of other beings in your aura¡¯s vicinity. Domination ensures your aura will supersede any Aura up to a Tier above. At Tier 8, this spell¡¯s range extends to 40 meters. Void Perception [Tier 7]: Claim absolute detection of any living being under the eye of the heavens within this spell¡¯s range, including precognition of any Mana conjured into an ability. At Tier 7, the spell¡¯s vicinity extends to 35 meters. Shattered Cosmos [Tier 9]: Rip a rent in the heavens to rain down the wrath of the cosmos. At Tier 9, this spell creates a rent up to 18 meters in length and at a distance of up to 18 meters away from the caster. Armoured Growth [Tier 8]: Imbue yourself with Growth Mana to create a slowly-growing encasing that negates incoming damage. At Tier 8, 16% of all incoming damage is negated per minute of growth. Weaponized Growth [Tier 8]: Turn your Growth Mana into an armament. At Tier 8, this skill creates a weapon with maximum mass of 16 kilograms. Gravity Well [Tier 10]: Set a well of gravity that negates and replaces all other gravity in the area. At Tier 10, this spell can cast a well of gravity at a range of up to 20 meters with a maximum radius of 20 meters. Comet Strike [Tier 9]: Wreathe yourself in the burning power of a comet before hurling it at your foe. At Tier 9, this spell unleashes a comet that travels up to 45 meters away. Growth Flare [Tier 8]: Unleash Growth Mana that causes all nearby matter to grow beyond their proportions. This spell imbues Growth Mana into the caster¡¯s surroundings at a range of up to 16 meters. Growing Star [Tier 10]: Summon a star that grows over time, increasing in size and power until it collapses. At Tier 10, this spell calls forth a star that grows up to 20 meters in radius a distance of up to 10 meters away from the caster. Damn, there were so many skills. No, not even skills. Spells. Apparently, this Floor Lord¡¯s class was a caster type one, just like Ray¡¯s. He didn¡¯t have time to carefully read through the whole list. The Floor Lord was approaching with great impatience. Ray had to answer or be killed. Not that the answer he had settled on was going to spare his life, especially since he saw that his would-be opponent was over level 50. ¡°I will take your silence to be an admission of rebellion,¡± the Floor Lord said. ¡°Die then, mongrel.¡± Ray acted quickly. His heart beat faster than it had done in any other fight he had ever been in and his blood pumped through his veins like they were being driven by a waterfall. All his thoughts narrowed to one objective¡ªsurvive. He cast Soullife Cloak and called up Soaring Wings with Primal Spiritcraft. As he flew back away from the approaching Sylvan, he cast Mottling Spiritguard as well. The Chaos orbs immediately took to circulating around him like overzealous moons of a demanding planet. Half continued flying with him, while the other half went straight for the Sylvan. None of them did any damage. As soon as they reached the Floor Lord, Growth Mana burgeoned off her shiny silver breastplate. Glowing, spiralling growths jutted out and stabbed into the orbs a few feet before they contacted their target, making them explode. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The Floor Lord walked through the detonation like it was nothing. But Ray had used Vengeful Plunder. With the skill¡¯s Tier having gone up a few times over the last couple of weeks, he felt the benefit of the Spiritguard orbs reaching their target immediately. The Floor Lord was moving. Fast. She was real fast. Ray had flown back, attempting to maintain some distance between them, but she had begun to gain on him. That had changed when more Spiritguard orbs made contact, each ¡°successful¡± strike raising all his stats by three points. In no time at all, Ray was able to keep up with the Floor Lord¡¯s speed. Yes! He could maintain proper dist¡ª She cast Gravity Well. The placement of the spell was basically inch-perfect. A bloom of deep blue energy in the middle of Ray and the Floor Lord immediately caused the gravity to shift around them. Ray¡¯s flight was unceremoniously halted as all his momentum disappeared. The whole world turned. He was falling. Falling straight towards the Floor Lord. It really was a blessing his thoughts had sped up. Even as he desperately summoned Impervious Shell as a last-gasp defence, he realized what exactly was going on. Having skimmed through Gravity Well¡¯s description definitely helped. The spell really had replaced all the gravity in the vicinity. Where it normally acted so that everyone was dragged towards the ground, it was now all coming from a point several feet above the earth. This meant that not only was Ray dragged horizontally towards the new centre of gravity in his local universe, but so was everything else in the vicinity. The land started fracturing apart as nearby rocks took the air. The Floor Lord¡¯s speed was enhanced ever further as she was dragged in her intended direction. For Ray himself, his wings had been creating elevation from the ground. Since they offered nowhere near as much force to fly horizontally, it was no wonder he was now being tugged backwards. Thankfully, Impervious Shell manifested just in time. As Ray reached the location of the deep blue pulsing orb, the pure black shell appeared before him. It couldn¡¯t have come at a better time. The Floor Lord had used Weaponized Growtht to create an enormous, curved sword of glowing Growth Mana. A sword she slammed in as Ray neared her. The Impervious Shell shattered. As much as Ray¡¯s stats had grown even in that tiny time since the battle had begun, the potency of his spells hadn¡¯t grown a ton. Neither had his Resilience. He had underestimated the sheer power that the Floor Lord possessed. The Impervious Shell broke first. What broke next was Ray¡¯s arm. He was just lucky that his hastily summoned defence had absorbed the worst of the Floor Lord¡¯s blow. He did scream as he flew back at the impact. Flew towards his original direction, against the new flow of gravity. Flew so far that he actually escaped the range of the artificial gravity set by the Floor Lord and crashed down to the ground, all his senses rebelling against the sudden shift. He was going to be sick. Ray pushed some Recovery to fix his arm and tried to concentrate. The Floor Lord was already preparing her next move. If she was surprised that he had survived that blow, she didn¡¯t show it. Once again, Ray¡¯s defence was instinctive. He barely had any time to think. The Floor Lord¡¯s attacks were relentless. Comet Strike had created a whirl of burning blue in her hand. She fired it, sending it streaking at her target with a speed reminiscent of its namesake. Ray just managed to cast Mottling Spiritguard to make all the orbs gather up and stop the flaming comet. He survived again, but the detonation had him flying once more. At least he was able to tamp down the urge to scream, even if it would have been one of frustration rather than pain. Ray was able to gain control of his flight thanks to his wings and because he had been thrown far enough from the Sylvan by that blast. It gave him some breathing room. Just enough space to summon up his constructs with Lifeblood Soulform. They began flying, receiving an order from Ray to shoot their laser breaths at the Floor Lord from two different directions. But they flew only for a second. The cosmos came to life around Ray. Clouds of dark blue and purple bloomed to life around him, glinting with the tiniest of stars and streams of colourful nebulae. And then the Growth Mana weapon burst out of them, striking down the constructs with ease. Ray gawped a little at the sheer power behind the Floor Lord¡¯s blows. The first strike had basically flattened one construct. Her second had stabbed through the other one¡¯s mouth to emerge from the back of its head. She was a fucking monster. Ray knew that he could still gain the momentum of this battle. He just had to seize it. The Floor Lord fired off more comets, but he was prepared. Mottling Spiritguard threw out several sparking chaos orbs. Ray didn¡¯t simply make them defend him. He sent out actively, so that when they collided with the comets and set off the explosions, he wasn¡¯t as adversely affected as he had been the first time. Which gave him a clear opportunity to use Primal Spiritcraft. Two more draconic maws formed, burning with chaotic black-red energy. Ray quickly aimed them forward and fired. It was one of his fastest attacks. The laser breaths should have shot to the Floor Lord and punctured through any defences she could have summoned. But they never reached their target. All because gravity had once more been manipulated. A Gravity Well had popped up somewhere overhead. Since Ray had allowed the momentum of the firing laser breaths to throw himself back, he was safely out of range. But the attacks he had fired weren¡¯t. Both lasers bent upwards, missing the Floor Lord completely. She was smiling fiercely as she used her next ability. Reality cracked apart, revealing two billboard-sized rifts on either side of her. What was that spell called? Oh, right. Shattered Cosmos. Well, Ray was pretty much about to be shattered if the energy streaming out of those dark rents were any indication. They weren¡¯t even dark for long. Light burned bright white and golden, shining harder and faster, before they emerged in a torrent of pure destruction. Ray didn¡¯t have the time to tell if it came as a burst of lightning or a fiery laser like his construct¡¯s breaths or what. All he did was hunker down and cast Mottling Spiritguard thrice. The orbs were switched to defence. He gathered them close and formed a three-layer shield. Even then, they probably wouldn¡¯t have been enough as the Floor Lord¡¯s spell crashed in like an avalanche of obliterating energy. It was probably only the fact that he had used the Mana Infuser ring to raise the spell¡¯s Tier to 7 that saved him. The impact was deafeningly loud. His ears were definitely doing strange things, sound rising to an impossible volume before completely disappearing. Everything was shaking hard enough to tear apart. But Ray was safe from the Floor Lord¡¯s attack. That had cost a lot of Mana, though. Ray quickly crushed a True Mana shard, then used the Mana Infuser ring again. This battle was his for the taking. He knew it. Believed it. His Spiritguard shields cracked and broke. But they had withstood that devastating blast from Shattered Cosmos. Ray rose, only to see the Floor Lord bearing down upon him, her Growth Mana sword raised high. Fuck, she was already so close. So much for taking the fight¡¯s momentum. The Floor Lord had shot to his exact location while he had been busy defending himself from her devastating spell. He had expected something like that might happen, though, just hadn¡¯t wished it had. So, just as the Sylvan was about to slam down her oversized weapon, Ray summoned and thrust two draconic maws straight at her. ¡°Got you!¡± he shouted. He shouldn¡¯t have underestimated just how fast the Floor Lord could react. Even as the draconic maws forming over his hand opened their jaws wide to crush her, Call of the Cosmos went up around them all. That was when Ray learned that it wasn¡¯t just the Floor Lord¡¯s spells that could teleport through the cosmic clouds. Anything she targeted could as well. Which meant that Ray¡¯s draconic maws disappeared inside the deep blue clouds in front of the Floor Lord. Then they reappeared on either side of through the clouds stationed there. Mouths bristling with chaotic fire, they were about to unleash their leasers on their summoner. Ray was about to attack himself instead of his opponent. All thanks to the Floor Lord¡¯s tricksy powers. Ray blessed again the fact that he was capable of thinking quickly. Project Presence and Spectral Step were all that saved him at that moment. He disappeared, only to reappear about a dozen feet ahead of his previous location. His lasers had still fired off behind him in his original location, though. The detonation was proof of that. It wouldn¡¯t have been a problem, since his teleportation had brought the draconic maws on his hands along with him¡ªtheir fiery breaths had sputtered out already. But the Floor Lord had been attacking in that instant too, bringing her massive, flame-wreathed Growth Mana sword down. The collision of her blow and the Comet Strike infused into her sword turned the blast of Ray¡¯s chaotic flame into a titanic detonation. One that ripped him off his feet, the shockwave hammering him with such force that his legs felt crushed and his head buzzed with agony. His flight was incredible. Impossible. He had been flung hard and fast, so there was no way for him to control his motion with his wings. But what was worse was that even if he couldn¡¯t control his motion, the Floor Lord still could. Ray swung this way and that, like he was in the grip of a giant, invisible dog using him like a chew toy. It was too late by the time Ray understood that she was using a series of Gravity Wells to jerk him about this way and that. It was too late by the time he realized he was being inexorably and irrevocably being pulled towards her. Ray screamed as he swung about in a weird arc, up and down completely out of whack, as he flew back to Floor Lord. Right into her sword. A sharp clang preceded her Growth Mana weapon stabbing into his back. He screamed out in pain, though somehow, her words cut through his screech. ¡°Strange shield you have there,¡± she said. And then she was slamming her sword around, sending him flying in a different direction. Ray had retained just enough concentration to cast Mottling Spiritguard in an effort to take advantage of the tiny, tiny window he had. The pain was great, but his Valorous Back Shield had stopped the worst of the Sylvan¡¯s blow. But then he was sent flying far too fast, his concentration on his own cast quickly dying. Instead, Ray focused on casting Soulstrike to craft two True Mana arms. They buffered his landing, making sure he didn¡¯t hit the ground and crush every bone in his body. The pain his guts was bad, though it was quickly taken care of by his Recovery. Almost half his Recovery. Wasn¡¯t the Valorous Back Shield supposed to have saved him? When Ray looked up, the Floor Lord had retaken the entire momentum of the fight again. Worse, she was intent on finally finishing him. Shattered Cosmos created half a dozen enormous rifts in the air over Ray. Then they fired all at once. Ray was hopeful of protecting himself with his spells. He had done so once already, hadn¡¯t he? But the Floor Lord wasn¡¯t targeting him. Instead, she threw her power at the cliffside. A hundred bolts of furious energy crashed down to the earth, forming a ring of light around Ray. He was blinded, forced to squint even as he called up his Spiritguard orbs in a defensive array. But it wasn¡¯t enough. The whole cliff began collapsing. He started to fall. Fuck. When had he been driven this close to the cliff¡¯s edge? Ray screamed as the edge of Cliff One shattered, and he began plummeting back to Cliff Two. B2 Chapter 42 (109): Giants Cradle The surprise of his sudden plummet suffocated all of Ray¡¯s for a moment. Sheer panic coursed through his body like a parasite living in his veins. He was falling. He had been literally thrown off Cliff One. At this rate, he was going to die. Then the benefits of his Intellect Tier breaks kicked in. The panicked screaming of his thoughts grew muted. It almost caused a whiplash with how suddenly he could think straight again, with how well he could focus, even in a situation like this. Ray had to survive. He was not dying like this. The top of Cliff One was long gone. All Ray could do was look forward to hitting Cliff Two hard enough to splatter himself to bloody paste. Not if he could help it. He crafted the draconic maws on his arms and fired their lasering breaths far down below. It didn¡¯t matter that the shattered cliff was falling just below him. It didn¡¯t matter that the fiery beams unleashed by the draconic maws on his arms were striking the crushed rocks and debris from Cliff One. They were elevating him, slowing down his descent. That was all that mattered. Ray had a bit of difficulty controlling the direction of his draconic maws¡¯ fire breaths. They ejected with such force that his arms were attempting to bend backwards, which would have been terrible. He needed them to be aimed at the rapidly approaching ground. Thankfully, he was able to reorient his own body so that his feet were pointed downwards. This helped tremendously to ensure his arms hung down instead of swivelling up. The remains of the cliff Ray had been on fell down far faster than him. They had reached close enough that the rocks had begun crashing down, their impacts resonating through the area like the tap-dancing footsteps of a gargantuan giant. Ray¡¯s idea worked though. Even if he had to sacrifice almost the entirety of his True Mana while firing the draconic maws, he was safe. ¡°Yeah,¡± he said, looking up with a scowl. ¡°I¡¯m still alive, Floor Lord. How do you like that?¡± Ray was pretty sure she couldn¡¯t hear him, which was part of what emboldened him to give vent to his growing anger. That Floor Lord had been something else. Fucking hell. He hadn¡¯t realized the difference in their powers would be that great. Sure, she had been over level fifty, and he wasn¡¯t even at level forty yet. But the fact that he had failed to even get close to her during that battle had his whole body itching for a rematch. After he had gained more Essence, that was. Ray landed among the debris, his footing unstable. One wrong move and the whole mound of broken rocks would collapse. He wasn¡¯t paying much attention to it, though. What had caught his eye was the enormous opening in the cliff face about sixty feet ahead of him. [Primordial Gauge¡ªDungeon] Giants¡¯ Cradle [Tier 15] A home for those who grow beyond the sizes that the world can bear regularly. Enormity is a difficult burden to bear. There is only so much weight a single body can sustain. Cross through the halls carved out of ever-ceaseless growth, until you reach the resting place of what once could make anything grow. A dungeon. Ray had fallen straight to the doorstep of a dungeon. He laughed, looking straight up again and sticking out his middle finger to the Floor Lord. She had just given him a huge blessing in disguise. Without hesitation, Ray began climbing down to enter his latest challenge. A Tier 15 dungeon. Easily the strongest he had been in yet. No doubt, he was going to get a lot of Essence. Those bastards on Cliff Two had neglected to mention there were more dungeons here. More places Ray could have explored and grown even further. All¡¯s well that ends well, though. It was only the series of events he had experienced that had led him to this Giant¡¯s Cradle. Ray considered the description again as he went into the opening. Enormousness and growth. Did this place have something to do with Growth Mana? It was huge, just as advertised. The tunnel he walked through remained big enough to accommodate a small ship. Sometimes, in previous dungeons, Ray had wondered how much worse would it have been of he had been susceptible to claustrophobia. Well, no way was anyone getting claustrophobic in this place. Big though the dungeon was, it was also darker than his liking. Thankfully, he now had access to spells that could alleviate the gloom. Well, Soul Aspects, if he was being honest. But close enough. Ray used Lifeblood Soulform to call up the Viledrake tail. Lava bloomed along its length, throwing ruddy-orange light all over the tunnels. Since Primordial Guage wasn¡¯t warning him about any monsters just yet, Ray opened his chat. Ray: I met the Floor Lord. Hope you¡¯re alright. There was no reply from Kredevel. Not even after waiting for a few minutes. He was likely busy with the ongoing war matters. Ray would just have to¡ª Kredevel: Truly? That is incredible. Tell me everything, please. Ray grinned. Then he proceeded to explain how he had been tricked by the Everstead cohort up on Cliff One. Although, he supposed he didn¡¯t know if Caleb had truly been there or not. The Floor Lord could just have been using an actual, established meeting to take out Ray. Kredevel: How? How could she have assumed such a form for such a long time? Ray: I don¡¯t know exactly, but I can guess the basics. You¡¯ve faced it too. Kredevel: You mean the Imitator Dungeon? Ray: Yes. Mimic Mana. There¡¯s no other possible explanation. I can bet my ass she has some sort of non-class-related ability that uses Mimic Mana to disguise her. Kredevel: That does make a great deal of sense. But the timescale is still mid-boggling. A skill powerful enough to maintain a different appearance for weeks, perhaps months, on end¡ª Ray: What? Why¡¯d you stop typing? Everything okay? When Kredevel didn¡¯t reply for over a minute, Ray started to get a little worried. Had they been surprise-attacked? Ambushed by the Everstead, maybe? Kredevel: Apologies, someone needed some assistance. But yes, I think I understand how she managed it. Funnily enough, you know it too, if only because I mentioned it already. Ray tried to remember what Kredevel had mentioned about it all. His brain couldn¡¯t recall the relevant information. Thankfully, Kredevel didn¡¯t keep him hanging for long. Kredevel: Amplification Mana. Ray: OH. The same thing she must have used to create those giant spires. Kredevel: Yes, exactly. Amplifying the duration of whatever abilities she possesses would be no great a feet. Ray shook his head. Unbelievable. Kredevel was unable to formulate just how she might have acquired Amplification Mana, but the fact was that she did possess it. Kredevel: I cannot believe you survived a direct encounter with her. You are truly something else. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Something else, was it? The only one was something else here was the Floor Lord. Until Ray got the better of her, there was no way he would feel good about his meeting. Ray: I wouldn¡¯t call being thrown off a cliff surviving. Although, this makes me curious how long the Floor Lord herself is going to survive¡­ Kredevel: Her reappearance is sure to rouse the Everstead. Ray: It¡¯s what she does next that I¡¯m really interested in, considering the Everstead might be after her if any of them saw the spectacle of our fight. Kredevel: Killing you was worth letting the Everstead potentially rediscover her, it would seem. Ray: Maybe. Or maybe, she¡¯s confident enough in her mimicking abilities. She could get away and hide among the Everstead again, for all we know. It all depends on whether the Everstead themselves understand that they were tricked using Mimic Mana. They cut off chatting for now. Kredevel promised that he would inform Gritty about it. Ray had to focus on actually getting through the dungeon. He wasn¡¯t sure how far he had travelled before the first monsters appeared. Primordial Gauge informed him of their approach long before they actually appeared, so Ray wasn¡¯t surprised. The monsters reminded him of centipedes but made of rocks and blown to the size of small buses. Ray was pretty sure the way their steely mandibles clicked was basically what people heard right before they were guillotined. They were fast. Ray was faster, though. He jumped back, calling up his Soaring Wings to help him retreat. At the same time, he crafted a draconic maw on his hand and fired off its laser breath. The monster tried to weave away from the chaotic beam. Its scuttling body was certainly sinuous enough. Ray was having none of it, however. He slashed his arm to the side, making sure the beam he had fired connected with its target. A simple reason for using the draconic maw via Primal Spiritcraft was because of the monster¡¯s consistency. Rocks and stones were unfortunately not going to be affected by the chaos. As such, Ray had to rely on the sheer power behind the laser breath to take out his foes. He was successful. The centipede like monster shattered apart under the pressure of his lasering breath. Its legs fell off, its rocky body cracked, and broke, and even its mandibles were torn off its head. [Enemy Defeated¡ªStone Lice] Tier 11 Monster: Stone Lice [Level 32] x1 Essence: +3,520 Knowledge: +3 True Mana Restored: +320 Essence to Level 40: 26,720/131,200 Knowledge to next Threshold: 1,974/2,000 They were called Stone Lice? What an odd name for a monster. Although¡­ the dungeon description had mentioned giants. So was Ray fighting the lice that had lived on the giant¡¯s heads? That was a little insane to think about. He moved on. There were more of the monsters, though they didn¡¯t attack him just yet. If they had, he could have taken them out with the draconic maw again. But they were either wary of him after how easily he had taken down their brethren or they were waiting for something. It was interesting that Ray hadn¡¯t faced his first Dungeon Obstacle yet. Surely, it had to be close. He had travelled pretty far into the dungeon to not have faced one already. Unless there was something else going on. Like, for instance, he was only travelling around in circles and not actually heading wherever he was supposed to go. That was when he spotted it. Far above, the roof was riddled with large holes. They were arranged periodically. Ray saw one every couple of minutes of walking. He was starting to get the feeling that he was supposed to go through one of those. Reaching them would be a pain, considering his wings couldn¡¯t take him that high and he didn¡¯t want to waste True Mana and use up more of his True Mana shards. But maybe¡­ Ray called on his wings again and rose into the air His motion agitated the Stone Lice, who all began grinding their stony, scuttling legs on the roof. Soaring Wings didn¡¯t take him as far as he needed to go, but that was fine. As he reached the peak of his ascent, Ray used Soulstrike. Two True Mana arms shot out, rising high enough to plunge their grasping ends through the hole above and grab onto the ledge and pull him up. His assumption had been right. There was a flat area around the hole. Not just a flat area, as Ray found out first-hand. A whole another floor had awaited him through the large aperture. The Stone Lice moved with incredible pace. They surged through the same hole Ray had used, all of them crashing against each other in their haste to enter and get to their target. Ray jolted, throwing himself back as fast and as far as he could. Good thing his wings were still active. As the Stone Lice hurtled towards him in an avalanche of rocky, oversized insects, he sent out a combination of spells he had been waiting to test. Spiritscourge Chain went out first. A spike of black-red energy crashed into the nearest monster, exploding into an aura of the same chaotic energy that fell upon its fellows. Ray immediately followed it up with two punches using his True Mana arms. They were both aimed at the same monster. It survived the first hit from his True Mana arm, but the second one managed to crush half its body, especially after Ray turned the Soulstrike into a bludgeoning end. Spiritscourge Chain worked fantastically. As the first Stone Lice fell, several of its neighbours afflicted with the black-red aura all staggered and halted as they fell over. Ray smiled at the effect. While the transferred damage hadn¡¯t been great enough to kill the Stone Lice, their falls impeded the rest of the monsters behind them. This basically halted the entire charge. Giving Ray the perfect opening to unleash all his other spells. Spiritscourge Chain took True Mana efficiency to a whole new level. Ray cast it a couple more times, making sure he had affected the whole group with the black-red aura of chaotic damage transfer. Then, with his True Mana arms still active, he began pummelling the life out of the Stone Lice. The monsters weren¡¯t about to take it lying down, though. Several managed to get up and charge him. Even worse, they came from different directions, forcing him to split his attention. They lunged at him. Ray caught one using his True Mana arm, slamming it into the other monster that was rushing him. Yet another Stone Lice shot at him with surprising speed, considering its bulk, but Ray leaped over it with the aid of his wings, lashing it with his tail. He flew back, activating Mottling Spiritguard. That ought to do it. A little bit of Origin Mana to use Origin Resonance made the orbs turn burning orange as they filled with lava. They took care of the onrushing monsters with ease. The little diversion from the rushing monsters had allowed the ones Ray had been beating down to get back, but he reached them before they could become a nuisance. They were damaged and cracked, clearly suffering, but they weren¡¯t dead yet. But just as Ray took down his second Stone Lice in the group, the rest all began crumbling apart. Spiritscourge Chain had transferred enough damage to finally end them. He grinned. Without his new spell, that would have taken quite a bit more Mana and effort. All that was left was mopping up the stragglers that had survived. Ray converted his Spiritguard orbs to offensive stance. The last of the Stone Lice fell in quick succession. [Enemy Defeated¡ªStone Lice] Tier 11 Monster: Stone Lice [Level 32] x17 Essence: +59,840 Knowledge: +51 True Mana Restored: +5,440 Essence to Level 40: 86,560/131,200 [Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 2,000-point threshold, your Knowledge has raised your Intellect by 125. Knowledge to next Threshold: 2,025/2,500 With all that done, Ray headed forward. He had arrived at a different tunnel through the hole. One that was smaller than the ¡°ground floor¡± tunnels, but still pretty huge. Travelling along it was peaceful. There were no more monsters, as indicated by Primordial Gauge. But that only made Ray tense up because he felt as though the dungeon was building up to something. He was proven right when he encountered his first Dungeon Obstacle. [Primordial Gauge¡ªDungeon Obstacle] Overburdened Shower Things can only grow so far until their own weight forces them to collapse. You now stand witness to one such incident, where the growth of the world causes it to collapse. Wade through the resulting destruction to forge onwards to your destination. Ray blinked. The dungeon wanted him to get through a literal meteor shower. The room the tunnel had opened up to was enormous. It reminded him of the huge space where the Viledrake had lain hidden and waiting. But the difference was that this room was supremely unstable. Chunks of the couple-hundred-feet high ceiling were constantly fracturing apart and crashing down to the floor below. The endless series of crashing rocks formed a cacophony that surged into Ray¡¯s mind and attempted to scramble his thoughts. That noise alone was so bad, it became way too difficult to just think. Insane. More importantly, how in the world was he going to get through this mess? It took him dome time to figure out how to go about the Dungeon Obstacle. Thankfully, he wasn¡¯t being harried by more of the Stone Lice, so he could take his time gathering is runaway thoughts. Ray cast a series of four different spells. Soulstrike twice to craft the True Mana arms, a couple of casts of Mottling Spiritguard to have about thirty orbs sticking close to him, Primal Spiritcraft to call up his Soaring Wings, and Lifeblood Soulform to conjure Impervious Shell. For the last one, Ray used his Mana-Infuser Ring to raise Lifeblood Soulform¡¯s Tier to Tier 8. That made sure the Impervious Shell he called up was much larger and thicker than normal. He would need it against those crashing rocks. But the first step forward Ray took had him halting to a stop. There was a set of new sounds among the detonating impacts of the falling rocks. Sounds he hadn¡¯t been able to make out before because everything else had drowned them. Sounds he would have failed to notice if Primordial Gauge hadn¡¯t warned him. There were monsters within that mess of falling rocks. Hundreds upon hundreds of monsters. Ray took a deep breath. Alright, this was going to need a slightly different approach. Good thing he knew just what he had to do. All he had to see was whether it would work. B2 Chapter 43 (110): Overwhelming Obstacles Ray flew forward. The first part of the plan involved his True Mana arms holding up the Impervious Shell as a shield against the falling rocks. He hadn¡¯t realized just how big the ¡°meteors¡± were. They varied in size, of course, but even the smallest he saw in the dim light were garage-sized. The bigger ones could easily crush the average suburban house. Thankfully, the combination of the Mana-Infused Impervious Shell and the strength in his True Mana arms was enough to keep them from getting to him. Ray¡¯s dark shield and his oversized black-red arms both swayed and shook at every impact, but he remained safe. They were doing their job admirably. The bigger problem turned out to be the monsters. They weren¡¯t those rocky centipedes like he had fought before. No, these were more like rocky ants with giant, steely mandibles. And there were a lot of them. Mottling Spiritguard was helpful in keeping them from him. They ranged around him, quickly scuttling in close to snap him in two with their pincer jaws. But his Spiritguard orbs smacked them back, keeping him safe. The sparking spheres didn¡¯t kill them, though. Like the Stone Lice, these monsters were made of inorganic material, so the chaos didn¡¯t really affect them. Plus, the orbs didn¡¯t have as much of a punching power as Ray¡¯s more directly offensive minded spells. It did help a bit to use Spiritscourge Chain at times to make them all take extra damage, but the monsters were resilient. Ray forged on as fast as his wings could carry him. He was making good time. The chamber was huge, but he could see the end. There was another large tunnel that¡ª A loud screech interrupted him. He turned just in time to see one of the monsters launching itself at him. It flew through the air so fast that even his Spiritguard orbs couldn¡¯t stop it. Ray was forced to jerk his flight into a different direction to prevent himself from being gored by that crazy, SUV-sized rock ant. Unfortunately, that threw him out of the protection of his True Mana arms and Impervious Shell, even if it was only for an instant. An instant was all this crazy Dungeon Obstacle needed to crush him. All that saved Ray from being flattened to fleshy pancake was the remainder of his orbs rushing to form a layered barricade overhead. It actually worked. The falling rock, with impossible weight and momentum, actually stopped several feet over Ray¡¯s head. That led to him being almost entirely defenceless against the rock ants, however. They screeched and scuttled at him with furious speed and fatal intent. More of the monsters threw themselves at him. Ray used Mottling Spiritguard again, but it wasn¡¯t going to be enough. Not against the sheer horde rushing his position. As he got moving again, he used Primal Spiritcraft. The first couple of monsters that sailed through the air to get to him received a face full of his summoned draconic maws¡¯ laser breaths. Now that had the needed punch behind it. The beam of compressed chaotic fire slammed into a monster and sent it flying in a different direction. There were too many of them around him. Some had even gotten ahead of him, blocking his path forward, forcing him to redirect his flying charge into an unideal path. But at least Ray could keep himself safe. He had converted all his Spiritguard orbs into a defensive stance, turning them into barricades that stopped the monsters from slamming into him. This allowed him just enough reprieve to blast them with a laser breath. He had thought that the falling rocks would help. They were crashing all around him, even on the monsters that were trying to get to him. But it tuned out the rocks were actually eggs. For every rock that plummeted and shattered apart on the chamber floor, another rock ant emerged from its stony innards. Ray couldn¡¯t even begin to fathom what kind of twisted method of birth this was supposed to be. First, he had to survive. The monsters were growing more and more intense. Not just in their ferocity, but in their sheer numbers too. His Spiritguard orbs weren¡¯t going to last long like that. Ray cast another bunch of them, sending them all out to stymie the monsters before they could even begin their charges. But there were just too many monsters swarming him now. The constantly falling rocks were definitely not helping to reach them either. ¡°Fuck,¡± Ray muttered. His attention was being pulled in so many different directions, he was pretty sure his mind would have scrambled by now if he hadn¡¯t had those Intellect Tiers to rely on. Ray even tried summoning up another True Mana arm with a third Soulstrike, but it barely helped. The space was too congested, and his True Mana arm was too big. It just ended up giving the monsters an appendage to climb on and use to get to him. A huge mass of the monsters rose farther off to his left. Ray wasn¡¯t even sure what he was looking at right there. His eyes widened. It was like the monsters were swarming over each other to somehow form a tidal wave. A tidal wave of monstrosity that was about to slam into him. Ray didn¡¯t even have time to fire off his draconic maws into that mess. He could have, but a split-second instinct told him that it would have been ineffectual and he would end up crushed. So instead, he relied on instinct to take a different approach. Just as that wave of monsters got within striking distance, Ray lashed out with his Impervious Shield. His original two True Mana arms used it like club to bash aside the entire wave of monsters. The rocky ants went flying, their whole formation smacked apart, their cries clawing through the air and scraping along Ray¡¯s eardrums. He grinned though. For only a second, though. Another rock was plummeting to fall right on top of him. Ray had his Spiritguard orbs coalescing on top of him again. The remainder of them formed the layered shield that had worked well enough the last time. Once more, Ray wasn¡¯t crushed. Not by the falling rock, at least. He quickly took out any of the other rock ants trying to get to him with his draconic maws. Then he pulled back his Impervious Shell shield to get¡ª Just as Ray had started flying forward, a screech sounded on top of him. No matter how much faster his mind had become at thinking, his ability to react to the thought was still limited. So it was that there was no point in realizing that one of the rock ants had gotten on top of the dark shell on the last exchange against that tidal wave of monsters. It came down too fast for him to react. The monster landed on top of him, its vicious shriek filling his ears and drowning out his own thoughts. Then it bit through him. Ray wasn¡¯t sure if he could hear his own scream of agony. At least his instinctive use of Recovery to protect himself was on target. As was his ability to point both draconic maws under the monster¡¯s heavy body and fire. With a wild screech that Ray barely heard over his own howl, the monster went flying back. It wasn¡¯t just his shattered ribs, punctured lungs, and the general chest area that needed an instantaneous application of Recovery. The damned monster¡¯s weight had twisted his leg badly, and he had to heal it up to get moving. He had to get upright so he could continue flying. Except, another rock was falling on him. Worse, one of his True Mana arms had been a crushed by a different rock. He was defenceless. Fuck. Project Presence and Spectral Step was all that saved him. Ray wasn¡¯t sure if he had calculated it, but he sent his spirit soaring into the shattered remains of the very rock that had fallen a second ago to crush his True Mana arm. The benefit of that was that he wasn¡¯t in any direct danger of being crushed any time soon. Lightning didn¡¯t strike the same location twice. Same with these falling rocks. They didn¡¯t fall on the same location in quick succession. So for now, Ray was safe. He got to his feet, wary of more monsters converging to his location. They were definitely coming. He could hear them. In other words, he couldn¡¯t waste any more time here. Crushing a True Mana shard, Ray called up his series of spells again. True Mana arms to hold up the Impervious Shell once, Mottling Spiritguard to keep him protected. All the while he did so, he blasted any pesky monsters that tried to get close to attack him. Then he got moving. The monsters didn¡¯t relent. The ceiling didn¡¯t stop shattering apart. But Ray was ready for it all now. He made sure to use Fleshform Manipulation to lower his weight and slim himself up to move faster. Next came Soullife Cloak to buff him up even more, plus there was the Flight Mana still lodged in his Vestments to keep him mobile and quick. Ray was as fast as he had ever been. This time, as he flew, he had summoned the Viledrake tail to grant himself some Molten Mana. This lent his Spiritguard orbs some extra, burning weight. It gave them the punch needed to slam away the rock ants. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Ray ate up the distance in no time. So close. This Dungeon Obstacle was taxing him like crazy. And then he was through. No more mishaps. No more monsters acting crazy. No more brushes with death or needing to use Recovery. Ray had made it. Of course, the monsters weren¡¯t about to let him go that easily. Even now, when he was past the fracturing ceiling and was more safely ensconced in a giant tunnel, they rushed him. He actually didn¡¯t mind. It gave him the opportunity to give them a piece of his fucking mind. Ray let his Impervious Shell fall to the ground. Then he used Primal Spiritcraft again, though this time, it was directed at his True Mana arms. The ends turned into gigantic, spectral Greater Windbane maws. Combined with the two he already had around his real hands, Ray fired four immensely powerful chaotic lasers into the onrushing monsters. Calling the resulting detonation massive was doing it a disservice. Great gouts of the broken ground went up, almost far enough to reach the ceiling from where they had fallen. Monsters fell by the dozens. Explosions made everything shake like a Richter-9 earthquake. Ray grinned at the sheer destruction. [Enemy Defeated¡ªSteel Ant] Tier 11 Monster: Steel Ant [Level 34] x12 Tier 11 Monster: Steel Ant [Level 33] x16 Essence: +102,960 Knowledge: +63 True Mana Restored: +7,010 [Level Up!] Reward
  • +5 Intellect, +5 Spirit, +2 Vitality +2 Agility, +10 allocatable free stats.
  • New Spell: Soul Ensorcelled [Passive] [Tier 5]
  • Soul Ensorcelled has been converted to Deathlife Corral by Path of Lifeblood Chaos.
Essence to Level 41: 58,320/140,700 Knowledge to next Threshold: 2,109/2,500 ¡°That all you got?¡± Ray shouted into the chamber. They probably¡ªno, more like of course¡ªcouldn¡¯t hear him. Not through the racket of the falling ceiling. No more monsters arrived. That was a bit of a bummer, but Ray had other things to focus on. Like the fact that he had a new spell to check out and that he had to get going through whatever was his next Dungeon Obstacle. [Information Request¡ªSpells] Deathlife Corral [Passive] [Tier 5] A primal spirit spell that ensorcells the spirits of those killed by the caster. Said spirits become extensions of the caster¡¯s own spirit, forming a direct connection with the caster¡¯s Mana Core. This allows the caster to use the ensorcelled spirits as a medium for casting. At Tier 5, this spell allows up to 10 ensorcelled spirits at a time. Ray wasn¡¯t one-hundred percent sure what that description meant. He had to read it over a couple of times. By the end of his third read, he was pretty certain this spell was very similar to that projected cosmos or whatever it was called ability that the Floor Lord had used. A passive spell that would allow him to extend the range of his other spells but allowing him to cast through the spirits he captured. Ray was keen to try it out. Sounded like just the thing he needed to take out bigger groups of monsters. Funny how he was getting a lot of those recently. First, the Spell Synthesis point that had given him Spiritscourge Chain, and now this Deathlife Corral spell. He proceeded onwards through the humongous tunnel. It took about ten minutes of walking¡ªthankfully, devoid of any monsters¡ªbefore he reached his next Dungeon Obstacle. [Primordial Gauge¡ªDungeon Obstacle] Inescapable Ejection From beneath the ground, there comes rising a spire of growth. But such growth cannot be maintained evermore. As such, a certain maturity is reached, a peak when the spire cracks apart, unleashing that which has been growing within. Survive the emissions of the growing spires and reach the end of your journey beyond. Well, that was a bit cryptic. But the bit about the end of his journey urged Ray onwards. Hopefully, this was the last Obstacle before he reached the final chamber. Although, getting through this one was going to be no less of a hassle than the last Dungeon Obstacle. The room before Ray was just as large as the one he had journeyed through. While it didn¡¯t have the ceiling constantly crashing down to crush him, what it did contain were the spires mentioned in the Obstacle¡¯s description. Spires that were indeed emitting¡­ something. It looked like some sort of gas. Silvery, flying everywhere fast like there were tiny jet nozzles all over the spires. Ray was pretty sure he didn¡¯t want to get caught in that vapour. The spires themselves looked like nothing more than rock spikes thrusting out of the ground. Ray wasn¡¯t fooled, though. The description had stated they were some kind of eggs too, just like the rocks falling from the ceiling in the previous room. Or at least, the rocks had something growing within them. Something told Ray whatever monsters were incubating insides the rocks weren¡¯t simple Stone Ants. He sighed. Time to find out what sort of monstrous adversary he was supposed to be facing. Before Ray personally went in, he sent out his Mimic first. The Imitator construct turned into a replica of Ray himself and then rushed forward. It ran straight into one of those silvery clouds being ejected from a nearby rock. Ray had purposefully ordered it do so. He wasn¡¯t exactly keen on making his construct suffer, but he also didn¡¯t want to get caught unawares by anything. Ray gawked as the construct began dissolving. ¡°Is that¡­ acid?¡± Of course, there was no one to answer Ray¡¯s question. Floating, acidic gas. Go figure. It could be something different, of course. Ray could very well be faced with some kind of gas that destroyed Mana. Very much also plausible. Just to confirm, Ray used Lifeblood Soulform to give life to a flying draconic maw before sending it right after the Imitator. Well, not exactly at the same location. The gas had dissipated from the spot. But there were a bunch of other locations where different spires were throwing out the same emissions. The draconic maw construct began dissolving too. As soon as it touched the silvery gas, its scales began falling off and its eyes began vaporizing. Oh, yes. Acidic gas was the closest approximation. Ray focused on the path forward and started moving. He was pretty sure he knew how to get through this Obstacle. As he entered the room proper, he used Lifeblood Soulform to send up the Scouring Eye. Ray needed a clearer picture of the whole room, something like a bird¡¯s eye view. That would allow him to navigate his way through the Obstacle better. His third sight opened, revealing the lay of the land before him. Ray got going. It wasn¡¯t going to be smooth, of course. Even as Ray reached his first spire, the whole thing shattered apart. It cracked, chunks and pieces falling off, only to reveal just what he had been hoping not to face. A monster that looked familiar started emerging from within the rocky confines. Ray needed a second to recognize that it reminded him a lot of the rock-tepedes. Rock Lice? Something like that. Long and serpentine, with far too many scuttling legs and giant mandibles that could split him in half. Ray fired both his draconic maws at the creature. It never stood a chance. The blasts shot into the emerging monster¡¯s midsection and destroyed the entire area around its centre. [Enemy Defeated¡ªRock Tentapede] Tier 11 Monster: Rock Tentapede [Level 35] x1 Essence: +3,850 Knowledge: +3 True Mana Restored: +350 Essence to Level 41: 62,570/140,700 Knowledge to next Threshold: 2,112/2,500 More Essence, excellent. Ray couldn¡¯t exult in the victory for long. He had to keep moving, had to get away before another rocky spire exploded and sent out dust. Flying wasn¡¯t an option. Not when the tearing, shredding gas was rising far higher into the air than his wings could take him. Ray kept his Soaring Wings on his back to aid in his motion, but he definitely couldn¡¯t fly. He couldn¡¯t even move directly to the next free spot. The strange, silvery gas covered every direction, blocking off his available routes. But that was where the Scouring Eyeball he had sent far up came in handy. Through his third eye, Ray got an excellent overall picture of the lay of the land. While it looked as though the gas was emerging from the rocky spires everywhere, that wasn¡¯t actually true. There were still pockets of free space spread throughout the huge chamber. They were just far apart enough to give the impression that Ray was trapped. Of course, getting to those pockets of freedom was a different sort of obstacle. He couldn¡¯t fly to them. That would just take him straight through the gas. Instead, he called up the draconic maws around his hands again with Primal Spiritcraft. Then he fired one of the compressed beams of chaotic fire. Ray smiled. It worked, just as he had hoped. The laser breath cut through the gas, and with his third eye, he directed the blast straight to the next free pocket. Just as the laser entered the free spot, Ray used Spectral Step. The world twisted, shattered, and reformed as he teleported. He was so glad he had gotten used to the feeling. Ray couldn¡¯t relax. While he was temporarily free from the gas, a bunch of other rocky spires had all split around him. Heavy scuttling announced that he was about to be accosted by the same kind of monsters as the one he had killed not long ago. The Tentapedes. He grinned. They would never reach him. His third eye continued to inform him about the lay of the land, including the shadows of the monsters passing through the gas. Of course they were unaffected. But they were also pinpointed for Ray to aim his draconic maws and fire off the laser breaths. He attacked the monsters with both hands at the same time. The gas cloaked his lasers until they burst through and reached his targets, which meant Ray¡¯s attacks were supremely effective and efficient. He had a feeling the monsters would be a lot more evasive if they could actually see what was attacking them. They weren¡¯t dumb, though. The monsters began moving in a more sinuous motion, twisting and turning this way and that to throw his aim. It didn¡¯t really work. Not only did Ray have a good eye on them from on top, he could also cover a good area with the laser breaths. The real problem was that the pocket of free space wasn¡¯t going to remain that way forever. Plus, there were just too many of the monsters to take out. Ray called up a Greater Windbane Maw construct to add to his firepower, but it wasn¡¯t enough. It was no surprise that a Tentapede burst through the silvery gloom to attack him directly. There would be more coming after him. Ray had definitely not taken out anywhere near all of them. He twisted around to aim both draconic maws at the monster. But he didn¡¯t fire. There were two monsters? No. It was one centipede like monster, an oversized and more boisterous version of the Stone Lice he had fought earlier. The difference was that the monster was attacking with both ends of its body. A quick reaction was all that saved Ray. Just as the monster¡¯s two ends reached him, he jumped up, aiming both his arms down and firing off their laser breaths. Everything exploded with a detonation of black-red flames, the shockwave sending Ray shooting upwards. Thankfully, he didn¡¯t collide with the dangerous silver gas. His construct had fired off its laser in a different direction, guided by the eyeball floating high above. Just as Ray was about to reach the gas, he used Spectral Step again, reappearing at the end of his construct¡¯s laser breath. He quickly crushed a True Mana shard to top up his capacity. There was unfortunately no way for the construct to join him too, so he dismissed it for now. Ray didn¡¯t get a single moment of peace. More monsters were screeching and shrieking, already almost upon him. He growled. There was still a good amount of distance to cover. He had to¡ª Too late. The next Tentapede burst through the gas. Ray fired off another laser breath at it, making its entire midsection explode. But the monster wasn¡¯t alone. Ray gawked as a different monster jumped off the dying Tentapede. A monster that made Primordial Gauge scream with a warning. Ray¡¯s heart hitched in his chest. There was a Lostcaller in this gas-blasted chamber. B2 Chapter 44 (111): Lostcaller to Lostcaller Ray didn¡¯t need Primordial Guage warning him that he was facing a Lostcaller again. He was never going to forget what a monster like that looked like. It was almost identical to the one he had faced on the spire leading from Cliff Four to Cliff Three. A humanoid¡ªno, apelike¡ªskeletal form covered with writhing strips of flesh. Its eyes were pits of darkness, the exposed bones looking like they were made of charcoal. Just the sight of the monster sent a shiver threatening to erupt along his spine. Ray was rooted to his spot for a dangerous second. A Lostcaller? Here? What in the world was a monster he had last seen associated so directly with the Everstead doing here of all places? Had they placed it here to guard against anyone entering the depths of this dungeon? Every questioning thought Ray had fled as the monster¡¯s unearthly screech rocked everything. This was going to be a giant pain. The Lostcaller rushed his position as soon as it touched down on the ground. Ray fired both of his draconic maws at it, but of course, they passed right through monster. That annoying ability again. Spirit Phase. Ray wasn¡¯t about to engage the monster in a pointless, drawn-out battle. Not when the battlefield itself was such a huge hazard. He attempted the same trick that had finally killed the last Lostcaller he had faced. Ray used Project Presence and Spectral Step right after, trying to time his teleportation so that he appeared right inside the monster. He didn¡¯t get the timing right. When he reappeared, the Lostcaller was behind him, its clawed feet dragging on the ground to stop its rush. Ray and the monster turned at the same time. Remembering how the last battle had gone, Ray quickly called up Mottling Spiritguard to protect him in case he began facing Dark Lightning. But what the monster threw out first was its Black Ember. The tidal wave of black flames rushing Ray¡¯s position ate up everything in its path. Ray cast Lifeblood Soulform to call up Impervious Shell to block the flames. They had come in too quickly, though, which had forced him to call in the shell far too close his body. Just what the Lostcaller took advantage of. Ray wasn¡¯t prepared for it to shove its arm through the shell. It must have rushed after its dark flames, using it as a cover to get in close. What an annoying little shit. Its arm thrust in way too fast. He jumped back, his motion aided by his Soaring Wings. But the Lostcaller¡¯s claws slashed in, leaving a huge gash across his chest as his new Vestments were torn open. Ray shouted out in annoyance more than in pain. The latter was taken care of easily thanks to his Recovery. The former, not so much. Of course, Ray wasn¡¯t waiting for the entire monster to emerge and rush him down. He couldn¡¯t. The nearest rocky spire was about to explode and flood his little pocket with the acidic gas, which he was pretty certain wasn¡¯t going to affect the Lostcaller in the slightest. Just as the Lostcaller emerged through the Impervious Shell, Ray aimed his draconic maw to his right and fired off. ¡°Two can play the phasing game,¡± Ray said. The monster leaped at him, but Ray used Spectral Step. He reappeared and regained his bearings with as much speed as his slightly unmoored senses allowed. The Lostcaller screeched in the distance. Ray grinned. He now had a bit of breathing room. Room he had to make good use of, because he really didn¡¯t want to get drawn into an extended battle against the Lostcaller. The monster screeched, dark lightning crashing all around it. Ray, however, was not giving it the satisfaction of fighting it head on. Not anymore. While he still had a revolving guard of chaotic orbs, he also used Soulstrike twice to call up two True Mana arms. Then he used Primal Spiritcraft and Origin Resonance to draw up two more draconic maws on his True Mana arms. Giant, spectral draconic maws. When he imbued some of his intelligence to the two maws, they began taking care of the approaching Tentapedes. Ray didn¡¯t need to attack them himself. Which left him free to aim his smaller draconic maw in the direction he needed to go. The laser breath burst into the next pocket of freedom. He was tempted to flip off the Lostcaller that was now hurtling towards with incredible speed. Sadly, his hand was encased in the draconic maw. Oh, well. The monster¡¯s screech of frustration as he disappeared with another Spectral Step was worth it. The Lostcaller was once more hurtling after him. Ray couldn¡¯t wait. Couldn¡¯t relax. He had to keep moving. By the looks of where he was currently¡ªand what his far-flying eyeball showed¡ªhe was about halfway to the end of this maze of rock spires spewing deadly gas. He could do this. It was a really good decision to call up and give his True Mana arms some intelligence. They could take care of all the Tentapedes that tried to get him. All he had to focus on was getting the hell out of every pocket of freedom he found. But the monsters kept getting smarter. Kept learning. After several successful transitions from one pocket to the next, Ray¡¯s path was blocked. Even worse, he didn¡¯t see it coming. Maybe it was the fact that he was moving too fast. Maybe he was just too focused on where he needed to go instead of what was lying in between. Maybe he had been relying too much on his True Mana arms. Whatever the case, Ray¡¯s next fired laser breath never reached another pocket of freedom from the gas. Instead, it hit one of the Tentapedes farther off. He was sure he had aimed in a direction that was free. That should have been safe. But either his flying eyeball had failed him, or his concentration had been lacking. The real problem wasn¡¯t that he had been stymied. Ray had already used Spectral Step as soon as he had fired the draconic maw¡¯s breath. So, he teleported. Only, instead of reappearing inside a safe zone with no gas around him, he was in the middle of it. Ray¡¯s senses immediately died. He was only just able to make out the Tentapede lying dead after contacting the compressed beam of chaotic fire. He only made out everything turning silver as the gas pressed in thick and fast. Then he went blind. The gas had begun attacking him. Ray hadn¡¯t been ready for it to be so immediate. He tried screaming as the gas ate away at his eyeballs and turned his world dark, but that only allowed it to enter his body even faster. His lungs drowned, his skin was being split apart, his whole body had begun disintegrating. This wasn¡¯t just some kind of acidic gas that ate up anything it touched. It was deliberately destroying every inch of his body like a million piranha-like particles. His hearing went deaf too. No surprise there. But his ears turned useless only after he heard the much worse noise. The clawing and fast footsteps of the Lostcaller getting closer were the last things Ray heard. The pain was so bad, but he had to think. He needed to live. Just as he was sure the Lostcaller had reached him, Ray used Spectral Step again. His target wasn¡¯t any wayward location he might have flung his laser. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Instead, he ended up right beside his flying eyeball. Ray used his Recovery. As soon as the world felt like it was twisting again, the agony disappeared. He really must have teleported out of the gas. The first thing Ray healed were his eyes. When he opened them again, he found himself face to face with his third, independent eyeball. Then he managed to grab it. Of course, one little eyeball and its wings couldn¡¯t hold him up. Ray and the eyeball both began quickly descending towards the floor. The gas-strewn floor. Even worse, the Lostcaller had changed direction. Now, instead of hurtling towards the free spaces on the ground, it was rising straight upwards. Somehow, it had spotted Ray, even after his teleportation. No peace for Ray. Fuck. At least he now had a direct view of the chamber with all three of his eyes. Ray quickly identified his next target location. He teleported there after firing another laser breath. It wasn¡¯t blocked this time, thankfully. The Lostcaller immediately changed direction. Good. Ray didn¡¯t want it to destroy the Scouring Eyeball. But he was also done running from it, on and on like that. He used Lifeblood Soulform, calling up the Imitator construct. It was timed perfectly. Ray disappeared with another Spectral Step fallowed by a laser blast to reach his next pocket of freedom. But the Lostcaller didn¡¯t follow him. Mostly because the Imitator construct had taken up his form to make it seem as though he was still in his original location. For all that the monsters had been smart in reacting to him, the Lostcaller had fallen for the fake Ray hook, line, and sinker. Of course, the construct wasn¡¯t able to stand up to a direct confrontation with the Lostcaller for long. A couple of slashing blows with its oversized claws and the Imitator construct began falling. But not before Ray modified the Soul Aspect. No longer was it a Mimic. Instead, Ray used Lifeblood Soulform to call up a Soul Aspect he hadn¡¯t used in a while. The bees. Their angry droning filled the air, their little black-red bodies attacking the Lostcaller immediately. The monster screeched in surprise, trying to get rid of the dozens upon dozens of chaotic bees attacking it all at once. While the Lostcaller might not have been smart enough to try and trick Ray, it certainly knew how to defend itself. It used Black Ember. A wave of black flames torched the entire area around the monster, making sure none of the flies were left. Ray, of course, was well aware that it wasn¡¯t going to work. His mission was accomplished. He kept moving as the Lostcaller turned to rush after him. The True Mana arms were still doing a fantastic job of stopping the Tentapedes from getting too close. Ray could focus partly on just moving from pocket to pocket. And partly on killing the Lostcaller. He made the remaining bees that had inserted themselves inside the Lostcaller to turn into little blobs of magma and resume attacking from within. Origin Resonance helped greatly. The flies began eating away the Lostcaller from within, the heat generated so great that he was sure they were vaporizing the monster from the inside. Holy hell did he really not want to experience that first-hand. Of course, the Lostcaller immediately began to screech and attempt to dig the flies out from within. It used Spirit Phase to convert most of its body into that incorporeal form. But most was the key word here. The monster still had to keep a small chunk of its body corporeal at all times. The bees immediately focused on that part, using their Molten Mana infused bodies to begin eating away at the only bit of the Lostcaller they could reach. Ray didn¡¯t pay it too much attention. He had seen the monster struggling in one spot¡ªagainst bees of all things¡ªand knew this was his opportunity. He took control of the True Mana Soulstrike arms. Directing both the oversized spectral draconic maws and the one on his left arm to aim at the Lostcaller, Ray fired. Three different beams of compressed chaotic fire shot towards the main monster causing him so much grief. The Lostcaller was still too busy trying to rid itself of the bees within its body. It didn¡¯t see the lasers coming. When the monster finally saw the lasers reaching their target, it was too late. Ray¡¯s breath caught in his throat as he crushed another True Mana shard. As the dust and energy from the explosion cleared, there was nothing left of the Lostcaller. He really had killed it. Holding his celebration for the time being, Ray focused on getting out of the maze of rocky spike ejecting tearing gas. His two True Mana arms continued taking out any of the Tentapedes that tried to get too close. At one point, one of the monsters managed to rush in close enough to grab Ray in its pincers. But the draconic maw grabbed it instead, then slammed it bodily against the other monsters just behind it. The chaotic flames emerged from the maw¡¯s mouth a second later, compressed into a destructive beam that shattered all the Tentapedes at once. It wasn¡¯t long before Ray emerged from the death trap. He found himself turning around, a breath of relief gusting out of his lungs. Ray had done it. Holt shit that had felt long. [Enemy Defeated] Tier 11 Monster: Rock Tentapede [Level 35] x9 Tier 11 Monster: Rock Tentapede [Level 34] x17 Tier 12 Monster: Lostcaller [Level 39] x1 Essence: +102,910 Knowledge: +81 True Mana Restored: +9,320 Essence to Level 42: 24,780/150,700 Knowledge to next Threshold: 2,193/2,500 Excellent. Another level. And a much needed True Mana point. He plugged it into Mottling Spiritguard, taking the spell to Tier 5. Ray was starting to feel he ought to focus more on raising his spells¡¯¡ªespecially his offensive ones¡¯¡ªTier higher. He didn¡¯t want to keep relying on the Mana Infuser ring, even if it was quite handy. The problem was that the True Mana costs to raise his spell Tiers even higher with the ring were prohibitively expensive. Sure, he wasn¡¯t lacking in True Mana shards just then. But still. What if he suddenly ran out of True Mana in the middle of a fight because he had tried to use the Mana Infuser ring? Ray got going. Like before, the chamber narrowed into another of the giant tunnels, though this one was a lot shorter than the passages he had been through so far. He only had to walk for a few minutes before he reached his next, and last, Dungeon Obstacle. [Primordial Gauge¡ªDungeon Obstacle] Torn From The Birthplace The centre of all burgeoning has been uprooted. Where once lay the mighty source of all growth, there lies nothing at all. Yet the guardian still remains, as does the way forward and the way out. End the guardian¡¯s misery if you seek to advance. But beware that misery can beget desperation. Ray stared at the words for a little while. The System couldn¡¯t have been more stupidly cryptic if it tried. Shaking his head, he climbed through the opening in the tunnel that looked more like a hole in the wall. The aforementioned guardian turned out to be yet another Lostcaller. Ray licked his lips. The monster¡¯s identity was clear even at this distance. He was not looking forward to facing another one, though. The dungeon¡¯s final chamber was just as large as the ones he had been in so far. At the very centre, right where the Lostcaller was located, stood a strange bowl or altar. He wasn¡¯t sure what to call it. It was clear, though, that there had once been something on it. The same thing that the System had warned was now gone. Ray frowned. It was a Tower Node, wasn¡¯t it? Had to be. What else could possibly fit? Well, no new Tower Nodes for Ray. He strode forward. There was a lot more light in the area than in the previous passages and chambers. Looking up revealed a huge hole in the distant ceiling, kind of like what he had seen within the dungeon with the Viledrake. That had to be his way out of here. Although, how was he supposed to reach it? There was no convenient lift in this dungeon. Problems for later. First, Ray had to face down another Lostcaller. The monster was rising to its feet. He cracked his neck as the Lostcaller got to its full height. Alright, time to get this over with. Their battle begun with a shriek from the Lostcaller. The world distorted, charging up and twisting as much of it turned dark. Ray felt a little like he was floating. Ohe, he knew what this was. That ability of the monster to transport everything into a strange spiritual, afterlife-like realm. What was it called? Oh, right. Dead Rift Roar. The world turned haunting. Illegible sounds whispered into Ray¡¯s ears, his senses tingling as his eyesight dimmed. He was losing control of himself, his balance, of his senses. But it wasn¡¯t just the disorientation that hit Ray. It was the souls themselves appearing a second later. He had to stare. Smudges of brilliant blue-white were flying through the murky world he had been transported into, all floating closer to the Lostcaller. It was only thanks to Primordial Gauge that Ray understood those were souls. Souls¡­ Ray froze for a second. Then acted. He cast his latest acquisition. Black-red energy sparked to life as he used Deathlife Corral. The energy spread far and wide in little lines, shooting through the disembodied spirits and locking them in place. Holding them all¡ªwell, the ones within his spell¡¯s acting radius¡ªnear Ray himself. Keeping them from getting to the Lostcaller. The monster¡¯s second shriek pronounced that it was clearly aghast at Ray¡¯s intrusion into whatever it had been attempting to accomplish. It shocked the monster enough that Dead Rift Roar¡¯s effects started to disappear. The real chamber returned, complete with the light from above. Ray regained his composure, standing straight once again. ¡°Thanks for handing me the win,¡± Ray said. ¡°You dumbass.¡± B2 Chapter 45 (112): Shifting Tides The Lostcaller shrieked at Ray. It almost sounded like an insult. He didn¡¯t get what it was complaining about. After all, he had allowed some of the souls to reach the monster. With a sharp inhale, the Lostcaller absorbed them. Ray frowned. Was that a new ability he didn¡¯t know about? These Lostcallers were of a higher Tier and level than the one had fought the first time. It would make sense if they possessed powers that the first one he had faced hadn¡¯t. The flesh on the monster appeared to writhe far faster than they had already been doing so far. Maybe the souls it had absorbed had powered it up. Maybe it was now stronger than before. ¡°Big, fucking deal,¡± Ray said. Almost as though the Lostcaller had heard his derisiveness, it shrieked once more, then charged. Ray was ready for it. Now that he had Deathlife Corral keeping the souls in place, he had basically extended the range of his spells a great deal. Something the Lostcaller didn¡¯t know. Ray had learned that surprise was one of the biggest tools in winning a fight. He now had a lot of that to spare. The Lostcaller tried a direct charge at first. Half its body was already translucent due to Spirit Phase. Ray was having none of it. He used Soulstrike, but instead of the True Mana arm appearing off his shoulder as it always did, now he had a choice. Ray focused on one of the nearby souls, one that his enemy had rushed past and now had its back to. The Soulstrike limb emerged from the floating spirit with a spurt of black-red energy and lashed out. It struck true. The Lostcaller screeched out in surprise as it was smacked away by the huge spell. Most of its body might have not been present, but not all. Ray¡¯s True Mana arm was large enough that it managed to hit that tangible bit of the Lostcaller and ram it away. The monster still recovered quickly, of course. With a little shift of which part of its body was a spirit, it phased through the True Mana arm to attack. Only to be faced with three Greater Windbane Maw constructs that had taken to the air. Chaotic flames burned in their huge jaws for a second. Then the constructs fired at the Lostcaller all at once. The exchange was a nice reminder to Ray just how fast and powerful his opponent was. With its flesh pulling off its skeletal frame to form wings, the Lostcaller took to the air to dodge the lasering breaths and attack the maws directly. Just as Ray had foreseen, his constructs didn¡¯t last long. But it still gave him enough time to call up a couple of salvos of Mottling Spiritguard. The orbs revolved around him, some black and red and filled with chaos, while some glowed molten orange thanks to Origin Resonance and Abstract Conversion and his Viledrake tail. They weren¡¯t all around him, though. As soon as the Lostcaller finished dealing with the constructs in record time, it landed and made to attack Ray directly again. If only several Spiritguard orbs hadn¡¯t materialized through a soul and rushed at the monster out of its line of sight. Ray had made sure that only the ones with Molten Mana attacked the Lostcaller. Just as the burning orbs reached their target, they exploded. He knew that hitting the monster directly would be difficult because of its ability to turn most of its body into an intangible spirit. But an explosion of lava was a lot harder to evade. As evidenced by the Lostcaller shrieking out. Its screech made the air itself warp under pressure, half its body burning as it tried to get away from the splatters of liquid rock. The monster countered pretty quickly. Ray had drawn up the draconic maws around his hands with Primal Spiritcraft, but he didn¡¯t get the chance to use them. The Lostcaller had thrown out a ring of dark flame pillars. Black Ember. Ray couldn¡¯t allow himself to be hit with those. So, foregoing any attacks, he simply made his Spiritguard orbs focus on protecting him. But the Lostcaller had never focused on targeting Ray directly. Oh no. It was smart. Smarter than Ray had given it credit. Since it couldn¡¯t absorb the souls Ray had captured, for whatever reason, it destroyed them instead. The black flames began devouring the spirits. Ray cursed. As if the black fire weren¡¯t bad enough, the monster was now flinging its Dark Lightning everywhere too. Damn it. Ray¡¯s advantage was dwindling. He knew what the problem was. Passivity. He was letting the Lostcaller call the shots of this fight, choosing only to react. That had to change. With a growl, Ray converted half of the remaining Spiritguard orbs into attacking stance, then used Spectral Step. When he reappeared right behind the Lostcaller, all the offensive Spiritguard orbs shot towards their target. Ray had made sure to infuse them with Molten Mana. The Lostcaller was ready for it. Even after it suffered a direct blow from one of the lava orbs, it powered through the agony and used its Black Ember to counter the rest of the orbs. Then it phased through the salvo and once again tried to attack Ray directly. But Ray had already countered the monster¡¯s counter. This was a fight about staying one step ahead, about holding the initiative. Ray was not about to relinquish control. The Spiritguard orbs had transformed into curving shields to keep him safe against the constant barrage of Dark Lightning flying everywhere. That meant Ray was mostly obscured from the Lostcaller¡¯s sight, even if it knew his specific location. Which further meant that he had a clear opening to use Lifeblood Soulform to turn the Imitator construct into himself again. His enemy barged through his defences, the monstrous arm phasing through the Spiritguard barrier to reach Ray. But all it reached was the Imitator construct. Which Ray then converted into a storm of bees. Why fix something that wasn¡¯t broken? This Lostcaller, just like the last one he had killed, panicked at the dozens of little insects that turned into lava to attack the monster from within. Unlike the last one, however, it retained its smarts. It used Black Ember again. This time, on itself. The dark flames burned out the bees and their Molten Mana in barely a second. Well, so much for Ray¡¯s first plan. Good thing he had the second to rely on. The monster was already moving, already attempting to redirect its attacks on the real Ray. He had moved to a different spot again with Spectral Step. Still, the Lostcaller located him even before he managed to fire off the compressed breath of chaotic fire from the draconic maws on his arms. The monster was already moving to dodge and attack. But Ray was never looking to hit it directly. He would have failed abysmally if he had tried. Instead, he relied on the fact that the Lostcaller had already spelled its own doom. Ray fired both his arms at two nearby souls. He had already used the Mana Infuser ring to raise the Tier of Primal Spiritcraft to 7. This had made both of the summoned draconic maws turn huge and menacing. Their breaths came out geyser-sized. As soon as they struck a soul, they reappeared from a different spirit farther off. Only to hit another and reappear elsewhere. And again. And again. Until the diverging and teleporting streams finally connected. All in the blink of an eye, long before the Lostcaller was able to reach him. A connection that led to an erupting explosion. The detonation rocked back Ray himself. He cast Impervious Shell to safeguard himself against the furious shockwave that burst outwards, but it wasn¡¯t strong enough. The shell cracked apart under the stress, and it was all Ray could do to keep his own feet on the ground. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Thankfully, his opponent took the worst of that blast. As debris rained around Ray and the dust grew thick, the notification popped up. [Enemy Defeated¡ªLostcaller] Tier 12 Monster: Lostcaller [Level 39] x1 Essence: +4,680 Knowledge: +3 True Mana Restored: +390 Essence to Level 42: 29,460/150,700 Knowledge to next Threshold: 2,196/2,500 Ray waved his hands before his face to get rid of the dust. It was getting a little hard to breathe without coughing. The Lostcaller might be dead, but he wasn¡¯t done here. The Dungeon Obstacle still needed him to get out of this place. He looked up. Using his wings was out of the question, but hmm¡­ maybe he could use a different combination of spells. The souls around Ray had all been destroyed in that blast. He silently thanked them for their part in defeating the Lostcaller, then got going. That plinth-like structure in the middle was a lot bigger than he had thought at first. It really did look like it had held a Tower Node there, just as there had been that Tower Node of the Skybreaker in the last dungeon on the First Floor. Ray looked up. Hmm. He felt like a photographer, trying to get just the right angle. Once he was satisfied, he raised his arm again. This was probably going to be a good test of just how far the range of the draconic maw¡¯s breath extended. That hole in the roof was pretty far up. He wasn¡¯t going to be surprised if the laser breath failed to get even halfway towards it. Surprisingly, it went really far. Three-quarters of the way there easily. Probably a little more. Ray wasn¡¯t the best at estimating. More than close enough for Spectral Step. Ray had already crushed another True Mana shard before reaching the central plinth. Now, as he nearly reached his true destination, he let the draconic maw around his hand fire again to its heart¡¯s content. Well, he supposed it didn¡¯t have a heart, but whatever. The laser burst through the hole in the roof. When Ray used Spectral Step once again, he was finally free from the Tier 15 dungeon. He had escaped. Right back onto Cliff One. He would recognize the golden grass and the black-barked trees anywhere. There were even those white tufts flying through the air around him. No doubt about it. Ray was back. His surprise was cut short when the dungeon clearing notification popped up. [Dungeon Cleared¡ªGiants¡¯ Cradle] Rewards
  • 30 True Mana shards
  • 10 Origin mana shards
  • 2 True Mana Tier Points
  • 1 True Mana Skill Tier Point
  • 1 Origin Mana Skill Tier Point
  • 1 Skill Tier Point
  • New Origin Mana Skill: Core Deconstruction [Offensive] [Tier 5]
  • +3,000 Essence
Essence to Level 42: 32,460/150,700 Ray grinned wide. Wow. That was a heap ton of rewards. Although, he did notice that a lot of them weren¡¯t dungeon-specific. There was nothing themed about the dungeon that he had received. By the time Ray had reached the end of the dungeon, he had pretty much realized what he was supposed to have found there. Giant¡¯s Cradle. All that talk of growth. The mention of Amplification Mana way back by Kredevel, and the fact that there were Lostcallers placed here. Lostcallers¡ªmonsters that had been in the employ of the Everstead as far as he had seen. Each of those pieces of information made him connect the dots. The dungeon had held a Tower Node that allowed its controller to wield Amplification Mana. And he was pretty sure he knew exactly who had taken it from its rightful location. He laughed. Ironic that the Floor Lord had chucked him down to the exact spot where she herself had started all this. Ray sobered quickly, though. It was kind of sad to realize that he hadn¡¯t received any clues about the Tower Node¡¯s exact properties. He still didn¡¯t know how to counter it or its effects. That was important because he was pretty sure countering the Tower Node was tied to fixing whatever it was that had caused the plague. Ah, well. Ray checked his new Origin Mana skill. An actual offensive skill wasn¡¯t something he had received yet, so he was rather intrigued. [Information Request¡ªSkills] Core Deconstruction [Offensive] [Tier 5] An Origin Mana skill that allows the wielder to summon a simulacrum of the wielder¡¯s core with which the wielder can then attack foes. All damage is transferred internally to a foe¡¯s Mana conduits and Mana Core, causing Mana ruptures that make foes unable to use their Mana-based abilities. This skill requires a direct connection between the wielder and the target for full effect. At Tier 5, this skill creates a core of deconstruction up to 50 centimetres in diameter. Huh. That sounded ridiculously broken, if Ray was being honest. One blow and he would basically seal away all of his opponent¡¯s abilities. How overpowered was that? He supposed he had already seen a variation of it. The Lostcallers used their Black Emeber ability in much the same way. Except, the monsters could only target the ability last used by their opponent to seal away. Black Emeber only worked on one power at a time. Not the ability to channel Mana itself, like Core Deconstruction did. Ray shook his head. There were limits, he supposed. It seemed the main restriction was that he¡¯d have to hit his opponents directly? That was all he could understand from the ¡°connection¡± bit. Ah, well. Just sounded like he¡¯d need to do some testing. He put away all the new shards in his Bag of Holding¡ªhe really ought to find a new one at some point¡ªand focused on his other rewards. He held the Origin Mana Skill Tier point in reserve, for now. First, he¡¯d test to see just how effective the new ability was, then decide whether to use the Tier point on it or not. However, the new True Mana Skill Tier point went to Vengeful Plunder. Ray recalled seeing some of the crazy, growth-focused abilities he had seen on the lordling he had healed. He needed Vengeful Plunder to be at least on par with those. Of the normal Tier points he could spend on his spells, Ray placed one on Lifeblood Graveyard in case he needed another free slot in the near future. The other one went to Lifeblood Soulform. Satisfied with his progress, Ray decided he was going to see what Cliff One actually had to offer him. Although, maybe a little rest after that dungeon crawl would do him good. He was about to start relaxing when another notification popped up. Ray smiled. It was Kredevel. Ray: What¡¯s up? I just finished clearing a dungeon and am now back on Cliff One. Kredevel: Ah, it seems I¡¯m not the only one bearing good news then. Ray found himself perking up. Like the dungeon rewards hadn¡¯t lifted his mood already. Ray: Oh, yeah? What¡¯s going on? Kredevel: We are moving onto Cliff Two. At this rate, I believe we may see each other before long. Ray: Wait, what? Kredevel went on to explain how things had rapidly changed since the last time they had talked. Apparently, the Everstead had decided to shift almost all their focus from the Sylvans to one Sylvan in particular. The Floor Lord. Her battle against Ray hadn¡¯t gone unnoticed. It had alerted the Everstead that the Floor Lord had resurfaced, and they had gone into a bit of a frenzy to try and apprehend her, diverting the majority of their resources to capture her. It meant Kredevel and the other Sylvans suddenly had a ton of room to breathe. Ray: You¡¯re already on Cliff Two? Kredevel: Yes. The resistance we faced was mostly token, and we pushed it aside to charge up the spire. It helped that we received some new reinforcements recently. Ray: Reinforcements? More Sylvans from the First Floor? Kredevel: Well, yes. And some Denizens who have appeared after completing the First Floor, from not just the Tower of Forging, but from other Towers as well. But the main injection to our forces has been the rejected Everstead as well. Ray: The rejected? OH! You mean the Infected. Kredevel: Yes, the ones who are afflicted with the plague and who have been abandoned by their own people. Ray¡¯s mind whirled a little in the deluge of information. The Floor Lord attacked? The Sylvans already on Cliff Two? The Infected assisting them? He couldn¡¯t decide which part of all that was wildest of all. No, no that had to be the part about the Floor Lord. That she would feel threatened enough by Ray¡¯s slow healing of the Everstead to come and stop him personally. That she would risk discovery by her enemies¡ªno, not risk. She had ended up facing her enemies, all because she had reappeared in her true form to take him down. And now the Everstead had pounced on her with their full power. So much so that they had been forced to divert away their attention from the war against the Sylvans. That was how important this plague was to the true powers at play. Ray: How did you learn all that? Kredevel: Simple. Gritty has maintained her infiltration among the Everstead, so she was able to fill us in on all that was going on. Ram, Lam, and Bam were also able to momentarily get in touch with the Floor Lord, though they didn¡¯t learn much, or so I am told. Of course it was Gritty. That she had maintained her post within the Everstead even after her last trap had been foiled and she had nearly died was¡­ something else. Ray: Do you know the current state of the Floor Lord? He was hoping, for Kredevel¡¯s sake, that the leader of the Sylvans was alive. Ray wanted her alive too. Despite the fact that she had almost killed him. No. Because she had almost killed him. He knew it would always pester him in the back of his mind if he never really proved himself capable of beating her. Ray had to face her again, just to answer her unprovoked attack. Sure, that was probably going to cause some friction with Kredevel. But he had a feeling that he didn¡¯t truly care that much about the Floor Lord herself. After all, she had proven that she didn¡¯t truly care about the Sylvans either. All Kredevel truly wanted from her was likely the truth. Some closure. He and all the other Sylvans likely wanted a reckoning as to why their supposed leader had abandoned them. Ray: See if you can find¡ª The conversation cut off when Primordial Gauge went off. Ray wasn¡¯t alone here. Kredevel: See if I can find what? Ray: Gimme a minute. I have a guest I need to deal with. B2 Chapter 46 (113): Bee-assisted Interrogation Ray moved through the golden grass without trying to make it look like he knew that there was someone observing him. Someone most likely waiting for just the right opportunity to kill him. He wasn¡¯t sure why, but he could figure out a reason or two. Thinking helped make it look like he wasn¡¯t paying attention. Somehow, the Everstead must have received some sort of notice that the Tier 15 dungeon, Giant¡¯s Cradle, had been infiltrated by someone not meant to go through it. Maybe they had even received a warning that it had been cleared. It only strengthened Ray¡¯s assumption that the Everstead knew about the dungeon and had posted the Lostcallers there. Of course, the other option was that an Everstead guard was always posted here. Ray had just come under the soldier¡¯s radar and was now being observed. Just to be safe, Ray went with the first assumption. That was why he had the Scouring Eyeball flying high up in the air. It was hidden with his Mimic Mana thanks to the Imitator construct and Origin Resonance. The construct wouldn¡¯t be seen. Hopefully, it wouldn¡¯t be sensed either. The tension kept spiking, though. Ray had to continuously fight against the impulse to run or start attacking from range. Not yet. This was a cat-and-mouse game, basically. If Ray acted first, there was a good chance that the soldier would dodge or defend successfully, and then things would turn more complicated. No. The first move had to be the soldier¡¯s. At least the eye didn¡¯t take long to find his observer. The man was located almost four hundred feet away. Damn. That was a pretty long distance to have seen Ray in the grass, though he supposed he probably stood out against the golden tufts in his Vestments. The real question was whether the guy possessed any offensive skills he could use on Ray from that distance. It was too far for Primordial Gauge to check his Status. The spell had only informed Ray he was being observed, not where from or why by. Yet another reason he needed to see what the soldier did next. The man moved. Ray had to force himself not to react. The soldier in the distance started slowly approaching Ray¡¯s location, crouching a little to keep his profile within the grass. He was definitely using some sort of skill now. An ability manifested a long, powerful spear that glowed black and gold in his hand. Without the keen eyesight of the Scouring Eyeball, Ray definitely wouldn¡¯t have spotted the translucent but dangerous-looking spear. Soon. In no time, the man would be close enough for them both to act. Ray wasn¡¯t fooled. He suspected the fellow wasn¡¯t alone, so he called up another Scouring Eyeball hidden with Mimic Mana to scout out the area farther. The first one had to maintain its close watch on the soldier. He didn¡¯t get to focus on the second eyeball¡¯s sight for long. The guard was rushing his position. It took a huge force of will to not react and give away that Ray knew he was about to be assaulted. Not yet. Not yet. Not¡ª Now. The man launched the spear. He was about a hundred feet from Ray. That was apparently the range his golden spear could fly. Ray held his breath, held his position too. Then he used Spectral Step just as the spear landed upon him. The world twisted, but he kept enough of his concentration to use Primal Spiritcraft to call up the draconic maw around his hand. Ray had teleported to his first flying eyeball¡¯s location. He couldn¡¯t maintain that sort of elevation even after calling up Soaring Wings, but it was enough. Enough to fire off the compressed laser breath. The draconic maw¡¯s breath rushed in fast enough that the soldier had no time to react. Fast enough that Ray had killed his pursuer before he had even begun to fall. [Enemy Defeated¡ªHuman] Vanguard [Tier 2] Human: [Level 32] x1 Essence: +3,200 Knowledge: +3 True Mana Restored: +320 Essence to Level 42: 35,660/150,700 Knowledge to next Threshold: 2,199/2,500 Ray couldn¡¯t relax, despite his victory. He focused on not splattering himself on the ground as he spread his wings wide to slow the fall. The more important bit was the fact that his other eyeball was scouting out the land ahead. His earlier assumption was correct. That last soldier he had killed hadn¡¯t been alone. There was at least one other person in the vicinity. Yet another soldier, who was now rapidly approaching the location where Ray had killed the first one. Ray had basically been found out. It was time to fight for real. He wasn¡¯t satisfied with what the eyeballs had found so far. He lent them a bit of his intelligence, ordering them to scout out the entire area instead of just a specific direction. There might be more of them he hadn¡¯t seen yet. For now, Ray focused on the soldier bullishly approaching him. There was no secrecy or stealth or anything of the sort about his new adversary. He was here to kill Ray head-on. Even his accoutrement suggested he wasn¡¯t one to fight in any way except face-to-face. His armour was thick and heavy, a long cape flowing off his shoulders. One hand had a shield bigger than most refrigerator doors, while the other bore a mace that could split an elephant¡¯s skull with ease. Man meant business. Since there was no point in sneaking about, Ray strode forward with the same intention. He cast Mottling Spiritguard to draw up the chaotic spheres around him. A quick look with Primordial Gauge confirmed that his opponent possessed similar abilities as the lordling. Ray could deal with this guy without trouble. He made the first move. A Spiritguard orb changed to offensive stance shot at the heavily-armoured soldier with the speed of a cannonball. It never hit him. A golden hemispherical aura surrounded the man for a second, blocking the orb. Divine Bulwark. Hmm. Ray would need to find a way to get past that. Surprisingly, the man spoke out loud. ¡°Are you the one who emerged from the Giant¡¯s Cradle dungeon?¡± ¡°What do you think?¡± Ray asked. ¡°I think you are skulking about like a thief, full of belief that you carry some powerful secret or other, when in truth, you hold nothing of the sort. You are merely a paranoid rat who lashes out at anything he sees as his foe. So now, I must put you down for the good of all.¡± ¡°Really? You¡¯re going to call me paranoid when it was your friend who attacked me with that spear of his? All I did was retaliate to save myself.¡± In answer, the soldier rushed in with the spear glowing golden. Ray¡¯s wings took him far out of the range of the man¡¯s charge, but not too far for Soulstrike. It helped that the soldier was continuing his direct rush. A True Mana arm leaped off of Ray¡¯s shoulder. It slammed in with a bludgeoning point, ready to smash the man to pulp. The shield of golden aura popped up around the soldier, even as he kept charging. Ray grinned. The aura stopped his True Mana arm completely. It was a powerful shield, clearly. But Ray knew its limits. Unlike with the lordling, this man¡¯s Divine Bulwark was only Tier 5. Just one mere Tier above his Soulstrike spell. That his Thoroughness hadn¡¯t allowed his skill to crush through the man¡¯s defence was proof of how strong the skill was. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. But all Ray had to do was push in some more True Man with the Mana Infuser ring to take the spell to Tier 5 as well. Now, it worked. As the man got close enough, Ray cast Soulstrike again. The next True Mana arm was larger, stronger, and faster. Ray turned it into the impaling point to stab in through the golden shielding aura and strike the man directly. He cursed. The Soulstrike blow had stopped the man¡¯s rush, sure. But the soldier had been fast enough to bring his shield around. That stopped the arm from actually hitting its target. Damn it. Two layers of defence. The golden aura must have reduced the spell¡¯s power a great deal, and that actual shield was likely pretty powerful too. Ray would need to find some other way of overwhelming the guy. ¡°You¡¯re strong,¡± the man said, his voice shaky but still confident. ¡°I¡¯ll give you that.¡± ¡°Thanks,¡± Ray said. ¡°You¡¯re no slouch either for surviving this long.¡± ¡°Ha!¡± With a sudden burst of strength, the man shrugged off Soulstrike entirely. The True Mana arm went flying back. Another yell, and then the soldier had pointed his spear straight at Ray, the spiralling drill of golden light just about to fire off. Ray managed to call in the Spiritguard orbs to form a close defensive shield around him. They withstood the soldier¡¯s attack. Meanwhile, Ray tried attacking his opponent with the Soulstrike arm again. Arms. Plural. He had cast a second one, trying to hammer in from both sides. It wasn¡¯t practical, though. The combination of the man¡¯s actual shield and Divine Bulwark kept him safe from basic attacks. Which was why Ray decided to test his latest ability on his opponent. His Scouring Eyeballs hadn¡¯t reported anyone else in the vicinity, so Ray had time. Seeing as his ranged attack wasn¡¯t getting past the Spiritguard defence, the soldier made to charge in again. He rushed in, still cloaked with Divine Bulwark to ward off Ray¡¯s spells. Ray eyes it for a second, recollecting the ability¡¯s exact description. Then he countered. He had already flown back again to prevent the soldier from goring him with that spear of his. Now, he rushed in. If his opponent was surprised, there was no indication. The charge continued. Just as Ray reached the right spot, the man fired off the drilling skill again. Ray was ready for it, though. He used Soulstrike again, ramming the arm in from the side. The golden shield stopped. Just what Ray wanted. He used Spectral Step next, disappearing to reappear at the end of the True Mana arm. Since he had let Soulstrike go just as he had used Spectral Step, the True Mana arm only disappeared instead of coming along with him. The soldier was surprised for only a second, quickly turning to face Ray. But just that second was enough. Ray pushed his hand through the golden barrier. It went in effortlessly. He had to bless the Lostcallers for showing him that neat little move. Of course, it could only be applied in very specific situations for him, since he didn¡¯t exactly possess the Spirit Phase ability. But right here, right now, was all he needed. As the soldier turned, he found himself facing Ray¡¯s open palm. And a growing orb of sparking, chaotic energy. Ray had used Core Deconstruction. The spell had summoned up a spinning orb of chaotic energy. Unlike his Spiritguard spheres, this one looked more like a Van de Graff generator¡ªa shimmering globe with black-red lightning arcing within it. The orb exploded. Ray had summoned it so close to its target that it touched the soldier as soon as it formed. The spell then promptly detonated, giving the soldier no time to react. It wasn¡¯t that powerful of an explosion. Ray only staggered back a couple of steps. But for the soldier, it looked like the end of the world. He screamed as he fell, his spear and shield dropping from his hands. The black-red lightning was capering over his whole body. While he didn¡¯t look electrocuted or burned, there was a graver horror etched onto his face. The sign of someone who had just lost all access to Mana. There was no time to waste. Ray had succeeded in his endeavour to essentially capture the man. Now to seal the deal. He cast Soulstrike to craft up a True Mana arm with the grasping end. Next came Lifeblood Soulform with the bees. As Ray grabbed the soldier with his True Mana arm, he sent the bees straight to the soldier¡¯s face. ¡°Don¡¯t scream,¡± Ray warned. The panicked expression on the soldier¡¯s face definitely foretold a shriek of fright. The threat in Ray¡¯s voice cut it off, though. As did the bees gathering on his cheeks and forehead. ¡°You¡¯ve lost all connection with Mana, haven¡¯t you?¡± Ray asked. The man didn¡¯t answer, looking far too horrified to even process the question. Ray shook him in his Ture Mana¡¯s grip a little. Hopefully, that had cleared his head a bit. ¡°Listen close, buddy. I don¡¯t want to waste time. As such, if you can¡¯t give me the answers I¡¯m looking for, I¡¯m simply going to kill you and find someone who can. Understood?¡± Just to emphasize the threat, he made the bees gather closer to the man¡¯s face. Basically, his whole face was now obscured by the buzzing constructs of black-red energy, leaving only his mouth, nostrils, eyes, and ears alone. ¡°You see all these bees?¡± Ray continued. ¡°I can make them crawl through every hole on your body¡ªevery hole¡ªand then I can make them¡­¡± He snapped his fingers. With the newly summoned Viledrake tail behind him providing Molten Mana, Ray used Origin Resonance to turn a bee into a construct of pure lava. He had only done it to a bee on the man¡¯s armour. But the heat and the smoke and sizzling sound all dragged his gaze inexorably downward. His eyes widened. ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Ray said. ¡°If you don¡¯t want to start vaporizing from the inside, you¡¯re going to comply with everything I have to say. Is that understood?¡± Panicked eyes turned back to Ray¡¯s face, before the soldier¡¯s obscured head nodded hastily and with no small amount of vigour. What followed was a nice little interrogation that explained a lot. There was always the danger that what Ray was hearing wasn¡¯t the truth. If the soldier retained enough of a presence of mind, he could simply tell Ray convincing lies. Thankfully, Ray had a way of corroborating everything he was hearing. Ray: Gritty? Could you please answer? We got some really important business to discuss. She didn¡¯t reply. Ray cursed. He had just obtained some vital information from the captured soldier he really would have liked to confirm. Cursing silently, he decided to proceed with the interrogation. He was mid-question about twenty minutes later when Gritty replied. Gritty: What important business? Ray: Finally. I¡¯m back on Cliff One and I¡¯ve got myself a little, uh, interviewee. Gritty: What? You¡¯re starting to sound like me, wingman, and that¡¯s never good. Ray stared at the chat window for a little while. Then he shook his head and proceeded to explain what had happened. He also confirmed that Gritty had heard what had happened to him from Kredevel. Gritty: Yeah, your captive is right. The Floor Lrd got captured about an hour ago. I¡¯m trying to see if I can get to her, but it¡¯s a little difficult. A lot more red tape to wade through on Cliff One. Ray: Fuck. You could have said something. Gritty: I did. To Kredevel. Ray was about to say that he had meant him but realized how childish that sounded. It wasn¡¯t like he could make use of that information. Kredevel, however, would be a lot more affected by it. In fact, Ray cut off the conversation with Gritty and hit up his Sylvan friend immediately. Ray: Hey, Kredevel. Gritty told you about the Floor Lord, right? It was always nice that Kredevel, despite being a leader among the Sylvans now, still managed to find time to promptly answer him. Not immediately, of course. But it took only like three minutes before Ray got an answer. Kredevel: Yes, I have heard. We are attempting to make our way to Cliff One as we speak. Ray: Wait, already? Kredevel: Now is the perfect time. They have only just captured the Floor Lord. They are tired and terribly wounded and have used up a great deal of their resources. If we do not make our move now, it will be too late. Ray: A move¡­ to do what, ultimately? Kredevel: To free the Floor Lord, of course. Ray: Kredevel¡­ this Floor Lord isn¡¯t that different from Olgolair. She doesn¡¯t care about you. All she cares about is the task she has been given from the Fleshcrafter. Realizing he hadn¡¯t explained his meeting with the Fleshcrafter, Ray proceeded to do so. He also highlighted the Fleshcrafter¡¯s connections with the Sylvans. There was a lot of irrefutable proof that the Floor Lord was working for the Fleshcrafter. Kredevel: That¡­ that cannot be,. We are followers of the Burgeoner. That is the Paragon who blesses our entire race. We do all in his name. Ray: But is this Burgeoner interested in taking over the Tower of Forging. Kredevel: Not that I am aware of¡­ Ray: Exactly If not the Burgeoner, then some other Paragon will. That¡¯s what it looks like. And this Fleshcrafter wants to be the frontrunner. Gritty: By turning everyone on the Floor¡ªwell, all the Everstead on the Floor¡ªinto his unwitting followers. Ray; Gritty, wtf. How did you even barge into this chat? Kredevel: I agree with Gritty. But¡­ that also means I must agree with your assessment about the Floor Lord, Ray. She may very well be focusing entirely on her goals with regards to this Fleshcrafter. Gritty: Exactly. Ray¡¯s right, Kredevel. We¡¯ve got no reason to free her in the first place. Unless you want some plague-loving Paragon to take over the Tower. You said his influence is spreading alongside the plague, right, Ray? Ray: Sorry, I¡¯m still stuck on how you got into the chat, Gritty. It was supposed to be between me and Kredevel. I didn¡¯t even know you could do three-way chats. Gritty: Yeah, see, Kredevel. Ray said the Fleshcrafter fucking sucks. Ray: That isn¡¯t at all what I said, but you¡¯re not wrong. Kredevel: I¡­ I must think on this. We must reach the Floor Lord regardless. Whether to free her or to make her answer for all that she has done and allowed to happen on the Second Floor. Gritty: That leads to the next question¡ªare the Everstead our enemy? Ray turned to his captive sitting there seemingly placidly. He¡¯d had to re-summon the bees and the True Mana arms due to their timers running out. The soldier was still trapped. ¡°What do you say, Holden?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Is the Everstead our enemy, really? Despite having tried to kill me multiple times, are we really supposed to be fighting against each other?¡± That was apparently too broad of a question, because the soldier started faltering. ¡°Alright, alright,¡± Ray said. ¡°Let me make this easier. What does the king of Everstead want right now?¡± Holden, the captive soldier, considered for a moment. The bees around his mouth bobbed around as he talked. ¡°He wants to rid the kingdom of this plague.¡± ¡°We know that. What next? What¡¯s he going to do to the Floor Lord, for instance? Execute her? What happens then? Is he happy to remain as a part of the Tower of Forging forever, or does he want to get his kingdom out?¡± ¡°I¡­¡± ¡°Remember, Hoden. I¡¯ve got everything in place to determine whether you¡¯re lying or telling the truth. You really don¡¯t want to lie, right now.¡± The bees bobbed as Holden¡¯s Adam¡¯s apple did. ¡°The king wants restitution afterwards. The entirety of Everstead does.¡± A bit of passionate fervour emerged in his voice, which convinced Ray that he was hearing the truth. ¡°This plague has destroyed our homeland, as have the actions of the other Sylvans. Someone must take responsibility.¡± Ray made a gesture for him to go on. ¡°And so¡­?¡± ¡°So, the kingdom of Everstead seeks to climb higher up the Tower. We are heading to Third Floor.¡± B2 Chapter 47 (114): Final Operation Ray stared at the man. Had he really just said what Ray thought¡ª Gritty: Earth to wingman. You learned anything from your little pet yet? Ray: I did. And I have no idea if you can determine it¡¯s true or not. But he says the kingdom of Everstead wants to go to the Third Floor. Gritty: Wtf? Ray: I¡¯m guessing that means you can¡¯t confirm it. Gritty: That¡¯s insane. They¡¯re not even Denizens. Kredevel: Yes, it will be impossible for them to reach the next Floor if they are not registered as Denizens under the System. Ray: They¡­ they are. Gritty: What? Ray: Actually, let me just double-check real quick. As Ray turned his attention back to his captive, he reapplied the bees before their timer ran out. He used Primordial Gauge on the man again. Oh, yes. He had been right. The man¡¯s status did indeed say Denizen right after his name. Ray: Yeah. They really are Denizens. Kredevel: Then it will be possible for them to ascend to the next Floor¡­ Gritty: I repeat¡ªwtf? How are these people Denizens? We¡¯ve been seeing signs they might not even be human in the first place. And now you¡¯re telling me they can climb the Tower just like us? Ray had no idea what to make of that. The whole kingdom of Everstead making a concerted push to rise to the Third Floor. That did sound insane. Kredevel: They can only climb higher if they complete the Objectives set to them as Denizens. We know nothing of what these Objectives could be. That is our greatest drawback in understanding them. Ray: Actually, hold on. Once more, Ray turned to Holden. ¡°Hey,¡± Ray barked. The snap in his voice made the soldier flinch. ¡°You want o go to the Third Floor as well?¡± ¡°I will go wherever my kingdom deems it right for me to go,¡± Holden said. ¡°Then you must know what you have to do to get to the Third Floor, right?¡± His eyes narrowed, the bees moving to keep up with the change in his expression. ¡°I know that I must complete the Objectives I have been set to be eligible to climb to the next Floor in this Tower.¡± ¡°Exactly. So now, you¡¯re going to tell me exactly what those Objectives are.¡± There was a panicked look in his eyes. Maybe he had been commanded to keep them all a secret, He would possibly be forfeiting his life, and worse, if he spilled the beans. ¡°My friend¡¯s got someone just like you in her grasp,¡± Ray said. The lie was a sudden idea, but it ought to help. ¡°If your Objectives aren¡¯t similar to the other captive¡¯s¡­¡± Ray made a slicing motion across his neck. Apparently, the threat was universal because the soldier shook in fright a little. He ended up telling Ray the Objectives he supposedly had. Ray: Alright, so, these are the Objectives our friend¡¯s got¡ªkilling some Sylvans, killing some of the Infected, killing some monsters all over the Floor, defeating the plague just like me, climbing the ranks of his social ladder, and apparently killing a certain number of Denizens. Gritty: Which I¡¯m sure doesn¡¯t include their own. Ray: Right. It made sense why they¡¯d been targeting him then. They needed to kill the Denizens who had climbed up from different Floors, even from different Towers, to progress their System Objectives. Of course, they couldn¡¯t be too overt about it. Otherwise, they would end up alienating the Denizens and have another enemy on their hands, which they could hardly afford when their hands were full dealing with the Sylvans. That was why the other Denizens had been safe so far, more or less. Safe from the Everstead, at least. Ray froze. Or had they been safe? Mary was dead. It could very well be that she had never faced the Floor Lord, had never managed to give up the Sylvan leader¡¯s location. Or why else would the Everstead wait until Ray had drawn the Floor Lourd out to attack her? It could very well be that Mary had been killed by the Everstead. Ray turned to his captive. ¡°Did you or your kingdom kill Mary Felds?¡± He shook his head, once again a little panicked. Maybe because he knew there was no way to corroborate whether he was lying or not. ¡°I didn¡¯t. None of us did. I swear.¡± Ray wasn¡¯t satisfied, but he dropped it. Gritty: Kredevel is right, Ray. Ray: Wait, what? Weren¡¯t you saying I was right a little while back? Gritty: We need to kill these Everstead before they kill us. Kredevel: Now more than ever is the time to act. We will rush through this Cliff Two and arrive at Cliff One before long. Fear not. Ray once more cursed the fact that things weren¡¯t as clear cut as they had been on the First Floor. There was no enemy threatening to kill him to his face that he could scrupulously retaliate against. Well, there had been, but Ray had already taken care of most of those ¡°accidents¡±, as Cory had called them. The Everstead were nowhere near as bold as the Sylvans. He sighed. Proof after proof after proof. Did he really need any more evidence to act against them? They had been abusive, had tried to get rid of him, had used him as bait for the Floor Lord. Instead of being concerned if he was alright after the altercation with the Floor Lord, they had more or less discarded him like he was a useless tool now. Ray faced the man covered in bees and still in his True Mana arm¡¯s grasp. The soldier¡¯s eyes widened at whatever he saw on his face. ¡°I¡¯ll admit, I¡¯ve been a bit naive. I¡¯ve been waiting and waiting for a clear sign.¡± He laughed. ¡°It¡¯s almost like I was waiting for a declaration of war or something. But that¡¯s never going to happen, is it?¡± Kredevel: What have you decided, Ray? Ray ignored the message for the moment, focusing instead on the soldier before him. ¡°You¡¯re going to keep stalling, keep sneaking, keep pretending that we¡¯re maintaining some kind of tenuous working relationship while you chip away at my sanity and my health. You¡¯re going to wait until I¡¯m broken, until I¡¯ve lost everything except for my power.¡± The man struggled in the grip of the True Mana arms, his eyes wide with fright as Ray approached. He had nowhere to go, though, nor could he do a thing. Ray had made sure to use Core Deconstruction to keep his captive calm. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°Well, I¡¯m done with your bullshit,¡± Ray said. ¡°I¡¯m done letting you and your little kingdom try to control my experience of the Second Floor. Now, I¡¯m going to take back all control. I¡¯m done. So are the Everstead.¡± Ray took a deep breath to centre himself. It had felt good to get that off his chest. Ray: I agree. We need to act. Kredevel: Then we need a plan. They did. Acting haphazardly without any proper direction was only going to get them all killed. Especially since they were outnumbered and, on average, outpowered by the military of the Everstead kingdom as well. Nevertheless, they had advantages they could¡ªhad to¡ªmake use of. Ray: First thing¡¯s first. You guys need to get to Cliff One. Kredevel: We are making good progress. Unfortunately, by the time we reach the spire, they will likely recover their strength and pose a far greater threat than they already do. Ray: That¡¯s why we¡¯re changing tack. Kredevel: We are? Ray: I¡¯m going to give you some directions and you¡¯re going to head straight there. You¡¯ve got all the Infected and the new Denizens up from the First Floor with you, right? Bring them all along. I know a way to get to Cliff One without needing to use the spire. Ray explained the dungeon that the Floor Lord¡¯s attack on him had inadvertently revealed. The one that had led him from Cliff Two to Cliff One. Gritty: That¡¯s devious, wingman. Ray could hear the grin through Gritty¡¯s words. He couldn¡¯t hold back his smile either. It was tense, filled with anticipation of what was to come. Of course, Kredevel and the rest of them couldn¡¯t appear instantly. Ray had to wait for them to make a circuitous way across Cliff Two to the dungeon¡¯s entrance, and then make their way through the dungeon itself. He had made sure to tell them every little thing they would face there. Thankfully, since he had taken care of the Lostcallers, they¡¯d have some less difficulty than otherwise. As Ray waited for his allies to appear, he made sure to quiz the soldier about everything he could think up about Cliff One. Things like the layout of the castles, fortresses, and other defences and residences all over the area. He inquired about their military strength, about specific members to be wary of, and so on. All the while, Ray had tasked Gritty to keep an eye on the movements of the Everstead as a whole. They weren¡¯t suddenly moving against their enemies. They hadn¡¯t decided to rush to Ray¡¯s location beside the hole in the dungeon¡¯s roof. Still. Ray¡¯s shoulders itched the longer he didn¡¯t act. A part of him was screaming at him that he could have been fighting monsters and levelling up. But no. This soldier and everything he could learn was more important. Vitally so. It took about a day for Ray¡¯s allies to appear at the end of the dungeon. They had ropes with them, thankfully, and with some creative skill usages from various people including Ray himself, they began to climb up to Cliff One. Ray couldn¡¯t help but wonder if he could have entered the dungeon through its back door, so to speak. That didn¡¯t feel right. But there was no point in wondering. His allies were here. Kredevel was here. Ray grinned wide as he saw the Sylvan climb up. ¡°It¡¯s been ages, buddy.¡± ¡°In truth, it has actually been less time since you left the First Floor and we met up on the Second,¡± Kredevel said, matching Ray¡¯s smile. ¡°But I echo your sentiment. I am glad to see you again.¡± Of course, the other Sylvans weren¡¯t as friendly. They still remembered he had killed so many of their comrades back on the First Floor. They weren¡¯t about to forgive and forget that easily. Ray wasn¡¯t surprised. At least Kredevel had convinced them to not be openly antagonistic. That would shatter their chances of overcoming the Everstead. The Infected came up next. They all kept themselves covered with large cloaks and shawls and the like. Ray didn¡¯t recognize any of them. He couldn¡¯t even see where the one Infected man he had met and helped was. Hopefully still alive. There were a lot of them, though. And they were armed to boot. They bore shields and various weapons, along with bows and arrows. A strong fighting force, even with their skills sealed away. Lastly came the new Denizens who had climbed up to the Second Floor. Ray¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°No way. Joaquin? That you?¡± The man with the thin moustache turned around and smiled. He looked the same as ever, wearing his strange white-and-gold half-robe, half-armour. His face was unmarred with dirt or any scratches, and his dark hair looked like he¡¯d visited a salon instead of a dungeon. ¡°Ray!¡± he said. ¡°Good to see you. I¡¯ve been hearing a lot about your exploits on the Second Floor from everyone.¡± Ray raised an eyebrow. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Well, maybe just from one fellow.¡± Joaquin laughed as he glanced at Kredevel, who was talking to a bunch of other Sylvans in the distance. ¡°But regardless. You¡¯ve been busy!¡± ¡°I have. Just trying to make sure I can get to the Third Floor. You know how it goes.¡± ¡°Yes. We¡¯re on the doorstep of another little war.¡± They took a little time to catch up. Joaquin said that he had more or less been forced to the Second Floor by Maya. He had thought to remain on the First Floor, but his healing skills weren¡¯t necessary there any longer. They had things well in hand and there were other healers to boot. So, Maya had seen fit to pester him to climb up to the Second Floor. She had coerced him by saying that there would surely be people who could use his powers more on the Second Floor. And so, here he was. ¡°Huh,¡± Ray said. ¡°I never took Maya to be the pushy type.¡± ¡°She wasn¡¯t really¡­¡± Joaquin sighed. ¡°Some people just need a little kick up their asses. It¡¯s me. I¡¯m some people.¡± Ray laughed. They waited some time until everyone had come up to Cliff One and had settled in. Then they conducted a little war council to set their plan going forward. They decided to keep things simple, though it still took half the night for them to be completely sure of all the details. ¡°What are you going to do with your captive?¡± Kredevel asked at the end, when everyone was leaving the little clearing they had decided to discuss on. Ray started walking over to the Everstead soldier. ¡°I think we¡¯ve exhausted his usefulness.¡± ¡°Then he serves no other purpose.¡± Kredevel¡¯s voice was carefully even. Like there was more he could have said but he was keeping his mouth shut. Leaving the final decision up to Ray himself. ¡°He doesn¡¯t,¡± Ray said. ¡°What are you going to do to me?¡± the man asked. He didn¡¯t sound scared anymore. Just tired. Someone who had been through a lot more than he had signed up for. Ray stepped up and used Core Deconstruction on the man one more time. The soldier barely flinched as the black-red lightning writhed across his body. ¡°Kill you.¡± ¡°I see.¡± ¡°I appreciate the fact that you didn¡¯t lie or try to trick us some other way. You haven¡¯t even informed any of the Everstead about everything you¡¯ve learned and seen here. I¡¯d know if you had. It¡¯s been very convenient, thank you. To show my appreciation, I¡¯ll honour any last wishes you¡¯ve got. So¡­ got any? Last wishes, I mean.¡± The man stared at Ray for a long while. The bees were gone. They had served their purpose, just as the man had. ¡°It was unlikely I¡¯d have ever made it to the Third Floor,¡± the soldier, Holden, said. ¡°There¡¯s just not enough of you.¡± ¡°Have you always wanted to get to the Third Floor?¡± Ray asked. ¡°You had other goals and wishes before the Tower. What about those?¡± ¡°Before the Tower¡­¡± The soldier¡¯s eyes turned a little vacant. ¡°I remember nothing before the Tower. Before¡­¡± He shook his head. ¡°I have always wanted to get to the Third Floor. But there are others who deserve it more. No surprise that they will have it.¡± ¡°They will have it, you say?¡± The man froze, like he had been caught out. ¡°What¡¯s your last wish?¡± Ray asked. Holden looked greatly relieved that Ray hadn¡¯t started interrogating him again. ¡°I want to be thrown off the Cliff, please.¡± ¡°¡­thrown off the Cliff?¡± Ray asked. ¡°You sure?¡± ¡°That is my wish. My failures mean that I don¡¯t deserve to desecrate Cliff One any longer. I must be punished. And since I will not be receiving the punishment from my people, you must do it instead.¡± He looked up, eyes determined. ¡°If you would really honour my wish.¡± Ray sighed. ¡°Fine. If that¡¯s what you want.¡± He cast Soulstrike, then gripped the man¡¯s head with the True Mana arms. With a squeeze, he crushed the man¡¯s skull. Quick. Hopefully too quick to be painful. [Enemy Defeated¡ªHuman] Phalanx Linesman [Tier 3] Human: [Level 38] x1 Essence: +5,700 Knowledge: +3 True Mana Restored: +380 Essence to Level 42: 41,360/150,700 Knowledge to next Threshold: 2,202/2,500 Ignoring the notification, he dragged the man¡¯s blood-railing corpse all the way to hole that led to the dungeon. Then he threw the lifeless body inside. That ought to count as Cliff Two. He stood at the edge, unsure how he felt. It had been necessary. Maybe not exactly right, but needed all the same. If Ray hadn¡¯t captured the fellow, he would have just killed Holden during the fight. No real difference in the end. His life had been forfeit the moment he had decided to be Ray¡¯s enemy. But at what point had he gotten so cold? Even when the soldier infected by the Flesh Plague had asked him to kill her, he had hesitated. Hell, he had healed her instead. And yet, in this instance, he hadn¡¯t hesitated to take the man¡¯s life. In cold blood, it had to be said. It hadn¡¯t been a furious, life-or-death fight. Ray had killed Holden in cold blood. He didn¡¯t regret it. If time went back, he¡¯d have repeated the same thing. It just didn¡¯t sit right. Not the death itself. Just the fact it was necessary, and that he was prepared to do it. ¡°You should get some sleep.¡± Kredevel had come to join him. ¡°There is little of the night left, but even that little would help greatly.¡± Ray sighed. ¡°You¡¯re probably right. Ready for the big day tomorrow?¡± Kredevel¡¯s eyes looked distant. ¡°I certainly hope so.¡± B2 Chapter 48 (115): Paragons Palace When Ray woke up next morning, he found that most of the host was gone. They had begun moving out. Since they were the far larger party, it would take some time for them to reach their destination. Ray could move much faster. It had been a while since he had last checked his Status. He had come so far since then. [Status] Raymond Dominick Race: Human Class: Spirit Carver [Epic] [Tier 3] Vocation: Tower Conqueror [Epic] Path: Lifeblood Chaos [Legendary] Level: 41 [41,360/150,700] True Mana: 3,544 Origin Mana: 394 Recovery: 1,664 Perks: Riotous Life, Carving Affinity Gear Raiment: Adamantine Mana Vestments Footwear: Drakescale Boots Headwear: Unseen Feathered Headband Handwear: Supple Gloves Accessory: Mana Infuser Ring Accessory: Silver True Mana Bracelet Accessory: Armament: Valorous Back Shield Armament: Talisman of Greater Scourge [Tier 5] Armament: Talisman of Life [Tier 5] Stats Vitality: 122 [+44] [Tier 2] Resilience: 4 [+10] [Tier 1] Strength: 4 [Tier 1] Agility: 50 [+10] [Tier 1] Intellect: 275 [+230] [Tier 4] Spirit: 249 [+145] [Tier 3] Reputation Knowledgeable: 2,202 [Intellect boost: +45] Chaotic: 215 [15% Insanity (Tier 4) buildup] Tenacious: 90 [Vitality boost: +10] Indomitable: 85 [Resilience boost: +10] Cunning: 145 [8% critical chance] Thorough: 55 [Pierce Tier 2 defences] Benevolent: 110 [Refunds 15th spell Mana cost] Heroic: 70 [+10 to all stats when foe stronger] Ruthless: 150 [15% bonus damage] Cooperative: 60 [+10 to all stats in a party] Hallow: 60 [Removes first True Mana cost in an encounter] Devout: 20 Adept: 50 [10% bonus Essence from Objective completion] Spells Soulstrike [Offensive] [Tier 4] Primordial Gauge [Utility] [Passive] [Tier 5] Spiritsorb [Offensive] [Utility] [Tier 3] Lifeblood Graveyard [Passive] [Tier 10] Primal Spiritcraft [Summoning] [Tier 5] Mottling Spiritguard [Barrier] [Tier 3] Soullife Cloak [Utility] [Tier 6] Lifeblood Soulform [Summoning] [Tier 6] Spectral Step [Utility] [Tier 5] Project Presence [Utility] [Tier 5] Anima Charybdis [Offensive] [Tier 5] Spiritscourge Chain [Offensive] [Tier 6] Deathlife Corral [Offensive] [Tier 5] Skills Goliath Eater [Buff] [Tier 4] Dual Wield [Tier 3] Killer Instinct [Passive] [Tier 2] Adaptive Breath [Passive] [Tier 3] True Mana Skill Vengeful Plunder [Utility] [Tier 3] Abstract Conversion [Tier 3] Origin Mana Skills Origin Resonance [Tier 6] Core Deconstruction [Tier 5] Ah. So good to see actual proof of just how far he had come. ¡°Is it time?¡± one of the Infected asked. Ray nodded. He turned, then stopped. Then he smiled. ¡°You¡¯re him! Adrian.¡± Adrian did not smile, though the compressed lines around his eyes did lighten up a bit. ¡°Good to see you again. We meet once more in momentous times.¡± ¡°That we do.¡± He hadn¡¯t realized the only one of the Infected he had met personally was going to be in his squad for the operation. ¡°I hope you¡¯re ready, Adrian.¡± ¡°I am ready for anything. Even death.¡± Ray wished he could discount that, but there was no telling who would survive. The ones accompanying Ray weren¡¯t going towards victory, not for themselves, individually. They were simply united in one common cause¡ªthe defeat of the Everstead. There were about twenty or thirty of the Infected who had stayed behind. Almost a hundred times that number had gone ahead with Kredevel. The ones with Ray were all ready and armed, though, waiting for his signal. ¡°It¡¯s time we got going,¡± Ray said. ¡°We¡¯ll need to move fast.¡± ¡°And we¡¯ll need to hit hard,¡± Adrian said. ¡°That we will¡­¡± Hitting hard needed numbers, something they still lacked a lot. Especially since the addition of the Infected wasn¡¯t truly that huge as most of them didn¡¯t retain the use of their abilities. Their System-access was still locked due to the Flesh Plague. The only last thing Ray could think of was the Tower Node of the Marauder. There was no way it would work, but he found himself trying all the same after finding a private a spot. The ceramic crystal floated into being before him, glimmering as ever. Ray closed his eyes, concentrated on his exact location, and imagined the Feathered Imps rushing through the First Floor and up the Cliffs of the Second. Nothing of the sort happened. No Imps arrived to miraculously raise their numbers. It was silly to think they would appear here in such a short time, so far away from the caves Ray had made his way through so long ago.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. But what really convinced him that there would be no Feathered Imps arriving to bolster their numbers was the fact that Ray himself had been transported. Straight into the presence of the Marauder. ¡°You know,¡± the Paragon said. ¡°I have a feeling you planned this little meeting.¡± ¡°Who, me?¡± Ray waved a hand. It was nice to see he was corporeal enough to manifest his whole physical body in this instance of meeting a Paragon. ¡°Please. I¡¯ve got my hands full dealing with a whole-ass kingdom. I don¡¯t have time to schedule impromptu meetings with Paragons.¡± Ray looked around. Unlike their last meeting, they were now in some kind of palace-like building. Everything was a little too bright for him to make out anything specific, but he got the impression of a sparkling waterfall, of windows that looked like they were next to a sun, of furniture and statues built from pure gold that picked up the light and shone brilliantly. He was glad his eyes weren¡¯t present physically enough to blind him. ¡°Do you mean to say you¡¯re not pleased to see me?¡± the Marauder asked with a little pout. The Paragon himself was the same weird and ever-changing combination of small blocks from hundreds, probably thousands, of creatures. Ray did note that the Marauder was lounging back on a divan like some kind of ancient Babylonian god. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Ray said. ¡°Would you be pleased to meet someone who lied to your face?¡± The Marauder tutted. ¡°What lie could I have possibly uttered in your astute presence, Ray?¡± ¡°Not once, in all the talks we¡¯ve had, did you ever mention that carrying your Tower Node to a different section of the Tower would be raising your influence within the Tower.¡± ¡°I¡¯m curious. Who told you such a thing?¡± Ray crossed his arms. ¡°What¡¯s it to you? The point is that your influence is now super high. You can probably do a lot more than you¡¯ve told me you could. Only question remains is when you¡¯re going to act and what you¡¯re waiting for.¡± The Marauder remained silent, content to stare at Ray for a while with dozens upon dozens of different eyes. ¡°Tell me, Ray, why would I act when I have someone like you to act for me?¡± Ray¡¯s face blanched. Great, he was present enough in this strange domain to show expressions. That line¡­ he didn¡¯t have to think long to recall where he had last heard it. ¡°You know who I learned it from, huh? What was the point in asking, then?¡± What he really wanted to ask was how the Marauder had even found out, but Paragons probably had channels he couldn¡¯t even begin to fathom. ¡°Simply testing whether you would be receptive to an open and fruitful conversation after dragging us into this little meeting,¡± the Marauder said. ¡°You would do well to remember that you are talking with a Paragon.¡± ¡°Am I supposed to feel threatened now?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t take it as a threat. Take it as a reminder. You yourself have been neglecting the Tower Nodes, to some extent. Your enemies, however, have not.¡± It was a little galling to think the Marauder knew who Ray¡¯s enemies were supposed to be. But then, if he knew Ray had spoken with the Fleshcrafter, it was a safe bet to assume that he had a good idea of who Ray was working against here. ¡°Are you saying the Everstead have something to do with Tower Nodes?¡± Ray asked. No, that was a stupid question. Ray already had proof of that. He had seen Mary stealing a Tower Node from the top of the first spire. He had seen the ¡°socket¡± where a Tower Node should have been surrounded by Lostcallers, creatures the Everstead controlled. ¡°Let me ask a different question,¡± Ray said. ¡°What do the Everstead have to do with Tower Nodes? I know the Floor Lord has at least one in her possession too.¡± The Marauder simply tutted. ¡°If I knew everything, there wouldn¡¯t be much point in this conversation, now would it? After all, we aren¡¯t meeting so that I can perform the role of encyclopaedia for you. The real issue is what you will do about it.¡± Ray looked around. He noted the droplets of water splitting the light into little rainbows, the furniture gleaming everywhere, the windows shining like they were made of pure light. He turned back to the Marauder. ¡°Are you invested in them?¡± ¡°The Everstead? Such a curious question. Hmm¡­¡± The Marauder actually took a minute to think. ¡°You know, I think I am.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Ray focused his stare, his near-glare, on the godlike being before him. He remembered well what the Marauder had said about why he was helping Ray. A conqueror was no different from a thief. ¡°Because they remind you of you?¡± The Marauder laughed. He cracked up so hard that his whole form flickered, all the different blocks changing so rapidly that it got too difficult to even look at him. ¡°How astute of you, Ray,¡± the Paragon said. ¡°You¡¯re getting close to the truth, I think.¡± ¡°A truth you know, or at least suspect, but won¡¯t tell me.¡± ¡°You already know as far as I do. The Everstead are not what they seem. Which means what they seem is something that they have taken from others.¡± The Marauder stood up all of a sudden. He spread his arms wide, a beatific smile of a hundred different creatures stretching across his face. ¡°Come now, they have taken this whole Floor.¡± ¡°You sound very appreciative of a group who are supposed to be my enemies.¡± ¡°Once can appreciate the audacity in anyone.¡± The Marauder sat back down, apparently done being excited for now. There was something about it all that still bothered Ray, though. Something that he hadn¡¯t figured out yet, from all these little conversations. Something that he was being kept from. ¡°What is that you want, Marauder?¡± Ray asked. ¡°The Fleshcrafter wants a Flesh Plague to take over everyone. But what about you? Would you like everyone to turn into Feathered Imps?¡± Again, the Marauder laughed. ¡°No, no, that would be too boring. Plus, those Imps don¡¯t even listen to me. Why would I want even more mindless monsters who can¡¯t follow commands.¡± ¡°Well, I for sure am not following any command.¡± ¡°Perhaps not, but you can negotiate.¡± ¡°Alright, that¡¯s it. You¡¯re done distracting me.¡± Ray tried to make himself look as firm and unyielding as possible. ¡°What do you want here, Marauder? Not on this Floor. In the whole Tower of Forging. What¡¯s your real goal?¡± ¡°Think about it for a moment, Ray. I¡¯m sure it will come to you. You¡¯re a smart man, after all.¡± For all the talk about smartness, Ray was getting a little tired of the patronizing. Nevertheless, the Marauder was right. Ray had no trouble figuring out just what this Paragon could want. He already had a lot of theories. ¡°Figuring it out isn¡¯t enough. I¡¯ve already got ideas. What I really want is confirmation.¡± ¡°Take, take, take. You have taken so much, Ray. But that¡¯s good. Because you and I, we are much alike.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got a good feeling I¡¯m nothing like you. But I think I¡¯m starting to get the confirmation I was hoping for¡­¡± ¡°Have you now?¡± The Maruader¡¯s smile was as sharp as a jagged knife. ¡°Here, allow me to give you a greater confirmation¡­¡± The world started folding. Literally. As Ray gawked, everything around him turned into the same blocks that made up the Paragon himself. The furniture broke into even pieces, the water turned into icelike cubes, the windows became smaller panes. Then they all folded in on themselves before spitting Ray and the Marauder out into space. Ray stared. He was definitely in outer space. There was the moon, grey and pitted with craters. Then he noted the Earth and gasped. The whole planet was covered by¡­ by Towers. They weren¡¯t all the same. Some stood taller than others, some were wide and pyramidal, while others were narrow. A few were a shade of black so dark, they looked like staring into nothingness. Others were so brilliantly bright, they would have put the Marauder¡¯s windows to shame. They were all more or less evenly spaced. Ray didn¡¯t spot the Tower of Forging. He was looking down at what looked like Asia. Huh. There was one Tower that was tall enough to have brushed low earth orbit satellites. Was that a Tower stronger than the Tower of Forging? Actually, how tall was Ray¡¯s Tower supposed to be? He recalled the giant Eternal Guardian taking him through the clouds, so it certainly wasn¡¯t short. ¡°Is this something you can just do on a whim as a Paragon?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Just magically take whoever and whatever you want into space?¡± ¡°Cosmic Projection is certainly a very powerful Innate Trait,¡± the Marauder said. ¡°Though not all my kind possess it. But regardless, we have places to be and things to see. Let¡¯s go!¡± Let¡¯s go indeed. At the Marauder¡¯s words, the vista of the universe that Ray was standing witness to shifted. He had been taken to a completely different planet. Ray would have looked around to see what kind of a system he was occupying, but his eyes were more drawn to the Towers on the planet. The Marauder had brought them a lot closer to the surface than they had been near Earth. ¡°See that?¡± the Paragon asked. How could Ray not see it? There was a giant Tower before him. This one was ruddy, its walls made of a strange, gleaming red stone he hadn¡¯t seen before. It was what lay at the top of the Tower that really caught Ray¡¯s attention. A palace. A huge, shining edifice. Columns that glowed with their own light, fountains that sprayed rainbow mist, windows that glowed like they were the sources of light instead of just a medium for the external light to enter through. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ a Paragon¡¯s palace?¡± Ray had framed it like a question, but every word he said made him more certain that the answer was a yes. He had just been in the Maruader¡¯s home. He had seen the exact same details there. ¡°Correct,¡± the Marauder confirmed. ¡°A Paragon¡¯s palace. At the top of a Tower. I believe she calls it the Tower of Bloodletting.¡± ¡°Gruesome.¡± ¡°Indeed. Now come, we have more to see.¡± Ray had questions, but he was forced to keep his mouth shut as they travelled through the cosmos again. Another planet, smaller this time, a lot bluer. Like a miniature Neptune. This one had a Tower too, a column of twisted rock that was thicker at the base but grew slimmer as it spiralled upward. Ray¡¯s eyes widened. Spiralling growth¡­ ¡°No way.¡± The Marauder¡¯s many mouth-blocks all smiled. ¡°Ah, it appears you recognize it. I knew you were quick on the uptake.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a Tower made of Growth Mana.¡± ¡°Well, I wouldn¡¯t say made of it. The System had already constructed the Tower long before it was claimed.¡± ¡°Claimed¡­ by the Sylvans. By¡ª¡± Ray cursed. He was sure he had heard the god¡ªno, the Paragon¡ªthat the Sylvans swore by. What was the name? ¡°By the Burgeoner, to be precise, yes,¡± the Marauder said. ¡°Yet another Tower taken over by a Paragon.¡± ¡°Taken over, huh.¡± ¡°Yes. But you are still missing the true detail.¡± The true detail? Ray looked closer, trying to see what he was supposedly missing. There was just that Tower, covered in Growth Mana, rising out of the blue murk of the planet. He tried to find any specific details the Marauder might have been hinting. It was like a very wild game of Where¡¯s Waldo. ¡°Don¡¯t you see it?¡± The Marauder asked, sounding truly puzzled. ¡°Oh, I thought you possessed the ability.¡± ¡°What ab¡ª¡± Ray cut off his question himself when he realized the answer. Ability. Of course. He used Primordial Gauge. It was strange to think he could use one of his spells in this weird instance where he wasn¡¯t even fully present. But he could. That was what mattered. As Primordial Gauge came into play, he focused its ability to let his eyes see Mana. And oh boy, was there a lot of Mana. The whole blue planet was suffused with it. Glowing streams of magical energy threaded through the surface of the world like oceans of light. Way back, when Kredevel had said that the civilization of the Sylvans literally ran on Mana, Ray had assumed they used it much like people used electricity. Now, looking at what had to be the Sylvans¡¯ home world, he was pretty sure Mana was involved in every single aspect of their lives and more. They probably breathed it in too. It already existed as fruit, after all. But the most curious detail was the fact that all the streams of light were being directed towards the Tower. Like the spokes of a wheel, the streams coagulated at the base of the Tower, filling it up with blinding, ferocious light. ¡°It¡¯s drawing in all the Mana,¡± Ray said. ¡°The Burgeoner is drawing in all the Mana.¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± The Marauder said. ¡°The Paragon that the Sylvans favour now holds complete dominion over all the Mana, both in amount and in all the variety that exists on the Sylvans¡¯ home. And it is not just this world that the Burgeoner sits atop of. The Sylvans have conquered many a world for their rapacious, would-be god.¡± ¡°And you want something similar? A planet of your own you can draw Mana from?¡± The Marauder tutted. ¡°Must you always assume the worst? Can I not simply seek to stop a different Paragon from taking over a world instead of focusing on putting myself in said Paragon¡¯s place?¡± Ray screwed his eyes. ¡°Forgive me if I don¡¯t fully believe that.¡± The Marauder shrugged. One of his shoulder blocks turned into a large, horned version, which only exaggerated the motion even more. Ray realized their conversation was drawing to a close. He still had one last thing he wanted to know, however. ¡°Where¡¯s yours?¡± ¡°Mine?¡± ¡°The Towers you¡¯ve already taken over.¡± His question was answered with only a smile. That was all the answer Ray needed, if he was being honest. Whether the Marauder already had one or more Towers or not¡ªsurely he had to have, he was a Paragon after all¡ªhe was intent on making the Tower of Forging his. ¡°Farewell, Ray, and good luck,¡± the Marauder said. ¡°Don¡¯t forget the power of Tower Nodes. In fact¡­¡± One of the blocks making up the Paragon slowly floated over to Ray. It blinked in front of him before disappearing into a sliver a light that entered his being. ¡°What was that?¡± Ray asked. The Marauder began disappearing too. ¡°Call it a parting gift, if you will. Something to help you take what you need when the time comes¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s the most cryptic, useless answer I¡¯ve ever¡ª¡± And then Ray disappeared to reappear back where he was standing. He sighed. At least something about the Marauder¡¯s last words stuck with him. The Paragon had been very specific about one detail. He hadn¡¯t mentioned Ray¡¯s Tower Nodes specifically. Just Tower Nodes in general. Tower Nodes that his enemies might possess. Around him, his little troop were preparing to move. Even Adrian was gone, standing at the head of the group to get going. Ray took a deep breath and stepped up to the front as well, nodding at Adrian. ¡°Alright,¡± he said. ¡°Let¡¯s go beat the Everstead.¡± B2 Chapter 49 (116): Captured Lord Kredevel marched quickly. Their destination was almost upon them. His whole body twinged, his horns feeling as though they would emerge from his body of their own free will. The tension was so palpable, he felt as though he could drink it like water. He had to keep his head about himself. He needed to maintain his calm. The battle would demand every ounce of his attention and concentration. Maybe he wasn¡¯t the actual leader of their army. Most of the Sylvans didn¡¯t take any direct commands from him. Only good old Serian heeded his words, and that too only when he wasn¡¯t taking any orders from their superiors. Still. Kredevel knew that he was their figurehead. He was their link. He was the one who would need to be in front, leading them to victory. His connections to Ray and Gritty had allowed him to marshal the ascending Denizens to come in and assist them in their endeavour against the Everstead. In a similar fashion, he had been able to convince the Infected to work alongside the Sylvans so that both groups could assist each other. He was the one who had brought this little coalition together. ¡°Enemy sighted,¡± someone shouted from up ahead. Sounded like one of the Infected. ¡°Prepare for battle,¡± Kredevel said, raising his voice. His war cry was repeated along the lines. Around him, the few other Sylvans and the hordes of Infected all prepared their weapons. It was a bit of a shame the Infected didn¡¯t have access to their abilities. Otherwise, the upcoming battle would have posed no problems at all. With their current limitations, they would need to be a lot more tactical. ¡°It¡¯s now or never,¡± Kredevel said, almost shouting. ¡°The enemy is just up ahead. We must give it our all. We must win!¡± They rushed ahead to attack the main host. Kredevel was at the lead. As such, he was the first to see that the Floor Lord was seemingly not that well-guarded. Just the initial impression they had planned for. With rousing cries, they all rushed at their foes. Kredevel called forth his Growth Mana, creating weapons of made of spiralling protrusions. The constant battles and kills had allowed him to rise meteorically through the levels. His stats were higher than they had ever been, as were the Tier of his skills. This battle was his for the taking. The main thing to hold onto during fights such as these was the fact that he wasn¡¯t here to fight. He and his comrades were here to win. That was why he didn¡¯t take any umbrage at the way they secured their initial victory. The Infected fired their arrows from a distance. It began before the charge, before they had begun yelling out their throaty cries of battle and screaming at their opponents. Oh, the Everstead had to be aware that their enemies were almost upon them. But what they couldn¡¯t have foreseen was the rain of arrows spreading in from all directions. Most of the Everstead soldiers were forced to hunker down behind their shields. Several had defensive abilities that warded off the plain arrows. But this made them sitting ducks. The Denizens and Sylvans began firing their abilities from range, concentrating their powers to attack from up front. Unlike the arrows that were falling from up on high. Seeing that the arrows were nothing more than plain wood-and-metal construction, the Everstead soldiers reduced their golden defensive auras over themselves. They instead directed the glimmering shielding ability in front of them. This shielded them far better against the volley of Mana-based abilities. Except, that was what they were lulled into doing. It spelled their undoing. ¡°Now!¡± Kredevel shouted. Several of his fellow Sylvans, along with Kredevel himself, fired off their longer-range abilities. Protrusions of Growth Mana went flying up like javelins, joining with the arrows sailing overhead. Where the Everstead shields could withstand simple arrow fire without trouble, the heavy, Growth-Mana-fuelled javelins from the Sylvans were a different thing entirely. Kredevel drew in a grimly satisfied breath as the Everstead screamed in unison. The javelins of Growth Mana tore through the soldiers¡¯ shields. Several fell, impaled or otherwise devastatingly injured. They rallied quickly, forcing their shielding aura back to their original shape. One of them was sounding a strange alarm. A loud, blaring noise. ¡°A trumpet,¡± one of the Denizens shouted. ¡°They¡¯re calling in their reinforcements.¡± Kredevel nodded. This, too, was expected. It was now time for him to step in personally. He swung in with all his might, his fellow Sylvans and the other Denizens joining the fray. Their goal wasn¡¯t to individually fight the Everstead soldiers. That wouldn¡¯t be the most effective. Instead, Kredevel and the rest of them focused on smashing into the enemy lines and destroying their formation,. That was why Kredevel yelled and charged in with his abilities blazing. His twin swords were wrapped with Growth Mana that enlarged them as he slashed and sliced in a whirlwind. Spikes of Growth Mana emerged out of his body to stab at the soldiers at complete random. It wasn¡¯t easy by any means, of course. The Everstead soldiers had enough abilities of their own to try and counter. One of them chopped in with an axe edged with lightning. Another had created a glowing orb of deep purple energy that forced Kredevel to change his trajectory a little. Yet another man had summoned a revolving salvo of gleaming green swords to strike him. A solid armour of the Growth Mana kept Kredevel safe. Mostly. He still took some wounds. A slash that tore up his arm. A knock that destroyed several of the horns around his head. But Kredevel persevered. He had to ensure victory. And to do that, he had to destroy the Everstead formation even further. It helped that he was targeting the little pockets of space created earlier. He and the rest of his onrushing comrades all aimed for the areas where the Growth Mana javelins had successfully speared through the Everstead. They succeeded. The Everstead lines broke as men and women either dodged away from their enemies¡¯ charge or rushed in to attack. They were thrown into disarray. Leaving them perfectly vulnerable for the smothering army of the Infected to ram into them in an avalanche of fury. What the Infected lacked in Mana-based abilities, they more than made up for it with their ferocity and willingness to throw everything down to seize victory. They fought like wild beasts, unpredictable and unorganized, swarming over their opponents in a tidal wave of savagery and pent-up rage. Of course, it didn¡¯t go fully smoothly. The Infected were far weaker than their enemies, all the more emphasized by their lack of abilities. Where the Everstead managed to rally, they were able to cull the Infected by the dozens. Men and women with corrupted flesh fell, their dying screams giving vent to the anger they couldn¡¯t continue expressing via brutality. But it wasn¡¯t enough. The Everstead military were falling. Kredevel had the smallest of windows to appreciate that their enemies were on the verge of defeat. It wasn¡¯t just the sheer numbers and ferocity of the Infected that played a part. Their very nature was putting a deadly fear straight into the hearts of every Everstead soldier. Nobody, no matter how brave, wanted to contract the Flesh Plague that the Everstead bore. It was that fear that was driving the Everstead away. Kredevel smashed through and killed a few more of the soldiers before the rest left him to try and get away before the Infected reached their position. He grinned. This was turning out to be just like their biggest victories on Cliff Three. But battles were a fickle thing. The trumpet from earlier had blared in the call for Everstead reinforcements. Now, they came rushing in, ready to bolster their almost-beaten allies. ¡°Do not fear!¡± their commander shouted. His voice was loud, carrying over the battlefield, over the sounds of fighting and dying. ¡°Do not fear the plague! We have the Floor Lord in our grasp. We will be healed. Forget your fears, and kill, kill, kill!¡±Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Things would take a turn here. Kredevel knew it. The reinforcements, along with the words of the Everstead commander, really did bolster the Everstead. They were killing the Infected rapidly. Kredevel caught several of his fellow Sylvans and some of the Denizens already resuming their battles. Kredevel¡¯s whole body shivered. He was drawn into a fight too, even if it was the last thing he wanted just then. They had to hold out. They had to survive just a little longer. Around him, the Infected kept falling like weeds,. They tried to give back as well as they got, but the Everstead were too powerful. The reinforcements were well-drilled and in a tight, brutally efficient formation, unlike the lines that Kredevel and his allied charge had broken. The Everstead were beating them down. Kredevel cursed. One of his fellow Sylvans met his match. An Everstead soldier on a raptor armed for war gored his spear through the Sylvan. ¡°Rest well, Rodran,¡± Kredevel muttered, pushing back a different soldier that tried to stab him with a longsword. A spiral of Growth Mana emerged around Kredevel¡¯s location, impaling and killing the soldier where he stood. Things were certainly not looking good. A Denizen rushing to his location was summarily cut down by several Everstead. Some of the other Sylvans had gathered together to form a tight, defensive line but they were being pushed back. Masses of the Infected lay dead all around them, the remaining looking as though they were about to finally break and retreat. Was this it? Had they botched the times? Was their plan a failure? Kredevel: Ray, I¡ª Another trumpet blared against the backdrop of the battle¡¯s cacophony. A strange, panicked blast that cut through the din of battle. And then the shout came in alongside it. ¡°The palace has been attacked!¡± someone yelled out from far behind. ¡°The royal palace is under attack! The palace walls have been breached!¡± Kredevel grinned hard. The compressive tension writhing through his chest now gave way to a surge of euphoria. Ray had come through. The shout went on, making it clear to every single person there that the royal palace of the kingdom of Everstead was in grave danger. It was enough for the morale to shift again. The Everstead were hit with sudden shock, dread and fear staying their ferocious power. Conversely, everyone on Kredevel¡¯s side received a much-needed boost to their ability to fight. They understood the significance of the event. With a huge roar, they all attacked again, Kredevel joining in. But unlike everyone else directing their attention to the now distraught Everstead, he turned and rushed straight for his goal. The Floor Lord. He wasn¡¯t alone. The other surviving Sylvans and the Denizens all remembered their roles. They disengaged from their battles where they could and hurtled towards where the Floor Lord was being held captive. Not all of them made it. But most did. The guards around their missing leader had long since been depleted in their ranks. It took only a little amount of forceful fighting before the last of the guards had fallen, leaving the Floor Lord alone with her fellow Sylvans. And a handful of actual Denizens too, of course. She looked up. There was neither fear nor surprise in her expression. Just a blank calculation. This Sylvan. This leader of theirs¡­ There was nothing keeping her held in one location save some Mana-diverting shackles. Though, they were expertly wound around her to keep her locked. She couldn¡¯t even try to use her higher stats to break free with pure innate power. The Everstead had been thorough. ¡°We¡¯ve finally found her,¡± the Sylvan nearest Kredevel, Hoersted, said. ¡°Quickly, now.¡± It became apparent to the Floor Lord that her Sylvans weren¡¯t here to free her. The careful neutral expression gave way to a degree of curiosity. Kredevel stared down at her for a moment. He had so many thoughts and emotions trying to surface just then. All the feelings that had made him rebel against Olgolair tried to rise up once more. But Hoersted was right. They had to move rapidly. Kredevel used Projected Growth to call up a burst of Growth Mana. The Floor Lord gasped as several pillars of spiralling Growth Mana emerged from the ground at her feet, raising her high into the air. She was caught. No less trapped than the Mana-diverting shackles holding her in place. ¡°Enough!¡± Kredevel raised his voice, louder than anything he had ever said, louder than the man who had been screaming about the royal palace being invaded. It was so loud that several Sylvans and humans nearby all flinched. ¡°Stop the fighting. Before I kill the Floor Lord.¡± The signal was out. Of course, the fighting didn¡¯t immediately stop. But the Infected heard his voice, recalled the plan, and immediately began falling back to gather close to where Kredevel stood, disengaging as best as they could. Since Kredevel continued shouting his threat, most of the Everstead army didn¡¯t follow. The few that tried to chase and continue attacking were quickly stopped by their fellows. ¡°Stop the fight,¡± Kredevel continued yelling. ¡°Or I shall kill the Floor Lord.¡± The cry continued, echoing through his allies and enemies alike. ¡°Stop the fight!¡± ¡°The Floor Lord has been captured!¡± ¡°They¡¯ll kill her.¡± ¡°So, stop fighting.¡± They couldn¡¯t have the Floor Lord dying. Not after they had been so desperately embroiled against the Infected at such close-quarters. The only reason that they had fought so determinedly to kill the Sylvans and their Infected allies was because they had been assured that they could use the Floor Lord to reverse the effects of the Flesh Plague. But that would all fall apart if their prisoner was killed by the very people who they had assumed had come to liberate her. That was what their plan had relied on all this while. Ray, Kredevel, Gritty, and the rest of them had brainstormed until they had found the Everstead¡¯s true weakness. Their inability to heal themselves from the plague. Kredevel looked up to where the Floor Lord was caught up in the shackles and the Growth Mana spirals. She was serene once again, having recovered from her initial surprise. Even now, when she was completely encased with Growth Mana, where a single push of will from Kredevel would crush her entirely, she remained unflappably calm. He couldn¡¯t wait until they could finally converse. Eventually, after the fighting completely died down, one of the Everstead soldiers approached on raptor-back. He appeared to be their leader. His armour was more golden than black, his long glaive edged with an unfamiliar blue metal. ¡°Was this your objective all along?¡± he asked, coming to a halt before Kredevel. ¡°To capture the Floor Lord and threaten to kill her unless we surrendered?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Kredevel allowed himself a small smile, as much to display his confidence as at the relief he felt within. ¡°And now, we can begin negotiations.¡± ¡°What do you want?¡± ¡°We want the same thing you do, if I am to be honest. We wish to stop the plague.¡±
Ray grinned. Nervous excitement and burgeoning apprehension warred against each other. He was about to start invading the royal palace. The description from Holden had been accurate. It was an impressive and imposing structure. A massive central edifice that reminded him of an Ancient Greek acropolis, surrounded by the same kind of walls he had seen around the central city on Cliff Two. Needless to say, the whole thing was carefully encased by a powerful, defensive army. If his estimations weren¡¯t off, the entire compound could have easily housed two of the enormous arena he had fought the Viledrake in. How long had it taken these Everstead to build something like this? The sight, more than anything, was what had instilled the nervousness. Breaching that kind of defence wasn¡¯t going to be easy. But he could do this. He would. Ray took a deep breath, then began. He sent out his Imitator constructs first. It would have been greatly convenient if he could have assigned them some of his abilities, but their powers were already pretty great. They had assumed the shapes of several of the Infected who had accompanied Ray, complete with weapons they bore. One construct had a greataxe, another a long spear, and the last was armed with a shield and a sword. As one, the trio rushed in and fell upon the gaggle of Everstead soldiers guarding the gate. Shouts and fighting broke out. Ray didn¡¯t wait to see how well his constructs did. They would survive. One good thing about the Imitator constructs was that their consistency ensured they could survive direct physical damage quite well. Ray focused on his goal. While his constructs had dragged the soldiers¡¯ attention, he created a couple of draconic maws on his arms as he began flying away. He fired their laser breaths, aiming for the gate. The detonation caused by the blast made huge chunks of the gate collapse on the rear of the Everstead guarding them. That led to more shouts and alarms, of course. The perfect distraction. Just one attack like that wasn¡¯t enough to destroy the gate, of course. It was too strong, too big to be irreparably damaged by two laser breaths. But it had still caused enough panic. It took Ray no time to fly to the actual location he was supposed to act at. The Infected positioned there had already begun their charged, attacking the soldiers positioned in front of that gate. A part of Ray wanted to dive into the fray and assist the Infected directly. They wouldn¡¯t last long against the Everstead. But that was why he had to be fast with his actual task. Ray swooped through the top of the wall and into the gatehouse. It helped that he was cloaked in Mimic Mana from using Origin Resonance and Abstract Conversion after constructing the Imitators. The soldiers positioned there hardly saw him coming. By the time they sensed him, it was too late. Ranged pot shots with the draconic maws were enough to kill a couple of the men. Another soldier emerged from the gatehouse to investigate the disturbance. Ray landed on him from atop, his draconic maws crunching into the man¡¯s head just as his shielding aura came into play. Too slow. A burst of chaotic flames ended the man¡¯s life and screams in short order. Holden had described what Ray would need to find within a gatehouse if he wanted to activate the gate itself. It took him no time at all to locate the lever. A quick tug sent a groan shivering through the entire gatehouse. The gates began pulling inward, opening up the path forward. Ray wasted no time joining the fighting. He had summoned his Mottling Spiritguard orbs. They protected him against the soldiers¡¯ various abilities. Lightning and fire flashed at him, weapons slicing in from various angles. Ray paid them no mind. His surprised appearance had not only taken the heat off the Infected, but it had also destroyed the Everstead soldiers¡¯ formation and allowed him to take them out quickly. ¡°We¡¯re not done,¡± he shouted as the last soldier fell. ¡°We need to keep pushing. We won¡¯t stop till we¡¯ve got the whole palace under our control!¡± The Infected yelled with rousing cries. Ray¡¯s heart shivered with building excitement. He realized he was too caught up in the moment to actualize that he had killed so many of the Everstead with such little effort, but it was a distant thought. There were more alarms blaring. Word must have gotten out that the royal palace was under attack. So many soldiers were amassing everywhere. They had their work cut out for them. But Ray had a plan. As the Infected advanced into the palace¡¯s interior, Ray took to the air. He had to cast Lifeblood Soulform thrice to call up more of his constructs. Since there were no more twinges, it likely meant his Imitator constructs had finally fallen. Next came Soulstrike with Origin Resonance turning their ends into giant spectral draconic maws. Lastly, Primal Spiritcraft had him crafting draconic maws around his hands. Seven Greater Windbane Maws opened their jaws wide, bristling with chaotic fire, and shot out lasering breaths. The seven beams of compressed fire crashed into the distant second gate. Unlike the one at the first gate, this detonation was massive. Forget the Everstead soldiers and personnel, the Infected themselves shouted and screamed as they sought cover. Ray¡¯s blast had made the whole gate and everything around it explode, sending out debris flying to rain down all over the area. The gathering Everstead soldiers were hammered by the flaming chunks of stone and metal as well. As the dust cleared, as smoke wreathed the sky, Ray grinned at all that was revealed. The final gate was gone. Giving them a surefire way to reach the interior of the palace. B2 Chapter 50 (117): The Everstead Military Ray took a deep, focusing breath. The chaos of the battle was unfolding. But that was fine. He was in his element. The Everstead soldiers were quickly recovering. They were trying to regroup, the wounded being dragged away by a small handful while the rest reformed to confront the invaders. He wondered how shocked they were that their enemies had come this far without being seen. Mimic Mana really was something else. Ray concentrated on the unfolding battle. His real goal lay deeper inside. Right into the centre of the palace, where the heart of the Everstead lay. But he couldn¡¯t just leave the Infected to fight alone. It wasn¡¯t simply sentiment driving him. Without their skills, the Infected would be wiped out. Even if Ray had healed a couple of them to the best of his abilities, such that they could use their skills again, it wouldn¡¯t be that effective. And once they were beaten, they would surely rush in after Ray himself. No matter how strong he was, how quick and clever he tried to be, their sheer numbers would overwhelm him. Unless they believed he was already dealt with. Which was why Ray yelled out and dived into the fray. The first soldier he targeted was too surprised to do anything. Ray landed in the midst of the battle with the draconic maws around his hands firing full throttle. His target screamed as he perished, several others falling back as his Spiritguard orbs slalomed around. Ray¡¯s sudden appearance had relieved the pressure off the Infected. The momentum of the fray shifted. They rallied, ready to continue fighting He was glad to see the two he had healed up were alive and kicking. They bristled with their powers active. One of them looked like he had turned parts of his recently-healed body into pure metal. The other was casting green balls of who knew what everywhere, though it was effective at making the Everstead retreat and disengage. Although, it wasn¡¯t just whatever the Infected¡¯s power was. The defending soldiers were afraid of the Infected as a whole. After all, they didn¡¯t want to turn into Infected as well. This worked to Ray¡¯s advantage really well. He smashed into his enemies, blasting them with salvos of his draconic maw breaths, or round after round of Mottling Spiritguard, or hammering blows from two Soulstrike True Mana arms. Spiritscourge Chain helped tremendously to take them down as a whole group, as did Anima Charybdis. Still, the soldiers weren¡¯t willing to remain pegged down for long. They were professionals. More importantly, this was one location where they couldn¡¯t afford to be defeated. No surprise, then, that they countered and began pushing back. The foot soldiers were making little progress, thanks to Ray¡¯s incessant use of overwhelmingly powerful spells. That¡¯s when they called in their reinforcements. The ground shook as the cavalry came in¡ªsoldiers armed with polearms and riding raptors that growled with bloodlust, all of them clearly buffed up with some skill that made their bodies glow silver. Alongside Ray, the Infected were forced to scatter at the enemies¡¯ charge. Their momentum was completely disrupted. Ray tried to have his Mottling Spiritguard punch through the mounted formation, but the buff was clearly powerful. His sparking chaos orbs weren¡¯t able to even injure the soldiers. He tried using True Mana arms to bash them back. It worked, somewhat. Ray was able to unhorse¡ªun-dinosaur?¡ªtwo of the cavalrymen. But the rest survived. They were nimble on their mounts, the raptors moving smoothly and changing direction far quicker than what their size suggested. And then he was forced on the defensive himself. The Mottling Spiritguard orbs that Ray had kept close to him warded off a bunch of different skills. Several soldiers thrust their lances at him. They glowed before they lengthened tremendously, seeking to skewer him like a shish kebab. Several more threw golden spheres connected to their owners via chains. Fucking magic flails. They were all kept away thanks to the Spiritguard orbs. But the sheer number of them made Ray stagger back a step. The problem was that they were falling into a pattern. The soldiers were still able to maintain their formation to an extent, still able to hold on to whatever game plan they had come up with to deal with Ray. Not for long on his watch. Ray used Primal Spiritcraft to call up his Soaring Wings. He immediately took full advantage of the combination of the Flight Mana imbued into his Vestments and Soullife Cloak to boost his speed a great degree. The assholes wanted to pin him down and overwhelm him? Well, good luck with that. The battlefield blurred with how fast Ray moved out of his original location. Several attacks aimed at him completely missed. He wasn¡¯t completely out of all their range, though. The nearest soldiers were turning quickly, once again throwing their lances and glowing arrows and flail heads and whatnot. Ray used a series of Mottling Spiritguard casts to not only protect himself but to hide his form for just a second. When the Everstead army¡¯s attacks destroyed his defence, they found themselves facing a small armada of flying dragon heads. Ray grinned. Then made them all fire at once even as they flew off. Three Greater Windbane Maws shooting their compressed beams of chaotic fire tore apart the cavalry¡¯s formation. Every single soldier panicked, twisting their raptors every which way to get out of the line of fire. They had seen what Ray had done to their gate. They really didn¡¯t want the same happening to them. That was just the first part of Ray¡¯s counter. While the soldiers were busy dodging, he cast Mottling Spiritguard a couple more times. Once to replenish his defence. The next to attack and kill the bastards. Before his attack-stance orbs flew offs, Ray also cast Primal Spiritcraft to bring up the Viledrake tail. Abstract Conversion and Origin Resonance imbued Molten Mana into the orbs as they shot towards their targets. Unlike the last salvo, this version of the Spiritguard orbs were a lot more effective. The spheres¡¯ direct contact was repelled at first by the army¡¯s defensive buffs. But they couldn¡¯t protect themselves from the Molten Mana exploding and belching out globs of lava in every direction. Soldiers and raptors both cried out as they burned, struggling and panicking and dying. Ray was about to smack them all with a True Mana arm, but then, a different soldier charged in. Not on a raptor like everyone else. This guy had a triceratops for a mount. ¡°Isn¡¯t that supposed to be like your version of an ox?¡± Ray asked. His answer was a yell before the huge man rushed in. The sword he swung was thick and long, as big as any of the polearms the other soldiers had been wielding. Ray didn¡¯t have trouble evading him. The triceratops couldn¡¯t move anywhere near as fast as the raptors. As for the soldier, his swings were powerful but slow. He wasn¡¯t going to hit his target like that. Probably why he started using his skill, which summoned up a tornado around him. Now, that was something Ray had to be more wary of. While the twister was faster than its parent, it still moved slower than him. Ray had no trouble firing off a laser blast from the draconic maws on his hands.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. But that was the problem. They were distracting him. Switching the momentum to their favour again. The foot soldiers from earlier who had taken a beating had now rallied enough to start attacking the Infected again. Enough of the cavalry were still alive to begin targeting his constructs. Things were not looking good overall. But then, they were never supposed to. Time for Ray to go all out, one last time. Ray flew back. Far, far back. He probably would have been caught by several of the soldiers trying to come after him on their raptors, but he boosted his motion using his draconic maws. They fired off, acting like jetpacks to propel him backwards. Now he had space to act. All his constructs had died by then, but that was fine. Ray crushed a True Mana shard, and an Origin Mana shard to boot. Then he used Lifeblood Soulform to recreate his fallen summons. The flying draconic maws came, but so did the Imitator Construct. Ray wasn¡¯t wasting any time. He used Origin Resonance to cloak his other constructs in Mimic Mana. His enemies were almost upon him. The cavalry was charging in, a different company of foot soldiers rushing in from his left. Ray took a deep breath. Then he flew forward as fast as he could. The sudden change in direction made it difficult for the soldiers to react. They tried to attack him, but they couldn¡¯t get their skills up or swing their weapons in fast enough. Ray shot past them all with his wings and made sure to cast Spiritscourge Chain and Anima Charybdis. His enemies cried out as he struck. Ray didn¡¯t need to focus too much on defending himself. He reduced the frequency of Mottling Spiritguard casts. Of course, that meant more of his enemies¡¯ attacks made it through. He suffered a nasty burn on his hands. A glowing arrow shot in and punched into his shoulder. But those little injuries were fine. Casts of Anima Charybdis filled up his Recovery, and Ray didn¡¯t hesitate at all to use them and get rid of the wounds that tried to distract him. Last but not least, Ray made sure to activate Deathlife Corral. That was the death knell. When Ray cast Soulstrike twice in quick succession, the True Mana arms didn¡¯t come off his shoulders like normal. Instead, he cast them through the souls of the dead rising back to life all over the battlefield. Well, all over close to him, of course. But that was enough. As the charging soldiers turned around at his sudden motion, the True Mana arms rammed them from behind. They couldn¡¯t protect themselves easily. Several soldiers had shields, but that didn¡¯t help when the arms disappeared from one soul only to reemerge from another behind their target. Ray raised his arms into the air, feeling the conductor of some grand orchestra. An orchestra of war and death. To cap it all off, his invisible constructs fired into the soldiers¡¯ midst. It hadn¡¯t taken them long to figure out that Ray¡¯s casts were coming from the strange souls floating nearby. They had tried attacking him directly but was warded off by his surefire Spiritguard defence and Anima Charybdis healing up any damage he took. But getting out of the range of both Ray and the souls called up by Deathlife Corral only made the soldiers bunch up together. In perfect position for his flying draconic maws to unleash devastation. They fired their laser breaths all at once, ripping through the soldiers with fiery, chaotic detonations. Ray barely heard the screams over the boom. He really should have been allowed to take a break or something at that, but things weren¡¯t that ideal. Shadows swam over him. For a second, he wondered if this was some ability from someone else who hadn¡¯t entered the battlefield directly. But then he looked up. ¡°Ah, fuck.¡± Despite the curse, he grinned. ¡°You¡¯ve got to be kidding me.¡± It wasn¡¯t enough that these Everstead were riding raptors and triceratops. Now they were flying around on pterodactyls too. Ray wasn¡¯t surprised at all when the lightning started coming down. Of course, some prick riding a flying dinosaur would be chucking lightning at whatever poor sap happened to be on the ground beneath. It was just a bid odd that the bolts raining down were an ochre colour. What was that supposed to be? Rusted lightning? At least none of them hit him thanks to Mottling Spiritguard keeping him safe like normal. Ray rose high on his own wings, though, he didn¡¯t get far. That pterodactyl had a huge elevation advantage over him. He wasn¡¯t going to be able to get close enough. No problem. His constructs would do the job for him. It turned out the pterodactyl rider had considered the constructs emergence too. The soldier kept away from them, moving so fast on the dinosaur that Ray¡¯s draconic maws had no hope of hitting their target. And even while the soldier kept dodging, the bolts kept raining down. With the way they seemed to be emerging from the wings of the pterodactyl, it almost looked like the dinosaur was being used as some sort of catalyst for the abilities. Wild. That¡¯s when Ray was struck from behind. The blow was so vicious that he found himself tumbling from the air to land on the ground, cursing at the sudden spiking pain on his back. Had to be another arrow or something. Also had to be something thrown from a good distance because there was nobody nearby. He had dealt with them all. When he tried to get back up, the pressure suddenly disappeared. That was when he noticed Ray himself hadn¡¯t been the target of that attack at all. Instead, it was his wings that had been destroyed. There was no time to find the culprit. Ray was already under attack from his main opponent. It wasn¡¯t just that rusty lightning continuing to strike at him. The rider and the pterodactyl were both swinging down directly at him. Still way too fast. Ray¡¯s draconic maw constructs had no hope of hitting their target. Ray himself had no hope of dodging with his wings gone. But there was just enough time to cast Lifeblood Soulform once more, to call up Impervious Shell right between himself and his assailant. The crash was satisfying and deafening. Just as the flying dinosaur had smashed into Ray¡¯s defence, its ride had turned the whole dinosaur into the same ochre lightning, which had exploded everywhere all around them. Ray continued to remain safe thanks to another cast of Mottling Spiritguard just after he had constructed the Duskshell shell. What they didn¡¯t protect him from was the rider herself. The woman swung in beneath the Impervious Shell like she was an expert at parkour. Probably was, with whatever weird training the Everstead gave their military. More importantly, she was completely unfazed from her collision with the construct, and now rammed in at Ray with a spear enwreathed with the same ruddy lightning sparking and bursting everywhere. Even worse, she was too fast. Ray didn¡¯t have time to consider the right move. She was relying on her speed to take him out before he could act. Thankfully, breaking through all those Intellect Tiers had Ray landing on the right spell almost instinctively. He cast Spectral Step. The world twisted as he reappeared on top of one of his flying Greater Windbane Maws. The balance was so precarious that he immediately began falling. But that was fine, because he now had room to call up the Soaring Wings again. Ray slowed his plummet down to regular fall with his wings. Now, he could take out that pesky pterodactyl rider before she did anything even more annoying. Lightning was already sparking around her and¡ª His head turned to see something seeming with a speed that could rival lightning bolts. Was that¡ªwas that a flying axe? Ray swerved away to dodge it. He had the distinct impression that it was that very thing that had destroyed his wings not too long ago. But then the axe jerked in mid-air and rushed at him again. He cursed, sending out his constructs to search for the axe-wielder while casting another Mottling Spiritguard to protect himself. Just in time. In that tiny moment where Ray had been distracted by the flying axe, the pterodactyl rider had charged up her abilities too. The blitzkrieg of lighting that struck Ray wasn¡¯t evadable in the least. Ray didn¡¯t even have to make an active decision. There was no time for it. His decision was made for him. Ray¡¯s time on the battlefield was up. Ray did use Spectral Step to get away from the blast. But as he did so, he cast Lifeblood Soulform to create his Imitator construct. There. Now he¡¯d have his construct taking his place for him on the battlefield, pretending to be dead and stopping the Everstead from coming after him. Because Spectral Step hadn¡¯t taken him to wherever the draconic maws were flying. No, it had brought him straight inside the palace itself. Ray breathed in deep, trying to let his body calm down. The tiny black-red bee he had sent out had managed to enter the palace interior. He was home free. The little intelligence he had granted it had allowed the construct to seek out a spot where Ray wouldn¡¯t be discovered easily. A tiny room where no one else was present, where the only light entered through the gap under the closed door. [Enemy Defeated¡ªHuman] Hoplite [Tier 2] Human: [Level 33] x8 Vanguard [Tier 2] Human: [Level 34] x13 Cavalier [Tier 3] Human: [Level 37] x8 Essence: +115,000 Knowledge: +87 True Mana Restored: +50,100 [Level Up!] Reward
  • +5 Intellect, +5 Spirit, +2 Vitality +2 Agility, +10 allocatable free stats.
  • 10 True Mana shards
Essence to Level 43: 5,660/161,200 Knowledge to next Threshold: 2,289/2,500 Ah, that was good. That battle had been enough for another level. Just what Ray needed before he got going into the place itself. [Primordial Gauge¡ªDungeon] Pinnacle of Ascension [Tier 18] The precipice of reaching the next Floor provides a direct challenge for all those seeking to ascend. But beware the great changes that have transpired within its halls, for they may be foreign and unfamiliar. Climb up the floors until you arrive at the point where your journey can go no farther. Ray frowned at the new notification for a bunch of reasons. He was inside a dungeon? Wasn¡¯t he supposed to be within the Everstead royal palace? The ruler of this Everstead kingdom lived within a dungeon. Well, Ray had a feeling he was about to find out why. B2 Chapter 51 (118): Through The Royal Palace It was nearly time to go. The longer Ray waited, the more he wasted the opportunity afforded him by the sacrifice of the Infected outside. And his Imitator construct pretending to be his dead body too, of course. That was a good reminder. Casting Lifeblood Soulform to call up another Imitator construct allowed him access to Mimic Mana. Abstract Conversion and Origin Resonance let him cloak himself. It was vital. Otherwise, getting through a heavily-guarded palace would have been impossible. The power of Mimic Mana to basically look like anything at all was incredible. Ray made sure that his appearance was¡­ not appearing. He was basically camouflaging himself by looking like the wall behind him. It took a good amount of Mana to maintain the illusion. After all, it wasn¡¯t constant. What lay behind him would continue to change and shift as he moved, so the Mimic Mana would need to change as well. In other words, Ray would need to constantly keep up a supply of Mimic Mana with Origin Resonance and Abstract Conversion. His heart thudded louder than he would have preferred as he headed out. At least his skin wasn¡¯t itching with tension. It was like walking through the haunted house at first. Almost no one was there on the lower floors. Most of the guards and soldiers were outside, dealing with the invaders. No doubt a good number of them would return to their original posts inside the palace, but for now, Ray could enjoy the privacy. He could also enjoy the opulence. Because geez, the ruler of the Everstead was loaded. Every wall either had a mural made of small, carefully-arranged ceramic tiles or a large painting adorning it. Ray wished he¡¯d had the time to stop and take in what exactly was being depicted. The scenes felt glorious with heroes standing on precipices and kings being crowned. Some seemed really familiar, though, like he had seen them before. The windows of the palace were edged with gilt. The floors were carpeted with rugs that probably cost the same as a house back on Earth. The ceiling held golden chandeliers the size of small satellite dishes in every hallway. Ray shook his head. Opulence. He wasn¡¯t able to remain alone for long, of course. Patrols stalked through the corridors. Lone guards were posted at strategic points, holding their position at choke points and entryways like certain windows near trees and vents in the wall. Ray frowned. These guys had a ventilation system? That was so odd, it almost took him out of the moment. He focused on his journey. That he hadn¡¯t been detected yet was a pretty big blessing. There had to be some soldiers with abilities like Primordial Gauge that would tell them if someone was in the vicinity. No matter what Ray did with all his Mana variants, he couldn¡¯t completely cloak his presence. For most, Ray simply had to sense out the soldiers before they could get near him. The range of Primordial Gauge was enough for him to look through their list of skills and abilities. When he saw that the ones before him didn¡¯t have any detection skill, he forged on. Of course, Ray still tested things out. Even if they didn¡¯t have a skill apparent to him via Primordial Gauge, what if they had an item or something. Ray summoned a small invisible bee using Lifeblood Soulform and Mimic Mana. He sent it out to sneak past the soldiers. When they didn¡¯t detect it, he gave himself the go-ahead. Of course, there was the case that the bee might have been too small. Maybe their item didn¡¯t detect abilities, only actual people. But if Ray hesitated at every hypothetical obstacle, he was never going to make it to the end of this palace. The soldiers didn¡¯t even look in his direction as he passed by. That said, there were times when Ray couldn¡¯t go ahead. Primordial Guage did indicate that some of the sentries actually possessed skills that would flush him out. And then he¡¯d be in big trouble. The bee test came in handy again. His construct shot past the soldiers too fast for them to detect anything. Even the buzzing went by too fast for anybody to even frown. As soon as the little bee had situated itself well past the guards, Ray used Spectral Step. He had never really thought he would need to stealth through a castle in this fashion. The kinds of spells he had started off with hadn¡¯t given him the impression that something like this would even have been possible for him. But things had changed rapidly when he had learned his summoning skills, when he had started picking up abilities from the monsters he defeated. Ray was tempted to simply marvel at all the variation he could count on. He basically had a tool to get through any sort of situation he encountered. Weaknesses? Fuck that. It felt absolutely empowering to feel as though there was no obstacle that he couldn¡¯t find a way past. That was what he loved after all. Problem solving. He just had a lot more tools at his disposal to solve a greater variety of problems. As he passed by some soldiers, he caught snippets of conversation that tempted him to stop and listen. ¡°Those bastards aren¡¯t dead yet,¡± one gruff man was saying, standing by a window with his companion alongside him. ¡°They need to gut those fuckers from distance.¡± ¡°They came prepared,¡± the second one said, a lot more grimly. ¡°These Infected aren¡¯t dying that easily. That they can still use their skills¡­¡± ¡°They can¡¯t! It¡¯s got to be some kind of trick.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care what it is, so long as I don¡¯t have to deal with it.¡± Ray grinned as he kept walking. Bless the Infected for continuing to survive. ¡°Did you see?¡± another soldier was saying excitedly to her older compatriot. ¡°They¡¯re saying the Denizen leading them was finally killed.¡± Her companion breathed out a sigh that made his beard ruffle. ¡°Glad he didn¡¯t make it inside.¡± Ray was tempted to laugh. Maybe yell out boo. Things got a little spicier when he reached the higher floor. He had to teleport up the stairs because of the sheer density of guards everywhere. But if the stairs were bad, the actual higher floors were even worse. Armed and armoured soldiers patrolled every hallway, every single one of them possessing skills that could detect Ray as soon as he was within range. There was a solution to that too. No, it didn¡¯t involve carefully calculating the ranges of the soldiers¡¯ detecting abilities and making sure he didn¡¯t step into their line of sight. Instead, Ray summoned up more of his bees and made them infiltrate the rooms along the corridors. He sent out a whole array of bees everywhere, after making sure they were all cloaked with Mimic Mana to keep them hidden. Then he used Spectral Step. He disappeared from one spot to quickly reappear at another location, ready to use the spell again as soon as another patrol swung by. At times, his teleports allowed him to keep himself in the corridors, where he could keep walking. But in a lot of cases, he was forced to secret himself in a room lining the corridors. It gave him time to observe a lot of weird shit. Things that made him figure he would have done well to check out what was in the rooms in the lower floors too. The first chamber was basically an oversized closet filled to the brim with clothes. Suits, dresses, fashion of all kinds. It was too dark and there was nowhere near enough time for Ray to actually check out his discovery, but the idea of opulence was strong here too. He passed through another room that had a bunch of armour and weapons. Yet another room held nothing but a giant safe. And then Ray got caught in a trap. He had been about to teleport again with Spectral Step¡ªafter having replenished his dwindling Mana supply with a True Mana shard¡ªbut he halted himself. The location he had selected would have him stepping right in front of another group of soldiers possessing detection skills. He couldn¡¯t return to his older location either, since a different patrol was passing nearby. Ray had to bite down on his lips to prevent himself from cursing. Fuck, fuck, fuck. He had come too far to get caught now. The only saving grace was that he was inside another room. Not out in the corridor. There was still some separation, a small moment in time before he got caught.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. But no. He wasn¡¯t getting caught now. Ray cast Lifeblood Soulform to call up the Imitator construct. The black-red blob moved towards the door and as it emerged into the corridor, it transformed into one of the Everstead soldiers. The patrol was only just swinging by into the corridor, so they didn¡¯t see the transformation. Only one odd soldier standing by himself. Conversation started immediately. Ray¡¯s heart pounded. ¡°Hey, what are you doing here all by yourself?¡± one of the approaching soldiers asked. ¡°I¡¯m here to deliver a message,¡± the construct said. Ray¡¯s breath caught. He hadn¡¯t been certain if imbuing enough intelligence into the construct would allow it to actually talk. But he was vindicated now. ¡°What message?¡± the soldier asked. The Imitator construct remained undaunted by the gruff and suspicious tone in the soldier¡¯s voice. ¡°The attacker. We¡¯ve confirmed he¡¯s dead.¡± There were a lot of surprised gasps and relieved noises from the gathering. Even the gruff man who had done the talking sounded relieved. The Imitator construct tried to convince them to move out of the corridor and head out to a better position to actually observe Ray¡¯s supposedly dead body. Meanwhile, Ray himself used Lifeblood Soulform to construct a tiny bee coated with camouflaging Mmic Mana and send it crawling out of the door. Hopefully, the distraction would make sure no one would spot it. Thankfully, the timing worked out just right. As the Imitator construct finally convinced the guards to move, the bee made it past them. Ray used Spectral Step to teleport, arriving far enough from the soldiers that he wouldn¡¯t be detected by anyone in the group¡¯s rear. His thudding heart started returning to its regular pace. Fuck, that had been close. Ray continued moving on. He did his best not to get caught up in such situations again, making sure his bees were spread out enough that he wouldn¡¯t lack for options to teleport. But damn, he was using up so many True Mana shards. Spectral Step was not inexpensive. He had stockpiled quite a lot over his travels across the Second Floor, but still. At least, he was in a dungeon. Hopefully, by the end of it, he¡¯d get another little boost to his shard collection. At one point, Ray arrived at a large gate, peeking at it from behind a corner. He knew it. The soldier he had captured had highlighted it as an important milestone. This was the only way through if Ray wanted to reach the higher floor that had to hold the ruler of the Everstead. Stealth would still be his best option. He just had to sneak another bee through and then teleport¡ª The whole palace shook violently, Ray¡¯s heart shaking alongside it. The hell was going on? Even the soldiers looked frightened, running around and yelling like panicked ants with their anthill under assault. A moment later, he was able to make out the soldiers¡¯ words. His heart froze a little. ¡°Intruder! We¡¯ve got an infiltrator inside the palace!¡± ¡°The attacker wasn¡¯t dead! The corpse was fake. He¡¯s inside.¡± ¡°He¡¯s already far up the palace. We¡¯ve got to find and kill him. Now!¡± More such shouts and yells reverberated through the entire palace even as it continued to tremble. Were the two related? Was the shaking part of what had revealed his deception? Not a question worth pondering just then. First, Ray had to get through this obstacle. With his trick discovered, he had to be even smarter about things. [Warning!] Primordial Gauge indicates that your presence has been detected by Lord¡¯s Measure [Tier 8]. Primordial Gauge has failed to block the effects of Lord¡¯s Measure [Tier 8]. Just as the warning popped up, Ray felt the aforementioned effects take root on him. In him. It was as though he had a thousand little ants scurrying around inside his body with a thousand tiny magnifying glasses, bringing up everything within to the focus of some distant observer. An observer who wasn¡¯t distant for long. In just a second, as Ray hadn¡¯t even begun to figure out which direction to go, Cory appeared. The same instant that Primordial Gauge warned him about a new presence, the lord of Cliff Two broke through the ceiling and landed. Ray had just managed to throw himself back, shedding his disguise as he called up Soaring Wings. ¡°I underestimated you,¡± Cory said. The dust from the broken ceiling wasn¡¯t affecting him in the slightest. ¡°I never imagined you would be both powerful and crafty enough to come this far into our royal palace. Truly, you¡¯ve outdone yourself.¡± Despite the situation, despite his heart jack-hammering in his chest, Ray grinned. ¡°Ha, you haven¡¯t even seen how far I can go yet.¡± ¡°Oh, I think I have. You¡¯re not going any farther.¡± ¡°You really think you can stop me?¡± He probably could, and more. But Ray was only biding time to take a peek at what Cory was actually capable of with Primordial Gauge. [Primordial Gauge] Cory Colrin [Denizen] Race: Human Path: Path of Unchained Lordship [Epic] Class: Lord Commander [Epic] [Tier 5] at Level 50 Perk: Lord¡¯s Domain Skills: Valiant Strike [Tier 8]: Valorous spell enhances your attacks with divine energy, causing a radiant explosion after crossing a threshold. Successful detonation raises the Valour Reputation. At Tier 8, this spell requires 4 consecutive hits to activate the threshold. Lord¡¯s Might [Tier 9]: Channel Mana into pure aggression and power. At Tier 9, this skill boosts your next blow by 18%. Sundering Passage [Tier 9]: Charge through with a coruscating aura, boosting your speed and power the farther you travel. At Tier 9, this skill pushes through up to Tier 9 defences and imbues wielder with 9% boost to speed and all sources of damage per 5 meters travelled for 45 seconds. Absolute Rule [Tier 10]: Channel your right as a lord to take control of your surroundings and everything within. At Tier 10, this skill allows direct and indirect control of all non-living matter at a radius of 40 meters. Absolute Shield [Tier 8]: Golden barrier that negates all incoming damage. At Tier 8, this shield resists up to Tier 8 levels of damage, while also reducing effects such as knockback and stun. Radiant Assault [Tier 7]: Craft armaments of burning sunlight to assault your foes. At Tier 7, this skill can create an assortment of 7 different armaments at the same time. ¡°¡­be falling,¡± Cory was saying as Ray checked through his skills, happy to blather while Ray pretended to be a mouse caught in a trap. ¡°Any last words before I end you, Raymond Dominick?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Ray said. He stood straighter. There wasn¡¯t enough time to formulate any strategies, especially since the abilities Cory did possess were powerful and needed clearer thought to tackle. But then, Ray¡¯s goal wasn¡¯t to tackle Cory. ¡°How about you go and fuck yourself, Cory.¡± Ray used Spectral Step. His network of bees would be his greatest asset here. Cory might be strong, might even be good enough to beat Ray in a fair fight, but good luck getting the opportunity to do so. Not that Ray intended to simply run from his adversary. There was no point in doing so. If he didn¡¯t stop Cory at all, then the bastard would simply show up at Ray¡¯s final destination and start bothering him there. He was pretty sure he wouldn¡¯t be appreciating any annoyances over there. In other words, Ray just had to be a little tactical in how he took care of Cory now. The lord of Cliff Two was barrelling through the palace to get to Ray. Sundering Passage was causing a commotion that grew closer every second. He had a lock on Ray¡¯s location thanks to Lord¡¯s Measure, so complete scape was impossible anyway. Cory wasn¡¯t the problem. The other soldiers were looking for him too. Complications, complications. When Ray appeared at the location of his next bee, several soldiers were already waiting there. He cursed. Thankfully, he was far faster to act than the surprised guards. Two quick casts if Soulstrike crushed two of the soldiers with bludgeoning True Mana arms. The third screamed and charged at Ray with his sword, an ability crafting a deep purple aura around him. Ray pointed both his arms at the soldier. Draconic maws had wrapped around his hands, their laser breaths firing through whatever defence the guard had conjured and sending him flying back. Ray didn¡¯t necessarily need to fight the soldiers. He could have just teleported again. But he had activated Vengeful Plunder, and that necessitated some battling. But the soldiers weren¡¯t done. Their bodies started floating. They revolved, their dead limbs flopping and blood spraying out of their wounds. Then they flew straight at Ray, a glint of golden-white light about them. Ray grimaced. This was one of Cory¡¯s skills. Absolute Rule. Controlling anything within the skill¡¯s vicinity, even the dead bodies of others. He made it work for him. First, Ray dodged. Afterwards, a little test revealed that when he struck the flying bodies with Mottling Spiritguard orbs, Vengeful Plunder continued raising his stats. ¡°Suck on that, Cory,¡± Ray said, before using Spectral Step to teleport to his next location. Too many soldiers had been rushing to the location of his little fight, not just Cory himself. He couldn¡¯t get caught. His reappearance brought him near some more soldiers. They were rushing away from his location, but Primordial Guage was just capable of noting them before they got out of its range. But they were going in the wrong direction. He needed them to come to him. Ray exited the room, then fired off a laser breath at one of the soldiers. The other one shouted, twisting to rush after Ray himself. Perfect. The next teleport got him too close to Cory. Ray didn¡¯t curse, even when Cory saw him and yelled out. The palace broke apart with golden gimmers, chunks of the walls, ceiling, and floor all rushing at Ray¡¯s location. His Spiritguard orbs saved him, allowing him to go on. Although Ray still needed to use Soullife Cloak to outpace the sheer speed displayed by his opponent. Cory¡¯s Agility must have been nuts. More teleports brought into range of more soldiers. They were all gathering to his location. Tension rode Ray¡¯s skin like a thousand ants, the slightest hint of fear edging his every use of Spectral Step. This might or might not work. No. He was going to make this work. When Ray used Spectral Step next, he found himself surrounded. His bee had been placed right where three hallways joined together. Soldiers were all around him, bristling with skills and weapons bared. Just father off, Cory was approaching, crashing through the walls in his haste to get to Ray. His enemies yelled in triumph as more of them joined in, all preparing to chuck their various abilities at him all at once. ¡°Got you now!¡± ¡°Die!¡± They attacked. And killed. Except, that wasn¡¯t Ray himself. He hadn¡¯t actually teleported into their midst. Instead, he had only appeared inside a room just near enough to see and hear what was going on, his Mana all but depleted after he had used Spectral Step and converted the bee into an imitator construct to take his form. The detonation of all the skills crashing in gave Ray the cover he needed. Too much Mana sizzled in the vicinity, their local area shaking badly enough to rival the tremors from farther above. Ray had no trouble crushing another True Mana shard and immediately using Spectral Step again. No one saw him with his cloak of Mimic Mana and no one detected him in the commotion. Spectral Step took him straight next to the gate. The one and only way to go up higher. Ray killed the only soldier guarding the post from behind with his draconic maw. The distraction had worked great. He had successfully led the majority of the soldiers away from the gate, leaving it unguarded enough for him to make his way through. He smiled. His final destination, the throne room, wasn¡¯t far off at all. B2 Chapter 52 (119): The Lord of Cliff Two Ray tried to get through the barrier before him, but it wasn¡¯t working. When he pushed against it, the obstacle felt like a solid wall. Impassable. Unnegotiable. How? He had seen soldiers pass through it. What was the difference between them and him. He already looked like one of the Everstead military, so it couldn¡¯t be appearance-based. Rifling through the dead soldier didn¡¯t reveal any special items he was supposed to carry. So then¡ª Ray considered for a moment, heart picking up pace again as he imagined the rest of the guards and Cory showing up. He pulled off one of the dead soldiers¡¯ swords and threw it in. The blade sailed through the translucent barrier like it wasn¡¯t even there. Then Ray tried it with a True Mana shard. It bounced off. Solid, like it had been for Ray. A wild idea burst into his head. Driven by the desperate fact that he should already have been past this silly obstacle already. He was wasting too much time. Ray spotted his trusty little bee still in the corner. He began running away from it, using Spectral Step just before he reached the gate. When he reappeared before the bee, away from the gate, he continued running in the same direction. Then he teleported again. As he continued repeating the process¡ªrunning towards the gate only to use Spectral Step to return to the bee¡ªhis heart spasmed. The noises he had been afraid of the most were approaching. The soldiers were hurrying back, clearly aware that Ray wasn¡¯t actually dead. There was no time to waste. Ray had to get going. Fast. Repeating the process enough times to completely rid himself of all Mana worked. He was finally able to get through the damn magic barrier. Just in time, as the first soldiers rushed in. Good thing Ray had taken care of the apparent situation beforehand. The guard he had killed was now cloaked and hidden with Mimic Mana, an Imitator construct taking up his form to fool the ones who had returned. It wouldn¡¯t work on Cory, but it was enough to give Ray a head start. Of course, his head was spinning due to the disorientation of the constant teleports and the fact that he was fully out of Mana. But as Ray crushed a True Mana shard to replenish everything he had used up, he smiled at the fact that he had been able to figure it out. The barrier blockaded anyone or anything using Mana. To pass through, he needed to rid himself of all Mana. Kind of an ingenious obstacle, if he thought about it. Ray got moving. Just one more floor and then he¡¯d be right before the ruler of the Everstead kingdom. The floor he had to navigate through was no less well-guarded than the one he had just barged through. There was a large main hallway that led to huge doors. Ray stared at it from the distance for just a second. That was his goal. He would find the ruler through those doors. Ray would find the source of these constant tremors through there as well. Something told him that, spooked by the assault on the palace and the purported threat of infiltration, the ruler had already begun the process of going to the Third Floor of the Tower of Forging. That was the real source of the constant tremors. Ray was on more of a time crunch than ever. He had to get to through to the throne room and stop whatever was going on there. The main hallway was out of the question. Too stuffed with soldiers for Ray to get through easily. Luckily, just like the last floors, several side rooms and passages would let him sneak through. Ray darted in. Unluckily, the soldiers were learning. There were just as many patrols everywhere. They were in smaller groups too, all so that they could cover more ground. He had already cast his bees to find ways through and safe spots to teleport to, but he wasn¡¯t sure if that was going to help at all. There were so many¡­ Ray decided against focusing on the numbers he was facing and on actually making his way through. The safe teleportation spots. That was what he needed. Ray had to wait, biting his lip a little and thankful that he was mostly camouflaged, before his bees began finding places he could use Spectral Step to reach. He got through two rooms before things changed. A shout went up. Voices talked together in too much of a cacophony to make out anything specific. But their intention became clear in seconds. They were tearing down the walls. Ray was tempted to shout out his curse, but there was no time. They were literally breaking down the wing of the palace to the left of the main hallway. All so he had no place to hide and sneak through. What a bunch of fuckers. The crashing got closer. Walls broke, doors burst open, dust rained down from the ceiling as cracks snaked through everywhere. Ray¡¯s blood pounded through his veins. The places he could get to were quickly running out. Cursing once more, he gave up and just used Spectral Step to go to the other wing. Some of his bees had reached there too. They were practically all over the floor by now. He could¡ª [Warning!] Primordial Gauge indicates that your presence has been detected by Lord¡¯s Measure [Tier 8]. Primordial Gauge has failed to block the effects of Lord¡¯s Measure [Tier 8]. ¡°Oh, fuck!¡± That was all Ray had time to yell out before the floor exploded with a geyser of gold-white light. Cory rose through, shining like some sort of angel. They had trapped him. Bastards had broken down the left wing so that he¡¯d be forced to rush to the right, where the lord of Cliff Two had been awaiting his appearance. ¡°You keep evading just out of my grasp,¡± Cory said. ¡°Your timing is either adept, or quite fortunate.¡± Ray had no business taking to the guy, especially when there was no time to bandy words. The commotion had attracted the other soldiers¡¯ attention. They¡¯d be here in minutes. So, he used Goliath Eater to boost up his stats, then fired off the draconic maws around his hand. Cory used Absolute Shield to block it. A hemisphere of golden light formed before him, one he held like a greatshield. The compressed fire breath was unable to break through. Even worse, Cory grinned as he pushed back against Ray¡¯s easer breath and started to charge. Cursing, Ray flew back. The walls and the floor all started cracking apart, golden fissures running through them like rivers of light. A second later, they exploded. Ray¡¯s defence of Mottling Spiritguard was put to the test. Thankfully, they passed with flying colours. His chaos orbs deflected away every glimmering chunk of the palace that Cory had flung at him. Cory wasn¡¯t interested in giving Ray any breathing room. Just as he survived the blast from High Command, he found his opponent almost upon him, Sundering Passage having brought the lord right in Ray¡¯s face. His fist swung in, surrounded by an armoury golden weapons. Why use one when a dozen was just as easy to wield? Ray was pretty certain blocking with the last remining Spiritguard orbs wasn¡¯t going to protect him. In a split instant, he sent one shooting past Cory and used Spectral Step to dodge. Cory was already twisting around but Ray was faster, using his wings to continue to get away and create some distance. A powerful crash behind him confirmed that direct impact with those weapons would have pulverized him. But despite the fact that Ray had dodged again, Cory looked happy. Maybe the asshole was just happy there were more soldiers coming in to prevent Ray from getting away. One soldier, for now. But the one rushing in was more than enough. Ray grimaced at the huge form barrelling towards him. The soldier reminded him of that troll-like woman he had fought on Cliff Two. An Adamant Barbarian or whatever she had been called. Not ideal.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. A blast from a draconic maw ought to take care of this one. But the soldier¡¯s reaction surprised him. The huge man growled, then slashed twin axes in front of him to unleash two crossing crescents of deep green fire. They collided against the laser breath, the green keeping the chaotic red-black at bay admirably. The soldier swung a flame-wreathed axe a third time as he reached the point of the powers¡¯ collision. This third slash set off an explosion. Ray staggered back at the detonation, keeping his mind focused on the fight itself rather than being awed by the overwhelming power he was facing. He probably would be better off if he could have used Primordial Gauge on the big guy, but the walls and ceiling were turning gold again. He cast Mottling Spiritguard again, just as they shattered. The chaos orbs did well to protect him from the psychokinetically-controlled shrapnel. But not from their master bursting out of the wall. Cory yelled out in triumph as he barrelled in at Ray with Sundering Passage. But he stopped gobsmacked in the face when an Impervious Shell materialized in his path. Ray was just about to make the shell disappear so he could blast the bastard with his spells. He had to take advantage of Cory¡¯s stunned conditions. Even if the axe-wielding behemoth was rushing at him with enough force to make the floor fracture. But the Impervious Shell glowed gold for a brief second. Then it smacked Ray hard enough to send him flying. Shit. Fucker had taken control of Ray¡¯s own spell with his Absolute Rule skill. The twin axes flashed down on Ray, their edges glowing a burning green. Ray sued Spectral Step once more, appearing on top of his shell. He was well aware that his True Mana stores were running low. Either he had to end this quickly or find an opening to crush a shard. His opponents¡¯ attacks continued to come in relentlessly. Ray had no breathing room. Even worse, they were coordinating well, almost like they had fought together before. Bad enough Ray was fighting against overpowered foes. Now they were working like well-oiled team too? Ray flung his spells at them, but they always had a strong defence. Neither his laser breaths nor the more subtle shots of Mottling Spiritguard got past the green flames or the golden shield. He wasn¡¯t going to win like this. Things changed when both Cory and the giant attacked at once. Absolute Rule brought up another salvo of broken palace parts. Ray had Mottling Spiritguard ready, keeping his eye focused on the lumbering soldier with the axes, since that guy was getting closer. The chunks of the palaces didn¡¯t shoot at Ray directly this time, however. Instead, they exploded. Ray¡¯s Intellect Tiers weren¡¯t high enough for him to react in time, but they did let him realize Cory¡¯s plan. The Mottling Spiritguard orbs were quite effective against all attack, provided they were big enough. But Cory had used Absolute Rule to shatter all the chunks he torn off the walls. That turned them into a bullet hell of shrapnel no bigger than Ray¡¯s thumb. Needless to say, they found the gaps between the Spiritguard orbs really well. The majority of Ray was protected against the attack thanks to his Vestments. But the parts of him that were exposed got hit hard. Ray had to bite down on a scream as his forehead tore and the backs of his hands were pelted with rocks flying at what felt like Mach speed. He barely managed to get an arm over his face to prevent Cory¡¯s shrapnel from tearing through his eyes and leaving him a blinded mess. That would probably have killed him, considering the big guy was up next. With a huge roar, the axeman swung his fiery blades. Either Ray had hurt his ears, or he was hearing the blades screech as they sliced towards him. Spectral Step again came to the rescue. He hadn¡¯t sent any of the Spiritguard orbs far enough, not in his state, but even the few feet ahead of him that they were normally was enough for the axeblades to miss him. The teleport brought him way too close to the hulking giant. He forced his awareness to work past the little dots of agony, especially since he was pushing it away with his Recovery. But his attempt to slam in his draconic maws didn¡¯t connect. The axeman¡¯s knee rose up first. It punched into Ray¡¯s guts, rearranging his organs and making him vomit out a coughing burst of bile and blood. A quick use of Spectral Step to get away was entirely instinctive. But even then, Ray had no room to actually get his breath and bearing back. His enemies were upon him already. Mostly because he had teleported right between them. As Ray had been struck by the giant¡¯s knee, the Mottling Spiritguard orbs had slammed forward. The huge soldier had dodged away, leading to the orbs sailing forward and taking Ray ahead with them. Now, he was right between Cory and his axe-wielding maniac. Right where they wanted him. ¡°Grovelling won¡¯t help you now, Raymond,¡± Cory said, voice low and filled with lethal promise. ¡°I¡¯m not grovelling, you idiot.¡± Ray looked up, grinning with bloodied teeth. ¡°I¡¯m ducking.¡± ¡°Wha¡ª¡± The axe-wielder screamed as he was blasted off his feet. Two huge compressed chaotic laser breaths had slammed in with the force of rushing train on fire. He went flying, his armour crushed and his body tearing apart under the rupturing and twisting stress of the chaotic flames. Cory wasn¡¯t one to be distracted for long, no matter how surprising the turn of events. He swivelled around to face Ray again. His whole body glowed with power. There was even a delicious hint of regret on his face for not killing Ray sooner. But Ray wasn¡¯t the real issue for the lord of Cliff Two. Through the hole in the wall he himself had created, a second Ray burst out and ran straight for him. A quick Absolute Rule took care of the Imitator construct. The surrounding masonry erupted off the palace and crashed into the fake Ray, smothering it in debris in the blink of an eye. For his part, Ray performed as quick of an upper cut he could. The draconic maw around his hand was already flaming black and red. Cory was fast enough to block it. His shield came up in milliseconds, the golden disc blocking the flaming Windbane head. His fist swung back at the same time, the golden armaments materializing in the blink of an eye to finally put an end to Ray. But Ray was thinking faster. He yelled out. A flying Greater Windbane Maw erupted into being and flew in from the direction of the Imitator construct. For Cory had never crushed it. Just before his glimmering golden rocks had crashed into the construct, Ray had switched its form, turning it into a little bee to escape unharmed. It had made through the storm of stones and turned into a new construct. One that was already firing off a laser breath at Ray¡¯s enemy. ¡°You can¡¯t kill me that easily!¡± Cory shouted. Just as easily Ray could convert his constructs and spells, it turned out Cory could do so as well. All the armaments on his right arm compressed into a thick, golden shield like the one on his left. It blocked the construct¡¯s flaming breath without trouble. But Ray wasn¡¯t daunted. He kept on pushing. ¡°I don¡¯t need to kill you, you dumb fuck. I just need you to get out.¡± Soulstrike was the perfect solution. Ray made his True Mana emerge from his own arm, right from the point where he had the draconic maw grafted on his hand. Primal Spiritcraft transferred the Greater Windbane Maw to the spectral arm bursting off his real limb. The exchange of force might have pushed Ray back, but he held his feet. Instead, Cory was the one who was slammed towards the far wall. Right through the hole that the constructs far, far back¡ªthe ones that had blown up the axe-wielding giant¡ªhad created just a second ago with another little blast of chaotic flames. Cory yelled out as he lost his footing. For the briefest moment, his wide eyes and the shocked gape of his mouth almost seemed to comically hang outside, floating high above the base of the royal palace. Then he plummeted. Gone, just like that. ¡°Good, fucking riddance,¡± Ray said. It had been an excellent idea to grant his bee constructs enough intelligence to navigate through the palace. An even better idea to call a bunch of them towards his battle. Their appearance had been timely. He turned, just to confirm that the axe-wielder was indeed dead. Hmm, that pulsating mass of flesh and spiky bones coming out of his back certainly didn¡¯t look like something people normally recovered from. Ray had received no notification yet, but that was probably because he was still in danger. The commotion had already drawn the soldiers, of course, but they had stayed back so far since the situation had seemingly been in hand. Cory shouldn¡¯t have fallen to the likes of Ray, especially not with that giant of a brute alongside him. But now that Cory was keep protecting the royal palace. Come to think of it, Ray didn¡¯t even know what Cory had been doing here. Ah, whatever. About a dozen soldiers were charging his position, all powered up and determined to stop him. Honestly, he was tired of it. He had places to be, royalty to apprehend, Tower Nodes to confiscate. Even the tremors had grown worse, signalling the fact that he had to get going. In fact, if he focused, he was pretty sure he could hear some kind of strange, sawing sound. Probably not good. So, as the soldiers converged on his position, he threw them one last contemptuous look and used Spectral Step. While the guards had torn down the walls of the various rooms in the left wing, the right wing was still standing. For now. It afforded Ray the opportunity to secret himself away from his would-be apprehenders. More importantly, it gave him enough time to call up his constructs again. Two flying draconic maws revolved around him. A quick command from Ray had them turning around to aim their maws straight up. Then they fired. Ray hadn¡¯t used this tactic yet since he had been relying on stealth. But now that his cover was well and truly blown¡­ well, screw stealth and sneaking around. He had made his presence known already. No point in holding his powers back any longer. The ceiling was thick. No wonder Cory had gleefully torn chunks of it apart without worrying that it would fall on him. It made Ray wonder if the soldiers tearing the down the west wing had ruined the structural integrity of the palace somehow. His constructs¡¯ noise was already drawing in a lot of attention. Shouts and screams hurried to his location. A skill banged in nearby, making the whole rom shake. Ray kept himself still, kept his faith in his little dragon head boys. They broke through. The breaths burst through the ceiling and went higher, no longer impeded. Ray cut them off. ¡°Thanks,¡± he said, smiling at his two constructs as he dismissed them and crushed another Ture Mana shard. ¡°Time for me to get going.¡± His whole body was on edge, the nerves feeling like an electric fire under his skin. Wasting no time as the soldiers closed in, Ray ascended through the hole with Soaring Wings. Only to find a Sylvan greeting him from the far end of the huge chamber with a look of annoyance. His horns shone brightly, his milk-white skin looking even more pristine than the rich robes and jewellery adorning him. ¡°Really?¡± he said. ¡°You actually made it through? After everything down there? Who in the world are you even?¡± Ray swallowed. He knew it wasn¡¯t right to take his eyes off¡­ whoever that was, but he had to find wherever the Everstead kingdom¡¯s ruler was. That would indicate where the Tower Nodes were too, which were his main target. ¡°I¡¯m the guy who¡¯s here to stop whatever kooky shit the Everstead ruler is getting. Now, where is¡ª¡± The Sylvan laughed. ¡°You think I¡¯m doing kooky shit? My word, the System¡¯s translation is certainly not flattering.¡± Ray froze, eyeing the Sylvan full on. ¡°Wait¡­ you can¡¯t be¡­¡± ¡°Oh, are you surprised?¡± The Sylvan¡ªno, the ruler of the Everstead kingdom¡ªlaughed. ¡°You came in at a very inopportune time, I should say.¡± ¡°This makes no sense. You can¡¯t be the king of the Everstead. You¡¯re a Sylvan. Your people are fighting against the Everstead.¡± ¡°My people.¡± The Sylvan shook his head. ¡°Get it through you thick head, Denizen. You¡¯re staring at the ruler of this kingdom. At the ruler of this whole Floor of yours. At the ruler of the Everstead.¡± B2 Chapter 53 (120): What They Truly Are Ray swallowed. His mind was scrambling to tie the threads he had been presented together, but they were simply too disparate. A Sylvan leading the Everstead? How was that even possible? He supposed the fact that the Floor Lord had remained hidden within the Everstead ranks might be related to the fact their head honcho was a Sylvan too. But¡ªno¡ªwhat? ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡± Ray clenched his fists, then took a deep breath. ¡°But I don¡¯t need to. Whoever¡ªwhatever¡ªyou are, you¡¯re going to stop.¡± The large doors at the end of the chamber slowly began opening. As Ray turned to see who was entering, his body tensing in preparation for more soldiers to rush in like piranhas seeing a corpse, he got an eyeful of the actual room he was in. It was indeed large. Big enough to house a cricket field easily, plus some stands to hold an audience as well. But the vast majority of the room was empty. Where the rest of the palace had been filled with finery and opulence of various kinds, all this huge room had were a fancy throne on a raised dais at the far end and some large, gilt-edged, floor-to-ceiling windows. But the strangest part was that it was open to the air. Someone had removed a huge section of the ceiling so that the twister-studded sky looked a lot closer than normal. Ray¡¯s attention was drawn to the soldier coming through the open doorway. Just the one. Not a huge, rabid horde coming for Ray¡¯s head. The door itself had only slid apart just enough for the lone man to squeeze through. Ray thought he caught a huge number of soldiers who had gathered at the doorstep, but they didn¡¯t dare enter. The doors closed swiftly behind the entrant. ¡°Sire,¡± the man said, shooting Ray a venomous glare. ¡°I beg your leave to take this mortal trash out of your sanctified throne room.¡± ¡°Oh, leave it,¡± the king of the Everstead said. ¡°He¡¯ll die soon enough anyway.¡± ¡°I apologize greatly for the intrusion, sire, and humbly beg your¡ª¡± ¡°Go away. They will be arriving soon, and I cannot have you making a mess of things like that upstart little lord.¡± The man hastily bowed, not daring to contradict his king. He shot Ray another scathing look, before quickly scurrying out of the room. Ray himself could only stare agog. Not only had the man¡ªa member of the Everstead military by the looks of him¡ªhad obeyed a Sylvan, but he had also been very subservient and accepting. Like there was nothing wrong at all about the fact that he was being ordered around by a Sylvan of all people. The same race that he and his kingdom were fighting against so hard. What. The. Fuck? Ray used Primal Spiritcraft to regain the draconic maw around his hand. Then he pointed it at the ruler. ¡°Silly mistake to send off your soldiers. Now, talk. Who¡¯s coming? What have you done?¡± It probably would have been better to start demanding the Tower Nodes, but he had a feeling the king wasn¡¯t going to be very cooperative about those. ¡°Patience, Denizen,¡± the Sylvan said. His silver horns gleamed as he spun to face Ray with a smile. Even his teeth were silver. ¡°All will be revealed soon enough.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want it to be revealed.¡± When Ray fired off the draconic maw, the laser breath struck the floor a few feet from the king, setting off a little explosion that sent burning shrapnel flying everywhere. ¡°I¡¯m asking you.¡± ¡°Paltry threats are meaningless here and now. Did I not say you would end up dead regardless?¡± Ray frowned. How was this guy this confident, when he wasn¡¯t even facing Ray? Was he that strong? Just as he was about to use Primordial Gauge on the Sylvan, though, he froze. Something was coming. Something huge. It was a shadow passing over the room that made him look up. Through the hole in the roof, Ray spotted a huge, winged creature making its way towards the palace. Towards the throne room itself. ¡°Is that¡­?¡± Ray didn¡¯t even finish his sentence as the creature¡¯s shape became more fully-defined. ¡°Ah, you¡¯ve met the Eternal Guardian?¡± the Sylvan ruler of the Everstead said. ¡°Well, I suppose you must have, since you¡¯ve ascended to the Second Floor from the First. Quite the sight, yes?¡± That was an understatement. The Eternal Guardian soaring through the skies was an arresting sight. In no time at all, the Guardian arrived. So the Sylvan was right. Ray was about to receive his enlightenment after all. The Eternal Guardian floated just outside the throne room, stretching its hands into the palace interior. Ray had to admit he was gawking. There were too many figures for the Eternal Guardian to close its hand like the monster had when it had transported Ray to the Second Floor. A gaggle of Sylvans dropped from the Guardian¡¯s palms. But it was the human among them who Ray was staring at. Mary Felds stepped onto the palace floor like she belonged here. ¡°Mary?¡± Ray asked. He couldn¡¯t help it. It was just¡ªit was simply¡ªinconceivable. She looked up, eyeing him with a bit of surprise and no small amount of annoyance. ¡°Of all the people at all the places¡­¡± The Sylvans were soundly ignoring Ray and Mary. While the ruler of the Everstead kingdom had stepped up to greet the newcomers, the rest of them threw Ray inquisitive looks. Not completely hostile. Not yet. Ray found himself thinking the ones who had just arrived were even more important than this Everstead king. Especially the Sylvan at the lead. He gave off the same vibes as the Floor Lord Ray had met in that one, fateful battle. The air tightened around Ray, making it slightly harder to breathe. He was a deer caught in the headlights. Unable to move or think much. A sensation of pure power thrummed off the Sylvan. A feeling like Ray¡¯s best bet would be to make himself small and pretend to be invisible. The Sylvan even looked the part too. Where the rest of his fellows were dressed in black armoured robes, he had on a golden breastplate with an ornately carved design of what seemed like ivory on it, though the robes underneath were dark just as those of the rest of the Sylvans. His skin gleamed a silken light green, his horns a burnished evening blue. Ray was almost positive this guy was even worse news than the Floor Lord. ¡°Welcome, welcome¡±! the king of the Everstead said. He offered a short bow. Oh yes, this king didn¡¯t consider himself anywhere near as important as his visitors. ¡°Please excuse the uninvited guest. He is of no consequence.¡± With a sudden jerk, Ray stared at the Sylvan the golden breastplate again. No way. This sensation of power. This feeling of overwhelming might. He couldn¡¯t be the Tower Lord, could he? The Sylvan in gold lazily glanced at Ray before turning back to the Everstead king. His voice was like a needle, spiking and threading through with sharp jabs. ¡°There is no point in drawing attention to inconsequential matters, now is there? Are your preparations complete? You have drawn us in earlier than we expected.¡± Ray decided to keep his mouth shut, just to see if he could parse what was going on here. His opportunity to act would come. He just had to keep an eye out for it. ¡°Apologies for the short notice,¡± the king said with another bow. ¡°But our enemies grew a little feisty, so I thought to move it up a little.¡± The Sylvan leader scoffed, glancing at Ray again. ¡°Then we will handle it from here.¡± ¡°Of course, my lord.¡± ¡°My lord.¡± Another Sylvan stepped forward, casting a disparaging look at the Everstead king. The leader of the Sylvans slowly turned to his subordinate with a raised eyebrow, an almost dangerous glint in his eye. Still, the speaker was undaunted. He walked up unafraid. ¡°Must we truly cooperate with¡­ this?¡± Before the leader could reply, the king spoke up first. ¡°We are making things easier on you. Surely you would prefer a smoother path towards¡ª¡±Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°A smooth, honourless path.¡± ¡°There is always a balance to maintain. We cannot undertake everything with the same degree of honour. You only need to look at the First Floor.¡± Mary¡¯s cold expression flickered just a bit at the mention of the First Floor. The rest of the Sylvans bristled at that, all of them glaring at the king of the Everstead. Ray frowned. It was difficult to make sense of what was going on. He was missing some key context here. But he recognized that the opportunity for him to participate had appeared. ¡°You¡¯re welcome,¡± he said, smiling at the gathering. ¡°I had a lot of fun taking over the First Floor from you guys.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± The Sylvan leader glanced briefly at Ray, now with a more calculating look and a knife-slash of a grin, before shaking his had at the king. ¡°You told me he was of no consequence? But this is the man who was such a pest on the First Floor. The one who killed little old Olgolair. Shame on you for deceiving me, Your Majesty.¡± The king glared at Ray for interrupting. ¡°Please, ignore the fool. He has little power to do anything.¡± Ignoring that statement, the Sylvan leader turned to observe Ray. It was like being under the scrutiny of a thousand microscopes. Primordial Guage didn¡¯t warn him about any abilities being used, though. ¡°You must be the catalyst that¡¯s caused this expedited meeting,¡± the Sylvan leader said. ¡°Purportedly powerless though you appear, that you caused this to occur says a lot. His Majesty here seems to be tolerating your presence, yet not keen to have you killed off immediately by his many, many subordinates. You must be something else indeed¡­¡± ¡°Not at all, my lord,¡± the king hissed. ¡°We can¡¯t have anyone else finding out what¡¯s going on here. As such, I thought he could remain. After all, if he tries anything, we can simply squash him like the bug he is.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t fully know what¡¯s going on here,¡± Ray said. When he looked at the king of the Everstead, though, he smiled. ¡°But I¡¯m starting to get a taste of betrayal in the air.¡± As the king scowled at him, the gold-adorned Sylvan laughed with a boom. ¡°You are correct,¡± he said. ¡°My lord!¡± the king protested. The Sylvan leader ignored him. ¡°Our little puppet here has decided to give up his constituents to us in return for ascending to the Third Floor. That is what threatened you to come here, yes? Your assumption that your place on the Third Floor would be compromised.¡± ¡°More or less.¡± No point in revealing anything about the Tower Nodes that he didn¡¯t have to. He turned to Mary, who was still remaining silent in the background. ¡°That¡¯s why I couldn¡¯t contact you anymore. You did meet the Floor Lord, and then you learned the real truth. You went to the Third Floor. Or was sent, rather, by them. The Everstead.¡± It was starting to fall into place now. He couldn¡¯t contact people on other Floors through the System¡¯s chat function. Mary had never died. She had just moved on to the last Floor of the Tower of Forging. ¡°What if I guaranteed you the same thing?¡± the Sylvan leader said. ¡°A place on the Third Floor. What would you do next, then?¡± The king protested again, wringing his hands in a very un-Sylvan-like manner. ¡°My lord! We need not countenance such a thing. This worm only deserves to stepped on and crushed. Humouring its base ambitions is not something we need to concern ourselves over.¡± ¡°Oh? I thought we were already doing that?¡± The dark smile he shot the king made the subservient Sylvan turn even more cowed. ¡°No point in pretending to be hypocritical, now is there?¡± Ray shook his head. ¡°I had this exact conversation with the very Paragon you serve. The Fleshcrafter offered me the same thing. And yet, here I am, standing before you as your enemy. The hell you think my answer is going to be?¡± Several of the other Sylvans gasped. ¡°He talked with the Fleshcrafter?¡± ¡°The Paragon we serve?¡± The Sylvan leader held up a hand. ¡°Then you are determined to stand against us? Even when you aren¡¯t even fully sure what is going on? Consider, Denizen, that me kindly offering you a path that does not¡ª¡± ¡°I know enough,¡± Ray said. ¡°I know you¡¯re determined to corrupt this whole floor with the Flesh Plague that¡¯s already covered half of everybody here.¡± He scowled at the king. ¡°I know this bastard is determined to betray his entire kingdom just so he can fulfil his ambitions.¡± Lastly, he turned to Mary. ¡°And I see you¡¯ve got a Denizens already acting as a puppet too.¡± That ticked off Mary. All the stoicism she had held onto melted away like snow springtime snow. ¡°You have no idea what you¡¯re talking about, Raymond.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah? After everything that¡¯s happened, after Alice gave her life¡ª¡± ¡°Shut up.¡± ¡°¡ªyou¡¯re working for these evil bastards who want to corrupt the whole Tower?¡± ¡°I said shut the fuck up!¡± Mary had screamed that last part out so loud, everybody in the room was taken aback. Ray wouldn¡¯t have been surprised if the throne room doors cracked open again for that man to come back in to check if everything was alright. ¡°You don¡¯t know anything,¡± Mary said. ¡°You¡¯ve got no clue where things stand. All you do, all you¡¯re capable of, is blindly rushing everywhere in a braindead attempt to grow stronger or climb higher. You don¡¯t take any time engaging with the people of the Floor, you don¡¯t spend an ounce of energy trying to understand where the true power lies. You¡¯re fucking misguided, Raymond.¡± Ray felt his face heating up. It wasn¡¯t anger at Mary¡¯s accusations. It wasn¡¯t even embarrassment because she wasn¡¯t that far from the mark. He was just annoyed at her deflections. ¡°What did Alice tell you before she died, Mary?¡± ¡°She¡ª¡± For the briefest second, her eyes flickered to the Sylvans. ¡°She said I needed to forge on and continue my path onwards. That I couldn¡¯t let anything come before me and my goals.¡± ¡°Enough.¡± The Sylvan leader¡¯s voice was softer but still firm. ¡°We¡¯ve spent enough time dawdling here. You can carry on your squabbling. We have places to be.¡± The Sylvan who had begun to protest his lord¡¯s cooperation with the king of the Everstead was clearly satisfied now. He didn¡¯t hesitate to carry out his duties, stepping forward and leading the rest of his troops. The king quickly accosted them, engaging in a quick conversation about their intended route of action. ¡°And in the end,¡± Mary said, quiet enough not to disturb the Sylvans but still loud enough for Ray to hear. ¡°You¡¯re still too powerless and outnumbered to do anything.¡± Ray had seen and heard enough. All the while this little conversation had gone on, he had understood just what sort of conspiracy he had stumbled into. Sure, he still didn¡¯t fully understand Mary¡¯s motivations, but her intentions were clear enough. He had to act. And unlike what Mary and the rest of them thought, he wasn¡¯t helpless. Ray turned to face the Eternal Guardian through the large hole in the roof. Its huge hood cloaked most of its face, besides the gigantic beak poking through the opening, but he felt its regard on him. It knew him. Not just from the time it had carried him up to the Second Floor. The Gurdian remembered him from the time he had found a way to control it. Without further ado, Ray summoned up the Tower Node of the Songstress. Don¡¯t forget the power of the Tower Nodes. That was what the Marauder had warned him about. A good warning, because he now knew where he was supposed to act. ¡°Ah. Ah.¡± The Sylvan leader wasn¡¯t the only one staring at Ray. All the others were now taking in him and his Tower Node with a mix of surprise and apprehension. ¡°What do we have here?¡± ¡°Stop him!¡± the king screeched. ¡°Stop him!¡± Several Sylvans and Mary stepped forward, but they all halted at a raised hand from the lord. Ray had begun to channel the power of the Songstress Tower Node, pulling out the Flight Mana crystal from his Bag of Holding. But then he stopped too. A different Tower Node had popped up beside the Sylvan leader. This one was same diamond-shaped crystal, but its top surfaces were spinning and glowing like the light of an ambulance. ¡°Worry not, Your Majesty,¡± the Sylvan leader said. ¡°The Tower Node of the Revealer shall unveil any other surprises in store.¡± ¡°The Revealer?¡± the king said. ¡°Wait¡ª¡± Ray stepped back, the Flight Mana crystal disappearing as he used the innate power of the Songstress Tower Node. The Eternal Guardian shifted outside. But the Sylvan leader acted at the same time. A pulse from the gleaming Tower Node burst across the entire throne room. Revealing everything. Ray wasn¡¯t taken aback at the fact that all his Tower Nodes had now emerged. What he was more concerned about was the fact that the entire throne room was turning grey. He couldn¡¯t help but stare as the walls, floor, ceiling, and windows all became silvery sludge. Where had he seen that before? His feet would have sunk into the sludge, but a quick cast of Soaring Wings kept him afloat. Elsewhere, the Sylvans were taken aback by the sudden change too. One of them used Growth Mana to call up spiralling protrusions of growths to stand on. The leader himself was floating in the air, completely unsupported, while Mary was standing on a large shard of ice. The only one who wasn¡¯t having trouble was the king of the Everstead. For, like his throne room, he had turned into sludge as well. Writhing, silvery, reflective goop. ¡°You¡ª¡± Ray¡¯s breath caught in his throat. ¡°You¡¯re an Imitator.¡± The sludge pile didn¡¯t reply, instead quickly reforming back to a recognizable shape. But Ray was faster. He immediately used Primordial Gauge on the slimy blob that was supposed to be the king of the Everstead. [Primordial Gauge] Arch Imitator [Monster] [Tier 15] [Level 53] There was a lot more information after that, with Primordial Guage listing out a description and skills and all that. Ray didn¡¯t pay it any mind. He dismissed the display and stared at the reforming king, looking once again like a pale Sylvan with silver horns bedecked in royal finery. ¡°My lord,¡± he said, whining a little. ¡°You could have warned us.¡± The Sylvan leader turned to Ray with a mock shocked expression. ¡°Oh, you didn¡¯t know? They are all these¡­ strangely ascended beings called Imitators.¡± He turned to Mary with a grin. ¡°You never mentioned?¡± Mary stared at Ray like she was itching to kill him. ¡°It wasn¡¯t relevant.¡± For his part, Ray¡¯s head was reeling a little. He had already learned so much that he still hadn¡¯t fully reconciled with himself yet. And now he was learning that the Everstead, that this kingdom of people who had always seemed fishy to him, had never been people to begin with. Imitators. Monsters he had dealt with from the very beginning of the Second Floor. That¡¯s what the Everstead truly were. The evidence was all around him as the throne room itself writhed back into its original shape, just as the king of the Everstead had done. Everyone¡ªeverything¡ªin the kingdom of Everstead was just like this. An Imitator construction. Quite an understatement to say it was hard to believe. ¡°So you¡¯ve been on a Tower Node collecting spree, I see?¡± the Sylvan leader said. ¡°Shall we kill him and retrieve the Nodes, Floor Lord?¡± his subordinate asked. ¡°Yes. Why not. While I take care of his foolish plan to use the Eternal Guardian.¡± They got moving. Ray was in danger. Ray was in danger. Mentally slapping himself, he got back to what he was doing, especially since his intentions had been discovered. As the Sylvans rushed his position, as bursts of Growth Mana emerged from the ground and started attacking the Eternal Guardian, as Mary and the king both prepared to attack after hearing that the Guardian was going to get involved, Ray focused on only one thing¡ªthe Flight Mana rushing through his Tower Node of the Songstress Despite the attacks by the Lord of the Third Floor, the Eternal Guardian rallied. Its hooded gaze once more found Ray. Then it roared out as it charged into the throne room. B2 Chapter 54 (121): Confession Clearly, the Lord of the Third Floor had underestimated the sheer strength that the Eternal Guardian possessed. Its roar made the newly-reformed glass panes of the windows shatter. Ray and everyone else in the throne room were forced to clap their hands over their ears, the noise like thunder bursting to life in their midst. Then the humongous creature rushed in. Even the Sylvan leader¡¯s Growth Mana wasn¡¯t able to stop it. Ray was sorely tempted to get a good look at the supposed Floor Lord, but the Guardian¡¯s bullish entrance into the throne room took all of his attention. Mostly because, as he had willed through the Tower Node of the Songstress, it was coming straight for him. The hole in the roof wasn¡¯t big enough to accommodate it. That wasn¡¯t going to stop the Guardian. Half the ceiling broke and crashed into the throne room, an avalanche of shattered masonry forcing everyone back. All the Sylvans who had been rushing Ray¡¯s position now retreated. The king squawked as a rocky chunk nearly fell on his shoulder. Ray grinned wide and spread his arms. For all that the Sylvan leader had drawn out Ray¡¯s Tower Nodes with his Tower Node of the Revealer, their allegiance hadn¡¯t shifted. All the Tower Nodes still belonged to Ray. As such, when the Eternal Guardian picked Ray up, the Tower Nodes came with him. He clutched the huge creature¡¯s craggy skin as best as he could, the rush of air past him making his hair and Vestments flutter. ¡°Stop him!¡± the king of the Everstead shouted. ¡°Someone stop that vile Denizen.¡± ¡°Stop him after he¡¯s gained control of the Eternal Guardian?¡± someone asked. Their voices were fading as the Gurdian took off with Ray in tow, completely ignoring the various abilities flung after it. But before the throne room and the palace itself left from Ray¡¯s view, he caught one last thing that hooked his attention. ¡°The Viledrake,¡± someone yelled. No, that was Mary. ¡°Don¡¯t you have a Viledrake?¡± How the hell did she even know the Everstead had a Viledrake? Also, how in the world did they have one? It almost sounded like the same case as the Lostcallers. That the Everstead could control Viledrakes. A little crazy to think about. Had the first Viledrake Ray had defeated placed there by the Everstead too? To think that these¡­ Imitators could control such powerful monsters¡­ Ray could ask how, but he doubted he was going to get any easy answers. Unless, of course, the powerful monsters were also advanced Imitators, just taking the form of other creatures instead of people. After all, if the Everstead could create an entire palace from their own Imitator forms, then other monsters would be chump change. Said palace was dwindling rapidly. It was surprising that he wasn¡¯t being followed, that the Floor Lord wasn¡¯t throwing any skills from a distance to shoot down the Eternal Guardian. Far beneath, the soldiers of the Everstead shouted and shrieked. Ray had to wonder what they were thinking just then. How would they react then they learned that their own king had sold them out to their enemies? Fucking pissed, if he assumed right. The only question was how they could learn the truth¡­ [Enemy Defeated¡ªHuman] Hoplite [Tier 2] Human: [Level 34] x5 Vanguard [Tier 2] Human: [Level 37] x5 Adamant Barbarian [Tier 3] Human: [Level 38] x1 Essence: +41,200 Knowledge: +33 True Mana Restored: +19,650 Essence to Level 43: 46,860/161,200 Knowledge to next Threshold: 2,222/2,500 Ah. No new level yet. Also, he hadn¡¯t killed Cory. That was the bigger problem, though Ray took solace in the fact that he was still alive after his last encounter to actually enjoy gaining so much more Essence. Ray: Kredevel, how far have you made it? Kredevel: Ray! Is everything alright? We heard that the palace had been breached, that they had managed to kill you. Ray: Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m alright. But there¡¯s a LOT we need to talk about. But it¡¯ll be easier if we talked in person. They decided that Kredevel would send a signal as soon as he or anyone in his troop spotted the huge Eternal Guardian flying towards them. It would be pretty difficult to miss a giant, flying monster. As for Kredevel himself, Ray learned that he and the company of Everstead he had more or less captured¡ªby threatening to kill the Floor Lord if they didn¡¯t cooperate¡ªwere halfway to the royal palace. They hadn¡¯t suffered any difficulties and no new armies of Everstead soldiers had appeared to complicate things. Perfect news. Ray looked up at the huge Guardian as it continued carrying him away. There was still a strange connection between him and creature through the Tower Node of the Songstress, though it was fainter than before. Maybe there was a timer involved. ¡°Thanks,¡± he said. Ray was pretty sure it wasn¡¯t going to hear him over the wind. He could barely hear himself. ¡°I probably wouldn¡¯t have made it out of there so easily if you hadn¡¯t been there, bug guy.¡± He patted its arm just to make his appreciation felt. The Guardian did look down briefly at him, its refrigerator-sized eyes blinking down at Ray. There was a certain awareness in its eyes. Maybe it understood that it was assisting Ray, though considering he had more or less ordered it to do so¡­ Although, had he actually ordered the Eternal Guardian to do anything? All he had done was use the Tower Node¡¯s ability to forge a connection to the Guardian using Flight Mana. And then it had immediately complied with his wishes, without him needing to actually specify anything. Maybe this connection was doing all the work. A flare went up in the distance about twenty minutes later. It was a burst of green light, shooting easily over a hundred feet into the air. They had reached their destination. The Eternal Guardian was fast despite its size, and it had flown pretty far. No wonder it had taken no time at all to find Kredevel. Ray didn¡¯t recognize whatever skill had thrown something that high up. A quick chat with Kredevel confirmed that it was indeed the flare, though. They all stared as Ray and the Eternal Guardian landed. ¡°I should not be surprised you come down in the hands of a gigantic, ancient creature,¡± Kredevel said as he stepped up from the host he was leading. He wasn¡¯t alone. Gritty followed close behind, her eyes on the Gurdian. ¡°How¡¯d you get your grubby hands on something like that, wingman?¡± she asked. Ray grinned at her. At them. It was good to be back in the presence of friends. ¡°Well, you said it yourself, Gritty. Wing man.¡±Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Behind them, the rest of the weird coalition stretched out. On one side were the Everstead soldiers who had supposedly surrendered, more or less. They were abiding by the orders Kredevel had given. Though, Ray figured those were less orders and more along the line of threats. Since the Sylvans with Kredevel had the Lord of the Second Floor still in their chained grasp. Oh, yes. They could kill the Floor Lord at any moment. Then the Everstead soldiers, who had no doubt contracted the Flesh Plague now due to their proximity to the Infected on the right, would be screwed. The last of them were the Denizens who had joined up with Kredevel¡¯s forces. Joaquin was at the lead. He nodded at Ray in greeting. All in all, it seemed the casualties were at a minimum. He figured the Infected were the ones who had suffered the worst in the battle, but they didn¡¯t seem cowed and their numbers were still significant. ¡°You didn¡¯t say much over the chat,¡± Kredevel said. ¡°But now that you¡¯re here, we can begin.¡± Ray nodded. ¡°We¡¯ve got a lot to discuss.¡± He shot the captured Floor Lord a look. She was staring at the ground, apparently uninterested in anything going on around her. ¡°You won¡¯t believe what I saw and found out.¡± The procession remained halted for a while as Ray found a little clearing where they could talk more in private. Joaquin and a younger Denizen named Constance whom Ray hadn¡¯t met before joined Gritty and Kredevel and another Sylvan called Ferron to discuss matters. ¡°No fucking way,¡± Gritty said once Ray had finished. He had politely but firmly asked them to hold their question and interjections until after he was done describing everything he had experienced. ¡°You can¡¯t be serious.¡± ¡°I¡¯m deadly serious,¡± Ray said. ¡°They have an open-air throne room? That¡¯s insane.¡± ¡°Wait. That¡¯s the thing you find insane?¡± Constance asked. Ray snorted. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, that¡¯s just good, old Gritty being Gritty.¡± She scowled at him. ¡°Who you calling old, wingman?¡± ¡°And you¡¯re sure they¡¯re mimics?¡± Constance asked, turning to Ray. He nodded. ¡°Positive. The Sylvan Floor Lord who came down used a revealing ability, and that turned everything back into their original forms. It revealed all the Mana that was in the room too. Trust me, I¡¯d recognize Imitators and their Mimic Mana anywhere.¡± They weren¡¯t the only ones shocked. Everybody in the little group took their time processing all that Ray had revealed. He couldn¡¯t blame them. Back in the throne room, he had been almost caught out by the shock too. Most of the people here probably didn¡¯t have their Intellect at Tier 4 to help. ¡°So the people were never people,¡± Constance said. ¡°Just monsters pretending to be people using¡­ Amplification Mana, you said?¡± Ray looked past their little clearing. He couldn¡¯t see the rest of the troop or the Floor Lord they were holding captive, but he had no trouble imagining her with the Tower Node that allowed Amplification Mana. ¡°I think that¡¯s part of why the leaders of the Everstead want the Floor Lord back. Not to heal them from the Flesh Plague, but to get back their Tower Node.¡± ¡°To think that my own kind are in on this Flesh Plague business,¡± Ferron, the other Sylvan said. ¡°Willing to let us rot in ignorance and allow us to kill ourselves all to preserve this illusion they are so determined to maintain.¡± His face twisted. Kredevel echoed the expression, though his also had a feeling of resignation about it. He hadn¡¯t discounted this possibility. He couldn¡¯t, not after what he had gone through in the hands of Olgolair on the First Floor. ¡°This changes things tremendously.¡± Kredevel¡¯s voice was completely serious. ¡°Everything we thought we knew no longer applies. These Everstead do not need to remain our enemies any longer.¡± Ray nodded. He was thankful that Kredevel was rerouting the conversation into more productive lanes. They didn¡¯t have time to remain shocked or depressed. ¡°We¡¯ll need their help,¡± Joaquin said in agreement. ¡°Although, I¡¯m not sure how we can go about convincing them that Ray is speaking the truth.¡± ¡°Wait, hold on.¡± Gritty made a time-out sign with her hands. ¡°Why do we need to convince the fake schmucks about anything? You guys sound like you already have a plan without even saying anything about it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the issue I already mentioned, Gritty,¡± Ray said. ¡°We¡¯re going to need more help if we want to beat the Sylvans at the palace and all the Everstead there. We can¡¯t do it alone. Or at least, we can¡¯t do it while fighting a huge Everstead army at the same time. So if we can convince the Everstead that we aren¡¯t actually their real enemies, then we¡¯re golden.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t kill more of these Everstead?¡± Gritty asked with a small pout. ¡°Not the ones here, no. You¡¯ve been keeping yourself quiet so far, haven¡¯t you? Nothing¡¯s really changing for you.¡± ¡°Yeah, well, I was just hoping it would change for the better. But sorry, I didn¡¯t realize changing for the better was a foolish hope.¡± Ray shook his head. Some of the others stared at her brazen bloodthirstiness, but this was nothing new. Sometimes, he had a hard time reconciling how she could be skilful in her infiltration abilities and be a barbaric brute at other times. ¡°We¡¯ll need to deal with the Everstead, one way or another,¡± he said. ¡°And I think I know just how we can do that.¡± They all looked at him questioningly, so he cleared his throat. ¡°We¡¯re going to make the Floor Lord confess.¡±
Kredevel sat before the chained Floor Lord with a tilt to his head. It was strange how he was in the position of power here. His last meeting with a Floor Lord had ended rather poorly for him. To think he would be the one in a position where he could kill one with impunity was¡­ hard to believe. ¡°We have discovered the truth, Floor Lord,¡± Kredevel said. ¡°And we are here to condemn you for it.¡± His instincts drove him to ask questions, to demand the reasons why the Floor Lord was so willing to sacrifice her own people. He wanted to know if every Floor Lord was thus. If the Tower Lord saw them as nothing more than expendable pawns. But there was no point. Kredevel had only been in the presence of the Floor Lord for just a few hours, and he was already quite aware that she wasn¡¯t the answering kind. So instead, a clear statement that proved his superior position was the correct choice. The Floor Lord did indeed look up, the eye that wasn¡¯t swollen shut shooting him a piercing glare. Kredevel continued, undaunted. ¡°We disparage your transgressions against our fellows. We decry your cowardice in the face of your enemies. We detest the notion that you serve some foreign Paragon to the extent that you even abdicated your duties as a Floor Lord. Fyrlea, a Floor Lord? Please. You are nothing more than a husk of ambition, worthy of nothing but death.¡± That certainly got her attention. It wasn¡¯t just the fact Kredevel and the rest were going to kill her. That wasn¡¯t what bothered the Floor Lord. What she truly took umbrage against was the fact that they were judging her. ¡°I will warn you,¡± Fyrlea finally said. Her voice was as implacable as her gaze, deep and strong and unshakeable. ¡°Continue thusly, and your kin will be forced to stain their hands with your blood. If you wish to spare them such a traumatic experience, then stand down.¡± Kredevel showed no reaction, though internally, he was certainly twisting. She was pushing the exact buttons that riled him. Almost as though she knew him. All throughout the First Floor, he had vacillated because he knew that his chosen path could possibly bring him into conflict against his fellows. He didn¡¯t want to fight his kind. The Sylvans as a whole were not his enemies. Praise the Burgeoner, but they were his brethren. How could he possibly take up arms against them? But it didn¡¯t matter. Over the course of his journeys, Kredevel had learned that just as the humans warred mong themselves, the Sylvans might need to do so as well. For their own good. ¡°Unlike you, Floor Lord,¡± Kredevel said, leaning forward a little, ¡°I at least know that I am in the right.¡± ¡°There is no right or wrong in this, fool,¡± Fyrlea said. ¡°Morality is merely another tool used by the triumphant against the defeated. Wield it when you actually win.¡± ¡°We will win. You pretend as though you know what we are about to face, when in truth, you remain clueless. You haven¡¯t seen what has happened. You cannot know.¡± Fyrlea smiled, displaying spots in her mouth where her teeth were entirely missing. ¡°Can I not?¡± Kredevel used Projected Growth to create a cage of Growth Mana around his captive. This time, he didn¡¯t simply encase her with it. He crushed her. The spiralling growth constricted the Floor Lord¡¯s body, pressing in like a tangle of pythons all seeking to turn her body to pulp. Fyrlea¡¯s lone good eye was bulging a little. ¡°You pathetic little upstart.¡± Choked though her voice had become, it was still filled with conviction. ¡°Allying with Denizens. With these creatures that aren¡¯t even real. You scramble at power, but you couldn¡¯t even dream of the true might.¡± Kredevel didn¡¯t reply. He focused on his skill, using it to slowly but surely squeeze the life out of this one Sylvan he had no regrets about killing. ¡°They will end you,¡± she wheezed. Her every word was forced out, rocks falling down a waterfall to be crushed at the bottom. ¡°The Lord of the Third Floor. The ones who have come with him. All the fools they control. And once they are sacrificed, the Fleshcrafter himself shall¡ª¡± Fyrlea¡¯s words turned into choked whines as the compression turned too great for even someone like her to speak. ¡°Enough!¡± Kredevel released his skill. The Growth Mana projections fled as quickly as they appeared, and Fyrlea collapsed to the ground, twitching, coughing, and heaving. The leader of the Everstead came to stand next to Kredevel. He had used his Mimic abilities to cloak himself and prevent the Floor Lord¡ªno, Fyrlea, the madwoman who deserved no titles¡ªfrom seeing him. And so, she¡¯d had no qualms about spilling the truth. Just as Ray had planned. Sometimes, Kredevel felt as though his friend was a rather evil genius. ¡°It would seem you are correct,¡± the Everstead leader said. The weariness he wore on his face made him look like he wanted to be anywhere but here. ¡°I¡­ I cannot believe it. I do not know how anyone could be made to believe it.¡± Well, that was why the other Everstead were nearby. More of them appeared, shedding their camouflage to show that they had been standing well within earshot. Fyrlea never looked up. Clearly, she was even more humiliated. Not only had she been forced to submit to her captors, but she had also been tricked. Deceived into believing she was about to die, she had thrown caution to the wind and revealed everything she held dear in a fit of final emotion. Kredevel spared one last look at the Floor Lord before moving on to speak with the Everstead commander in private. ¡°You see the truth?¡± Kredevel said. ¡°We have been fighting for no good reason. But things can change now. We can work together instead.¡± They continued walking, eventually reaching the spot where Ray was watching from the distance. He looked squarely at the Everstead commander. ¡°What¡¯s it going to be?¡± The commander closed his eyes. His forces were gathering too, and they had the same sensation about them. A reluctant agreement, a near-forced disbelief. ¡°Yes,¡± the leader of the Everstead military said. ¡°We will help you.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll be helping yourselves just as much, believe me,¡± Ray said. The commander¡¯s words had been resigned at first, but they turned a lot more certain. ¡°That we will.¡± B2 Chapter 55 (122): Queen of Ice Ray marched at the head of his little army. The site of their battlefield was approaching rapidly. He could already see the royal palace rising in the distance. The plans had all been laid out. The talks had all been talked. It was now time for the final showdown. ¡°You feeling like a conqueror yet, wingman?¡± Gritty asked beside him. Ray stared at her. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You said you had a Vocation called Tower Conqueror, right? Isn¡¯t this what conquerors do? Lead giant armies to take over entire kingdoms and wage war?¡± ¡°This¡­ is definitely not what I pictured.¡± ¡°No? I felt like it¡¯s quite obvious.¡± Ray sighed. ¡°All I wanted was to control my life and the way I wanted to live on in this Tower.¡± Gritty bumped his shoulder with a fist. ¡°Look on the bright side! You get to fight, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Fighting¡¯s the bright side, huh?¡± ¡°Of course it is! Nothing¡¯s as good as getting your hands soaked in the blood of your enemies.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Ray kept his eyes focused ahead as their battlefield came into view. ¡°Just remember, we¡¯re not supposed to be fighting the apparent enemy. We have to wait until the actual enemy is right in front of us.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, I was there at the meeting, wingman.¡± Rising tension damped down the conversation. Not just theirs, but all the talk in the whole army. The battle was mere moments away from beginning. Ray focused on what awaited them. The gate he had opened with the help of Adrian and the other Infected in his little group was now closed. But their plan accounted for how to get past it. That was all they had to do. Ray had destroyed the inner gate, so that was no longer an obstacle. Of course, his primary suspicion was that the Everstead would be able to rebuild it without trouble. They were nothing more than highly-advanced Imitators after all. For all Ray knew, they could just bring in another Imitator from somewhere to become a new gate. But the commander had said not to worry. The Everstead wouldn¡¯t be able to erect a replacement in time. ¡°They¡¯re ready,¡± Gritty said, eyeing the Everstead military lining the parapets on the walls. Ray nodded. He looked back, taking in the host marching behind him. Everstead soldiers, Infected men and women haphazardly armed, new Denizens working alongside old Sylvans. ¡°So are we.¡± There was even the Eternal Guardian. Not among them directly but flying far high up in the sky. When the time came, Ray could use their ever-more-tenuous connection to call it down. For how long was the important question. He had to hold onto the hope that it wouldn¡¯t disappear mid-task. A sudden roar pierced the area. The noise shrieked through them all, making the air itself shiver. Ray froze up as a patina of frost descended upon them, the temperature dropping several degrees in less than a minute. He looked around, unable to see the source of what was causing the strange wintriness. Ray wasn¡¯t alone in feeling it. Gritty was shivering a little beside him, a frown marring her features. Behind them, the rest of the army had come to a standstill. They were all cold. ¡°There!¡± someone shouted. Ray looked up. Ah, shit. The attack on them had already started. A Viledrake was flying straight towards them. Ray: I¡¯ll deal with it, Kredevel. You can handle things from here on, right? Kredevel: Worry not. We will handle it. Ray: Good luck. Kredevel: If all goes well, we shan¡¯t need luck. Ray grinned as he closed the chat window. ¡°You faced one of those before, right, wingman?¡± Gritty asked. Ray summoned up his wings. ¡°Yep. I know how to deal with a Viledrake, although this one is a lot¡­ colder.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t freeze.¡± Ray nodded. He spared her a short smile. ¡°I¡¯d tell you to not die, but really, I need to tell that to the Everstead.¡± ¡°Fuck off.¡± She grinned back. As the Viledrake drew closer, Ray was met by the Eternal Guardian swinging down. Short and faint though the Mana connection between them was, Ray grinned. The prospect of fighting the Viledrake while riding the Eternal Guardian sent an undeniable thill shivering down Ray¡¯s spine. ¡°Hey, big guy,¡± Ray said. ¡°Think you¡¯re up for one more little journey? We¡¯ve got a guest coming in we need to deal with.¡± The Eternal Gurdian slowly lowered its shoulders in a gesture Ray recognized as an invitation. He quickly climbed up and got into position beside its huge head. The footing was strange. Despite feeling as though standing on a cloaked body would make him slip easily, his feet dug into nooks and crooks on the Guardian¡¯s boy, leaving him with a more secure footing. As the huge monster straightened to its full, majestic height, the Viledrake drew ever closer. Everything was turning even colder. Even the air felt heavier. His sight dimmed, the field of view shortening and turning fuzzy. Mist. It didn¡¯t take long for the changes to make sense. The Eternal Guardian took to the air, its ascent making Ray grip the cloak tightly with one hand. He almost lost his grip when he finally saw the approaching monster. The Viledrake was made of ice. Four huge limbs were made of jagged white-and-blue chunks, cracked and smudged with dirt. The huge, halo-like wings spreading off its back were as white as compressed snow. Its body was riddled with fissures, more and more of them cracking into being every second, each one accompanied by a noise like thunder. It kind of made sense. The last one Ray had seen had been filled with lava, with Molten Mana. This one clearly possessed¡ª Fuck. That was Frozen Mana. Ray squinted and looked closer. There! A figure was standing on the Viledrake¡¯s enormous back. A rider, much like how Ray was riding the Eternal Guardian. A rider he recognized well. ¡°Stop stealing my idea!¡± Ray shouted across to Mary Felds. ¡°You can¡¯t just come here, riding a giant monster. Have some originality for fuck¡¯s sake.¡± In typical Mary Felds fashion, she only swished an arm at Ray. Which immediately made the Viledrake open its massive jaws and belched out a crystal-rimmed roar, particles of snow and ice bursting and popping everywhere. For its part, the Eternal Guardian responded with great speed. It rose off the ground, rushing to the air on wings spread wider than a jetliner¡¯s. Ray¡¯s heart sped up by several degrees. This was actually happening. He was about to not only fight another airborne monster, but also its rider. The two huge monsters flashed past each other. Ray had put some effort behind his teeth not chattering too much. The Viledrake was way too cold. It made him wonder how in all hells had Mary assumed control of it. Had to be with the help of the Everstead, no doubt. Ray tried to fire at it with his draconic breaths. Primal Spiritcraft called up a Greater Windbane Maw on his hand, with which he sent a chaotic laser shooting at Mary and her gargantuan ride. They dodged easily. For the moment, they were distant enough that the Viledrake had no trouble evading. Then Ray forgot all about shooting anything. The Eternal Guardian and the Viledrake made another pass at each other. And this time, the monsters rammed straight into each other. The collision nearly sent Ray flying off the Guardian¡¯s shoulder. He was barely able to hold on, biting down to prevent himself from screaming at the impact. It was difficult not to lose his bearings as everything shook hard enough to break apart. But the monsters didn¡¯t separate. Didn¡¯t continue fighting. They had clasped together, each trying to wrestle the other out of the sky as they both plummeted.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Make your dumb bird let go!¡± Mary shouted. ¡°Before we crush you under our weight.¡± Ray forced himself to get over the fear of biting off his own tongue in their chaotic motion. ¡°None of this would be happening if you didn¡¯t copy my mojo, Mary. If you didn¡¯t decide, for some insane reason no doubt, that I¡¯m supposed to be your enemy.¡± ¡°What in the fuck are you if not my enemy?¡± Ray could hardly believe his ears. ¡°I could have been your friend. Is that so hard to believe?¡± He decided there was no point asking such stupid questions, or worse, waiting for even stupider answers. ¡°You can still end this, Mary. I know you can control this Viledrake. Make it stop.¡± ¡°Or what?¡± ¡°Or I¡¯ll be forced to kill you.¡± She brandished her sword. A thin rapier that looked more like an oversized icicle. ¡°Just like you killed my sister?¡± ¡°I did no such thing,¡± Ray said. ¡°But just for that, I am going to kill you. Can¡¯t believe Alice had you for a sister.¡± That was clearly the wrong thing to say because Mary shouted. Ray ought to have checked her new status, but there was no time now. All he could do was react as she manifested her first ability while they continued to fall erratically. Dozens of ice shards materialized in the air over them. They shone and glinted, edged like broken glass and each big enough to punch a hole through a tank. The monsters¡¯ wrestling had devolved into pure savagery. While the Viledrake¡¯s deadly cold grip was trying to directly freeze the Gurdian, the huge birdlike monster was trying to rip its enemy apart with its gigantic beak. The Gurdian completely ignored where the Viledrake had its jaws clamped on its upper arm, determined to out-damage the other monster. So it was up to Ray to protect the Guardian from attacks by Mary. He cast Mottling Spiritguard to throw up the chaotic orbs. His defence was surefire. The orbs did well to stave off the ice shards from hitting either him or his huge ally. Especially once he inserted some Molten Mana into the Spiritguard orbs using Origin Resonance and his Viledrake tail. A side-effect was the orbs melting the patches where ice had taken over the Eternal Gurdian near him. That emboldened the huge monster. It began turning around, forcing the Viledrake to aim downwards. Now, when they hit the ground, it was Mary¡¯s ride that would suffer the worst of the impact. She recognized it too. Despite the sudden shift, she didn¡¯t fall off. Instead, she leaped around the Viledrake, stepping on spontaneously appearing steps made of pure ice. What an annoying ability. Then she struck. Not at Ray, which he would have been happy to deal with. Her blow was directed at the Gurdian. Ray had run out of Spiritguard orbs to defend anybody with, but he still had his draconic maw. It was no great a matter to shoot a laser breath. ¡°Take that¡ªwhat?¡± The compressed beam of chaotic fire passed right through where Mary should have been. It was nothing more than a construct of snow. A fake. Much like Ray could summon an Imitator construct to take his place, Mary could create an illusion using her Frozen Mana. Fuck. With a cry, the Eternal Guardian lost control of the other monster. Ray twisted around to a spear of ice jutting through its shoulder. Of course, Mary had distracted Ray while attacking from a different direction. The Viledrake kicked off the Eternal Gurdian, quickly taking to the air as the ground neared. It was regaining its elevation rapidly. Meanwhile, they were still plummeting. ¡°You got this, buddy!¡± Ray said. ¡°Don¡¯t die!¡± With a sudden jerk, the Gurdian threw Ray off. He cursed, but at the same time, he understood what was going on. The ground was close enough. A quick cast of Primal Spiritcraft had him calling up Soaring Wings on his back to let him fly on his own, without the need of the Guardian. The monster itself crashed to the earth with a heavy impact, sending up a cloud of dust that overtook Ray himself. He had at least seen the Gurdian spread out its wings to slow down its plummet at the last second. Not too little, not too late. Primordial Gauge kept Ray informed that the Eternal Guardian wasn¡¯t dead yet. He grinned. ¡°Of course, you¡¯re not dead. You¡¯re a giant monster. You can¡¯t die that easily.¡± Their opponents weren¡¯t done with them. From up on high, the Viledrake was unleashing a devastating attack. A blizzard coughed up into being around the draconic monster, huge boulders of ice materializing within it like icy meteors. A second later, they came hammering down in a devastating rain. Ray wasted no time countering. He rushed through the dust after taking a quick breath, shading his eyes against the grains floating in the air. As he reached the Guardian, he summoned up several flying Greater Windbane maws with Lifeblood Soulform. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, buddy,¡± he said. ¡°I got your back.¡± The three flying heads, plus the one on Ray¡¯s hand, all fired off their breaths at once. What followed was a series of detonations far up in the air where the beams of chaotic fire contacted the icy metros. A few slipped through, but Ray had used Mottling Spiritguard a couple of times. That was enough to take care of the remainder of the Viledrake¡¯s attack. As bits of burning, broken, and now harmless ice rained around them, the Eternal Guardian roared. Ray grinned. ¡°Back online, big guy? Well, fight¡¯s not over yet.¡± As though in response to Ray¡¯s words, the Eternal Guardian got back to its feet, rising out of the dusty and icy murk. It screeched out a challenge to the Viledrake, which answered with its own icy roar. Ray¡¯s ears cringed at the noise. The very air shivered. But he kept a hold on his grin. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± As the Eternal Guardian took off, the Viledrake shot out its own laser breath. It was the attack Ray hadn¡¯t properly seen on the first Viledrake. A beam of pure Frozen Mana, not that different from the breaths that his own draconic maws fired, thundered towards them. The Eternal Guardian was distant enough to dodge it without difficulty. When the Viledrake tried to cut it across them, Ray fired off his own laser breath at it. He grinned as it exploded. Just as he had thought. The Viledrake¡¯s concentrated blast of Mana was no less volatile as the breaths from the Windbane draconic maws. Unwilling to be charged into, the Viledrake twisted about and quickly dodged away as the Gurdian rushed by. Mary yelled out something that was lost to the wind as they passed. Sounded kind of like a curse. Ray grinned. It had worked. He had figured the Eternal Guardian wouldn¡¯t be able to hit Mary and her ride directly. But his Spiritguard orbs were a different matter. All the orbs that had survived the impacts from the icy meteors shot at Mary and the Viledrake as they passed by. Ray had imbued them all with Molten Mana, turning them from orbs of sparking chaos to heavy spheres filled with lava. The impacts were deliciously effective. The Viledrake cried as entire chunks of it vaporized. Ray hadn¡¯t been able to aim carefully enough, but the way the orbs had spread as they shot outwards had been enough. They had struck the monster¡¯s wings and limbs, setting off explosions of steam, sending out rocky, icy chunks flying everywhere. But it was far from cowed. Especially not its rider. The Viledrake was too far away for its tail swing to hit the Guardian, but it was enough to launch Mary at them like a small rocket. The Eternal Guardian couldn¡¯t dodge fast enough. She was on them in a second. ¡°Keep going!¡± Ray said as his huge monster ally brought its charge towards the Viledrake to a halt. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of her. Get the Viledrake before it recovers.¡± There was no way to tell if the Gurdian actually understood his words, or if it was some translation of commanding intent through the connection forged by the Songstress Tower Node. The important thing was that it worked. With another piercing cry, the Guardian rushed towards the injured Viledrake. Mary was having none of it, of course. She rushed up the Guardian¡¯s cloak way too fast. ¡°Coming here to die in person?¡± Ray asked. ¡°I¡¯ll give you points for bravery.¡± She didn¡¯t reply, slicing in at him fast like she was skating on ice. Her arm drew back before unleashing a skill that made the rapier multiply into twenty or thirty projections, all of them jackhammering at Ray. He had seen it coming. Impervious Shell appeared between him and Mary, taking the entirety of the skill¡¯s damage. While it cracked and shattered at certain spots, the shell held firm. Mary leaped to its top with the grace of a cat. Ray swung in a Soulstrike but she bashed it aside with her sword. Were her stats so high that she could more or less fling back Ray¡¯s skills with just her weapon? Couldn¡¯t be. She wasn¡¯t even as high a level as Ray. Probably some innate property of her rapier. With Ray¡¯s attack pushed aside, Mary rushed him. Her ice shards followed in her trail, all of them shooting at Ray. He had called up a salvo of Spiritguard orbs just in time. They blocked and collided with the shards. But that created a chaotic rain of black-red fire and spiky pieces of ice. Ray did his best to ignore it and get a proper angle on Mary to hit her with the draconic maw. She swung past him too fast, unfazed by the pandemonium, then slicing her blade with a frosty slash. Ray dodged, thanks to Soullife Cloak boosting his speed. She still caught his wing, though. Just as he got busy de-summoning and resummoning Soaring Wings, Mary flipped over the edge of the Eternal Guardian¡¯s side. Cursing, Ray was about to follow, before he remembered just how fast she was. By the time he reached the spot Mary had ¡°fallen off¡±, she could already appear behind him. Ray used Lifeblood Soulform to¡ª The Eternal Guardian cried out a split millisecond before a spear of ice burst out of its flesh. Ray didn¡¯t see it coming at all. Like the creature he was allied with, he was speared through as well. The pain was terrible. It was only the shock, unbelievably worsened by the sheer coldness around his injury, that prevented a scream from slipping out. Fucking Mary Felds had gotten him. Worse, she was behind him. Focusing on Primordial Guage pinpointed her location even as he moved faster than he thought possible. She was poised to stab in from behind, finally ending Ray. But Lifeblood Soulform had worked, even if Ray had been interrupted. So, he used Spectral Step. Mary¡¯s blade stabbed through empty air as Ray reappeared next to his Imitator construct. He was already using his Recovery to fix up his injury, biting through the pain to focus. It helped that the agony was quickly going away. Of course, Mary wasn¡¯t going to sit back and let Ray heal himself up. But he was ready. When Mary came to attack next, she faced the Imitator. The construct that had taken her exact form. And promptly froze at a single touch from Mary Felds. Ray gawked a little. What kind of skill let her do that? Would she be able to freeze him just as rapidly with nothing but a touch? Ray didn¡¯t even get the time to check if his construct was actually dead or not. Mary attacked again. This time, she did so via completely different dimension. ¡°I¡¯ve had enough of you,¡± she yelled out. Her voice rapidly changed, turning into a distorted warble that still retained all her ferocity and vitriol. ¡°It¡¯s time you died.¡± Ray had a hard time even understanding what kind of attack it was. Everything was turning solid around him, like Mary had frozen reality itself. Things turned bitterly cold. Light twisted and bent at odd angles, like¡­ like he was stuck in a prism of ice. And through this prism, Mary moved with what felt like the speed of light. Compared to Ray, at least, who was stuck completely. He could barely move, failed to even call out his spells, especially with how quickly Mary was almost upon him, stabbing in with that oversized frozen needle. For a fleeting second, Ray wondered if this was what his Imitator construct had felt as it was flash-frozen. His construct. His construct. Just as the pain of Mary¡¯s first strikes bloomed, the frozen construct changed form. Ray had sent his will, his concentration, his desperation to survive and win. Ice crackled and shattered as the Imitator construct turned into a flying Greater Windbane Maw. It promptly belched out a detonating blast of chaotic flames. The prism and everything within it exploded, Ray himself flying back. Thankfully, he managed to latch onto the Eternal Guardian¡¯s shoulder. Mary Felds had no such luck. She screamed as she shot off the giant monster. The Viledrake had already disengaged from its opponent, so there was no place for her to fall back on. It made Ray realize that she probably had elevation limits for her mid-air ice-step skill just like he had for Soaring Wings. But Ray¡¯s faint hope that the construct¡¯s fiery blast meant Mary plummeting to her death was lost in the next second. ¡°This isn¡¯t over,¡± she shouted, even as she continued falling. ¡°You will die, Raymond.¡± Before Ray could reply, the Viledrake flashed in. The Eternal Guardian began swooping forward, but it was too late. The oversized icy reptile opened its huge jaws and swallowed Mary whole. Both Ray and the Eternal Guardian froze. Now that wasn¡¯t something he had expected. Had Mary really allowed herself to be eaten by her ride? A moment later, the Viledrake roared, its whole body glowing with white energy. ¡°Oh boy,¡± Ray muttered. ¡°Please don¡¯t tell me she just became the Viledrake.¡± B2 Chapter 56 (123): Vile Victory Ray had been distracted from the battle going on far down below. Mary and her Viledrake had taken up too much of his attention. But the huge monster¡¯s spectacular lightshow had brought the fighting beneath to a halt as well. They were all staring at the transformation. It gave Ray just a tiny bit of time to glance down and take in the general layout of the actual battle. The gates to the royal palace had opened to let the defenders stream out in a sortie. The Everstead were engaging against each other, with the Infected providing support from the rear. Near the centre, the Denizens and the Sylvans guarded their most prized captive. The Floor Lord. A roar ripped Ray¡¯s attention back to the Viledrake. The monster was ready to continue the fight. Ray yelled out as the Viledrake charged in. Their meeting was nothing like the battle they had conducted so far. Whatever Mary had done had raised the Viledrake¡¯s power by an astronomical degree. At the very moment that the Eternal Guardian and the Viledrake collided, a flash freeze swept around them all. Ray jerked where he stood upon his enormous ally, but his feet were encased in a patina of ice and frost, basically glued to the spot. He wasn¡¯t falling. That would have been a blessing if the sudden cold wasn¡¯t trying to shock the life out of him. The Eternal Guardian was experiencing the exact same thing. Every bit of the monster facing forward¡ªtowards the Viledrake¡ªwas now coated in ice. But the chill was the least of their problems. Sure, it turned movement difficult and sluggish, which was the last thing they needed in a fight. It was made all the worse by the sheer ferocity the Viledrake had gained. The draconic monster clawed the Guardian, stabbing it through the chest with icy horns. Just being near the Viledrake was worsening their frozen condition. Ray¡¯s huge ally pushed back. The Eternal Guardian slammed several clawed punches, even lashed out with a kick of its gargantuan talons. But the Viledrake weathered the assault with ease. Ray noticed that its craggy, rocky skin was now covered with prismatic, almost metallic, ice. Somehow, Mary had raised the monster¡¯s defensive capabilities greatly too. Then the huge icy halo of a wing slashed in. Even Ray was taken aback by the sheer force behind the blow. The Eternal Guardian cried out as it lost its aerial balance, quickly beginning to plummet. Its wings flapped wildly, raising a little gust around them as it tried to regain control. Ray held on tightly. His ally was unbalanced, which meant facing the Viledrake was up to him. With a roar, the monster in question swooped in to take advantage. Its mouth glowed even brighter than its body. Ray¡¯s eyes widened. Shit. That was¡ª A beam of burning ice burst out of the Viledrake¡¯s gaping jaws. Bastard was copying his powers, just like Mary had copied him riding a monster. He was fast enough to fire off a chaotic laser breath in return. That prevented the beam from striking the Eternal Guardian. Poor giant bird was still regaining its balance. The detonation of Ray¡¯s laser breath from his hastily-summoned draconic maw and the Viledrake¡¯s huge jaws blinded Ray for a second. He cursed. Unfortunately, the monster had no such ocular restrictions as brightness. Because when Ray could see properly again, he found a rain of icy meteors seconds away from crashing into them. Ray cast spells as fast as he had done. Lifeblood Soulform to summon up one flying Greater Windbane Maw after another. Mottling Spiritguard to craft up a revolving barricade of chaotic orbs. The works. He wasn¡¯t fast enough. His summoned maws blasted out their fiery breaths to take down the streaking meteors of ice. His Spiritguard orbs shot in and exploded against them too. But there were just too many. They burst through his defence and struck the Eternal Guardian dead-on. The huge creature cried out as it fell back, though it had regained enough of its posture to remain airborne. Ray had created an Impervious Shell before him to protect himself, but he couldn¡¯t extend that to the entirety of the Guardian. And even then, the Impervious Shell soon cracked and broke. He cursed as he was forced to hunker down. Just what in the world had Mary done to raise the Viledrake¡¯s power by such a huge degree? Once more, the Eternal Guardian cried out. There was a different ring to its piercing call this time, though. A determined ring to it. Even as the Viledrake¡¯s meteoric deluge of power continued, the Guardian pulled back its wings. A powerful gust burst into being as it flapped the wings forward. A storm of ripping winds that struck the meteors hard enough to sway their trajectory. ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Ray yelled. ¡°You show ¡®em, big guy.¡± Another icy roar came down from above as the Viledrake slammed in. Ray knew how bad that was going to go for the Guardian. He tried to ward the approaching monster off with his spells. It didn¡¯t work. His constructs had all fallen in the Viledrake¡¯s last meteoric attack. Most of his Spiritguard orbs were no more too. All Ray had was one measly laser breath. It missed. He cursed. Then kept his mouth shut so as not to bite off his tongue when the overgrown lizard slammed into the Eternal Guardian, ramming through its defensive barricade of storming winds. The Viledrake¡¯s power had always been incredible, but Mary¡¯s little trick had made it almost unstoppable. This began another little monstrous fisticuff that the Guardian was clearly losing. It was gaining too many gashes and other wounds, even more of its body frosting over. Ray just held on for dear life. Even when he took pot shots with a draconic maw, it didn¡¯t have much effect. The prismatic, defensive encasing of ice around the creature dampened Ray¡¯s spell power a lot. ¡°Is this your idea of winning, Mary?¡± Ray asked. ¡°You going to be satisfied when it¡¯s a monster that kills me? Not you yourself?¡± If Mary could hear him, there was no indication of it. He certainly didn¡¯t receive any answers. Or maybe she did answer. Without warning, the Viledrake exploded. Spikes of ice exploded out of its body in the blink of an eye, turning the monster from a giant flying lizard into a porcupine of titanic proportions. A thousand spears burst free with shards of ice and frost. Hundreds of which pierced through the Eternal Guardian. Ray screamed out just as the monster underneath him did. His was more at shock, at the sheer horror of what his ally was no doubt experiencing under that brutal assault. The Guardian¡¯s cloak was shredded to pieces. Its feathery body was riddled with bleeding holes, a rain of torn fluff, bits of skin and meat, and dark blood all hurtling towards the battlefield below. With an awkward kick, the Eternal Guardian extricated itself from the spiky Viledrake. But that didn¡¯t really free it. The monster was too injured too even fly. It went plummeting towards the ground below. There was nothing Ray could do stave off the inevitable crash. His mind tried to frantically come up with some way to at least slow their fall down, but the ground came up too fast. All he could do was hop off at the right time and hope the impact didn¡¯t injure the Eternal Guardian too much. The gigantic crash and the great gout of dust and earth really didn¡¯t feel encouraging. Ray landed softly beside the unmoving Guardian. All around him, the battle was raging on. Shouts and shrieks, the clang of weapons and the detonation of powers, all of them bullied their way into his ears. But he ignored them all. That wasn¡¯t his battle. ¡°Thanks a great deal, buddy,¡± he said, trying to make his way through the dust to the Guardian. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, though. I¡¯ve got you.¡±Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. He did. As the Viledrake once more screeched out, a rain of freezing lasers and icy meteors crashing down upon them, Ray let his Spiritguard orbs and summoned constructs do the defending. He had a more important goal. ¡°Now or never, Fleshcrafter,¡± he said, calling up the relevant Tower Node. Ray focused on the power he had used to heal the select Everstead from the Flesh Plague. Well, ¡°heal¡±. But as far as he knew, his ¡°patients¡± had survived. There was no reason why the Eternal Guardian wouldn¡¯t too. So, Ray got to work. While the destruction rained around him, while an overpowered freak of a monster did its best to kill them all, while a battle raged near enough that Ray could have been hit with stray arrows and the like, he continued using the Tower Node of the Fleshcrafter on the Eternal Guardian¡¯s injuries. The torn flesh continued knitting together, the blood vessels closing up to stop the flow of dark ichor. His patient was huge and there were a lot of wounds. Each one took a hefty amount of mental effort. In fact, the Tower Node disappeared before he had even healed half the huge monster¡¯s injuries. He had another, but still. At this rate, the Guardian wouldn¡¯t be fully healed. Especially since the Viledrake was done trying to destroy them from afar. Another roar preceded its direct charge in their direction. A charge that the Eternal Guardian was in no position to dodge. ¡°Get up, buddy.¡± Ray tried to be encouraging, tried to keep the desperation out of his voice. ¡°It¡¯s coming. We have to move.¡± The Eternal Guardian did its best to rise, the ground shaking at its effort. But it was far too slow. Even with Ray encouraging it, the monster was only able to get back to its feet. Then the Viledrake struck in. Ray had tried heading off the monster. He crushed a True Mana shard, then fired off his draconic laser breaths, had called up two True Mana arms with Soulstrike. Neither worked. The Viledrake dodged the laser breath with ease. Ray wasn¡¯t anywhere close enough for his True Mana arms to reach the icy monster. With a ferocious howl, the Viledrake slammed into the Eternal Guardian. Ray¡¯s huge avian ally tried protecting itself, closing its arms in a cross across its wounded chest. It didn¡¯t help much. The Viledrake¡¯s momentum sent it sprawling back, before the draconic monster grabbed the Guardian¡¯s shoulders and rose into the air with it in tow. But not before Ray had grabbed the Guardian¡¯s legs with one of his True Mana arms. Wind whipped about him as he was taken into the air too. It was insane how powerful the Viledrake had become. The monster had grabbed a different creature even larger than it and continued ascending like it bore no weight at all. Fucking crazy. The Eternal Guardian was fighting against the Viledrake¡¯s grip, but it was making little headway. Its struggles were actually slowing down. It was¡­ giving up. ¡°Don¡¯t surrender!¡± Ray yelled. His throat grew hoarse since he had to shout over the wind, but that wasn¡¯t going to stop him. ¡°We can beat this thing. We will win.¡± As he continued shouting, the Guardian¡¯s struggles came back. Ray grinned. ¡°That¡¯s it!¡± he said. ¡°Don¡¯t ever give up. Don¡¯t let go of your fighting spirit!¡± Ray began climbing higher up the Guardian¡¯s body. The Viledrake changed direction all of a sudden. Instead of climbing, it was now diving straight for the ground. Did it intend to crush them to pulp directly? Grunting and doing his best to hold on, Ray forced himself to keep climbing. He had to reach the shoulders. Had to help the Guardian break free. The monsters continued struggling against each other even as the Viledrake maintained its grip. Ray¡¯s breaths misted before him, his whole body shivering in the intense cold. He didn¡¯t know how long he or the Guardian could bear it, but then, the ground was coming in way too quickly again. Shit, they were nearly out of time. ¡°We can do this!¡± Ray yelled once more, casting Mottling Spiritguard and Lifeblood Soulform to call up his Viledrake tail with Molten Mana burning along its length. ¡°We¡¯ll be free. You¡¯ll be free. And when you are, remember to grab and hold tight. Understand?¡± There was no way to be definitively sure that he could ever tell the Eternal Guardian understood him. But screw it, they had no other option. Origin Resonance turned the Spiritguard orbs into spheres of vaporizing lava. ¡°Go!¡± he yelled. They sure went. All but one of the orbs hit the Viledrake dead on, the orbs of lava exploding and splashing their molten contents upon the prismatic outer skin. Steam erupted everywhere as the Viledrake¡¯s outer layer cracked. The monster screeched out in agony. But most important of all, its grip on the Eternal Guardian slackened. Enough that one final kick from the Guardian finally pulled it loose. Ray grinned. It was time. He gripped the Guardian as tightly as he could, then used Spectral Step. The last Spiritguard orb that hadn¡¯t struck the monster was his target. An orb that had sailed to a point just behind the Viledrake. It was sort of experimental, since Ray had never teleported with another living being before. No telling if it would even work. But, as it turned out, so long as he had a tight-enough grip on the person or object he wanted to be teleported with him, Spectral Step would bring them along as well. Ray and the Eternal Guardian both reappeared behind the Viledrake. Then he screamed. The pain was blinding. He couldn¡¯t tell what had broken, where he had injured himself, what had he hurt. But for a moment, that was all he knew. Hurt. Ray instinctively tried to use his Recovery, though he didn¡¯t know where he was supposed to send it. The world had blurred. Was it because of the tears? He couldn¡¯t take this. Breathe. Breathe. Ray forced himself to inhale, exhale, and things slowly began to clear up. It was pretty obvious he shouldn¡¯t have done that. He should never have teleported something like the Eternal Guardian with him. He pushed the thoughts aside. The Eternal Guardian had done what he had asked. It was indeed holding the Viledrake trapped. As Ray¡¯s vision slowly returned to normal, he found the Guardian looping its arms around the Viledrake¡¯s claws. This time, it was the Viledrake struggling and failing to free itself. Its freezing aura was acting against it. The Eternal Guardian had locked its near-frozen limbs in place to keep its captive trapped. Creating the opening Ray had asked of it. Biting down on a scream, Ray forced himself to his feet. They were still pretty high up from the ground. He wouldn¡¯t be able to maintain the elevation for long. But he wouldn¡¯t need to. ¡°Thank you,¡± Ray said, jumping off the Eternal Guardian¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Just hold on a little longer.¡± The Viledrake was shrieking and roaring out now. It spewed the freezing beam from its mouth everywhere it could, but the Guardian was not letting go. Ray had to make the most of it. His leap had taken him past the Viledrake too. A quick cast crafted Soaring Wings on his back helped him control his flight as he turned around. Then he prepared to attack. Primal Spiritcraft turned his hands to draconic maws. Reusing Soulstrike brought the Ture Mana arms waving off his shoulders again, with Origin Resonance turning their ends into spectral Greater Windbane Maws. But that wasn¡¯t all. Lifeblood Soulform called up the Viledrake tail on his back. Which meant it was again time for Abstract Conversion and Origin Resonance. The two spectral maws floating high above Ray¡¯s head turned as brilliant as the sun. They shone a gleaming gold-white-orange as Molten Mana filled them to the brim. ¡°This is where you die, Mary,¡± Ray said. He aimed all of the Greater Windbane heads at the Viledrake and fired. Both the physical ones on his hands and the spectral ones at the end of his True Man arms unleashed their furious, lasering breaths. The Viledrake tried to counter with the ice beam from its jaws, but the Eternal Guardian was faster. It grabbed the draconic monster¡¯s neck and made sure the beam¡¯s aim was off. All of Ray¡¯s attacks struck the Viledrake with nothing blocking or stopping them. The two spectral maws had released massive, horizontal geysers of Molten Mana. Flecks of glinting lava flew off like welding sparks, the heat so intense that all the chill disappeared and the air itself began to mirage. The beams punched in with the force of a plane crash. At the point where they met upon on the Viledrake¡¯s ice-encased chest, the fiery chaos and the magma beams combined into a devastating detonation that Ray was pretty sure would make volcano¡¯s jealous. Yet the explosion didn¡¯t end the beams. They continued firing, continued pushing. Because yes, the Viledrake was flying backwards. The force behind Ray¡¯s blasts was enough to hammer both monsters back, back, back, all the way over the walls of the palace and into the palace itself. ¡°Let go!¡± Ray yelled. ¡°Now!¡± Once again, it was impossible to tell if the Eternal Guardian actually heard him. Especially at this distance. But then, maybe they had never talked. Maybe all they had done was use the connection created by the Tower Node of the Songstress. A connection that was so faint now, Ray almost felt as though he was imagining it. The sensation of losing the connection wasn¡¯t helped by the detonation. It did look like the Guardian had heard him. Kind of. At the last moment, before both monsters struck the palace, the captor twisted and slammed the captive upwards. As the explosion sent a burst of light and heat over the entire battlefield, Ray was at least relieved a bit to note that the Guardian was falling down to the ground. Unlike the Viledrake, which was half embedded in the now-ruined wall of the Everstead royal palace. The crash into the edifice coincided with Ray¡¯s Mana capacity quickly reaching its limit, which was why he finally cut off the spells. That was what led to the detonation. Also the fact that he had been losing elevation all this time. Now, he had finally reached the ground again. He had reached the battlefield. [Enemy Defeated¡ªViledrake] Tier 13 Monster: Viledrake [Level 43] x1 Essence: +4,940 Knowledge: +3 True Mana Restored: +430 Essence to Level 43: 51,800/161,200 Knowledge to next Threshold: 2,225/2,500 Ray stared at the notification. He had received good Essence for killing the Viledrake, sure. But there was no mention of Mary Felds. Was she somehow still alive? He didn¡¯t have time to wonder. The battlefield was raging. Ray¡¯s skin prickled. Was it supposed to be this chaotic? They had planned to make it only an act. But this¡­ looked too real. The blood and injuries and fallen bodies only made Ray¡¯s heartrate spike This was no act at all. A second later, it hit him. Of course, this wasn¡¯t fake. This was no pretence. They had been betrayed. The Everstead commander had never truly been convinced, even after the Floor Lord¡¯s seeming confession. As was proven a second later. A huge pterodactyl was swooping in from far above, diving straight towards the centre of the massive battle. Straight to where the Floor Lord was supposed to be held captive. Ray yelled out and rushed in. B2 Chapter 57 (124): Ritual Kredevel couldn¡¯t stop fidgeting. Not before the battle. Not when the enemy Everstead soldiers poured out of their fortress. Not even when the fray began with far too much ferocity. Real ferocity. The defenders rushed in. It wasn¡¯t a frantic sortie to peg the invaders back. This was an actual charge, one determined to burn a line through the invaders¡¯ formation and take out their heart. Take out Kredevel and the centre of the enemy forces in one, massive strike. For a second, Kredevel¡¯s eyes were drawn inexorably to the edifice that was their target. The huge fortress of a royal palace standing over the entire battlefield. Ray had actually succeeded in infiltrating it already. Kredevel hadn¡¯t thought his estimation of his friend could rise any higher, but watching what they were facing just to get onto its doorstep, he felt he was still underestimating Ray¡¯s true potential. As evidenced by the fact that he was battling that huge Viledrake far above them while controlling the Eternal Gurdian. Insane. Shouts and cries called his attention back to the battle rapidly approaching. He tensed. Then prepared for the fight. Gritty: We got a real fight on our hands. Kredevel: That is what it looks like. Gritty: You think we were betrayed? Kredevel: That is what it looks like. Kredevel had never truly been certain about the Everstead commander¡¯s switch in allegiance, but all evidence pointed that the man and his fellows shouldn¡¯t be betraying them. After all, what did he have to gain? Just a faster path straight to becoming one of the Infected. Yet, the enemy Everstead were cutting through the lines of their allied Everstead with total ease. In fact, when Kredevel took a moment to observe the battle, he found that his supposed allies were giving way. They were diving away to either side of the mounted charge by their former comrades, refusing to even engage in combat. ¡°I knew this would not last,¡± Ferron said, coming to stand beside Kredevel and hefting his glaive. ¡°Are you prepared?¡± Kredevel kept his mouth pressed in a grim line for a second. No, he was not going to look back and see the smug expression on the Floor Lord¡¯s face. ¡°Do not let them reach the captive.¡± For a second, Ferro looked as though he would demand who was Kredevel to give anyone orders, but the battle reached them too quickly for anything of the sort. Kredevel joined his fellow Sylvans and the Denizens in trying to stop the rush of the enemy Everstead. It was furious, chaotic, wilder than any battle Kredevel had ever been in. Just too many combatants with too many powers all in squeezed in too little of a space. All Kredevel could focus on was keeping his Armoured Growth steady to protect himself against any stray abilities flying towards him. His Blade Dance skill combined with the Growth Mana wrapped around his sword let him cleave through the raptors that the Everstead rode in on. The monsters had less protection than their rider¡ªthough they weren¡¯t unprotected entirely¡ªwhich meant he had a lot more success at actually hitting his targets. It also meant that it was easier to unhorse the soldiers and then attack them, instead of targeting them first directly. The disoriented men and women writhing on the ground were easier prey to Projected Growth or Blade Projection. ¡°Aim for the monsters!¡± Kredevel shouted into the fray, hoping his words were recognized and picked up by his cohort. ¡°Kill their mounts.¡± And then Kredevel found himself flying. He thumped down, rolling on the ground, his head woozy and spinning even as he did his best to regain his footing. Where had that blow come from? That powerful blow. Half his Armoured Growth was cracked, his chest feeling as though it had tried to stop a battering ram. A small percentage of his Recovery returned him to peak condition, but that was scant comfort when he didn¡¯t know who had struck him so viciously. But the Everstead soldier wasn¡¯t hiding among his fellows. He stepped into the little clearing from the massive battle. A clearing where the Floor Lord was waiting with her chains. ¡°Are you the leader of this band?¡± Kredevel asked. The man took off his golden helmet with the large, black tassel, letting it stop to the ground. Sun-bright hair streamed down his back, his face young but resolute. ¡°I am a soldier of the great kingdom of Everstead. And I am the man who shall take this nation to the Third Floor.¡± Kredevel¡¯s heart-clusters sped up. He smiled. ¡°It is good to meet you, then.¡± ¡°Prepare yourself¡ª¡± ¡°I am¡ª The man went on, heedless of Kredevel¡¯s interruption. ¡°To die.¡± ¡°Ah, well then.¡± He slammed in fast. Kredevel just barely managed to cross his Growth Mana enveloped sword and reconstruct his Armoured Growth before he was smashed back again. It took just that interaction to realize that he was outmatched. This man was more than any soldier. Kredevel righted himself quickly. Projected Growth and Blade Projection both flew at the soldier. The former sent spirals of Growth Mana bursting out of the ground, while the latter unleashed arcs of energy shooting at Kredevel¡¯s target. None of them got past the soldier¡¯s defence. A golden shield appeared before the man in an aura of compressed, sunlight-like energy. It let nothing through. Cursing, Kredevel attacked directly. Attacks from a distance couldn¡¯t overcome the shield, but maybe he didn¡¯t need to. He flashed in, hammering away at the shield with his sword. It took a little time to bait the man¡¯s counter. But when it came in the form of the soldier slamming his shield forward, Kredevel dodged to a side, then swung his sword in a vicious blow. The man had his own blade out in the blink of an eye. He deflected the heavy slice with no trouble at all, before slashing in return. Kredevel was forced to evade again. His opponent¡¯s aggression was relentless. The blade swung in this way and that, never from any one direction, moving so fast that it was a golden blur in the man¡¯s hands. With every blow, it was growing brighter and brighter too. Had to be some skill that activated after a certain time. Kredevel was pretty sure he wouldn¡¯t want to see what happened when the skill reached its threshold. With a nimble leap, Kredevel jumped back. A storm of Projected Growth burst around the man. They didn¡¯t impede him, not with his defensive capabilities, but they did hide Kredevel for just a second. When the spiralling growths crashed down as the soldier destroyed them, Kredevel had already leaped to strike from above. He thought he had been fast enough, but somehow, the man was able to get his shield up in time. Kredevel¡¯s sword came down with furious power, enough to make his target bow down under the force. But he was forced to kick back against the shield and leap off. The soldier¡¯s blade now gleamed so bright that it was almost impossible to look at directly. A direct hit from that would be terrible. That was why Kredevel had jumped off just in the nick of time. Sadly, the man had flung his sword at him anyway. Even as Kredevel had leaped back, the shining blade came flying in. In mid-air, Kredevel had no room to dodge. Even when he instinctively called up Projected Growth to give him a spiralling spike to kick himself off of, it was too slow. The blade flashed in with incredible speed and power. At the point it contacted Kredevel¡¯s own sword, it exploded in a destructive golden burst. Kredevel was pretty certain he lost conscious at the moment of impact. All he recalled was slashing at the flying sword of his enemy, and now he was lying on the flat of his back, dust covering the area. The battle was still ongoing. Even near him. The man hadn¡¯t killed Kredevel yet because someone else had engaged the fellow. Coughing, he tried to rise. The pain was pushed back, the injuries healing quickly thanks to his Recovery. So much Recovery. There was less than a quarter left after he had fixed the way his chest and caved in and his guts were spilling their contents.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. The Floor Lord. What had happened to her? Was she still in chains? That was the important part. Groaning, Kredevel tried to push his way towards her. He spotted Gritty battling the man with the golden shield and the sword. Her arm had transformed into a spiky protrusion of bloody bone, which he really hoped wasn¡¯t a terrible injury. But she fought with it like a demon. Silently wishing her good fortune, Kredevel rushed to the Floor Lord. Still in chains, thank the Burgeoner. She hadn¡¯t even looked up at the battle and commotion around her. That was when Gritty went flying past just behind Kredevel. She crashed down somewhere behind him, but he couldn¡¯t look. Couldn¡¯t determine if she was even alive. Not when that blasted man was stalking straight for Kredevel with his sword daubed in blood. But if Kredevel thought he would get the opportunity to stand his ground, he was unfortunately mistaken. A shadow fell on him. He didn¡¯t look up, not until the loud half-roar, half-screech dragged his attention skyward. For a second, he thought one of the giant monsters fighting far above was finally coming down to the battlefield. Ray and the monsters had definitely flirted with that intention during their huge battle across the sky. But it wasn¡¯t the Viledrake or the Eternal Guardian slamming down. This was a different monster entirely. Reminiscent of the mounts, but with giant wings. Kredevel was about to use Projected Growth to spear the monster through, but then, the ground around him erupted with golden fire. A yelp burst free as he danced away, just a second before the soldier¡¯s shield slammed in, sending him flying. He tried to rise, but hopelessness sank in. This man¡­ he was incredibly strong. Far worse than anything or anyone Kredevel had fought so far. Worse even than Olgolair had been. At least Gritty to his right seemed to be alive. Kredevel: I need assistance! They are freeing the Floor Lord! Kredevel might have been overpowered and essentially beaten, but he wasn¡¯t foolish. He might not be able to take the man down on his own, but there were others of his kind. Surely they were¡­ he looked beyond the soldier, where the flames were now eating away at the chains restraining the Floor Lord. But no one came. They were busy in their own battle, all desperately trying to survive the onslaught. The only reason the sheer numbers of the Everstead hadn¡¯t killed them yet was because the Infected were still fighting on, trying to support them with their meagre prowess. The winged monster¡¯s landing sent up a cloud of dirt and dust everywhere. Kredevel watched, his stomach sinking in horror, as the Floor Lord stood to her full height. He took one step forward, but the ground went aflame once more. A second later, the man and the Floor Lord had both ascended to the monster¡¯s back, which promptly flew off with its quarry. Kredevel didn¡¯t think he had ever cursed as loudly as he did just then.
Ray grunted as he flew forward, glad to be able to raise his speed with Soullife Cloak. But even that wasn¡¯t fast enough. The battle in the centre was furious, powers flashing and thudding impacts ringing out to echo over the entire area. And then Ray froze. The Floor Lord was rising to stand tall. Free from all the chains that kept her trapped. He was too late. ¡°Fuck,¡± he muttered. He couldn¡¯t even begin to decipher what had happened. How had the plan failed this badly? ¡°Stop!¡± His shout caught the Floor Lord¡¯s attention. But she ignored him and climbed up on the pterodactyl as a forest of spiralling growths emerged from the ground around her. They spread so far and so fast, rising so high that even Ray, still distant, was forced to stop his rush. ¡°Fuck,¡± he cursed again as the pterodactyl rose into the air. There was someone else on the gigantic dinosaur. A member of the Everstead military, more gaudily dressed than most Ray had encountered so far. Some kind of commander, no doubt. A familiar one. That profile¡­ where had Ray seen the man before? Ray aimed one of his draconic maws high, unleashing the laser breath a second later. It missed. All he could do was watch as the Floor Lord ended up at the top of the palace in no time at all. Around him, the battle was still going on. What was wrong with them? Hadn¡¯t the Everstead commander¡ª Ray froze. Shit. They had been lied to. Tricked, deceived. The commander had pretended to draw them in, to agree to their plan, all the while laying the trap for their defeat by freeing the Floor Lord. But the Floor Lord wasn¡¯t done. She hadn¡¯t gone into the palace¡¯s interior. Instead, she remained standing on the balcony, looking down on them like an emperor at gladiators. A second later, two Tower Nodes flashed into being beside her. ¡°It is time!¡± she shouted, her voice somehow carrying over and echoing across the battlefield. The words were so loud, even the fighting started slowing down. The Everstead were disengaging from their battle. How was it even possible to hear the Floor Lord from that far up? Ray¡¯s breaths turned shallow. One of the Tower Nodes. It had to be the one that granted the use of Amplification Mana. More than ever, Ray was sure of it. Which meant the other one¡­ Ray: Kredevel! This is bad. We need to pull out NOW. Kredevel: What do you mean? What is about to happen? Ray was about to answer, but the Floor Lord decided to do so for them. The battle hadn¡¯t stopped, but she didn¡¯t care. Her plan had to be accomplished, no matter what. ¡°Citizens of Everstead,¡± she said, her voice magnified by the Amplification Mana from her Tower Node. ¡°The time has come to bow down and fulfil your purpose. The time has come to give up all that you have achieved in the name of the greater ascension of your kingdom. In the name of he who wields mighty flesh.¡± The second Tower Node beside the Floor Lord glowed with magenta light. In seconds, it got so bright that everything even where Ray stood so far down below was awash with ruddy pink light. Screams pierced the air the next second. They went on everywhere. Dozens turning to hundreds turning to thousands. A cacophony that thrummed through the air and seemed to make the earth itself shake. All over the battlefield, the Everstead were falling. It didn¡¯t matter which side the soldiers were on. It didn¡¯t matter who they had fought or where their allegiances lay. It didn¡¯t even atter if they were Infected already or not, for those already afflicted by the Flesh Plague were screaming too. They were all writhing on the ground, twisting and contorting. ¡°Remember!¡± Even though the din of thousands shrieking out at once, the Floor Lord¡¯s voice cut through it all like a heated knife in butter. ¡°You serve the Everstead. You serve the Fleshcrafter. Your sacrifice will usher in a new era of prosperity for your kingdom and your world.¡± Ray almost gagged at the horror of it. When he got a proper look at a fallen soldier, his eyes almost bugged out. The armour was bursting at the seams. It was as though the flesh within had expanded, squeezing out through the gaps in the armour plates. Blood sprayed as the flesh serrated and tore. Bodies deformed under the pressure, all turning into grotesque caricatures. This¡­ Ray shook his head, swallowing down the bile rising up his throat. This was worse than what he had seen in the Flesh Dungeon. ¡°Ray!¡± He didn¡¯t hear the shout over the noise so much as see Kredevel yelling at him. His friend was rushing over despite his limping gait, carrying what looked like Gritty on one shoulder. Kredevel wasn¡¯t alone. The other Sylvans and Denizens were hurrying to their location too, several looking quite wounded and forced to support those that were as incapacitated as Gritty. At least, when they got close enough, Ray could once again actually hear them talking. ¡°Is this what you warned us about?¡± Kredevel asked, forced to raise his voice over the racket. ¡°This¡­ this madness.¡± Ray found it a little hard to talk with what he was witnessing. ¡°I didn¡¯t know they would be doing something like this.¡± They were all feeling the same. Expressions of horror pilfered across all the faces. Some of the Denizens were trembling in fright. Even Joaquin looked aghast, his normally tanned face pale in the ruddy light. ¡°We¡¯ll be safe, right?¡± he asked. Ray nodded a little belatedly. ¡°Denizens are immune to the Flesh Plague, and so are the Sylvans.¡± ¡°Bullshit,¡± someone said. A Denizen Ray didn¡¯t know. ¡°Didn¡¯t we learn that these Everstead are supposed to be Denizens too? But look at them now.¡± ¡°We also learned they¡¯re not real Denizens.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± someone else said. ¡°They¡¯re those fucking Imitators, just really jacked up.¡± Kredevel cut his hand through the conversation. Ray agreed. They could converse about the mysteries behind the Everstead later.¡± ¡°We must storm the palace,¡± Kredevel said. Despite the wounds he was sporting, despite his condition, he appeared resolute and determined. Ready to continue fighting. ¡°We have a clear shot.¡± ¡°Right,¡± Ray said. ¡°Terrible as is what¡¯s happening to the Everstead, they¡¯re all down. Which gives us a clear opening to take the palace. I¡¯ve a feeling the guards inside weren¡¯t spared from this either.¡± ¡°But why now?¡± Joaquin asked, glancing at the Everstead in dismay. ¡°What¡¯s the significance behind conducting this ritual at this point in time? Are they trying to summon the Fleshcrafter himself or something?¡± Instead of any of them replying, it was the Floor Lord herself who answered. ¡°This is what we have been building up to all this time,¡± she said from high above, her voice echoing over the screams. ¡°This is the culmination of our¡ªof my¡ªefforts. The first great tribute that will grant the Fleshcrafter control over this entire Tower. That is the significance, little Denizen.¡± ¡°You will not succeed,¡± Kredevel said. Now that they knew the Floor Lord could hear them, he wasn¡¯t even bothering to raise his voice. ¡°This Tower belongs to no Paragon, certainly not one who demands such vile sacrifice. We will stop you, Floor Lord. We will kill you.¡± Ray had a hard time seeing the Floor Lord¡¯s physical reaction, but her voice made her derision clear. ¡°You should have done so when you could,¡± she said. ¡°Now, you will be lucky to even make it this far.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see about that,¡± Ray said ¡°You do not need to fight me. You¡ª¡± ¡°That¡¯s a lie and you know it. We¡¯re aware that the Everstead need to kill actual Denizens to advance to the Third Floor. Otherwise, they¡¯d already be gone.¡± ¡°Perhaps. But there are merely a scant few of them, each of whom need only one kill per entity. You outnumber them easily. Would it not be easier to pick a handful to die, so the rest of you may advance to the Third Floor as well with no fuss?¡± Her words had the desired effect. Several of the newer Denizens, the ones Ray didn¡¯t recognize, all looked around with furtive glances. Their hands clenched, their shoulders tensing. Ah, shit. They couldn¡¯t fight internally now of all times. ¡°We are not selling out any of our comrades for such vile reasons,¡± Joaquin said. His attention had turned away from the Everstead, though he still appeared horrified. There was a conviction in his voice that assuaged the ones who had looked frightened. The ones even Ray had begun to doubt. It had been nothing more than a momentary lapse in judgment. ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Ray said. Unlike the others, he did raise his volume, yelling out to inject some of the energy he was feeling into his words. ¡°We¡¯re all going to come up there and tear you down from your perch.¡± No point in waiting for the Floor Lord to try and divide them up even more. It was time to act. Ray nodded at his allies, fortifying his determination as he did his best to ignore the screaming Everstead. ¡°Kredevel¡¯s right. We¡¯ve got to stop her. It won¡¯t be easy. There are a few powerful Everstead and Sylvans from the Third Floor supporting her. But we can do this.¡± In no time at all, they all reflected back his determined expression. Even the new Denizens, who had so little skin in the game, who had even looked ready to abandon them a few moments ago. Ray turned back to the royal palace. ¡°Let¡¯s end this.¡± B2 Chapter 58 (125): Forced Re-Ascension Ray tried to estimate numbers a bit in his head. He assumed there were about eight to ten powerful Everstead who were in on the whole plan besides their king. Safer to assume a dozen. Then he had seen another six Sylvans, including the Lord of the Third Floor, coming down. All in all, they were numerically well-matched. He looked at his compatriots. Well¡­ If the last battle hadn¡¯t depleted a lot of their energy and injured a bunch of them. ¡°How many of them can you heal up?¡± Ray asked Joaquin. He looked calculatingly at the wounded. Then blinked. ¡°Ugh, I don¡¯t know. I should be healing everyone, not trying to determine who I can and can¡¯t heal.¡± ¡°I understand. But this is a do-or-die battle. We have to be tactical. We don¡¯t have healers galore over here.¡± Joaquin wasn¡¯t the only one with healing abilities, thankfully. There was one Sylvan who could perform a similar kind of regeneration power, and another Denizen who could heal as well. But even three different people healing the wounded might not be enough. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of it.¡± Joaquin said with a sigh. ¡°I think we should heal as many as we can, but not to full health. Just take care of the worst injuries, make sure they can stand and fight.¡± Ray nodded. ¡°Good idea. I¡¯ll leave it to you, then.¡± Nodding at the others who were relatively alright, he started towards the royal palace. A mix of Sylvans and Denizens followed as fast as they could. Ray looked up as he approached the edifice. The Floor Lord had retreated into the throne room. There had been no sign of the king, nor of the Lord of the Third Floor, both of whom had to be there. Ray doubted there was some other means of reaching between Floors besides using the Eternal Guardian. And that giant creature still hadn¡¯t moved from where it was resting at the base of the palace. Ray urged the rest of them to move on while he paused at the foot of the Guardian. He did remind them to be wary. Their opponents were powerful. ¡°One last task, big guy,¡± Ray said, gently rubbing the huge Guardian¡¯s feathery leg. He wondered if it even felt something so minuscule. ¡°Think you can do that for me?¡± There was still a tenuous connection between them. That Tower Node of the Songstress really had forged something lasting. Ray was lucky it had lasted this long. Since it had, though, he would be foolish not to take advantage of it. The Guardian rumbled out something he didn¡¯t understand. It didn¡¯t appear angry. Maybe just tired. Slowly, carefully, he explained the plan to the Eternal Guardian. The giant creature listened patiently, almost intently. ¡°If this works,¡± Ray said with a promising tone. ¡°Then we¡¯re done. I swear.¡± He grinned. ¡°Especially because you¡¯ll be heading where I can¡¯t reach you just yet.¡± The Guardian¡¯s call sounded quite accepting. Ray¡¯s eyes fell on the corpse of the Viledrake far, far above. Halfway towards the peak of the royal palace, the huge monster¡¯s dead body was lodged into broken wall of the palace itself. Even now, the corpse was steaming. Pools of lava and molten chunks of the palace dotted the body. He still had trouble believing that Mary had somehow survived that. But since she had, he had to wonder where in the world she was now. Waving a farewell to the Eternal Guardian, Ray headed inside the palace itself. As he entered, he was joined by Kredevel and a small group of Denizens. Joaquin had already finished healing them, so now they were rushing to the battle. ¡°Good timing,¡± Ray said. Kredevel smiled at him. ¡°I am surprised you aren¡¯t already inside.¡± ¡°I had a little thing to take care of.¡± ¡°Your pet Guardian?¡± ¡°Nope. Your Floor Lord.¡± Kredevel looked at him questioningly, but there wasn¡¯t much time to explain. They could already hear the distant sounds of screaming and fighting. No time to waste. Rushing up the palace showed where a trio of Denizens were trying to hold off Cory. Ah, the bastard had indeed survived. Ray cursed. Why couldn¡¯t the people he defeated stay beaten? It was Cory now. He wouldn¡¯t be surprised if Mary Felds ambushed him from some hidden alcove. ¡°Go!¡± one of the Denizens shouted. He was beating back a storm of debris glowing a glimmering gold with thin, needle-like tendrils. ¡°We¡¯ll hold this one. Get to the top.¡± Cory noticed Ray¡¯s arrival. He tried to switch his attacks to the newcomers, but a woman zipped in, lashing at him with a spiny whip. Cory was forced to return his attention back to his assailants. ¡°Enjoy, Cory,¡± Ray said as he rushed past with a grin. There was a similar situation all along the climb to the throne room. The members of the Everstead who were in on the plan were trying to stop their enemies¡¯ climb. Ray wasn¡¯t certain if they had been strategically placed at different locations, but he wasn¡¯t about to complain. That didn¡¯t mean their rush to the throne room was completely uncontested. Just past the gate that led to the floor preceding the throne room, they faced their stiffest obstacle. It was the Sylvans from the Third Floor alongside the man¡ª Ray blinked. ¡°You¡¯re him! The guy who released the Floor Lord. You¡¯re¡­¡± He suddenly recalled where he had seen the man before. Ray blanched a little. He had healed the guy. That was his first patient on Cliff One. The man whose healing had provided the pathway for Ray to meet the Fleshcrafter personally. ¡°You¡¯re him. James.¡± ¡°How intriguing that you remember who I am,¡± the man said. Despite his obvious youth, James looked confident. Powerful. Well, he had to be, considering he had jumped into the middle of an ongoing battle to personally free someone like the Floor Lord before flying off with her. What a fucking hero. ¡°Stand down,¡± the Sylvan in front of the group said. Ray recognized him. That was the guy who had spoken up against the Lord of the Third Floor in the throne room. ¡°We do not take orders from traitors like you,¡± Kredevel said. ¡°The Burgeoner shall judge you for your frivolous actions.¡± ¡°You hardly know what you speak of, young one. It would do you well to stay silent and stand down. Listen to your elders, to your betters, before you suffer something irreversible.¡± ¡°Oh, that sounds like a threat,¡± Ray said. ¡°Sorry, but my friend Kredevel doesn¡¯t take threats lying down.¡± He slapped Kredevel on the shoulder as he stepped forward. Ray: Careful. They¡¯re powerful.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Kredevel: Oh, I am aware. That was good enough for Ray. Behind him, the other Denizens were spreading out to begin fighting against the Sylvans and James. But Ray flicked his fingers at them, indicating them to concentrate on the Sylvans and support Kredevel. They were a bit outnumbered, but if Ray could deal with James quicky, then he could lend a hand against the Sylvans too. It was just a bit of a tall order to think he could defeat James fast enough. He was probably too strong. Just as they were about to begin the battle, though, a shout rose up the stairs. A second later, Ray grinned as Gritty charge into their midst, leading a group of harried-looking Sylvans who had no doubt had great trouble keeping up. ¡°That¡¯s him!¡± Gritty shouted. Her eyes flared with unbridled bloodlust and ever-building rage. ¡°That¡¯s the fucker who knocked me out. It¡¯s time for payback, you asshole.¡± Her explosive entry had shocked all of them. Even Ray was surprised by her sheer vitriolic ferocity. What he wasn¡¯t at all surprised by was the way she charged and attacked James. Oh yes, that was good, old Gritty. ¡°We¡¯ve come to assist you, Kredevel,¡± one of the Sylvans said. It was Serian. Ray recognized him as one of the few Sylvans who held nothing against Kredevel. Kredevel himself nodded. ¡°Then let us take care of these traitors. Ray, you go on ahead. Pay back the Floor Lord.¡± Ray grinned. He was happy to see his friend remembered the fact that Ray was owed a rematch against the Floor Lord after she had chucked him off Cliff One. ¡°Going to pay her back by throwing her off this damn palace.¡± ¡°Fair fortune.¡± The battle had already begun, courtesy of Gritty smashing into the James. A golden shield was stopping her furious blast of attacks, where bone and blood slammed towards James in a volley that made Ray almost gawk. Gritty wasn¡¯t just worked up, she was determined to end her opponent. Ray wasn¡¯t the only one looking for some payback here. They tried to stop him as he got going. One of the Sylvans almost seemed to teleport in front of him. He was tackled away by Serian. Then James himself appeared, blocking off the main path to the huge doors of the throne room with his body and a wall of golden flames. That was alright. Ray had other means of reaching his destination. He swung to his left, heading towards the area where he had fought Cory and that huge axe-wielder. As he flew, he cast Lifeblood Soulform to create several dozen bees, granting them a bit of his intelligence to find and secret themselves in little rooms all over the floor. They¡¯d come in handy when the final battle began. It didn¡¯t take Ray long to recognize the area or find the spot where he had breached the throne room from below. He grinned. Those idiots really thought they could let their little henchmen handle Ray and his cohort. ¡°Well, think again,¡± he said as he rose through the same hole he had used last time. The throne room was the same as last time. A giant, mostly empty chamber with a throne on the raised dais at the far end on the right. This time, though, Ray noted the wide balcony behind the throne. He¡¯d need it. ¡°I told you,¡± the Lord of the Third Floor said. ¡°You should have patched up that hole.¡± ¡°Impossible.¡± The king of the Everstead stared at Ray like he had offended the royal great grandma. ¡°Where are the others? James? Austin? Where are you?¡± Ray grinned at them. His heart had begun to pound hard, but it wasn¡¯t with fear. He was excited. ¡°They¡¯re a little preoccupied. Like you¡¯re about to be, with me.¡± The king fumed. Despite his form, he looked very un-Sylvan-like at that moment. ¡°End him,¡± the Lord of the Third Floor said. The Floor Lord of the Second Floor looked on impassively. Ray had thought that he had caught the slightest frown marring her expression, but it was as though it had never been. Ray stepped forward just as the king did, but he ignored the ruler of the Everstead. ¡°Why are you sending your little Imitator lackey, Floor Lord? You afraid to face me on your own?¡± The Third Floor Lord scoffed. ¡°I would never lower myself to facing one such as you.¡± Ray laughed. He nudged his head from the Everstead king to the Third Floor Lord. ¡°You see, Your Majesty? This is the kind of creature you¡¯re supposed to be dealing with when you climb higher up the Tower. Prideful, incompetent, and scared little creatures. Believe me, they might scorn you, but they¡¯re no less of a pretender when it comes to ruling the Tower than you.¡± Every single one of them bristled at Ray¡¯s words. He really ought to receive some kind of award for being able to rile all three powerful entities in one go. It worked to perfection. The Lord of the Third Floor actually stopped the king¡¯s approach, stepping forward himself. ¡°This little insect thinks far too highly of himself. There is no need to engage in pointless fights. I will squash it, and we can carry on as we have been.¡± ¡°I dare you¡ª¡± Ray blinked. The Third Floor Lord was already in front of him. There was no time to prepare himself, no time to do anything. The Sylvan¡¯s backhanded blow sent Ray flying. He coughed out blood as he sailed through the air, feeling like he had just been bent in half in a fraction of a second. Insane power. Recovery healed up his injury real quick, but he was forced to use up nearly a quarter of all his entire capacity. Not good. Ray summoned Soaring Wings. He was already flying so why not. The wings spread wide and allowed him to actually control his flight, and a quick flap took him past the throne and into the balcony. Where, it appeared, the Third Floor Lord was already awaiting him. ¡°You seem to have a thing for being thrown off high places, little insect,¡± the Sylvan said. ¡°So be it. I shall oblige your death wish.¡± Ray righted himself. His enemy was almost upon him again, giving him no time to react. But thankfully, he didn¡¯t need to react. The balcony shattered as the Eternal Guardian rammed in from below. Ray was flying back to the edge as the Lord of the Third Floor got caught by the Guardian¡¯s sudden appearance. He was strong, fast, powerful. But none of that mattered if he never saw the danger coming. In this case, with his full attention on Ray, the strongest being on the Second Floor of the Tower of Forging had never seen the Eternal Guardian coming. It was only after crashing through the balcony that the huge creature shrieked out into the air. The Guardian continued rising, shooting straight into the sky. Carrying the Third Floor Lord with it. ¡°Unhand me!¡± The Sylvan¡¯s screams were audible even after the Guardian had risen so quickly with him in tow. He was certainly not making it easy. Spiralling growths burst around, piercing through the Eternal Guardian¡¯s feathered body. Bursts of strange power struck the Eternal Guardian. Wounds rent open on Ray¡¯s giant ally, blood and feathers raining down. He grimaced. But the Guardian maintained its grip on the Third Floor Lord. ¡°You can do it,¡± Ray whispered. The Eternal Guardian could. The Eternal Guardian did. Despite its captive¡¯s continued struggles, it bore the Sylvan straight into the spiralling clouds. Then, both the giant bird and the Sylvan it bore disappeared. Gone, for good, from the Second Floor. ¡°No!¡± The king of the Everstead had come to stand in the balcony, staring skywards with growing horror on his face. A very, very un-Sylvan-like expression. ¡°No! Come back, you feathered bastard. Come back, I say. I demand it. I order you to return.¡± The Eternal Guardian was already gone, of course. Disappeared into the clouds. ¡°It¡¯s not coming back,¡± Ray said. He straightened, trying his darndest not to smile smugly at his enemies. ¡°Not until it¡¯s time for me to ascend to the Third Floor.¡± ¡°You!¡± The king turned to him with burning wrath in his eyes. His whole form quivered, the expensive robes and jewellery all turning into Imitator grey as he stalked towards Ray. It was a little comical to see him walking around the giant hole in the balcony to get over. ¡°I will rend you, piece by piece. I will tear you apart into a hundred, thousand smithereens. I will end you.¡± ¡°Sorry, no can do.¡± Ray jerked a thumb at the actual Floor Lord he cared about. ¡°I¡¯ve got someone else I need to kick the ass of. Maybe you can wait your turn?¡± ¡°You have no one and nothing to protect you now, you mongrel. If those were not your last words, then I suggest you utter them quickly before I rip your head off your¡ª¡± ¡°Who said he has no one and nothing?¡± Ray grinned as a stream of spiralling projections rushed towards the king of the Everstead. The fake Sylvan jumped back, warily eying the real one coming up the stairs from the huge doors. Kredevel appeared. Ray wanted to say hi, but he kept his eyes focused on the Floor Lord who was still standing impassively at the centre of the throne room. ¡°You¡­¡± The king looked like he was one step away from frothing at the mouth. ¡°Have you not heard the orders of your superiors? Stand down, or you shall be summarily eradicated.¡± ¡°I would like to see you try, impostor.¡± For a brief instant, Ray met Kredevel¡¯s eyes. The message there was clear. Regardless of the difference between Kredevel¡¯s and the Everstead king¡¯s power, his Sylvan friend would hold His Royal Majesty. At least until Ray was done dealing with the Floor Lord. In other words, Ray could focus entirely on stopping his nemesis and the perpetrator of the horror of the Flesh Plague. Kredevel rushed past, attacking the king of the Everstead with his powers flaring. Ray was tempted to actually observe his friend¡¯s increased prowess for a second, but there was no time. The Floor Lord had caught his eye. Plus, he couldn¡¯t waste even a millisecond of the time Kredevel was buying him. He had to be fast. He had to win fast. ¡°You could stop this, you know,¡± Ray said. ¡°You could end the Flesh Plague and let the actual Denizens climb to the Third Floor. Accept responsibility that you fucked up the Second Floor in your desperate wish to appease your dumb god. Despite everything you¡¯ve done, despite all the atrocities you¡¯ve committed, it¡¯s still not too late to fucking stop.¡± There was no change on her face. Not even a flicker that she had registered what Ray had actually said. ¡°What do you take me for? Did you not hear? You are a mere insect. I do not take advice from some such base creatures.¡± ¡°That¡¯s alright. You don¡¯t need to take my advice. You can just take my pummelling instead.¡± With a roar, Ray rushed at the Floor Lord. It was time to end the battle. B2 Chapter 59 (126): Throne Room Battle Ray¡¯s heart beat as fast as a runaway train as he rushed towards the Lord of the Second Floor. He cast his buffs as he moved. Goliath Eater to boost all his stats and raise his power. His constant increase of its Tiers helped it activate even after reducing the difference in levels somewhat. He had also used Vengeful Plunder, ready to raise his power even further with every successful hit. The Floor Lord wouldn¡¯t know what hit her. His sudden charge had finally caused a change in her. Her eyes thinned a little, her jaw tautening like the string of a bow with an arrow nocked. She was finally serious about facing him. Which probably explained the sudden shift in gravity. Oh, she wasn¡¯t holding back. For all that the Floor Lord was prideful and evil, she wasn¡¯t stupid. She wasn¡¯t underestimating Ray. He cursed. It would have been a lot easier if she kept assuming he actually was a bug she could simply crush under her heels. Ray¡¯s charge towards his target was forced to change as the plane of gravity shifted. It was coming from above now, if that even counted as above. His flight was inexorably drawn upwards and away from his target. ¡°Could you not?¡± the king screamed from the other end of the hall. It was a little hard to twist his head around to look, but Ray spotted both the Everstead ruler and Kredevel losing their footing. Like Ray, they were both floating upwards as though they had all been teleported into the ISS. ¡°Deal with it,¡± the Floor Lord said. Unlike Ray, she hadn¡¯t taken her eyes off her opponent. Ray focused on his actual fight. Primal Spiritcraft constructed two draconic maws around his hands, with which he fired the laser breaths the next second. They bent. It was kind of wild seeing them curve around like that. But Ray had aimed them at a spot below the Floor Lord, which meant the new gravity¡¯s effect was actually redirecting them towards his opponent. Who was still way too fast. She swerved away, the beams rushing past and causing her original location to explode. Ray was already casting knowing that he had no choice but to keep up the pressure. Lifeblood Soulform created two draconic maws¡ª That were immediately cut down. Call of the Cosmos dotted the area with a bunch of purple voids, from which emerged simultaneous slashes from the Floor Lord¡¯s Growth Mana sword. Ray¡¯s constructs were crushed apart the very instant after they came into being. Calling the Floor Lord fast was an understatement. She was casting too, even quicker than Ray himself. The air, the very space itself, all twisted. Ray looked up to see two huge spatial rents crisscrossing each other, lightning flickering in their depths as energy gathered. And the Floor Lord¡¯s new gravity was taking him straight to his demise. Just as the energy from the rent burst free in arcs of coruscating lightning, Ray decided to put his plan into action. He used Spectral Step. The throne room disappeared. Instead, as the world readjusted itself back in his senses, he found himself in a little room. A small, back-red bee floated in beside him. He grinned. Little guy wasn¡¯t even buzzing. Ray faced the ceiling. Then he aimed both his draconic maws high up, unleashing their chaotic breaths at the same time. He had used Lifeblood Soulform to create a Scouring Eyeball a while back. It was keeping an eye on the entire battlefield of the throne room, allowing Ray to pinpoint exactly where he had to aim his draconic maws to make the lasers hit. Ray had to drink in the look of surprise on the Floor Lord¡¯s face. The floor exploded as the two lasers crushed through. They struck. Not fully. Her reactions were still too fast. The sword came up to block the beams of compressed, black-red fire. But they left their chaotic imprint all the same, the Floor Lord falling back with a rasping cry as her flesh and horns around her shoulder corrupted. Ray wasn¡¯t done, of course. Another Spectral Step got him to the end of the laser beams, floating high near the ceiling of the throne room. A spot from which he could cast Mottling Spiritguard twice to summon up almost three dozen orbs of sparking energy. Lifeblood Soulform created the Viledrake tail at his back, allowing him to imbue the orbs with Molten Mana with Origin Resonance. Then he flung the entire salvo at the Floor Lord. All in mere seconds. The Floor Lord cursed. Actually cursed. Ray grinned. Now wasn¡¯t that a victory. But that wasn¡¯t her only response. Projected Growth created a forest of hornlike protrusions all around her, armouring her against Ray¡¯s devastating salvo. He was just glad he had imbued them with Molten Mana. They melted the Floor Lord¡¯s defence. Unfortunately, that didn¡¯t count as direct hits, as they didn¡¯t activate Vengeful Plunder¡¯s boon. Ray¡¯s stats didn¡¯t rise. Annoying. The last couple of Spiritguard orbs never struck in. Ray held them back. The majority had been spent destroying the Floor Lord¡¯s Projected Growth spikes. Leaving the way open for an actual attack. He converted the last two orbs into flying draconic maws, sending them in to assault the Sylvan. Ray himself joined in to keep applying the pressure. That was what this fight was about. Maintaining the pressure so the Floor Lord never had a chance to attack him. But his opponent wasn¡¯t defenceless. The Floor Lord exploded. A storm of bright, bluish fire erupted all around her. The eruption destroyed the constructs in a flash, charring them to ash that dissipated long before they reached their target. Ray himself had twisted just enough so that it was his Viledrake tails swinging in to strike the Floor Lord. But even the tail was burned and destroyed before it could connect. Those flames were something else. Within the inferno, the Floor Lord smouldered, burning with rage. ¡°Enough,¡± she said. ¡°Now you die.¡± Ray cast Mottling Spiritguard. ¡°Try your worst.¡± He used the Spiritguard orbs to construct a defence. He cast Lifeblood Soulform to call up his Imitator construct at the same time. It was a little miracle how he wasn¡¯t panicking. His thoughts were clear, the actions he needed to take appearing without any desperation. The Floor Lord¡¯s Comet Strike shot in like a meteor. Ray¡¯s defence was nothing against it. Even after he had used his Mana Infuser ring to raise Mottling Spiritguard¡¯s Tier. That was fine. Ray was already gone. Spectral Step had taken him to another little room with another little bee for company. He almost wished he had some time to pet the little thing. But his attention was fixed entirely on the throne room, on the battlefield now half burning with the blue flames of Comet Strike. Ray¡¯s Imitator construct was burning inside the conflagration, turned to ash in just a breath or two. And now, it was time for the actual Ray to¡ª ¡°Foolish insect,¡± the Floor Lord said, floating in her storm of fire. ¡°Do you think I failed to notice that you disappeared once again?¡± His heartrate spiked as the blue flames slammed in. Comet Strike destroyed the floor, crashing through the palace to reach the room Ray had teleported to. But he didn¡¯t burn. Not when he used Spectral Step to reappear behind the Floor Lord. He thrust his arms ahead of him, immediately unleashing the lasering draconic breaths. Ray had fired them as soon as he had appeared. He hadn¡¯t even waited for the world to stop spinning. His aim had already been measured. It was true. Especially since he hadn¡¯t given the Floor Lord any time to react. The beams of compressed chaotic flames crashed into the Floor Lord¡¯s back. Her shriek cut off as she slammed forward, crashing into the same location she had sent her Comet Strike.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Beautiful explosion, huh?¡± Ray said, a geyser of black, red, and blue rising before him. The two little bees floating behind him didn¡¯t reply. He might have granted them a bit of his intelligence, after converting two Spiritguard orbs into the constructs, but that didn¡¯t mean they had mouths and larynxes to talk with. A good thing about the explosion was that it afforded Ray a minuscule amount of time to check in on Kredevel¡¯s fight against the king of the Everstead. His friend was holding his own well. Well enough, in fact, that the king was still way too preoccupied trying to kill the actual Sylvan he was facing. There was a strangeness that made Ray¡¯s spine shiver, though. The Arch Imitator was slowly reverting back to his actual state as a silvery blob. And so was the throne room around him. It concerned Ray a bit. Was the transformation of the king tied to the transformation of the room itself? Was that how it worked? He had no time to ponder it. The room near Ray was still the same old throne room. Solid. Burning. Broken. The debris began shifting as the Floor Lord climbed out, a withering expression frozen on her face. ¡°Really?¡± Ray asked. ¡°You can¡¯t stay down?¡± Even as she rose back to the throne room proper, the wounds Ray¡¯s attack had left were healing. Did she have that much Recovery to spare? Or was something else going on? She was crushing a Mana shard of some kind, an amethyst gem disintegrating to glittering dust in her hands. Well, whatever. Ray would just need to pummel her until she stopped coming back up. He cast Mottling Spiritguard again, imbuing the orbs with Molten Mana. They glowed like dozens of suns around him. The spheres shot forward, just as Ray himself did. But the Floor Lord cast Call of the Cosmos. Little blobs of dark void materialized all around the throne too. When she slashed her sword burning with blue flames through the pocket of the void in front of her, the slicing blade burst out through all the voids. All of Ray¡¯s Spiritguard orbs were cut down in a single second. He didn¡¯t let it dismay him. Instead, he pulled back, away from all the lava exploding everywhere. If he was assuming right, then¡­ Ray fired his draconic maws¡¯ laser breaths into the nearest voids. If the Floor Lord¡¯s sword could come out of the nearby voids, then that had to mean that anything going into them would exit from the void right next to the Floor Lord. He was right. The laser breaths did emerge from the blob of darkness farther off. But it wasn¡¯t close enough to the Floor Lord anymore. None of the void pockets were. She had apparently understood Ray¡¯s intention before he had even begun to execute it. It might have been experience, something she had faced before. Or maybe she could just think that fast during battles. Whatever the case, Ray found himself, all the remaining bits of burning lava, and the void pockets drawn towards a single point. The Floor Lord was manipulating gravity again, pulling in everything to a single location. So when Ray¡¯s compressed beams of fiery chaos burst out, they still failed to reach the Floor Lord. The pull of gravity was strong enough that the beams were frozen in mid-air. Not for long, of course. Ray was still firing the lasering breaths, even as he was being pulled inexorably towards the centre of gravity. Which could only lead to one thing. An explosion. Ray was spared the detonation when he used Spectral Step. He disappeared, only to reappear inside another small chamber underneath the throne room. Not that he was fully spared from the massive explosion occurring overhead. His ears rang, his whole body shaking along with the chamber. He frowned, his heart picking up its pace. The world was continuing to shake, the tremors getting worse, the destruction growing. That explosion should have been a one-and-done deal. What was going on? Ray¡¯s Scouring Eyeball revealed the truth. The Floor Lord had used Shattered Cosmos. Enormous rents had crisscrossed across the throne room¡¯s ceiling, raining down their destructive bolts of energy everywhere. Continuously raining them, forcing them to crush through the floor and burrow in deeper. He froze. She was coming for him. The Floor Lord knew that he was hidden somewhere underneath the throne room, so she was destroying the room itself to get to him. She was eviscerating everything in order to flush him out. Fuck. Of course, Ray had a backup prepared. He teleported with Spectral Step once again. This time, he reappeared on the roof. It had been a good idea to send a bee outside of the palace itself, while still keeping it close. Relieved as he was not to be crushed under the barrage of space-lightning from the Floor Lord, he still cringed a little. She had taken out one of his main advantages. There went teleporting to get away and strike from underneath. Because the Floor Lord wasn¡¯t stopping. Shattered Cosmos continued to belch its out power, sending the bolts of energy streaming for several floors below the throne room. The whole palace was going to collapse at this rate. ¡°You think I do not know that you have hidden yourself again, little insect?¡± Her voice boomed, the air ringing and vibrating. ¡°No matter where you hide, you will not escape your death.¡± She was quite literal about that promise. In just a second, Ray felt himself once again drawn inexorably towards the throne room. That damn gravity again. It was worse this time. While Shattered Cosmos had finally stopped, the Floor Lord¡¯s new point of gravity had enough pulling power to destroy the remainder of the throne room. Chunks of the palace wall tore apart, the remaining windows shattering, the debris on the floor and from several floors down below all coagulating towards the Floor Lord. ¡°Stop.¡± It was the king yelling now. The ruler of the Everstead had half-deconstructed into his sludgy, Imitator form, desperately trying to hold onto a still stable piece of the floor. ¡°You¡¯re destroying everything! Cease before you shatter us all.¡± His words went ignored. The Floor Lord¡¯s arms were raised high, almost like she was praying. She didn¡¯t care who or what got sucked into her gravitational vortex. It didn¡¯t matter. So long as her real enemy died. Ray was struggling, but he quickly realized it was futile. There was nowhere he could go. He could attempt to throw out his draconic laser breaths farther out, teleport to their ends to escape being drawn into the Floor Lord¡¯s centre of gravity, But that would take him far out of the palace, where he would promptly plummet. He might not die in the fall, but he was definitely going to essentially be exiting the battlefield. And he was not going to run away. Sparks burst out of the point where everything was being condensed. Matter being converted into pure energy. This power was insane. Desperate, Ray used Lifeblood Soulform to call up several of his summons. Four Greater Windbane Maws appeared and immediately began flying into the mass in the middle. But not before they began belching out their lasering breaths. Ray yelled out and added his on lasers to the mix. Both arms pointed straight at the Floor Lord and sent out compressed beams of fire, so the total became six. A half-dozen massive beams of chaotic energy crashed into the Floor Lord¡¯s gravity well. That was when she brought her hands down and slapped them together. All the matter and energy that had gathered at that one location compressed even more massively than they had already done. A new burst of energy formed up, imploding into being at a single point in space. Burning and glowing brighter and brighter every instant. Turning into a star. The Floor Lord was taking no prisoners. Ray¡¯s eyes widened. The Floor Lord had an ability to do just that, if he remembered right. A spell to create a fucking star of all things. She was doing it now of all times. This was bad. Heat and light washed the chamber. Ray was already sweating, his skin turning almost unbearably hot. All the air had turned supercharged, starting to rush about like he was in a storm. The king of the Everstead had stopped yelling out, but he had now almost fully turned into his Imitator form, almost like he had melted. Ignoring everything else in the vicinity, the Floor Lord pointed a single finger at Ray. The star flew at him. No time. There was no time to do anything. No time to dodge, no time to even curse. The star came in so fast. All Ray could do was instinctively call upon his Impervious Shell, creating a layer of powerful defences between himself and the star a millisecond before it made contact. One shell wasn¡¯t going to be anywhere near enough, of course. Ray had cast Lifeblood Soulform several times in as quick a succession as he could. This had led to several Duskshell shells appearing before him, all arrayed in front and stacked against each other. Just in the nick of time to block the star¡¯s impact. The detonation wasn¡¯t something Ray was ever going to forget. His ears went completely numb at the noise. For a split second, there was a gargantuan roar. Then the silence hit. He was practically deaf. Alongside the noise, a flash of impossibly bright light blinded him and a wash of heat started vaporizing his skin off his flesh and melting the meat underneath. A fleeting second made Ray actualize the fact that he was being struck by a star. This was practically what it felt like to be struck by an atom bomb. And this was all after he was blocking the worst of the power from the Floor Lord using his Impervious Shell. Insane didn¡¯t even being to cover it. The rest of Ray was busy pouring every single iota of his Recovery into healing everything. Well, only the parts of him that were necessary to keep him alive. He made sure his eyes didn¡¯t vaporize, that his head wasn¡¯t burnt to ash, that his torso wasn¡¯t overly affected. It helped that he remembered his Vestment¡¯s powers. Using Lifeblood Soulform to call up the Viledrake tail offered him Molten Mana. He created more of the Mana variant using Abstract Conversion to plug all his Vestment¡¯s different parts with it. That helped greatly to protect him against the unbearable, impossible heat of a fucking star. But how long could he take this? The Impervious Shell constructs were all being destroyed, turning to sludge that then vaporized long before falling off the shell itself. He couldn¡¯t teleport away either. All the bees had been drawn in by the gravity before being destroyed, and any other constructs would be destroyed¡ª The Scouring Eyeball. He still had one construct left. Ray was just about to use Spectral Step when the blows came in from behind. It was so bright that his eyeball from far above couldn¡¯t tell what was happening. He had no trouble understanding, though. Loud clangs alerted him that the Valorous Back Shield was doing its job. That alert came too late, though. One strike punched a hole through his upper arm and leg on the right side. His shoulder was crushed by an overhead blow. The worst one slammed into his head from the side, crushing his cheekbones, jaws, and ears. The Floor Lord had finally gotten him. While Ray had been distracted by the star, she had created more void pockets behind him. From there, it took only a single swipe of her sword to finally beat Ray down. Just before things went dark, all Ray could think that maybe, just maybe, she had proven that she was indeed superior to him. So much for payback. Then he noticed something strange as he fell. The floor. What remained of it was entirely liquid. A mirrorlike silver, the consistency of the Imitator constructs. The throne room was reverting back to its Imitator form. A surge of hope flooded Ray, one instant before he lost consciousness and fainted from his injuries. B2 Chapter 60 (127): Spirespine Ray groaned as he returned to the land of the living. He wasn¡¯t dead? No. Fuck no. He wasn¡¯t dead. The relief from that thought almost overtook every other, which would have been terribly dangerous just then. First, he had to take note of his surroundings. No, even before that, he had to apply his Recovery¡­ He had almost none. Stopping the star and the worst of his wounds had used up almost all the Recovery he¡¯d had. Now, the last little bit in his tank went to his jaw. There. At least his thoughts wouldn¡¯t be distracted by the spikes of pain radiating through his skull at every little motion of his head. But Ray wasn¡¯t dismayed. He could work with this. The idea that had struck his head just before everything had gone dark was still floating in his mind. The Floor Lord might think he was down and out for the count, but she was going to receive the surprise of her life. His surroundings weren¡¯t encouraging. The last attack from the Floro Lord had essentially dropped Ray all the way to the floor below. He was just lucky he couldn¡¯t hear Gritty and the Sylvans fighting against James and the evil Sylvans. They were still somewhat distant from his current location. Or, they were smart and had retreated farther down the palace when they had seen the first signs of the destruction the Floor Lord was causing. Around Ray, everything was grey and sludgy. The palace was turning back to its original form as an Imitator. Perfect. There was conversation going on. He could make it out just faintly through his ruined ears, but it was definitely there. ¡°¡­could have warned¡­¡± ¡°Do not need¡­¡± ¡°¡­ is the point¡­ everything falls¡­¡± ¡°Watch¡ª¡± ¡°Look¡­ to me and my ow¡­¡± Ray got what was going on. The Everstead ruler was pissed that the Floor Lord hadn¡¯t given adequate warning before pulling of her gravity stunt. Ray just had to hope Kredevel was alright somewhere out there. He figured he could use the cover of their little argument to enact his plan, but then, a little void popped up before him. Ah, the Floor Lord was onto him. Her flame-wreathed sword stabbed in a second later. Ray couldn¡¯t not scream at the pain. He had brought his arm up just in time to stop the blade, the sword catching on his Talisman. But he had prevented the Floor Lord from puncturing his chest and skewering his heart. Ray was still alive. He still retained enough concentration to cast Anima Charybdis on his surroundings. That was the plan he had settled on. Tatters of black-red energy erupted everywhere. Ray didn¡¯t need to aim them anywhere. They burst into being on their own, because his target was everywhere. The throne room¡ªwhat remained of it, at least¡ªhad reverted back to being an Imitator, as had the parts of the palace that were supporting it. They had gone from being inanimate objects to living matter. The perfect base for his chaos to act upon. The perfect enemy for Ray to draw in a huge rush of energy. His Recovery replenished rapidly, and he immediately began applying it to his wounds and injuries. A different rush added to that of Anima Charybdis. This one refilled a chunk of his Mana capacity alongside his Recovery. Oh right. That had to be the effect of Soullife Cloak returning the chunk of Mana and Recovery it stored away upon activation. Ray grinned. It was working. If the Floor Lord saw his plan in action and was about to act, Ray didn¡¯t give her the opportunity to do so. Energy was returning like a waterfall smashing into his soul. Life was coming back in spades upon spades. Ray was not going to be held down. Jerking his hand forward, he thrust the draconic maw into the void and fired off his trusty laser breath. The Scouring Eyeball confirmed the bullseye. His compressed beam of chaos had burst out of the other void pocket near the Floor Lord. Her reactions were incredibly fast, but even then, she couldn¡¯t dodge the full blast. Ray¡¯s laser took off enough of her left shoulder and chest that her arm hung by a mere few tendons and strings of rapidly corrupting flesh. Ray wasn¡¯t done, of course. He was getting to his feet. It was time to seize victory. The Floor Lord began healing immediately. Her flesh was quickly tuning back to normal, even the bones regenerating. There was hardly any blood loss to speak of. Ray had wondered how she was able to do something like that. The number of times he had hit her should have left some kind of mark, but she was fine after each strike. It wasn¡¯t just her Recovery. That should have been depleted by now. He finally saw the truth. She had called up her Tower Nodes. Plural, because there were indeed two. One he recognized easily. Her Tower Node of the Fleshcrafter was the same as his. A crystal with its top half transparent and revealing a piece of writhing meat inside it. The other one confounded Ray for a second, before he noted its size. It was larger than any other Tower Node he had seen. Big. Amplified. So that had to be the Tower Node that had allowed the Floor Lord to cause all the shit she had done on the Second Floor. Right now, she was using both Tower Nodes to heal herself up. The wounds Ray had left were bad, but the Fleshcrafter Tower Node, amplified by its larger counterpart, was taking care of the injury. Ray closed his eyes¡ªnot the Scouring Eyeball flying far above¡ªfor a second. He recalled the words of the Marauder. Remember the power of the Tower Nodes. He remembered what he had to do, what he had set out to do, when embarking against the Everstead and their royal palace. Most of all, he remembered the power the Marauder had granted his Tower Node. The Floor Lord shouted all of a sudden. Her Tower Nodes were moving, and they were doing so outside of her control. In the blink of an eye, both Tower Nodes shot into the void before her before reappearing right beside Ray. The pocket of void disappeared too late. She stepped up to finally appear directly in Ray¡¯s line of sight, looking down at him from above, where the ground was still silvery and sludgy. ¡°You¡­¡± Her face twisted for the first time, displaying a fury that belied the fact that her wounds weren¡¯t healed., that her arm was still dangling useless and bleeding. ¡°How could you ever¡­?¡± Ray looked to either side of him with a grin. The Tower Nodes floated seemingly on their own. But then, he released the Mimic Mana he had coated his Soulstrike arms with, letting the camouflage fade so that the True Mana limbs appeared in their black-red glory. Their grasping ends clutched the Tower Nodes tight in their grip. ¡°A trick,¡± the Floor Lord hissed. ¡°I should have expected nothing less.¡± ¡°A trick,¡± Ray confirmed. ¡°And you fell for it. We can talk about it, though. I¡¯m not against returning your Tower Nodes to you, so long as you do something for me.¡± He steadied himself. The Floor Lord was still injured. Mangled. Weary. Ray himself was getting tired too, but this was his chance to end the fight. ¡°Which would be what, exactly?¡± she asked. Despite her wounded, bleeding condition, her voice was still steely. ¡°End the Flesh Plague.¡± He glanced to the side. ¡°Or, since you don¡¯t have your Tower Node any longer, tell me how to end the Flesh Plague. I suppose I could find out on my own, but I¡¯d like it if you at least stopped interfering.¡± Ray wasn¡¯t simply asking it because of his System-ordained Objective he had to complete. He was tired. The fight had drained him, and he wanted it to end.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. The Floor Lord didn¡¯t have a reason to decline, either. She was gravely wounded and had no way of healing herself now that Ray had taken away her Tower Node. He was giving her an opportunity that he really ought not to even bother with. And yet¡­ ¡°I decline,¡± the Floor said. Ray sighed. ¡°Figured as much,¡± he muttered. Then he lunged forward, thrusting his arm forward to fire off the draconic maw¡¯s laser breath. Didn¡¯t matter if he was exhausted. He was ending this. She reacted by summoning her void again, within which she disappeared. A small portion of Ray¡¯s compressed chaos fire beam entered it too, but the void itself vanished in a second. The rest of his attack obviously missed wildly. Ray didn¡¯t bother looking around. Primordial Gauge was already warning him that his opponent wasn¡¯t anywhere close by. He had to look up. But then, even that didn¡¯t help. The Floor Lord was ascending fast. She was ingeniously using her Call of the Cosmos to summon void pockets as far high up as he could, rising beyond the reach of Ray and anyone else. Was she running? That didn¡¯t seem right. The Floor Lord was decidedly not the running type. The only other conclusion Ray came to was that she had to be planning something. No doubt, it was something he would hate. Whatever it was, he couldn¡¯t let her succeed. It didn¡¯t work when he fired his draconic maw¡¯s laser breaths. The Floor Lord hadn¡¯t ascended beyond the ultimate distance that the compressed beams of chaotic fire could reach. But she had erected a different sort of defence that worked to protect her. The Floor Lord had created a strange combination of her gravity manipulation and more of her voids. They formed a defensive ring around her. Ray could achieve a similar array with Mottling Spiritguard. Had she stolen the way he used his spell? The lowest void orb had the gravity coming from within it. This meant that the laser breaths were drawn within, then dispersed out and away from the Floor Lord by a different orb. No matter how powerfully Ray launched out the draconic breaths, he couldn¡¯t make them hit his target. The gravity was just too strong. ¡°Fool!¡± The Floor Lord¡¯s voice crashed down to where Ray was standing like a falling avalanche, blaring into his ears like thunder. ¡°Did you truly believe your little stunt would be enough?¡± Ray frowned. Way too loud. How was the volume of her voice that high? Was she able to channel and use Amplification Mana without a Tower Node? Then maybe¡ª He froze. Ah, shit. He had been working under a terrible assumption. His fears came to life when he saw¡ªthrough the Scouring Eyeball because his actual ones weren¡¯t able to make out details as well that far up¡ªthe new Tower Node. The second Tower Node. It was one of the exact same one Ray had taken from her. The Tower Node of the¡­ Amplifier? That sounded wrong. He identified it as the Tower Node that allowed her to use Amplification Mana. But to think she had two all this time. He cursed. Stupid. Stupid. If he could have more than one, why couldn¡¯t anyone else? Ray tried to shout upwards, even though he was pretty sure he wouldn¡¯t be heard, ¡°Whatever you¡¯re planning, it¡¯s not going to work. You¡¯re going to lose. You already did. You¡¯re just too conceited to realize it.¡± Her reply proved that she hadn¡¯t heard him. ¡°I had thought to wait before calling upon the final resort. I had believed that it would not be necessary. I could deal with anything. It is, I admit, humbling to realize that my power alone was not enough. But that matters not.¡± Ray stopped paying attention and looked to where the king of the Everstead had halted his fight against Kredevel. Both of them were staring straight up too. ¡°Hey,¡± Ray shouted. ¡°Your Majesty! What the hell is your Floor Lord going to do now?¡± He ignored the question. A vein pulsed on Ray¡¯s forehead. What an ass. But it was starting to look like Ray might not need a direct answer. Something strange was happening to the air around him. To everything around him. A cloying thickness had arrived. The air turned congealed, the floor becoming softer but firmer at the same time. A heavy flowing sound filled his ears, a sensation similar to a rush of blood. Thick. Too thick. Too dense. Ray was starting to have trouble breathing. He exchanged a panicked look with Kredevel before the Floor Lord¡¯s amplification finished. Everything turned to flesh. One second, Ray was starting to think he needed to get out of here, had already fired another desperate blast from his Greater Windbane Maw straight at the Floor Lord. Then his breath cut off. His sight turned through blood red to glistening white-pink to complete darkness. Total silence flooded his ears. His whole body turned heavy and dense and covered by something with immeasurable weight, somehow squeezing him from all sides. Shock and panic didn¡¯t even begin to cover the chaotic riot that was Ray¡¯s mind just then. Flesh. He was sure of it. He was being crushed, compressed, killed by flesh all around him. The sensations were even stranger inside him. It was as though the flesh summoned by the Floor Lord had replaced every inch of space that had held air. It had entered through his nostrils and taken over his lungs. It had violated him through his mouth and bloated his stomach. He was dying. He was almost dead. He couldn¡¯t be dying. Not like this. Not after coming this far. Not now. Begging, pleading, screaming in his mind that it would work, Ray used Spectral Step. And breathed in great lungfuls of fresh, free air. He could worry about the fact that he was falling later. The ground was rushing in fast, ready to splatter him to a pulp, but fuck it, he had escaped from whatever the Floor Lord had done. It was almost hard to believe that he had come out of that alive. That he was still whole. When Ray finally saw what exactly he had gone through, he forgot all about the fact that he was plummeting. Where the Everstead royal palace had stood moments ago, there was now a gigantic¡­ behemoth. Ray had no other way of describing it. The creature didn¡¯t have any specific shape. Just a gargantuan mound of flesh that made the Arch Flesh Elemental look like a pygmy in comparison. If it had been nothing more than a huge, fleshy edifice, Ray might have been somewhat okay with it. But the thing was alive. Tendrils and tentacles writhed through the air. Giant pieces of the inconceivably large monster moved freely here and there. Blood and fluids oozed and gushed as parts of the creature shifted about. A shout reminded Ray that he was falling. He gathered back his flailing thoughts. Didn¡¯t matter what he was facing. The first and foremost priority was surviving. So, Ray used the same trick he had performed when he had been thrown off Cliff One by the Floor Lord. The draconic maws burned out their lasering breaths, slowing down his descent. When he finally touched the ground, he found Joaquin rushing towards him. The healer had never gone into the palace to begin with, opting to remain behind to see if he could help the hapless Infected. ¡°Ray!¡± he said, his eyes wild and face pale. ¡°You got out. I have no idea how but I¡¯m so fucking glad someone survived that Spirespine.¡± ¡°Spirespine¡­?¡± Ray turned to focus on the monster with Primordial Gauge. Spirespine [Monster] [Tier 23] [Level 88] Purest form of Growth mana granted a semblance of life. Only through the power of a Tower Node can such a being manifest. Skills: Ray gulped a little. He was having flashbacks to when he had first met the Eternal Guardian. There was no way Ray was beating a creature like that. No way he could defeat something that outclassed him by such a huge extent. Impossible. ¡°¡­ay.¡± Joaquin¡¯s voice cut through his thoughts. ¡°Ray!¡± Shaking his head, Ray turned to Joquin. ¡°We can¡¯t fight something like that.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care about fighting it.¡± Joaquin suddenly gripped Ray¡¯s shoulders tight, giving it a good shake. ¡°I want to know if anyone else is alive. Do you know if anyone else has made it?¡± Anyone else? How could they? Ray himself had barely escaped because he¡¯d luckily had that a stray blast from his draconic maws diverted away by the Floor Lord¡¯s gravity defence mere seconds before that monstrosity had appeared. It was all that had saved him. His heart spasmed. Did that mean Kredevel was gone? That Gritty wasn¡¯t coming out of that thing alive? Were they even now suffocating, losing control of themselves, melding with this Spirespine? Ray¡¯s spiralling thoughts were once more cut short, though not by Joaquin this time. By Gritty. With a wet, slashing squelch she emerged from the depths of the monster. She had appeared several feet off the ground so that when she came out, she struck the earth with a thud. Grity looked up, then grinned. ¡°Ha! I knew you of all people would make it outta that thing, wingman.¡± Ray swallowed. Then slowly smiled. ¡°I really need to stop being surprised by you.¡± ¡°Why? I like that I can set off sparks inside your head.¡± Ray wanted to laugh. He was pretty sure it would come out maniacal, though. ¡°You okay, wingman?¡± Gritty asked, slowly approaching him. ¡°How can anybody be okay with that thing there?¡± Joaquin said. ¡°But it¡¯s good you¡¯re out, Gritty. That means there¡¯s a chance that everyone else caught inside might survive too. We just need to figure out a way to get them out.¡± Gritty maintained her attention on Ray for a split second longer before turning to the gargantuan monster they were facing. ¡°Question is¡ªhow.¡± Ray took a deep breath. He understood that, compared to his friends who were no doubt freaking out about the monster to some degree, he was acting a little¡­ okay, a lot less than his usual self. It helped to take a moment and understand why. Inside that Spirespine, he had almost lost control of himself. He had nearly lost all control over his situation. That was it. That was what it all boiled down to. Ray¡¯s whole journey within the Tower had boiled down to gaining control over his situation. The more power he obtained, the higher he went up the Tower, the more he could rest assured that it was he himself who would continue to dictate what he did and where he went. Sure, there were compromises along the way he had to concede, like working with the Everstead. But he believed he was making progress. A part of him was certain that nothing could truly happen to him that would take away his integral ability to control himself. To affect his circumstance. Until this gigantic heap of flesh had materialized into being around him. He had lost control. All control. That was what had struck him so hard. That was why he was acting and feeling this way. A loss of control of such a magnitude. A bind he had only escaped almost out of sheer luck. No. No. He was the one who had orchestrated his own way of getting out of the prison of flesh that was the Spirespine. Ray had come out of it because of his own efforts. The somewhat traumatic feeling was quickly fading. In its place, a hot anger washed ashore. ¡°We need to kill that thing¡¯s heart,¡± he said. His companions turned to him. ¡°You know where it is?¡± Gritty asked. Joaquin brought up a different concern. ¡°It¡¯s not just going to sit there and let us kill it.¡± Gritty suddenly far above. ¡°Shit, look at that!¡± The tentacles and tendrils were coming alive. They had already been moving, but now they were slashing and swiping erratically, turning into a frenzy. Several were shooting down, attacking the ground at random. ¡°I was right,¡± Joaquin said. ¡°It¡¯s definitely not just going to sit there. But right now, it¡¯s almost like it¡¯s looking for something.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve got no time to waste.¡± Ray concentrated until his Tower Nodes emerged on either side of him. Mainly, his three Tower Nodes of the Fleshcrafter and the Tower Node of¡­ the Paragon who allowed the Floor Lord to use Amplification Mana. ¡°But I think I can even the odds. Let¡¯s go.¡± B2 Chapter 61 (128): Death Blow ¡°You¡­ actually managed to heal us,¡± the Everstead commander said. He wasn¡¯t alone. Four other soldiers stood as well, free from the fleshy pustules and writhing veins and what not. Free from the Flesh Plague, at least for now. Thanks to Ray. He¡¯d had to go out a little far so that the roaming tentacles and fleshy tendrils from the gargantuan Spirespine didn¡¯t interrupt him. It also helped that Gritty and Joaquin were busy distracting the thing. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have,¡± Ray said, eyeing them all with no small amount of disdain. ¡°We had a deal, a plan. And you gave us up in the end. You double-crossed us and let your stupid leaders fool you into not only betraying me and my friends, but also in turning yourselves into sacrifices.¡± His words left no room for doubt, hammering home their culpability in all that had occurred. Ray wasn¡¯t in a merciful mood to sugarcoat things, even if it might have been helpful, because ultimately, he was looking for their cooperation. But the time for polite requests was gone. Now, they were going to do their part or suffer the consequences. Ray pointed to the giant fleshy monster that had taken over the royal palace. ¡°See that thing? That¡¯s what your decision led to.¡± It wasn¡¯t the complete truth. Even if everything and everyone had turned against the Floor Lord, Ray was still pretty damn sure the Spirespine would have come out anyway. But these idiots didn¡¯t need to know that. ¡°So now,¡± he continued. ¡°Are you ready to correct your mistakes?¡± They didn¡¯t all look contrite. Ray hadn¡¯t picked a random selection of the suffering soldiers. He had found the ones most suffering, the ones who Joaquin hadn¡¯t tended to, and given them the blessing of his ability to use the Fleshcrafter Tower Nodes to fix the Flesh Plague. They were the ones who would appreciate it the most. Still. As much as they looked equal parts relieved at their new state as they were horrified at the condition of their fellows and their ruler¡¯s home, Ray couldn¡¯t tell if they were ready to give it their all. Because that was what they would need right now. ¡°I¡¯ll admit, I didn¡¯t help you out of the goodness of my heart,¡± Ray said. ¡°We need to take down the Spirespine and I can¡¯t do that alone. But you, all of you, you¡¯re devoted to your kingdom, aren¡¯t you? Wouldn¡¯t you do anything to serve and protect the Everstead?¡± Slowly, their resolve grew. The horror and relief were still there, but the lack of contrition was changing to determination. Ray had been right. They might not believe in him, might not even be that thankful to him despite the fact that he was the one who had helped them. But they still valued their country. That was why they had originally betrayed Ray¡¯s plan. And that was why, right now, they would do whatever it took to free their comrades. One of the soldiers stepped forward. ¡°Tell us what¡¯s your plan.¡± Ray tried not to be testy, but he couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°I did once, and look where that¡¯s gotten us.¡± The soldier had the grace to wince. ¡°This time, there will be no betrayal. Trust me. I will give everything I can, my life included, if it means I can save my kingdom.¡± ¡°As will I,¡± said a second soldier. In no time at all, the third, fourth, and fifth had all echoed the same sentiments. Ray nodded at them all. ¡°Alright, then. Listen up.¡±
¡°You sure this will work?¡± Gritty asked. Ray raised an eyebrow at her. ¡°You got a better idea?¡± ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m not the ideas gal.¡± ¡°Then I guess we¡¯re stuck with me.¡± He grinned. ¡°Lucky you.¡± Joaquin and the Everstead soldiers had already spread out. They were doing well to keep the Spirespine distracted. Every time one of the tendrils got close, they blasted it with one of their skills or attacked with a weapon. At times, it didn¡¯t do much. The tendrils moved too fast, were too large, barely affected by the meagre damage the others could output. But every single one was definitely felt by the Spirespine. The intensity with which it attacked increased every time it was struck, forcing the others to retreat before trying again. The perfect distraction for Ray to enact his part as the lynchpin of the plan. Wishing Gritty good luck, Ray created distance between himself and the gigantic monstrosity. He had no idea if this was going to work. But he had to try. Just like the soldiers of the Everstead, he was determined to give it his all. Clutching True Mana shards in his hands, Ray began casting. First, Lifeblood Soulform to create three flying Greater Windbane Maws around him. They floated around him, their slit-pupiled eyes focused on the Spirespine and their jaws flaming with black-red chaos. Next, Ray cast Mottling Spiritguard. Not once, not twice, not even thrice. He kept on casting the same spell over and over and over again. It was only when he was so surrounded by Spiritguard orbs that his view was completely blocked off by a storm of revolving black-red spheres that he finally stopped. Not just black and red ones. Ray had also called up his Viledrake tail, imbuing several of the orbs with Molten Mana to turn them glowing orange with Abstract Conversion and Origin Resonance. With the amount of spells Ray had cast, he had needed to expend two thirds of all the True Mana shards he had left in store. He breathed in deep, ignoring the raw smell in the air. This had better work. Ray: I¡¯m ready. Gritty: Then go! Activating Vengeful Plunder, Ray aimed one of the draconic maws on his arm¡ªcourtesy of Primal Spiritcraft¡ªat just the right spot. Primordial Gauge in his eyes informed him where the Mana on the humongous Spirespine was thickest, indicating the spot where the Floor Lord most likely was using her Tower Nodes to supply that thing with energy. That was where Ray had to target. That was where the blast from his draconic maw flew.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. A single strike from one chaotic laser was never going to be enough. Even if Ray considered himself strong, considered his True Mana spells to be along the lines of overpowered. Against a monster that was Tier 23 and level 88, there was no chance a single direct attack would leave any noticeable damage. But Ray¡¯s goal wasn¡¯t to damage. Not now. Not at first. Not with just one lone lasering breath. As soon as the breath from the maw was close enough, he used Spectral Step. Soaring Wings was on his back, but of course, they weren¡¯t going to keep him afloat for long. That was alright. Ray didn¡¯t want to fly. He was here to kill. Having teleported close enough, all his attack-stance Spiritguard orbs rushed at the monstrous amalgamation of flesh before, beneath, and basically everywhere around him except for his back. They smashed in altogether, striking the Spirespine in an unending barrage. Ray couldn¡¯t even note the damage properly. He saw flesh rupturing, turning chaotic, only to be obliterated by a sphere of vaporizing lava. What he was truly concerned with was the rise in his own powers. Every single orb that struck the Spirespine was far stronger than the last one. All thanks to Ray having used Vengeful Plunder to raise his stats with every blow he landed on his target. He didn¡¯t wait. He didn¡¯t have to. Even if Ray had summoned a gazillion of the orbs before teleporting in, having them attack all at once meant he grew just as fast. And the sheer number of orbs meant he grew a lot. As soon as the storm of Spiritguard orbs had begun attacking, the Spirespine had cried out. It was wet, warbling roar coming from deep within, like it had covered up even if its own mouth with its all-encompassing flesh. But its rage was evident. The tendrils that had been distracted by Ray¡¯s allies so far all rushed towards him now. Slow. Way too slow. The Spiritguard orbs had already finished carving a massive hole near the top of the Spirespine. Steaming blood filled it, lava still digging deeper by burning and vaporising through the monster¡¯s fleshy mass. Ray took a good, satisfied look at the devastation, then disappeared. One of the Spiritguard orbs had flown past the location he had struck. Instead, he had sent it out to scour across the monster¡¯s ¡°head¡±. Another Spectral Step had taken him out of the range of the incoming, enraged tendrils. More importantly, they had taken him out of the way of the lasers fired by the Greater Windbane Maws. Even as his constructs flew towards their target, they fired their fiery breaths, shooting them as compressed beams straight into the gigantic wound Ray had left. The Spirespine screamed out even louder. Its tendrils were unable to do a single thing to protect it. Power burned through Ray. Livid energy roiled through him, his skin feeling like it would spontaneously combust. It was the same for all his constructs. They were directly connected to his power. That meant, having raised all his stats tremendously with the Spiritguard storm, the laser breaths were unstoppable. They carved through the air and smashed into the wound. The Spirespine¡¯s tendrils were swept aside like nothing more than cobwebs. The explosion was awestriking. Ray shook where he stood, his footing slick on the monster¡¯s fleshy surface. His eyes were filled with black and red. This was his chaos. His overwhelming power. He laughed. This fucking Spirespine wasn¡¯t standing a moment¡¯s chance. When it all finally ended, where bits of corrupted, burning flesh fell around him in a hellish rain, Ray stepped forward. His heart thudded. It wasn¡¯t with anxiety or trepidation. Oh no, he was simply eager to finally end this. At the lip of the gigantic crater his powers had carved out on top of the Spirespine, Ray looked down. He grinned. There. Just as he had been aiming for. He had opened a direct path straight to the Floor Lord embedded within the Spirespine. With no hesitation, Ray jumped down.
Kredevel was being crushed. He hadn¡¯t seen what the Floor Lord had planned, though he couldn¡¯t really be blamed for it. Even the king of the Everstead hadn¡¯t known that his volatile ally would summon a gargantuan creature of flesh around them all. The initial panic had faded. Being imprisoned inside a fleshy construct where every iota of open space was replaced with meat and blood and what else made up this monstrosity was a novel experience. Kredevel certainly had no frame of reference to comfort himself with. Yet, after panicking and feeling as though he was going to die¡­ he had not. It was more along the lines of being assimilated into this monster. The flesh that had appeared everywhere, that had joined together with every piece of him, was breaking him down. That should have been frightening, but the feeling had simply been wrung out of Kredevel. It had taken him a few moments to realize that panicking and worrying was playing into the hands of his captor. He wasn¡¯t suffocating, no matter how much his body tried to tell him that he was. This was excellent, for now he had time to act. Channelling Growth Mana from within, Kredevel did his best to call up Projected Growth. It was slow going. He barely made any progress, felt constantly as though he ought to be giving up. His powers simply¡­ refused to work as they ought to. Maybe, with his last breath, he could curse the Floor Lord for causing all this. Moments later, this changed rapidly. Everything began shaking. The monster he was trapped inside was rumbling and moving. Something was going on outside. The bubble of hope arising in Kredevel grew larger when his captor¡¯s rumbles took on an obvious annoyed and pained tone. Someone was attacking the creature. He knew in all his heart clusters. There was a chance, however small, that Kredevel could make it out of this monster. He focused on Projected Growht. More. More. He had to carve his way out. The desperation burned along every interstice and vein within him, across every patch of his skin. Kredevel would be free. He was pushing and shoving, Trying to make his way forward any way he could. He couldn¡¯t fail, not when the assault outside was getting relentless and overwhelming. Not when¡ª Freedom. Kredevel heaved in huge lungfuls of air as a gigantic explosion and one more shove forced his head out into un-fleshed air. Unbelievable. Impossible. He had somehow actually made his out of the insides of the flesh monster. Kredevel was about to laugh manically at his success, but then he nearly fell. His breath caught. He was quite high up. Several hundreds of feet. It made sense. He had been overtaken by this flesh at the very top of the royal palace. Of course the freedom he attained would put him out in the exact same location. But it wasn¡¯t just the height that had made Kredevel freeze up. There was a crater nearby. A huge hole, weeping steaming blood and burning alive under the effects of lava that continued to eat away it. Tatters of burning meat were falling all around him, with the flesh everywhere mottling and twisting into untenable shapes everywhere. Kredevel could only stare at the extent of the damage and destruction for a moment. Whoever or whatever had caused something this massive had to be powerful. This power¡­ the effects on the flesh¡­ Kredevel looked around, but he found little in the bloody smoke. That was when he spotted the most curious bit of it all. The Floor Lord was at the bottom of the crater in the burning, molten flesh. She was embedded there like a corpse interred in the earth. Much of the flesh from the monstrosity was attached to parts of her like nerves. Her eyes were closed, like she really was dead, with only the top half of her body visible out of the monster all around her. But Kredevel knew quite well she wasn¡¯t dead. He tried to talk. He tried to shout, to given vent to the building rage within him. But his voice wouldn¡¯t work. Just as when he tried to talk, his throat clawed at him from the inside. He really wished he could have something to drink. Good thing he didn¡¯t need to talk. For a moment after Kredevel had emerged from the fleshy titan¡¯s interior, Ray arrived. His friend spared the briefest glance, full of relief, at him. Ray¡¯s attention was mostly riveted to the Floor Lord. He descended into the fleshy murk, making his way through the smoke, through the blood spurting everywhere, his feet squelching as he landed near his target. That was when the Floor Lord opened her eyes. ¡°You are no less a monster,¡± she said, her hateful eyes fixed on Ray. Kredevel couldn¡¯t see his friend¡¯s expression from this angle, but the posture told him everything. It was rare to see Ray that cold, that angry, that bent on delivering nothing but death. The only other time he had seen Ray like that had been against that vile Denizen, Derrick Orden. ¡°We¡¯ve talked more than enough,¡± Ray said. ¡°I¡¯ve only got one thing to say to you, Floor Lord. Will you, or will you not, end the Flesh Plague?¡± The Floor Lord didn¡¯t answer. Well, she did. But not verbally. Instead, a void formed around her¡ª And ended less than an instant later when Ray¡¯s hand shot in as fast as a praying mantis. The draconic head around his hand, snapped its massive jaws. Kredevel saw the Floor Lord¡¯s body twitch for just a second before it fell still. He found himself holding his breath, hardly able to believe what he had just witnessed. Dead. The Floor Lord was finally dead. Finally, as his mouth opened wide, Kredevel found his voice and screamed in triumph. B2 Chapter 62 (129): Surrender The final victory should have enlivened Ray. It should have left him with a feeling of triumph, a satisfaction that he had not only done what was right, but also that he had proven everything he had set out to do. But what it felt like in truth was just another hurdle he had crossed. Killing the Floor Lord and defeating the evil Everstead had never been one of his goals. That wasn¡¯t an Objective he had to accomplish. It felt as though he spent an inordinate amount of energy accomplishing something he had already achieved before. After all, he had killed the Lord of the First Floor too. He had defeated the evil faction of the Wild Tides there as well. It was¡­ a little repetitive, if he really thought about it holistically. Maybe that was why his Objectives were so different. It made sense why Ray still didn¡¯t feel the euphoria that should have accompanied his victory. He still had some of his Objectives left to complete. How could he feel satisfied until that was done? Although, he supposed he could rest now that he had overcome such a huge obstacle in the shape of the Floor Lord and all her allies. That was why he was lying on the grass far from the palace. Or what remained of it. The gigantic Spirespine, though now dead, hadn¡¯t simply disappeared. Oh no. Things weren¡¯t that easy. But Ray was spared the hard task of digging through the dead flesh and extricating the people within. He had already done his part. It was his turn to take a break. That said, he did entertain himself by watching what was going on through the flying Scouring Eyeball he had sent forth. His observation was complemented by keeping an eye on the chat too. Gritty had showed him how to barge in on other chats between people he already had chats with, so long as they weren¡¯t set to private. Kredevel: We have rescued the king, finally. He is, unfortunately, not dead. It had taken them the better part of a day to get to that stage. Ray had taken a long sleep, then gone about healing some more of the Infected. The soldiers he had used his Fleshcrafter Tower Nodes on hadn¡¯t re-contracted the Flesh Plague, so that was a nice positive. Although, they were staying very far away from the rest of their ill brethren. At least they were helping with the dead Spirespine. Which was all that really mattered. Ray: What about the others? Kredevel: We are still searching. I will hope they have not suffered the same as my comrades¡­ Ray: I hope so too. Sorry again about Ferron and the others. Kredevel: There is nothing to regret. We all went into this battle, came to this Floor, knowing that our lives might be forfeit. As soon as the Spirespine had fallen dead, they had gotten busy trying to retrieve the ones who had been trapped within it just like them. Their endeavours hadn¡¯t been successful. It was hard work cutting through the thick flesh, even with all the skills they possessed. Ray was trying to conserve the strength of his Tower Nodes for the Infected and there was only so much Gritty could do. No surprise, then, that they ended up finding that several of those within had passed away. That included some of Kredevel¡¯s Sylvan companions. Not all of them had been able to push their way out like Kredevel himself had. At least, Kredevel had been able to rescue Serian. The younger Sylvan had been on death¡¯s door, but Joaquin had magically fixed him back up in a jiffy. Ray didn¡¯t bother getting up. Interesting as it was that the king was alive, he could already see the Everstead gathering around him. They would deal with their traitorous monarch in short order. After some more hours, when the others still hadn¡¯t found Ram, Bam, Lam or Mary Felds, Ray got moving. No point idling about his day. He had already taken a little trip around on Cliff One, finding and killing monsters to grant himself some more Essence. Having reached level 45, he had earned another new spell, which was pretty interesting. [Information Request¡ªSpells] Soulblood Domain [Utility] [Tier 5] A primal spirit spell that creates a field of heightened spell power around the caster, depending on the abilities used by enemies within the range of this spell¡¯s area of effect. At Tier 5, this spell creates a heightening field of up to 15 meters, raising the potency of each of the caster¡¯s spells by 10% every time an opponent uses a Mana-based ability, and costs 250 True Mana. Need less to say, Ray was quite intrigued to try something like that out. It wouldn¡¯t be that useful against regular monsters. But in extended fights, like against the Floor Lord, how could he not make use of it? A ten percent increase meant he¡¯d get a free upgrade to the next Tier within ten uses of any ability. Brilliant. Ray had received a ton of Essence through the battle. But since he still hadn¡¯t attained another class evolution, he was going to keep going. Especially since it looked like he was going to remain on the Second Floor a while longer. ¡°No sign of them yet?¡± Ray asked when he returned. He had pushed himself to level 45. A class evolution had to be soon, right? Gritty shook her head. She was sitting on a hillside, looking a little exhausted. Ray couldn¡¯t recall if he had ever seen her appear that beat down. ¡°You alright?¡± he asked. He considered giving her like a snack or something, but since he didn¡¯t have a Mana fruit on him, he thought about offering a True Mana shard. But no, that wasn¡¯t going to work. Gritty didn¡¯t specialize in True Mana. She took a deep breath before answering. ¡°I¡¯m fine. It¡¯s just¡­ I feel like I need to be moving on. But at the same time, things went by so fast on this Floor, I feel like I haven¡¯t hit my stride here either.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯d suggest against moving on until you¡¯ve hit another class evolution.¡± ¡°See, I¡¯d get bored of that. I need ten more levels to hit it, if what they said about needing to reach level 50 is correct.¡± Gritty looked up at him with an eyebrow raised. The spinal cord tattoos on the side of her neck seemed to writhe like they were alive. ¡°You¡¯re not tired of it?¡± ¡°Nope. I¡¯m thankful I¡¯m not, too.¡± Gritty shook her head, though she looked a little sad for some reason. Ray waited patiently, letting her spill what was on her mind at her own pace. ¡°You understand, don¡¯t you, wingman?¡± she said. Ray decided to take a seat next Gritty. ¡°Understand what?¡± ¡°Why I don¡¯t feel like just levelling up and growing my power like you.¡± ¡°I¡ª¡± Ray realized he did. He knew Gritty too well by now. It wasn¡¯t had for him to figure her out. ¡°I know, yeah. You¡¯re not in it for the power, like I am. You¡¯re not looking to be the most powerful so no one can control you. Not like me. Power, for you, is just a means to an end.¡± ¡°And the end is¡­¡± she prompted, with a strange mix of trepidation and ferocity. ¡°The end¡­ is ki¡ªis fighting.¡± ¡°No, you said it right the first time.¡± Ray sighed. ¡°Alright, fine. It¡¯s killing. You like fighting because it lets you kill. And you like it because in this world, you can kill with impunity and no one¡¯s going to stop you, especially when you can kill the wrong person.¡± ¡°Bingo!¡± She clapped mirthlessly, her smile as sharp as the edge of a knife. ¡°I knew you got me like no one else gets me.¡± Ray laughed. ¡°Maya must have been so eager to kick you out of the First Floor before you started causing trouble.¡± ¡°I might be bloodthirsty, but I¡¯m not evil, wingman. Unless you¡¯re evil. In which case, I¡¯m the evilest person you¡¯re ever going to meet.¡± ¡°So that¡¯s why you want to get out of the Second Floor now too. Because there¡¯s nobody who¡¯s actually evil left here.¡± ¡°Bingo again. There¡¯s no real fun in killing more of these Everstead when they¡¯re all already kind of dying.¡± Ray decided to take that as a morbid joke. He stood back up, stretched a bit. ¡°You weren¡¯t there on the top of the palace, Gritty, when the Lord of the Third Floor and his posse came down. If you thought the Floor Lord I finally killed was bad, now that guy was a piece of work.¡± ¡°You¡¯re saying I shouldn¡¯t even think about going to the Third Floor until I¡¯ve got my next class evolution in the bag. In a roundabout way, of course.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Yes. Honestly, even another class evolution might not be enough. Pretty sure I saw that guy was in the seventies.¡± ¡°What a fucking geezer.¡± ¡°I meant in level.¡± Gritty snorted. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine, wingman. You¡¯ll be fine. You worry too much. Here.¡± She pulled off some grass and handed the tufts to Ray. ¡°Chew on some grass. Cows do it all the time. I heard its really peaceful. You need some peace.¡± When Ray protested that he wasn¡¯t a cow, she thrust the grass into his mouth. He glared, then spat it out. Gritty laughed. She did have a point, he conceded. It wouldn¡¯t do to worry needlessly. ¡°Have you reached all your Objectives to get to the Second Floor?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Yeah, most of them,¡± she said. ¡°Just need to¡ª¡± she grinned ¡°¡ªdo some more killing, and I¡¯m home free. The question left is who exactly is gonna approve the Denizens who are supposed to climb higher up the Tower.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Ray looked forward to where the dead Spirespine sat in place of the palace in the distance. ¡°I¡¯ve been wondering that too.¡± The chat had helped soothe him a little, and Ray set off to heal some more of the Infected. Joaquin and the others had arranged them in neat, orderly rows with the scant comfort they had been able to provide. Other Everstead from elsewhere on Cliff One, and some from Cliff Two, had brought in supplies and come to help them. That had hastened their operation and also burgeoned their hope. Ray took some time, trying to see who was in most pain. One of the attendants, a Denizen with healing powers since the Everstead didn¡¯t want to remain close to the Flesh Plague, showed Ray to a man who was on the verge of the death as far as they had been able to determine. Thanking the Denizen, Ray got to work. He called up the Tower Nodes of the Fleshcrafter. Four of them popped up. The latest had been a new addition from killing the Floor Lord. They revolved around him like his Spiritguard orbs. Ray focused on the newest one and concentrated on its ability to modify and manipulate flesh. He targeted its power on his selected patient. And promptly disappeared from the world. ¡°Why¡¯d you bring me here again?¡± Ray asked, crashing waves punctuating his words. He was back on the damned shoreline. The spot where the first terrestrials were crawling out of the depths of the ocean, the cradle of life, onto land. Creatures of various shapes and sizes he couldn¡¯t identify. A precipice of evolution. The Fleshcrafter walked away from the shoreline and approached him, still looking like the fleshy manikin hung in doctor¡¯s offices. ¡°You appear rather distraught for someone who has overcome great adversity to assure his victory.¡± His mouth spread wide in an eerie grin. ¡°When you have defeated me.¡± ¡°Cut the crap. The way you¡¯re grinning, you know you haven¡¯t lost anything. Not yet. Not really.¡± Ray crossed his arms, both relieved that he could do so, and annoyed that he was so physically present that he could cross his arms. ¡°So why am I here, Fleshcrafter?¡± The Paragon took his sweet time considering. ¡°Perhaps you could tell me, couldn¡¯t you? You are intelligent enough.¡± ¡°I could make guesses. I might have beaten your best warrior on the Second Floor, but there¡¯s still the Third Floor left. But the truth is, it¡¯s your fucking plague. I still haven¡¯t ended it. You¡¯re here just to gloat about that, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°You think far too highly of yourself. What need does a Paragon like me have to gloat in the face of a little mortal Denizen such as yourself, hmm?¡± ¡°Then would you mind not wasting anybody¡¯s time and just telling me why I¡¯m here?¡± ¡°Fine, then.¡± He allowed some time for the wave crashing in to finish. ¡°You are correct. The Flesh Plague still writhes through the Everstead. And it will continue to do so, regardless of your efforts.¡± ¡°Liar. I¡¯ve already healed several of them. I can make sure the entire kingdom is free from your plague.¡± The Fleshcrafter tutted. ¡°No. You are mistaken. The plague yet remains. All you have done is soothe its symptoms for the time being. In time, it will return, once more debilitating all those it has landed upon, until it is their time to pass on. For they cannot bear such a burden.¡± ¡°Why? What¡¯s the point in causing a plague that will only end up killing them? Didn¡¯t you say you needed living followers?¡± ¡°Temporary reluctant followers will still do. But you are right in one sense, Denizen. I have been beaten on the Second Floor. A regrettable loss, and I must certainly reconsider the direction of my efforts, considering it has been thwarted not once, but twice now. Try a new tack, if you understand my meaning.¡± ¡°So why keep bothering the Everstead with this senseless plague, even when it isn¡¯t going to help you?¡± The Fleshcrafter¡¯s fleshy shoulders rose up and down in a far too humanlike shrug. Then again, the form of the manikin he had taken was entirely humanoid too, so that really shouldn¡¯t have been surprising. ¡°Because I can. So I will. That is all there is to it.¡± Ray¡¯s whole body turned cold at those words. ¡°Is that all you came here to tell me?¡± ¡°My, my. What audacity to think I came anywhere to tell you anything. But I will forgive your lapse in judgment. The true matter is thus¡ªyou do have the power to end the Flesh Plague, once and for all. And that power is contacting me.¡± Ray got what the Fleshcrafter was ultimately referring to. The Paragon before him could remove the Flesh Plague, which Ray supposedly had no power to fully deal with. But it would no doubt be conditional. ¡°In return for what?¡± Ray asked. Again, that eerie grin. A predator¡¯s grin. ¡°In return for a Tower Node.¡± Ray¡¯s spine shivered before going stiff. ¡°No way.¡± ¡°It is up to you, Denizen Raymond. Do you value the lives of these Everstead enough to comply with my wishes and free them from their accursed plague, or¡­ will you too suffer the same curse?¡± ¡°Now that¡¯s a lie. You can¡¯t affect actual Denizens. The System won¡¯t let you. That¡¯s why your stupid, fucking plague has never actually harmed a Denizen. It¡¯s why you needed your pawn of a Floor Lord to create an entire race of fake Denizens to push your plague onto. I know what you can and can¡¯t do, Fleshcrafter, and harming me isn¡¯t one of them.¡± The Fleshcrafter laughed. ¡°Ah, the audacity. It is almost refreshing. No wonder he likes you.¡± Ray was about to interrupt, but the Paragon went on before he could do so. ¡°You are correct once again about everything you said. However, you left a lot unsaid, indicating your ignorance.¡± ¡°About what?¡± ¡°Now that you are here, tell me, have you ever wondered if you could go back on your own?¡± Ray froze. All he had to fall back on were his past meetings with other Paragons. With the Marauder, the Mentor, and even the Fleshcrafter himself. In not a single one of those cases had Ray ever been in enough control of the situation to simply exit¡­ wherever he was brought to. The same went for this specific case too. He wasn¡¯t in control of it, didn¡¯t have the faintest clue how he was supposed to get out of here if he wanted to. Closing his eyes, he tried to concentrate. He tried to think of where he had been and how he could make his way back there, but nothing happened. No matter how hard he thought, no matter how much he believed he could simply reappear in the real world he belonged to, it didn¡¯t work. When Ray opened his eyes, he was still before the grinning Fleshcrafter. ¡°You cannot leave,¡± the Paragon repeated. ¡°Not without my say so.¡± ¡°So what?¡± Ray asked, trying to damp down the rising panic. ¡°You¡¯re just going to keep me trapped here?¡± ¡°Yes. Why not? Because I can, after all.¡± ¡°You fucking piece of¡ª¡± ¡°Unless you cooperate with my demands.¡± ¡°Ha. I¡¯ll just wait. That¡¯s all I have to do, right? You can trap me, but you can¡¯t do anything to me.¡± ¡°Again, correct. I can cause you no physical harm. I cannot hinder your progress up the Tower directly via any means. In fact, if you recall, time back in your world is frozen for as long as you are with a Paragon. In other words, I cannot even distract you at a critical moment.¡± Ray swallowed. ¡°But¡­?¡± The Fleshcrafter¡¯s grin grew wider. ¡°But I can keep you here on and on and on. Right here, in this singular spot. Oh you will live. Nothing about you will be harmed or change. But you will be here, in stasis, forever. Do you understand the implication of such a state?¡± Ray swallowed. He was already thinking about said implication. Locked to this location for an eternity, where he was held in one state for time immemorial¡­ He would go insane. There was no doubt about that. He couldn¡¯t help but look around, seeing that there was basically nothing. The flat land and the gently-lapping ocean stretched out to infinite on either side., the shoreline going on into the horizon. ¡°Let me make it clear,¡± the Flreshcrafter said. ¡°You would remain here, trapped forever in this singular location. You cannot die. You cannot age. Nothing about your body will progress, so you will never feel hunger or thirst. You cannot sleep. You cannot go anywhere. All this to say, the stimuli you experience in this domain will be the same. Forever. ¡°And believe me, your little mortal mind cannot even begin to comprehend the idea of an unchanging forever. I can keep you here for days, weeks, months, aeons. You will beg me to free you in mere days. You will try to kill yourself within a week. You will start attempting to tear the skin off your own flesh, gouge out your own eyes, choke on your own torn-off¡ª¡± ¡°I get it.¡± The Fleshcrafter¡¯s smile was the softest it had ever been since Ray had come here again. ¡°Why would I need to harm you, Denizen Raymond, when your own mind will do it for me?¡± ¡°But all this¡­¡± ¡°What? You think the System will protect you? Please. No time will pass here, remember? After an uncountable number of years, when you are nothing more than a gibbering, self-mutilated hunk of¡­ flesh, I will return you to the very instant in your world you first came here, the System will think nothing is amiss. Do you not believe me?¡± Ray¡¯s breaths had turned shallow. He did. He believed the Fleshcrafter. He had no doubt a Paragon had more than enough power to do all that and worse. Taking a deep breath, Ray closed his eyes. The Fleshcrafter was getting to him. That threat had sunk in deep, had settled like a spike of fear pinning his soul to his spine. But that was it. A threat. A roundabout demand for Ray to comply. ¡°All I need to do is hand over a Tower Node?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Yes.¡± The Fleshcrafter smiled. ¡°I will be merciful and only demand the one. Relinquish it, and you can walk free. I will return you immediately to whence you came. I will recall my Flesh Plague and set the Everstead free. See? I can be reasonable. All you must do is comply.¡± Ray took another deep breath. His immediate fearful instinct was to do just that. Comply. ¡°How do I know you¡¯re telling the truth? I could comply, and you might still end up doing everything you threatened. All because you can.¡± The Fleshcrafter laughed. ¡°You are correct. I could. But you have no power here. You can either comply, or not, and suffer the consequences of your choice. Which will it be, little mortal?¡± ¡°You¡¯re a Paragon. Give me a sign that I¡¯m not fooling myself. Something that proves you¡¯re not just toying with me.¡± ¡°How bold of you to make demands. Maybe I really should just leave you here to rot.¡± He actually began turning away, and Ray¡¯s heart turned to jelly. Fear made him open his mouth, but he bit down on his lips, then spoke anyway. ¡°I relinquish,¡± Ray said. ¡°I¡¯ll give you the Tower Node you want. Just please¡­ please, let me go back.¡± ¡°Ah, excellent.¡± The Fleshcrafter came back with a smile. ¡°You came to your senses. Now, hand over the Tower Node of the Marauder.¡± Ray¡¯s breath caught in his chest. ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°Now.¡± Sighing, Ray closed his eyes and focused. He hadn¡¯t even realized he could call up Tower Nodes in a place like this, but then, if he could use a spell like Primordial Gauge, then it wasn¡¯t really surprising. A few moments later, the Tower Node appeared between him and the Fleshcrafter. ¡°How do I simply give it up?¡± ¡°It is an act of will,¡± the Fleshcrafter said, eyes on the floating crystal. ¡°Surrender, through your soul, then step back. Should you be successful, it will not follow you.¡± Ray did so. He concentrated on the act of severing his will from the Tower Node, his heart offering a little pang of loss. When he stepped back, the Tower Node remained where he had cast it out. The Fleshcrafter grinned. ¡°Well done, Denizen Raymond. As a magnanimous Paragon, I will indeed return you to your world. Perhaps next time, we will meet in happier circumstances.¡± Ray¡¯s whole body shivered at those words. He blinked. Back. He really was back. Right in front of that plague-infected man he had been about to use the Tower Node¡¯s power on. Right next to his Tower Nodes. Not four Tower Nodes, though. Three. He grinned. Relief flooded him. As did a slowly-building euphoria, and a ferocity that quickly smashed aside the fear that had taken root in the Paragon¡¯s domain. He was back. Even better, he had done it. Ray held up a middle finger at the three Tower Nodes of the Fleshcrafter. ¡°Take that, you asshole.¡± With a little focus of will, the Tower Node of the Marauder appeared next to him. ¡°I still have the Tower Node you want.¡± B2 Chapter 63 (130): New Lord For the first time since the end of the big battle, Ray felt properly happy. It wasn¡¯t just a low relief that he had come out victorious, the near-everyday sense of satisfaction that was all that had come out of his triumph against his enemies. This time, after tricking the Fleshcrafter, he was bubbly. Cheerful. Fucking bombastic, if he was being completely honest. ¡°You actually made him think his own Tower Node was the one he wanted?¡± Gritty was asking. Her face reflected the grin Ray felt on his own. ¡°With just Mimic Mana?¡± ¡°Well, not just Mimic Mana. I wish my Mimic Mana was strong enough for that. But no. I still needed the Tower Node of the Augmenter. It¡¯s what allowed the Imitators to act like actual people.¡± ¡°You mean it¡¯s what amplifies the Mimic Mana to fool even the System, which is why fooling a Paragon was a piece of cake.¡± Ray¡¯s grin felt like it was splitting his cheeks a bit too much. He liked it. ¡°Exactly.¡± They laughed together. It was especially delightful because the Paragon couldn¡¯t do a thing about it. So long as Ray didn¡¯t use the Fleshcrafter Tower Nodes again. That was a loss, no doubt. But he admitted he couldn¡¯t win at all things. The exchange had more than benefitted him in the end. After all, the Fleshcrafter had kept his promise. The Flesh Plague had been taken away. All the Infected were returning to their usual selves. ¡°Strange to think that one of your Tower Nodes was important enough to offer taking away the plague on everybody in exchange for it,¡± Gritty said contemplatively. Ray hummed. ¡°Makes sense to me.¡± ¡°Oh yeah?¡± ¡°Yeah. He wanted the Tower Node of the Marauder. As far as I know, the Marauder is the only other Paragon who actually has a vested interest in the Tower of Forging.¡± ¡°So he wants to take out the competition.¡± ¡°Basically. He wants to take out the only Paragon who could stop his plans.¡± They sat in companionable silence on the hillside. With the withdrawal of the Flesh Plague, Ray now had almost all his Objectives completely done. There were still a few monster related ones left, but he wasn¡¯t worried about those. The more important decision was who to give the Tower Node of the Adjudicator to. The death of the Floor Lord meant that there needed to be a new Floor Lord. At least, someone who could use the Tower Node of the Adjudicator to grant qualified Denizens passage higher up the Tower. Just like how on the First Floor they had all settled on Maya fulfilling that role. Here, though, Ray wasn¡¯t certain who he was supposed to trust with it. Nobody had come up with a sensible suggestion yet. None of the Denizens wanted it, nor would Ray have willingly given it to them. They were ascenders. Climbers. Not exactly the best judge of others of their kind. The surviving Sylvans weren¡¯t interested in it either. Kredevel and his companions wanted to climb higher up too. That left the Everstead, but Ray didn¡¯t trust them in the slightest. No way. For the time being, they decided to put off the decision. After all, Ray hadn¡¯t attained his second class evolution yet, so there was still some time. He supposed he was kind of holding advancement up to higher floors hostage, since he alone possessed and controlled the Adjudicator Tower Node. Nobody could go to the Third Floor without it, even if their Objectives had been completed. Kind of selfish of him, admittedly, but hey, it wasn¡¯t like a sensible judge had popped up yet. That was, until they finally unearthed the last of the people from within the Spirespine¡¯s carcass. Kredevel: The Holdstar trio and the icy one. We found them both. Ray had been a little taken aback by the suddenness of the message, but he had quickly made his way over to the location of the former royal palace. Kredevel was right. They really had found Ram, Bam, Lam, and even Mary Felds finally. ¡°They were¡­ together?¡± Ray found himself asking. ¡°It would appear so,¡± Kredevel said. ¡°We will need to ask the Holdstar themselves for any further answers.¡± That wasn¡¯t going to be a problem. Because Mary had preserved both herself and the Holdstar in an encasing of prismatic ice. A hollow encasing. Ray had personally experienced just how strong and durable that prism was, so it was no surprise that they both appeared fine. Ray melted it in short order with his Molten Mana. ¡°Hey there. Been a while, Ram, Bam, Lam. I see you¡¯ve got an interesting guest with you.¡± The Holdstar trio had a somewhat apologetic look about them. They shivered as they stood. ¡°How good to see you again, Ray,¡± Ram said. ¡°You survived,¡± Bam said, failing to hide his incredulity. ¡°Again. I will admit I had little faith.¡± It was Lam¡¯s turn to add, ¡°For good reason. You were facing incredible odds. That you and yours managed to persevere through them is nothing short of a miracle.¡± Ray smiled. He looked past the three Holdstar to where Mary still lay on the ground. ¡°Oh, you guys don¡¯t even know the half of it. Forget your little Floor Lords and traitorous kings. I had to deal with a fucking Paragon to end this plague. And I¡¯m still alive to tell the tale.¡± All three of them gibbered excitedly at that, but it was Mary¡¯s reaction Ray had been looking forward to the most. She wasn¡¯t dead. Her chest was slowly rising and falling, and none of the wounds Ray saw looked actually life-threatening. At the mention of a Paragon, of dealing with the Paragon and his plague, her closed eyes twitched. Ray smiled. He turned back to Ram, Bam, and Lam. ¡°I¡¯m guessing you want some space and time to refresh yourselves. We¡¯ll take you somewhere that¡¯s¡­ a little less fleshy. I¡¯ve got something really important I¡¯d like to discuss.¡±Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°Oh?¡± Ram said. ¡°You¡¯re not curious about what we discovered?¡± ¡°Of course. You¡¯ll have my ears. But I¡¯m just saying¡ªwe¡¯ve been facing a small problem that I think you¡¯ve got the perfect solution for.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Bam asked, somewhat sceptically. ¡°Pray tell,¡± Lam said. ¡°What exactly is this problem?¡± ¡°How would you like to be the Floor Lord?¡± *** ¡°Are you sure you want us to do this?¡± Ram asked. ¡°I¡¯m positive,¡± Ray said. They had moved off to a more private location. Near the hillside that Ray had been finding himself on the last couple of days. The grass swayed gently in the light breeze. ¡°Here,¡± Ray said. He called out the Tower Node of the Adjudicator and shoved it towards the Holdstar trio. The relinquishing came easy. When Ray moved back, the Tower Node remained close to Ram, Bam, Lam. ¡°Incredible,¡± Lam said. ¡°To not only behold a Tower Node with our very own eyes, but to actually possess one. We are blessed on this day indeed.¡± ¡°Do you wish for us to begin operating it now?¡± Ram asked. Ray shook his head. ¡°I still have things I want to accomplish on the Second Floor, but once I¡¯m done, I¡¯ll be ready. If anyone else arrives, feel free to help them climb higher.¡± ¡°That is one thing I was concerned about¡­¡± Bam hissed. ¡°Do we really need to concern ourselves over such a thing?¡± ¡°Well, yes,¡± Ram said. ¡°After all, we are in the same boat now.¡± Ray looked between the Holdstar. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what you mean. Mind explaining the full context?¡± All three of the Holdstar looked squarely at Ray. Then they began the story of everything they had found out. The Floor Lord was the one who had created the Everstead in the first place. She was faced with a conundrum. On the one hand, she had to serve the Paragon and cause a Flesh Plague in a large number of sapient creatures. On the other hand, she couldn¡¯t blatantly stop the progress of the Denizens up the Tower. She could have attempted to use some sort of twisted guile like the Lord of the First Floor had done. But that was when she discovered a new method. Namely, the Tower Node of the Augmenter. With Amplification Mana now in her hand, she had a brilliant idea. If she couldn¡¯t take over subjects for the plague, she could simply create them. This led to her finding the most powerful Imitators on the entire Floor and getting in touch with them. Ram, Bam, Lam weren''t clear about that stage, as there were likely more Tower Nodes or other hidden mechanisms involved, but the Floor Lord was able to talk with the most powerful Imitators and convince them to conform to her plan. From the very beginning, the very first Imitators who had gained sentience were all in on the plan to infect most of their race with the Flesh Plague. The thought made Ray¡¯s mouth go dry. Somehow, Fyrlea the Floor Lord was able to get a hold of a person who could serve as a template for the Imitators to ¡°ascend¡±. With the help of the Amplification Mana she provided, the Imitators not only mimicked the human¡¯s shape, but were also able to mimic everything internal that made a human a person. Thoughts, feelings, memories. Everything. The power of Amplification Mana was quite intense. The Floor Lord and the first Imitators decided to play a layered trick. First was to convince the newer Imitators that they had to pretend to be this civilization of Everstead, while in truth, they were all being primed as sacrifices for the Fleshcrafter¡¯s plague. Second was the trick that they would all play on the real Denizens. That the Floor Lord was gone and the Everstead, this seemingly primitive civilization, were running the Second Floor. For their service, the Everstead would all be elevated to the Third Floor. They really believed it. Ray could almost see the stupid Everstead king laughing. ¡°You found all that out from Mary?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Is that why you sought her out inside the palace?¡± ¡°Partly, yes. I discovered some of this on my own while I was investigating. As I said, the numbers of what was allocated did not add up, but it began to make sense when I understood that the only numbers that mattered were that of the Mana shards. Their supply wasn¡¯t limited, you see.¡± ¡°What do you mean? They have a way to make Mana shards?¡± It reminded Ray of the experiments that the Lord of the First Floor had been determined to try out. A way to convert and create Mana. Ray could do that now, though he had no way of condensing said Mana into shards or crystals or anything of the sort. ¡°Not exactly,¡± Ram said. ¡°They were sending down more!¡± Bam yelled. ¡°We were told a big, fat lie. There was never a need to account how much the Floor Lord was or wasn¡¯t spending. Her entire expenditure was fully approved from the beginning, and they were always going to finance her, even if she needed more shards and crystals than was originally assumed.¡± Ray¡¯s next breath came in sharp. ¡°So your whole investigation was¡­¡± ¡°Pointless,¡± Lam said bitterly. ¡°A farce. I cannot believe it took us this long to discover it.¡± ¡°But back to Mary Felds,¡± Ram said. ¡°Yes, we wanted the rest of the truth from a source that wasn¡¯t the Everstead or the Sylvans, And she was willing to divulge all that she had discovered, for she was an investigator from the Everstead side.¡± Ray had a hard trouble believing that. Mary being cooperative? But he listened patiently as Ram continued. It turned out Mary had been hired on a farce as well. The leaders of the Everstead obviously didn¡¯t want her to do anything about it. Of course, they couldn¡¯t outright kill a Denizen either, even after she found out things she probably wasn¡¯t supposed to. Their attempts to orchestrate her death all failed. In the end, they made a deal with her. If she acted as their liaison, they would allow her to discover the exact location of the Floor Lord, which was one of her main Objectives. ¡°That¡¯s how she was able to make her way to the Third Floor,¡± Ray said. Ram made a noise of agreement in this throat. ¡°Yes. She agreed to assist the Everstead, even after she found out their deceptive truth.¡± Ray recalled what he had heard from Mary herself. Like him, she had been determined to climb higher up the Tower too. But unlike Ray, she wasn¡¯t that focused on her own growth. She didn¡¯t need to be. Not if she could handle her obstacles the way she had handled the Everstead. ¡°What will happen to her now?¡± Ram asked. ¡°We do not wish for her to die,¡± Bam said. ¡°She has been rather helpful, not someone we would see dead, if we can help it.¡± Lam swayed his head from side to side. ¡°Yes, even if she has tried to kill you and yours.¡± Ray closed his eyes for a second, trying to sort through his feelings. ¡°She chose her side and she suffered the consequences for her choice. I don¡¯t care if she¡¯s alive or dead. So long as she doesn¡¯t get in my way again, she can do whatever she wants. The problem is that she could still be serving her side.¡± ¡°With the Everstead broken, more or less, you must mean the Sylvans,¡± Ram said. Ray nodded. ¡°Yep. But that also means she could potentially be a fount of information.¡± He glanced meaningfully at his friend. ¡°To you, if not to anyone else.¡± ¡°Hmm, you may be right.¡± ¡°So, there. Just tell her to stay out of my way and get something useful from her about the Third Floor, and we¡¯re good.¡± Ray understood that sounded cruel. Keeping someone alive in part because she could be of use to him was a ruthless decision. But he wasn¡¯t inclined to forget Mary had thrown in her towel with his enemies. Worse, she herself had come to kill him and his friends as well. In all honesty, he was being fucking merciful. ¡°What about you yourself, Ram, Bam, Lam?¡± Ray asked. ¡°How are you feeling about all this? Do you want to be the Floor Lord?¡± All three Holdstar looked thoughtful for a while, exchanging rapid glances among themselves. ¡°We will remain here for now, yes,¡± Ram finally said. ¡°But at some point, we will need to move on. I was hired by the Everstead mostly because I¡¯m a wandering expert with few ties. And I would like to continue wandering. Plus, I will need to settle some personal affairs eventually.¡± ¡°Right, right. What I¡¯m asking is how you felt about the fact that everything you did was just part of a sham.¡± ¡°Ah, I was¡ª¡± ¡°We are furious!¡± Lam said. ¡°If it was in our power, we would be giving the Tower Lord a piece of our mind. In fact, once we leave, the very first thing we shall accomplish is leaving a strong complaint at the Hiring Federation. To think that they would approve such fraudulent jobs. Pathetic.¡± Ray was taken aback for a second, before he laughed outright. ¡°I suppose that about sums it up.¡± He got a hold of his mirth, before smiling genuinely at his friends. ¡°All the same, I¡¯m grateful you accepted. There¡¯s no one else who fits, and no one else I¡¯d really trust. So thank you. Really.¡± All three of the Holdstar smiled back at him. ¡°We are glad to be able to help,¡± Ram said. ¡°Yes!¡± Bam agreed with vigorous twirl of his head. ¡°Anything that helps you will no doubt hinder our accursed former employers. So we will contribute!¡± B2 Chapter 64 (131): To The Third Floor It didn¡¯t take long for Ray to realize that there wasn¡¯t much point in remaining on the Second Floor for long. He couldn¡¯t exactly kill more of the Everstead, and without them dying, farming was an extreme chore. The Essence he earned from the monsters wasn¡¯t enough to get him to level 50 in a reasonable timeframe. ¡°No waiting for a class evolution, then?¡± Gritty asked. Ray shook his head. ¡°Getting a little too tedious on the Second Floor to try to get to that.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯ve been trying to tell you from the beginning, wingman.¡± ¡°You¡¯re only a couple levels off me, so¡­¡± Gritty stared at him. ¡°Me being just a few levels from you is the reason you decided to stop farming on the Second Floor?¡± ¡°Well¡­ we need some kind of metric, don¡¯t we?¡± She just glared at him. Was probably cussing him out in her head too. They reached the centre of what once used to be the royal palace. There were still a lot of the remains of the Spirespine still about, which was what gave the area its fucking awful smell. Ray¡¯s nose was practically burning. Thankfully, it wasn¡¯t going to last long. ¡°You have arrived,¡± Ram said, with the other two greeting Ray and Gritty with bows of their heads. The Holdstar trio didn¡¯t look terribly displeased at having to wait here. Maybe the Holdstar didn¡¯t have too keen of a sense of smell. ¡°Are you ready?¡± ¡°Ready,¡± Ray said. ¡°You¡¯ll be heading to the Third Floor immediately after this, yes?¡± Ram turned to Gritty. ¡°And you as well, yes Gritty?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± she said. ¡°You already know this, so let¡¯s get on with it.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, just making sure.¡± Ram summoned up his Tower Node of the Adjudicator. ¡°Now let me just modify some things¡­¡± [Warning!] Multiple Objectives of Floor II have changed. Under the new rules, you have completed all Objectives. Ray grinned. There it was. It felt somewhat like cheating to flag his Objectives as completed in this manner, but some of them were just a little insane. They had originally been set with the assumption that the Floor Lord would structure the Second Floor in such a way as to make them reasonably achievable. That really wasn¡¯t the case. Like on the First Floor, Ray shouldn¡¯t necessarily have needed to farm for weeks on ends to meet some of the seemingly insane requirements. Thousands of Elementals? Seriously? [Floor II¡ªComplete] Objective 1: For capturing and controlling the connection between the Floors, you have earned 10,000 Essence. Objective 2: For defeating 1 out of 1 Spirespines, you have earned 15,000 Essence. Objective 2: For defeating 2 out of 2 Viledrakes, you have earned 18,000 Essence. Objective 4: For defeating 3 out of 3 Lostcallers, you have earned 12,000 Essence. Objective 5: For defeating 426 out of 400 Elementals, you have earned 21,300 Essence. Objective 6: For defeating the Flesh Plague, you have earned 20,000 Essence. Objective 7: For defeating 1 out of 1 Arch Imitators, you have earned 13,000 Essence Objective 8: For clearing 5 out of 5 dungeons, you have earned 40,000 Essence. Hidden Objective 1: For finding 5 out of the required 2 Tower Nodes, you have earned 20,000 Essence. Hidden Objective 2: For unveiling the secret of the Second Floor, you have earned 15,000 Essence. Hidden Objective 3: For finding and defeating the Floor Lord, you have earned 20,000 Essence. Personal Objective 1: For meeting 23 out of the required 10 new Denizens, you have earned 9,200 Essence. Personal Objective 2: For conquering 3 out of the required 1 enemy Bases, you have earned 30,000 Essence. Rewards
  • 1 [Evolved Class] Grimoire Page. As you exceeded the required number set by several of your Objectives, [Evolved Class] Grimoire Page has been converted to [Evolved Class] Grimoire Pamphlet, where you may select up to 2 new spells. Grimoire Pamphlet will be available upon class evolution.
  • 1 Spell Synthesis Point
  • 1 True Mana Tier Point
  • 1 True Mana Skill Tier Point
  • 1 Origin Mana Tier Point
  • 1 Dungeon Seed
  • 1 Immortalizer Tournament Auction Ticket
  • 100 True Mana shards
  • 100 Origin mana shards
  • +50 to any 1 [Selectable] stats
  • +50 to any 2 [Selectable] non-primary stats
[New Personal Achievement¡ªFloor Conqueror!] You have completed the challenges of the Second Floor of the Tower of Forging! You have completed yet another vital step in the path of your ascendancy. Reward
  • Reputation: +100 Adept
[Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 150-point threshold, your Adeptness accelerates your growth, granting you 30% bonus Essence from Objective completion. Your Adeptness Reputation has raised your Essence earned to 316,550. [Level Up!] Reward
  • +5 Intellect, +5 Spirit, +2 Vitality +2 Agility, +10 allocatable free stats.
  • 10 True Mana shards
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Essence to Level 47: 137,850/208,200 Knowledge to next Threshold: 2,491/2,500 Ray had forgotten just how much the rewards tended to be all at once. Before he could even assign his free points, he had to take in his physical rewards. One was the weird Dungeon Seed thing. It did indeed look like nothing more than an oversized seed, kind of like a mango seed, just hard as glass. Something told him it wasn¡¯t going to shatter as easily, though. [Primordial Gauge¡ªSeed] Dungeon Seed [Tier 20] Use this seed to create a Tier 20 dungeon. Granted by the System to select individuals, this Seed channels the Mana variant imbued by the wielder to create a dungeon populated with obstacles and monsters dependent on the imbued Mana variant. Huh. So Ray basically had his own pocket dungeon. Neat. With this, he could potentially get another level without trouble. What really intrigued him though was the ticket. It wasn¡¯t an item that interacted with Mana, so Primordial Gauge didn¡¯t reveal any further information. But a ticket for something called the Immortalizer Tournament Auction sounded real intense. ¡°You know what this is?¡± Ray asked, waving the piece of gold-foiled paper with alphabets he couldn¡¯t read. Ram, Bam, and Lam all took a look at the ticket. They shook their heads in unison. ¡°We have never heard odd such an event,¡± Ram said. ¡°Although, a ticket and the fact that you have earned it now is rather suggestive.¡± ¡°Suggestive¡­ you think I¡¯ll need it on the next Floor?¡± The Holdstar trio nodded. ¡°I got the same thing,¡± Gritty said. She waved around her own golden ticket. ¡°Auction, huh? You think I can auction you off, wingman?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that human trafficking?¡± Gritty made a face. ¡°Is it? Shit. You¡¯re safe for now, wingman. I hate waiting in traffic.¡± Ray stared at her. Placing the ticket in his Bag of Holding, he went back to his other stuff. All the free stats went to Vitality. Well, the ones he could assign there. Two of the 50 additional ones could only be assigned to non-primary stats, and since he only had two non-primary stats, his Strength and Resilience both received a solid boost. He didn¡¯t suddenly feel significantly stronger or, well, more resilient. But hopefully, the effects would show up when needed. ¡°You ready?¡± Gritty asked. ¡°Wait, you¡¯re done already?¡± Ray asked. She nodded. ¡°How many rewards did you even get?¡± he asked. Gritty shrugged. ¡°Quite a few. Why?¡± ¡°Well, give me a minute. I need to think a couple things over.¡± ¡°¡¯Kay.¡± Ray got back to his rewards. First things first. He had a Spell Synthesis Point to spend. At a glance, none of his spells looked like easily combinable. He could choose haphazardly to see which ones actually were compatible enough to be combined, but he wanted to figure it out himself. After a bit of thinking, Ray decided to try and combine his two latest spells. There was no point in keeping them separate. The longer his list of spells got, the more unwieldy his overall repertoire became. Sure, there was the benefit that more spells meant he had more tools to handle an even greater variety of obstacles. But that meant jack shit if he wasn¡¯t using his various tools. [Information Request¡ªSpells] Soulsurge Field [Utility] [Tier 6] A primal spirit spell that creates a soulful field of heightened spell power around the caster, depending on the abilities used by enemies within the range of this spell¡¯s area of effect and the souls that have fallen by the caster¡¯s hands. At Tier 6, this spell creates a heightening field of up to 18 meters, raising the potency of each of the caster¡¯s spells by 12% every time either an opponent uses a Mana-based ability or a fallen soul emerges, and costs 360 True Mana. Ray smiled. That was a nice evolution for the spell. Now, he could take out two birds with one stone. Or one spell, rather. Now for his Tier points. He took Mottling Spiritguard to Tier 6, Core Deconstruction to Tier 6, and Vengeful Plunder to Tier 4. All good boosts. In fact, with how many spells he now had, he really needed to start looking into gaining more True Mana Tier points. He¡¯d need them. ¡°Alright,¡± Ray said. ¡°Now I¡¯m done.¡± ¡°You sure?¡± Gritty asked. ¡°Yeah. I probably would have needed more time if I had an actual class evolution to deal with, but since I don¡¯t¡­¡± Ray shrugged. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Ram, Bam, and Lam confirmed that the two of them were indeed all done on the Second Floor. It was time to get going. Lime-green light began spilling out of the Tower Node of the Adjudicator. It surrounded both Ray and Gritty, shading them like they were in a rave. ¡°Be careful up there,¡± Ram said. Bam waved in from the left. ¡°Yes, do not die.¡± ¡°We would hate to have to come and retrieve your corpse,¡± Lam said. Ray laughed. ¡°I hope we meet again, before you leave the Tower.¡± A moment later, the light consumed Ray and Gritty. When he blinked and was able to see properly again, he was once again very high up. Again, because this was what had happened when he had been transitioning from the First Floor to the Second. Gritty was looking around dubiously. ¡°Where the hell are we?¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t climb this high on the First Floor?¡± Ray asked. ¡°You know, right before being grabbed by the Eternal Guardian?¡± ¡°I did, but that made sense. We were on top of the same ruined palace the Sylvans had taken over. But there is no palace this time.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± She was right. The palace¡¯s transformation into the Spirespine and the subsequent demise of the monster had basically eradicated the Everstead royal palace from existence. Ray looked around too. All he saw were clouds. They were standing on some kind of rocky precipice, one that jutted out of the white puffs like a mountain peak piercing into the sky. Overhead, the actual sky was nothing more than a canvas of greyish-white. No sign of any sun, but there was definitely more than enough light. ¡°Beats me where we are,¡± Ray said. ¡°But get ready. It¡¯ll be here soon.¡± Gritty hummed and looked straight up. Ray did the same. Just as had occurred on the First Floor, the Eternal Guardian came flying down. Ray smiled at the huge, avian creature. Its massive wings stilled as it neared them, though not before it had launched a small gale via its approach, making Ray stagger in place as he tried to hold himself steady. He really didn¡¯t want to find out what happened if he fell off the peak. ¡°How are you not struggling?¡± Ray asked, staring at Gritty a little slack-jawed. She grinned at him, then raised one foot to show how the sole of her boot was covered in sticky blood. ¡°I already showed you how, wingman.¡± ¡°Oh, right.¡± She had. Way back on the First Floor. Ray recalled how she had sauntered up to meet him while walking on the ceiling. The Guardian came to a floating rest before them, holding out its humongous hands for them to get on. Ray and Gritty did so. Huge fingers closed around them, caging them in to keep them safe during the ascent. [Transmission to Floor III] Congratulations on completing the Second Floor, Denizen. Please wait patiently as you are transported to the Third Floor of the Tower of Forging. Ray shook a little as their ride took off. ¡°I wonder what we¡¯re going to see this time¡­¡± If his hypothesis was correct, when travelling between Floors of the Tower of Forging, the Eternal Guardian actually momentarily took them out of the Tower. It was almost as though the Floors weren¡¯t directly connected. ¡°Space,¡± Gritty said. Ray smirked at her. ¡°Now that would be something. Although, I¡¯m not sure we climbed that high.¡± She shrugged, though the motion was hard to tell in the general shaking. ¡°Pretty sure space is all we got after the level we passed through last time.¡± Turned out, Gritty was right. The Eternal Guardian was moving so fast that things outside rushed by at a blurringly fast pace. It was impossible to make out where¡ªor what¡ªthey were rising through. But then, everything darkened. Ray began to feel colder. And then he saw stars. ¡°No fucking way,¡± he said, his voice almost a hushed whisper. ¡°You were right. We are in space.¡± Gritty¡¯s face was pressed between the giant fingers of the Guardian. She was drinking the sight in. ¡°Yeah¡­ but we¡¯re still breathing.¡± Ray laughed shortly. ¡°Can¡¯t have the Guardian taking corpses to higher Floors.¡± He gazed at the universe stretching out before them. It was breathlessly incredible. Stars spanned the dark canvas, twinkling diamonds floating down a black river. The moon hung half-veiled in shadow far to his left. Ray even caught a glimpse of the edge of Earth, though its surface was clouded over. It wasn¡¯t just Gritty. He drank in all the sights too. How often did one get to become an astronaut, borne on a living rocket and magically sealed away from the adverse effects of space¡¯s vacuum? Ray was reminded of the time he had spent with the Marauder. Technically, he had been taken into space by the Paragon too. He had seen different planets, each with their own Towers as well. It had been an eye-opening little journey to see just how expansive the universe was, just how far beings with the System existed. ¡°I think we¡¯re getting close,¡± Gritty said. She was right again. The stars were winking out one by one. Everything was going dark. ¡°Almost there,¡± Ray said. When Ray was able to see again, they were on the Third Floor. He gasped, as did Gritty. This Floor was strange. Ray caught the briefest glimpse of floating islands, of streams of energy jumping from rocks to rocks, of strange creatures and stranger structures flying this way and that, before a figure floated into view. A familiar figure. ¡°Ah, so you did manage to arrive,¡± the Third Floor Lord said. Growth Mana spiralled off his shoulders to form wings, sparking with red lightning, keeping him afloat like everything else Ray could see. ¡°Excellent!¡± ¡°Shit,¡± Gritty cursed. ¡°Who is that? He looks strong.¡± Ray¡¯s heart had begun to race. Why was this guy waiting for them here? ¡°That¡¯s¡ª¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid your stay on my Floor is about to be quite short-lived.¡± The crimson sparks arcing off the Floro Lord¡¯s shoulders now leaped even higher, forming a wide, sweeping blade about the size of a battleship. ¡°Let this scythe of blood-red lightning be a warning for you and that thing you ride. The Third Floor does not welcome your ilk.¡± Fuck. Fuck. They hadn¡¯t even gotten a welcome message from the System before this bastard Floor Lord was trying to do them in. Ray tried to push through the gaps between the Guardian¡¯s fingers, tried to call up Mottling Spiritguard as a quick defence. Gritty was trying to get out of their flesh-and-feather cage too. Even the Eternal Guardian itself was screeching out. But none of them could do a thing as the scythe of lightning crashed in far too fast. And in a storm of screams and scarlet sparks, Ray, Gritty, and the Eternal Guardian were sent plummeting. B3 Chapter 1 (132): Crash Landing Ray wanted to stop screaming, but that might have been difficult. With all the shaking and scorching sparks scouring everywhere, he might accidentally bite his own tongue off. Things were bad enough already. He didn¡¯t need that too. The Third Floor Lord¡¯s scythe of crimson lightning had been devastating. Ray could still hear the haunting, gargantuan shriek from the Eternal Guardian. While Ray and Gritty hadn¡¯t been hit hard, their gigantic avian ride had taken the brunt of the attack and suffered greatly. It had lost control of its flight and was now plummeting hard. Plus, some of the red sparks were striking Ray and Gritty too. Every strike sent a jolt of pain ricocheting through him like a bouncing hot nail. No. No. Ray had to get a hold of himself. He hadn¡¯t come this far, hadn¡¯t arrived all the way to the Third Floor, to end things like this. He tried to focus. If he could only get off a Mottling Spirit¡ª The crash threw both Ray and all his ideas of self-preservation completely out. He found himself flying out of the Guardian¡¯s grasp. The quickest of summon of Soaring Wings with Primal Spiritcraft was all that made sure he didn¡¯t hit the rocky ground hard enough to break half his bones. Still. Ray groaned out as he crashed down. He was pretty sure his shoulder and his entire left side was badly bruised. Probably had some fractures too. ¡°Gritty?¡± Ray coughed in the dust. ¡°You alright?¡± He didn¡¯t receive a reply, which was worrying. She had better be alright. Groaning once more, Ray forced himself to his feet. Oh, yes. Something was definitely broken. Fuck the Floor Lord. [Floor III] Welcome, Denizen, to the Third Floor of the Tower of Forging. Having overcome the challenges of the Tower so far, here you can realize your ambition and impress your legend into eternity. Please review your Objectives and proceed as you see fit. Calculating objectives based on [Path of Lifeblood Chaos] and [Tower Conqueror]¡­ Objective 1: Win the Immortalizer Tournament [0/1] Objective 2: Defeat a Gargant [0/1] Objective 2: Defeat 2 Heiromatons [0/2] Objective 4: Defeat 4 Duo-bosses [0/4] Objective 5: Clear 5 dungeons [0/5] Objective 6: Defeat all enemy teams [0/???] Objective 8: Win a Gold-star bid at the Immortalizer Tournament Auction [0/1] Hidden Objective 1: Find 3 Tower Nodes [0/3] Hidden Objective 2: Defeat the Paragon¡¯s incursion [0/1] Personal Objective 1: Sell 2 treasures at the Immortalizer Tournament Auction [0/2] Personal Objective 2: Dethrone the Tower Lord [0/1] Denizen, go forth and reach the peak of the Tower of Forging! Ray had to pause as he stared at the list of Objectives. It was natural that he couldn¡¯t fully figure out what every one of those meant. But his eyes were drawn inexorably to the very last Objectives. Well, it appeared the System itself wasn¡¯t messing around about what he needed to accomplish. Figuring he¡¯d worry about his Objectives later, Ray tried to see where exactly they had landed. His footing was unsteady. It wasn¡¯t just because of the uneven ground. There was a strange shaking, like a constant earthquake. No. He frowned. It was almost like the ground was constantly sinking. Getting away from him. He blinked. Ah, shit. The ground was sinking. He was sinking. Whatever they were on, wherever they had landed, things were really, really unstable. ¡°Gritty?¡± he called again into the dust, hating the slight panic in his voice. ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± she said from somewhere farther off. Ray slowly walked over to where he heard her voice. She did sound fine at least. A small relief that only one of them was injured. Waving his hands through the dust to clear the grainy clouds away, Ray got a better look at where they had landed. It was another of the islands he had seen when he had first arrived on the Third Floor. The bounds were easily visible on multiple sides. On the sides the edges weren¡¯t visible, they were blocked from his sight by huge ruins. He didn¡¯t recognize the architecture. Not the pseudo-medieval ones that the mimics had used, not the ones of the Everair from the First Floor. ¡°Over here,¡± Gritty said. He turned to spot her. Then swallowed. She was closer to where the Eternal Guardian had come down. And the Guardian did not look good. As Ray approached, he took stock of the various wounds on the huge creature. The cloak that normally adorned it had been ripped all over, as well as the feathers and flesh underneath. A heavy burned stench filled the air. Ray grimaced at the livid wounds on the Guardian¡¯s chest, arms, and legs. Its eyes were closed. He couldn¡¯t even tell if it was still alive. A quick look at it with Primordial Gauge confirmed that it was. Ray sighed in relief. He wouldn¡¯t have been able to see its status if it had been dead. ¡°Our ride is out,¡± Gritty said. She even looked fine, mostly, besides some bloodied grazes and the grey dust covering her. ¡°Maybe for good.¡± ¡°Poor thing.¡± Ray looked up at the clouds. ¡°That asshole is going to pay.¡± ¡°He was waiting for us. Basically spawn camping. Asshole is an understatement.¡± Ray looked at her critically. ¡°You okay though?¡± She nodded. Her choppy hair had so much dust, it made her look like a grandma. ¡°Forget about me, you¡¯re the one who needs medical attention.¡± Ray grunted. He recalled getting some potions back on the Second Floor. That felt so long ago, now. Had he gotten it on Cliff Two, or Cliff Three? He couldn¡¯t even tell anymore. Thankfully, peeking into the inventory space of his Bag of Holding quickly brought them up. Ray smiled. He had known they¡¯d be useful one day. While the best cure to diseases and injuries was not getting them in the first place, having potions just meant he could suffer a few without too much worrying. ¡°I¡¯ll be alright,¡± Ray said. He tapped his feet on the ground. On the sinking ground. ¡°Do you feel it? It¡¯s, uh, not stable at all.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah. We¡¯re on one of those islands and it did not like us crash landing like that.¡± ¡°Hmm, yeah.¡± Ray could see the chain of events. They had crash landed hard. He didn¡¯t know the mechanics of what kept these islands afloat, but he had a suspicion their landing had disrupted those mechanics and now the whole island was sinking. ¡°We need to get off. Soon.¡± The question was how. They were falling. The island had no obvious connection to anything else. They did occasionally see other islands and rocks passing by, but they were all too far away and moved on too quickly to be of any use.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. No obvious solution presented itself, so they decided to take things step by step. As Gritty was the less injured of them, they decided she would go exploring. Meanwhile, Ray took out another few potions and tried to tip the contents into the Eternal Guardian¡¯s mouth. He had no idea if it would help, and he was definitely hoping he wasn¡¯t accidentally poisoning the Guardian, but he didn¡¯t have better ideas. Plus, he felt bad about its suffering. He had to do something. It didn¡¯t look like it had helped much. The Guardian¡¯s wounds didn¡¯t look that different to his untrained eye, though it did look like the bleeding was stopping. Maybe. He wasn¡¯t sure. Gritty had only stepped away for a minute, when Ray¡¯s senses went off. [Warning!] Primordial Gauge indicates your presence has been detected by Sanctuary [Tier 6]. Some effects of Sanctuary have been nullified by Primordial Guage. Ray twisted around. A warning like that meant someone else was here. He was about to warn Gritty, but she had come to a stop too. When he followed her gaze, he found the source of the warning. How nice of the fellow to just walk out on his own. He was a grizzled guy. His face was half-hidden by a patchy red beard and unruly auburn hair. The armour he wore was finely made, though caked with grime and dust. Ray frowned. Grey dust. Just like the ones daubing Ray and Gritty. This guy had been here a while. ¡°Who are you?¡± Gritty asked. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± One of her arms was raised, blood swirling threateningly around her hand. Ray had to admit it looked pretty badass. Edgy, but still cool. ¡°I can¡¯t believe my eyes,¡± the man answered in a voice rusty with unuse. There was a note of disbelieving wonder in his voice. ¡°Actual people. No. Fucking. Way.¡± Ray supposed he could understand the man¡¯s surprise. Depending on how long he had been trapped on this little island with its ruins, the suddenness of seeing a couple of people crash land along with a gigantic monster was probably making him wonder if he had gone mad or not. He tried using Primordial Gauge on the guy but got a familiar warning. [Warning!] Primordial Gauge has been blocked by Amulet of Blindness and Sanctuary [Tier 6]. Well, that was a bit annoying. ¡°Hey buddy.¡± Gritty¡¯s voice was low and dangerous. ¡°I asked you a question. Explain yourself. Now.¡± The man took a deep breath. Then he shook his head, like he was clearing the wonder out of his mind. ¡°My name¡¯s Marcus. I¡¯ve been on this island for¡­ I don¡¯t know, weeks now? Maybe days, actually. Time is really hard to tell when there¡¯s no day-night cycle, you know. But who are you and what are you doing here?¡± ¡°How the hell did you get here?¡± Gritty asked. Marcus frowned at having his question ignored, but he answered anyway. ¡°I got past the Second Floor of my Tower, the Tower of Scouring, and got an opportunity to get to the Third Floor of a different Floor. One that was harder, but also had better rewards. So I came here, and got into the Immortalizer Tournament, but got eliminated and ended up here.¡± Ray recalled the ticket he had received as a reward for completing the Objectives of the Second Floor. ¡°You got eliminated from a tourney,¡± Gritty said. ¡°And ended up here?¡± Marcus flushed. Now his whole head was red. ¡°That¡¯s the price you have to pay. For losing.¡± Ray was having trouble making sense of some of the things he was hearing. Still. He tried not scratching his head too much. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s back up a bit. My name¡¯s Ray. That¡¯s Gritty. We just got on the Third Floor too, but we crash landed here after an altercation.¡± ¡°Altercation?¡± Marcus asked. Gritty frowned at him. ¡°Don¡¯t go giving any old rando your name.¡± Ray waved his hand at both their interjections. ¡°Not important. I got my list of Objectives so I¡¯ve got some of the context of what¡¯s going on. I understand there¡¯s a tournament and an auction going on here. But I don¡¯t know the specifics. Like, who¡¯s holding it and why, who¡¯s participating, what are the rewards. Things like that. But I¡¯m guessing you do.¡± Marcus looked between Ray and Gritty, his eyes somewhat evaluating. Ray wasn¡¯t sure he liked that look. The guy had come to them with a mixture of disbelief and gratitude. Now he looked like a potential scammer. Though, maybe it was partly their own fault. Gritty had been a mixture of aggressive and suspicious from the get-go, while Ray himself hadn¡¯t been much better. Small surprise that Marcus took a dim view of them. ¡°If you know about it, that means you got a ticket for entry, don¡¯t you?¡± Marcus asked. Gritty shifted, turning even more suspicious. Ray decided to speak before she made things even more tense. ¡°We do,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m guessing you want it?¡± Marcus, just as perceptive as Ray had noticed, looked a little surprised. ¡°You almost sound like you wouldn¡¯t mind me taking it. You don¡¯t want to get into the tournament?¡± He frowned. ¡°The hell did you get in your Objectives?¡± At the idea of giving the ticket up, Gritty turned sharply to Ray. ¡°Wingman!¡± He ignored it. ¡°I don¡¯t mind giving you the ticket in exchange for information. But you need to tell me everything I want to know.¡± ¡°How can I trust you¡¯ll keep your end of the bargain?¡± Ray couldn¡¯t recall just how many times he¡¯d had to go through this exact scenario of people¡ªincluding himself¡ªbeing worried about others not keeping their end of the bargain. But that also meant he¡¯d had a lot of experience navigating through this exact scenario. ¡°You know what this is?¡± Ray asked, summoning up the Tower Node of the Fleshcrafter. ¡°Wingman,¡± Gritty hissed. Marcus stared at it. ¡°You got Tower Nodes?¡± ¡°Yep. Now, I¡¯m guessing you don¡¯t want a Tower Node more than a ticket back into the tournament, right? So here, you can hold onto my Tower Node, and if I don¡¯t hand over the ticket after I¡¯m satisfied with everything you can tell me, then you get to keep it.¡± With a push of Ray¡¯s will, the Tower Node stayed out even as he stepped back. This invited Marcus to come forward and ¡°claim¡± the Node. ¡°I see,¡± Marcus said, staring at the writhing flash trapped in the transparent top half of the Tower Node. Then he frowned at Ray again. ¡°But why don¡¯t you want to get into the tournament?¡± Ray grinned. ¡°I¡¯ve got bigger goals in mind. Now, tell me everything you know about the tournament, the auction, what happened when you first arrived on the Third Floor. I want all the details so don¡¯t skip anything.¡± Marcus took a deep breath. Then he started his tale. He came to the Third Floor an indeterminate time ago. It was practically impossible to tell how much time had passed since he had first step foot on these floating islands. Ray gave up after like a minute of trying to piece it together. The more important detail was the fact that he had arrived here. On the exact island they were all standing on just then. Ray wasn¡¯t interested in his mechanism of arrival¡ªMarcus¡¯s Tower didn¡¯t provide anything so fanciful like riding on the Eternal Guardian, just used a plain portal instead. What he was really intrigued by was the fact that this island hadn¡¯t been ruined all the time. There had been other tournament participants, there had been Sylvans, other races too. And there had been a dungeon here as well. ¡°Other tournament participants,¡± Gritty said. ¡°Like other people? Denizens?¡± ¡°Not always,¡± Marcus said. ¡°Rarely, actually. I wasn¡¯t the first one from my Tower to reach come here, more like the seventh as far as I know. There are probably a few people from other Towers too. But the vast majority were either more Sylvans or even other races.¡± Made sense to Ray. He and Gritty were the first of their Tower¡¯s people to arrive on the Third Floor. He couldn¡¯t imagine that there were that many people from surrounding Towers coming here. Which meant the number of Denizens who could participate in this tournament would be tiny. So the Tower Lord, who was the one who had established this tournament plus auction business, would be seeking participants from other places. His own Sylvans, no doubt. And, as it sounded by Marcus¡¯s account, other races as well. Maybe there were Holdstar here, or even more Halftyr. He supposed he would find out. Marcus went on and explained that the tournament was basically a series of dungeon crawls, with each dungeon holding a treasure in its final room. These treasures could then be sold in the Grand Auction House that had been set up near the Tower Lord¡¯s headquarters. The winner of the tournament would be the team or individual to acquire the first Mana Eye. ¡°What¡¯s a Mana Eye?¡± Gritty asked. ¡°Wait,¡± Ray said, a little panicky. ¡°It¡¯s basically a timed thing? Because it sounds like people have been already doing this, so there¡¯s got to be a bunch of people who¡¯ve already acquired a large amount of the funds.¡± Marcus nodded grimly. ¡°A Mana Eye is like the highest amount of condensed Mana you can get. It¡¯s worth about a thousand Mana pearls, which are each worth a hundred Mana shards, which¡ª¡± ¡°Which are worth¡­¡± Ray paused. ¡°Actually, I never calculated. I want to say one shard is equal to ten crystals.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. One shard is worth one crystal. They go up by a factor of ten. But the dungeon treasures aren¡¯t always of equal value. I don¡¯t know how much they go for, but some are pricier than others.¡± Marcus explained how the Tier 24 dungeon he had been trying to get through to the end had wiped out his team. They hadn¡¯t been anyone he had formed actual bonds with. Just another woman from a different Tower and a member of a different race called the Ryous. Marcus himself had barely escaped out of the dungeon alive. Ray wasn¡¯t surprised to hear that. The strongest dungeon he himself had conquered was only Tier 15. To get through a dungeon that was Tier 24 sounded like something potentially even beyond him. There was a lot Marcus didn¡¯t know. He had no idea where exactly the Tower Lord¡¯s HQ was. He didn¡¯t know the ceiling of what kind of foes they might face, either against other teams or as monstrous obstacles within dungeons. Ray didn¡¯t blame the guy, even if Gritty frowned disapprovingly. Marcus had only been here for a short time and attempted just one dungeon. ¡°So, is that enough?¡± he asked, looking hopefully at Ray. ¡°Do I get the ticket?¡± Gritty thankfully remained silent and impassive this time. Ray nodded. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m satisfied. Mostly. One last thing¡ªyou know how we¡¯re supposed to register and enter the tournament as participants.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m familiar with the signup process. In fact, I¡¯ll show it to you for free.¡± Marcus looked up. ¡°If we can get to one of the islands that¡¯s still hosting an active dungeon.¡± ¡°Leave that to us.¡± ¡°Oh yeah? Alright, then. There¡¯s some particulars about the auction that I don¡¯t really remember cause I didn¡¯t get that far anyway, but they want tourney participants.¡± Ray smiled. Which meant they shouldn¡¯t really be having any trouble getting into the tournament, at least. ¡°Alright, then.¡± He brought out the Immortalizer Tournament Auction Ticket. Marcus¡¯s eyes widened and even turned tearful once he accepted the little gold paper. ¡°There. All yours.¡± He clasped it like Ray had saved his baby from a burning building and just handed him the infant. ¡°But what about you? What are you going to do?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me.¡± Ray tore off a piece of fabric from his raiment. He winced a bit at the frayed condition of his sleeve, but ah, whatever. Then he used some Mimic Mana and brought out another Tower Node, that of the Augmenter this time. It took no time at all to make the torn piece of dark cloth look exactly like the ticket. ¡°There. All done.¡± Marcus gawked. ¡°Wha¡ªhow?¡± Ray winked. ¡°We¡¯ve all got our secrets.¡± His attention might have mostly been on their new accomplice, but he didn¡¯t miss Gritty rolling her eyes and mouthing ¡°show-off.¡± ¡°Now all we need is to get off this damn island,¡± she said. Ray looked back at where the Eternal Guardian was resting. Its injuries made him grimace. ¡°Come on. Let¡¯s see if we can heal our big buddy over there.¡± B3 Chapter 2 (133): Entry Bid Ray ran out of potions pretty soon. That was bad, because he wasn¡¯t able to see a ton of difference in the Eternal Guardian¡¯s condition. Some of the wounds looked a little better, but if he was being honest, it was more wishful thinking than any legit proof. Thankfully, Gritty came to the rescue. ¡°How much blood can you spare?¡± she asked. Ray looked from her surprisingly serious and sincere expression to the Guardian¡¯s sheer size again. ¡°I don¡¯t think giant, bird-creatures are good with B-positive blood.¡± She rolled her eyes. ¡°It¡¯s not about the blood itself, wingman. I¡¯m not doing a fucking transfusion. I just need a lot of blood to do a little ritual that might help our bird friend.¡± She squinted when Ray looked at all the blood that the Guardian had already spilled on the ground. ¡°As yet un-spilled blood.¡± ¡°Drat.¡± Gritty sighed. ¡°I can do this with my own blood, but it¡¯s going to put me out of commission for a bit.¡± ¡°You sure?¡± Ray asked. ¡°We don¡¯t have any other choice. I just don¡¯t know if I can keep it up.¡± Ray shook his head a little. It was a bit frustrating that there weren¡¯t a lot of options. He was tempted to ask why Gritty even had a skill that allowed her to perform healing with some kind of blood ritual, though he supposed a smaller-scale version of it was probably helpful for her personal use. ¡°If you¡¯re looking to heal, I might be able to help,¡± Marcus said, stepping forward. He was looking at the Eternal Guardian with no small amount of wonder. Ray had filled him in on what exactly the huge creature was. ¡°How?¡± Gritty asked. Marcus thumped his armour with a dull clang. ¡°My class is Moonlight Paladin. I¡¯ve got a few passives and heal-boosting Skills. Plus, I might be able to heal you. Replenish your blood and all.¡± ¡°Huh. I mean, sure, if you think you can do it without moonlight. And I¡¯m not dunking on you, I¡¯m going to need a lot of blood to fix up something as big as the Guardian. Blood is my element. If you need moonlight for your shit, then¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I don¡¯t need a moon hanging over my head to do what I need to.¡± ¡°Cool.¡± Gritty got down on her haunches. ¡°Let¡¯s get started.¡± Ray was actually interested in seeing what exactly they got up to. One of the main things missing in his repertoire was some sort of self-healing ability. The weird thing of ¡°fixing¡± the plague affecting the Everstead mimics had made him see the potential of a powerful healing ability. Now more than ever, he really wished he had some way of actually doing that. Considering his whole schtick was with living chaos, it made a weird, thematic sense as to why he couldn¡¯t heal. But maybe he could absorb something with Spiritsorb. Gritty¡¯s healing ability was an actual, blood-based ritual, just as she had said. Crimson liquid glowing like rubies with their own demonic light seeped around to form a strange circle around her. The concentric rings had lots of strange shapes and symbols. Letters Ray couldn¡¯t decipher. A strange, ironlike smell filled the air. The smell of lots and lots of blood. Then it expanded. In no time at all, it was covering the majority of the Guardian, plus all three humans as well. ¡°Any time now,¡± Gritty muttered. The way her voice came out a bit choked made Ray focus on her a little worriedly. She was covered head to toe in slimy red, like she was a statue carved from solidified blood. If that was all her blood, then she really couldn¡¯t be doing well. Which was probably why Marcus was so valuable just then. The Moonlight Paladin had raised his hand into the air, activating a skill that made Ray immediately feel a lot fresher. [Warning!] Primordial Gauge indicates your health is being regenerated by Soothelight [Tier 5]. Your natural resistances and regeneration have been heightened by 10%. Oh, nice. So this was an area-of-effect Skill from Marcus. Ray enjoyed it, but he was more thankful that Gritty was taking full advantage of it too. The blood adorning her wasn¡¯t gone at all, but her eyes had sharpened and her body appeared more relaxed than before. ¡°How long do you think it¡¯ll take?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Not that I¡¯m trying to rush you or anything, just curious.¡± Gritty shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ve never tried this on anything so big before. For me, it takes maybe a minute at most, and that¡¯s if I¡¯m really wounded. But on this Guardian¡­ I just can¡¯t tell. A lot longer is the best I¡¯ve got.¡± Ray grunted. Not surprising. ¡°Couldn¡¯t we just use Marcus¡¯s healing ability? On the Guardian directly, I mean.¡± Marcus shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m almost out of Mana shards. My heals won¡¯t last long. And as it¡¯s an area-of-effect, it¡¯s not as effective as a single-target Skill, like Gritty¡¯s. Plus, hers is just extra-amped up, from what I can tell.¡± His eyes were focused on Gritty critically. Ray wondered if he was using his Sanctuary ability on her. ¡°Point is,¡± Gritty said. ¡°I take care of the main healing, which I wouldn¡¯t be able to do for long. But with Mr. Knight Guy keeping me going for a bit, I might just be able to make our feathered friend fly again.¡± It was, once again, a little humbling to not be a part of the process. Ray tried to be patient, however. While Gritty and Marcus worked, he made sure their island wasn¡¯t sinking too fast or about to hit another island or something. He also made sure to figure out what they¡¯d be doing once it was time to enter the tournament for real. The concern that others had a strong head-start over him was, well, concerning. But Ray figured there had to be ways to mitigate that. The easiest option was to find and acquire the most valuable treasures if they hadn¡¯t been taken already. But another potential solution was finding a way to undercut the other teams in their auction bids. ¡°That¡¯s it,¡± Gritty said after a while. ¡°I think I¡¯m done. Can¡¯t go any further.¡± Ray looked over to see that she had slumped on the ground, still covered all over in blood. The crimson on the ground was gone, though. He had to assume all the ritual blood had entered the Eternal Guardian instead, whose wounds were significantly healed up now. Marcus was bent over too, looking like he was about to drop, even though all he¡¯d essentially done was heal up Gritty. ¡°And it¡¯s still not enough, huh?¡± Ray asked, turning to eye the Guardian. The giant creature wasn¡¯t moving. Maybe they¡¯d need to find some other means of getting off the island. ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Gritty sighed. ¡°I¡ª¡± She paused. ¡°You feel that?¡± Ray paused. It took a second, but he did feel it. The ground was shaking. It was different from the constant sinking sensation. There was a new, rumbling motion accompanying it, a slight tremor like an engine coming to life. ¡°Hey!¡± Marcus said all of a sudden, straightening up. ¡°It¡¯s up. It¡¯s up!¡± Ray turned his head just a little because he had begun to see it too. The Eternal Guardian was still lying on the ground, still appearing unconscious. But it wasn¡¯t completely still. Its wings were rising. Extending. Ray held his breath as the huge wings stretched to their full length, before they flapped down hard. Another tremor coursed through the ground. A beat. A wingbeat. Ray exchanged a growing a smile with Gritty. It had worked. She had done it. The Guardian¡¯s wings rose and fell again, the motion slowly getting stronger and stronger. Ray trembled as the whole island did, but he held himself steady. ¡°How are we going to control where we¡¯re headed?¡± Gritty asked. She turned to Marcus. ¡°You know where to go?¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Marcus stared at her blankly. ¡°Uh¡­¡± ¡°Gonna take that as a no.¡± Ray closed his eyes. He recalled the Guardian dropping him right in the middle of a dungeon the last time he¡¯d had a ride with it. A dungeon that had been the precursor to everything he had to do on the Second Floor. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t worry about it,¡± he said. ¡°Big bird knows where we need to go.¡±
Sridayne activated her transmitter orb to make sure her voice would carry over the various broadcasts to all the right channels. She smiled, her horns tingling. They had been having such a good run with the Tower Lord¡¯s new Immortalizer Tournament Auction. ¡°And today, good attendees,¡± she spoke into the transmitter orb. The little ball pulsed and glowed brighter, absorbing her voice to send across the entire Floor. ¡°We will stand witness to a highly sought-after dungeon. A Tier twenty-six dungeon. It¡¯s the one you¡¯ve been waiting for, the one that our top performing contestants have all had their eyes on.¡± A couple of the tournament officials were shooting Sridayne dismissive looks, but she did her best to ignore them. Bunch of ignoramuses. They didn¡¯t know what it took to commentate. There was an art to her profession. A very emotional art. One had to be highly in-tune with what everybody wanted to really do well. The audience wants one thing, and the entertainers were usually looking for something else, and then there was what she¡ªas the commentator¡ªwanted. Basically, there was a lot of juggling involved. If she hadn¡¯t had such a high Intellect, she probably wouldn¡¯t have been able to do all the mental mapping needed. ¡°It¡¯s nearly time, good attendees.¡± She waved a magnanimous hand towards the little mountain jutting on their island. A mound of dark, almost glossy rocks with several openings at its base. ¡°Behold! There lies the Obsidian Halls of Dark Reflection. Can you guess what our brave contestants will face within its dusky halls?¡± She gave her audience some time to come up with wild and fanciful theories, to fantasize about whatever madness might be awaiting the competitors. ¡°It is said that everyone who enters its passages will need to face themselves,¡± she said, her voice now a conspiratorial whisper. ¡°That they will need to overcome their darkest fear¡ªthemselves.¡± She had to say that last bit just right. ¡°Do any of our participants have what it takes to make it out of the dungeon alive? Will we crown a champion with a new treasure?¡± Said competitors were gathering at different entrances to the dungeon. Some alone, some in mish-mashed teams. Farther back, gaggles of spectators watched on. Sridayne didn¡¯t quite understand the appeal of coming to watch proceedings live. Why not enjoy the comforts the Tower Lord provided and watch on a transmitter veil? Oh, she knew what the fascination was, of course. One didn¡¯t get to be in the industry as long as her without acknowledging the hunger for the blood, for the despair and defeat and agony, and for the sole triumph, all played out right in front of one¡¯s face. Plus, there was something morbidly fascinating about watching competitors die right up close. ¡°You won¡¯t join them?¡± Vyournel asked. Her assistant was pointing at a few of the other reporters and commentators trying to get some last-minute clips from the contestants. Sridayne shook her head. Hmm, maybe she ought to be a bit careful about not ruining her hair, though her horns ought to keep her hairdo safe enough. ¡°No. I think I¡¯ve done enough for now. The real fun will happen once they get going. That¡¯s when we¡¯ll¡­¡± Her voice trailed off as she noticed something weird. Something very weird. One of the islands was heading straight for them. This wasn¡¯t unusual. With how all the other islands floated around, it was bound to happen that some inevitably ended up crashing together. But that never happened with islands that had active dungeons, especially dungeons that had contestants making runs through them. The Tower Lord needed the entire system to be stable. It wouldn¡¯t do to let even the prospect of islands crashing together jeopardize active operations. As such, he spared no expense in making sure his followers would prevent islands from colliding while they had people on them. But it wasn¡¯t working now. Sridayne wasn¡¯t the only one who had noticed. Several spectators and tournament officials were pointing with a mixture of fear and excitement. Fear because of, well, the obvious prospect of all of them suffering a grievous injury if not outright death. And excitement¡­ Sridayne felt a little thrill run up her spine as she noticed that the island was being propelled forward. A humongous monster was flapping its massive wings to bring the other island ever closer. A monster she recognized. That was the Eternal Guardian. ¡°Vyournel,¡± Sridayne said. ¡°Get ready. We want to get a good view of this.¡± ¡°But that¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°The Guardian, yes. The one Lord Irowel said brought up competitors from lower Floors into this one. You understand what that means, right? It¡¯s bringing a competitor here, straight to this dungeon. So get that transmitter orb ready.¡± Vyournel gulped, rubbing the stubby horns on his head nervously. ¡°Give me just a moment.¡± Sridayne didn¡¯t have a moment. She was already rushing forward, ignoring the calls from the officials and the guards to stay back. Vyournel would catch up. This was too good to pass up, and she had to be in position. The new transmitter orb flickered and floated in front of her just as the huge monster arrived with its massive island. Bless Vyournel. ¡°Are you seeing this, good attendees?¡± she asked, voice as rushed and excited and tense as the situation called for. Artfully moulded to draw her viewers in. ¡°Are you here with me, witnessing this incredible turn of events? An island, driven by the mythical Eternal Guardian, is about to crash into an active arena island. Has the Tower Lord lost control of the Floor?¡± Several other Sylvans were already ahead of her¡ªthe guards the Tower Lord had posted to keep the islands apart¡ªand were yelling out and flashing their powers to keep the huge, feathery monster away. Fat load of good that would do any of them. But Sridayne¡¯s intuition proved correct. At the very last moment, the Eternal Guardian swerved just enough to one side to miss a head-on collision. The islands did meet. There was a deep, grinding crash, and Sridayne was nearly thrown to the ground. Thankfully, she managed to keep her footing. A fall would have been disgraceful, not least because she would have lost her opportunity. ¡°This is unbelievable,¡± she said. She even felt it. ¡°We have just witnessed three human beings leap off the incoming island. Are these¡ªyes! These are competitors. Look how they strut with such confidence, such pure bravado, straight to the tournament officials.¡± Nobody dared stop the trio, of course. Not even the guards. Almost everyone was standing shocked at the sheer audacity of the newcomers. ¡°Come on, Vyournel,¡± Sridayne said, hurrying towards the humans and the somewhat stupefied officials they were dealing with. ¡°Now that is the interview we don¡¯t want to miss.¡± Her assistant huffed a little as he tried to keep up. They reached the new contestants just as they were about to proceed to the last step before heading into the dungeon itself. ¡°Oh, look at this, good attendees,¡± Sridayne said, making sure the transmitter orb was picking everything up. ¡°These three are already done with registration, almost as though they¡¯ve done this before. How intriguing. And now¡ªoh wow, and now they¡¯re about to register into the auction too. As bidders! Without even a treasure to their name, or so one assumes. Intriguing.¡± She could only guess these three had no treasures. After all, the Eternal Guardian only dealt with Denizens new to the Floor, so it stood to reason this was the trio¡¯s first appearance at the tournament. The officials were showing the apparent leader of the trio¡ªa human male in a strange cloak with hexagonal patterns¡ªhow to establish his collateral. Generally, contestants didn¡¯t have much direct money to use. A lot were Denizens too busy climbing Towers and overcoming challenges and whatnot. Such adventuring left little time for creating the typical financial portfolio necessary for entry into any prestigious auction. But since the Tower Lord wanted to spice things up by allowing tournament competitors to also partake in auctions as bidders, the officials would accept valuables in lieu of actual money. For fairness¡¯s sake, a bidder would need to have said valuable evaluated to determine its monetary worth, which was what was happening at the moment. ¡°Remember, good attendees,¡± Sridayne said. ¡°We¡¯ve had Hyburne, the leader of the second Ryous party, as the one with the most valuable collateral.¡± Bidders were allowed to keep their actual valuable a secret, so she was forced to refer to them as just the collateral. ¡°Amounting to a cool, thirty Mana pearls or three thousand Mana shards.¡± Sridayne let the suspense build as the official steered the newcomer into the curtained box where he could place his valuable in privacy. ¡°What are your odds, viewers and listeners?¡± she asked. ¡°How much will this¡­?¡± Her voice once again trailed to nothing as the numbers started rising. Fast. There was a large transmitter veil in the centre of the arena¡¯s antechamber, the one that would display the goings-on within the dungeon when things were truly underway. Right now, it was displaying a series of rising numbers in the Sylvan script. Numbers that were changing colours as they crossed the threshold of first the crystals, then the shards. And then they kept rising. Sridayne remembered her job, despite the surprise she felt. ¡°This¡ªthis is unprecedented! Look! Look at that! Do you see that, viewers? For the listeners out there, we have crossed the threshold of both crystals and shards in merely a few blinks. And¡ªand¡ª¡± ¡°Burgeoner¡¯s blistered balls.¡± Sridayne would need to have a little chat with Vyournel to remind her younger colleague to not interject during live sessions. But right now, that just sold the situation more. ¡°It¡¯s still climbing,¡± she said, breathless as she stared at the rising numbers. ¡°Thirty pearls¡­ fifty pearls¡­ one hundred pearls¡­ oh, my lord, it shows no sign of stopping!¡± That was perhaps not quite accurate because the numbers had finally started slowing down. Another dozen breaths, and the numbers stilled. ¡°There!¡± Sridayne said. She could hardly believe what she was seeing and that was good, because her disbelief was making it straight into the transmitter orb. ¡°It¡¯s finally stopped! The final count, dear audience, is one hundred and twelve Mana pearls.¡± She repeated it again. And again. She had to. Because she was quite certain that this had to be the most valuable collateral any tournament competitor had entered into the auction. The man came out of the curtained box with a grin, though he stopped short when he saw basically everyone was staring agog at the transmitter veil. Sridayne, thankfully, kept her cool and hurried towards the competitor, before even his companions could reach him. ¡°Congratulations on your jaw-dropping entry,¡± she said. ¡°Your explosive entry just garnered the riveted attention of several hundred thousand attendees. Care to share any words with them before you enter the tournament?¡± The man considered for a moment, looking at Sridayne for a while before turning to the transmitter orb. She blinked. Had this human seen orbs like these before, or had he somehow already figured out what they were? ¡°Getting interviewed for a Sylvan entertainment channel was not on my apocalyptic bingo card,¡± the man said. ¡°But since I¡¯ve got an audience, I have just one thing I¡¯d like to say. Your Floor Lord tried to stop me from entering the tournament. That¡¯s right, the Third Floor Lord himself. So if you aren¡¯t convinced I¡¯m the real deal yet, you better be now.¡± And with that shocking drop of intel, the man turned and headed towards the dungeon. The other two, an unkempt woman and a man in armour, followed close behind. As she passed, the woman left Sridayne a grin. A bloody grin. For a few moments, even Sridayne was finally shocked by what she had just learned. Not only had the Floor Lord attacked this fellow, but he had failed to stop the human. She smiled. Oh yes, her own numbers were probably going insane right about now. B3 Chapter 3 (134): Darksign ¡°Did you see that?¡± Marcus was saying as they entered the dungeon tunnels. ¡°They were all staring. All of them. Straight at you, Ray.¡± ¡°At us,¡± Ray insisted, though rather distractedly. Distracted, because as soon as he had neared the dungeon, the notification for it had popped up. [Primordial Gauge¡ªDungeon] Obsidian Halls of Dark Reflection [Tier 26] In the bowels of a shattered peak, where the old gods of Rhanom sought power through visions of darkness, lies a labyrinth of black stone that reveals more than it hides. Abandoned, it now festers with merely the darkness. A mirror that reflects no light. Few emerge unscathed, for the Halls demand honest sight¡ªand only the worthy claim the secrets within their shadowed depths. As ominous a warning as Ray had received yet. It wouldn¡¯t really have worried him, save for the fact that this was a Tier 26 dungeon. He was not about to hesitate, especially when he had seen several other teams and individuals already make their way inside. Still. Best to be cautious. ¡°Oh, he saw it alright, Knight Guy,¡± Gritty said. ¡°Wingman here is just trying to act cool. Pretend it doesn¡¯t faze him. Believe me, when we¡¯re not looking, he¡¯s going to be fangirling over himself like an un-buff Gaston.¡± That really pulled Ray out of his line of thought. ¡°Un-buff Gaston? Really?¡± Gritty just laughed. Marcus shook his head with a grin too. Assholes were having fun at his expense. Well, they were about to see just how much fun the dungeon was going to be. That said, Ray did admit to himself that he¡¯d felt a nice rush with everything outside the dungeon. The way they had arrived thanks to the Eternal Guardian pushing their island and the panicky gawks from all the Sylvan guards. The way the registration had been so smooth all because Marcus had already done it. The way Ray had basically blown everybody¡¯s socks off by using his Tower Node as a collateral for his upcoming bids at the auction. All the reactions had been delightful. At the end, he had even shocked that reporter Sylvan. Reporter Sylvan. Just even thinking about that concept was weird as hell. But he supposed with how advanced their civilization was, he shouldn¡¯t let his very specific experiences cloud his assumptions about them ¡°It¡¯s dark in here,¡± Gritty said. Now that they had entered the dungeon proper, her voice began to echo through the passageway. ¡°Anybody got a light?¡± Ray summoned up the Viledrake tail with Primal Spiritcraft. A little bit of Molten Mana made a ruddy glow bloom. ¡°Wonder how long it¡¯ll take before we see the ones who went ahead.¡± They were late. All the other competitors had already entered the dungeon, and Ray¡¯s team had taken the nearest entrance that had already been used by a different team. ¡°Woah¡­¡± Marcus murmured. Ray turned at Marcus¡¯s wonder-filled exclamation. When he saw what the armoured guy was looking at, he was tempted to exclaim much the same. The walls were made of something like jet. Pure black, but glassy as well. Like volcanic obsidian. With new light, Ray didn¡¯t even have to squint to see a smudged reflection of himself keeping pace with him. ¡°The tunnel is getting narrower,¡± Gritty said. She had taken the lead, walking a few feet ahead of Ray and Marcus. ¡°We might have to turn single-file.¡± She was proven right only a few seconds later. The obsidian walls closed like a funnel, even the ceiling sloping down as their path inclined slightly up. Gritty moved in right in front of Ray, while Marcus brought up the rear. ¡°Be careful,¡± Ray said. ¡°This is a Tier 26 dungeon. Not sure what exactly we¡¯re going to face, but you guys probably saw the description, so¡­¡± Gritty grunted. Behind Ray, Marcus¡¯s breathing grew a little shallower, like he didn¡¯t want to make any more noise than his cantankerous armour was already making. They kept walking for a while. Ray was starting to wonder when they¡¯d see anything. There hadn¡¯t been any real obstacles yet. More than that, they hadn¡¯t seen a single sign of anyone else besides them either. Sure, they¡¯d entered a little late. But to see nobody else after this long was worrying. Ray looked back. He couldn¡¯t see the entrance. Their path had twisted and curved away a long time ago. The motion made him catch sight of Marcus though. There was a dull, dogged look in his eye, like he was forcing himself to take one step in front of the other. Huh. Was he scared of something? Or worse, suffering from claustrophobia? ¡°Sense anything up ahead?¡± Ray asked after another while. His own Primordial Gauge had offered no insight. Gritty hummed and said nothing more. Ray turned his attention back to their new companion. ¡°You okay back there, Marcus?¡± Marcus just grunted. He was definitely not looking well. His expression was droopy with fear, the light making it look like his skin was sloughing off his face. Ray edged closer to Gritty. ¡°Hey, Gritty. Marcus isn¡¯t doing so well. I think he¡¯s claustrophobic. Could you¡ª¡± Gritty¡¯s head turned as Ray was speaking to her. Only the head, which did basically a full one-eighty-degree rotation, even while the rest of her body continued facing and walking forward. Now, Ray had seen Gritty do a lot of weird shit. Pulling out and crushing hearts, emerging from the bowels of sea monsters, and then even performing an insane blood ritual. But this¡­ Ray felt his spine tingling with the first hints of fear. The way her neck twisted wasn¡¯t human. Wasn¡¯t alive. The way she stared at him, eyes unblinking, mouth dark¡­ On an impulse, Ray used Primordial Gauge. [Presence of the Primordial] Patricia ¡°Gritty¡± Colmire [Darksign] Path: Path of Broken Blood [Epic] Class: Blood-serker [Epic] [Tier 4] at Level 42 Perk: Blood Boon, Rage There was a lot more to that whole list, going down a bunch of abilities that Gritty supposedly possessed. But Ray didn¡¯t pay attention, because he had found what he was looking for. Confirmation. Darksign. Not Denizen. The Soulstrike True Mana arm didn¡¯t have much space to materialize. But Ray didn¡¯t care. He let it burst free from his shoulder to slam into Gritty¡ªor rather, this monstrous apparition of her¡ªsending her flying back. Ray didn¡¯t waste a second. The warning words in the dungeon¡¯s description rang loud and clear in his head. The quickest of looks with Primordial Gauge confirmed that the issue was the same with Marcus behind him. It wasn¡¯t claustrophobia or some other kind of fear. That was literally not Marcus anymore. Which was why Ray had no qualms about casting yet another Soulstrike with his other Talisman. Where the first had leaped off his chest to attack his fake companion, his next True Mana arm erupted from his back to club Marcus away. Both com¡ªno, creatures¡ªboth creatures shrieked out. Like Ray had needed the auditory confirmation. He was taking no chances, though. Primal Spiritcraft and Mana Imbuing created the Windbane maws at the ends of both of his True Mana arms. Huge draconic jaws sent out a geyser of dark flames through the tunnel on either side of Ray. He held them in position for a while, until the shrieking had died out. [Enemy Defeated¡ªDarksign]If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Tier 20 Monster: Darksign [Level 55] x2 Essence: +22,000 Knowledge: +6 True Mana Restored: +2,200 Essence to Level 47: 159,850/208,200 Knowledge to next Threshold: 2,497/2,500 The tunnel shook with the force of the impacts. Ray stayed still for a bit. Even though he knew that the notification confirmed that his two enemies had died, it all still felt a little too easy. Tier 20 monsters dying just like that? That couldn¡¯t be right. He supposed he had acted extremely quickly. A direct blast from a Windbane maw¡¯s chaotic flames wasn¡¯t something that could be shrugged off easily. But those monsters had sneakily taken on the forms of his companions, to the point that most of their System status had indicated their imitations too. Wild. This was almost like the Imitators from the Second Floor. Ray was starting to get quite tired of them. [Presence of the Primordial¡ªDungeon Obstacle] Dark Reflections The Darksign have become aware of your intrusion into the Halls of Dark Reflection. To delve into and reach the true depths of the dungeon, prove that you possess what it takes to overcome the darkness of yourself and those you know. Alright. Sure. Why not. Recycling enemies from a previous Floor just to trip him up and make things even more annoying than they already were. Those old gods of Rhanom sounded like trolls. He decided to make sure the others were alright, wherever they were. Ray and Gritty had already spoken through the System¡¯s message function a lot. It was a simple matter to add Marcus there as well. Ray: You guys okay? Gritty: Why are you poking me in chat? You¡¯re right behind me. Ray: Uh¡­ that¡¯s probably not me. There was a moment of silence. Then¡ª Gritty: FUCK! Marcus: What¡¯s going on? You guys are still walking in front of me. What the hell do you mean that¡¯s not you? Ray: Marcus, we somehow got separated when we were walking. This dungeon is tricky. I just had to kill you both because you¡¯d been replaced by fakes. The Ray and Gritty you¡¯re with are fake too. So I¡¯m going to suggest you kill them both as quickly as possible. Marcus: That¡¯s impossible¡­ Ray: Just don¡¯t die. There was no more conversation to be had as both of Ray¡¯s companions got busy trying to survive. Gritty was already fighting from what Ray could intuit. Now, Marcus was dealing with the same too. He didn¡¯t bother them. Since he was the only one free, it would be up to him to find a proper way forward. Ray tried to think as he kept walking. They had journeyed on, assuming that a fork in the passage would reveal some hint of the exact direction they ought to travel. Maybe the dungeon luckily had a singular path that would take them all the way to the main chamber where the treasure lay. Unlikely. Very unlikely. Especially considering they were dealing with a Dungeon Obstacle that was meant to trick them from the get-go. So there had to be some other way of getting through the dark passageways. Ray thought back to the description he had read when entering the dungeon. He didn¡¯t recall the exact wording, but certain key phrases were still fresh. Honest sight. Sight. Oh, yes. He had a way to make his sight more honest than it already was. A little focus with Primordial Gauge allowed Ray¡¯s eyes to see threads of Mana running through the tunnels. Streaks of bright, glimmering blue threaded along the walls, ceiling, and floor. They didn¡¯t reveal anything that stood out to him. The threads all ran in a single pattern that was the same everywhere. Hmm. Maybe he just hadn¡¯t arrived at the right point yet. So, Ray kept walking. He intermittently asked Gritty and Marcus if they were alright. Gritty admitted that she had killed the fakes without trouble. She was trying to find her way through the halls now. Marcus didn¡¯t reply. Ray got a little worried. But then, he shouldn¡¯t even be able to send a message through the chat if Marcus had died. So that was relieving. Still. Even if their newest companion wasn¡¯t dead yet, he could be in trouble. Marcus could be terribly wounded. Ray knew there was no point worrying, especially when he couldn¡¯t do a thing to help. It still nagged at him, though. Eventually, the tunnel opened up into a large chamber with no floor. Instead, the passages continued on like little bridges to connect to tunnel openings on the other side. The threads of Mana were still running in straight lines, indicating locations on the chamber walls where more passages opened up. But there was one location higher up on the chamber wall where Ray spotted the first divergence in the Mana¡¯s pattern. At a spot near the ceiling, instead of running in parallel lines, the Mana formed a little pool. Its surface rippled like a lake with wind blowing on top. [Warning!] Primordial Gauge indicates your presence has been detected by Shiver Sense [Tier 4]. Ray twisted his head around. Far on his left, where the Mana threads were emerging from a different tunnel, stood a strange being over a corpse. A familiar body. ¡°Marcus!¡± The words burst out of Ray before he could even properly react. No way. Was this why Marcus hadn¡¯t been responding? Because he had already been ki¡ªno, not killed, just terribly wounded and incapacitated¡ªby whatever that thing was. ¡°Another newcomer?¡± said the creature in question. ¡°Are you a late entrant? I don¡¯t remember seeing you back at the entrance arena.¡± The speaker¡¯s vaguely male voice was a strange mix of slimy and sharp. Though, his whole form was even stranger. If a scaly crocodile could strand on two, thick legs and sport six thick arms coming off its shoulders, all while holding a cocoon-like ¡°backpack¡± on its back, then that was what this thing best resembled. Though of course, the dungeon¡¯s lack of light wasn¡¯t helping Ray get a proper impression of his adversary. Ray ignored the question and used Primordial Gauge on purpose this time, focusing directly on the human body. It took a bit of effort not to react when he saw what his spell displayed. That wasn¡¯t Marcus. Not the real one, at least. That was another one of the Darksign monsters. How convenient. ¡°I suppose the death of your companion must have shocked you,¡± said the strange creature. ¡°I hadn¡¯t realized how emotionally susceptible you humans are. Eliza is nothing like that.¡± Ray was trying to think fast. Eliza. This was obviously not a plain monster. This was a competitor, probably a race he hadn¡¯t seen yet, and one who had likely teamed up with another human. Somebody called Eliza. But he could think about those later. Right now, he had to get past this creature. He tried to use Primordial Gauge on his opponent, but it didn¡¯t work. [Warning!] Primordial Gauge has been blocked by Amulet of Blindness. Drat. Marcus had warned him this was likely to happen. All the competitors within the tournament were wary of having their full statuses be seen by others. As such, one of the first things many of them had purchased through the auction was an Amulet of Blindness. An inexpensive little trinket that would stop any abilities akin to Primordial Gauge. ¡°How dare you,¡± Ray said, trying his best to hold on to that initial anger and surprise he had felt. ¡°You¡¯re going to pay for killing Marcus.¡± The creature¡¯s lizard-face grinned, his sharp little fangs glinting in the low light. ¡°Oh? Want to exact revenge? I¡¯d like to see you try. Just know that when you¡¯re lying dead, it was Karkatrix of the Third Ryous who took your meagre life.¡± Ray wasted no time calling up a Windbane head at the end of his arm and firing off a blast of chaotic flames. His opponent was faster. A lot faster than Ray had given him credit for. With one of his six arms, Karkatrix flung fake Marcus¡¯s corpse off to one side. At the same time, Karkatrix himself dived to the very opposite side. In that split second Ray appreciate just how devious his opponent was. Neither of them was aware just how much the other knew about the dungeon¡¯s little tricks with the fakes and the Darksigns. As such, it was best to pretend that the other knew nothing. But Karkatrix had purposefully flung away fake Marcus to judge Ray¡¯s reaction. So, to keep selling the image that he didn¡¯t know about the Darksign, Ray ignored his opponent and rushed after Marcus¡¯s body. He couldn¡¯t let his friend¡¯s body get lost in the depthless bottom. Karkatrix uttered a triumphant cry. He thought he had Ray right where he wanted him. Thankfully, Ray had already summoned up the Scouring Eyeball, disguising it with a bit of Mimic Mana. It let him see how the cocoon on the six-armed lizard¡¯s back unwrapped, like bandages unwinding off a limb. From within that cocoon, he drew three swords on three arms, and for whatever reason, a giant stick. Or a staff, Ray supposed. As if spellblades weren¡¯t annoying enough, this guy had six arms to boot. Soaring Wings took Ray to fake Marcus¡¯s corpse just as a lightning bolt crackled out of Karkatrix¡¯s staff. Ray was already casting Mottling Spiritguard. More bolts rained down after the first was foiled, but none of them landed. His sparking orbs of chaos did well to block everything that Karkatrix threw. The sheer number of bolts had depleted Ray¡¯s defence, however. With the majority of Spiritguard orbs gone, Karkatrix himself rushed Ray with blinding, lightning-fuelled speed. Ray held himself back from reacting, other than sending the three remaining orbs shooting at his opponent. Karkatrix took them out with more bolts as he reached Ray in mere seconds. Only to be met with a giant, dark shell materializing in an instant before him. The clang of the large swords bouncing off the shell reminded Ray of one thing clearly. He wasn¡¯t here to fight, defeat, and kill other competitors. Ideal as that would likely be, it might end up taking too long. His real target was getting the treasure. The more time he wasted on fighting, the more some other team had the chance to get the treasure before him. So, he summoned up his Imitator construct, letting it take his own form. In less than a heartbeat, it pushed out from behind the summoned shell of the Duskshell and flew off. Ray¡¯s heart clenched. Would Karkatrix fall for it? In the midst of battle, surely he had¡ª Karkatrix growled and rushed after the mimic, swords raised to swing down and staff ready to blast more bolts from behind. Ray grinned. There was his chance. Letting the fake¡¯s body drop, Ray called up the Windbane head again, this time with Lifeblood Soulform to let it stand¡ªor fly, rather¡ªon its own. Its jaws yawned wide as a compressed beam of black-and-red flames burned through the air towards Karkatrix. The Ryous turned in mid-air, whips of crackling lightning blistering out of the end of his staff. They lashed out at the Windbane breath, causing an explosion well away from the intended target. But Ray had foreseen something like that happening, which was why he wasn¡¯t even behind the shell any longer. With Spectral Step, he reappeared next to his Scouring Eyeball, which had flown all the way near to the strange pool of Mana on the ceiling. Floating with his wings, Ray fired off another laser breath from the Windbane maw grafted to his arm using Primal Spiritcraft. This time, his attack connected. Busy countering the blast from the Windbane construct, Karkatrix was unable to erect any defences against Ray¡¯s other attack before it was too late. He managed to bring his swords together to shield himself, courtesy of his multiple arms. That did next to nothing. The compressed blast of chaotic fire crashed into Karkatrix and sent him flying. Ray grinned as his opponent struck the wall of the chamber before beginning to plummet. If he was lucky, the fall might just kill the bastard. Although, considering Karkatrix was still alive¡ªas evidenced by how much he was cussing Ray out in an unintelligible language¡ªthat was unlikely. He¡¯d probably find a way to survive. For the moment, though, Ray was satisfied. The pesky guy was dealt with. If he found more of them along the way, he¡¯d deal with them the same. He stared at the near-upside-down pool of Mana for a second. Somehow, it gave him the sense of¡­ a portal. A doorway or sorts. Taking a deep breath, he went in. B3 Chapter 4 (135): Time Wielder Ray thought he¡¯d have to keep flying higher through the strange, portal-like opening in the chamber wall. But that wasn¡¯t the case. As soon as he was through, he suddenly had ground at his feet and was staring into the darkness of a strange tunnel. Upon closer inspection with Primordial Gauge, Mana filled every square inch of the tunnel. The walls, ceiling, and floor all glowed a shimmering blue as the tunnel continued onwards. Just more proof that Ray had most likely discovered the correct path forward. The one that would lead him to the treasure. The question remained on who else had discovered it. There had to be at least a few. He had seen several teams get into the dungeon, so chances were he¡¯d meet them soon. He could still feel a mental connection to his Imitator construct on the other side. At a quick mental command, it followed him into the tunnel. Though, as Ray moved on, he bid the mimic wait. It might serve as a nice, little surprise down the line. Ray: Marcus. MARCUS. Can you please confirm you¡¯re alive? Seeing the fake corpse at that chamber renewed Ray¡¯s dread about what had happened to Marcus. Asshole needed to confirm he was okay. He could have gone on if he had learned that Marcus was dead, thanks to the System no longer allowing him to send any messages. But the option wasn¡¯t blocked. Marcus was alive. Just not responding, for whatever reason. Gritty: He might be unconscious. Ray: I figured. Was just making sure because I saw his dead body not long ago. Don¡¯t worry, was just a fake. He explained his encounter with the Ryous, Karkatrix, and how he had found a way forward that looked promising. In return, Gritty explained how she had come across a duo as well. A couple of Sylvans who appeared to be participating in the Immortalizer Tournament too. If there were more in that party, she couldn¡¯t say for sure yet. She wasn¡¯t following them close enough to overhear what they said. Ah, well. So long as she remained safe. Speaking of safe, Ray himself arrived at the next dungeon chamber in about another minute. Where he was pretty sure he was no longer safe. A pitched battle was already occurring at Ray¡¯s location. He stayed back, only observing. A trio of Sylvans were fighting against a singular human dressed in ragged robes. At first glance, it would appear the human was outnumbered and outmatched, but as the battle progressed, Ray could only stare as the tables turned. She had a weird power that Ray couldn¡¯t decipher properly. A forcefield of multicoloured light surrounded her, and any attacks from the Sylvans simply disappeared as soon as they hit the shield. And then she began flinging orbs of the same kind at her opponents. The Sylvans dodged it at first. But then, one of them that tried to block one of the orbs with a shielding skill. Ray gawked, wishing he had some kind of slow-motion camera because he really would have liked to see what occurred again in greater detail. The orb the woman fired ate through the Sylvan¡¯s shield, then ate through the Sylvan himself. His scream echoed piercingly in the dungeon chamber. As the other Sylvans cursed the woman, Ray stared at the effects of that strange orb ability. It had sheared straight through its targets, leaving unnaturally perfect, circular holes through whatever it had passed, before popping with a burst when it hit the far dungeon wall. The way the chromatic sphere had moved made Ray take in a sharp breath. It had passed through physical matter like they didn¡¯t exist, at least until it had hit the wall. Ray couldn¡¯t tell what exact kind of attack that was supposed to be, but he knew he couldn¡¯t let it touch him. The other two Sylvans didn¡¯t fare much better. Their companion had died, which had sent them into a vengeful frenzy to attack the woman directly. All she had done was recreate her spherical shield. When the second Sylvan had swung in her sword, it had simply disappeared, taking a chunk of her forearm with it. Her scream didn¡¯t last long. The woman blasted the Sylvan with another orb straight to the face. The Sylvan dropped dead. Good thing Ray had so much experience seeing weird shit happen to bodies under the effects of his chaos. Otherwise, his stomach would probably have rebelled at how it looked like someone had taken a perfectly clean ice-cream scoop out of the Sylvan¡¯s head. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right,¡± the woman said as the last Sylvan quickly departed the area through a different tunnel. ¡°Run while you can, you coward.¡± Ray frowned at the other entrance. So there weren¡¯t just magic portals like the one he had used that led to this chamber. Unless, of course, that tunnel had another of those strange Mana pools at their start too. Who knew. ¡°Now.¡± The woman turned to Ray. Ah. Primordial Gauge hadn¡¯t warned him he had been sensed. ¡°You want a piece of me, or you want to run?¡± ¡°You¡¯re from another Tower, I take it?¡± Ray asked. ¡°What, you¡¯re from this one?¡± She tutted, a small grin tugging at her crooked mouth. ¡°Curious to see what you¡¯ve got now.¡± ¡°Sure. I can show you. Mind telling why you¡¯re here first, though? You¡¯re just standing here, fighting off people in this chamber, almost like you¡¯re trying to prevent anyone from going in further. Let me guess, you¡¯ve got a teammate trying to find a way through to the treasure farther in, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°You talk too much. Just come over and die already.¡± Ray actually would have preferred to talk some more, but the multicoloured orbs shooting at him were a strong deterrent to conversation. No letting them hit him. At least they were slow. Ray had no trouble dodging to one side. ¡°If you¡¯re disinclined to talk,¡± Ray said, summoning up a spectral Windbane head at the end of his arm. ¡°Then we can just get this over with.¡± The blast he fired off didn¡¯t connect. That translucent shield of swirling colours popped up around the woman again, and it blocked the chaotic flames completely. Even when Ray powered up the flames with more True Mana, even when the burning geyser grew larger to overtake his opponent completely. That strange shield wouldn¡¯t let anything through. It was almost as though nothing existed within that shield that the woman wouldn¡¯t allow. Ray¡¯s eyes widened. Was that it? Some kind of weird temporal ability that made everything within that shield revert back to some previous time? No fucking way. More of the orbs came flying at Ray, but he dodged them easily. She had to have some sort of counter to more agile enemies, especially those who understood they couldn¡¯t block her powers. What was it? Surely she couldn¡¯t be content just allowing him to dodge? Whatever it was, Ray couldn¡¯t let her exercise it. So, he went on the offensive. ¡°Your stupid powers aren¡¯t going to work,¡± the woman said with one-hundred-percent certainty. ¡°You should run, just like those horned idiots.¡± A part of Ray noted that she didn¡¯t recognize the Sylvans as Sylvans, unless she was just insulting them. But it made sense. The Sylvans couldn¡¯t be running all the Towers. Which made him distantly wonder what exactly went on in other Towers. But now really wasn¡¯t the time. This time, instead of just flinging those time-orbs at Ray, the woman created what looked like oversized sabres at the end of her arms. The blades were made of multicoloured light, just as the orbs had been. Clearly, she was bent on attacking directly, since the orbs were doing jack shit. Not on Ray¡¯s watch. He inundated her with attacks of his own first. It was nice that he could cast multiple spells in quick succession. A couple of Windbane constructs floated to being beside him, as well as the Viledrake tail at his back. The first flying maw shot a geyser of compressed chaotic fire at the woman. She burst through it with her chromatic shield around her. But that was merely a distraction.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. When the second maw fired, it didn¡¯t shoot a simple chaos beam. Instead, with Mana Imbuing, he made it fire a compressed blast of Molten Mana. While that didn¡¯t get through that impenetrable defence either, Ray wasn¡¯t aiming for his opponent in the first place. Instead, the glowing Molten Mana burned a hole in the ground. Interestingly, the chunk of the floor that was within that multihued sphere remained unaffected. But the blast radius was large. The obsidian-like rock under the shield started melting and disintegrating. Without support, the woman and the piece of the floor she stood on fell. Ray¡¯s triumphant grin lasted merely a second. Like the last few chambers, this one had those rocky spars jutting across a depthless void to connect the tunnels on opposite walls. Ray¡¯s thought process went that even if he couldn¡¯t hit the woman directly, he could destroy everything around her instead. Except, the void underneath didn¡¯t turnout to be that deep. Just his luck. The woman yelled out in surprise as she fell for a few seconds, but then stopped. She had only descended about twenty feet. Looked like the ¡°depthless¡± bottom here wasn¡¯t actually that deep, unlike the last chamber. Just his luck. ¡°That the best you got?¡± she asked. Ray wanted to reply that she had seen far from what he was capable of¡ªand was pretty sure there was a lot the woman could do that he had yet to see¡ªbut a demonstration was easier to handle. Plus the self-reminder that he wasn¡¯t here to win fights against anybody. The real victory was securing the treasure. So, as the woman rushed upwards, Ray bid his Imitator construct rush in from the tunnel. But instead of having Ray¡¯s form, it was shaped like his previous opponent. Large, crocodilian, sporting that cocoon backpack. The mimic¡¯s sudden appearance shocked the woman to a standstill. She was frowning though. Her suspicion was pretty clear. ¡°Did you let that guy escape, Karkatrix?¡± she asked. ¡°Wasn¡¯t my fault, Eliza.¡± The mimic¡¯s imitation of the Ryous¡¯s voice was so good, Ray himself could have been fooled into thinking that it was the real deal. Even better that the mimic had affected the gear as well, including that Amulet of Blindness. So the woman, Eliza, couldn¡¯t use any abilities to sus out whether the mimic was real or not. ¡°He was too quick. And he¡¯s real.¡± ¡°Yeah, I can see that part.¡± Eliza turned to Ray with a scowl. ¡°Enough running around, now you¡¯re going to die.¡± ¡°No mercy for your fellow human?¡± Ray asked, slowly allowing his wings to bring him closer to one of the rock bridges. ¡°What if I surrendered and ran back the way I came?¡± ¡°You¡¯re not fooling anybody, pal, you¡¯re not the running type. You¡¯re the tricking type. I hate people like you.¡± ¡°What? I didn¡¯t even do anything.¡± Eliza growled, then charged at Ray. At which point, the fake Karkatrix punched three of his arms into Eliza from behind, while also pulling out his three fake swords. Just as she shouted out in outrage, Ray burst forward. His wings were spread and Soullife Cloak was boosting his speed a great deal. As Eliza couldn¡¯t decide who to curse between Ray and her apparently traitorous friend, Ray rushed ahead with relative freedom. At least he wasn¡¯t going to be pursued any time soon. He had to make the most of the window of opportunity. Ray rushed forward as fast as he was able. Primordial Gauge in his eyes made sure he was following the lines of Mana along the walls. There were no secret Mana pools indicating any hidden doorways he had to go through. Maybe he just had to go farther. When he reached the end of the chamber, Ray didn¡¯t have time to pick and decide. No doubt, Eliza would be done with the mimic, and then she¡¯d come rushing after him. So instead of waiting to decide, Ray picked a tunnel at random. For the rest, he constructed several Scouring Eyeballs and sent one flying through each tunnel he didn¡¯t take. Since he could see Mana through the Scouring Eyeballs as well, his bases were now covered. He just had to find the next Mana pool or portal or whatever those things were. Ray had only gone about halfway through the tunnel by his estimation before he had to stop. He had come face to face with Gritty. Fake Gritty, to be exact. One quick look with Primordial Gauge confirmed that it was a Darksign. How or why a fake Gritty had appeared here of all places was beyond Ray, but he aimed his hand at the Darksign anyway. Ray: Gritty, where are you? Gritty: Why, you need me to come rescue you? Ray: No. I¡¯m just facing a fake version of you now, and it made me think you¡¯re probably close by. Gritty: I¡¯m still following the other team. They look like they know what they¡¯re doing so I¡¯m tagging along. Wait. Ah shit, I think they spotted me. Ttyl. True to her words, Gritty was no longer available to be messaged. Ray shot off a quick ¡°Good luck!¡± but got no response in return. A part of him was minorly concerned about her abrupt departure. First Marcus, now Gritty too. But the rest of him was suddenly on high alert as the fake Gritty began moving too. Moving straight towards him. ¡°Woah!¡± Ray said as he dodged to one side. Fake Gritty had dashed in real quick. Her arm was extended, a spike of bone bursting out of her palm with a blister of blood that looked quite painful. Ray frowned. Why was the Darksign attacking him all of a sudden? Had he just waited too long and now she had suddenly decided he needed to die? Fake Gritty was already turning, preparing to launch herself at Ray again. Her eyes were blank, though the way her mouth stretched in a leering, bloody grin made her feel malignantly aware and intelligent. Ray aimed his arm at her again, calling up a draconic head at the end with Primal Spiritcraft. The blast of chaotic flames fired off like a horizontal geyser. It never hit. Fake Gritty had dodged way too easily, way too quickly. Ray used both hands to attack but she was too agile. And when he manoeuvred her around so that she couldn¡¯t evade, fake Gritty just used a strange blood ability to block Ray¡¯s attack. The chaotic flames exploded as the fiery stream struck the floating crimson droplets, leaving his intended target perfectly safe. ¡°Oh, come on.¡± Ray sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t have time to play games with you right now, Gritty.¡± It was at least a small blessing that the tunnel was more than wide enough for them to evade and move around without difficulty. Still. Ray had no intention of being stuck here until Eliza or Karkatrix arrived to complicate matters. Fake Gritty came to a stop all of a sudden. It was like she was frozen in place, petrified halfway to her next motion. Ray stared at her. Then had a very wild idea pop into his head. Ray: Hey Gritty¡­ are you by any chance completely stationary right now? Gritty: Yeah. I¡¯m trying to hide. Those assholes keep looking for me. If one of them gets close enough, I can get the jump on him. Ray: You mind moving your left arm for a second. Gritty: What? Ray: Just do it please. Move it like a foot or something. Immediately, fake Gritty once again moved. But only for¡ªRay gulped. Fake Gritty had moved only a foot before resuming her completely frozen stance. Gritty: The hell are you up to, Wingman? Ray: It¡¯s actually what YOU¡¯RE up to atm, technically. Gritty: What? Ray explained, in as few words as possible, his suspicions. Well, it was more a hypothesis that he had ample evidence for now. The Darksigns only moved when the originals were moving. Fake Gritty had been stationary right up until the moment real Gritty had started moving. And when real Gritty had stopped moving once more, the fake one had followed suit. Ray was pretty sure he could actually kill the thing. Gritty: But it didn¡¯t attack you last time, did it? Ray: I thought it was because I was too fast and they didn¡¯t get the chance to attack me. But I suppose it¡¯s just more proof because¡­ well, wait, you guys were technically moving then too. Gritty: Maybe it¡¯s the kind of movement that matters. We were walking casually back then, not with any hostile intentions. But not now. Not now at all. Gritty moved with the clear purpose of a killer, a predator on the hunt to take down her prey. Maybe that was it. That was the difference. Her frame of mind, the intent of any of her movement, were all focused on killing. It was that intent that resonated with the fake Gritty here. A killing intent that had made her attack Ray. Now that Ray had figured out what was going on, he wasted no time firing off another blast of chaotic flames at the Darksign. Except, fake Gritty dodged that, then tried counterattacking Ray himself, so he was forced to evade too. Ray: Hey, Gritty! Stay still, damn it. Gritty: A little busy trying to bloodily eviscerate three people at once here. Ray cursed. This was getting too annoying. Alright, that was it. He flung multiple spells at once, switching from one Talisman to the other. Multiple casts of Mottling Spiritguard brought up a rotating salvo of sparking chaotic orbs. Lifeblood Soulform gave rise to several draconic heads flying on their own near him. Ray even summoned up a horde of chaos bees. ¡°Take this!¡± Ray sent it all crashing into his annoying opponent. The Windbane maws shot out lasering breaths of compressed chaos, the bees rushed in to sting fake Gritty to death as soon as she dodged, and the Spiritguard orbs flung outwards to cover the entirety of the tunnel. In response, fake Gritty used her own combination of skills to counter. She didn¡¯t bother dodging. Instead, hundreds of blood droplets poured out of her without any sign of any wounds They glowed with scarlet light, glowing lines jumping from one to other to form concentric, circular patterns. Ray blinked. Was that another ritual just like the one the real Gritty had used to try and heal the Eternal Guardian? The spherical rings of blood were only a part of fake Gritty¡¯s defence. Right on her skin, bone spontaneously formed to create a solid armour that encased every inch of her, even her hair. When Ray¡¯s attacks met fake Gritty¡¯s defence, the resulting detonation started making the entire tunnel crack apart. As much as he was tempted to stick around and see if his combination of attacks had finally ended that pain in the ass, Ray recognized that this was his best chance. Experience be damned. His real goal was getting to the treasure before anyone else. So, leaving fake Gritty in the dust and the collapsing tunnel¡ªdead or alive, he just couldn¡¯t tell, not when Primordial Gauge didn¡¯t have a direct line of sight on her¡ªRay dived further into the tunnel. He reached a dead end soon, but that was fine. One of the Scouring Eyeballs had found the real Mana portal that he was supposed to have used. Spectral Step took him to the tunnel that wasn¡¯t collapsing on top of him. Wasting no time, Ray pushed through the Mana portal to emerge into another large chamber. The largest he had come across yet. A chamber where a pitched battle between several teams of competitors was already raging. A chamber at the end of which was a large glimmering Mana portal with multiple lights swimming on its surface. Ray stared at for a second. Oh, he knew where that would lead. That, no doubt, was his path to the final chamber of the dungeon. Where the treasure lay. B3 Chapter 5 (136): Opening The Door Ray was glad he could hang back for a bit while the battle went on over there. It didn¡¯t last long. He had arrived at the tail end, where the fighting was winding down and the winners had just about secured their victory. It was the first time Ray was seeing competitors actually dying in this tournament. He wasn¡¯t unaware of the risks. Hell, if he hadn¡¯t been so bent on reaching the end of the dungeon to claim its treasure, he probably would have already killed a couple of competitors himself. Sure, Eliza looked particularly pesky, but Ray was pretty certain he would have found a way to get to her eventually. Though, to be fair, right this moment, he couldn¡¯t really tell how many of the combatants were actually real participants in the tournament. Some of them definitely shrieked as they fell. The call of dying Darksigns. Huh. Maybe they weren¡¯t all competitors after all. Ray didn¡¯t go ahead. There was something curious going on, and he decided observation was his best bet here. He still had Primordial Gauge allowing him to see Mana. The large portal at the end of the chamber glowed with incredible power. But it wasn¡¯t just an oversized pool of glimmering blue energy like the previous ones Ray had interacted with. This one had an extra layer of colour over it, almost like the multihued orbs that Eliza had used. Even more curious than the portal itself were the competitors still standing. It was clear that the four of them were part of a single team with how at ease they were with each other now that the fighting had stopped. But it wasn¡¯t just the four of them there. They had their Darksigns with them too. That was what Ray stared at. The Darksigns were basically clones of the competitors, just as they had been for Ray and his team whenever he, Gritty, and Marcus had come across them. But unlike their hostile meetings, these Darksign were almost cooperating with their original counterparts. Ray continued gawking as they all approached the enormous Mana portal, real and fake competitors alike. Once they were close enough, the Darksigns began to fade, their forms dissolving into streams of energy that floated into the huge portal. The colours over the Mana barrier changed in intensity. Certain colours grew stronger than before. If Ray wasn¡¯t mistaken, then the colours that the Darksigns had dissolved into were the ones that had grown. Ray blinked. He still wasn¡¯t sure what exactly was going on, but he was starting to get a wild idea. A quick cast of Lifeblood Soulform created a Scouring Eyeball that he sent flying off on its own. It allowed him to get a better look but it wasn¡¯t super helpful. If only he had a Scouring Ear or something. Oh. Ray silently called himself stupid before using Lifeblood Soulform again, this time to call up his Imitator construct. Origin Resonance allowed him to use the Mimic Mana to create a camouflage over himself, with the Tower Node of the Augmenter making it look extra real and lifelike. There, now he could get close. An Amulet of Blindness would have helped too, btu the Augmenter Tower Node ought to do well enough on its own. Still. Ray needed to get those amulets at some point. ¡°¡­can¡¯t,¡± a human woman was saying. Ray, camouflaged in the gloom of the dungeon, had gotten just close enough to overhear. ¡°We¡¯ve been at this too long already. There can¡¯t be anymore of them out there.¡± ¡°I¡¯m still worried someone else will mess this up.¡± This one spoke with a slow, grinding voice, to match his slow, boulderlike appearance. Another new race for Ray. He looked kind of like if someone had stuck crooked tree branches to a misshapen hunk of rock. ¡°We should leave Ankhor to guard.¡± The Sylvan, apparently this Ankhor, shook her head with great reluctance. ¡°No. I am not staying behind. We will go together and we will enter the chamber beyond as one. That was the deal.¡± ¡°Fine, fine,¡± the woman said before the rest of them could continue arguing. ¡°Let¡¯s go find the rest before anyone else shows up. There can¡¯t be many more. Just hurry, alright?¡± Ray held his breath. Even as the competitors moved out, he wasn¡¯t spotted or sensed. Perfect. Bless the Augmenter Tower Node. He had so my questions. This couldn¡¯t be the only doorway into the chamber beyond, right? Because it had sounded like that just beyond the massive Mana portal was what was ostensibly the final room of this dungeon. The location where they could beat the boss and claim the treasure within. Why else would there be a giant Mana portal? But if this was the only one, it couldn¡¯t be that just the one team had access to it. After all, Eliza and Karkatrix had been guarding the entrance to it. So had their teammate passed on into the final chamber and this team Ray had just observed come from some other tunnel? Likely, since they had departed via a different tunnel. Not the one Ray had come through. Ray was also wondering if his supposition that he had to find a way to feed the Darksigns to the Mana portal was correct or not. His question was answered as he arrived close enough to the huge glowing doorway to get a notification. [Primordial Gauge¡ªDungeon Obstacle] Embrace the Darkness Darkness lurks within even the greatest of beings. But the difference between greatness and mediocrity is in one¡¯s ability to embrace everything, light or dark. Thus, the truest way forward is through acceptance, understanding, and cooperation with a side that one would rather not deal with. Ray stared at the description of the Dungeon Obstacle with growing annoyance. The System couldn¡¯t have been vaguer if it had tried. There were clues there, sure. But the fact that he couldn¡¯t immediately figure it out, while certain teams and individuals had already done so was bugging him. Ray closed his eyes for a second. Embrace the darkness. That was what it said. Maybe it didn¡¯t need that much thought. Maybe what the others had done was take it literally. Embrace the darkness. Embrace the Darksigns. He had just seen the other team working alongside their fakes. The question was how? None of Ray¡¯s interactions with any of his fakes¡ª Oh, hold on. He had never encountered any of his fakes. Those of Gritty and Marcus, yes, and he had seen fakes of other competitors too. But where in the world were the fake Rays? Something told him that was connected to what exactly he had to accomplish here. Finding his fakes and bringing them here so the portal could¡­ eat them? That was what it had looked like moments ago. Ray sighed. No. No, he couldn¡¯t run off on such a wild goose chase. He had already spent too long in the dungeon. Already late, lagging behind. There was¡ªmost likely¡ªalready someone inside the final chamber, probably killing the boss and about to claim the treasure. Ray couldn¡¯t play by the dungeon¡¯s rules. Not if he wanted to win. If victory was to be his, he had to make everyone play by his rules. Core Deconstruction created a sparking orb of Origin Mana. Ray looked at the huge Mana portal. The way it was connected to all the Mana threads running through the dungeon reminded him a lot about how Mana Cores functioned. And Core Deconstruction was the best way to deal with Mana Cores. It made him wonder if this dungeon possessed some sort of sentience. If they all did. As far as Ray had seen, a Mana Core only existed within living beings. Then did the dungeon qualify? He also wasn¡¯t sure how exactly Core Deconstruction would affect the huge Mana portal. Surely it wouldn¡¯t make the entire dungeon collapse. That would be too easy.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. But if this turned out to a brute force way of getting into the final chamber, then whatever else happened would be worth it. Ray wasted no time rushing in and smashing the sparking orb of white light on his hand into the gigantic doorway of Mana. He didn¡¯t hit the main portal. Crap. He had forgotten about that swirling barrier of colours in front of the portal itself. But when Core Deconstruction hit it, the colours dissolved and melted away after a sparking burst of white. ¡°Huh,¡± Ray said. Well, that left just the doorway itself. Ray stepped forward. Now that the barrier was gone, would the huge portal function like the ones he had used so far? Would it just allow him to pass through? Nope. Ray was rebuffed. The glimmering barrier of energy was solid, slightly cool to the touch, but firm and unyielding. Looked like he¡¯d have to resort to his original plan. Ray used Core Deconstruction to create another orb of sparking energy. Then he slammed it into the huge, glowing doorway. There was no visible effect at first. A massive spark burst at the point of contact, making him flinch backwards, but the huge Mana portal appeared unchanged when he looked back at it. Maybe he had been a little too optimistic thinking he could affect an entire dungeon with his abilities. After all, he was just one¡ª The dungeon chamber started shaking. At the same time, the Mana portal began fading. Ray¡¯s eyes widened. That chromatic bubble before the portal, one he had passed through with no trouble, flickered to life before shattering with an audible crack. Ray frowned. Wasn¡¯t that supposed to be gone by now, already? Well, whatever. The portal itself was fading. The real thing Ray had decided to break through was falling apart. It wasn¡¯t revealing an open doorway though. He had expected some sort of tunnel opening like the ones had been using so far, just much larger. But all he saw was solid rock behind the glimmering Mana. No, that wasn¡¯t right. Ray inspected closer. The rock wasn¡¯t as solid as he had first thought. It was cracked all over, crumbling and falling apart. Ah, so he just needed to break his way through the last barrier. That wasn¡¯t going to be difficult. Except¡ªRay twisted around. Primordial Gauge had warned him that people were approaching. A whole bunch of different skills indicating Ray¡¯s presence. Which meant a whole bunch of people approaching at once. His heartbeat climbed rapidly. Too many people. There was no good reason all of them would be coming here together. It was too many for it all to be one team. Something else was going on. It was the appearance of the first person that clued Ray in on what was happening. He could use Primordial Gauge on the approaching competitor. The Ryous either didn¡¯t have an Amulet of Blindness, or as was proven moments later, was just a Darksign. Ray shifted the focus of Primordial Gauge from one competitor to the other, finding that he could peek into all their statuses with his spell. None of them had an Amulet of Blindness. Which meant every single one of them was a Darksign. The fuck? It had to have been his attack on the dungeon portal. The whole place was still shaking, the tremors bursting along the ground with alarming frequency. Were the Darksigns controlled by the dungeon? Had it called in all the Darksigns to stop Ray? Considerations that he would have to leave for later. The first of them were already attacking. For the first time since entering the dungeon, Ray felt properly threatened. To the point that he no longer had any stray thoughts about getting to the final chamber and getting the treasure before anyone else. That was now a minor concern at most. Right that moment, all Ray could think of was surviving the onslaught he was about to face. His skin tingled, his spine threatening to shiver as much as the earth around him was. This was going to be intense. The first Darksign to come hurtling at him wasn¡¯t the Ryous he had spotted. It was a fake of the gigantic, boulderlike being he had spotted in the chamber with the other team. In fact, this was a carbon copy. Ray grinned, part nervous and part excited to see just what his opponent was capable of. He wished he had time to read through the status, but he was going to get a first-hand demonstration anyway. The boulderlike alien didn¡¯t move with legs. It didn¡¯t have legs. Instead, the whole body rolled forward at a surprisingly quick burst of speed. Ray thrust his arm forward, calling up a draconic head with Primal Spiritcraft to belch out a blast of chaotic fire. Even if it didn¡¯t kill, the force behind his attack ought to at least redirect the onrushing alien. It appeared he had underestimated the capabilities of a living boulder. Continuing to roll over the rocky bridge to hammer into Ray, the alien manifested a strange, glinting barrier around itself. The blast of chaotic fire hit it square in the middle, but that shielding skill made sure it suffered nothing. Ray took a deep breath, then cursed. Another difficult-to-pierce shielding skill. So annoying. The only option left was to dodge. Ray called up Soaring Wings just in time to take himself to the right. The boulderlike alien crashed against the rocks after shooting past him, ruffling his cloak and hair. Ray wanted to turn and blast his opponent¡¯s back. It should have been open now, letting him get a good hit in from behind. But there were too many other Darksigns in the area. And of course, they had no shred of decency to allow him to fight them one-on-one. Just as Ray had finished dodging the roly-poly fake, a Ryous was slashing in at him with four swords on four of its arms. Ray almost thought it was the one he had tricked and gotten away from. But no. Only four arms. Not six. This was a different fake Ryous. Ray evaded the Ryous with the help of his wings. He left it late enough that the recovering boulder-alien had come in from the other side too. This made the two fakes collide against each other. Problem was, there were a lot more than just the two of them all over the place. All of whom were still rushing towards him. Two Sylvans were using a Growth Mana ability he hadn¡¯t seen before. Streams of Growth Mana flew through the air towards him. They were slow, easily avoidable, but the streams left solid residue that took up a lot of space. Basically, they were closing in the space Ray could actually use. It was almost like these Darksigns were collaborating to take him down. Ray would have destroyed the Growth Mana with a blast from a Windbane maw, but he couldn¡¯t focus on what wasn¡¯t immediately attempting to kill him. There were other concerns. Like the sparking human rushing towards Ray¡¯s location. The man was wreathed in little snakes that jolted with purple electricity. Ray didn¡¯t know what that was, but he was pretty sure letting that guy get too close would not be good for his health. So, he dived straight down. When his opponent followed, Ray cast Mottling Spiritguard to call up dozens of sparking orbs around him. But not chaotic orbs. Ray used Lifeblood Soulform to call up the Viledrake tail, with Origin Resonance the next second ensuring they all turned into orbs filled with Molten Mana. Just as his opponent neared, Ray spread them all out, turned them into attacking stance. The result detonated them all. If the lava flying everywhere didn¡¯t get to the fake, then the bridges of stone collapsing from above had to. Ray climbed above the collapsing explosion. He still wasn¡¯t free. More and more. There was an endless number of these Darksigns. The boulder-alien and the Ryous both rushed at him. Ray used Soullife Cloak to boost his speed, dodging away from his opponents. Another Sylvan flashed in at him from the front, curving blades of energy slicing in to guillotine off Ray¡¯s head. Bringing up the draconic head to fire off a chaotic laser breath was all that saved Ray, though even that wasn¡¯t enough. Those blades were slicing through his chaos flames, still aiming to cut him in half. He had to bless the fact he could think quick. Project Presence sent Ray¡¯s soul through the Sylvan, and he used Spectral Step to appear just behind. Ray immediately twisted around to attack his aggressor. Of course, with his teleportation, the Sylvan was able to flash forward, well out of Ray¡¯s reach. But he prevented the escape with a quick use of Soulstrike with the draconic head at the end of the True Mana arm. It was the first satisfying moment in that entire fight to see the fake Sylvan¡¯s head crushed to bloody pulp. There were still more of them. it was getting to be a bit much, so Ray called up help. Lifeblood Soulform called up the Imitator construct, as well as several of the flying Windbane heads. His little cavalry was here. Ray didn¡¯t even need to command them for long before they engaged several of the Darksigns. He couldn¡¯t pay them much attention. Deafening cracking noise pulled Ray¡¯s eyes to where someone else was using a strange skill. Huge rents tore through space itself almost a hundred feet away from Ray. Rents that spewed a strange, liquidlike substance that rushed straight for him with ferocity of a tidal wave. Ray could have dodged. Even though that wave was splitting off into multiple paths, he could have flown off and evaded. But several Darksigns, as yet unengaged, were waiting for just that. As soon as Ray started dodging, they¡¯d swoop in for the kill. In that instant, he saw their plan. So Ray stood stock still, letting that huge tidal barrage sweep at him. The Darksigns¡¯ impatience won out. They rushed him from either side, unheeding of the fact that another of them had used a skill that was going to wipe them all away. But Ray was already prepared. The Mana Infuser ring allowed him to push more and more True Mana into his draconic head. In mere seconds, the maw turned spectral and grew in size, brimming with fiery power. Just as the Darksigns and the huge tidal wave were about to reach Ray¡¯s location, he roared out and thrust his arm forward. The oversized Windbane maw unleashed a gargantuan lasering breath of compressed, fiery chaos. Ray was flung back by the momentum behind that blast, which punched through the onrushing wave to strike dead-centre on the ability¡¯s caster. But Ray wasn¡¯t paying attention whether that annoying asshole had died or not. Because he was too busy calling up another draconic head on his free arm, firing its breath against the main, geyser of a blast. As the two beams met, a thunderous explosion rocked the chamber, beating back the tremors of the dungeon itself. Ray was flung back even farther once more. But more importantly, those last few assailants who had dived at him were now obliterated. He couldn¡¯t relax. Someone else was approaching already. Ray cursed under his breath. It was a fake copy of the Eliza. She already had that chromatic bubble of time wrapped around her, securing her against anything Ray could have done. Well, anything direct, that was. Crushing a True Mana crystal, Ray called up a few more of his flying Windbane constructs. Enough that his head started to hurt. The blasts from the maws, either flying or on his hands, didn¡¯t hit fake Eliza. That was alright, though, because Ray had directed them at the ground around the Darksign instead. Where fake Eliza was perfectly fine, the rocks beneath her feet broke apart. ¡°Try getting out of that,¡± Ray said as he stared at the growing hole the combined blasts had left. Fake Eliza was continuing to fall, struggling to climb out while the ground continuously gave way. That took care of that. Ray looked around him. For just a moment, he had a bit of a breathing room. No one was attacking him just yet. He looked back next. The rock behind the Mana portal was cracked. Breaking apart. He grinned, using Mimic Mana and the Augmenter Tower Node once more. Time to get to the final chamber. B3 Chapter 6 (137): The Boss-Killer The battle was immense. Everything going on within the dungeon had already riveted the spectators¡¯ attention, but that showdown where one human took on at least half of the total competitors¡¯ Darksigns all on his own was something else entirely. Sridayne glanced at Vyournel, who had a suitably admirable look of astonishment. It wasn¡¯t just at the proficiency their subject displayed when it came to combat. Oh no, it was also at how amazing their numbers were doing. Just as she had predicted. ¡°How many?¡± she whispered to him. ¡°We have¡­¡± Vyournel¡¯s eyes went unfocused for a moment as he checked their channel status. ¡°Seven hundred thousand plus and counting.¡± ¡°Mm¡­ we could do better.¡± ¡°You must be joking. The last spike we had wasn¡¯t even half this many.¡± Sridayne grinned. True enough. But she didn¡¯t want to temper her ambition. That fight was basically confirming her suspicions that she had struck stardust. Raymond Dominick¡­ She had picked up the name from the registrar, and she was going to remember it. ¡°Knock that glint out of your eyes.¡± Sridayne turned to find Alecro limping over. The Halftyr in the crisp suit made in his home world¡¯s fashion with the lapels and the pauldrons was as polished as ever, save for where his missing leg was replaced with a prosthetic. Shiny horns and a small goatee at the end of his ruddy face completed the professional look he was going for. ¡°The newcomer of yours might be flashy, but he pales before what Sameer is capable of,¡± Alecro said. ¡°Is that right?¡± Sridayne turned back to the screen as Raymond made three of the Darksigns attack each other. ¡°Is your Sameer capable of something like that?¡± ¡°Oh, he¡¯s capable of much worse. He¡¯s just not stupid enough to get himself caught up in pointless fights.¡± ¡°Hmm, I don¡¯t know, Alecro. The point of the fight isn¡¯t the fight within the dungeon. It¡¯s the fight outside it, you understand.¡± Alecro glared at the rest of the spectators. ¡°Bunch of fickle¡­¡± His mutters dissolved into incoherence. Sridayne grinned to herself as she watched on. There were so many Darksigns¡­ it was a small miracle Raymond had survived this long. Not only that, he hadn¡¯t even suffered any wounds yet either. And then he simply quit the fighting. One of his mimicking abilities created a fake version of him, like he already had a Darksign under his control. That was one of the things that had attracted such a strong viewership geared towards the human. His assortment of abilities allowed for quite the entertaining encounters, especially since it was obvious he hadn¡¯t revealed his entire hand yet. Especially considering he had something that was worth over one-hundred Mana pearls. Definitely insane. Right now, the audience was reacting favourably with gasps and points as Raymond simply quit the arena. While his fake versions engaged the remaining Darksigns in the chamber, another little summons of his slipped through the cracks. Then he simply disappeared. Sridayne wasn¡¯t the only one to express her surprise vocally. Brilliant. They had already seen him using his little teleportation powers. And now, he had used it to get away from the¡ªshe looked to Alecro¡ªpointless battle. ¡°Say, Alecro,¡± Sridayne said, turning to her rival. ¡°That is the final chamber, yes? Where your little human went?¡± Alecro¡¯s equanimity had returned. ¡°Right. That¡¯s where Sameer has already secured his victory. So all your little human will end up doing is getting himself killed.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± She and the Halftyr both turned to a different screen. This one was focused on the dungeon¡¯s final chamber, the treasure room that held the final guardian the competitors would need to defeat to secure their reward. A room where, for now, one man was standing alone. But Raymond would soon¡ª Loud clanking noises made Sridayne and half the audience turn to the rear of their floating island. She frowned. What were they doing here? A trio of Sylvans had landed, all of their armoured cloaks bearing a tabard depicting a hand with three, twisted fingers. The emblem of the Lord of the Third Floor. ¡°We have received reports that a belligerent has entered the Immortalizer Tournament,¡± the leader said. His voice was firm yet cajoling. Ah, the Floor Lord had clearly been smart about sending the right person, as proven when the Sylvan continued speaking. ¡°We understand this belligerent¡¯s conduct allowed no room for following the proper methodology of registration,¡± he said. ¡°So we certainly don¡¯t blame our good guards and registrars.¡± He focused on the very ones he was talking about. ¡°So if you would kindly fill me on the exact identity of the belligerent and his current status within the dungeon, I would greatly appreciate it.¡± Sridayne frowned as the Floor Lord¡¯s hand-picked guards approached the registrars. This wasn¡¯t looking good. She turned back to the screen. The confrontation between Raymond and Alecro¡¯s chosen one, Sameer, was only just starting. At this rate, the battle would barely get underway before they were interrupted. So he hadn¡¯t been lying. Raymond really was being targeted by the Floor Lord himself. ¡°How many viewers now?¡± Sridayne asked Vyournel urgently. ¡°Um.¡± His eyes went unfocused for a few heartbeats. ¡°Over nine hundred thousand. We should hit seven figures soon.¡± ¡°Good. We¡¯ll have enough then.¡± ¡°Enough for what?¡± ¡°Enough to create a sizable investment.¡± ¡°Wait. You don¡¯t mean¡­?¡± ¡°Raymond Dominick is the ticket we¡¯ve been looking for, Vyournel. I don¡¯t care if the Floor Lord has a grudge against him. I don¡¯t care if the Tower Lord has something. I am not allowing this opportunity to slip by without doing something about it first.¡± That something turned out to be a quick message to one of the bet-organizers operating at the tournament. Betting was one of the major earners in the entire tournament. A hot new prospect making waves wasn¡¯t an opportunity the gamblers could pass up. Farther off, the Floor Lord¡¯s guards were done collecting what information they needed. They were about to head off into the dungeon proper. Sridayne hitched in an anxious breath. She had to work fast. More importantly, Raymond needed to win fast.
Ray hadn¡¯t been sure if entering the final boss arena would reveal that he was too late. Unfortunately, that was exactly what it turned out to be when he used Spectral Step after sending in a constructed chaos bee through the cracks in the door. The chamber he ended up in was the biggest yet. Natural, since he was facing the boss of the dungeon and was seeking to attain the treasure to boot. The ceiling curved upwards in a dome that could have housed a small stadium. Unlike where the rest of the dungeon was made of obsidian-like glassy rock, this room had walls that appeared to be made of solid charcoal. Ray didn¡¯t look around for long, though. His eyes soon fell on the boss. Or what was left of it. A huge, centipedal monster was lying dead. Ray couldn¡¯t tell how exactly it had died. Way too many wounds were scored across its cherry-red body, adorning it with injuries of way too any varieties. The fact that he could still recognize it as some sort of centipede-like creature was a stroke of luck. Really, he was just putting the segmented sections and the multiple short legs into a form that made the most sense to him. For all he knew, it could have been some kind of centipede-taur with a different creature set on top.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. At the same time, he received the backed-up notifications of the monsters he had called in the last furious battle. [Enemy Defeated¡ªDarksign] Tier 20 Monster: Darksign [Level 55] x5 Essence: +55,000 Knowledge: +15 True Mana Restored: +5,500 [Level Up!] Reward
  • +5 Intellect, +5 Spirit, +2 Vitality +2 Agility, +10 allocatable free stats.
  • 1 True Mana Tier Point
  • 1 Origin Mana Tier Point
Essence to Level 48: 6,650/221,200 [Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 2,500-point threshold, your Knowledge has raised your Intellect by 150. Knowledge to next Threshold: 2,512/3,500 Oh, hmm. As glad as Ray was to receive enough experience to raise his level, it made him wonder if the battle outside the chamber had drawn to a close. He supposed he could check it out once he teleported outside. Right now, he had more important things to take care of. ¡°Congrats,¡± Ray said to the guy standing in the middle of the room, not far from where the dead monster was lying in a pool of black-red blood. ¡°You don¡¯t even look like you had much trouble beating that thing.¡± The man was already looking at Ray. Had been, since the moment he had appeared inside the room. His clear blue eyes shone through the slit of his helmet. The rest of his garb reminded Ray of Sylvans¡ªhalfway between armour and a robe or cloak. ¡°You¡¯re interrupting,¡± the man said. He sounded young. Younger than Ray, at least. Ray grinned. ¡°Well, I couldn¡¯t just let you have the treasure all to yourself, now could I?¡± He was answered with silence for a while, before the guy¡¯s eyes sharpened. ¡°Is that right? I got here first, I killed the boss fair and square, and now you come in to steal my credit?¡± ¡°What? I don¡¯t see any rules or anything stating that the first one to kill the boss gets the reward. I¡¯m here to take the treasure for myself, so put up or shut up.¡± The man only continued to stare at Ray with growing disapproval. Somehow, he had a way of looking like a teacher who had just realized he had no other option but to fail a student. And the guy wasn¡¯t even that old, for crying out loud. Ray looked back at the dead boss. There was a strange object sitting atop the bloodied, chitinous segments of the monster. A weird crimson crystal that was pitted with writhing flesh. Something told him that was the treasure the competitors were supposed to extract from this dungeon. ¡°Since you¡¯re not responding,¡± Ray said, stepping forward. ¡°I¡¯m going to take that as a tacit go-ahead to take the treasure. Feel free to resist, by the way.¡± ¡°So, that¡¯s it? You¡¯re going to take just take the thing that doesn¡¯t belong to you? The thing that I worked so hard to obtain? You¡¯re going to profit off someone else¡¯s hard work and steal like a common thief?¡± Something about that irked Ray enough that he stopped walking to stare at the guy. Maybe it was the fact that he had just called Ray a thief. Just like when the Marauder had implied Ray was one too, as a Tower Conqueror. ¡°I¡¯m not stealing anything, pal¡ª¡± ¡°Then what are you doing, huh?¡± The guy stepped forward. ¡°I came here first, I killed the boss. You¡¯ve been hanging back, thinking you could just take advantage of my hard work. Is that what you always do? Profit off of someone else¡¯s effort?¡± ¡°You know, you could always try to stop me? Like, I¡¯m giving you the opportunity to fight¡ª¡± ¡°Shut up. I don¡¯t want to hear any more stupid excuses from a bully like you.¡± ¡°Bully?¡± ¡°You¡¯re a thief and a bully, using your power to take what belongs to someone else. That¡¯s it.¡± He sighed heavily. Then he stepped back. ¡°When I started this whole thing, I made a promise to myself that I wouldn¡¯t hurt fellow humans. We¡¯re the same race after all. We¡¯re not supposed to be fighting against each other when we¡¯ve got fucking aliens trying to steal Earth.¡± Ray thought back to when he had killed Derrick Orden. That asshole definitely wasn¡¯t someone who had deserved any mercy. ¡°You¡¯d be surprised what some people can be like,¡± Ray said. ¡°There¡¯s no point in making hard distinctions between race. Judge a person, human or otherwise, by their character, not what race they belong to.¡± The shining blue eyes glared at Ray. ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear that from a bastard like you.¡± He glanced at the flesh studded crystal, then started walking away. ¡°Take your stupid treasure. I¡¯ll find my own, and next time, I¡¯ll be so fast and strong, no bully like you will come even close to taking it. That I promise you.¡± Ray frowned. He was actually starting to feel a tiny bit bad. An actual worm of guilt tried to come alive within him, feeding off the line of logic that the guy was using. But at the same time, he understood he was being manipulated. However sincere this man might have been, Ray himself wasn¡¯t wrong. He was giving the man ample opportunity to prove that he deserved to hold on to the treasure. This dungeon wasn¡¯t a race. There was no rule stipulating that the first person or team to kill the boss deserved the treasure. For all they knew, Ray could have killed the boss too. Time wasn¡¯t a measure of proficiency or strength. And it was those things that he was counting on to determine who should get out of this dungeon with the main reward. ¡°Feel free to run too, I guess.¡± It was time for Ray to use his own little barbs. ¡°If you¡¯re too afraid to face off against someone who¡¯ll kick your ass and won¡¯t have to kill you to do it.¡± The man turned to face Ray. Another moment of staring. Then he held up a middle finger before walking off, disappearing into a little rent that popped open in front of him. Ray blinked. Oh, so that was the guy whose Darksign had created that tidal-barrage-spewing rent. No wonder he was strong enough to kill the boss of a Tier 26 dungeon. It made Ray wonder just how strong the guy actually was. He grinned. Their fight would have been epic. He continued staring at the wall for a while. Had that man really just left the treasure after killing the boss for it? Ray could see the guy was definitely¡­ peculiar, but this seemed way too foolhardy for someone who had made it this far. Spine still tingling with alarm, Ray turned and walked towards the crystal. The boss was such a mess. His nose crinkled as the smell of death and decaying innards hit him full force. He had just pulled up the crystal when the rents reappeared. Ray was alert immediately. Ignoring the notification from Primordial Gauge about carrying an item interacting with Mana, he turned a whole three-sixty degrees as the hair on his skin rose to attention. The rents were all around him. ¡°You really thought you could get away with your crime.¡± The man¡¯s words echoed through the cracks in space like he was speaking into a megaphone. ¡°Bullies and bastards like you don¡¯t deserve to steal the hard work of others. All you deserve is pain and humiliation.¡± Just as his words ended, the rents began spewing the same dark liquid as his Darksign¡¯s ones had done. They flooded in with the force of an ocean hammering a beach with its wrath. But it wasn¡¯t just the liquid this time. Lightning sparked through several of the portals as well, their thunder crackling along the liquid surface. Ray cursed, then immediately used Soaring Wings to grant himself some elevation. ¡°What was all that about you not wanting to kill anybody?¡± he shouted. ¡°Electrocution can be fucking fatal, you know.¡± ¡°Shut up, asshole. Suffer what you deserve. Don¡¯t humiliate yourself further with your blathering.¡± As if the chamber being flooded with shocking liquid wasn¡¯t bad enough, the flood started exploding here and there. Arcs of electricity collided into detonations that send sparking liquid droplets shooting everywhere like shrapnel from a mine. Ray did his best to avoid them all. Mottling Spiritguard sent out an array of revolving chaos orbs that kept him safe from the explosive blasts. Now he had to focus on getting out. He looked around, trying to see if he could spot the doorway again. The rents were everywhere, covering up everything. He was pretty sure that going through one of those would not be good for his health. Using Spectral Step wasn¡¯t working either. The battle outside the chamber had ended, and his mimic constructs had disappeared. Ray cursed. ¡°You feel it yet?¡± the man yelled. ¡°This is the pain and suffering people like you make others go through all the time. How does it feel to taste your own fucking medicine?¡± Ray laughed. ¡°Ha! Bitch, I can fly. I haven¡¯t suffered a thing.¡± That probably wasn¡¯t the right thing to say, considering just how short a fuse Ray¡¯s enemy was turning out to possess. The rents grew larger, spewing out more liquid infused with more lightning. Their bursting torrents were now invading his ears, spraying everywhere so that it started to get a little hard to breathe. Ray cast Mottling Spiritguard again, creating an even denser shield of revolving chaos spheres. There were so many of them there, all spinning around so fast that they blurred together. While it kept him safe for now, he couldn¡¯t see beyond them well. How was he supposed to find his way out before the entire room was flooded now? ¡°Come on,¡± the man said, his voice still echoing through the dark rents. ¡°Why¡¯re you silent now? Got nothing to say?¡± Ray ignored it, trying to pierce through the wall of protective spheres to find a way out. He tried calling up a Scouring Eyeball but it couldn¡¯t see well past the rush of orbs either. Nor could he sent it out beyond his revolving shield. The sparking water destroyed it far too quickly. ¡°Got no dying screams for me? No curses? Why¡¯d you stop yammering?¡± Ray¡¯s heart was starting to pound. Bits of the gathering water was starting to bypass his shield, sparking and exploding near him. He even flinched at a couple of bursts. Fuck. Think. He had to think. But to think, he had to calm down, and the situation really wasn¡¯t helping. ¡°Why¡¯d you stop talking?¡± the man continued asking. Ray had to wonder if the maniac was going to keep yelling it out even when Ray was drowned and dead. Or did he have some way of seeing through his rents? ¡°Why can¡¯t I hear your bullying cries anymore, you asshole? Why¡ªhey! Who the fuck are you?¡± The sudden interjection made Ray jerk. It wasn¡¯t only the fact that he had been interrupted, but several of the rents were closing down. The intensity of the flood was going down. Opening up an opportunity for Ray to finally get out of here. He wasted no time finding the direction he had come through. There. The doorway was visible. Still solid, if cracked, but that was it. Ray wouldn¡¯t mistake it. And that was all he needed. Lifeblood Soulform sent one his bees shooting at the cracked stone like he had fired it from a gun. Ray gave it a second to pass through the doorway properly. In that instant of waiting, he noted that he couldn¡¯t hear what was going on outside. The rents apparently only transmitted the man¡¯s voice, not any and all noise around him. Ray had waited enough. He used Spectral Step, disappearing from the boss room with the treasure in tow. When he was able to see again, he found out just who had interrupted his enemy. ¡°Marcus?¡± Ray stared at the golden light cladding the familiar figure of his new companion. ¡°I thought you were dead.¡± B3 Chapter 7 (138): Cracked Rifts It was a good thing Ray hadn¡¯t spoken too loud. Marcus couldn¡¯t afford to be distracted from the fight. Not when he was already losing. Despite clearly possessing powerful abilities, the rents used by Marcus¡¯s opponent¡ªRay¡¯s opponent¡ªwere too strong. The cracked portals fired off everything from fire to lightning to dark tentacles covered in toxic spikes. Marcus¡¯s golden shielding aura was taking a heavy beating. He could barely get in any counterattacks. Ray looked past them. Before spotting the tunnel he had taken to come to this ante-chamber for the final boss room, there was a different tunnel on the other side. One he hadn¡¯t noticed yet. Was that the one Marcus had used to get here? Back to the fight. Marcus was now trying to get off his attacks no matter what. Despite the rents continuing to hammer him with their various powers, and his shield fading and cracking more and more, Marcus now focused on his attacks solely. Bursts of golden light weaved through the air as they shot towards the dungeon boss killer. Little golden bubbles popped up on the ground, like mines about to explode. Marcus never got a hit in. Damn portal guy couldn¡¯t just use the rifts to fling various attacks. He could also just dive straight in and appear at a different location. Basically, teleportation, just like what Ray could achieve with Spectral Step. With Marcus¡¯s efforts having no effect whatsoever on his opponent, he was wearing himself down needlessly. Ray was tempted to shout out that they had the treasure. They could get going now. But that would end up distracting Marcus at a critical moment. Even a message through the chat might cause him to lose concentration. Maybe Ray could observe, find the right moment to swoop in and get out with Marcus in tow. No, that wasn¡¯t going to work. One of them was going to get caught. Instead, maybe Ray could distract the rent-mage guy. He just had to find the right opening. Just as Ray stepped forward to act, Marcus faltered. His shielding aura finally gave way. A loud crack sent shards of golden light bursting apart to Marcus¡¯s left. The sabre construct with lightning that had been slicing away at him now broke through, slashing into and taking of his arm at the elbow. Marcus screamed as he fell back, blood spilling all over him. ¡°No!¡± Ray shouted. He immediately aimed his hand at their opponent, Primal Spiritcraft creating a draconic maw at the end of his arm. The rent-mage guy turned, summoning several of his jagged portal to block Ray¡¯s path. But Ray¡¯s initial aim was just a distraction. He jerked his arm to the side, the beam of compressed chaotic fire shooting to a point just beside Marcus. Spectral Step took Ray next to his injured companion. He didn¡¯t wait for words, didn¡¯t even bother to wait for Marcus¡¯s reaction. More fatal rents were already appearing around them. Instead, he used Spectral Step again, this time with Marcus in tow. The twinge within his Mana core was harder as he teleported with another body. He¡¯d have to use another True Mana shard to refill his core, but that was alright. With the little bee he had left behind at his original location, Ray was able to get away just as the rents pelted them with frightful power. ¡°What the hell?¡± Marcus grunted. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Ray looked down. A golden orb had covered up Marcus¡¯s stump. Likely some healing ability. ¡°Thanks for stepping in, but we don¡¯t need to keep fighting that jerk anymore. We¡¯ve got the treasure. Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think he¡¯s going to let us get away that easily.¡± ¡°Brother, I just got your ass out before you got killed. So trust me when¡ª¡± ¡°You just couldn¡¯t stay dead inside, could you?¡± The rent-mage was now approaching them. ¡°That¡¯s alright. Now I can kill two bullies with one stone.¡± ¡°Bully?¡± Marcus asked. Ray tutted. ¡°Don¡¯t ask. This guy¡¯s got some kind of complex.¡± He stepped forward. ¡°Just stand back and rest up. I¡¯ve got this.¡± ¡°You sure? He¡¯s relentless. Probably the strongest human I¡¯ve fought, and I¡¯ve fought quite a few, believe me.¡± ¡°Lucky you. You never got to fight me.¡± The audacity of that statement was probably what shut Marcus up. That was good, because Ray did agree. This rent-mage guy was strong. Ray would need to focus to hand his ass to him. ¡°Sameer!¡± a familiar voice suddenly called out from a different end of the chamber. ¡°The fuck? Why¡¯s that guy holding the treasure?¡± While trying to keep one eye on the guy¡ªapparently, his name was Sameer¡ªRay turned just enough to see that Eliza and Karkatrix had appeared. Not surprising. He had pretty much figured that the trio were in a team together. They had been blocking the way while Sameer took care of the dungeon boss and retrieved the treasure. Except for one little snag called Ray. ¡°Stay out of this, your two,¡± Sameer said. Despite his partners¡¯ appearance, Sameer¡¯s eyes were still entirely on Ray. ¡°This is my business. I¡¯ll take care of it.¡± ¡°We¡¯re not here for your business. We came to get the treasure!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll get the treasure too. Just stand back and don¡¯t interfere. Otherwise, you¡¯ll just get caught.¡± Ray¡¯s heart had started beating faster as soon as the other two had appeared. He could theoretically handle Sameer on his own, but adding Eliza and Karkatrix to the mix would have made things a hair too complicated. Even for him. Sure, he had fought down over a dozen Darksigns at once. But those had been monsters. Fakes throwing out abilities they had copied without a great deal of thought. Fighting real people, who had both self-preservation and actual intelligence alongside their various powers, would be beyond him. Ray didn¡¯t want to be pushed to his brink. But now, it seemed he¡¯d get a clear shot at Sameer himself. ¡°You that confident you can take me?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Even after I evaded your little trap and rescued your victim?¡± ¡°Fuck off and die.¡± With that bit of eloquence, Sameer peppered the area with more rents that flung out different flavours of fatal danger. One spewed jets of flame in Ray¡¯s direction. Another belched lightning, while yet another threw out pulses of energy Ray couldn¡¯t identify. The searing columns scorched the air, while the jagged bolts crackled everywhere. Nothing he hadn¡¯t seen yet when Sameer and Marcus had been fighting. Crushing another True Mana shard, Ray got moving. Soaring Wings and Soullife Cloak combined to really boost his speed, letting him get away from the various blasts without difficulty. Even when Sameer created dozens of the rents, Ray was able to get away. He did have trouble countering, though. Like Marcus, he was too busy trying not to get killed by everything that Sameer was vomiting out to properly get in an attack of his own in. But that was where his constructs came into play. While dodging the next barrage of energy, Ray summoned up two flying Windbane heads, sending them forth to blast his enemy. If he could keep Sameer¡¯s attention on himself, then the maws could get a clear shot and end it. Except, that was when Ray saw why Marcus hadn¡¯t been able to land a blow, even when focusing on offence instead of defence at the end. The two draconic heads got into position, then threw out lasering breaths of compressed flames. They burned through the space to impact straight on their target with enough force to emulate a rocket¡¯s exhaust blast. Only to be met with more rents in front of Sameer.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Ah, of course. Ray would have done exactly that if he¡¯d had access to portal powers. Both lasering breaths entered and disappeared inside the huge rifts. A couple of rents near Ray shone, and he was able to dodge just in time. Asshole had more or less reflected the attacks from the constructs straight back at Ray. So annoying. ¡°Fast and zippy,¡± Sameer said. His sneer wasn¡¯t visible through the helmet, but it was very audible in his words. ¡°But without any real power or substance. That¡¯s just what bullies like you are. Failures that crumble apart when they meet any real challenge.¡± ¡°Will you stop with the bully rhetoric?¡± Ray dodged another couple of flaming shots. ¡°It¡¯s getting old.¡± ¡°He¡¯s right, Sameer,¡± Eliza shouted. ¡°This is getting old. Finish that fucker. We don¡¯t have all day, the other teams could get here any minute.¡± ¡°We killed most of the other teams,¡± Karkatrix said. Eliza was probably shooting Karkatrix a disgusted look, which Ray didn¡¯t get to see since he was too busy dodging. But he could hear her metaphorical forehead-slap when she said, ¡°Karkatrix, we agreed that I would be the one doing all the talking.¡± ¡°Yes, all the talking. Not all the lying, though. We hadn¡¯t discussed that.¡± Eliza¡¯s groan was perfectly audible even through all the explosions of lighting and flames. Ray was forced to focus more as Sameer changed up the intensity. There were literal meteors shooting out of the rents now. Or maybe comets. Ray wasn¡¯t sure about astronomical terminology. The point was that he had to use Mottling Spiritguard to ensure that he remained safe. The sparking orbs of chaos blocked a great deal more attacks that he couldn¡¯t dodge. But even that alone wasn¡¯t enough. Ray had to call up Impenetrable Shell when he had been manoeuvred into position to get hammered by a gigantic, truck-sized laser stream. At that moment, Ray couldn¡¯t even begin to get a proper shot with anything on Sameer. He was too busy trying to stay alive, too busy trying to just concentrate on surviving. No. There had to be a way to get through this. He just had to find a gap to take advantage of. A weakness to exploit. But what? Ray tried to get himself some space. This constant weaving and dodging definitely wasn¡¯t helping. So, he accelerated away using Soullife Cloak and even Goliath Eater as well. He was surprised the latter skill was working. Was Sameer actually that much stronger? ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re running?¡± Sameer asked. ¡°If you really can¡¯t fight head on, just give up and stop wasting everyone¡¯s time. You know you can¡¯t even touch me.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see about that,¡± Ray said. He cast Lifeblood Soulform several times in quick succession, disregarding how it taxed his Mana stores. Each cast created another Windbane maw floating nearby, surrounding Ray and dodging any further attacks that came rushing out of Sameer¡¯s rents. Then he fired them all at once. Every single flying draconic maw belched out a compressed beam of fiery chaos, all shooting straight for Sameer. Their combined roars thrummed in Ray¡¯s ears, deafening every other sound in the vicinity. He didn¡¯t let the ripping noise distract him from his main goal, though. From performing the next step to taking down his target. Sameer was obviously distracted. It wasn¡¯t for long since even that many of the laser blasts couldn¡¯t hurt him. His array of rents came into play again. They formed an impenetrable shield that couldn¡¯t be overcome with sheer quantity of attacks. No. Anyone seeking to get past his defence needed more cunning. Which was why the momentary distraction allowed Ray to cast Lifeblood Soulform a couple more times. The Imitator construct formed next. ¡°Enough!¡± Sameer¡¯s shout was followed by a change in his tactics. His rents had already taken care of Ray¡¯s draconic constructs. Their fiery breaths had been stymied, and then they themselves had been assaulted and torn apart by a barrage of energy, flames, and lightning bolts. But none of those would get to Ray himself. That was where Sameer¡¯s new strategy came into play. Instead of trying to attack Ray directly, his rents were now releasing a strange, sparkling gas. The vapour had a mystical, bluish-grey hue, little glints like stars strewn throughout it as it spread towards its target. Ray didn¡¯t need to wonder for long as to what that was supposed to do. A couple of his Windbane maws were still alive and flying. But not after coming into contact with the vapour. As soon as they touched the glittering gas, they started breaking apart. Their scales fell off, their eyes vaporized, their innards stripping apart to reveal a glowing blue structure embedded within the construct. Like there was a framework of Mana that formed the constructs¡¯ base. That framework started dissolving next. In no time at all, the constructs were destroyed entirely. Nothing but a sizzling mist remaining of their former selves. Well, that proved that Ray would do well to not get in contact with whatever that was. His first thought had been that it was some sort of acidic gas, but that seemed too basic. The vapour hadn¡¯t just destroyed his constructs, it was now dissolving his Spiritguard orbs too. Ray flew back. Fast. He didn¡¯t need to worry about it, though. At least, he didn¡¯t need to worry about countering it. All he had to do was avoid the damn gas. Because the mimic construct was already flying off, ready to attack his opponent in his place. Ray continued avoiding the dangerous¡ªprobably fatally so¡ªvapour. He couldn¡¯t evade anywhere he liked, though. If it could destroy his Windbane constructs, it could do the same to the mimic construct as well. This was some sort of anti-Mana gas. So, Ray had to restrict how far it travelled. If he dodged all over the place, the whole chamber was going to be filled up with that gas. He had to restrict its motion until the mimic construct got into position. His construct, which had now taken on his form and created draconic heads at the end of its arms, was flying around the outer perimeter of the glinting gas. Just a few more seconds, and it would make its way to Sameer. Though, for whatever reason, the rent-mage hadn¡¯t moved yet. He didn¡¯t even look like he had registered that there was a fake Ray headed straight for him. Sameer¡¯s attention was fixed entirely on Ray himself, the real one. He had no intention of missing the moment the gas hit Ray and ended him once and for all. ¡°Don¡¯t take that fake shit lightly, Sameer!¡± Eliza shouted. ¡°That bastard can teleport. He¡¯s using it to get to you!¡± Ray would have shot her a withering look, but unfortunately, he was too busy trying to find new spaces to dodge into without compromising his construct¡¯s mobility. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Sameer said with complete confidence. ¡°Stop thinking I¡¯m not ready for him. It¡¯s him who¡¯s not ready for me.¡± Ray couldn¡¯t decipher quite what he meant by that, but he didn¡¯t have to for long. His mimic construct had nearly got into position. It was now close enough to slam into its target. Sameer hadn¡¯t done anything to block the Imitator from reaching him. Ray had mentally prepared countermeasures in case his opponent threw up any sort of obstructions with his rifts, but none materialized. The construct had a direct, unobstructed path to Sameer. Ray had been forced to make it focus on reaching its target, so it never even got to fire the draconic maws. Except, just as the construct got close, the rents finally popped up. But instead of appearing in thin air, the cracked little portals popped up all over on Sameer. Spikes burst out, carried aloft on those tendrils Ray had seen being used against Marcus. They speared out with such speed, the Imitator construct had no hope of dodging. ¡°See,¡± Sameer said. The larger spikes had perforated the construct in over a dozen places, while the rest of it was now locked in place thanks to the tendrils wrapping around its limbs and torso. ¡°Told you I had it covered. What did he think was going to hap¡ª¡± The second Imitator construct appeared just behind Sameer. Ray had created it at the same time as he had summoned the visible Imitator construct, except the second one had been immediately set into camouflage mode. Now, it shed its disguise and attacked, at just the right moment Ray had set it up. Distracted by Ray himself and the visible mimic, Sameer had no time to react to the hidden one. As such, he ate the bursting white orb of Core Deconstruction full in the face. Of course, his battle-hardened instincts were firing on all cylinders. A rent formed behind Sameer, and the impact from the second mimic pushed him into the rift, even as he screamed out. It was that scream that informed Ray where Sameer was about to reappear next. The yell shut off abruptly as the rift swallowed Sameer, along with the second Imitator construct¡¯s forearm, before suddenly resuming from behind. Ray twisted around to see Sameer dropping to one of the still-intact stone bridges in the chamber, with the Imitator arm flopping next to him. ¡°What¡ª¡± Sameer dragged in a shocked breath in between screams. ¡°What did you do?¡± White sparks arced over his whole body. He managed to get on his shaky feet, but then he moved his arms around in weird motions. His eyes, already wide, now looked like they were about to pop out of their orbits. ¡°What the fuck did you do?¡± he shrieked. ¡°Same thing you and your magic fart has been trying to do,¡± Ray said. ¡°You¡¯re done, Sameer. I¡¯ve won. So the treasure belongs to me now.¡± ¡°That¡¯s bullshit!¡± Eliza said. ¡°Sameer, kick his ass.¡± ¡°I¡ª¡± Sameer swallowed. His hands were jerking like they were out of his control now. ¡°I can¡¯t. It¡¯s like my Mana core is gone.¡± ¡°It is gone,¡± Ray said. Temporarily, but Sameer didn¡¯t need to know that. His panicky reaction was what Ray needed just then. ¡°You¡¯re powerless and beaten. Just goes to show that just because you were first to beat the boss doesn¡¯t mean you deserve to win this whole thing.¡± Sameer actually did look defeated. While Eliza cussed Ray out and refused to accept it, her companion didn¡¯t deny it, just looking down at his shaking hands instead. Well, her human companion. Her Ryous companion had pulled out his swords and that stick-staff thing, ready to join her in battle. In truth, things were at a precarious stalemate. Ideally, Ray would have been able to get to Sameer and hold the guy hostage. The other two wouldn¡¯t dare attack while he had their companion in killable distance. But the sparkly mist was still active. Ray had no idea how long it was going to last, and even if more of it wasn¡¯t coming out of the slowly-dying rents, the chunk already present had surrounded him. His mimic constructs were now gone too, so he wasn¡¯t going anywhere just yet. Basically, they were in an annoying stalemate. ¡°Forget about Sameer,¡± Eliza told Karkatrix. ¡°We¡¯re taking that treasure for ourselves.¡± ¡°Not on my watch,¡± Marcus said, stepping forward. Ray: Be careful. She¡¯s got time powers that can basically delete parts of your body. Marcus: The fuck? Ray: Yeah, tell me about it. Marcus and the other two squared off. Ray was starting to feel a tiny bit helpless, but more than that, he was worried that things were going to take a turn for the worse even after he had put Sameer down. There was no way Marcus could beat Eliza. With Karkatrix in tow, he had no hope at all. ¡°Hey!¡± The shout made them all freeze. But Ray was smiling in recognition. ¡°You guys started the party without me. How could you?¡± Gritty was here. Ray blinked. A bunch of Gritties were here. He laughed. So she had figured out how to make the Darksigns follow her. Well, looked like the tables were still turning in Ray¡¯s favour. B3 Chapter 8 (139): Lordly Approval Elizan and Karkatrix, both of whom had been poised to attack Ray, now turned to Gritty and her horde of¡­ her own selves. ¡°You figured it out, huh?¡± Eliza said. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯ll kill the whole lot of you.¡± Ray was about to send out the same warning he had before, but Marcus got there first. ¡°Don¡¯t let her get too close, Gritty,¡± he yelled across the chamber. ¡°She¡¯s got time powers that¡¯ll kill you with one touch.¡± Eliza turned and glared at Marcus. ¡°Hey, stop lying. My powers really don¡¯t kill in one touch. If you¡¯re not satisfied with your arm cut off, maybe I can pull out your tongue next.¡± ¡°Weren¡¯t you yelling out about Ray¡¯s abilities moments ago?¡± ¡°Yeah, but I wasn¡¯t lying.¡± ¡°I can confirm,¡± Karkatrix said. ¡°Eliza was indeed not lying.¡± Eliza rolled her eyes. ¡°Thank you.¡± While their bickering conversation was going on, Ray switched to the chat to state his intentions. He had questions about a lot of stuff, but they could wait. Ray: There¡¯s no point in fighting. We need to get out of here now that I¡¯ve got the treasure. Can you guys distract them? Gritty: Shit, you got it already? Marcus: How the hell are you going to get out of that mist? Or are we going to carry out the treasure and leave you behind? Ray: I think I can blow it away with my wings. Just stall the other two for a second and we can start running. There were no further responses, which meant they were both onboard with the plan and preparing to carry it out. Indeed, as Ray watched, both of them acted fast. Eliza and Karkatrix had decided they were going to take on Gritty and Marcus respectively. But that wasn¡¯t how it turned out. Gritty used some kind of skill, something that made Eliza squawk and trip backwards, her body jerking and moving almost on its own. At the same time, all the Darksigns of Gritty rushed in and attacked Karkatrix. Marcus was as surprised as Ray, though unlike Ray, he had moved in to stand next to Gritty. Which left Ray as the only one who hadn¡¯t made a move thus far. Well, nothing for it. He was already floating with the help of Soaring Wings, so it was no big deal to draw his wings closer to himself and flap them outwards. The constant flapping motion effectively created a fan that propelled the gas away from him. It eventually opened up a clear path for him to take, and Ray wasted no time joining his companions. ¡°This isn¡¯t over,¡± Sameer said. His voice was low, his body still jerking with the white sparks dancing over his skin. ¡°You can run for now, but you¡ªyou¡¯ll face your punishment in due time.¡± ¡°Oh, fuck off and die, Sameer,¡± Ray said, before turning to the others. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you dare go anywhere,¡± Eliza shouted from the pit she had fallen into. But she had no way of stopping them. Neither did either of her companions, with Sameer debilitated and Karkatrix busy handling all the Gritty Darksigns. ¡°Follow me,¡± Ray said as he rushed outwards. He took the same path he had taken to come this far. The Mana portals were still active, thankfully. Just because he had used Core Deconstruction on the major portal that led to the boss room to destroy it didn¡¯t mean every single on within the dungeon would be destroyed. Gritty and Marcus were familiar enough with them too, so they had no issue following along. ¡°How¡¯d you stop her?¡± Marcus asked. He had to mean Eliza and how she had fallen into the pit seemingly on her own. Gritty grinned. ¡°Tricks of the trade, my man.¡± She turned to Ray as they hurried onwards. ¡°Do you really have it?¡± Her glance fell to the little, flesh-studded crystal in his hands. ¡°Oh, is that it? Looks very¡­ fleshcraft-y.¡± Ray groaned. ¡°Good thing we can sell it soon.¡± ¡°You think they¡¯re all like that? You know, all the treasures in all the dungeons. Don¡¯t think I like that, if that¡¯s the case.¡± That was a concerning issue. Was this whole tournament just a way for the Tower Lord to gather all the bits and pieces he needed?The Sylvans¡ªat least the ones running the Tower of Forging¡ªwere all aligned with the Fleshcrafter. The Lord of the First Floor had been collecting little artifacts and relics to help with the Fleshcrafter¡¯s takeover too. ¡°What do you guys mean?¡± Marcus asked. ¡°Who¡¯s this Fleshcrafter?¡± ¡°Oh, boy.¡± Gritty sighed. ¡°Do I have a story for you, Knight Guy.¡± ¡°We can talk about it later,¡± Ray said. ¡°First, we need to get out of this dungeon. Karkatrix, the six-armed guy, mentioned that most of the other teams are down. Can you guys confirm that? Also, Marcus, why couldn¡¯t I get in touch with you?¡± ¡°Why couldn¡¯t I get in touch with you?¡± ¡°What?¡± The surprise at the reverse question made Ray actually pause for a second. They were at the end of the chamber where Ray had fought Eliza, standing before the Mana portal that would take them to the room where he had fought Karkatrix and seen the Ryous kill a fake Marcus. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I contacted you, but it wouldn¡¯t go through. I kept getting some kind of warning that the chat couldn¡¯t reach you. Right, Gritty?¡± She nodded. ¡°Yeah, we figured you were already inside the boss room or something. Which turned out to be true, I¡¯m assuming.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. He came out of the boss room with the treasure in his hands, although, there was that other guy attacking him from outside.¡± Gritty grinned, then slapped Ray on the back. ¡°I knew you could do it, wingman.¡± ¡°Do you never call anybody by their real names?¡± Marcus asked. ¡°Your real names are as boring as celery. Now, you were called something like Karkatrix, I could see myself getting used to that¡­¡± Ray shook his head. ¡°I got more question, but let¡¯s keep going. They¡¯ll be after us soon.¡± As they rushed through the next chamber, Ray couldn¡¯t help himself and voiced his next question. He was curious as to how Gritty had figured out the thing with the Darksigns. Turned out, she really hadn¡¯t. It was the team she had been following who had started doing so. Even by observing them at a distance, Gritty wasn¡¯t sure about the details. But then, they had been attacked by another team. All that time while observing them, Gritty had been debating how she could figure out what they were up to, and when they had been attacked, the opportunity to find out had presented itself. She assisted them in beating the other team. In return, the team of Sylvans explained how the Darksigns had to be collected by manipulating the conditions for them to appear. They only presented themselves to members of a team who were partnered up with the originator of the Darksign. ¡°Oh,¡± Ray said as he understood. ¡°You mean that¡¯s why I only ever saw Darksigns who took your and Marcus¡¯s form. Which means you guys saw my Darksign and vice versa.¡± Gritty nodded, jumping across another bridge of obsidian-like rock. ¡°Exactly. That¡¯s why I ended up teaming up with the Sylvans so I could collect my Darksigns too.¡± ¡°Wait. You betrayed us?¡± She rolled her eyes. ¡°Temporarily, sure. I made sure to tell Marcus about it.¡± That was basically a segue into Marcus explaining what he had been up to. He explained that he had actually been unable to take down the very first Darksigns Ray had warned them about, so he had to run. He was rather ashamed about it. For some reason, he had begun to suspect that the Darksigns could see into their chats too, so he had stopped using them.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. By the time he was free from the Darksigns and could focus on the messages, Ray was already beyond reach. He had gone too far into the dungeon and the messages wouldn¡¯t go through. But at least he had been able to contact Gritty, who had explained what was going on. Marcus hadn¡¯t been able to acquire new teammates to perform the same trick of gathering all the Darksigns, so he had instead headed towards the final chamber of the dungeon. ¡°We just couldn¡¯t tell how you had figured out how to get into the boss room,¡± Marcus said. Ray grinned. ¡°I wasn¡¯t fully sure it would work but looks like my spells can work on Dungeon Obstacles too. We might need that in other¡ª¡± ¡°Hey, who¡¯re you?¡± The three of them turned to see another trio at a different end of the chamber where Ray had fought Karkatrix. They were small since they were distant, but as they rushed closer, Ray recognized them. It was same group he had first seen figuring out the Dungeon Obstacle that required gathering all the Darksigns. ¡°Run!¡± Ray shouted. ¡°Don¡¯t let them get you.¡± They ran. ¡°Hold!¡± the Sylvan in the team shouted. ¡°Or we will attack!¡± ¡°Ha, good luck with that, pal,¡± Gritty flung back as she leaped from rocky bridge to rocky bridge. Their pursuers fired off skills from the distance. A beam of energy crashed into the ceiling above them, spilling glassy rocks falling around them. A quick look back showed streams of Growth Mana flying towards them. They were moving fast enough, in Ray¡¯s opinion, but it couldn¡¯t hurt to slow them down. As such, Ray cast Lifeblood Soulform a few times, creating his mimic construct and two flying Windbane maws. Those should at least distract their pursuers for a while. But Ray wasn¡¯t the only thinking along those lines. Marcus used his golden mine setting skill, studding the walls, floor, and ceiling with blots of auric energy. In seconds, after Ray and his team had travelled for about a minute, they felt the detonations of Marcus¡¯s mines going off. The tunnels shook, dust and tiny stones raining down on them. ¡°Good thinking, Knight Guy,¡± Gritty said. ¡°What about me?¡± Ray asked. ¡°I left some of my constructs there too.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll buy you a nice treat with my auction money.¡± Ray snorted. It was ludicrous imagining Gritty buying him a meal at any restaurants in the Tower. Though, come to think of it, surely there were restaurants, considering they had an active audience that the Floor Lord had invited into the Tower. There were probably even hotels or their equivalent too. It was¡­ quite wild to think about. ¡°There!¡± Marcus said. ¡°Feel that? A draft. From outside.¡± Ray could indeed feel it. A fresh breeze caressed his face and hands, the breath of the world welcoming them back into its embrace. It took only seconds before they saw the exit. Within the next minute, they had reached the end of the dungeon. They had won. [Dungeon Cleared¡ªObsidian Halls of Dark Reflection] Rewards
  • 10 True Mana shards
  • 5 Origin Mana shards
  • 1 True Mana Tier Point
  • 1 Origin Mana Tier Point
  • 1 True Mana Skill Point
  • 1 Dark Reflection Chunk
  • +5,200 Essence
  • Reputation: +25 Cooperative
Essence to Level 48: 11,850/221,200 Cooperation to next Threshold: 85/100 There were quite a few rewards to consider from that notification. Besides all that, Ray was also wondering why he had also received the dungeon clearing notification in the first place. Was coming out of it with the treasure the condition for clearing it? It confused him a little, since killing the final boss of a dungeon had always been the condition before. He had assumed that Sameer would have received the dungeon clearing notification after killing that centipede-looking monster. Ray wasn¡¯t going to complain about free rewards. Just something to consider going forward, since there were a lot more dungeons coming up. But right that moment, he was heavily distracted by something else. As soon as he and his team had come out of the dungeon, the first thing they were witness to were all the people staring at them. There was wonder greeting them, alongside amazement, calculation, and a whole host of other things spread across too many faces for Ray to properly decipher in the short time he got. He got the main takeaway, though¡ªthe three of them were now under a lot of radars. The time to take it all in was short because despite holding everyone¡¯s attention, it was actually a small group who didn¡¯t look as appreciative as the rest that approached Ray¡¯s team. A trio of armoured Sylvans came to them. While the two at the back maintained neutral expressions, their leader had enough scathing disapproval on his face to make up for his lackeys. Ray tensed when he saw the emblems on the Sylvans. It was his first time seeing them. But they held a pretty clear message¡ªthese Sylvans were from the Floor Lord. ¡°And here I thought we were done with fighting for a bit,¡± Marcus muttered. ¡°What?¡± Gritty stepped forward, a manic grin slowly stretching across her face. ¡°You afraid of a few Sylvans?¡± Ray stepped forward. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I got this. We might not need to fight our way out of this if we¡¯re careful.¡± ¡°We? You just said you got this, wingman? The fuck you mean we?¡± ¡°Raymond Dominick,¡± the Sylvan leader, ignoring their muttering. Despite the look on his face, his words were inflectionless. A picture of careful control, in so far as his speech went. ¡°You are under arrest.¡± Ray took careful note of the situation. The spectators were watching with great interest, but not necessarily with benevolence. They were merely curious, waiting to see what his reaction would be, waiting for more entertainment. That was all Ray and his teammates were to them. A source of fun. Just because they had exited the dungeon didn¡¯t mean they had ceased to be that. Ray had expected something like this to happen. No way was the Floor Lord just going to sit back and let Ray do whatever he wanted. He had hoped that participating in the tournament would be enough of a countermeasure against any direct actions by the Floor Lord going forward. Maybe it was. Maybe all he needed to do was sell it. ¡°You¡¯re going to arrest a legal competitor of your Immortalizer Tournament?¡± Ray asked. He smiled. ¡°Why¡¯s that? Are you afraid that I¡¯m just too good for the rest of the competitors to keep up?¡± He wasn¡¯t afraid of fighting the Sylvans before him. Unlike the tournament participants, these ones didn¡¯t have Amulets of Blindness. Primordial Gauge revealed that they were all below the Second Floor Lord¡¯s level of fifty-five. No doubt, being run-of-the-mill Sylvans, they were significantly weaker than her in other regards too. Basically, Ray could take them. But if there was a possibility of averting conflict, he would prefer that route instead. No point in aggravating the Sylvans any further. Although, considering the fact that he had already killed quite a few, that might be a forlorn hope. ¡°You are the aggressor from the Second Floor,¡± the Sylvan said. ¡°You have killed many of our kind, you have significantly destabilized our operations within the Tower, and you have murdered many of our Brighthorns as well. You will pay for your crimes.¡± Ray tutted, looking around. ¡°This is direct meddling with the tournament.¡± He turned his smile to the spectators, hoping his confidence would help project that he was on the right side here. ¡°Interference of the highest order. If they can pull me out with trumped-up charges like this, they can do it to any competitor. That¡¯s a blatant violation of any fair competition.¡± He could see several of them nodding in agreement, although, not as may as he would have hoped. Most of them just looked more eager, like they were appreciating that he was incorporating them into the ongoing entertainment and couldn¡¯t wait to see what he¡¯d do next. The Sylvan trying to apprehend Ray seemed to resent that he was being accused of being unfair. But that resentment didn¡¯t unmoor him. It only made his words sharper. ¡°You think such base pleas will work?¡± he asked. ¡°A criminal attempting to use a public competition as a means of avoiding the punishment for his crimes. No one here is a fool, Raymond Dominick. Surrender, or we will be forced to take you by force.¡± Well, looked like he was dealing with someone intelligent. Someone who knew just how to play the public so that they were always on his side. This was turning out to be more annoying than Ray had expected. Ray was trying to think up some other means of convincing his would-be apprehenders that he needed to stay in the tournament, but he was distracted by another Sylvan coming up. It was the reporter. ¡°We have a bit of a situation on our hands,¡± she said, sounding perfectly confident. Perfectly practiced. Like she had created the situation. ¡°I told you to stay out of this, Broadcaster,¡± the Sylvan leader said. ¡°Interfere any further and your channel will receive sanctions from the Floor Lord.¡± ¡°Interfering? Me?¡± She made a dismissive sound, accompanying it with a wave of her hand. ¡°I am simply pointing out that the man you are trying to harm has a lot riding on him.¡± ¡°You have already interfered. The bets you showed will be revoked as soon as he is delisted from both the tournament and the auction.¡± Rays eyes widened. Was the reporter Sylvan trying to help them? Had been since the moment the Sylvans from the Floor Lord had appeared? Marcus stiffened beside Ray. ¡°Bets?¡± ¡°I am glad you asked,¡± the reporter said. ¡°Have a brief glimpse of how the speculative odds have changed since the moment you and your team won this last dungeon trial.¡± Her finger pointed to the large, central screen which was indeed displaying a list of the up-and-coming most profitable bets available. Ray wasn¡¯t just on the list. He was at the top. ¡°Holy shit,¡± Marcus said. ¡°Someone bet twenty Mana pearls on you winning the entire tournament!¡± ¡°Impossible,¡± the Sylvan leader said. He stared accusingly at the screen. ¡°That much on an unproven newcomer? There must be some sort of mistake.¡± Ray didn¡¯t have a proper frame of reference on how high bets could even go in this system. But considering the only way to win the tournament was to acquire a thousand Mana pearls, he was starting to get a small idea. ¡°So you see.¡± The reporter¡¯s eyes met Ray¡¯s own. ¡°There is a lot riding on Raymond.¡± Ray nodded, his confidence growing. He could see the way out of this mire now. One that didn¡¯t involve violence just yet. ¡°People believe in me. But more importantly, I believe in me too. In fact, I believe in myself¡ªand my teammates¡ªso much that I¡¯m going to place a bet as well.¡± They all turned their attention to him as he smiled. ¡°I¡¯m betting my entire auction.¡± ¡°That¡¯s over a hundred Mana pearls!¡± Sridayne said, loudly emphasizing the last bit. ¡°Are you sure you want to do that?¡± ¡°Hey, if I don¡¯t have full faith in myself, then who will, you know?¡± The Sylvan leader still didn¡¯t look convinced. Even though the momentum was clearly against him, he turned to Ray with a scathing look. ¡°If you think that¡¯s enough to¡ª¡± He was delightfully interrupted by a rush of awed gasps and murmurs from the spectators. They turned. Everyone stared at the screen again where a new face had popped up. A very important-looking face. ¡°Congratulations to the victors of the Tier 26 dungeon, the Obsidian Halls of Dark Reflection!¡± said the Sylvan with light-grey skin and red tattoos. A ruby-studded gold earring dangled from his only ear. ¡°Well done! Such a marvellous showing. We cannot wait to see what you do next, and eagerly look forward to your next participation.¡± And with that brief message, the Sylvan disappeared. The reporter wasted no time taking advantage of the shocked silence that followed. ¡°Well, there you have it, apprehenders. The Tower Lord himself has approved Raymond¡¯s participation. You wouldn¡¯t go against that, now would you?¡± B3 Chapter 9 (140): Auction Island With that part of the tournament done, they started moving towards their next destination¡ªthe Auction Island. Ray was curious to see what that would look like. But for now, he had a little bit of time to assign all his Tier points. He raised Soulstrike and Lifeblood Graveyard to Tier 5 and 13, respectively. Another new slot in Lifeblood Graveyard would open up space for any new powers he found worth absorbing on the Third Floor. Next, Ray raised both Origin Mana skills to Tier 7, and improved Goliath Eater to Tier 5. The latter would help, considering he ought to be facing opponents much stronger than him on this Floor. It was a little maddening how he couldn¡¯t tell just how much stronger Sameer might have been. Lastly, he added all his free stat points to Vitality. There, Ray was done using all his free points. The Sylvans were good about separating everybody once the dungeon competition had fully ended. They didn¡¯t want competitors who had built up a grudge while competing taking out their frustrations with the audience close enough to get hurt via collateral damage. As the guest-of-honour, so to speak, Ray had a few Sylvan guards standing close enough that they¡¯d probably even hear his whispers. They were eyeing him suspiciously too, like he was going to start trouble on his own if no trouble came to him. He resisted the urge to tut. Could the Sylvans not have a poor opinion of him for one second? The constant guard didn¡¯t stymie the reporter Sylvan, though. She came up to him after the floating island started moving towards its destination, all smiling and beaming. Ray smiled back. ¡°Thanks for back there. I¡¯m guessing you set up the whole betting thing.¡± ¡°I merely facilitated it,¡± she said. ¡°You, with your fantastic displays alongside your teammates, are the one who truly allowed that plan to come to fruition.¡± Fair enough. If Ray hadn¡¯t performed well, no one would bother betting on him. It made him feel a little smug, but he tried not to let it show uncouthly. ¡°What¡¯s your angle though, lady?¡± Gritty asked. ¡°My¡­ angle? Apologies, but sometimes, the System¡¯s translation does not catch implications or connotations correctly.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the catch? How do you benefit by helping us?¡± ¡°Ah, of course. Good question. First of all, my name is Sridayne. And this is Vyournel.¡± The other Sylvan hanging back nodded at them in greeting. Ray and his teammates introduced themselves in turn as well, though they didn¡¯t really need to. It wasn¡¯t just Ray¡¯s name Sridayne had found out. She was already aware of Gritty and Marcus as well. Sridayne went on to explain how she was indeed a Broadcaster for her Omniversal channel. It turned out to basically be the same kind of situation as TV channels back on Earth, just stretched out across the whole universe. Or Omniverse, rather. Since one universe wasn¡¯t enough, obviously. Her channel was in competition with a bunch of others, and by helping a hot prospect like Ray, she was hoping to essentially secure some broadcasting rights when it came to him and his team. ¡°What sort of rights?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Nothing complicated,¡± Sridayne said in a reassuring tone. ¡°You surrender nothing and are always in full control. All you need to do is grant us some interviews at opportune moments and allow us to carry out your media matters. But again, you will be in full control and have the right to veto or disregard any of our suggestions.¡± ¡°How will I be in full control if you¡¯re handling them?¡± Ray wasn¡¯t certain he wanted to handle whatever media matters might present themselves. It sounded like a headache. But he understood if he completely ignored it, he might get fucked somehow. ¡°For all I know, you could lie to me or just hide things from me.¡± Sridayne didn¡¯t even blink at the rather blatant accusation. Maybe she had a lot of practice with more difficult negotiators. ¡°But you see, that is what we mean by you being in full control. Every media matter comes to you first. You are in charge of passing on what you would like for us to handle.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re essentially consultants,¡± Gritty said. It took a few seconds for Sridayne to understand what that meant, but then she nodded. ¡°Yes, essentially. We think those terms will benefit us. Now, it is up to you whether those seem reasonable.¡± Ray figured he shouldn¡¯t decide just then and there without thinking through properly, but he was also quite tempted to agree. The deal was good. He would be aware of everything going on, but he could pass it all on to Sridayne and her team to manage. It sounded ideal. ¡°How about I let you know after I¡¯ve had some time to think about it?¡± Ray asked. Sridayne smiled. ¡°Yes, always good to think it over before setting it in stone. We shall await your response.¡± Their chat took a lighter turn after that. One of the benefits Sridayne could provide was information about various other competitors in the Immortalizer Tournament. Ray wasn¡¯t really interested in the ones he had already met in the dungeon back there. Thankfully, Sridayne knew of a lot more. She named several he ought to be wary of. Unsurprisingly, quite a few of them turned out to be Sylvans. There were several humans too, a few Ryous, a couple of Dolvans¡ªthe huge, boulderlike alien he had seen in the dungeon¡ªand even a Holdstar who was apparently causing quite a stir. Of course, Ray didn¡¯t need her to just know their names. Those could be discovered in various public records. Interviews that had already occurred, recordings of other dungeons, and the various ranking lists for different metrics like the betting ones. Where Sridayne helped was assigning the power of certain competitors to specific individuals. Now that was helpful information. He also learned some neat titbits about the Sylvan civilization itself. After all, the fact that they had such advanced methods of telecommunications to have their own version of interplanetary TV channels was both incredible and incredulous. ¡°You say it¡¯s all Mana,¡± Ray said, after Sridayne¡¯s one-word answer to how. ¡°But we have Mana too, and all we have are certain skills that do temporary things¡­ unless you¡¯re suggesting there are certain Classes that can create more permanent constructs using Mana, or that use Mana. Which I guess implies that we humans just haven¡¯t discovered¡ªwell no.¡± Ray had been about to suggest that maybe the Classes that could help create something as sophisticated as broadcasting channels wasn¡¯t available to people. But that could be wrong. What if it was available and he just didn¡¯t know it. Almost everyone he interacted with had a Class that was geared towards fighting and combat. Very few people he knew had more slice-of-life Classes. But then, he didn¡¯t know everybody. Wasn¡¯t there that one farmer guy who was basically operating the farming dungeon which supplied him with the occasional Mana fruit? Surely, if farmers existed, then so did other sorts of crafters and whatnot. Not everybody was a fighting maniac like Ray. It made him realize that he really ought to get in touch with Maya at some point. ¡°Certain members of our civilization possess the ability to skill-craft items with a variety of applications,¡± Sridayne said. ¡°Skill-craft?¡± Marcus asked, airing Ray¡¯s question. ¡°Yes. It is the ability to insert certain skills into certain items, which people possessing those skills can then utilize in lieu of the skills themselves.¡± ¡°¡­huh. That¡¯s pretty neat.¡± Ray had to agree. That definitely sounded like something any civilization using Mana to flourish would want. He wondered if Maya and the people on the First Floor possessed it. Their conversation took another turn. Sridayne was happy to tell them about the various functions that the Tower Lord had set up to make the Immortalizer Tournament work properly when they had to host a live audience. Ray learned that there were indeed hotels, or ¡°residences¡± as the Sylvans referred to them. There were other entertainment options besides the tournament itself too, one of which was indeed restaurants. Or ¡°public eateries¡±. The Tower Lord was basically simulating higher Sylvan society within the Tower of Forging¡¯s Third Floor.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. It made Ray wonder what the Floor Lord¡¯s purpose was, if the Tower Lord himself was taking care of so much on the Third Floor. Picking fights with people like Ray, apparently. About an hour later, they finally arrived at the island with the auction hall. Ray had a hard time telling just how far they had travelled from their original location. The island¡¯s speed was deceptive, especially since all they¡¯d had were occasional other islands passing them by to judge their relative motion with. It hadn¡¯t felt like they were moving fast. A bridge of floating stones connected the Tier 26 dungeon island with the auction island. Ray spotted several other islands moored in the same way. ¡°We can get in touch via the chat,¡± Sridayne said. ¡°So for now, I will leave you. Do inform me when you have come to a decision, and even if you decline our offer, I do hope you will at least consider telling me which challenge you pick next.¡± Ray nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll be in touch.¡± With a parting smile, and a wave from Vyournel, the two Sylvans left along with all the spectators. The guards made sure none of the competitors raised any fuss until they had all passed across the bridge and onto the main island. Ray was a little concerned while walking along the bridge, since there were no guardrails. ¡°So, where we headed first?¡± Gritty asked. ¡°Actually, I don¡¯t think I care where we¡¯re headed. I¡¯m going to go explore!¡± ¡°Hold it,¡± Marcus said. ¡°We need to stick together. It¡¯s not safe on our own.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sticking with you guys forever. I need my privacy, damn it.¡± Ray sympathized. He didn¡¯t want to be stuck with others for overlong either. Some time apart would do them all good. But Marcus had a great point as well. They were on uncertain ground here. It would be best for them to at least establish some base level of security before they decided on going their own temporary ways. Kind of ironic, considering how easily they had been separated in the dungeon and had still come out victorious. ¡°Well, what¡¯s our priority here?¡± Ray asked. He looked down at the flesh-studded crystal. ¡°We have to keep this thing safe. So maybe we can find a safe spot for it first, then figure out where we go from there.¡± ¡°I¡¯m curious about the auction,¡± Marcus said. ¡°If we get some money, there¡¯s a lot of little goodies that can really help.¡± Gritty was looking around. ¡°They said there were hotels here, right? Maybe we can find a secluded one.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Ray said. ¡°Let¡¯s go take a look.¡± They headed deeper in. The island was basically like the bustling entertainment district of a small city. Interestingly, the architectural blueprint was very familiar to Ray. Streets lined with magical streetlamps, buildings designed to look very individual and often hinting at what they were for, trees providing shade everywhere, benches and fountains and statues placed at strategic locations. The works. ¡°You think they really built all this as soon as the Tower was up and running?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Or everything was prefabricated, and they just teleported it all here from someplace else?¡± ¡°I figure it¡¯s a mix of both,¡± Gritty said. Marcus was too busy drinking in the sights to bother responding. Ray could see why. It wasn¡¯t just the various structures and what they offered that had locked in Marcus¡¯s attention. It was the people too. A part of Ray had been a little afraid they¡¯d stand out here, but his fears didn¡¯t materialize. There was a healthy mix of various races walking the streets of Auction Island, not just Sylvans as Ray had originally thought. He spotted familiar races like humans, Ryous, Holdstars, and Halftyrs, but there were those he wasn¡¯t familiar with too. One man looked like he was made of purple slime, then another who was literally just a mechanical automaton. Ray was really struck by the bipedal dragon he spotted too. It made him realize the Omniverse the System had talked about oh so long ago had a lot more races than just humans. There were probably many more he wasn¡¯t seeing here too. The universe was huge. The Omniverse was even larger. ¡°That looks like a hotel to me,¡± Gritty said after a while, pointing to an out of the way building with the sign of a house. ¡°Or a residence, rather.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go check it out,¡± Ray said. The hotel turned out to be a smaller establishment for more out-of-the-way residents. People who were less concerned about ostentatious luxury and cared more about just having a small place they could stay safely at without being bothered by anyone. Just the thing Ray and co were looking for. Unfortunately, being small meant they didn¡¯t have a ton of rooms to spare. Ray and Marcus decided to share one room, while Gritty took one for herself. ¡°If you truly wish to safeguard your treasure,¡± the receptionist, the smallest Sylvan Ray had seen yet, said. ¡°Then I suggest you use the Treasure Bank. They have a booth at the Auction Hall, where you can register your treasure.¡± ¡°But you can¡¯t guarantee its safety so long as it¡¯s here?¡± Ray asked. The Sylvan shook her head a little apologetically. ¡°Unfortunately, we cannot. We provide shelter, nothing more.¡± Ray couldn¡¯t really blame them for that. But at least there was some sort of measure to protect their treasures instead of just jealously guarding it every waking moment. ¡°Time to head to the Auction Hall then!¡± Marcus said with no small amount of glee. Ray was starting to get the fact Marcus had been a bit of a gambler before the System and the Towers had arrived. The idea clashed wildly with his paladin-like powers he had shown so far. Ray was once again tempted to take a look at just what kind of Class Marcus had with Primordial Gauge, but that wasn¡¯t going to work. Marcus had already given both Ray and Gritty a basic overview of the kind of abilities he possessed, which was what Ray was going off of when judging him as a paladin. The Auction Hall wasn¡¯t far from their hotel. Though, that was partly because the receptionist¡¯s directions were really good. They navigated using some clear landmarks and specific directions, and within twenty minutes, they had arrived at their destination. ¡°Wow.¡± Gritty whistled. ¡°It¡¯s big. Almost as big as that palace from the First Floor.¡± Marcus didn¡¯t have that frame of reference, but he expressed his amazement at the Auction Hall¡¯s size all the same. They entered the giant, circular building, stepping past the columns to enter through huge, open doors. Above, the ceiling was a latticework of large glass panes that let in the light from outside. Despite the natural lighting, there were still little braziers illuminating the walls, rooms, and hallways of the Auction Hall¡¯s interior. Like with their hotel, receptionists stood at attention here too, though the ones here were more polished. Not just Sylvan either. Some Ryous were employed too. That bit surprised Ray. Could a human find employment with Sylvans in a situation like this? Assuming said human wasn¡¯t interested in climbing the Tower, of course. The helpful receptionists guided the three of them to the Treasure Bank booth, where a Halftyr was seated upon a very high seat. He looked down at them through bright spectacles with an assessing glance, his keen eyes resting on their garb and other details of their appearance. ¡°Welcome to the Treasure Bank, competitors,¡± the Halftyr said. ¡°I am Skent. You must be Raymond, Gritty, and Marcus.¡± They all stared at the Halftyr. Ray supposed it wasn¡¯t that surprising. Someone associated with a Treasure Bank would no doubt keep track of who won what treasures. ¡°You have us at an advantage,¡± Ray said. ¡°Although, I guess you did just state your name.¡± The Halftyr smiled, though it was more predatory than welcoming. ¡°Come. You want to keep your treasure safe, yes? How about I tell you the terms of the Treasure Bank and you can decide if our services are something you¡¯d like to avail yourself of.¡± ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s not much of a sales pitch,¡± Gritty said. ¡°But I guess us competitors need you more than you need us.¡± ¡°Quite.¡± The Halftyr went on to explain that they physically retained any treasure that a competitor wished to store. In return, they exacted a ten percent cut from all of the competitor¡¯s earnings from the tournament. This included both the tournament prize money and anything earned from the auctions. That last bit went a stretch too far in Ray¡¯s opinion. After all, a competitor could put up for auction things that weren¡¯t related to the tournament. For instance, Ray could sell some of his Tower Nodes. The Bank was doing nothing to protect those. Unfortunately, those were the ironclad terms Ray would need to agree to. That all of them would need to agree to. Just as all the other competitors, which amounted to the majority of tournament participants, had. ¡°Are you even going to actually use the money for anything, wingman?¡± Gritty asked when Ray had mentioned his misgivings after stepping away from the Halftyr to discuss among themselves. ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯m not sure,¡± Ray said. ¡°But the more money I have, the more I can control things, so giving some of it up means I give up some of my control too.¡± ¡°Well, you ready to strap that treasure to your chest like a kid in a baby carrier?¡± He glared at her. She just stared back. ¡°There¡¯s a way we can bypass that,¡± Marcus said. ¡°How?¡± Ray asked. He squinted. ¡°Also, how do you know?¡± Marcus scratched his neck, looking away for a second. ¡°I¡­ uh, got some expertise. Anyway, the point is that one of us just needs to be delisted from the main team registration. Then the delisted person can just go about doing auction things without suffering the penalty.¡± ¡°But if you¡¯re delisted, doesn¡¯t that mean you won¡¯t get the prize money as a winner at the end?¡± ¡°Well¡­ we just register back together into one team at the end just before we win.¡± ¡°And they won¡¯t take a cut of all the auction winnings in between?¡± ¡°Of course not. It¡¯s not retroactive. They can¡¯t enforce that. They might try to sue, but we¡¯ll worry about that if it ever gets to that point.¡± Marcus frowned at the bank booth. ¡°I¡¯ve got no clue what the legal system here looks like.¡± Ray and Gritty both stared at Marcus. ¡°Wingman is right, knight guy,¡± Gritty said with a small smile. ¡°You¡¯re way too crooked to be a paladin.¡± Ray scowled at her. ¡°I did not say that.¡± ¡°Yeah, but you were thinking it!¡± Ray groaned. ¡°Alright, I think that might be worth a shot. So, who¡¯s going to¡ª¡± Marcus raised his hand high. ¡°Me! Me!¡± Ray and Gritty stared at him again. ¡°I mean, uh, I¡¯m good at auctioning stuff. So unless you guys have experience, I think I should be the one to stay apart officially and handle all our auctions.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Ray figured he still didn¡¯t know Marcus as well as he ought to, but then, he remembered how Marcus had basically sacrificed his arm for the team. ¡°You got it.¡± They returned to Treasure Bank and signed up. Skent was a little surprised Marcus wasn¡¯t a part of their team. Well, less surprised and more suspicious. But Marcus¡¯s assumption that the bank wasn¡¯t directly aligned with the tournament organizers proved correct as Skent couldn¡¯t ask them to prove their affiliation or otherwise. Not that they were fooling anybody. Skent had probably seen them all working together in a recording or broadcast or something. But, as Marcus stated, it was the legal principles that mattered. So, they walked away from the Treasure Bank with only Ray and Gritty registering with the bank and dropping off their treasure. They headed towards the main auction room next. ¡°So, anything specific you guys are looking for?¡± Marcus asked. Ray took a deep breath. ¡°Oh yeah, I¡¯ve been looking for something. I want to see if there¡¯s anything at the auction that can help us level up.¡± They reached the main open doors leading into the auction room and entered a little world of buying and selling. B3 Chapter 10 (141): All In The Details As they were about to enter the main auction hall, Ray pointed to a large board with scribbles on it. ¡°Hey, look at that,¡± he said. Gritty and Marcus both paused. Ray frowned at the notices on the board. The letters were strangely familiar, even though he was pretty certain they were in a script he couldn¡¯t¡ªwait, no, he could read them now. He blinked. The System¡¯s translation was so strange. ¡°It says there won¡¯t be an auction for another three days,¡± Ray said. ¡°But¡­¡± He looked back into the hall. ¡°It looks open now.¡± ¡°Read the rest, wingman.¡± Gritty was squinting at the notice too, going over it carefully line by line. ¡°That¡¯s a different auction, I think.¡± ¡°Right,¡± Marcus said. ¡°There¡¯s the main auction where successful competitors hold this big event to sell off their treasures. The rest of the time, the auction is more like a regular marketplace. It¡¯s open, and we can purchase and sell things, but we can¡¯t do anything regarding the tournament. Technically, we¡¯re not even allowed to talk about our treasures.¡± Ray rubbed his chin. ¡°Huh. Three days, is it?¡± Gritty turned her squint to him. ¡°What you thinking?¡± ¡°I¡¯m thinking if we can win one or more dungeons in the three days we still have.¡± Ray turned to Marcus. ¡°Know where we can find out where they are and how we can get to them?¡± ¡°Already?¡± Marcus asked. ¡°We only just beat one dungeon¡ª¡± ¡°I just want to know where they are and when plus how we can get to them. We don¡¯t have to go to them immediately, but knowing helps, you know.¡± Marcus sighed. ¡°Fair enough. There should be an Immortalizer Tournament booth somewhere around here too, so we¡¯ll need to go talk with those people. They should be able to guide us. Some info will probably be restricted, but we should be able to learn enough to decide what we ought to do next.¡± ¡°Gotcha. I guess I can go look for them. You guys can check out the auction in the meantime.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t we just decide that we shouldn¡¯t be separated? It¡¯s dangerous.¡± ¡°Well, it can¡¯t be that dangerous here,¡± Gritty said. ¡°We¡¯re in the Auction Hall. No one would cause a stir and get innocent people hurt. We¡¯ll be fine, knight guy. But also, I¡¯ve been wondering¡ªif you can just get off and on our team whenever you want, what¡¯s stopping you from collecting your own treasures?¡± Ray nodded appreciatively. That was a good question. Marcus shook his head, though he stopped when he was facing the doors of the Auction Hall. ¡°It¡¯s against the rules to combine treasures from different teams. Even if team members switch allegiances, they aren¡¯t allowed to bring their old treasures. Otherwise, a couple of teams could just join into one big team and win the tourney.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± Ray said. The gears in his mind were spinning fast. ¡°But that sounds like a pain to track. Teams can potentially form so many different combinations. How would the organizers even track which treasure went where? I feel like there¡¯s so many places where trying to allow people to leave and join teams can cause issues.¡± ¡°So you¡¯d think.¡± Marcus shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know the exact details, but I do know that even if I quit your team and somehow got a treasure of my own, I wouldn¡¯t be able to join back up and add my treasure to your collection. That¡¯s just how it works.¡± Ray¡¯s brain was still trying to grumble at places where that could fail, but there was no point in pondering that right now. ¡°I¡¯ll go find the tourney booth, then. Let me know if you guys find anything interesting.¡± ¡°Will do!¡± And without further ado, Marcus more or less leaped into the main auction hall. ¡°Keep an eye on him, will you?¡± Ray told Gritty. She sighed. ¡°I wasn¡¯t prepared to babysit a gambler, but whatever. Maybe I¡¯ll find something curious.¡± ¡°Also, Gritty.¡± Ray looked at her squarely in the eye to impress the importance of what he was about to say. ¡°We really do need to find a way to level up. We might have won the last dungeon, so even if we aren¡¯t lagging too far behind the other competitors, they¡¯re not our main antagonists. They aren¡¯t the people who tried to destroy an entire Floor of this Tower.¡± For once, Gritty¡¯s dark eyes were serious. ¡°I get you, wingman. I¡¯ll see if I can find something.¡± ¡°I got faith you will.¡± Ray let them handle things as he returned to the antechamber. It only took about a minute of searching before he found the tournament booth manned by two Sylvans in the same crisp uniforms that the registrars had worn back on the Tier 26 dungeon island. ¡°Welcome, competitor,¡± one of the Sylvans said. His voice was pleasant enough, his expression almost trained to be as receptionist-like as possible. ¡°How may we help you?¡± Ray wanted to ask how exactly the Sylvans were aware he was a competitor, but then again, was there a single human who wasn¡¯t a competitor? Besides, like with the banker Halftyr, they no doubt kept track of what went on in the tournament and already knew a lot about him. ¡°Hi. I was just looking for some information.¡± ¡°Yes, of course. I imagine your rushed entry didn¡¯t allow you to go over our basic introductory materials for tournament participants.¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± Well, that confirmed they knew him specifically. ¡°No I haven¡¯t gone through any of that. Please don¡¯t tell me you have an Immortalizer Tournament Orientation or something.¡± ¡°We have a variety of information outlets for different individuals to take advantage of. We would like to be accessible to everyone as much as possible, after all. Please, take a moment to peruse through the options to see which one would work for you best.¡± Ray had not been expecting that sort of¡­ accessibility-minded thinking from people whose leaders were mostly concerned with conquering this Tower in the name of the Fleshcrafter. It turned out there were indeed a lot of ways he could learn more about the tournament and its particulars. Pamphlets, little informational recordings that were both auditory and visual, and even the receptionists being willing to answer any questions he might have. Neat. Ray picked the last option because he didn¡¯t want to get lost in the weeds, despite his curiosity. ¡°I¡¯d mostly like a schedule or something along those lines to see which dungeons are available and when I can go to them,¡± Ray said. ¡°And I want to learn how I can go to whichever dungeon I pick.¡± The other Sylvan cleared his throat. ¡°Of course, competitor. There is a list of dungeons and their winners, along with a list of as yet unconquered dungeons. It is available alongside all the other ranking lists. Those lists will have enough pertinent information to allow you to come to a decision.¡± ¡°Oh, alright. That makes sense, I guess.¡± ¡°The same goes for travelling procedures. The lists will contain the berth location and times for every dungeon, and you must simply appear there when the moment arrives. Registration, as you have discovered, is entirely in person.¡± Ray had to wonder if there was any ¡°online¡± component to this whole setup. Things he could do remotely and such. So far, it didn¡¯t look like the Sylvans had their own version of the internet. It was curious because having advanced broadcasting channels suggested they¡¯d have advanced personal communications too, though that didn¡¯t appear to be the case.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Oh, right. They had the System chat. That probably functioned well enough fo interpersonal communication. Accessing the various ranking lists was easy. So long as one had access to one of the viewing screens anywhere, one could navigate to the lists. It was like a TV with its own channel. Ray found a somewhat secluded screen and navigated to the lists. Quite nice how it was gesture controlled. Almost futuristic, in a way. The dungeon list was quite interesting. He himself was there, in the top third of the dungeons conquered, which were arranged according to their Tiers. The dungeon he had won was among the strongest, but still nowhere near the most powerful one. That honour went to the Tier 38 dungeon. One that remained unconquered so far. Ray whistled under his breath. He could only imagine what kind of acute pain a Tier 38 dungeon would be to get through. Then again, that Tier 26 Obsidian Halls of Dark Reflection hadn¡¯t been as insane as its Tier would suggest. Though, Ray supposed he had kind of cheated his way through it with his skills. He had been lucky. There was no saying he could do the same in the other dungeons. Others had won some of the stronger dungeons. A Tier 32 dungeon had been conquered by a team with a strange name¡ªAlbatross. He frowned. They could name their teams? It should have been obvious, but the registrars hadn¡¯t mentioned anything about naming. He supposed it had been a bit of a rush job back there. Ray groaned a little. Gritty was probably going to have a lot of morbid fun once she discovered that. Back to the list. A Tier 30 dungeon had been won by a group going by their names. Familiar names. It was Sameer¡¯s group, with Eliza and Karkatrix. That made Ray quite glad he and his teams had foiled their victory in the Tier 26 dungeon. It made him wonder why they had decided to go to a weaker dungeon. Had the Tier 30 dungeon been so difficult that they¡¯d been forced to downgrade? Between the Tier 38 at the top and the Tier 32 that had been conquered, two more dungeons lay open to proceedings too. A Tier 34 and a Tier 35 one. It wasn¡¯t because the Tier had warded off other competitors. Their times just hadn¡¯t come up yet. Which was good, because Ray was eying them with interest. The problem was that none of them would open before the first auction he could participate in, which would take place in three days as Marcus had pointed out. Going through the list revealed that a Tier 25 dungeon was the strongest one Ray could aim for if he wanted to get another dungeon under his belt before the auction. That was even worse than the one he had just won, but ah well. His options were limited. Hopefully, the other two wouldn¡¯t object. ¡°Oh!¡± Ray turned to see a slim Ryous approaching from behind. ¡°I did not know someone else was using that screen,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ll come back later.¡± ¡°Oh, please.¡± Ray stepped back. It was rather refreshing to not have a fellow competitor act aggressive and hostile from the get-go. ¡°I¡¯m done here. Feel free to go ahead.¡± The Ryous thanked Ray and took his place. He was tempted to hang back and observe just what the Ryous would have peeked at, but that was a blatant violation of the poor guy¡¯s privacy. He¡¯d hate it if someone was looking over his shoulder, after all. Ray returned to the main auction hall. One side of the large hall was cordoned off, out of reach for everyone. But the rest was quite populated. Vendors had set up stalls, though most didn¡¯t have much merchandise on direct display, and instead, used screens to show off goods. It didn¡¯t take long to find Gritty. She was hanging back a bit, arms crossed and sporting a strange expression on her face. It was almost like¡­ fondness? ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Ray asked as he entered. ¡°You find anything yet?¡± ¡°Just a few small goodies,¡± she said. ¡°What kind of goodies?¡± Gritty grinned at him. ¡°Just some fun stuff here and there. You should take a look too, wingman. You might enjoy some.¡± ¡°Fun stuff, huh? What kind of fun stuff?¡± ¡°Here, I¡¯ll show you.¡± She was about to walk off, but Ray wanted to get a couple of things out of the way first. ¡°Hold on,¡± he said. ¡°Did you find anything that can help us level?¡± ¡°Well¡­ the Sylvans are apparently very cagey about that kind of thing. I did find a¡­ dealer of sorts, who said he might be able to get us some of the Sylvan training crystals. Those would really help level up.¡± ¡°Oh shit, really? But that¡¯s not legal, is it?¡± ¡°Well, we have to pick our poisons, apparently. The Sylvans don¡¯t want to let us grow stronger beyond what we face in the dungeons.¡± Of course the Sylvans wouldn¡¯t want them to get any stronger. With what Ray and his allies had done to the Sylvans across both the First and the Second Floor of the Tower of Forging, the rest of the Sylvans would no doubt be quite wary of them getting any more powerful. But that didn¡¯t mean Ray was going to let them stymie his growth. He was well aware that the rate of growth promised by exploring dungeons wouldn¡¯t be enough. Not if he wanted to stop the Sylvans¡¯ plan of converting this entire Tower for the Fleshcrafter. ¡°How do we know it¡¯s not some kind of trap, though?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Since the Floor Lord can¡¯t take us out directly after the Tower Lord¡¯s little congratulations, he might be resorting to more underhanded measures.¡± Gritty tutted. ¡°It¡¯s not impossible. We¡¯ll have to be careful. But yeah, I haven¡¯t found anything else. Like I said, the Sylvans are really restrictive about this.¡± Ray grunted. They decided to gather up Marcus before heading out to meet Gritty¡¯s shady contact. He was busy going through store after store, and for a second, Ray was distracted by everything on offer too. One Sylvan was selling little ¡°massage pads¡± as Ray understood them, though the Sylvan called them something different. Essentially, they were little patches he could attach to his skin, and once he was comfortable, the patches would begin simulating the feeling and effect of a massage around the area it was stuck to. That was honestly pretty neat. There were other little curious goodies like that. Someone was selling furniture that could transform into various ones, like a bed turning into a table into a divan and so on. A Halftyr claimed his ¡°medicinal remedy¡± would remove the need for bowel movements. There was even a Ryous merchant who was selling off arms. Literally. He was missing two of his own. But in the end, Ray wasn¡¯t interested in purchasing random goodies at the moment. Maybe if he was settling down here or something one day, which was, frankly, a ridiculous thought. Here he was, thinking about inhabiting this Floor, while also trying to think of ways to bring down the people who ran it. They found Marcus haggling with a Sylvan about a ring that could apparently pull any item pointed at towards the pointer. ¡°Two Mana pearls?¡± Marcus was asking incredulously. ¡°Why are you trying to fleece me, man? I said my payment¡¯s good. I can show you the receipts¡ª¡± ¡°I care not for your deals with other merchants, competitor,¡± the Sylvan said. ¡°If you cannot pay up front, then the deferred credit charge will be at least another Mana pearl.¡± Marcus grumbled something that he probably ought not to say to the Sylvan¡¯s face. Ray decided to intervene before he got too worked up. ¡°You alright, Marcus?¡± Ray asked. He turned to face Ray, his troubled expression melting into a smile. ¡°Oh, hi. You guys are back. Did you find everything you wanted to about the dungeon schedules?¡± ¡°Oh, yeah.¡± Gritty faced Ray with a curious glint in her eye. ¡°What did you find, wingman?¡± Ray explained about the schedules he had seen and how they needed to focus on the stronger dungeons to secure the best rewards. Of course, that depended on the assumption that the stronger dungeons should have the bigger rewards, but it was their best bet to go off. He also mentioned what he thought ought to be their next target before auction day. They had to be ready for it in a day or so. ¡°But what about you, Marcus?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Got everything you were looking for? Everything good?¡± Marcus looked a little nervous. ¡°Oh, yeah. All good. Just having a friendly debate about the price of certain items, is all.¡± ¡°Hmph.¡± The Sylvan merchant looked like he wanted to tell Marcus to take a hike. ¡°That was the unfriendliest debate I¡¯ve ever had.¡± Marcus sighed. ¡°Look, I¡¯m sorry pal, I just don¡¯t have the hard cash with me right now. But I will! I promise. You already saw we won big time, and I¡¯m sure we can secure a good fund on auction day.¡± ¡°Wait, hold on.¡± Ray was starting to become a little suspicious and it wasn¡¯t the good kind of suspicion. ¡°What¡¯s going on? What¡¯s up with this deferred credit?¡± Another sigh. ¡°Like I said, I don¡¯t have a ton of cash on me right now. So I¡¯m going off credit promises. Essentially, I¡¯m promising the future money I¡¯ll have in my hands once we sell off the treasure we got in the last dungeon. With an unfortunate amount of interest, as our friend here is showing. One entire Mana pearl, fucking hell.¡± ¡°But¡ª¡± ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry.¡± Marcus raised a forestalling hand after he saw Ray¡¯s expression. ¡°I¡¯m keeping my purchases to a third of our total auction money. I¡¯m obviously not going to use up your share of the treasure.¡± ¡°But Marcus,¡± Gritty said. ¡°We haven¡¯t sold it yet. How do you know how much it¡¯s going to earn? You might be promising more than we can get.¡± Marcus looked nervously between his teammates and the vendor, whose eyes were screwing in suspicion. Ray himself was getting a little worried about just how much Marcus had already spent. ¡°Told you.¡± Marcus was trying to project as much confidence as he could, though Ray wasn¡¯t really mollified. ¡°I¡¯ve got experience with this stuff. Auctions and all that. I¡¯ve got a baseline feeling of how much the treasure we got will go for, and I¡¯ve kept the max amount of my purchases to the lowest estimate.¡± ¡°You can guess how much the treasure will go for?¡± Ray asked sceptically. ¡°Yep. So could you, honestly. You just need to see how the auctions work, what kind of people attend and how much they can pay, and you need to take a peek at one of the ranking leaderboards.¡± Ray frowned. Then he blinked. ¡°Oh, right. There¡¯s already been an auction, where they sold items from higher Tier dungeons.¡± ¡°Exactly. Trust me, my math isn¡¯t faulty. I¡¯m being reasonable and careful.¡± Ray still wasn¡¯t sure he was satisfied, but he let it drop for now. He¡¯d just have to keep a closer eye on things. They had more important issues at the moment. ¡°You know where to find this mysterious, uh, dealer?¡± Ray asked Gritty. Marcus looked between the two of them. ¡°What dealer?¡± ¡°I can explain on the way,¡± she said, heading towards the door. ¡°Come on, follow me. It¡¯s time we finally did some actual levelling.¡± B3 Chapter 11 (142): Training Crystal Gritty took them through a smaller alley on what felt like the backstreets of the island. They walked for about ten minutes before Ray could no longer hold back his question. ¡°You sure you know where you¡¯re going?¡± he asked. Before Gritty could answer, Marcus butted in. ¡°How do you know where to go? Was this dealer guy that detailed in the directions he gave?¡± Gritty had explained to both Ray and Marcus how a shady-looking Sylvan had spotted her enquiring about items or services that could help them gain levels at the auction. Ray was a little sceptical that a Sylvan of all people was offering them assistance, but then, who else would even have access to Sylvan training crystals. But also, Ray couldn¡¯t shake off the feeling this might be a trap. What a conundrum. If only there were other, more surefire ways of levelling up. ¡°Kind of,¡± Gritty said. ¡°But one of the goodies I got was a little map of Auction City, and I looked over it to make sure we¡¯re headed the right way.¡± Ray choked a little. ¡°No fucking way they named it Auction City.¡± All three of them laughed at that. Ridiculous. ¡°I actually think it¡¯s some kind of fancy name in the Sylvan language,¡± Gritty said. ¡°But the System automatically translated it, so I¡¯m just going by what I was told by the System itself.¡± ¡°Hilarious.¡± Ray remained content to follow Gritty. The city wasn¡¯t that big. It was only about twenty more minutes or before they arrived at a new quarter. This area was more parklike, devoid of buildings and instead sporting wide open areas where people could relax and gaze out at the expanse of nothingness where occasional islands floated by in the distance. ¡°We¡¯re meeting¡­ at a park?¡± Ray asked. Gritty was squinting around. ¡°Looks like it.¡± At least they didn¡¯t have to worry about being overheard. There weren¡¯t that many people here. Maybe they were on other islands, observing other dungeons being won. ¡°There!¡± Gritty said. Ray and Marcus turned to see a cloaked and hooded person standing at the far end of the park, near the edge of the island. He was just standing there, observing them silently. Ray¡¯s hackles rose again. This really had better not be some kind of trap. ¡°Heya,¡± Gritty said, waving as they approached. ¡°We came, just like I said we would. Now we can talk for real.¡± The Sylvan didn¡¯t pull back his hood. Suspicious fellow. Ray had to suppress the urge to barge forward and sink to his haunches so he could look up the hood. At least he could easily remember the horn spiralling off the Sylvan¡¯s chin like a weird goatee. ¡°Greetings,¡± the Sylvan said. He had a scratchy voice, like he could use a drink. ¡°I was half-expecting you to fail to show up, so kudos to you for at least appearing.¡± ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± Gritty asked. ¡°Thought we¡¯d be too afraid to follow up on your offer?¡± ¡°Well, I would not blame you if you remained cautious. In all honesty, I would have forgone coming here were I in your shoes.¡± ¡°Considering you¡¯re selling us illegal contraband, forgive me if I doubt that.¡± The Sylvan laughed. His hood shifted a little as he regarded Ray and Marcus as well. ¡°Good to meet you, Raymond and Marcus. I am Lyvanse. I assume you know the deal.¡± Ray nodded. ¡°You want five Mana pearls for each training crystal you can give us.¡± ¡°Which is way too much,¡± Marcus muttered. The only reason he didn¡¯t say it louder was because Ray had insisted that he and Gritty ought to handle that transaction. This wasn¡¯t an auction, after all. ¡°Mana pearls which you obviously do not possess yet,¡± Lyvanse said. ¡°Please, not another guy charging interest,¡± Marcus hissed. Ray glared at him. Thankfully, he didn¡¯t say anything more than that. ¡°But you¡¯re still going to give us some of the crystals, right?¡± Gritty asked. Lyvanse nodded, though not so much that the hood fell back enough to reveal his face. ¡°I will sell you the crystals I brought. One for each of you. Of course, there shall be no selling since you possess little to no money. But you will only receive more crystals once you pay for both these and any new ones you might wish to receive.¡± That immediately set Ray¡¯s alarm bells ringing. ¡°You¡¯re willing to just¡­ part with your training crystals? For free, essentially? Because we could just take them and run and never come back.¡± Lyvanse grinned. Ray only caught a small portion of it above his goatee horn, but it was enough. ¡°You make assumptions without knowing everything.¡± ¡°Is that right?¡± ¡°The crystals will not last you forever. You can perhaps get one or two levels out of them before you expend its capabilities and return to me for more. As such, you stand to gain little by tricking me. And of course, you mustn¡¯t forget that this is an illegal operation. Should you seek to deceive me, I can land you in a great deal of hot water.¡± The threat was stated so plainly, so casually, Ray was almost fooled into thinking it wasn¡¯t a threat at all. ¡°You like playing with fire, don¡¯t you?¡± Ray asked, smiling back. ¡°But what¡¯s stopping you from ratting us out after we take the crystals off your hands? How do we know that all this isn¡¯t some kind of trap?¡± ¡°Well, you do not. I can give you no further proof beyond my own promise that I seek to cause you no harm until and unless any harm is caused by you upon me. That will have to do.¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t think it will.¡± ¡°Wingman¡­¡± ¡°No, Gritty.¡± Ray stepped forward. ¡°I¡¯m not endangering myself or my friends, no matter how good a deal looks. No point in levelling up if we¡¯re only going to be targeted immediately afterwards.¡± ¡°So what?¡± Lyvanse asked. ¡°The deal is off, then?¡± ¡°Not necessarily. You said you could only give us your word? Wrong. You can give us your vulnerability, if you know what I mean.¡± ¡°I do not. Explain yourself.¡± Ray noted the imperious way the Sylvan had spoken just then. ¡°Tell us how you got these training crystals. My understanding is that they¡¯re heavily regulated and no one but a Sylvan is supposed to use them. Yet, you¡¯re giving them away. Why is that? How¡¯d you get your hands on them, because it sounds like you possess a lot of them? Who are you, Lyvanse?¡± The Sylvan snorted. ¡°So many questions at once.¡± Lyvanse shook his head. ¡°We had a deal for training crystals, not for tales of our own lives.¡± ¡°We have no deal if you don¡¯t give us an anchor.¡± ¡°Fine, then.¡± The Sylvan stepped back. ¡°No deal it is.¡± ¡°Seriously? You¡¯ll run away instead of making a profit? I guess selling these training crystals doesn¡¯t mean much to you.¡± ¡°It does not, yes.¡± ¡°Alright, alright.¡± Ray sighed. ¡°I thought I¡¯d give you a chance to come clean yourself, but I guess I have no choice.¡± Lyvanse had paused. ¡°What are you talking about now?¡± Gritty and Marcus had both been silent so far because they had already discussed this bit of the conversation beforehand. They knew what was going on. ¡°I have my own sources of information too, you know,¡± Ray said. ¡°Very reliable ones, at that. Just because I¡¯m a human Denizen doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯ve got no contacts at all. And one of my contacts told me about you.¡± Lyvanse petrified in place. ¡°You lie.¡± ¡°Oh yeah? Is it a lie that one of the main patrons at the auction is the Sylvan who oversees the training crystals that your people use, and that he has auctioned off a bunch of training crystals?¡±If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Lyvanse said nothing, remaining frozen in place. ¡°We¡¯re aware the Sylvans who are running the Tower have no wish to let anyone but their own get a hand on the crystals. But the auction patron was unaware of that mandate and bullishly auctioned off a chunk of which he intended to sell anyway. The trick was that it was another Sylvan who was forced to outbid any other race to get all the training crystals.¡± ¡°And now you need to sell enough of it off,¡± Gritty said. ¡°You might have mollified both the patron and the Tower faction, but that meant you had to sacrifice your own money to do it.¡± ¡°We¡¯re not as ignorant as you think,¡± Marcus said. Lyvanse stared at them all. Just the way he stood confirmed to Ray that he had landed on the truth. Eventually, he took a deep breath, then sighed heavily. ¡°You are correct,¡± he said. ¡°And since you already know enough, there is no point in me backing out of the deal. But question¡ªhow did you come by such information?¡± Ray grinned. ¡°Oh, we have our sources.¡± ¡°If you¡¯d like to know more, just sell another batch of the training crystals and¡ª¡± Ray cut off Marcus before he made them take a deal they¡¯d all regret. ¡°No, no that info is not for sale.¡± Marcus and the Sylvan both groaned. Fuckers. ¡°But I still don¡¯t know your stake in this, Lyvanse,¡± Ray said. ¡°Why are you the one caught in the middle of all this? What are the Sylvans to you?¡± Somehow, Lyvanse¡¯s glare was very tangible even through the hood hiding his features. ¡°Perhaps, since you already know such a great deal, you could find that out for yourself too. Now, do you wish to take the training crystals you came here for not?¡± Ray sighed. He supposed they already had enough dirt on each other. No need for him to dig for more for now. ¡°Alright, fine. Hand ¡®em over.¡± ¡°Here you are.¡± Lyvanse pulled out the training crystals from nowhere. Apparently, unlike the treasures, these could be put into inventory spaces like storage rings and bags of holding. ¡°Let us meet again, once you have some profit in your hands.¡± The crystals were nothing more than a cube the size of an egg. Their exterior surfaces were transparent, but when Ray looked inside, it appeared as though they were lined with mirrors, reflecting his face back in odd ways. As it was an item interacting with Mana, Ray could check out what Primordial Gauge had to tell him about it. [Primordial Gauge¡ªTraining Crystal] Sylvan Training Crystal Crystals used to raise memories of the wielder to face once again. Mirrors within appraise the wielder¡¯s current strength and aptitude, ensuring that even old recollections hold the essence needed for proper growth. ¡°Will we meet again at this exact place?¡± Gritty asked. The Sylvan nodded as he retreated. ¡°We can keep in touch via the System chat if anything goes awry. Farewell, for now.¡± ¡°No helpful tips on how to use these crystals?¡± Ray asked. Lyvanse just left, grinning in farewell as he did so. Ray sent out a Scouring Eyeball trailing after the Sylvan, but he suspected their dealer¡¯s ultimate destination was well beyond the range that his construct could go or even see. Well, at least he would get to see the direction Lyvanse went for a while. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get back to the hotel,¡± Ray said. ¡°Then we can test how these crystals actually work.¡± ¡°You know how?¡± Marcus asked, looking down at his training crystal. ¡°I got a small description with one of my spells, but it¡¯s not super helpful. We¡¯ll figure it out, somehow. Maybe we can ask Sridayne too. She¡¯s bound to have some intel, just like she had for our dealer friend.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t need all that,¡± Gritty said. ¡°I¡¯ve got a reliable source of information already.¡± Ray raised an eyebrow at her. ¡°Oh, yeah? Who¡¯d that be?¡± ¡°You know him, wingman. Can¡¯t you guess?¡± He stared at her for a bit. The only him they knew in common who could possibly have information about Sylvan training crystals was¡­ ¡°No way. How?¡± Gritty grinned. ¡°Like I said, I got some interesting little goodies at the auction. Let¡¯s get back to the hotel and I¡¯ll show you.¡±
Ray was pretty excited all the way to the hotel. He was finally going to level up¡ªhopefully, once he got to actually use the training crystals. More than that, he was also going to talk with Kredevel again. ¡°You sure you weren¡¯t tricked?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Like, it¡¯s not a scam or something? Someone looking to take advantage of potentially desperate and gullible Denizens? Because the ability to chat with people on other Floors sounds a bit broken.¡± Before, when they travelled from one Floor of the Tower of Forging to another, they were always restricted from making contact with people on other Floors. Ostensibly, Ray understood this as a way for the System to prevent any Denizens from getting a leg up on others. Now, however, there were apparently those at the auction who had found a workaround for it. Gritty leaned over the backrest of the chair in Ray¡¯s room. They had those same weird pods they had spotted back at the auction. The ones that could transform from one kind of furniture to another. Gritty had turned Ray¡¯s bed into a chair and taken it for herself. It being a two-person room meant Marcus had his own furniture pod all to himself, so Ray was basically the only one left standing. Gritty tutted. ¡°I had Mr. Knight Guy helping out at the auction. Nobody could take advantage of me under his paladinous gaze.¡± ¡°Paladinous?¡± Marcus looked like he couldn¡¯t tell if he was supposed to roll his eyes or not. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a word.¡± ¡°Anyway, wingman, eat this.¡± Ray took the little pill he was supposed to swallow whole. ¡°Does it ever feel like we always have to ingest things to do anything different around here?¡± He looked at the two of them staring back. ¡°No? Just me? Alrighty then.¡± He swallowed the little blue pill. It went down easy, without even needing any water. Next, he had to wait for a minute or so, before taking a peek at his System chat options. ¡°Oh, no way,¡± he said. ¡°It actually works. People on the other Floors aren¡¯t greyed out anymore.¡± That had always seemed a little odd to him. The only other time anyone was greyed out was when they were dead. Ray still winced whenever he saw Alice Feld¡¯s name eternally petrified after the events of the Second Floor. But that wasn¡¯t the case any longer. They were all there. All available for chatting. Maya, the Holdstar trio of Ram, Bam, and Lam, and most importantly, Kredevel. Nodding at Gritty¡¯s and Marcus¡¯s grins, Ray got to messaging. Ray: Hey, buddy. Long time no see. Well, okay, maybe it¡¯s only been a day or two. You doing alright? Kredevel: Ray? How¡ªare you not on the Third Floor? Do they allow Denizens on the last Floor to contact anyone? Ray: No, no, things are¡­ pretty different from what you might expect. Idk what you know about the Third Floor, but there¡¯s this whole tournament and auction thing going on. I don¡¯t have a lot of time, though. I managed to get this pill that lets me contact people on other Floors, but it lasts for like ten minutes at most. Kredevel: What do you need? Ray smiled. Good, old Kredevel. He was probably very interested what Ray could tell him about the Third Floor and what his former Sylvan masters were up to, but he was holding his questions back. Ray: Opportunities to level up on this Floor are hard to come by, but I got my hands on some training crystals. I¡¯ll explain how I got them later. Right now, I just need some information on how I can use them. I¡¯m kind of hurting not being able to level up as much as I¡¯d want. There was a moment of silence. Kredevel was probably trying to process the idea that a human Denizen like Ray had gotten a hold of restricted Sylvan goodies. But once more, he held back his questions. Then he proceeded to fill Ray in on how best to use a training crystal. There wasn¡¯t a lot of information that Kredevel provided. Maybe because of the timed nature of their chat, he was keeping things to the most pertinent info for now. Ray appreciated it, honestly. Ray: Alright, I think I know enough to be going on with, for now. Kredevel: Good. One last reminder¡ªdo not remain within once the cracks settle in. Ray: Right, right. Thanks so much again. This is going to be invaluable. I owe you one. Kredevel: You can repay me once I make my way up there. Ray: Which will be¡­? Kredevel: A few more days. I want to make sure Ram, Bam, and Lam are fully comfortable here for now. The job of a Floor Lord is far more difficult than I imagined. And I say this as one merely assisting the Floor Lord for now. After learning a few more details on how the Holdstar trio were handling things on the Second Floor, they cut off the chat for now. Ray made sure to thank Kredevel once more before doing so. He grinned at Gritty and Marcus. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m going to test everything Kredevel just told me. If everything works out, I¡¯ll explain it all to you guys too.¡± ¡°Why can¡¯t you explain before diving into your training crystal?¡± Marcus asked. ¡°Someone has to make sure we don¡¯t accidentally make it explode on us. We¡¯re humans after all, not Sylvans. Things might be a little different for us.¡± Without further ado, Ray brought up his training crystal. He took a little preparatory breath. Then, as Kredevel had directed, he used one of his spells on it. It didn¡¯t matter what spell, so long as it was tangible. All Ray needed to do was make his Mana touch the crystal, upon which, it would automatically activate. Mottling Spiritguard was enough. As soon as one of the sparking chaos orbs contacted the crystal¡¯s surface, it activated. Sucking Ray into its own little dimension. [Training Crystal] Appraising¡­ Species Detected: Attempting Override¡­ ¡­ ¡­ Success! Denizen, please use training crystal to further yourself. Ray swallowed. Kredevel had mentioned there was a small chance that the training crystal just might kick him out because he wasn¡¯t a Sylvan, but it looked like he was good to go. It was a good thing he had talked with Kredevel beforehand. He knew what to expect. As such, he wasn¡¯t as concerned as he might have been had he come in blind. Ray was in a little chamber, surrounded on all sides by dozens upon dozens of mirrorlike surfaces. They merged into each other at irregular edges, like the surfaces of a crystal, and every single one of them reflected back a distorted picture of Ray. He took a moment to find the image of himself that was the most defined, as far as he could tell. Ray walked over and placed his hand on the surface. Immediately, the mirror rippled like it was liquid. Ray was teleported again. When he could see again, he was facing a Duskshell. No. Not just any Duskshell. This was the Duskshell. The one that he had killed to protect Maya¡¯s settlement, way back on the First Floor. ¡°Hey, pal,¡± Ray said with a big a grin. ¡°Been a while, huh?¡± Ray hadn¡¯t just been transported to face the Duskshell. He was in the exact same situation too. Memories, the description had stated. That was exactly what it was. Ray¡¯s memory of standing before the repurposed keep, with all the other Denizens far behind him, and he himself standing between the Duskshell and the keep. The monster roared at him. Recalling the description of the training crystal, Ray took a peek with Primordial Gauge. What he saw made him smile. [Presence of the Primordial] Duskshell [Monster] [Tier 26] [Level 49] Ray was well aware that the Duskshell he had faced back on the First Floor hadn¡¯t been that Tier or level. So the description was correct. His opponent was being scaled up to give him enough Essence for decent growth. Perfect. The Duskshell roared at him. Ray grinned. Then got to fighting. B3 Chapter 12 (143): Painted Guardian The Duskshell was just one of the enemies that Ray could fight. One he could do so multiple times too. But there were other mirrors within the training crystal. Other reflections storing other memories. Monsters like the Viledrake and even the Spirespine, situations like that of the dungeon where he had to defeat a siege. Even enemies like that asshole Derrick Orden and the two Floor Lords he had beaten so far. Now those were some fun ones to replay. Ray hadn¡¯t realized just how exhilarated those moments had felt to him back then. A part of him even wondered what it would have been like if he had died. Kredevel had said he would simply be kicked out and he¡¯d have the opportunity to try again. But he also wouldn¡¯t be receiving any Essence for the fight at all if he lost. The problem with the crystal was that it cracked no matter what. Regardless of whether the user was successful in combat or not, the mirrors started fracturing. He found he could repeat a battle only once before the respective reflection broke entirely, making it impossible to access that fight again. So, Ray had treated each battle as its own thing, determined to win just as he had done in truth. He couldn¡¯t let any of it go to waste. Of course, after the first victory, he had exited the training crystal and informed his two companions that everything was fine. There were no issues with them being human. If they were lucky. Still. They decided that they¡¯d take turns, and at least one of them would remain outside, sort of standing on guard duty, while the other two used the crystals. By the time Ray was done, he had gained another level. He was getting close to that level fifty benchmark he was looking forward to. [Level Up!] Reward
  • +5 Intellect, +5 Spirit, +2 Vitality +2 Agility, +10 allocatable free stats.
  • 1 Spell Synthesis Point
Essence to Level 49: 6,650/221,200 Interestingly, he didn¡¯t gain any Knowledge reputation when refighting his old enemies. He supposed it made sense. These were all old foes. He wasn¡¯t really gaining any new knowledge by battling against them again. Even if his boots were supposed to give him Knowledge Reputation after every successful defeat of a foe. Ah, well. The extra ten stats went to Vitality as normal. Ray wasn¡¯t sure where to use the Spell Synthesis Point yet. He understood that he had some spells he wasn¡¯t using much. Although, depending on the situation, they would be useful. Maybe he¡¯d decide after their upcoming dungeon. ¡°Can¡¯t wait for my Class Evolution,¡± he said to the others as they walked to the dungeon island the next day. They had been careful about noting the time and location of where the island would be docked for them to board. ¡°Can¡¯t be that far off now.¡± ¡°You guys are still waiting for your second Class Evolution?¡± Marcus asked. Ray stared at him. ¡°You didn¡¯t mention you already got your second Class Evolution.¡± ¡°I already said I had an Epic Class, didn¡¯t I?¡± Ray already had an Epic rarity Class. But that was after only one Class Evolution. Maybe the offerings were different for different people, depending on what they had done and faced. ¡°Yeah, well, I got an Epic rarity Class from just one Class Evolution. So don¡¯t mind me and my silly assumptions.¡± Marcus stared at him for a bit. ¡°Show off.¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough about Class Evolutions, you nerds,¡± Gritty said. ¡°I¡¯m more curious about the dungeon we¡¯re heading to. Sridayne never got back to you on what it might be?¡± Ray shook his head. ¡°Nope. There¡¯s an extra level of restriction for that kind of information. At least she was able to find some intel on the people who are attending it.¡± He had already mentioned that to them, though, so he didn¡¯t bother expanding on it. They would only find out who their fellow competitors were when they reached the dungeon island itself. Nevertheless, Sridayne had been able to dig up some information on who among the spectators were attending a Tier 25 dungeon in person. Apparently, there was a small group who had close ties to the Third Floor Lord. Ray and his team would do best to be careful. They reached the dock location in time. Crossing the bridge of floating stones led them to waiting behind a team of three Sylvans who were registering before their turn came. Registration was much smoother than last time. They were already official tournament competitors now. The only other team to register was a duo of Ryous who came in a little late. But them being late allowed Ray to meet up with Sridayne and Vyournel at one corner of the dungeon island. ¡°Another mountain, huh?¡± Gritty asked, staring at the large rocky mound with tunnels at the base that formed the dungeon openings they were to use. ¡°I still haven¡¯t been able to dig up any real information on the dungeon,¡± Sridayne said a little apologetically. ¡°We tried our best, though,¡± Vyournel said. ¡°That we did. And now that we know who your competitors are, we can find out more.¡± ¡°You recognize any of them?¡± Ray asked. ¡°I do. The Ryous team who came after you are familiar to me. I have seen them in a different dungeon.¡± She went on to explain what she remembered of their abilities and what they had done. Ray and the others listened attentively. It was quite helpful. They wouldn¡¯t be surprised when they eventually faced down their opponents inside the dungeon. Though, he had to wonder if other teams had different sources of intel to bypass the fact that they all had Amulets of Blindness now. Of course, some of them might just have seen the tournament recordings and gotten a good understanding that way. Essentially, there was no way to truly hide one¡¯s capabilities after the first dungeon foray. Sridayne also pointed out the group in the audience who were affiliated with the Floor Lord. A gaggle of Sylvans in expensive looking robes were eyeing everyone with interest. It didn¡¯t look like they had their eye particularly on Ray more than anyone else, but it wouldn¡¯t be to their benefit to ignore the potential threat they posed. ¡°What about the Sylvan team?¡± Gritty asked. ¡°Know anything about them?¡± ¡°I do not.¡± Sridayne frowned at the trio. ¡°I do not recall seeing them on any of the recordings I personally have viewed. I assume you have not caught them in any recordings either.¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± ¡°No,¡± Ray said quickly. ¡°Nope. We didn¡¯t see them in any of the recordings we looked at either. Very strange, yeah.¡± In truth, they hadn¡¯t checked many recordings yet. Two things had deprioritized it. There hadn¡¯t been a ton of time and there were so many competitors, it would be difficult to remember the specifics of every single one of them. Nevertheless, Ray resolved to hunt down recordings of the more successful ones like Sameer¡¯s group and take a look. Once he was done winning this dungeon. ¡°We¡¯ll just have to be careful about them,¡± Marcus said. Ray nodded. It wasn¡¯t long before a tournament official announced that it was time. The competing teams were to select and head towards one of the available tunnel openings. The goal was the same as ever. Find and collect the treasure, which was most likely in the final dungeon boss room. Simple enough. Straightforward. The snags would be the other competing teams trying to stop each other and be the first to get to the treasure. Considering this was ¡°only¡± a Tier 25 dungeon, it was accepted that whoever reached the boss room first would basically win the whole thing.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. In other words, they¡¯d need to be fast. [Primordial Gauge¡ªDungeon] Records of the Ancients [Tier 25] Stories from time immemorial, when language and culture were barely comprehensible concepts, are passed down via only one means. It is this means that come to life and seek to safeguard not just the records of the past, but the treasures it held as well. Prove your ability to defeat the guardians of ancient times and seek the treasure at the end. Huh. That was a strange description. Stories could only be passed down one way, according to this dungeon, and that was the key to what they¡¯d be facing. Well, Ray supposed he¡¯d be seeing soon enough. With Gritty and Marcus on either side of him, Ray walked into the dungeon¡¯s dark passageways. The tunnel widened within a couple of minutes, forming a long, wide chamber that slowly angled upwards. Ray had to once again summon up his Viledrake tail with Molten Mana to conjure up enough light to see. ¡°These walls¡­¡± Marcus said. ¡°Did you guys see the dungeon description?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Oh, yeah. Makes sense now.¡± ¡°So, what?¡± Gritty peered at the various scribbles and smudges on the walls. ¡°The ancient records are just writings on the wall? Old writings? I¡¯m not sure how these are supposed to form guardians against anything.¡± Ray had already started hypothesizing how, but their answer arrived within another few minutes. The writings on the wall soon progressed to pictures instead. Paintings. Art that came to life. All three of them froze when they saw the first instance. Five paintings, done crudely in the fashion of cave paintings back on Earth, ripped free from the walls to stand before the tournament competitors. ¡°It¡¯s starting to make a whole lot of sense to me now,¡± Marcus said. Ray could only nod. The art was turning into some strange, augmented reality type situation. All this while, everything he had seen and faced had been real. Creatures he could believe existed because they had fur, scales, claws, and whatnot that looked solid and tangible. These ones coming to life before him made him feel as though he was Michael Jordan in Space Jam. ¡°Are we actually about to fight three-dimensional paintings?¡± Marcus asked. ¡°They don¡¯t look like they¡¯re here for a friendly chat,¡± Ray said. [Primordial Gauge¡ªDungeon Obstacle] Painted Guardian Art is just another record of history, informed and created as an expression of the people of the times. Recognizing this, the ancients informed their paintings¡ªtheir records¡ªwith their intent and will. Their desire to safeguard what they believed could not be surrendered to mere anyone. And so, the paintings guard the path. Defeat the guardians to shift the paint. ¡°Very helpful,¡± Ray muttered. What was more helpful was observing the forms the paintings were taking. At least they weren¡¯t turning out to be abstract monstrosities. One was a giant ox, easily capable of fighting off a tank. Another was a huge bird, black-feathered and more than big enough to carry the ox in its talons. Two were some sort of jungle cats, sabre-toothed and sporting spiky manes with fur the colour of blood. The last was a dinosaur. There was no question about. It was basically a miniature T-rex, kind of like the Raptors that the Everstead used to ride on back on the Second Floor. ¡°I got this,¡± Ray said before stepping forward. Gritty and Marcus stayed back. He summoned up several constructs with Lifeblood Soulform, giving life to three flying draconic maws. They rushed forward. One took on the big bird, while the other two attacked the giant cats. That left the dinosaur and the ox for Ray. Fine by him. Primal Spiritcraft called up two more draconic maws, though they were strapped to his arm this time. He fired off quick lasering blasts, but both his enemies dodged rapidly. Ray had to blink. How were they both that fast? He could see the dinosaur moving quickly. It was said their top speed could rival ostriches, if not exceed them. But the ox too? Oh yes, these were not regular old representations of what the ancient people might have experienced. Ray cast Mottling Spiritguard next. Both monsters had rushed at him, but the sudden appearance of the sparking chaos orbs halted them. The spheres spun around him to create a perfect shield of chaos. The momentary pause his spheres had caused was perfect. Because that afforded Ray the opportunity to cast Spiritscourge Chain. At Tier 6, the spell was more than strong enough to latch onto all five of his enemies around him, though the constant motion made it harder to land on the two big cats. That was fine. Ray had hit three of the monsters, which was enough for now. ¡°Let¡¯s try this again,¡± he said, before firing off the compressed chaotic flame breaths again. They might have dodged those even after not getting a proper look through the revolving barricade of chaotic spheres. But what they couldn¡¯t dodge as well were the spheres themselves. Just as the monsters evaded the fire, Ray sent out all his spinning chaos orbs at his targets. Both the ox and the dino were hammered by half-dozen Spiritguard orbs at once. The hit was enough to cause a miniature explosion on either side of Ray. He stepped back, making sure both his targets were in his field of view. Even better, Spiritscourge Chain ensured that the damage inflicted on his primary targets transferred to the chained target as well. A little explosion burst on the bird as well, and it uttered a shrieking squawk as it fell. The construct engaging it charged at the falling monster with its maw full of burning, chaotic flames. But then, the smoke cleared. Ray blinked. His Spiritguard orbs hadn¡¯t had that much of an impact on the monsters. Apart from some scratches and missing bits, both the ox and the dinosaur were more or less fine. He cursed. Were they so strong that the current Tier of his spells wouldn¡¯t leave much of a dent on them? Or maybe that was just their nature as so-called guardians of this place. An enduring durability. An inorganic durability, perfect for resisting the effects of chaos that affected life. These things weren¡¯t living after all. With a small roar, the dinosaur came hurtling towards Ray, its jaws opened wide to snap him in two. Once again, he had to remark just how fast the thing was. It was all he could do to evade with the help of Soaring Wings. But that was exactly what his opponent was hoping. ¡°Watch out!¡± Marcus yelled. The dinosaur had purposefully made Ray evade so that the onrushing ox would have an easier time goring him. Interesting how these guardians were smart about working together. Ray, of course, went unharmed. Spectral Step took him behind the Windbane head fighting against the bird. That monster squawked in surprise at Ray¡¯s sudden appearance. It could do nothing when Ray pointed both arms at the bird and blasted it in the face with twin lasering streaks of compressed chaos flames. Where the two blasts met, a furious explosion sent both Ray and his construct flying backwards. They recovered their momentum quickly. More importantly, the clearing dust revealed that Ray¡¯s direct blow had done some good damage. He smiled. Just what he had been looking for. Mottling Spiritguard just didn¡¯t have the oomph behind it to seriously hurt inorganic matter. But a detonating, point-blank blast from his Windbane maws sure did the trick. Still. These things were resilient. The bird was still functioning, even if it was heavily damaged. That was fine. Ray¡¯s construct could easily handle it now. Even better, the sheer damage he had dealt to the bird had transmitted to the others as well. They had staggered back despite being nowhere near the explosion, and as such, had been unable to take advantage of Ray being flung back. Instead, it was Ray himself hurrying in to end them. He knew now they weren¡¯t impervious. They just needed a stronger hit. They rushed at each other. Ray charging at the duo of the ox and the dinosaur as they dashed at him. A few moments before imminent collision, Ray cast Mottling Spiritguard again. Sure that they would remain mostly unaffected, the monsters charged through the minefield of sparking spheres. Except, they hadn¡¯t counted on Ray disappearing to reappear behind them with Spectral Step. The two draconic maws at the end of his arms were already primed. As soon as Ray was in position, he fired. The monsters still tried to dodge. They also had greater durability than the bird to take advantage of, tanking through the explosion where the chaotic breaths met. But the force was still enough. With Spiritscourge Chain building up the damage from before, that final combination of attacks did the trick. Both the ox and the dinosaur began to crumble, falling apart into shapeless chunks that turned to dust. The remaining two guardians, the two big cats, were moments away from dying too. They had been able to withstand the onslaught from the constructs they were facing as things remained mostly evenly matched. They could tank through the flames, after all. But the tables had turned when the third construct had joined after the bird¡¯s fall. Especially since all the constructs had learned to rely on direct attacks instead of just the flames. In no time, the tunnel was free of any pesky monsters. [Enemy Defeated¡ªPainted Guardian] Tier 22 Monster: Painted Guardian [Level 52] x5 Essence: +57,200 Knowledge: +15 True Mana Restored: +5,720 Essence to Level 49: 63,850/221,200 Knowledge to next Threshold: 2,527/3,500 ¡°Whew,¡± Ray said. ¡°All done.¡± Gritty shook her head. ¡°Took you long enough.¡± ¡°Hey, I didn¡¯t see you helping.¡± ¡°I got this,¡± she said, miming Ray¡¯s voice. ¡°I do not sound like that.¡± He turned to see Marcus staring at the floor where the dust was all that remained of the monsters. ¡°You alright?¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± Marcus looked up. ¡°Oh, yeah. I¡¯m fine. I just¡­ couldn¡¯t have handled all those monsters on my own the way you did. And you did that without even hitting your second Class Evolution.¡± He shook his head. ¡°Regardless of your level, you¡¯re really strong, huh?¡± Ray thought for a moment. He supposed most people probably didn¡¯t have magic boots that gave them a boost to their primary stat upon killing a foe. His Intellect was likely a lot higher than was normal for his level. ¡°I might be, yeah.¡± They got moving. The Dungeon Obstacle had mentioned something about the path opening up once the guardians were beaten, but that didn¡¯t seem to be the case. Ray spotted the tunnel ending at a stretch of wall covered with more scribbles. ¡°That should be open right?¡± Marcus asked. ¡°Yeah¡­¡± They got a little closer, which turned out to be all they needed to do. The scribbles started shifting. The words and the paint came alive. Ray tensed, only thinking of more Painted Guardians coming in to kill them, but the change was a lot different than expected. The painting formed the opening in the tunnel they needed to take. It was like the direction they had to go into was being drawn into existence. ¡°We¡¯re totally in a cartoon dungeon,¡± Ray muttered. Gritty snorted, then walked forward, leading the way. ¡°Come on, Roadrunner.¡± Ray sighed. ¡°Wingman was bad enough.¡± Gritty laughed. Marcus followed in close. They soon arrived at a large, long chamber that the painted tunnel opened up into. Ray was expecting a new Dungeon Obstacle to pop up. What they got instead was more Painted Guardians arriving from a different tunnel. It wasn¡¯t just the guardians that made Ray frown, though. There was a Ryous along with them. Almost like a competitor was working alongside the guardians. ¡°Take care of the guardians, will you?¡± Ray told his comrades. He remembered the tips Sridayne had provided them. ¡°Let me handle our new friend there.¡± B3 Chapter 13(144): Psychokinesis Before Ray dashed towards the Ryous in the distance, he cast Spiritscourge Chain again. His cast was pretty quick this time. He was not giving any time for the painted monsters to separate and dodge the spell. ¡°You hit ¡®em with that thing?¡± Gritty asked. Ray nodded before he continued moving. ¡°All damage to any monsters will be shared by all the monsters. So go ham.¡± He didn¡¯t wait to see how Gritty and Marcus dealt with the Painted Guardians. Didn¡¯t even bother checking if the monsters were trying to come after him instead of his companions initially. He¡¯d have to put some faith in his comrades. His real goal was their main opponent in this chamber. ¡°I wasn¡¯t expecting I¡¯d find you all so soon,¡± the Ryous said in a sibilant voice. ¡°But I¡¯m glad I did. Sooner we end this, the sooner I can get off this rock and get back to enjoying myself.¡± Ray wasn¡¯t sure what that meant, but he was somewhere between shocked and impressed his opponent had come here alone. Primordial Gauge wasn¡¯t detecting the presence of anyone else nearby. ¡°You¡¯re either really brave or really stupid, you know that?¡± He paused. ¡°There¡¯s nothing stopping you from being both, I guess.¡± The Ryous frowned. His green, scaly skin was dark enough that it almost melded in with the rocks of the tunnel. ¡°You¡¯re calling me stupid? You? A human?¡± He scoffed, forked tongue flickering out. ¡°You have little clue what you¡¯re dealing with.¡± That was supposed to be true. Ray didn¡¯t know his opponent¡¯s capabilities, nor could he find them out since the Amulet of Blindness blocked Primordial Gauge from delving into a person¡¯s status. But that was where Sridayne had come in handy. ¡°I don¡¯t need to know anything about you to know I¡¯ll kick your ass,¡± Ray said. Apparently, the System translated enough of that turn of phrase to let his opponent know what he meant. The Ryous¡¯s eyes flared, pupils turning into slits of anger. ¡°You humans are so pathetic. That bravado is all you have.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve made it all the way to the Third Floor of the Tower, and not just from this Tower. From other Towers too. You really think we could come this far if we were so pathetic?¡± ¡°Climbing a Tower is nothing. You are bound to your little world.¡± He pointed an accusing finger at Ray. ¡°You have no knowledge of the greater plane of existence. No idea about the Omniverse. We Ryous have been faring the depths and reaches of the greater dimension for time immemorial. You believe climbing a few Towers on your little world compares to that?¡± Ray was tempted to grit his teeth. The Ryous kind of had a point there. Humans were new to this whole schtick with the System and the Omniverse¡¯s many races. But that was it. They were new. ¡°You pretend like you¡¯ve had the System and access to the Omniverse forever,¡± Ray said. ¡°But really, you were like us at one point too. Just another fledgling race trying to survive being integrated into this new world.¡± The Ryous scoffed, but didn¡¯t detract anything from what Ray had said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, human. You and the rest of your kind will learn your place. Starting with now.¡± Confident that his abilities were a secret from Ray, the Ryous attacked. Or at least, Ray assumed his opponent thought it was secret. It could just be sheer arrogance that made him throw caution to the winds and attack Ray directly. Whatever the case, the ground started cracking as rocks levitated into the air, starting to orbit around the Ryous. A second later, the rocks came flying in at Ray. He knew what this was, of course. Sridayne had filled him in. The Ryous had psychokinetic powers. Abilities that worked in an area-of-effect to wrap everything in his control. In fact, it was likely that if Ray was within the ability¡¯s range, he himself could become controlled too. Kind of broken, in his estimation. But whatever. He had already formed counters to that. Mottling Spiritguard created just the defence he needed. It would be hard to judge the effective distance that the Ryous could control anything. For all Ray knew, the eight-armed, snakelike alien was keeping the apparent range within a dozen feet of himself to make Ray lower his guard. Best to assume that was the case. The Spiritguard orbs shifted in shape into rotating shields around him. Ray focused on maintaining their control, blocking the levitating rocks that the Ryous launched at him. Once he had suffered enough of the attacks, he created draconic maws with Primal Spiritcraft and fired off lasering breaths at a distance. The Ryous¡¯s response was just as expected. More rocks burst out of the ground, at a greater distance this time, blocking the beams of compressed chaotic fire. Smart thinking. If the rocks had remained closer as they had originally done, the resulting explosion when they blocked would have peppered the Ryous with deadly shrapnel. But Ray had foreseen enough of it. His goal hadn¡¯t been to directly harm his opponent. Not with his maws¡¯ fiery breaths. Instead, with the dust clouding them all, he cast Lifeblood Soulform to create the bees and made sure to coat them with Mimic Mana after summoning his Imitator construct too. Then he sent them forth towards the dust cloud. It didn¡¯t matter if they got caught in the Ryous¡¯s psychokinetic control. As long as they retained some ability to control their own motion, they ought to be able to get close enough. Before the cloud cleared, more rocks came cannoning out towards Ray. His Spiritguard shields blocked them with ease. He could just dodge them, but keeping the extent of his mobility hidden for now would allow for a nice surprise when he really needed to move fast. It wasn¡¯t just the rocks that the Ryous was controlling, though. Air itself started swirling fast and hard around him. A veritable twister erupted into being, blocking the Ryous entirely from view. Ray wasn¡¯t that worried at the display of power. He was just kind of miffed because now he was pretty sure the bees weren¡¯t going to work against that. He sighed. The tornado whipped and twisted about. While Sridayne hadn¡¯t mentioned anything about the Ryous controlling wind to that extent before, it wasn¡¯t unexpected. She had reported seeing him create a vortex of swirling magma around him with the same powers. What she hadn¡¯t reported was the fact that he could swing his vortex around like a whip. The column of ripping wind narrowed before lashing out. This time, Ray forewent blocking and just dodged. He was right to do so. The twister missed him, but the wind caught several of his Spiritguard shields. They promptly tore them to shreds. Oh yeah, that was strong. Ray would do best to avoid it completely. When the tornado whipped in after him, almost horizontal as it swiped across the chamber floor, Ray dodged differently this time. He used one of the draconic maws at the end of his arm to fire a blast to his left. Over the onrushing twister. Spectral Step took him to the end of the blast in a microsecond. Powerful though the Ryous clearly was, he couldn¡¯t arrest the momentum of his ability and bring the tornado around in the complete opposite direction easily. Not before Ray could get off his shot, at least. The other draconic maw was aimed straight at the base of the tornado. Ray pushed some extra True Mana with the Mana Infuser ring and raised the strength of Primal Spiritcraft by a few Tiers. The draconic maw around his right arm grew to twice its original size. Then it fired. This time, the Ryous was forced to dodge. The base of the tornado broke apart as he shot out of the tornado to evade the blast. Ray was expecting just that. He was already flying, Soaring Wings taking him closer to his target with incredible speed. The Ryous¡¯s eyes widened as Ray closed in. He had already dispelled the Windbane maws around his hands. Now, they were both free to cast Soulstrike. A True Mana arm the size of a small construction crane burst out of Ray¡¯s back with a flare of red-black chaos, the spectral limb punching forward to strike his target.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. The Ryous gained control of the True Mana arm a mere foot before it connected. At the same instant, the psychokinetic ability¡¯s real range came into play. Everything around Ray started cracking, the rocks, the air, and even his own body starting to compress horribly. [Warning!] Primordial Gauge has partially blocked the effects of Suppressing Aura [Tier 7]. Ray ignored the warning. He had an instant to act. The quickest of casts of Primal Spiritcraft with Mana Imbuing had a spectral draconic maw forming right at the end of the True Mana arm. It fired the moment it formed. The horrid feeling of being impossibly crushed vanished as the Ryous was blasted backwards off his feet. Ray didn¡¯t catch if there was some defensive skill protecting his opponent or not. He himself had fallen to his knees, breathing heavily. The pain wracking his body was decreasing but holy shit, that had been intense. Way too close. And what was that warning from Primordial Gauge about some ability affecting him? ¡°Ray!¡± Marcus shouted from behind. The alarm in his voice made Ray turn around. He was a little nonplussed by what he saw. None of them were in any immediate danger as far as he could see. Instead, all he witnessed were the monsters falling apart. They had already been damaged from their fight against Gritty and Marcus, though not so much that they would be breaking on their own. Ray froze as he understood. Then he used Spectral Step again. Just in time. A jagged rock flew in from nowhere, spearing into the spot he had been standing in a mere breath ago. The Ryous had an ability that transferred his damage to his controlled puppets. That must have been what the warning was about. An inability on the Ryous¡¯s part to turn Ray into one of his enemy¡¯s puppets, just like the Painted Guardians had become, thanks to Primordial Gauge protecting him. Ray¡¯s teleportation had taken him to one side of the chamber. The bees hadn¡¯t been eradicated fully. The tornado had just thrown some of them away to a different spot. He created a few more with Lifeblood Soulform, sending them off to other corners of the chamber. No telling when he¡¯d need snap Spectral Steps to get him away. Meanwhile, the Ryous was gathering a ton of power. More wind and rocks were swirling around him, an avalanche of a maelstrom that would rip apart anything that got close. Then his barrage started. Ray had cast Mottling Spiritguard once again. They formed protective shields, keeping him safe against the wind-powered rocks that crashed in. The Ryous hadn¡¯t spotted him yet, but he didn¡¯t need to. Those rocks were flying everywhere. Even worse, the Ryous himself had decided to move. He was shooting straight for where Marcus and Gritty had been fighting against the Painted Guardians. Ray was almost tempted to shout that he was the bastard alien¡¯s opponent. But that would be giving away his slim advantage away. So instead, he made the Imitator construct turn into himself before rushing straight for his opponent. He even made sure to imbue enough intelligence so that the construct could act like him too. ¡°Hey, Ryous!¡± the construct shouted, in an almost scarily good approximation of Ray himself. ¡°You missed your target.¡± Safeguarded against the shooting rocks by several Spiritguard shields, the Imitator Ray charged in front of the onrushing Ryous. Its arms had become draconic maws, which it fired without hesitation against that vortex of destruction around its target. This gave Ray a short opportunity to crush a True Mana crystal and top himself up. He was a little curious to see what would happen when the compressed beams of chaos hit the vortex. He winced when they met. The detonation was furious. But through the explosion, Ray caught the real event that made his stomach sink. The blasts from his Windbane maws couldn¡¯t get through that vortex. Instead, the vortex reached the Imitator and started tearing it apart. Setting off Ray¡¯s real plan. He had already created another Imitator construct, which also took up his form. The second fake Ray used Spectral Step to appear right in the spot where the first Imitator was being torn apart inside the vortex. Ray assumed that the Ryous was expecting something like that. The confident way he had gone about attacking and using his abilities suggested he had done his homework. He knew what to expect from Ray. Which meant Ray had to resort to something unexpected. While the Ryous was gloatingly busy attacking the second fake Ray¡ªimagining the real Ray had teleported in his first fake¡¯s place to attack his target within his protective vortex¡¯s shield¡ªRay got busy. He used Spectral Step and Lifeblood Soulform several times in quick succession. All those bees he had sent out a little while ago had slowly drawn in closer to the Ryous and his vortex. Ray appeared at every one of their locations along with a single flying Windbane maw. When he was done, he flew back to stand right in front of the Ryous, just outside that devastating hemisphere of destruction. The Ryous, busy tearing apart the fake ray, paused all of a sudden. Then his eyes widened. ¡°You¡ª¡± ¡°Too late.¡± Ray grinned. ¡°See ya.¡± ¡°You¡¯re just a human. You will die. You¡ª¡± All he had time for were those last words. A second later, the breaths crashed in. The dozen constructs Ray had summoned made his head twinge painfully, but it was worth it. Where the blast from two Windbane maws couldn¡¯t penetrate through that rocky twister to get to the Ryous within, twelve of them attacking at once sure did. Ray himself was buffeted back by the incredible destruction shaking the entire tunnel. A column of pure chaotic flames rose from the point of impact to crash into the ceiling. When the devastation ended, flaming rocks raining down everywhere, Ray finally received the notification confirming his victory. [Enemy Defeated¡ªRyous] Aura Manipulator [Tier 4] Ryous: [Level 53] x1 Essence: +10,600 Knowledge: +3 Mana Restored: +530 Essence to Level 49: 74,450/221,200 Knowledge to next Threshold: 2,530/3,500 Gritty whistled as she walked through the rain of debris. ¡°Who needs a Class Evolution when you can already do shit like that, huh Wingman?¡± Despite the triumphant grin she sported, there was a look in her eye Ray didn¡¯t miss. A look that went deeper than the victory they had just scored. ¡°That really was¡­¡± Marcus shook his head as he joined them. ¡°Insane.¡± ¡°We should get going,¡± Ray said. ¡°This whole place looks a little too unstable for my tastes.¡± They got moving. Ray didn¡¯t feel a whole lot, and he wasn¡¯t sure if he ought to. That Ryous had been the first competitor he had killed in this Immortalizer Tournament. It wasn¡¯t going to be his last, going by the way even the other humans were determined to win no matter what. He wasn¡¯t going to hold back when others came at him with deadly force. Death was just the consequence of what they were putting on the line. That was the stakes they were playing for. Still. A part of him realized it was all just entertainment from one perspective. The rich spectators, the elite that the Tower Lord had invited from across the Omniverse that the Sylvans could reach, were all watching this with smiles on their faces and their chosen chilled beverage in their hand. That death meant nothing to them. The snuffing out of a life was just another aspect of what they¡¯d paid to see. No doubt, they wanted more. ¡°More of the Painted Guardians,¡± Gritty called. She had ranged ahead a little. ¡°And they¡¯re different this time.¡± They were indeed. The monsters were more numerous, taking on more abstract shapes. Their artists had taken some very creative liberties with their portrayal. It wasn¡¯t just the monsters that became more of a pain to deal with. The dungeon¡¯s originators had also set up painted traps that came to life. From classic rolling boulders to environmental hazards such as an entire tunnel filled with a blizzard, with icy monsters attacking them in the misty gloom. All in all, a real pain in the ass to deal with. Nevertheless, after what felt like an hour or two of fighting through monsters, traps, and environments, they reached the dungeon boss room. It was nice that Ray had earned another level by the time he had reached the boss room. So close to hitting that level 50 threshold. [Enemy Defeated¡ªPainted Guardian] Tier 22 Monster: Painted Guardian [Level 52] x13 Tier 23 Monster: Painted Guardian [Level 54] x7 Essence: +235,660 Knowledge: +60 True Mana Restored: +10,540 [Level Up!] Reward
  • +5 Intellect, +5 Spirit, +2 Vitality +2 Agility, +10 allocatable free stats.
  • 1 True Mana Tier Point
Essence to Level 50: 78,310/221,200 Knowledge to next Threshold: 2,527/3,500 He assigned his Tier point to Primal Spiritcraft to reduce his reliance on the Mana Infuser ring. The free stat points went to Vitality again. It wasn¡¯t just about more survivability now. He was determined to see what he got when he broke through the stat¡¯s next Tier threshold. ¡°You guys ready?¡± Marcus asked. ¡°Ready as I¡¯ll ever be,¡± Gritty said. ¡°Let¡¯s go. Just kind of surprised we haven¡¯t met any of the other competitors yet.¡± They¡¯d discussed it briefly on their way here. The other one of the Ryous duo must have met the Sylvan team. A fatal meeting, most likely. While they didn¡¯t know the Sylvan team¡¯s capabilities, Ray suspected that they were more than strong enough to handle one Ryous. But that still left the dangling question as to why they hadn¡¯t met the Sylvans yet. Had Ray¡¯s team just been that fast? Unlikely. There was something else going on. ¡°Imagine we meet them inside,¡± Ray said. Gritty smiled deviously. ¡°A least we¡¯ll know where they are then. We can spring a nice surprise while we¡¯re at it.¡± The entrance to the boss room wasn¡¯t barred. Unlike other chambers, where they¡¯d had to navigate through a bunch of different challenges to go further in, the boss door was a simple tunnel. When they reached the end, Ray grinned. ¡°Oh, boy,¡± Marcus said. ¡°That¡¯s a big one.¡± A painting was coming to life, the biggest and most complicated one they had seen yet. Ray didn¡¯t mind. Strong though their final challenge looked, he was happy about it. Finally, they¡¯d be facing a dungeon boss inside a dungeon and Ray could properly use Primordial Gauge to determine the threat. Just as they entered, though, Ray realized he had been inadvertently prophesizing earlier. They did indeed meet the Sylvans within the boss room. The tunnel closed with a sudden, rocky snap. When he turned, Ray found the three Sylvans standing in front of the former entrance. ¡°Raymond Dominick,¡± said the Sylvan at the front. ¡°Compliments of the Floor Lord.¡± And then, the Sylvans attacked. B3 Chapter 14 (145): Teamwork Fray The first Sylvan rushing at Ray had him dodging backwards as fast as possible. His opponent was fast. Probably pretty strong too. ¡°I¡¯ve got these assholes,¡± Ray shouted at his companions. ¡°You guys take care of the monster.¡± He didn¡¯t wait for their reply, continuing to dodge instead. The Sylvans were coming after him. Almost single-mindedly so. He had to lead them away from Gritty and Marcus so they could focus on the dungeon boss. ¡°Try not to skip and dance too far,¡± the leading Sylvan said, drawing two curved swords. ¡°I cannot cut you when you stay out of range.¡± Range wasn¡¯t going to be a problem for him for long. Even as Ray retreated, the Sylvan used Growth Mana. Sharp, spiralling projections wrapped around his swords, extending their length and width by several magnitudes. Ray didn¡¯t keep moving just to stay out of those larger sword¡¯s range too. The other Sylvans had even greater range. Well, the one with the bow sure did. A Growth-Mana-empowered arrow shot at Ray, but he managed to barely evade it. Shit. These Sylvans were going to give him no breathing room at all. Even worse, they looked like they had good practice working together as a well-drilled team. Covering each other¡¯s bases and whatnot. That left the third Sylvan to figure out. During a brief respite from the two Sylvans, Ray took a look. The Sylvan was just¡­ standing there. Although, not just standing there. He was gathering strength. Growth Mana rippled under his skin and made his whole body glow with rising power. He was preparing for something. Ray would have given up a whole-ass treasure just to be able to use Primordial Gauge effectively and determine his opponents¡¯ exact capabilities. Through the corner of his eye, he caught Gritty and Marcus engaging with the huge serpentine monster. It had chromatic scales artfully drawn all across its body. But at the very top, instead of sporting a normal snake head, it had what looked like a jellyfish. A dozen tendrils swung about like feelers around a central, spike-filled maw. Ray: Do either of you guys have any identification abilities? If they didn¡¯t, then he would need to find a way to use Primordial Gauge and let them know what the monster was really capable of. This was the first time he was fighting an enemy who allowed him to use Primordial Gauge. He had to make use of it. Sure, the Painted Guardians wouldn¡¯t have prevented him either, but they were small fry. This thing was the big fish they needed to catch. Marcus: I¡¯ve got one. Gritty replied too, but Ray didn¡¯t get to see her message. For the moment, he was busy dodging another salvo of attacks from the Sylvans. Looked like they weren¡¯t just going to attack him haphazardly. They had a specific formation to maintain. One that was meant to hem Ray in and close off avenues for escape, drawing him deeper and deeper into their trap. The leading Sylvan once more rushed him with the enlarged swords. Those were easy enough to evade. Ray even shot off a few Soulstrikes, but the Sylvan dodged or deflected the counters without much trouble. Not that Ray had much of an opportunity to counter. As soon as he dodged the sword-wielding Sylvan, the one with the bow fired from a distance. Shot after shot flew in, relentless in their pursuit, determined to slowly but surely exhaust Ray and his supply of Mana. He cursed. Had he even seen a Sylvan using a bow before? He couldn¡¯t recall. The bow-wielding Sylvan had some specific tricks as well. One ability had him sending one arrow towards the ceiling instead of straight at Ray. Apparently, it flew in a parabola, then split into dozens of clone arrows that all fell in a thunderous rain. They covered such a wide area that Ray wouldn¡¯t have been able to dodge out of the way in time. So instead, he used his spells. Lifeblood Soulform created the Duskshell¡¯s Impenetrable Shell above him. It had no support at first, so even if it blocked the arrows just fine, the shell itself would end up crushing Ray. Which was why he cast Soulstrike next. Two True Mana arms burst into being, rising high to hold up the shell like a shield against the onslaught of arrows. It wasn¡¯t going to last long. The damn arrows were powerful. Ray didn¡¯t need to see the impacts to know that even Impenetrable Shield was cracking under the firepower. But it still gave him just enough time to use Primal Spiritcraft. Two draconic skulls wrapped over his hands. The blade-wielder might have fended off his Soulstrikes, but how was he going to like this? Just as Ray was about to fire, he froze. No way. That fucker. With a shit-eating grin, the Sylvan had repositioned himself. He was standing such that if Ray missed, the blasts from his Windbane heads would shoot at his allies. They would cause chaos where Gritty and Marcus were weaving between the gigantic serpent. Ray cursed. It was just then that he felt how much the chamber was shaking thanks to the motion of the dungeon boss. The final room was large, easily accommodating them all there, giving Ray the space to engage with the Sylvans while avoiding the fight against the boss. And yet, the battle was making everything quake. He was dreadfully curious just how powerful that monster was supposed to be. The shift in stance on the sword-wielding Sylvan reminded Ray that he was in a fight. That, and the fact that more arrows were shooting at him once again. He cast Mottling Spiritguard this time. There. That jerk could shoot at his chaos spheres instead. Plus, they¡¯d help when the shots split apart into dozens of arrows too. Giving Ray the opportunity to actually get to¡ª The Sylvan he was hoping to target was already acting. His sword swung in, sending a wave of Growth Mana roiling across the ground towards Ray. Cursing again, Ray used Soaring Wings to dodge fast. The Sylvan slashed in at him directly. He quickly slammed down the shell shield from overhead in response, but his opponent swerved around it. Though, the Sylvan was blocked from advancing further thanks to Ray¡¯s Soulstrike arms forming natural barricades. But any thoughts about retaliating were wiped out. The third Sylvan, who had essentially been powering up all this time, now rushed straight at Ray with a furious ability. He was wreathed in spiking Growth Mana, his body moving blindingly fast. Ray was more than certain that dodging wasn¡¯t going to work. His reaction to fire off a draconic, lasering breath was on instinct. Following it up with Spectral Step was almost too slow. Ray was pretty sure he felt his robes singe and his skin spark with an itch as the third Sylvan smashed in. Missing him by less than an inch. Ray breathed hard. At least that bastard wasn¡¯t following him. Looked like his ability was a one-and-done kind of charge. Not something he could keep up indefinitely. Better yet, Ray finally had some room to act. All this while, he had been forced to remain on the defensive thanks to the Sylvans¡¯ relentless assault. But they hadn¡¯t counted on him teleporting away that fast. Still, they were fast at rounding around to locate him again. Fast at resuming their aggression too. But not quick enough to stop Ray casting enough spells to take the fight to them. Lifeblood Soulform after Lifeblood Soulform created construct after construct to even the odds. A Scouring Eyeball rose straight up to keep an eye on everything. Two Windbane maws shot towards the bow-wielding Sylvan on their own wings. The Imitator construct took on Ray¡¯s form and rushed to the sword-wielding one. That left the third Sylvan. The most dangerous one, in Ray¡¯s estimation. The one he had to take down personally as fast as possible. Ray cast Soullife Cloak, then rocketed towards the third Sylvan as fast as his wings could carry him. He really should have used Spiritscourge Chain on the trio before this whole fight had begun. Ah, well. The third Sylvan charged at Ray with his burgeoning power. He once again turned into that comet, speeding in with so much momentum that it was almost impossible to see. Ray had a counter ready this time. Pushing in a chunk of extra True Mana with his Mana Infuser ring, he summoned up the Impenetrable Shell just in time. The third Sylvan crashed into it with meteoric force and fury.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Then broke through the shell. Not ideal, but not something Ray hadn¡¯t anticipated. Impenetrable Shell had done its job. As the Sylvan with monstrous strength burst through, albeit with greatly-reduced force, Ray aimed one arm forward and fired off a lasering breath from a Windbane maw. His target tanked it and continued surging at Ray. The Sylvan was concentrating his Growth Mana enough to make it act like a shield. Smartass. Lifeblood Soulform created the bees, which flew behind the onrushing Sylvan in record time. Ray used Spectral Step. The perfect combination followed. With the sudden disappearance of Ray and the laser breath, the Sylvan now surged forward with uncontrolled momentum. In turn, as Ray reappeared, he had a clear shot at the undefended back of his target. He didn¡¯t even run out of True Mana as his free hand was crushing a shard to keep himself topped up. Unfortunately, the lasering blast wasn¡¯t enough. The Scouring Eyeball sent out a warning that Ray himself was being targeted. So, even though his attack on the third Sylvan did connect, he couldn¡¯t maintain it for long. Another Spectral Step was necessary to dodge away from the bow-wielding Sylvan¡¯s rapid-fire. Ray cursed as he reappeared beside the floating eyeball. He was already falling, unable to maintain that elevation for long. But it was at least a little reprieve to reassess his situation. The other constructs had already died. Not only had the bow-wielder taken care of both flying Windbane maws without great difficulty, but he had also gone on to assist the sword-wielder to kill the Imitator construct in no time as well. Which had allowed them to revert their focus back onto Ray himself. The third Sylvan had been somewhat injured after the last exchange, but it didn¡¯t last. Ray¡¯s lips curled as he watched what had to be some sort of healing ability repairing the chaotic damage the laser breath had left on the body. Essentially, it wasn¡¯t enough. He wasn¡¯t beating the trio of Sylvans on his own that easily. It wouldn¡¯t have been too difficult one-on-one. He would have been able to overwhelm them with his abilities. But now, he was forced to spread himself thin. Plus, they were already attacking again. It had taken only a few seconds for them to locate him again. More arrows shot in his direction, more taunts and blasts of Growth Mana from the sword-wielder. In the time Ray had been considering, he had also used Mimic Mana to camouflage the eyeball. At least they wouldn¡¯t target his construct the way they were targeting him. Ray went temporarily into full defence mode while he tried to figure out how to deal with the trio. Several casts of Mottling Spiritguard ensured that he was defended well. Plus, they moved with him, so he could continue evading while still having them around. Marcus: You still alive? Ray: Why? You got something? Gritty: This monster¡¯s one tough cookie. Tough enough to maybe crack the walnuts you¡¯ve been struggling with. Ray: What? You got something in mind? Gritty: Just get them in position, wingman. Ray was terribly surprised¡ªand impressed with himself, somewhat egotistically¡ªthat he was even able to have such a conversation while fighting for his life. And it was nice to see that his companions hadn¡¯t forgotten about him either. Gritty was leading the gigantic serpentine monster toward Ray¡¯s battle against the Sylvans. They had to time things right. Too early, and the Sylvans would avoid it. Too late, and¡­ Ray wasn¡¯t sure what would happen then, but he was pretty certain it was going to be bad. Coordination. Clear judgment. Those were key. Several Spiritguard orbs were obliterated by another salvo from the bow-wielder. The sword-wielder was bull rushing through them to get to Ray too. For now, they were content to ignore the dungeon boss, even though they must have heard it getting closer. Ray¡¯s best bet was not to evade the next few exchanges. It was the only way he could draw them in. He summoned up Impenetrable Shell as soon as the sword-wielding Sylvan was close enough, letting the construct take the blows. The Sylvan cursed from behind the shell, but he was stymied for now. Allowing Ray to deal with his annoying, arrow-peppering comrade. He cast Mottling Spiritguard multiple times again. This time, he made his defensive orbs turn into curved shields to coalesce in a defensive barricade around him. The arrows fired in again, but they had little effect. Ray had made sure to layer in a lot of Spiritguard orbs. Frustrated, the ranger Sylvan had to work his way around the barricade to get a clearer shot at Ray. Bringing him closer to the battle, as well as directly in the path of the onrushing dungeon boss. It was the last Sylvan, the one who was clearly the team¡¯s strongest damage-dealer, that Ray couldn¡¯t deal with directly. But there was a relatively simple way of manipulating him into position too. All Ray had to do was allow himself to become trapped in one spot. He let the other two Sylvans, with their rain of arrows and unending sabre slashes, hem him in. That was what his third enemy was waiting for. A clear shot at Ray, one from which he couldn¡¯t escape again. It worked. Another roar burst out of the third Sylvan. Growth Mana compressed in and on him, shrouding him with incredible power. Then he charged at Ray with blistering force. There was so much power hurtling at him meteorically that the sword-wielder dashed back at a little so as not to be hit. Ray was too busy to note it much, only hoping that the bastard would remain within his range when it was time for his trap to activate. His first priority was stopping the Sylvan monstrously rushing at him. A wall of Impenetrable Shells didn¡¯t work. The Sylvan just crushed his way through them. Though, like before, his momentum slowed down by a margin with every shell he was forced to burst through. And then he was faced with Ray blasting him with the laser breaths. The compressed chaos itself didn¡¯t harm him. Despite their furious potency, the lasers couldn¡¯t get past the Growth Mana armour. But that was fine. Ray had also been careful about not letting the compressed chaos beams meet each other either, or they would explode. That wouldn¡¯t do. He needed their counter-momentum to halt the brakes on the Sylvan¡¯s charge. And that finally worked. The power behind Ray¡¯s Spiritcraft Windbane maws was enough to slow down the Sylvan. Just enough for¡ª Gritty: Now, wingman! There. Ray cast Lifeblood Soulform again, this time drawing on the power of his Imitator construct. The Mimic came to life in an instant, black-red body swirling and growing in less than a breath. It enlarged beyond Ray¡¯s size, because he hadn¡¯t directed it to form a copy of himself like before. What the Imitator instead became was the head of the monster that was nearly upon them. Ray himself didn¡¯t possess any spells or other abilities that could lock his opponents down in one place. Spiritscourge Chain wouldn¡¯t do it, and he had toyed with the idea of using Anima Charybdis, but that wouldn¡¯t function that way either really. But why go to those lengths when he had a much easier solution on hand? The monster the others were fighting already had a mechanism for grabbing onto and holding foes in place. The Imitator turned into the tentacle-wreathed head of the dungeon boss. Immediately, it lashed out, the tendrils shooting at the surprised Sylvans and wrapping around them. Ray had to curse as the bow-wielding Sylvan had still ended up too far away for the tendrils to reach him in time. He was able to dodge away. Whatever. Ray¡¯s gambit had caught the other two pests, and there was no time for other manoeuvres. ¡°Get away!¡± Gritty shouted. Ray didn¡¯t need to be told twice. The monster was looming over them all, right as it was about to crash down. Up close, it was even huger than he had thought at first. With the Mimic holding his enemies down, Ray could shift the focus of his abilities. He brought around the Windbane maw on his right arm and fired it off. Just as the monster crashed down with a screeching, gurgling roar, Ray disappeared with a quick Spectral Step. When he reappeared a second later, he turned around to see that the monster had sunk down on the Sylvans and had basically gobbled them up. The sight made him blink. He hadn¡¯t realized the huge serpent¡¯s skin was translucent. The murky, horrified faces of the Sylvans and their frozen bodies stood out from within the monster¡¯s head like action figures sinking in scummy water. ¡°Job¡¯s not done,¡± Gritty said, voice still raised. ¡°I can only hold this bastard for so long. Kill it.¡± Ray caught what she was doing. Some kind of locking ability. The exact sort of thing Ray himself lacked. Glowing blood had come off her, striking the monster all over. Her target petrified, locked in place, but so was she. The glowing blood formed a connection that held them both in one location. Though, the monster was struggling, clearly. Every time a part of its body jerked in an attempt to escape, a similar section of Gritty¡¯s body moved too. Violently. Skin split, bones cracked and poked through flesh and skin, more blood burst out. Shit. She was right. They couldn¡¯t let her go on like that. ¡°We got this!¡± Marcus shouted. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Ray nodded, joined the battle. He was wary of the Sylvan that had escaped, but there was no time. First, they had to take down the beast they had come to kill. Several casts of Lifeblood Soulform brought up a small horde of the flying Windbane maws. They¡¯d help to take down the dungeon boss, and more importantly, they could then immediately round on the Sylvan. But as Ray fired them all at the locked-in-place monster, Marcus fired the ability he had been preparing too. A huge glowing, sunlike orb had formed at the end of his cut-off arm. When he unleashed it to fire at the monster, it streaked through the air and seemed to warp space itself. A part of Ray was pretty certain that massive, burning orb was even stronger than the combination of laser blasts he had just fired. The resulting detonation of their powers colliding killed the monster. It was literally ripped apart under the explosive stress, as were the Sylvans caught inside its painted form. Ray ignored the rain of debris, chaotic fire, and other energy to glance at the notification. [Enemy Defeated] Crescent Culler [Tier 4] Sylvan: [Level 53] x1 Surge Enigmatist [Tier 4] Sylvan: [Level 55] x1 Tier 25 Monster: Painted Behemoth [Level 65] x1 Essence: +37,850 Knowledge: +9 True Mana Restored: +1,730 Essence to Level 50: 116,160/221,200 Knowledge to next Threshold: 2,536/3,500 He dismissed it quickly. The other Sylvan had jumped straight into the blast as soon as the destruction was mostly over. Ray cursed. Asshole was trying to make a getaway. He was about to rush after the Sylvan, but then he spotted Marcus headed in a different direction. Towards Gritty. She had collapsed. That brought another curse. ¡°Can your healing get her back to full health?¡± Ray asked as soon as he reached where Marcus was kneeling next to Gritty, holding his hand over her to spew soft, golden light. ¡°I think so.¡± Marcus didn¡¯t take his eyes off Gritty. ¡°Her injuries don¡¯t look too severe.¡± Ray stared where a piece of bone was jutting out of her shoulder. It wasn¡¯t the only place that had that kind of a rather horrid wound. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yeah. You probably know better than me, but her blood is weird, man. Believe it or not, she hasn¡¯t lost much at all. It¡¯s actually circulating almost perfectly despite these¡­ wounds. I just need to heal her injuries and she should be fine.¡± Ray was still a mite concerned, especially since he couldn¡¯t recall seeing Gritty basically collapse and lose consciousness like that. Maybe she had just exhausted herself a great deal. He did recall that she had a perk that allowed her to use blood in place of Mana. ¡°You going to get the treasure?¡± Marcus asked. ¡°Oh, yeah.¡± Ray headed over to where the monster¡¯s body was slowly dissolving to runny paint. And within that mess, something glowed to life. Something that had to be the treasure they were supposed to get. B3 Chapter 15 (146): Carver Ray picked up the weird rock. This had to be the treasure they were supposed to retrieve from the dungeon. It didn¡¯t look like much, admittedly. Just a very thin, pointed rock that oddly resembled a paintbrush. He supposed that made sense, considering the dungeon they had just cleared. No notification about clearing the dungeon itself yet, though. Ray figured that would come later once they were actually outside the dungeon. That was what had happened the last time. Regardless, Primordial Gauge was actually indicating that the item he held was interacting with Mana. Ray wasted no time taking a peek at what it was, especially considering that he hadn¡¯t bothered to properly evaluate what his first treasure was. He seriously needed to check its description before the auction. [Primordial Gauge] Primordial Gauge indicates there is an item nearby interacting with Mana.
  • Carver of the Ancients: Painting implement fashioned by the ancients who populated the floating range of Pyre Rock. Possesses the keen edge needed to carve even stone. Used to inscribe the will of its master into a specific subject.
Ray was a smidge delighted to see the name of the item. He had a perk titled similarly, so he figured it might have had something to do with his abilities. Unfortunately, the description didn¡¯t state anything like that. Although, what it did say was still quite interesting. Inscribing one¡¯s will¡­ He wondered if that was applicable to him somehow. At the moment, he couldn¡¯t think of any particular uses for himself. But he still saw the immense value it could provide. ¡°Ugh.¡± Gritty was back, groggily getting to her feet. ¡°No way. Did that thing really make me pass out?¡± ¡°Welcome back,¡± Ray said. ¡°You ought to thank Marcus for even being back this quickly.¡± Gritty looked a little surprised, though more at the fact that she had fallen unconscious than that Marcus had healed her. She rounded on their companion. ¡°Thanks, knight guy. I owe you one.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t sweat it,¡± Marcus said. ¡°If you ever need anything, like a blood transfusion or something, you know who to call.¡± Marcus started sweating a little. ¡°Please don¡¯t sweat it.¡± He sounded more like he was talking to himself that time. They decided to get out of the dungeon and actually finish the challenge. Ray told the others the treasure¡¯s description, which got them thinking about its potential applications. Honestly, all he could think about was how it could further the Sylvans¡¯ agenda of getting the Fleshcrafter to take over the Tower of Forging. Even if it alone appeared rather innocuous, could it combine with some other treasure to perform a more nefarious function? He supposed they could already inscribe rather malignant intents. Turning things fleshy would be a lot easier. ¡°Strange,¡± Gritty said. ¡°Leaving the dungeon didn¡¯t feel that easy the last time.¡± She was so right. They¡¯d had to dash out of the last dungeon as quickly as they could while being chased by a horde of competitors. Compared to that, this felt almost cozy. Eerily so. ¡°We¡¯ve got to be careful at the auction,¡± Marcus said. ¡°Can¡¯t just go in there without knowing what we¡¯re selling and what we¡¯re buying.¡± He was unconsciously rubbing his stump with his good hand. It made Ray frown a bit. As much as he wanted to keep a careful watch on their funds, especially where Marcus was involved, he wasn¡¯t going to hold anything back when it came to Marcus¡¯s disability. Poor guy had literally sacrificed his hand for the team. The least Ray could do was help him get whatever he needed to alleviate his distress. It was pretty admirable the way Marcus had carried himself despite such a debilitating injury. There had to be so many little ways that he was inconvenienced, all of which were invisible to Ray and anyone else looking on from the outside. Some things you couldn¡¯t fully grasp without experiencing it first-hand. They arrived at the end of the dungeon before long. In a morbidly funny way, they were also the only people emerging from the dungeon. [Dungeon Cleared¡ªRecords of the Ancients] Rewards
  • 10 True Mana shards
  • 5 Origin Mana shards
  • 1 True Mana Tier Point
  • 1 Origin Mana Tier Point
  • 2 True Mana Skill Points
  • 1 Moulding Clay
  • +5,000 Essence
  • Reputation: +25 Cooperative
Essence to Level 50: 121,160/221,200 [Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 100-point threshold, your cooperation now boosts all your stats by 20 when in a party or Faction. Cooperation to next Threshold: 110/250 With the new points, Ray raised Lifeblood Graveyard, Goliath Eater, Vengeful Plunder, and Core Deconstruction up by a Tier. He¡¯d need them in later fights, he was sure. The Moulding Clay turned out to be pretty much Mimic Mana but for any specific item. Ray could essentially replicate the effects of anything. It made him wonder if he could create a fake treasure, but the description stated it was a one-time use thing, so that limited that line of thought. Ray had to wonder what had happened to the third Sylvan he hadn¡¯t managed to ensnare and kill. He hadn¡¯t even bothered to ambush them anywhere within the dungeon. Though, that was obvious. He¡¯d have been outnumbered easily, then killed, even if he managed to get one of them. Once outside, the tournament officials accosted Ray¡¯s team, confirmed they possessed the treasure, then announced them as the victors. Marcus grinned triumphantly, while Gritty slightly fist-bumped Ray¡¯s shoulder. Ray himself smiled in satisfaction too. While it hadn¡¯t been as difficult as their first foray, the win and the treasure would boost their prospects at the auction. Sridayne: Be careful. As winners of two dungeons, you are now on the eyes of many onlookers. Ray frowned. He had been about to reply, wondering why she had sent a message through the System chat instead of talking to them directly. She was on the island, after all. But the reason became apparent in the next second. A group of Sylvans approached the victors with calculating looks. Ray recognized them. Sridayne had pointed them out as a group affiliated with the Lord of the Third Floor. ¡°Bastards,¡± Gritty muttered under breath. Ray felt the same, honestly. These people no doubt had some connection with the trio of Sylvans who had registered and entered the tournament just to kill Ray and his friends. ¡°Greetings,¡± one of the Sylvans said. He was a large fellow, rich and rotund. The tips of his horns gleamed with polished silver caps. ¡°And congratulations on your victory. You did magnificently.¡± Another Sylvan nodded in seemingly exuberant agreement. ¡°Yes, yes! Very well done. Not only how you handled the various guardians, but also your fellow competitors. Fantastic.¡±Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. It was worth noting that they weren¡¯t fazed at all by the deaths of the other competitors. Not even slightly regretting the fact that members of their own race had been killed by Ray¡¯s team. Said a lot. When neither Ray nor his teammates said anything in reply, the first Sylvan to speak continued. ¡°It is excellent that you have acquired the treasure,¡± he said, eyeing the rock in Ray¡¯s possession with an avaricious gleam. ¡°I assume you are wondering as to its true value?¡± Ray was about to answer with the affirmative, though he was starting to get the sense that the Sylvans were looking to get the treasure off his hands. But before he could speak, Marcus butted in first. ¡°We¡¯re not allowed to sell the treasure outside of an auction,¡± Marcus said. ¡°No can do, bub. If that¡¯s what you want, I suggest you sod off and wait till it¡¯s time.¡± Undeterred by Marcus¡¯s rather aggressive refusal to consider their proposal, the Sylvan went on. ¡°You are working under an assumption, Denizen. We are merely discussing the treasure. Would you not wish to know its true worth before you head into the auction?¡± ¡°Not if it depends on us forming some pre-emptive deal with you lot.¡± ¡°How uncouth!¡± the second Sylvan said. A third Sylvan shook his head and said something that the System strangely didn¡¯t translate. ¡°Now, now.¡± The first Sylvan raised his hand to instil some patience in his companions. ¡°The Denizens need to look out for themselves. It is quite understandable. We ought to respect their wishes. But that does not mean we cannot come to some reasonable agreement.¡± ¡°I knew it,¡± Marcus muttered. Sridayne: It is a trap. You would do well to be wary. Ray closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them again, he came to a decision. ¡°You know the proper worth of this treasure?¡± Marcus glanced at him, but didn¡¯t argue thankfully. ¡°Of course!¡± the first Sylvan said, gleefully rubbing hands. ¡°I can tell that it¡¯s used to inscribe intent, whatever that means. Do you know anything further?¡± ¡°That item is quite valuable, and it is rather obvious that you do not quite understand that. Since you do not understand what intent means in this instance, allow me to enlighten you. Intent is simply your abilities. All the powers you can channel thanks to your access to the System. That is the intent that the Carver can achieve.¡± Ray blinked. He was starting to connect two and two together. A while back, Sridayne and her assistant had mentioned using items that had skills inserted into them. And now, this Sylvan was suggesting they possessed a treasure that could do the inserting. In essence, Ray could take any of his spells and potentially inscribe them into any item that was compatible with said spell. That was incredibly valuable. ¡°Why would you tell us that free of charge?¡± Marcus asked, still holding onto his suspicion like it was a prized heirloom. The Sylvan spread his hands. Clearly, a practiced gesture. ¡°Simple. Because there is far more going on with it, and we would be happy to share that knowledge with you. So long as you share knowledge of what you possess.¡± Ray blinked. Right, of course. There was no point in them telling Ray¡¯s team about their current treasure if they were only going to form a deal that allowed this group to take it. They wouldn¡¯t be auctioning it off, so knowing its worth wouldn¡¯t help. Plus, them telling Ray the Carver¡¯s true worth would only make it less profitable for the Sylvans to acquire it. Instead, they wanted the other treasure Ray¡¯s team had won in their first dungeon. Wily bastards. ¡°Sorry, but that¡¯s not for sale,¡± Ray said. ¡°Or rather, it is for sale. At the auction. Not outside it. And no, we aren¡¯t going to form some backhanded deal about it outside the auction either.¡± ¡°I see.¡± The Sylvan immediately closed off. All the affability he had come in with was now gone. ¡°Suit yourself, then. May your auction endeavours be successful.¡± He turned and started leaving without another word. His companions followed, though not before shooting Ray and his friends scathing looks. ¡°Hey!¡± Gritty said, stepping forward. ¡°Where the hell do you think you¡¯re going?¡± The Sylvans turned, frowning at her. ¡°What do you¡ª¡± She cut off the first Sylvan. ¡°You knew those three in the dungeon, didn¡¯t you? The ones who attacked us. The three Sylvan bastards who ambushed us in the boss room. You knew them.¡± ¡°We may have seen them.¡± The Sylvan in the lead was clearly annoyed at having been interrupted. ¡°What of it?¡± Gritty sneered. She looked like she was about to jump them then and there, but with a supreme force of will, she held herself back. ¡°Do me a favour. When you go running back to the Floor Lord, make sure to tell him that we won¡¯t go down so easily. Tell him to show up in person if he really wants to take us on.¡± ¡°I would suggest you watch your mouth, Denizen.¡± Gritty ignored the warning entirely. ¡°In fact, how about this? Why doesn¡¯t he take part in this tournament? He¡¯ll have a clear, legit shot at taking us down instead of relying on dirty tricks. Tell him to either show up or shut up.¡± Things looked like they were about to boil over. The Sylvans didn¡¯t take kindly to Gritty¡¯s overt aggression and Gritty herself was advancing on them as though she would like nothing better than to rend them limb from limb. Ray and Marcus restrained her successfully, while several Sylvan officials came in to escort the noble Sylvans away. They all threw the three humans scathing looks as they left, though. ¡°Chill, will you?¡± Ray asked. Gritty relaxed, though she still had the undercurrent of ferocious anger didn¡¯t leave her. Not until they had made it all the way back to Auction Island. On the way, Sridayne and Vyournel had come to meet them again. She congratulated them on their victory in person, and for navigating the quagmire that the Sylvan nobles wanted to land them in, though it could have been handled a bit better. That last part was aimed surreptitiously at Gritty. The important thing she had come to speak to them about was an official interview. With their latest victory, a lot of viewers had become interested in Ray and his team. ¡°In fact,¡± Vyournel said, his eyes unfocused as he used some kind of ability Ray couldn¡¯t figure out. ¡°Three of the other broadcasters are already preparing to conduct interviews. You can¡¯t avoid the media aspect any longer, I¡¯m afraid.¡± Ray sighed. ¡°I¡¯d have preferred not to deal with this, but hey, that¡¯s why we¡¯re working together, right? I¡¯m guessing you guys had a plan on how to deal with it.¡± Sridayne nodded. ¡°Yes. As before, you will be receiving all contacts directly, and it will be up to you to send any communiques our way to handle best as we see fit. But we do have a pre-emptive plan, yes.¡± ¡°Well, let¡¯s hear it then.¡± ¡°It is rather simple. You do a brief interview with us before the auction. After the auction, you will be far too busy handling your personal matters, so when the others want a piece of you as well, they will have no opportunity and will instead have to rely on the footage we gather.¡± Gritty eyed Sridayne with reluctant admiration. ¡°You really thought it all out to make sure you profited, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°And I made sure you all received the best you could from us too. Of course, if you have any other suggestions you think will work better, we are all ears. But until then, this might be the best bet.¡± Ray figured he needed to think about it before he made a call. Neither Gritty nor Marcus voice any complaints, so for now, they decided to confirm with Sridayne early on tomorrow. ¡°First thing¡¯s first,¡± Marcus said as they took their first steps on Auction Island. ¡°We need to take a proper look at the first treasure.¡± Ray grunted in affirmative. While they would do well to rest up, the Auction Hall and the bank there was on the way to their hotel anyway, so a quick stop would be best. They arrived before long. The Halftyr banker congratulated them on another victory, while also inviting them to store their second treasure there as well. ¡°Same rate as the first one?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Actually, the rate is a little lower for every successive treasure you add to your stockpile.¡± Skent smiled. ¡°Small perk of being more successful.¡± That sounded good enough to them, so they added the second treasure to their pile. Skent brought out the first treasure. He handled the flesh-studded crystal with great care, wearing gloves and using what looked like some kind of fancy tongs. ¡°What¡¯s it say?¡± Marcus asked. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you have an identification skill?¡± Ray offered the treasure to Marcus. ¡°What does it say to you?¡± Marcus shook his head. ¡°My ability only works on living things. Not on anything that works with Mana.¡± ¡°Ah, gotcha. Alright, let me take a look.¡± [Primordial Gauge] Primordial Gauge indicates there is an item nearby interacting with Mana.
  • Primordial Flesh Conduit: Conductive crystal that stores the very first essence of life. Bits of flesh stick out, acting as individual expressions of life. Each expression acts as a bulwark against the forces that repress life itself, such that if one fails, the rest can continue prospering. Can be used to learn a sacrificial, defensive ability.
Ray read the description a couple of times. He had a hard time believing it. It wasn¡¯t that it didn¡¯t make sense. This thing was studded with flesh. Of course it could manipulate life. But that was Ray¡¯s specialty. His Lifeblood Chaos was what could control how life varied by taking ¡°samples¡± from the beings he killed and then fused them with other beings to basically create whatever construct he wanted. ¡°Wingman.¡± Gritty poked him. ¡°You good?¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah,¡± Ray said. ¡°Was just a little surprised by the description. Apparently, it¡¯s something people can use to learn some kind of defensive skill based on life forces. Not sure exactly what, but it looks pretty useful.¡± ¡°Life forces?¡± Marcus said. He whistled under his breath. ¡°That sounds powerful.¡± ¡°You mean like what you can do already?¡± Gritty asked Ray. He nodded. ¡°That¡¯s what it sounds like. Or at least, something similar.¡± Marcus eyed Ray with renewed interest. ¡°You can manipulate life forces? I¡¯m starting to see how some of your powers work.¡± But that was all besides the point. Now they knew what exactly the treasure performed, Ray was a little reluctant about just letting it go. But then again, his goal was to win this tournament. To that end, he needed to do well in the auction too. ¡°We don¡¯t know how valuable it is compared to other treasures, though,¡± Gritty said. ¡°Or how valuable it might be to the actual buyers tomorrow.¡± Marcus nodded. ¡°We should be able to get a decent idea, if we look at purchase histories of different auctioneers, look at their public info, and probably try and poke Sridayne to see if she has any intel.¡± ¡°Right,¡± Ray said. ¡°Do you think you can take care of that? We have less than a day left, and we should also get some rest before tomorrow too.¡± ¡°I can, but you sound like you¡¯re going to be busy with something.¡± Marcus left the question of what unsaid, but it was pretty evident on his face. ¡°I¡¯ve got an idea about a skill that might help me,¡± Ray said. ¡°And I know how to get it with our two treasures. At least, I¡¯m pretty sure.¡± ¡°Now hold on a second.¡± Marcus stepped up to stand right in front of Ray¡¯s face all of a sudden. ¡°Are you thinking of using up the treasure we worked so hard to get to the auction?¡± ¡°Uh, I didn¡¯t know they could be used up?¡± ¡°They won¡¯t be,¡± Gritty said. ¡°Nothing in the descriptions state anything like that.¡± Marcus tutted like he couldn¡¯t believe Gritty was taking Ray¡¯s side. ¡°Look, I just want to make sure our auction goes without any hitches.¡± ¡°Believe me, Marcus.¡± Ray said. ¡°I want to be successful at this auction just as much as you do. But it would be stupid not to take advantage of the treasures we worked hard to gain. I don¡¯t even mind showing you exactly what I¡¯ve got in mind. Trust me, if it starts looking like something¡¯s going to happen to the treasures, I¡¯ll stop. Alright?¡± Marcus didn¡¯t look happy, but he eventually sighed and shrugged. That was as much of a go ahead as Ray was going to get. He wasn¡¯t sure what would have happened if Marcus had continued being against it, especially since Ray hadn¡¯t intended to back down, but he was glad it hadn¡¯t come to that. Nodding at the others, Ray headed over to Skent. Time to retrieve the treasure he had only just submitted. More importantly, time to get himself a new ability. B3 Chapter 16 (147): First Auction Ray had been so excited to test out his theory with the treasures, he had almost forgotten that he was trying to carry out his little experiment inside the room. Probably not a good idea. Not only would Marcus be mad if something went wrong, but the hotel proprietor would no doubt cause a commotion if one of his clients blew up his room. It was only after summoning up a flying Windbane head construct that Ray realized it was probably not a good idea. Mostly because he couldn¡¯t recall if he had ever summoned one of the constructs indoors. Oh, he supposed there had been that fight inside a warehouse down on the Second Floor. ¡°Sorry buddy,¡± he told the construct. ¡°Can¡¯t play here. I¡¯ll see you outside soon, though.¡± He wasn¡¯t sure, but the construct looked almost sad when he dismissed it. Which made the prospect of his actual experiment make him feel rather guilty, but he pushed the feelings down and found an empty field not far from the hotel. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go.¡± The potential problem with being outside was that he could very well be observed by someone else. No way to tell who was looking on from where. Ray imagined Sameer sneering at him from a rooftop. He shook his head. Had to focus. Calling up the construct again, Ray bid it to stay still as he pulled out the flesh crystal in one hand and the brush-shaped stone carver in the other. He was wary of using the crystal directly. While this was clearly not a Tower Node, no matter how much it tried to feel like one, he still didn¡¯t want to risk drawing the Fleshcrafter¡¯s attention. So, for now, Ray dipped the carver into one of the fleshy bits of the crystal. He pulled it out, then started inscribing on the construct itself. Good little Windbane maw didn¡¯t move even as Ray scratched on its scales. The tip of the carver dug in and left a mark that bled chaotic, black-red energy in a soft stream. He once again felt a little bad, and thinking of it as a tattoo didn¡¯t help soothe his conscience either, since the next step was going to be even worse. If he could reach the next step, that was. Ray had decided earlier that the new ability he was trying to get would no doubt be some sort of barrier skill. As such, he had decided to inscribe his best rendition of a simple kite shield with an X on the construct. Nothing happened, though. He didn¡¯t feel any real change, and the construct continued bleeding out the chaos energy without giving any indication that there was anything different about it. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Ray wasn¡¯t sure what was wrong. His idea had been to use the driving principle behind the Carver of the Ancients. It was an implement that could inscribe the will of its user into any given object. The construct was an object, and by will, Ray took it to mean any skill or ability he could use, going by the hints the Sylvan nobles on the island had dropped. So why wasn¡¯t it working? The only reason he could think of was the flesh crystal. He was probably not using it correctly. Yes, that was right. Ray nodded as he felt surer. He had attempted to make the carver itself take up the skill by dipping it into the flesh. That wasn¡¯t how it functioned. Ray himself had to possess the power to inscribe it into anything. Which meant he needed a closer connection with the crystal than he had allowed himself so far. Deciding to push down his memory of the last time the Fleshcrafter had drawn him into the Paragon¡¯s domain, he focused on the flesh crystal. For all that it pretended to be a Tower Node, Ray found that channelling the crystal¡¯s power was not dissimilar from a Node¡¯s. When the new energy filled him¡ªthe new Mana, no doubt¡ªRay quickly drew the same shield shape on the construct¡¯s scales. This time, it wasn¡¯t just the chaotic black-red energy that bled out of the construct. The outline of the shield grew brighter as white light filled it up. Ray smiled as his construct turned, the flying head slowly swelling to twice its size. There. The new ability was active within it now. ¡°Sorry, buddy,¡± Ray said. ¡°I promise this won¡¯t be a regular thing.¡± Activating Spiritsorb, Ray blasted his construct with a bolt of chaos. He had raised it several tiers with the Mana Infuser ring first too. The construct collapsed into a burst of mana. The notification of Spiritsorb activating Lifeblood Graveyard arrived a second later. There was a long list of all the soul aspects Ray¡¯s construct carried, but he ignored them and focused on the newest one. [Lifeblood Graveyard Activated] Spiritsorb has absorbed the soul of a defeated Lifeblood Soulform construct. Please select which Aspect of the targeted soul to retain. Soul Aspects
  • Soul Sacrifice [Tier 7]: Imbues a piece of the caster¡¯s soul into any ability, allowing it to rupture when the caster is struck, diverting all damage away from the caster. Rupture occurs when damage reaches the same Tier as the ability.
Ray smiled broadly. There. Just what he had been hoping for. He wasn¡¯t exactly sure what the description meant by Tier of damage. Damage didn¡¯t have Tiers, as far as he knew. The more interesting bit was that it was an ability that was slotting straight into Lifeblood Graveyard. He had done well to raise it by a Tier recently. That still left him one slot for him to fill with any other new ability that could fit his fighting style. While he hadn¡¯t yet spotted any opponent from whom he¡¯d like to take a power, there was no saying he wouldn¡¯t in time. Ray hoped he¡¯d get to test his new ability soon. For now, though, he had an auction to attend.
¡°Thank you for sending the descriptions of your treasures,¡± Sridayne said. ¡°I was able to identify a potential buyer who would be quite enamoured with what you possess.¡± They had decided to meet up before the day ended. Auction day was tomorrow. For now, they needed to plan. Although, Ray wasn¡¯t sure meeting inside their hotel room was the brightest idea. It was getting quite cramped with five people inside, two of whom weren¡¯t even human. ¡°You mean the Saltsien corporation,¡± Marcus said. ¡°Correct.¡± Ray looked between the two of them. ¡°Who?¡± ¡°They are a group who seeks to profit off of their partnership with the administration of the Tower of Forging.¡± Ray needed only a second of thought to figure out what that meant. ¡°Right. They¡¯d be interested in anything that deals with the Fleshcrafter.¡± ¡°Question is,¡± Gritty said. ¡°How do we make them aware that we have a treasure they might be interested in, considering we can¡¯t form any pre-emptive deals or anything like that.¡± Sridayne smiled. ¡°That is where our little interview will come in handy.¡± The jewellery at the top of her horns tinkled as she nodded at Vyournel. Her assistant nodded back, then looked at Ray like he was a fish the Sylvan had just drawn out of the water on a line. ¡°Uh¡­¡± Ray hesitated. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what you mean.¡± ¡°It is simple really. We will be conducting a little interview where you will sell the treasures you possess, without going into specifics, and we will publish it ahead of time to garner interest.¡± ¡°Like a sneak peak hint,¡± Marcus said, warming up to the idea. He turned to Ray with a gleam in his eyes. ¡°You talk about your treasures, how cool they are and how excited you are to get to sell them. Give them just enough flashes to be sure what it is without revealing it all.¡± Ray still wasn¡¯t that sure, but he was starting to see the sense in it. If Sridayne was right¡ªand she was likely to be more right than Ray could be in this instance¡ªthen this was a way to bypass the tournament¡¯s restriction on talking about treasures before the auction. A loophole to make the interview available to those who wished it, but not publicly available.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. At least, not until after the auction had occurred. ¡°Alright, what do I have to do?¡± Ray asked. Vyournel smiled disarmingly. ¡°Simply answer some questions, be yourself, and we shall be ready to go.¡± ¡°There¡¯s just one problem left,¡± Gritty said. ¡°How do we make sure they won¡¯t be lowballing us?¡± That was something none of them had an easier answer to. But it only took a few moments of thinking before a little grin popped up on Ray¡¯s face. ¡°I think I¡¯ve got an idea.¡±
The auction next day drew a huge audience. There were not only all the tournament competitors who were hoping to sell their treasures to earn as much as they could. A variety of others were gathering at the Auction Hall as well¡ªauctioneers, merchants of various kinds, nobles and dignitaries from all over, as well as broadcasters like Sridayne. Ray was tempted to take some time to marvel at just how much of an occasion this whole thing was. But they had procedures to follow to make sure they took part in the auction correctly. First thing was registering what they were selling. Apparently, competitors could either hold on to their treasures for a later auction or sell them at the current auction. However, once registered, the treasures had to be sold at the current auction. Ray wasn¡¯t sure why anyone would hold them back, though Sridayne suggested there might be external factors. That¡¯s when he got it. For instance, if their primary auctioneer target couldn¡¯t make it for whatever reason, then it would be to their detriment to try to sell the treasure off. In such cases, a team might choose to hold on to their treasure. ¡°Two treasures registered,¡± the Sylvan clerk at the auction desk said. ¡°Will that be all?¡± Marcus beamed at the clerk. ¡°That will be more than enough, thank you.¡± ¡°Here you go. This is your auction token. It has all the information about when you will be called up and where you need to go before that.¡± Ray and Gritty gathered closer to Marcus to take a peek at the token. The clerk was right. There was a numbered slot indicator that stated they¡¯d be third among the list of auctioning teams. ¡°I think I know exactly who are going before us,¡± Ray muttered. Marcus frowned at the distant doors that led into the main auction hall. ¡°The team they called Albatross or something, right?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± Gritty frowned too, though she was frowning between Ray and Marcus. ¡°Wait. You guys never told me we could name our teams.¡± The other two both groaned. Thankfully, they were able to steer Gritty towards the auction hall and distract her with the prospect of the auction. Ray was a little nervous. Not only because now was the moment of truth on whether they could get ahead in this Immortalizer Tournament Auction or at least see if they stood some chance of winning. It was also because his plan for the auction revolved around one key element. Whether or not they would be allowed to use their skills and spells within the auction hall. There were many reasons why it would be restricted. Chief among them was that the organizers would really like not for anyone to go rogue and start assaulting the poor auctioneers with whatever crazy powers they could wield. But even if it was restricted in the auction itself, Ray¡¯s plan didn¡¯t really hinge on the restriction against activation. What it rested on was their ability to detect a skill or spell being used. He breathed a small sigh of relief when he saw that no such obstacles awaited him. People had gathered in the auction hall, and they were blithely using their powers with hardly a care in the world. One Sylvan was using Growth Mana to operate multi-jointed limbs to carry drinks and snacks all over the place. A Ryous in an expensive-looking robe had little balls of light floating nearby. Ray couldn¡¯t fathom their purpose. A human had created their own seat away from the rest of the audience using some kind of spectral ability. There were lots of others that would have taken Ray way too long to observe. His mind was distractingly trying to figure out if any of them looked useful. ¡°I¡¯m going to be back soon,¡± Ray told the others. They nodded as he departed. Hopefully, they¡¯d find a seat at a good spot. For now, Ray rushed over to one of the bathrooms. The stalls there were large and airy, easily bigger than master bedrooms in most houses. Probably to accommodate both smaller races like the Holdstar and the larger ones like the Ryous and that boulder-like race Ray didn¡¯t know about. He also wondered if the administration had anything approximating security cameras. If they had broadcasters and channels, then security systems weren¡¯t too much of a stretch. Disregarding the impulse to be overly careful, Ray simply cast Lifeblood Soulform within the stall and constructed two mimics. Ray closed his eyes and pictured the right people, and he made sure the Imitator constructs took their forms. A moment later, Maya and Kredevel stood before him. Ray grinned. ¡°Hey guys, long time no see.¡± They didn¡¯t reply. A part of him wanted to cringe at the fact that he felt somewhat sad all of a sudden. It had been a while since he had seen Kredevel, and even longer since he had seen Maya. Ray shook his head. It wasn¡¯t really sadness or even loneliness. He realized he was feeling a smidge guilty about using his friends¡¯ forms without their explicit consent. His intentions being far from nefarious didn¡¯t help assuage his conscience. Honestly, he was glad he still felt guilty. Glad that a part of his mind recognized some of the fucked-upped-ness of what he was trying to do. It would help make sure he never took a step truly horrible. Ray let the constructs head over to the auction hall first. It didn¡¯t look like the bathrooms had any gender markers, so hopefully, no one would make a fuss about Maya emerging from the same spot that he and Kredevel did. Mimic Mana took care of the need for tokens for entry too. When he arrived, the auction was already underway. The main organizer was making a grandiose speech about the importance of the auction and how grand it would be. ¡°Nice spot,¡± Ray whispered to the others as he took his place between Marcus and Gritty. Gritty was looking farther behind though. ¡°Did I just see¡­?¡± Ray grinned. ¡°We¡¯ve got some unexpected friends, yes.¡± She grinned back at him conspiratorially. Marcus looked blankly between them for a second before focusing on the large podium. While Ray had explained his intentions, he hadn¡¯t mentioned the specifics of who the mimics would be impersonating. ¡°I wish they¡¯d get this over with already,¡± Marcus said, in the same low register. ¡°I want to see the other treasures already.¡± Ray couldn¡¯t agree more. A quick look around him confirmed the same deal. Everybody else seemed tense, expectant, ready to get the main course of the auction going. Thankfully, the speech ended before long. ¡°And now,¡± the announcer said with a flourish. ¡°We will welcome our first consignors! The brave competitors who cleared a Tier 32 dungeon and emerged with the treasure in its depths. Please welcome, Team Albatross!¡± A round of applause chorused through the hall. Ray and his companions joined in too, but before they could see who exactly were in Team Albatross, a Sylvan attendant approached them. ¡°Competitors,¡± he said in a clipped, professional tone. ¡°You are the third team in the auction, yes? If you would please follow me. We must get you in position to take your place.¡± Ray, Gritty, and Marcus followed the Sylvan to a separate side chamber where Sameer¡¯s team were waiting. ¡°Well, well, well,¡± Sameer said, eyeing them all with heavy disdain. ¡°If it isn¡¯t the team of bullies.¡± Ray ignored him and waved good-naturedly at Eliza and Karkatrix. ¡°Is he always like this?¡± For just a second, Eliza looked like she was about to conspiratorially agree that yes, Sameer was indeed always like this. Then she remembered whose side she was on and scowled at Ray. ¡°Don¡¯t wave at me, you ass,¡± she said. ¡°We¡¯re not here for a picnic.¡± ¡°Aw, really?¡± Gritty tutted. ¡°And I brought a basket of snacks too.¡± They all looked at her. She pulled out literal candy. Little foil-wrapped bars of who knew what because surely they wouldn¡¯t have chocolate of all things inside this Tower. ¡°I got it the last auction day. You know, the smaller auction, which isn¡¯t really an auction. More like a farmer¡¯s market, weirdly.¡± The Sylvan made a strange noise in his throat. Ray realized he was basically drawing all their attention to him, kind of like a cough. ¡°You may choose to converse among yourselves, but please do not cause any commotion.¡± If any of them had a reply to that, they were foiled when the auctioning began. Ray promptly ignored everyone in the room and looked at the main podium, squeezing past the big Ryous to get a better look. Sameer cursed Ray when he almost stepped on the latter¡¯s feet. For Ray¡¯s part, he was too busy taking in the strongest team in the tournament to notice. Another one of the boulder-like beings was holding a strange treasure high up in the air in their branchlike arms. Their voice ground out like two rocks trying to start a fire. ¡°Behold! This is a chunk of Alutrium. A Mana-eradicating material.¡± That statement caused murmurs to spread throughout the gathered attendees. Ray stared at the storm-grey chunk of metallic rock in the alien¡¯s hands. A second member of the team came forward, a slight Sylvan with snow-white horns. ¡°We will now demonstrate the Mana eradicating properties.¡± The Sylvan clapped her hands together. Golden fire popped up all around the boulder-like alien. They all streamed straight at the rock, only to simply disappear as soon as they struck it. More gasps and murmurs churned through the crowd, several of the auctioneers applauding the display. They were excited. And why not? That was pretty incredible. A substance that could simply delete Mana as soon as it came into contact with it? It was almost unbelievable. Ray could already imagine lining his robe with that material, Alutrium, and becoming completely immune to any and all Mana-based abilities anyone might throw at him. Though, was that thing immune to any and all sorts of Mana? His question¡ªand more¡ªwas voiced by several attendees. They all wanted to know just how strong that material was. It turned out, while the material could obliterate all sorts of Mana¡ªat least, provably, all sorts that the competitors showed and tested, which also included various test subjects picked randomly from the crowd¡ªit wasn¡¯t that strong in and off itself. Someone with enough Strength could break it with their bare hands. ¡°What about its mechanical properties?¡± someone else asked. ¡°Do you know what its melting point is?¡± All three of the competitors on stage were a little taken aback by the question. Frankly, so was Ray. How the hell were they supposed to discover something like that without harming the treasure? ¡°How about malleability?¡± asked yet another person. ¡°Or even ductility?¡± ¡°What about its resistivity to electricity?¡± ¡°Does it react to any other materials?¡± The questions pummelled the nonplussed competitors for a bit. But when they didn¡¯t have answers, they eventually died down. Sensing the awkwardness, the organizer stepped forward to move it along. ¡°I believe we have had a sufficient demonstration of the treasure¡¯s main properties that these wonderful competitors would like to sell,¡± he said. ¡°Now, let us begin the bidding!¡± That was honestly the part Ray was curious about the most. They really needed a proper baseline of what they could hope to get here. ¡°But before we go ahead with it,¡± the organizer said. ¡°Please welcome our main guest of honour¡ªthe Lord of the Tower of Forging!¡± Ray wasn¡¯t the only one who was surprised as the main doors opened, admitting the Tower Lord into the auction hall. B3 Chapter 17 (148): Broken Bids The whole room stared at the opening doors. The announcer hadn¡¯t been kidding. It was indeed the Tower Lord walking into the auction hall, accompanied by a small entourage of Sylvan attendants and valets. He was just as he had looked on that broadcast when Ray had won his first dungeon on the Third Floor. Light grey skin that was marked with artful red tattoos. The difference was that he was dressed in greater finery this time. His two ruby-dangling earrings were matched by a necklace around his throat that held more red rubies. Wait, no. Those stones looked different. Were they garnets? Ray wasn¡¯t an expert in gemstones so he wasn¡¯t sure. His robes were white, trimmed with gold and detailed with crimson embroidery. A short staff, capped with a skull of some monster Ray couldn¡¯t identify, hung at his waist. Basically, the Tower Lord knew how to make himself look and feel ostentatious. There could be no doubt that this was the Lord of the Tower of Forging. Of course, there was a special spot prepared for the Tower Lord. Ray hadn¡¯t noticed it earlier, but near the head of the seating arrangement, there was a small abundance of empty chairs, set somewhat separate from the rest. It was to these chairs that the Lord and his entourage headed, taking his seat there. Ray did note how the Tower Lord nodded at some in the crowd, acknowledging others, always holding onto a genial little smile. He didn¡¯t know what to make of the fellow just yet. Considering how rather insane all the Floor Lords Ray had met so far had been, it wasn¡¯t preposterous to think that their boss would be the same kind of crazy, if not worse. So far however, the Tower Lord seemed kind and amicable. He wasn¡¯t fooled, though. Smiles could hide a great deal of unsavouriness. ¡°He seems fancy,¡± Marcus said. ¡°What was your Tower Lord like, or the Floor Lords, if you ever met them?¡± Ray asked suddenly curious. ¡°We didn¡¯t have Lords for every Floor, so I don¡¯t think there was any Tower Lord either.¡± ¡°Wait, really? The way I heard it, the System often invites races who have experience using the System like the Sylvans to control the Towers. That¡¯s why they¡¯re in this Tower. What in the world did you have to do if you didn¡¯t have Floor Lords setting you Objectives?¡± ¡°Well, for us, we had to establish Floor Lords ourselves. Whoever could accomplish a set number of Objectives in a given time was chosen as the Floor Lord on the First Floor. Then on the Second Floor, it was literally a democracy. You had to build your faction and gain the support of the majority.¡± ¡°That sounds¡­ potentially tyrannical¡­¡± Marcus shrugged. ¡°There¡¯s a reason I came to a different Tower.¡± Ray was about to say that Marcus¡¯s earlier assumption had been that he had come to the Tower of Forging because it was stronger than his Tower, and thus, could provide greater opportunities for growth. He supposed two things could be true at once. A part of Ray wanted to ask the other humans about their Towers too. Eliza, and maybe even Sameer. He didn¡¯t even know if they were from the same Tower or not. But before he could figure out how to ask, the Tower Lord spoke. ¡°Please,¡± he said. ¡°Do continue. I wouldn¡¯t wish to hold up the auction any longer than we must.¡± The organizer lavished them all with a wide smile before turning back to the team of competitors still on the stage. They were all staring at the Tower Lord with differing expressions. The Sylvan¡¯s was subservient, the Holdstar¡¯s almost scathing, while the boulder-alien was unreadable. Ray only knew the Holdstar was angry because he had seen much the same expression on Ram, Bam, and Lam on the Second Floor. ¡°As the Tower Lord commands,¡± the organizer said. ¡°Let us continue with the auction. To summarize, our brave, strong competitors have unearthed a chunk of Alutrium, a material that can cease the function of any and all Mana. It simply deletes it.¡± He turned to the crowd. ¡°So, tell us, good auctioneers. What are you willing to offer for such a magical discovery?¡± Ray wasn¡¯t sure how accurate that was. Was there seriously no other Mana-negating material in all the other worlds where Mana and the System were active? Somewhat hard to believe. Which was soon proven by the response from the auctioneers. ¡°Two hundred Mana shards,¡± came the first bid from someone far back in the crowd. Even Ray, who was wholly opposed to the Albatross team gaining much in the auction, winced. That was a terribly low starting offer. ¡°Don¡¯t they have the fluffers?¡± Gritty asked in a low whisper. The other competitors in the room were talking in hushed tones too, so her question didn¡¯t garner much attention. Ray could only shrug. Crowd fluffers, as Sridayne had called them, would be vital for their success. The starting bid of any auction could often dictate the ultimate amount that an item sold for. A higher bid from the very beginning established that it was a worthwhile item to spend on. That¡¯s why it could help greatly if there were plants within the auctioneer crowd whose job it was to kickstart the auction with a decently high bid. But it was a gamble too. Posit too high a bid, and there would be no one who would follow up, and then the auction failed. The crowd fluffers were plants after all. Not actual auctioneers. They didn¡¯t have the money to actually back up their bid, so it would all have been for nothing. Still. Ray considered it a good idea. With the right presentation before the auction went underway and a careful starting bid, they could set themselves up for success. In this case, it looked like the Albatross team didn¡¯t have any crowd fluffers. Their loss. ¡°A fine starting bid!¡± the organizer said. Ray winced again. No way that Sylvan thought it was actually fine. He was just contractually obligated to call even a single Mana crystal fine. ¡°But is that the final worth of Alutrium?¡± The rising bids did start pouring in. One after the other. Despite their seemingly bad start, the value of the Mana-deleting item was recognized by at least some in the crowd, and they made it known they wanted it. Two hundred became four hundred, which turned into seven hundred Mana shards. Before long, the bids were travelling through the Mana pearl category, which was where it ideally should have started in the first place. They started slowing down once they crossed the fifty Mana pearl threshold, however. Ray noted the expression on the human. The other two were harder to read, but the lone man was definitely trying not to bite his lip. His fingers shot to his mouth on occasion too, though he pulled it down before he could start biting on it. Nervous was an understatement. Honestly, it was rather refreshing, considering he was part of a team that had cleared a Tier 32 dungeon. In other words, the guy had to most likely be quite strong. And yet, he was acting so human. Eventually, the bidding ended at 120 Mana pearls. It wasn¡¯t that bad, though personally, Ray was pretty sure their low starting bid was the reason it hadn¡¯t gone higher. None of them seemed too disappointed, though. Not the human, nor the Sylvan, and Ray couldn¡¯t even begin to read the boulder-alien¡¯s expression. Honestly, he needed to ask what they were actually called. Referring to them as boulder-alien was getting annoying. Ray did feel like it was a little suspicious they didn¡¯t look that sad at their final outcome. Unless, this was what a normal auction looked like. Would Ray¡¯s team receive much less when it was time to sell the flesh-studded crystal? As the first team left the stage, the organizer called out the second team.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Will the team of two humans, Sameer and Eliza, and one Ryous, Karkatrix, please come out and present what they wish to auction?¡± the organizer called. Sameer glanced back at Ray with a small sneer. ¡°Now you¡¯re going to see how much the people who deserve the treasures they possess actually earn in¡ª¡± Eliza shoved him from behind, pushing him towards the stage. ¡°Yeah, yeah, you can tell him to shove it when you¡¯ve got a couple hundred Mana pearls, Sameer. Let¡¯s go.¡± Sameer continued to glare at Ray even as he was driven forward by Eliza like was a shopping cart. ¡°Good idea, Eliza. I¡¯ll make sure to shove the Mana pearls right up his¡­¡± His words thankfully faded as he went too far onto the stage. ¡°Seriously, what did you even do to that guy?¡± Gritty asked. Sameer was still more or less frothing at the mouth, leaning around to curse Ray silently all the way from the stage. ¡°You gave him a wedgie or something?¡± Ray¡¯s lips curled. ¡°I probably should have.¡± Once Sameer could focus on the actual auction again, they got underway. The second team¡¯s treasure turned out to be a strange gun. Ray had never seen anything like it, and the only reason he called that weird hunk of metal a ¡°gun¡± was because its shape somewhat resembled one. It was made of something like gold and lined with red gems gleaming like bloodied amber. ¡°This,¡± Sameer said, raising the strange item high in the air just like the boulder-alien had done. ¡°This is a powerful Eradicator. A guaranteed Eradicator. We unearthed this from a dungeon filled with dangers, but this¡­ this was the greatest danger of all. ¡°I¡¯m sure many of you have already seen what it is capable of. But a mere description fails to truly do it any real justice. Instead, to prove its efficacy, we will need to perform a live demonstration. So if there are any among the crowd who wish to stand back before we show off the true power of this Eradicator, now is your chance to do so.¡± Not a single person left their seats. Ray was curious what exactly the item¡¯s description might have stated. He hadn¡¯t tried using Primordial Gauge, as he suspected Sameer¡¯s Amulet of Blindness would have protected him and anything he held against it. But Ray activated the spell and focused it on the strange, gun-like item. [Primordial Gauge] Primordial Gauge indicates there is an item nearby interacting with Mana.
  • Eradicator of All: Implement fashioned by the Elstringer Arsonists. When faced against foes and overwhelming odds, when forced to reflect that their innate might was inferior in comparison to their enemies, the Elstringer Arsonists fashioned an item with their very souls. One that was borne from their desire to kill all opposition, no matter how powerful. Striking a target twice with this weapon¡¯s energy will always kill said target.
Ray wasn¡¯t sure at first what was such a big deal with a weapon like that. Come on. He had spells that could kill anything he struck with one hit. Why would two hits make it special? But there was something about the description, which was filled with lore details but not anything that specific about the item¡¯s exact powers. Just that one line about hitting things twice. Well, Ray supposed he was about to see with whatever demonstration Sameer had cooked up. Said demo involved creating a portal in the centre of the stage. Clearly, the whole thing had been practiced beforehand. As soon as a swirling portal materialized in the air, Sameer¡¯s two teammates took positions on either side of the portal. With a wild roar that shook the whole auction¡ªand frightened a lot of the auctioneers¡ªa monster burst out through the portal with a gush of water. Ray blinked. Huh. So Sameer¡¯s portals could summon creatures from other worlds too. This guy really was overpowered¡­ Said monster looked like walrus, but pure white. Its head was ringed with a crown of twisting horns, and instead of tusks, it had a sharklike maw filled with razor-sharp teeth. Oh, and it was about the size of a bus. Ray was a little surprised it could fit on the stage. Not that it was a problem. As soon as the monster appeared, both Eliza and Karkatrix acted to suppress it. Karkatrix threw out two of his arms, chains emerging from his fists and wrapping around the giant monster. Meanwhile, Eliza summoned up another bubble that warped time, making it enclose the monster¡¯s head. The creature started calming down. Oh yes, this whole thing was really practiced. Ray was honestly impressed. ¡°I will give you a moment,¡± Sameer said, raising his voice over the monster¡¯s roars and thrashing, though the monster was quickly pacifying. ¡°A moment to gauge this creature¡¯s strength for yourself.¡± Ray blinked. What in the world was he going to demonstrate? The ability of the Eradicator to kill that monster? Following suit of everybody else, Ray peeked at the monster¡¯s status with Primordial Gauge. [Primordial Gauge] Waverider [Monster] [Tier 31] [Level 89] Ray stared at the very first line. That thing was Tier 31 and over level eighty. Had Ray ever faced a creature that powerful? Even the Eternal Guardian paled against this Waverider. The fact that Eliza and Karkatrix were able to subdue it like that was already impossibly impressive. But the more impressive thing was Sameer taking his stand in front of the monster before firing the Eradicator. The shot didn¡¯t sound like a gun. More like a strange energy blast, which was essentially what happened. A little pellet of burning red struck the monster dead in its blubbery chest. It began thrashing, rage reawakened, but Sameer fired again. And the monster died. Ray tried peeking at it with Primordial Gauge, but the spell failed. Just a small confirmation that the Waverider was indeed dead. After just two shots, exactly as the item¡¯s description had promised. The only thing was¡­ that monster had been incredibly powerful. In fact, it had to be several levels higher than any of the trio who had summoned it. How did Sameer even have things like that at his beck and call? But what was really impressive was the fact that the Eradicator didn¡¯t care about level differences or anything like that. Shoot twice at anything, and it would die, no matter how much stronger the target might be compared to the wielder. Essentially, the item was a leveller that had to be extremely uncommon, if not entirely unprecedented. Ray saw how it functioned pretty easily. Primordial Gauge helped when he focused on it as Sameer summoned another powerful creature to kill. The first shot from the gun created a weakness on the target. A fatal weakness in the form of a damage multiplier. The following shot took advantage of the weakness, killing the target instantly as the damage rose by several orders of magnitude. ¡°If that¡¯s not enough,¡± Eliza said. ¡°We¡¯ve got more where that came from.¡± Sameer did indeed demonstrate the efficacy of the Eradicator on even more monsters. Turned out, the Tiers and levels really didn¡¯t matter at all. So long as Eliza and Karkatrix could subdue the monster and hold it in place, Sameer could kill it with two shots from the Eradicator. Ray was starting to see why this weapon would be precious. ¡°And now,¡± the organizer said. ¡°Let us begin the auction itself. Who among us will start off the bidding?¡± This auction was a lot more interesting than the last one. The starting bid was in the pearl ranges, at eight Mana pearls. Whether that was a fluffer or not, it worked. The bids only went up from there. Ray had to admit it was annoying to see the way Sameer¡¯s smugness rose to stratospheric levels as the bids went higher and higher. By the time auctioneers had reached the hundreds level of Mana pearls in no time at all, he looked like he could eat his own farts for breakfast. Sameer almost ran over to Ray when the auction ended. ¡°Did you see? We got over four hundred Mana pearls. Good, fucking luck trying to get that. That¡¯s what people who aren¡¯t bullies get. Ha!¡± Ray raised his hand to call over the Sylvan attendant who had first led his team to the room beside the stage. ¡°I¡¯d like to call pest control, please.¡± Sameer looked like he was about to lunge and choke Ray¡¯s neck with his bare hands, forget the fact that he could summon otherworldly portals. Thankfully, the Sylvan attendant and his own teammates dragged his struggling and cursing form away before things turned violent. Despite how successful Sameer and his team had been, it didn¡¯t stick in Ray¡¯s mind for long. It was finally time. Sharing a quick, encouraging look with his teammates, Ray took the stage alongside Gritty and Marcus. His heart thumped a little in nervousness. He knew beating Sameer¡¯s tally was going to be a tall order. Their ability to influence the auction would be limited too, but Ray had some hope that the mimic constructs he had installed in the auction room would serve well. Sridayne¡¯s idea of crowd fluffers would be invaluable. Sameer¡¯s success was proof of its importance. Ray stepped forward and held out the flesh studded crystal. The little speech he gave was practiced, though he did his best not to make it sound like it was rote memorization. ¡°This wonderful little tool is called the Primordial Flesh Conduit.¡± He paused for a second, letting the words register on the many faces in the audience. ¡°It¡¯s a great item, one that can create flesh and life of its own. But its most valuable property is this.¡± They proceeded with their demonstration. Ray summoned up one of his flying Windbane heads with Primal Spiritcraft. Chunks of the same kind of flesh that studded the crystal had now formed on his summons as well. The audience didn¡¯t miss it, several of the auctioneers leaning forward to see what exactly he had planned. Ray nodded at Gritty. She grinned, then attacked him. A small javelin of bloodied bone burst out of her palm and aimed straight for Ray¡¯s guts. It should have pierced through his stomach and impaled through him, but as soon as the very tip touched Ray¡¯s robes, it disappeared. Only to appeared within the summons. The draconic maw yawned wide as the javelin speared through the jaws, weirdly reminding Ray of a toothpick holding a big burger together. There were many oohs and ahs from the crowd. Ray couldn¡¯t hold back his satisfied grin. Was this how smug Sameer had felt when his plan had gone off without a hitch? It felt annoyingly good. ¡°In essence,¡± Ray said. ¡°The flesh from the Primordial Flesh Conduit will always protect you. If someone attacks you, it¡¯s the sacrificial flesh that will take damage instead. You¡¯ll be perfectly fine. Completely safe. And best of all, it¡¯s not limited to a skill or ability. You don¡¯t have to channel it. Not really. Because¡­¡± Ray smiled and pulled out the Carver of the Ancients. He had polished the little stone drawing utensil to help it shine a bit. ¡°With this, you can take the power of the Primordial Flesh Conduit and have it active permanently on anything. No need to train up any abilities. No limits at different Tiers. If something attacks, you will be defended, you will be safe.¡± They bent to demonstrating the function of the carver next. Ray drew the same shape of a shield on a chair they took from the auction room¡¯s seating. Then he repeated the same process. Gritty attacked him after bits of flesh grew on the chair, but it was the chair that took damage, not Ray. ¡°Let¡¯s get started on the bidding,¡± Marcus said, stepping up as they had rehearsed. ¡°We¡¯re offering up two items as an indomitable pair.¡± It was the organizer¡¯s time to step up. He cleared his throat, but before he could speak, the Tower Lord raised his hand. ¡°I will bid,¡± he said, his crimson eyes landing right on Ray, the smile of his never turning unpleasant. ¡°Three hundred Mana pearls for the pair.¡± B3 Chapter 18 (149): Evolution Point The Tower Lord smiled genially up at the stage after his bid. It was the same dame smile he had worn since coming into the auction room. No one replied to the bid at first. Ray figured that, like him, they were all a bit stunned really. The Tower Lord had entered the room saying that he didn¡¯t want to interrupt proceedings, yet he had done that as soon as Ray and his team had started off their auction. He had ground the whole thing to a halt. With just one simple action that wasn¡¯t even really against the rules. While no one actually said anything after the bid, they were still reacting of course. Several auctioneers shifted uncomfortably. A lot of them looked like they something to say, most likely holding their bids at the tip of their tongues. But the Tower Lord¡¯s bid had been high and no one dared to go against him. A real messed up situation. At least the organizer eventually acted. ¡°Well, that is a magnificent starting to bid.¡± He smiled at all the auctioneers, after receiving an almost imperceptible nod from the Tower Lord to proceed as normal. ¡°Does anyone dare to raise a higher offer? Are two hundred Mana pearls the true worth of what our third team has to offer?¡± There were no more bids. Ray swallowed. While 200 pearls weren¡¯t a huge loss, it was still less than half of what Sameer¡¯s team had left with. Ideally, he wated to earn at least over 300. But if no one spoke up, 200 was the best would get. ¡°No?¡± the organizer said. ¡°No more bids?¡± ¡°We believe that our treasures are worth more!¡± Marcus said all of a sudden. ¡°The ability of the crystal to protect yourself no matter what you¡¯re hit with, the ability of the Carver to place that skill on anything you want.¡± He splayed his hand. ¡°That¡¯s incredible!¡± Several people glared at him. It wasn¡¯t just the fact that they were angry they couldn¡¯t bid and go against the Tower Lord. Marcus, and anyone else from the team, weren¡¯t supposed to speak up during the bidding phase. They¡¯d already had their chance to show off during the presentation. Now, it was time for the organizer to conduct the bidding process. But Ray was glad that Marcus had spoken up. Because he agreed. Their work, their treasures, were worth more. So, Ray sent out his will to the first Imitator construct waiting for his signal among the crowd of auctioneers. The fake Kredevel rose to his feet and cleared his throat. ¡°Three hundred Mana pearls.¡± Another round of shock naturally passed through the entire crowd. Everyone was surprised that not only had someone dared to stand against the Tower Lord, but that it was a Sylvan who had done it. The Tower Lord, credit to him, never lost his cool or that ever-pleasant smile of his. ¡°Three hundred and ten mana pearls.¡± ¡°Well.¡± The organizer laughed a little nervously. ¡°It seems we are having an unprecedented little showdown. Are there any further bids?¡± He sounded like he really wished there would be no further bids. Unfortunately for him, Ray had another Imitator construct waiting in the wings. Though, this one was going to be even weirder, if he was being honest. Fake Maya got to her feet and said, ¡°Four hundred Mana pearls.¡± Another round of shock. Honestly, at this point, Ray had to push down the temptation to laugh. The way everyone stared with google-eyed expressions at a human putting forth such a huge bid in the auction. An unknown human at that to boot. It wasn¡¯t like fake Maya was a known face who had won her own dungeons in the Immortalizer tournament. Even Gritty and Marcus looked a little troubled. Was Ray pushing things too much? What if the Tower Lord called their bluff? What if there were no more bids after this and they were found out¡ª ¡°Five hundred Mana pearls,¡± the Tower Lord said. Ray smiled back at the tattooed Sylvan. Was he detecting the tiniest hint of forcedness in the Tower Lord¡¯s smile and voice? The first hint that he was annoyed, that he was being pushed in a direction he really didn¡¯t want to go? Whatever it was, Ray didn¡¯t really care. He had achieved his objective. Although, it was concerning just how much the Tower Lord clearly wanted to possess the combination of treasures that Ray possessed. There had to be a strong reason for it, and Ray figured there was something about the flesh aspect of the crystal that had made the Lord go for it so hard. Something to do with the Fleshcrafter that the Sylvans in the Tower were aligned with. In other words, Ray had to be careful. While he wanted to win the auction and help himself get stronger via it, he also knew that handing his enemies exactly what they wanted wasn¡¯t ideal. Though, first, he¡¯d need to find out what exactly the Sylvans planned with the flesh-studded crystal. Somehow. ¡°Since there are no further bids,¡± the organizer said, partly relieved and partly hopeful that no one would dare to interrupt him. ¡°We will conclude the auction here. The team of Ray, Gritty, and Marcus have sold their combined two treasures for a whopping five hundred Mana pearls!¡± There were a lot of murmurs running through the crowd. It was definitely a weird auction. Ray didn¡¯t wait for anything further to go weird. Weird could very easily become wrong. It was time to get out and claim everything he and his team had earned. Plus, he kind of wanted to see the look on Sameer¡¯s face, though he could already guess what it¡¯d be like. Oh, yes. As soon as he followed Marcus back into the side room, Sameer tried to leap at Ray. Anger had turned his head red as a tomato, veins bulging and pulsing on his neck and forehead. Thankfully, Karkatrix had a many-armed grip on his teammate to restrain him. ¡°Bully for me,¡± Ray said, grinning as he walked past. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right!¡± Sameer spat. ¡°Bullies like you only win when things are unfair, when you cheat and take advantage of nepotism, because you know that on a level playing field, you would fucking die!¡± Before Ray could say anything, it was Gritty who spoke up. ¡°Will you just shut the fuck up?¡± Gritty said. ¡°It already sucks that you¡¯re an asshole, but you have to be a sore loser too? Why don¡¯t you try winning instead of crying like a little bitch all the time, you snivelling punk?¡± She stalked off. Her snapping words had actually shut up momentarily Sameer, who looked like he was too stuck in some combination of apoplectic anger and disbelief to reply. Ray decided to take advantage of the opportunity and make his exit with Marcus. He breathed a sigh of relief once he was outside. Then he exchanged grins with Marcus and Gritty. ¡°We did it,¡± Ray said. He laughed. ¡°We actually beat all of them!¡± Marcus smiled widely. The excitement of the auction was still in his eyes. ¡°I can¡¯t believe that plan worked.¡± He lowered his voice. ¡°The fluffer idea was brilliant.¡± ¡°I mean,¡± Gritty said, looking at them both conspiratorially. ¡°We had the Tower Lord himself bidding on our stuff. Of course we were going to win.¡±A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. With triumph soaring in their hearts, the three of them headed to the auction office to claim their winnings. Apparently, team Albatross had already left after taking their spoils. At the office, they were welcomed by the accountant Sylvans with congratulatory smiles. The three of them decided to split the winnings such that Ray got 200 Mana pearls, while Gritty and Marcus each got 150. Ray was grateful both his friends were okay with getting an equal amount, which was also lower than his own. He resolved to spend the extra 50 on them. Not that they discussed what they would be doing with the Mana pearls. Marcus looked down at where his sleeve and arm ended abruptly, so Ray had a decent idea of what he was going for. Gritty was more of a mystery. What Ray wanted most of all, however, were more training crystals. It was their most reliable way of levelling up in their current circumstances. The other two agreed about getting more training crystal as well, although, they weren¡¯t as keen as he was. Nevertheless, they decided to contact the guy and get a hold of several crystals with their newfound funds, along with paying him back for the ones they borrowed, of course. Lyvanse still wouldn¡¯t take off his hood for them, despite having already conducted business once. ¡°Congratulations on your resounding auction success.¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be congratulating yourself too?¡± Ray asked. Lyvanse laughed. ¡°I suppose your success does mean we can continue our deal.¡± Marcus gave up the required number of Mana pearls to get a bunch of training crystals from the Sylvan. They didn¡¯t hesitate to spend any of it. ¡°Say,¡± Ray said before leaving now that their deal was concluded. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t happen to know why the Tower Lord was so determined to get his hands on our treasure, would you?¡± He didn¡¯t need to explain what exactly the treasures were. If Lyvanse knew about Ray¡¯s victory, it was pretty much a given he knew exactly what had been sold and how much they had sold for. Lyvanse¡¯s face darkened. ¡°They seek flesh. I assumed you of all people knew that already.¡± Huh. So Lyvanse had looked into Ray¡¯s past, one way or another. And he was familiar with the Sylvan administration¡¯s ultimate goal in the Tower of Forging as well. All helpful info that Ray catalogued in the back of his mind. ¡°I was just curious how much you knew,¡± Ray admitted. The Sylvan smiled briefly before turning to leave. ¡°Be careful what you get mixed up in, Raymond. And if you do, always keep your eyes peeled.¡± ¡°For what?¡± ¡°Why, for the unexpected, of course.¡± With that cryptic little message, Lyvanse left them with a chunk of training crystals. Shaking his head, Ray parted from the rest of his team and headed to their hotel to start working with the crystals immediately. Marcus and Gritty had other priorities, apparently. Back in his hotel room, Ray got ready. It was a good thing that the crystals transported him into a different space to reenact his memories. He could go all out without worrying. Like before, Ray used Mottling Spiritguard on the crystal. As soon as the sparking orb of chaos connected with his target, he was sucked into another dimension. This time, Ray hunted through the chamber with the mirror walls until he found the specific one he was looking for¡ªthe Lostcaller. Or rather, the first time he had fought the monster on one of those gigantic spires on the Second Floor. Ray grinned, diving into the memory to re-engage a powered-up version of the monster in battle. It was hard to tell how much time passed within the crystal space, but Ray didn¡¯t stop until he had broken down all the mirrors within and the crystal spit him back out into the real world. He ignored the fact that it had grown much darker. Because a notification had lit up, his eyes fixed on a few specific words. [Level Up!] Reward
  • +5 Intellect, +5 Spirit, +2 Vitality +2 Agility, +10 allocatable free stats.
  • 1 Class Evolution Point
Essence to Level 51: 13,840/262,000 Yes. It was finally time for his class evolution. He almost hesitated. It felt like it had been a long while since his last class evolution. So long that he was almost afraid to see what options he¡¯d get. But unable to hold himself back any longer, Ray took a look at what Ascension Class options he could evolve into. [Class Evolution] Light Sovereign [Tier 5] [Mythic] The brilliance of light is your ally, and the shifting mirror of reality is your domain. You can manifest the reflection of anything in your surroundings, mimicking its abilities and transforming the very nature of your existence. Nothing escapes your gaze.
  • + 60 Intellect, +40 Spirit, +20 Vitality, +10 Agility
  • Direct access to Light Mana and Mimic Mana.
  • All creations using Mimic Mana are raised by 2 Tiers.
  • All light can be converted into Light Mana.
  • Prioritized: Offensive and Utility spells.
  • Perk: Translucence [Partial phased existence means all physical damage and most magic damage is reduced by 30%].
  • Starting Spells: Light Mimicry [Utility], Darkshine [Offensive]
Chaos Harbinger [Tier 5] [Mythic] Embrace the pandemonium that churns beneath the fabric of existence. You are a living conduit for the unpredictable forces of the universe, bending the rules of reality itself. What is certainty to others is but a fleeting illusion to you.
  • + 70 Intellect, +30 Spirit, +20 Vitality, +15 Resilience
  • Direct access to Crucible Mana.
  • All damage inflicted incorporates a chaotic element.
  • Integrate 10% of all non-physical damage received into a chaotic element that can then be wielded.
  • Prioritized: Offensive and Buffing spells
  • Perk: Affinity Mastery [Mastery over chaos grants mastery over multiple Mana variants, doubling Mana core capacity]
  • Starting Spells: Chaos Field [Utility], Darkshine [Offensive]
Lifeweaver Exarch [Tier 5] [Mythic] Command the ancient currents of cyclical time and the weave of creation itself. As an Exarch, you transcend the limits of mortal understanding, drawing on the primal energies of life and death. You stand as the living embodiment of nature¡¯s balance, a guardian of existence whose every breath shapes the fate of the world.
  • + 50 Intellect, +60 Spirit, +30 Vitality
  • Direct access to Aeon Mana
  • Assimilate abilities as well as stats and other innate physiological functions of summons.
  • Presence of both life and death in your vicinity improves all spell damage and all stats.
  • Prioritized: Offensive, Summoning, and Utility spells
  • Perk: Reversion Charge [All spells can be imbued with Aeon Mana to temporally revert them to a prior state]
  • Starting Spells: Life Cycle [Utility], Aeon Surge [Offensive]
Please select the evolution for your Ascension Class. Ray stared for a moment, then laughed out loud. Yes, finally. He had his class evolution in front of him. All he needed to do now was make his choice. He looked over all his options again, carefully going through them and trying to compare what he had been offered. It was nice he wasn¡¯t pressed for time just that moment. He had needed to be very fast during his first one thanks to having to deal with the Floor Lord. Thankfully, there was no such issue now. Instead, Ray could take his time. The choices were all good, honestly. Though, strangely, they were all at the same Tier and rarity. What was more interesting were the different themes he had gotten. One was clearly influenced by all the times he had used Mimic Mana via Lifeblood Soulform. The next was apparently chaos itself. And finally, the last option sounded like a direct upgrade of what he was already capable of doing but with some potential time shenanigans going on? Ray wasn¡¯t quite sure. He resolved to look at each possibility deeper. Light Mana¡­ didn¡¯t tell him a lot. Would he get cool laser powers? Or was it more illusion and trickery based? It was difficult to tell. At least it was open about offering Mimic Mana directly. The perk was also incredible. He could be partially not present? As in, could he phase his hand through things? It was, frankly, an amazing prospect. Whether that was what would actually happen was the main question. Plus, he already had an effective teleportation spell and a phasing spell with Spectral Step and Project Presence. Did he really need phasing specifically? Chaos Harbinger felt much more straightforward compared to his other options. That didn¡¯t mean it was bad, however. After all, if he was reading right, he would be getting access to other a bunch of other elements. Chaos would be literal. Ray was imagining throwing out fire and lightning from both his hands at the same time, perhaps calling up other, more esoteric elements like how the Lord of the Second Floor had manifested the cosmos itself. He just wasn¡¯t sure how exactly the other elements were supposed to come into play. It was interesting how the perk would create extra Mana slots in his Mana Core. But again, was that even needed? He had gained a second slot and placed Origin Mana within. And while it was powerful when he found opportunities to use it, he wasn¡¯t sure he wanted to add several more Mana variants on top of the Crucible Mana he would get access to. Though, speaking of, he was interested in finding out what exactly Crucible Mana could offer him. How was it different from what he was already doing despite not channelling that Mana directly? And last but not least, there was Lifeweaver Exarch. Aeon Mana sounded like some kind of time-manipulating Mana. Could he do whatever craziness Eliza was capable of? That sounded too far-fetched, but there were a lot of other possibilities. Especially, if he read deeper, it sounded like something to do with cycles. Life and death. All in all, it sounded vaguer than his other options, but also, potentially more powerful too. At least in a way he couldn¡¯t already access via the spells and skills he had at the moment. Plus, it was the only one that focused on three different spell types instead of two. Ray closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Alright. It was time to decide. B3 Chapter 19 (150): Tier 35 Dungeon When Ray selected his option, the change was immediate. New energy possessed him. It came from both outside, from the world around him, and from within him as well, bubbling out of his Mana Core like it had turned into a boiling cauldron. Ray blinked as his sight changed. Colours bloomed everywhere and nowhere. The walls turned from simple beige to lurid green and blinding pink. A sheen of silver covered the carpet, making him squint at how bright it was. They didn¡¯t stay constant. Reds turned blue, impenetrable blacks became radiant white, and so on. Chromatic lines outlined everything, highlighting every object in his sight as though his mind wanted to impress upon him that they were all different. Separate. Ray would probably have gotten sick and the changes normally, but honestly, he couldn¡¯t even feel his body at that moment. It was almost like an out-of-body experience. So weird. By the time the changes stopped, he was shivering on the floor, almost curled into a foetal position. Ray wasn¡¯t one to believe in higher powers, but he couldn¡¯t help but bless whatever might exist beyond his comprehension that everything had stopped trying to gouge his brain out of his skull via sheer, overwhelming sensations. At least he hadn¡¯t vomited out the little food he¡¯d had today. Notifications blurred through his sight. It was enormously difficult to focus on them. Registering them enough to actually read what they said made Ray¡¯s head feel as though it was splitting apart. He gave up on going through them for now. They¡¯d be there for him once he was through the ordeal. It was a while before he got to his unsteady feet. Everything was just a little bit different enough to set him on edge. Ray had heard how everything in the world looked a little off to short sighted people when they were adjusting to new glasses. Pretty much the same deal for him. There was a certain expressiveness to everything he beheld now, as though a part of him was aware of them in an extra dimension he hadn¡¯t even known existed before that moment. Calling it weird didn¡¯t even begin to cover the feeling. If he really squinted, he felt like the chromatic outlines that had edged everything when the colours had gone wild were still present a little bit. Like he was seeing the bed, the chair, the walls, the door, everything really twice. Their real, physical form was superseded by the faintest of multihued, ghostly versions of themselves. Ray shook his head. Hopefully, he would get used to the sensations soon. Although, the strange changes were actually a good sign, now that he thought about it. There hadn¡¯t been this intense a reaction the first time he had undergone a class evolution back on the First Floor. That it had happened now was just proof that he had undergone a massive change. Proof that he had new power as a Lifeweaver Exarch. Now that he had his mind back, mostly, Ray was able to go through all the notifications he had dismissed earlier. [Class Evolution] Stat boosts have been applied. Spiritual realignment has been configured. [Legendary] Path has been accounted for. Mana Core has attained Aeon Mana. Soulstrike [Tier 5] >>> Timereave [Tier 7] Spiritsorb [Tier 3] >>> Aeon Devour [Tier 5] Primordial Gauge [Tier 5] >>> Eternal Pulse [Tier 7] Primal Spiritcraft [Tier 6] >>> Aetheric Trace [Tier 10] Lifeblood Graveyard [Tier 14] >>> Infinity Mausoleum [Tier 16] Mottling Spiritguard [Tier 6] >>> Mottling Aeonguard [Tier 9] Soullife Cloak [Tier 6] >>> Time Veil [Tier 9] Lifeblood Soulform [Tier 6] >>> Resurrect Recollect [Tier 9] Spectral Step [Tier 5] >>> Temporal Passage [Tier 7] Project Presence [Tier 5] >>> Aeon Flow [Tier 7] Anima Charybdis [Tier 6] >>> Eternal Gravity [Tier 9] Spiritscourge Chain [Tier 6] >>> Time Link [Tier 9] Soulsurge Field [Tier 6] >>> Momentous Domain [Tier 9] New Spell: Life Cycle [Utility] [Tier 10] New Skill: Aeon Surge [Offensive] [Tier 10] It was honestly rather nice how all the notifications didn¡¯t completely disappear. His eagerness had never really let him push them away to check them later, and they had an unerring penchant of only appearing when he was free enough to go through them. As such, Ray never really needed to push them away to go through them later. Ray appreciated the changes. He was about to go out and test them directly, but then, he got a message he couldn¡¯t ignore. Gritty: They set the new dungeon dates, did you see? Ray: New dungeon dates? Wait, you mean the higher Tier ones? Gritty: Yep! Go check the channel. Ray quickly pulled away from the System chat and found the channel she mentioned, the one that listed all the dungeons in the Immortalizer Tournament and when to reach them. It said the second and third strongest dungeons were now available. And they¡¯d both be active at the exact time. Ray: Ah, shit. Gritty: YEP! Wily bastards don¡¯t want the same people to win both dungeons. Ray: Of course. They have to make sure no one¡¯s a clear winner until the last dungeon is conquered. Pretty smart, now that I think about it, since we can only go to one dungeon at a time. Gritty: Fuckers. As much as Ray was annoyed by it, he was also rather impressed by the decision. But it also made things tense for him because now they had to decide, and fast. Ray: They¡¯re both going tomorrow. We need to make up our minds and pick one, making sure we¡¯re ready by tomorrow too. Did you tell Marcus yet? Gritty: Course not. You think I¡¯d poke him first? Ray: Lol, I guess not. Gritty: I can almost see that smirk on your face, wingman. Stop smirking and start figuring out which one is the better one. Well, that did cut off his smirk. She had a point. They couldn¡¯t just blindly decide that the stronger dungeon was the better option. There wasn¡¯t much difference between a Tier 35 and a Tier 34 dungeon. Ray: Alright, I¡¯ll talk to you later. See if you can find anything, and tell Marcus too, would you? They cut off the call for now. Ray stood silent for a moment. So much for testing out his new spells and abilities.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Focus. First thing Ray did was call up Sridayne. She ended up saying that she had received the information only recently, just as he had. Plus, no one else had any intelligence about either of the dungeons, at least not from her sources, so she wasn¡¯t fully certain she could offer him anything even if she got some time. Sridayne: Unless¡­ Ray: What? I¡¯m ready to take pretty much anything, honestly. Sridayne: Well, remember the interview you did for us before the auction? The little teaser that we have been doling out to other broadcasters? Well, it has been selling rather well since your little¡­ achievement at the auction. Suffice it to say, you and your team are in high demand. Honestly, Ray wasn¡¯t surprised. He had just conveniently forgotten a bit about the social aspect of his accomplishments at the tournament, thanks to Sridayne handling it all. That he hadn¡¯t been approached by any other broadcasters yet was a bit surprising, but he supposed it hadn¡¯t even been a day since the auction. Ray: That¡¯s cool to know, but how does it relate to the info about the dungeon? Sridayne: Well, I imagine I could start cutting some corners about who I sell your interview to, in exchange for some verifiable information about the dungeons. Ray: How would you verify something like that? Sridayne: We wouldn¡¯t. We cannot. However, YOU can when you actually choose a dungeon based on the information you find, and you can deem the information accurate. Ray: Hmm, you sure? Wouldn¡¯t that require you to, Idk, get some kind of credit or have one party in the trade put more trust in the other? Sridayne: It will. But we have few options. Are you up to it? Ray: You said it yourself. We¡¯ve got no other options, as far as I can think up right now. If anyone knows anything, even any hints about which dungeon might offer more, I¡¯m all for it. Sridayne: It is settled then. I will proceed with the plan. Ray: Thanks. You¡¯re a life saver. One last thing, though. Do you think you can find out what exactly the Tower Lord was doing at the auction? There was no response from Sridayne for a good, long moment. Ray realized he had never really asked the broadcaster where she exactly stood with regards to the Tower of Forging¡¯s administration. He had thought that she wasn¡¯t really aligned with them in any way. After all, the Floor Lord of the Third Floor had made his enmity against Ray rather publicly clear, and Sridayne continued to work with him regardless of that fact. But still. Asking her to spy on the Tower Lord, to take any action that was so directly against them¡­ Sridayne: I will try, although I will warn you, I might not be able to discover much, Ray breathed out a sigh of relief. Ray: I¡¯ll be happy with whatever morsels you can feed me. They parted for now. Ray intended to see if he could exhaust other means of finding out anything about the dungeons, though he wasn¡¯t sure how. There were no records of anyone else going through those dungeons. ¡°So, the stronger one it is then, huh?¡± Gritty said the next day. Ray wanted to nod with more surety than he felt, but he couldn¡¯t really muster up the requisite feeling. ¡°Hey, at least our top competitors feel the same way. Although, I wonder how many of them know there¡¯s a Tower Node inside this dungeon¡­¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know it, either,¡± Marcus said. He was technically right. While that was the information they had received from Sridayne, they would need to verify it. By exploring and conquering the dungeon. Ray looked to his left and right. The teams he spotted at the other entrances to the Tier 35 dungeon were more than familiar to him now. To his right, Sameer and his teammates were waiting for the signal to start the dungeon foray. While Eliza and Karkatrix were both focused on the large crack in the ground they were supposed to drop into, Sameer kept throwing hateful glances at Ray. Gritty was right. That guy really was a terribly sore loser. On the left, the team who had won the strongest dungeon yet looked almost relaxed as they awaited the signal. The big boulder-alien¡ªor rather, a Galiant, as Ray had finally learned they were called¡ªthe Sylvan and the human all stood a little apart, ignoring everyone else. Ray frowned at them. Honestly, they were a little weird. He had a hard time believing they could work together well enough to successfully conquer strong dungeons when they seemed so aloof. Even Sameer¡¯s team had a lot more camaraderie and chemistry between them than those three. What was their deal? ¡°I suppose,¡± Marcus said. ¡°If they¡¯re here, the worst that can happen is that we all will suffer a major setback and won¡¯t make much progress in the tournament.¡± Gritty shook her head in disagreement. ¡°This is a Tier 35 dungeon. The second strongest one available to us in the entire tournament. I¡¯ve got a feeling someone is going to come out on top, one way or another.¡± ¡°Well¡­ not if we¡¯re all woefully underprepared and end up dying.¡± Ray snorted. His eyes drifted back to Team Albatross. ¡°Somehow, I doubt we¡¯re all going to die, no matter what we face.¡± The organizer at the back was finally done announcing the dungeon and hyping up all the competitors for the benefit of the audience, both those who were present in person and those watching over broadcasts. ¡°Without further ado, let us now begin!¡± his voice echoed in from behind. ¡°Competitors! You may now enter and claim the dungeon as yours!¡± Ray exchanged quick glances with his teammates. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± They nodded back as they entered the dungeon. Like the others, they too needed to fall into a huge crack. The dungeon wasn¡¯t a system of caves and tunnels, or even an old, ruined structure. Instead, it was a valley that stretched out in the distance, one that could only be entered via canyons. Ray¡¯s team joined the others in quickly reaching the bottom of each of their chosen canyons. The canyon floors were hundreds of feet deep. Thankfully, the ability to fly wasn¡¯t necessary. The entryway was basically a sloped ramp of dirt, so all they had to do was step forward and keep their centre of gravity low as they slid forwards to the bottom of the canyon. As they entered, a notification brought up the dungeon¡¯s description. [Eternal Pulse¡ªDungeon] Vine-Choked Valley [Tier 35] When a god falls, the ascendant corpse will often flower parasites that feed on the divine. But a god is eternal. As such, the vines that eat on the divinity¡¯s body will never run out of energy, and with boundless energy comes endless growth¡­ and the power to trap and hold all that strays into its clutches. Well, that was certainly an ominous little description. It didn¡¯t state anything about conquering the dungeon. Ray didn¡¯t fail to note that it was Eternal Pulse bringing up the description instead of Primordial Gauge he used to have. At the end of their little trip, Ray did use his wings to soften the landing. Soaring Wings brought up spectral, spiky feathers on his back, allowing him to float and land with ease. Unlike Gritty, who had to roll to slow herself, or like Marcus, who slumped face first into the dirt. ¡°This place is¡­ creepy,¡± Gritty said. She was the last person Ray would ever expect to admit that anything got to her, so her admission spooked him a little. Especially because he felt it too. The dungeon was creepy. Around them, the canyon walls seemed to reach far, far higher than they had fallen. Some sort of optical illusion made it feel as though the canyon walls were closer at the top, reducing the light entering the bottom, making it feel as though they were entering tunnels. ¡°What¡¯s with the walls?¡± Marcus muttered. Ray frowned. The walls were crawling with vines that looked so petrified, they could have been carved from stone from the get-go. But that wasn¡¯t the bad part. Upon closer inspection, Ray found that the vines were populated with corpses. Everything from small animals to gigantic monsters were trapped in poses of death and surrender. Petrified just like the vines themselves. Frozen in eternal expressions of horror. ¡°We should probably get a move on,¡± Ray said. ¡°But keep an eye out.¡± Ray followed his own advice as they got moving. Eternal Pulse didn¡¯t give him any warnings yet, although he was pretty certain something would come up before long. ¡°Where are we headed?¡± Marcus asked. ¡°The centre,¡± Ray said. ¡°Where we get this weird valley. I¡¯m going to assume that¡¯s where the boss is. Hopefully, we don¡¯t get too many obs¡ª¡± Gritty interjected, and the tone of her voice made Ray¡¯s spine tingle with a cold shiver. ¡°Anybody else see that?¡± ¡°See what?¡± ¡°The vines. They moved.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Ray was going to say something stupid like impossible, but considering he could summon draconic heads that could fly on their own and fire off laser breaths, he stopped himself. Instead, he kept his eyes more open and alert. This was a Tier 35 dungeon. They¡¯d do well to stay on their toes. They reached a bend in the canyon after a while. At that point, they could see further into the dungeon, where the canyon sloped down further and opened up the valley. It was difficult to make out much. The entire dungeon was choked with those petrified vines, which appeared to grow larger the deeper they went. But at the centre, the vines couldn¡¯t keep the lurid blue and red light from seeping out through the cracks. Ray wasn¡¯t the only one sure that they would find the treasure they were seeking there. But unlike Ray and Marcus who were both staring at what was coming up, Gritty was still keeping her eye on their more immediate surroundings. Probably explained why was the one to curse loudly. ¡°Shit, it¡¯s not just the vines that are moving.¡± The alarm in her voice made Ray turn. He froze. Gritty was way more than just right. The vines themselves were continuing to slither like stone snakes, but their captives were starting to move now as well. One captive in particular. Ray didn¡¯t recognize all the creatures trapped and frozen in the stony vines¡¯ embrace. He didn¡¯t know the creature moving either. What he did know was that it definitely wasn¡¯t good news. The monster was a hulking, demonic amalgamation of multiple dead creatures, all turned to stone like they had gazed into Medusa¡¯s eyes. Its general shape was somewhat humanoid, with recognizable arms and legs and head. It just had all those other petrified carcasses strapped to it like malformed growths. Eternal Pulse was acting up. It had lain dormant so far, even with all the vines acting up around them. But now, it was finally firing up. [Eternal Pulse] Depthless Gargoyle [Monster] [Tier 31] [Level 64] The vines of the Vine-Choked Valley employ the remnants of their prey to drive out trespassers or capture more troublesome prey. Empowered by the dead god that the vines cradle at the centre, the Depthless Gargoyles can draw on a wellspring of strength that seems endless. Skills: Remnant Body [Tier 29]: Draw on the powers of all other trapped remnants, channelling their attributes. From increased strength to enhanced speed to even channelling the elements of the world. At Tier 29, channel up to 29 different remnants at once. Parasitic Growth [Tier 27]: Embed stony parasites in the world around you to ensure you never lack for power. Number of parasites thrown out depends on the Tier. Indomitable [Tier 20]: Your internal framework never shatters, so long as you have some skin covering you. Ensures protection up to Tier 20 attacks. Greater Reach [Tier 30]: Increase your reach and force the world to obey your will, simply with your touch. At Tier 30, your reach can go up to 30 meters. Stone Storm [Tier 28]: Break apart your body to become a ripping storm that shreds everything caught in your reach. At Tier 28, Stone Storm rages in a radius of 28 meters around you. ¡°That thing¡¯s not good news,¡± Marcus said, swallowing a little. ¡°We can take it,¡± Ray said. As though the monster had heard him, it opened its stone jaws wide and bellowed out a grinding roar. A clear challenge, and threat, if Ray had ever heard one. Then it rushed across the ground at a blinding speed to attack. B3 Chapter 20 (151): Depthless Gargoyle Ray and the rest of his teammates all quickly dashed out of the way as the Gargoyle barrelled at them. The monster was fast due to the sheer high level it possessed, but it was still a hulking stone behemoth. One that was constricted by petrified vines and had the least aerodynamic form of any creature possible. So, even with the ton of power and speed it possessed, it didn¡¯t manage to hit any of them with a direct charge. But the narrow canyon corridor was going to make things difficult. Something the Gargoyle was determined to take advantage of. Its body started cracking and flaking apart, bits and pieces of it starting to storm around it. Storm¡­ ¡°Watch out!¡± Ray shouted. He didn¡¯t know if the others had seen the entire list of abilities the creature possessed, but it didn¡¯t hurt to warn them. ¡°That thing¡¯s going to blow!¡± While Ray and Marcus were able to get even farther back, the canyon¡¯s narrowness posed a strong problem for Gritty. She was backed up against the wall. The Gargoyle had essentially cornered her. Thankfully, Marcus cast a spell that enveloped her in a golden barrier. Gritty had her own defensive abilities too. Together, they were a powerful enough bulwark against the storm of stony shrapnel that the monster unleashed. Ray was a little too busy with using his own ability to notice how effective Gritty¡¯s defences were, but he was satisfied that he didn¡¯t hear anything too dangerous from her. As for his own spell, Mottling Aeonguard was a lot strange than Mottling Spiritguard had been. Spiritguard created sparking orbs of chaos that he could reshape into whatever form would be the most effective for a given purpose. That was why Ray could configure it into either defensive or offensive forms. Aeonguard maintained the same ability of shaping the orbs however Ray saw fit. But in addition to that, they were now a deep blue, one that was almost black, instead of the mix of black and red they had been before. Ray understood it was entirely different Mana empowering the spell now. Aeon Mana. Ray expanded one of the Aeonguard orbs as the storm of stony shrapnel rushed at him. The broken chunks of rocks passed into the orb and then slowed to a stop, as though it was made of molasses. He grinned. There. Just as he had known, there was a time element to Aeon Mana. Good thing he had squeezed in a read of his new spell descriptions before coming to the dungeon island. The stones didn¡¯t simply remain frozen in place, though. As Ray pushed out more of the Aeonguard orbs, which started combining into a huge blob in front of him, the concentration of Aeon Mana increased. This made the broken stones start to coagulate, slowly reforming into a recognizable shape. That of their aggressor, the Depthless Gargoyle itself. Ray swallowed a little as he found he could exert some control over the newly created half-Gargoyle. The Aeonguard had only been able to create one leg, but even that was enough to make the monster inside its blue depths turn around. As Stone Storm came to an end and the real Gargoyle faced the imposter version inside the huge Aeonguard orb, Ray quickly rechecked the spell¡¯s description. [Information Request¡ªSpells] Mottling Aeonguard [Barrier] [Tier 9] A barrier spell that erects a shield of temporal energy around the caster in a radius of 9 meters. All damage slows to a stop within the spell¡¯s vicinity, and further concentration of Mana allows any matter within the spell¡¯s vicinity to revert to its original form. At Tier 9, this spell blocks up to Tier 12 attacks, but can be concentrated to block even higher Tiers, and costs 400 Aeon Mana. Yes, there was the confirmation. He could not only block anything from reaching him, but he could also manipulate the cycle of anything caught within the spell itself. Ray tried to control it further, forcing the spell itself to rush at the real Gargoyle. The deep blue orb and the stone monster it contained grinded forward. But they failed to even reach their target. The Depthless Gargoyle roared out. A storm of petrified vines ripped away from the canyon walls, letting loose a violent, rocky avalanche that forced Ray, Marcus, and Gritty to get away from the walls. Worse than that, the vines acted so fast that they crushed the fake Gargoyle inside Ray¡¯s Aeonguard. He frowned. Why hadn¡¯t the vines been stopped by the spell? When he looked closer, trying to pierce through the veil of dust, he found that a lot of the vines had indeed shattered apart. Hmm. Could it be the level difference between them? Or rather, it had to be the Tier difference between their respective abilities. The monster had access to Tier 20 and above skills. Ray¡¯s Aeonguard was at Tier 9. Of course it was going to struggle to stop everything. But that was where the concentration could come into play. If he pushed in enough Aeon Mana, he could survive. He could win. Marcus: Gritty, get back on this side! Gritty: Why? So we can all die together? Marcus: That thing¡¯s too strong. We need to combine our defences to hold it back. She didn¡¯t argue against that. Good plan by Marcus. Ray himself would have considered it, but he was still trying to figure out how to fight back against the Gargoyle instead of just standing on the back foot. He had to focus on winning, not just on exploring his new spells. As Gritty tried to slip past the monster, it roared again. This time, Tectonic Reach came into play. Glowing white cracks spread everywhere. Ray and the others shook where they stood¡ªor moved, as was the case with Gritty¡ªalong with the entire canyon around them. ¡°I don¡¯t like this!¡± Marcus shouted over the horrific fracturing. ¡°Just amp up your defences!¡± Ray said. He was about to cast a series of spells to follow his own directive, but a new idea popped into his head. Just as the monster detonated its ability, Ray used Temporal Passage. The spell worked just as he had envisioned it would. The world flashed with those chromatic outlines everywhere and Ray moved instantly. He didn¡¯t really get to pick his direction as he would have with Spectral Step by sending out his summons everywhere. Instead, he reappeared where he had been moments ago. In a safe spot, just a few feet behind and to the left of the Gargoyle. As its description had stated, Temporal Step would teleport him to wherever he himself had been. Neat. Ray didn¡¯t waste a second. A part of him was worried about whether Marcus and Gritty were making it alive through that huge explosion Tectonic Reach had set off. But he knew he couldn¡¯t let go of this chance. So, Ray unleashed his own spells to attack. His go to was using Lifeblood Soulform to create the flying Windbane heads to belch out their devastation, along with Primal Spiritcraft to do the same from his own hand.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. The spells were different now. Resurrect Recollect did create the spectral maws as before, a deep blue instead of a dark crimson. But Ray would never not recognize the furious maw brimming with flames that came to life. He would never not be delighted at the way it immediately attacked his target. There was just a small difference this time. It wasn¡¯t just the winged head that appeared. There was a faint outline of something more, trailing out of the back of the head like a ghost. Ray frowned. He focused his Mana more, pushing more Aeon Mana into the spell just as the maw yawned and blasted out a stream of temporal energy. The attack didn¡¯t have much of an effect on the Gargoyle. It was just too strong. The stony skin cracked but didn¡¯t shatter, even when the construct continued applying its stream of energy into one spot. Then the Gargoyle roared and countered. Its feet crunched across the ground as it rushed the draconic head down. But it didn¡¯t hit before Ray had finished applying the final touches of his spell. The rest of the construct formed in a split second. A long neck leading to a draconic body, wide wings stretching out from its back, a thick, heavy tail swishing across the ground for stability. It wasn¡¯t just the head that had formed. Ray had recreated the entirety of a Windbane. Wild. Ray really wanted to take the time to determine just how he could do the same with his other constructs. He had the Viledrake tail. Did that mean he would be able to recreate an entire Viledrake? That seemed a little too insane. Or¡­ maybe not. The Gargoyle slammed into the construct with its entire resurrected body. Ray would have thought that the presence of the rest of its form would grant it greater strength, but apparently, it didn¡¯t matter against the Gargoyle. With surprising ease, the monster crushed the construct to motes of sparkling blue energy. Ray cursed. To be fair, his constructs were at Tier 9. Of course they wouldn¡¯t stand a chance against an enemy that strong. Not one on one, at least. Which was why Ray created more of the constructs next, forcing more and more Aeon Mana into them to make them huge and whole. And he didn¡¯t even need to make as many as he thought he might. The one that had been killed was slowly resurrecting, reforming from the dispersed energy back into a single, solid form. Ray shook his head with a smile. Resurrect Recollect was quite an apt name. He did his best to control the constructs to make the battle more efficient. While one attracted the Gargoyle¡¯s attention, the others fell farther back to fire at it from a distance. Slowly but surely, the monster was cracking apart, chunks of it falling off and shattering. They were getting there. But it wasn¡¯t enough. The renewed mass of the constructs made them slower, so they couldn¡¯t evade the Gargoyle as easily. Ray winced as one got caught and was ripped apart. ¡°I got it!¡± Gritty shouted all of a sudden. Somehow, while the Gargoyle had been distracted by the spectral Windbanes, she had leashed their enemy with her blood. Lurid scarlet liquid ran across the Gargoyle¡¯s shoulders and right arm in separate little runnels like tiny snakes, cracking the limb and seeping inside. The Gargoyle roared out as it was forced to stop. Ray¡¯s lips set in a hard line. There. That was the opportunity he needed. While his two remaining constructs continued their barrage, Ray was about to cast his next spells when he found his Mana stores empty. Specifically, his Aeon Mana stores. Crap. A crystal got him back to full capacity, but he had wasted a precious second. With another grinding roar, the Gargoyle simply ripped itself free from the bloody lock Gritty had it under. Sure, that left almost a third of its body still trapped in the blood. But it was free. Free to barrel straight at Ray as though it had determined that he was the biggest threat here. Summoning more constructs didn¡¯t help. The monster charged through them bullishly, so fast that the Windbane maws couldn¡¯t even get their pulsing breaths away. Ray dodged with Temporal Passage, appearing behind the monster again. Good. He could keep repeating the process, cycling between positions whenever one got too dangerous. The Gargoyle turned around with a deafening roar, ready to attack again. Gritty had engaged it directly this time, weaving fast between its huge legs and attacking with more blood that tore off chunks of it. The monster tried to stomp her, at times swiping with its one arm, but she was too small and too fast. ¡°Watch out!¡± came Marcus¡¯s yell. It was a little too late. The canyon shook again, the trembling preceding all the stony vines ripping themselves free to attack Ray and his team. He cast Resurrect Recollect again. A black shell appeared just in front of him, but it didn¡¯t stay as the shell like it always did. Instead, as Ray pushed a little more Aeon Mana into the spell, the Duskshell itself started forming around him. Poor, resurrected monster took the brunt of the Gargoyle¡¯s attacks. All those smashing petrified vines, even the blow from Titanic Reach. The Duskshell took all of it. Keeping Ray perfectly safe. ¡°I¡¯ve got it again!¡± Gritty yelled. She was right. All the bloody punches and jabs she had dealt had caused her glowing crimson blood to coagulate around the Gargoyle¡¯s neck. Ray didn¡¯t know if that thing could even be choked, but it was stationary. Held back, for just a moment, even as it struggled to free itself. His brows scrunched together. He would not let the opportunity slip by him. The series of spells he cast was already familiar. Nothing different from what he had already tried. At first. Resurrect Recollect brought up more Windbane maws flying on their own, their jaws brimming with deep blue fire. Aetheric Trace was next, creating a draconic head around his fist too. Ray conserved his Aeon Mana, not wanting to spend extra when the heads could already do what he needed them to. They fired. He fired. Multiple streams of blue fire, compressed to the consistency of a laser, all shot at the Gargoyle at once. The collision let loose a huge explosion, shaking everything around Ray, including himself. Not that it meant the monster was severely affected. It was attempting to protect itself, crossing its arms before itself. That included the formerly torn off limb too, which had been reattached by the petrified vines. It wasn¡¯t enough, ultimately. The Depthless Gargoyle was just too powerful, a monster that was at a high Tier suited for a Tier 35 dungeon. But Ray wasn¡¯t done. The Gargoyle roared, tearing itself free from the leash Gritty had applied to its neck. It lunged at Ray, despite the wounds, despite the cracks across its body and the chunks that fell off it. Ray disappeared. Temporal Passage took him next to Gritty, who was close to where he had been moments ago. Then, he cast Momentous Domain. A field of blue energy gave birth to a spectral version of the monster where it had been just seconds ago, a ghostly blue representation of its prior temporal state. A state that had been attacked by a half-dozen coruscating, obliterating fiery lasers. As soon as the explosion was done, as soon as the broken and battered time ghost started lunging forward, just like the real one had, it shot into its original version. The Gargoyle screamed as this time it really did start falling apart. Once more, Ray was glad he had squeezed in a read of his spell descriptions before getting into the dungeon. Soulsurge Field hadn¡¯t been something he had used often, but Momentous Domain¡­ Ray shook his head. He was basically reapplying all the damage he had dealt a moment ago. His new spell was cracked. The Depthless Gargoyle was still not dead, but that was fine. Marcus rushed in, his hand glowing. His missing hand. ¡°Time for me to finally step in!¡± he yelled as he shot forward. That statement held nothing helpful or even a warning, but Ray heeded his instinct that told him to fall back. He retreated several feet. Just in time. As the Depthless Gargoyle tried to reform itself from its crushed remains, not dead even now, Marcus struck. His hand, the glowing, missing hand, exploded the second he was within a foot of his target. Ray had thought that the blast from his combined Windbane maw breaths was strong. This was something else. He was forced to close his eyes as searing light covered the entire place, the shockwave from the blast forcing him back several steps. By the time he was blinking his eyes back open, the kill notification had popped up. [Enemy Defeated¡ªDepthless Gargoyle] Tier 31 Monster: Darksign [Level 64] x1 Essence: +19,840 Knowledge: +3 Aeon Mana Restored: +1,984 Essence to Level 51: 33,680/262,000 Knowledge to next Threshold: 2,539/3,500 Ray cleared the dust in front of his face. ¡°I thought you were getting a new hand, Marcus. Not a nuke.¡± Marcus laughed. ¡°I like to call it¡­ my holy hand grenade.¡± Ray stared at him. Gritty joined in the staring. Marcus unflinchingly continued laughing. Shaking his head, Ray turned to the remains of the Depthless Gargoyle. ¡°That thing was tough.¡± ¡°Well, yeah,¡± Gritty said. ¡°It was, what, Tier 31? Fucking nuts.¡± ¡°Right, but the point is we can¡¯t waste so much time on one monster when our real goal is wherever the boss room is.¡± ¡°So we just need to find a way to deal with them quickly.¡± ¡°Using my holy hand grenade!¡± Marcus said with an almost manic grin. Ray stomped down on that idea before it could really take root. ¡°No, we stop fighting them. It¡¯s a waste of time. Or at least, we all don¡¯t need to fight them. Next one that comes up, only one of us is going to stay back and deal with it while the rest of us move on. Got it?¡± Gritty saluted with a bloody hand. ¡°Aye, aye, boss.¡± ¡°No holy hand grenade?¡± Marcus was seriously making puppy dog faces at Ray. Ray sighed. ¡°We¡¯ll see. For now¡­¡± He cast Resurrect Recollect again, giving form to the flying eyeball. ¡°Whoever¡¯s going ahead will need to take that thing with you. Just so we can meet back up quickly.¡± ¡°Oh, I get a pet!¡± Gritty said. ¡°Wait, I can make my own to¡ª¡± The canyon shook hard. So much so that Ray had a hard time not falling over. That was when they spotted the enormous corridors shifting. The petrified vines were literally dragging the cliffsides around to reshape the direction they were supposed to go. ¡°I don¡¯t like this¡­¡± Ray said. Gritty was all serious business now. ¡°Yeah. We should get moving. Let¡¯s go!¡± With their path clear, Ray and the rest of his team hurried forward before the canyon collapsed on them all. B3 Chapter 21 (152): Non-monstrous Foes They rushed forward as fast as they could. Ray had called forth his wings with Aetheric Trace, the spiky feathers glinting with glimmers of deep blue energy. He thought he would have become too fast, but the others were keeping pace. Gritty¡¯s legs were basically a blur and if Marcus ever started lagging behind, he simply leaped forward a few dozen feet to catch up. ¡°Slow down,¡± Gritty warned. She must have sensed the tremors, which Ray hadn¡¯t since he was airborne. But her warning came in good time. The walls began shaking again, the cliffs around them shifting like glaciers fast-forwarded a thousand times. All the petrified vines were restructuring their path. The cliffs¡¯ motion made rocks avalanche around them, and they had to take care to avoid getting crushed. ¡°Anyone else get the feeling we¡¯re being guided to along a specific path?¡± Marcus said after leaping close again. ¡°Like we¡¯re being herded to a trap?¡± ¡°We can still pick the way we want to go if we¡¯re fast enough,¡± Ray said. He scowled. ¡°We just don¡¯t know if that¡¯s the right path.¡± Gritty looked up. The cliffs were closing up around them, and it started at the top, closing up on top to shut off their view of the sky. ¡°You can¡¯t fly that high, can you, wingman?¡± ¡°No¡­¡± Ray considered for a second. Even if the cliffs closed together, they didn¡¯t form an even, fully closed ceiling. There were small gaps between the crushed, uneven rocks. ¡°But I think I know a way we can figure out the right way forward. Why didn¡¯t I think of this already¡­?¡± Shaking his head, Ray summoned up the Socuring Eyeball with Resurrect Recollect. He already had one active, intent on setting it to follow whoever went on to leave the others behind if they encountered any more Depthless Gargoyles. But that was its purpose. He needed a second to act as actual surveillance. So, Ray sent this one shooting straight up. Unfortunately, the dungeon wasn¡¯t cooperative about it. Vines burst out of the walls and shot at the flying eyeball, lashing at it like stony whips. The little construct was good at evading them, its size and speed helping it to evade most whacks by a wide margin. But once it had gone far enough, the density of the vines combined with the falling rocks made dodging difficult. It was no surprise when Ray¡¯s little construct was struck down. ¡°Well, that didn¡¯t work,¡± Gritty said. Ray tutted. ¡°Not yet.¡± He cast Resurrect recollect again, calling up the little eyeball with wings once more. ¡°I was hoping I wouldn¡¯t need to do this¡­¡± The only reason he was regretting it was because of the Mana cost. But there wasn¡¯t much he could do about it. At least both Gritty and Marcus had offered up a bunch of their empty crystals and shards that Ray could slowly fill with Aeon Mana to recharge himself later. He pushed in more Aeon Mana. It worked just as he had hoped. The power behind Ray¡¯s new variant of Mana recreated the rest of the creature that the eyeball had first been taken from. Basically, another Windbane. The spectral wyvern roared, sending a challenge straight up at the storm of petrified vines crisscrossing the sky away from its reach. Then it leaped into the air. ¡°You really weren¡¯t kidding when you said you could summon a whole ass monster, did you?¡± Gritty said. Ray grinned. ¡°I don¡¯t even know the full extent of what I can do yet. But it¡¯s not really summoning. It¡¯s more like¡­ making the summon remember what it used to be.¡± ¡°Same difference.¡± Before Ray could educate Gritty on the finer points of difference between actual summoning and Ray¡¯s little trick that allowed him to essentially get far more powerful constructs without as much cost, the eyeball reached the vines. But this time, it wasn¡¯t just a crazy ocular orb with wings. This time, as Gritty had said, it was a whole ass Windbane. The spectral wyvern yawned its jaws wide and gushed out a furious geyser of deep blue fire. Its targets stood no chance. The vines shattered apart, falling down like tiny little flaming meteors. More of them shot in, pulling off the closing canyon walls to take up the space left by their fallen brethren. But that was where the Windbane¡¯s mass came into play. It smashed into the weakened barrier of vines, half of which were burning or broken, and crashed through like a freight train crushing a shack. With a bit more effort and a few more belches of crushing fire, the eyeball¡ªand the spectral Windbane surrounding it¡ªburst free into the open sky. ¡°I can see!¡± Ray said. He paused, closing his actual eyes and the first Scouring Eyeball to fully take in everything his second construct was showing him. There was a lot. ¡°I¡ªI think I got it. Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°We only have one way to go now,¡± Marcus said. ¡°It took too long.¡± ¡°For now. Now that we¡¯ve got an eye where we need it, we¡¯ll be faster at the next junction.¡± Gitty nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± They hurried through the small and only gap available to them. It was a tight squeeze. The walls were closing in, the vines pulling the cliffsides together. Good thing they were fast. The dungeon tried other methods of stopping their traversal apart from just the walls closing in. Rockfall was a constant worry. Ray and the others had to stay alert for an avalanche landsliding on them, using whatever combination of skills they had at the top of their heads to prevent themselves from being crushed. Worse than that, there were other monsters chasing them. They were similar to the Depthless Gargoyles, all made of stone and combined from the different corpses caught in the petrified vines. Thankfully, they were much smaller and weaker. Ray and the others evaded most by simply outpacing them, though Gritty did occasionally have to take out some that got way too close. ¡°Another one of the big ones up ahead,¡± Ray said. ¡°A Depthless Gargoyle.¡± ¡°How far are we from the centre?¡± Marcus asked. ¡°Uh¡­¡± ¡°You can¡¯t even see it? No way it¡¯s that far.¡± Ray frowned. He wished he could focus only on the sight from the eyeball flying high above them. ¡°There¡¯s something blocking my sight. Some kind of purple energy barrier.¡± ¡°Crap.¡± They didn¡¯t get any time to think about it since they arrived at the next chamberlike zone. The spot where the Depthless Gargoyle was emerging from the wall, its body fusing with all the petrified corpses imprisoned in the stone vines. ¡°Remember the plan,¡± Ray yelled out. Marcus and Gritty nodded. They hadn¡¯t stopped when they had reached the open area. Ray slowed down, but his companions continued hurrying onwards, his first Scouring Eyeball construct keeping up with them. Ray didn¡¯t waste a single second, calling up a flying Windbane skull to attack the Depthless Gargoyle. ¡°Hey ugly!¡± He waved his arms exaggeratedly, spreading his wings wide to make himself look like a bigger threat. ¡°That¡¯s right! Look this way. I¡¯m the real threat. Come and get your ass kicked.¡± He was pretty sure the dumb, half-statue of a monster wasn¡¯t exactly comprehending his taunts. But the acting did work to hold its attention. Especially because it was his spell crackling over its stony skin. It didn¡¯t get the opportunity to even look at Gritty and Marcus. With a roar, the monster lurched at Ray and his construct. He had checked. It was the exact same as the last one his team had taken down. Same abilities, same Tier, the works. Ray and the flying Windbane maw split apart, temporarily confusing the monster. Then it roared again and went after the immediate danger¡ªthe construct that was laving it with deep blue flames. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. With a grin, Ray summoned another construct. It wouldn¡¯t be enough to kill the monster, of course. A part of him really wanted to take that thing on with all he had. He wanted to find its weaknesses, to prove that he had the combination of firepower and ingenuity to leave it dead without a ton of effort, even if the first one had taken too long. But no. That wasn¡¯t his goal. He wasn¡¯t here to kill every monster he was facing. Ray was here to win this Tier 35 dungeon before the other teams could. Gritty: You¡¯re not going to like this, wingman¡­ Ray had to fly away before the Stone Storm skill from his enemy caught him. Only then could he focus on the chat. Ray: What¡¯s wrong? The idea had been that as soon as they reached relative safety, the very first message Ray was supposed to receive was an alert to teleport immediately. The fact that it wasn¡¯t that was concerning. Marcus: We got company. The bad kind. Ray: Can you evade them? Sneak past or something? Marcus: I wish. It¡¯s the bird team. And they¡¯re bad. Oh¡ªoh shit, I think they spotted us. There was no further message after that, at least for a while, and Ray had to admit that it was pretty worrying they had completely ceased communicating. They didn¡¯t even reply to his messages. He was so distracted with worry that Team Albatross had attacked Gritty and Marcus that he almost missed the humongous form of the Depthless Gargoyle roaring again. A storm of petrified vines unleashed a ravenous fury, one that Ray had to be very careful about avoiding. A combination of Mottling Aeonguard and the spectral Duskshell construct kept him safe. Marcus: Alright, so¡ª Ray: Fuck, don¡¯t leave me hanging like that! You guys okay? Marcus: Gritty is fighting one of them as we speak and she¡¯s more or less getting her ass kicked. I wanted to help, but we figured at least one of us needs to not get bogged down. Ray: Are they all there? All three of them? Marcus: Far as I can see, yeah. They were fighting a couple of Depthless Gargoyles when we came in on them. A couple? Ray recalled how his whole team had to pitch in to kill just one of the stony monsters. How strong were Team Albatross to take on multiple at once? Ray: Alright, then I¡¯m coming over. Marcus: What? What are you going to do? Ray: Back Gritty up. But you guys had the right idea. Keep going, Marcus. We¡¯ll catch up. Don¡¯t stop, got it? Marcus: Fuck, alright. They cut their conversation off at just the right moment. The Gargoyle had finished dealing with the other constructs. Its ire was focused entirely on Ray now. For his part, Ray sent one of his Aeonguard orbs smacking into the monster before taking off. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right!¡± he yelled over its raging roar. ¡°Come get me if you can!¡± The monster was fast. Ray didn¡¯t actually have to slow down to make sure it kept up. He flew as fast as Soaring Wings could carry him, the Gargoyle making the whole dungeon shudder and shake as it charged along behind him. Occasionally, it would fling a powerful ability at him, like Stone Storm or Titan¡¯s Reach. Thankfully, Ray was fast enough to evade the worst of the attacks. The bits he couldn¡¯t evade were stopped by a quick summoning of Impenetrable Shell. It was in that fashion, trailed by a Gargoyle and several smaller versions that had chased his team earlier, along with a storm of petrified vines, that Ray arrived at his destination. He was surprised he had actually made it. With how the vines were pulling everything apart and rearranging the entire dungeon like a bored housewife on crack, it almost felt like a stroke of luck that he had reached the exact location he had targeted. The spot where Gritty and Marcus had met Team Albatross. Thankfully, they were still fighting. Gritty hadn¡¯t yet been squished to bloody paste by far stronger opponents. That was mostly because the opposing team was busy handling multiple of the same kind of brute that was chasing Ray. Marcus had been spot on about that. The Galiant and the man were fending off three Depthless Gargoyles, while Gritty was dealing with the Sylvan. Until Ray arrived to upend the balance, of course. He had already crafted a draconic maw around his hand with Aetheric Trace, and sending a flaming laser towards Gritty¡¯s location forced the combatants apart. Ray¡¯s main goal had been to get his spell near them, so he could then use Temporal Passage to appear next to Gritty. ¡°A surprise addition!¡± the Sylvan said. He frowned as he recognized Ray. ¡°Ah, it¡¯s you. I¡¯m glad you finally arrived. I had honestly been waiting to face you.¡± Ray was spared the need to answer as his pursuer arrived into the fray as well. The Depthless Gargoyle was still shrieking and roaring as he hurtled towards where all the fighting was going on. The Sylvan as he turned to face the Gargoyle with an annoyed expression, which gave Ray an opportunity to address Gritty. ¡°You good?¡± Her laugh was a little stuttered. ¡°I¡¯ve gone through a whole lot worse, wingman.¡± She was wounded, blood streaming down the side of her face and where she had been pierced by one of the Sylvan¡¯s hornlike growths near her waist. Nevertheless, she didn¡¯t act wounded. Ray wasn¡¯t sure how much that was bravado and how much the wounds really were not much more than superficial. But ultimately, Gritty was right. She had gone through worse. She¡¯d live. So Ray could focus more on beating their opponent more than on helping his teammate. When Ray turned back to the Sylvan, he had already dealt with the Gargoyle. It was both surprising and concerning with how fast he had been able to disable the monster. A forest of hornlike growths had emerged to constrict the Gargoyle, actually holding it in place. Even with the help of the petrified vines, it couldn¡¯t fully free itself as the growths regenerated too fast. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re the Floor Lord¡¯s henchman,¡± Ray said. The Sylvan faced Ray with a smirk. ¡°Your uncouth words only draw your death closer, upstart human.¡± ¡°Well, that answers that.¡± Ray was faster on the draw than the Sylvan. He had a feeling his enemy had at least a few more levels on him, but at least he was quicker. Aetheric Trace drew the draconic head around Ray¡¯s hand, which he immediately fired. The flaming blast shot out fast enough to singe the Sylvan even after he dodged rapidly. But the wounds didn¡¯t leave much of a mark. As the Sylvan slowed down to retaliate, tiny hornlike projections grew out of the burns, replacing the charred skin and meat with glowing power. Power that the Sylvan used to attack Ray with blinding speed and ferocity. His whole body shone golden white, before barrelling forward like he had been fired from a cannon. Ray sad seen it coming. Something like that, at least. That was why he had the Impenetrable Shell construct right in front of him just in time. It cracked but held, stopping the Sylvan in his tracks. Ray: We don¡¯t need to beat this guy here and now. Gritty: I know. Marcus already ran off. Though they were chatting, both their attention was on mainly their opponent. As the Sylvan had smashed to a stop against Ray¡¯s construct, Gritty had slipped in her own move. Blood coated the floor under the Impenetrable Shell, and when the Sylvan had tried to move away, he found his motion greatly impeded. Gritty flashed in with a furious yell, a spear of bloodied bone emerging from her hand to lance into their attacker. Ray was following up too, the Windbane head around his hand brimming with deep blue fire. But before Gritty¡¯s attack could land, they were blocked by an interference. At the very last moment before they unleashed their combined abilities, Ray checked himself and grabbed Gritty with his free arm before drawing them both back. Just in time, as a storm of red energy arcs sliced through where they had been a second ago. ¡°Ah, shoot,¡± the man said. The human who was a part of Team Albatross. ¡°How¡¯d you know I was aiming for you?¡± It was hard to recognize the guy. Well, it would have been, had his teammates not been so recognizable. The Galiant and the Sylvan were far too distinct and familiar from all the previous times Ray had seen them. Which, by the process of elimination, left the figure garbed in dark, smoky armour and holding a thick, scarlet sword as the one who had to be the human. Ray had no intention of revealing his tricks, but he silently thanked the Scouring Eyeball floating far above them providing him a bid¡¯s eye view of everything. ¡°Real sneaky,¡± he said instead. ¡°Using your pal as a distraction to take us out from a distance.¡± Marcus: You guys still alive? Gritty: You there? Marcus: Yeah, pretty much. Coast is clear. Ray waited for the right opportunity. As much as he was tempted to teleport with Gritty in tow right that instant, he wondered if he could debilitate his opponents before he left. The Gargoyle had almost liberated itself from the Sylvan¡¯s binds. Strong as the Growth Mana projections were, they couldn¡¯t last forever, and the monster was nearly free again. Even though both the Sylvan and the human were facing Ray and Gritty, he knew all their attention was at least partly on the Depthless Gargoyle. On how fast things could take a turn for the worse. ¡°You know,¡± Ray said to the armour-clad human. ¡°I never got why you decided to team up with a bunch of randoms. Also, I don¡¯t think I ever caught your name.¡± ¡°Name¡¯s Pierce,¡± he said. His eyes flashed inside his helm. ¡°And¡ª¡± With a roar, the Depthless Gargoyle freed itself. Of the others, one had already fallen, while two more were being held by the Galiant. Now, with their numbers replenished, the Sylvan and the human¡ªPierce¡ªcouldn¡¯t ignore the monsters any longer. The attention shifted away. Now was their chance. Ray grabbed Gritty¡¯s arm and used Temporal Passage. Just as they both disappeared, Ray caught sight of Pierce using a powerful ability. An explosion of blistering red arcs emerged from his sword, sparkles of scarlet energy falling on everything everywhere, including Ray and Gritty a millisecond before they vanished. Ray staggered in place when Temporal Passage ended. ¡°You good?¡± Gritty asked, echoing his earlier question. He nodded mutely. As he consumed another crystal, he looked around. The remains of a Depthless Gargoyle lay nearby in another chamber. Had Marcus killed it? More importantly, he caught sight of the purple haze he had seen when first entering the dungeon. They were close to the main dungeon boss room. Aeon Mana flooded Ray, taking away the fatigued feeling from using up all his Mana. ¡°You guys made it!¡± Marcus said. ¡°Although, what¡¯s all that covering you¡­?¡± Ray blinked. He looked down at himself. Those red motes from whatever skill Pierce had used clung to his robes and skin. Shit, were they in his hair and beard too? Annoying. Also, concerning. ¡°We should get this off, it¡¯s from¡ª¡± Crimson light burst to life around them. Ray twisted around, heart jumping in his chest as a jagged portal opened, revealing Pierce stepping through, still clad in his dark armour. The portal appeared to bleed out of the sword. Marcus swore, stepping back. ¡°The hell did you guys bring with you?¡± Ray bit down on his own curse. The red sparkles. That skill from Pierce had to have been on purpose. It had led him straight to Ray¡¯s team. Before anyone could speak, before panic could take root, Ray yelled out first, ¡°You know the drill! Go.¡± With a curse, Gritty jerked away. Marcus followed a fraction of a second later. Pierce¡¯s eyes followed the duo, but he didn¡¯t move. Because his opponent hadn¡¯t moved. He eventually focused on Ray, then smiled. ¡°You asked why I¡¯m allied with randoms, as you called them? Well, let me put it this way. Those randoms want the same thing that I do, so we¡¯re working together.¡± ¡°And what¡¯s that?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Tower Nodes.¡± B3 Chapter 22 (153): Node Seeker Ray¡¯s heart skipped a beat after hearing Pierce¡¯s answer. It wasn¡¯t common for other people to even know about Tower Nodes. So the fact that there was another person specifically hunting them down was consternating. ¡°Any old Tower Node?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Or ones from a specific Paragon?¡± ¡°You¡¯re not confused by the idea of Tower Nodes, then,¡± Pierce said. ¡°Interesting. That means you either possess some of your own, as was already evident, or you know about them via other means. I¡¯m thinking it¡¯s more of the former, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°What do you mean as was already evident?¡± ¡°Pretty simple. My Sylvan buddy said you have multiple Tower Nodes. I didn¡¯t believe him at first, deciding I¡¯d wait to find out for myself if that was the case. But the fact that you know about them definitely lends credence to the idea that you have your own.¡± ¡°Huh. That¡¯s more proof for me too.¡± Pierce scratched the back of his helmeted head seeping inky smoke. ¡°Huh? Proof for you? For what?¡± ¡°Proof that the Sylvan on your team is just some mook sent by the Third Floor Lord. They¡¯re the only people who know about my Tower Nodes, and combined with the way he acted, I¡¯m pretty sure he¡¯s more or less out here to get me.¡± One corner of Ray¡¯s mouth curved up in amusement. ¡°Going to be strange when you claim to have killed me without him.¡± ¡°But you don¡¯t intend to die here,¡± Pierce said. ¡°Still, pretty dumb to think the same trick will work again, don¡¯t you think?¡± He had a point there. Ray¡¯s team hadn¡¯t done anything about the main reason they were in the current mess¡ªthe red sparks from Pierce¡¯s blade that had allowed him to follow them here. Even if Ray teleported to wherever Gritty and Marcus had gone, there was nothing stopping Pierce from following them again. ¡°Isn¡¯t it pretty dumb of you to assume we¡¯ve got no way of dealing with your little trick?¡± Ray said. Of course, he didn¡¯t have a way of doing that, which was what Pierce was correctly assuming. Still. Now that he had mentioned it¡­ Ray: We need to get rid of the red sparks. Marcus: Yeah, we do. Don¡¯t worry, I think I got it. But I can only deal with what¡¯s on Gritty. Ray: Right. Just leave what¡¯s on me to me. Pierce¡¯s flashing eyes almost had a look of recognition, like he could tell Ray had been communicating with his teammates, probably trying to come up with a plan. ¡°Maybe. But you¡¯re forgetting one thing. It won¡¯t be easy trying to figure out what to do when you¡¯ve got someone trying to kill you.¡± Fair point. Which he proceeded to display by attacking Ray. This was, of course, fully expected. Ray was ready or it, his body as tense as a tightrope holding with the whole circus act balanced atop it. As soon as the armour-clad figure of Pierce rushed at him, he moved. Simple motions weren¡¯t going to work. Even with the buff from Time Veil adding multiple percentages of his past version¡¯s stats to his own, he wasn¡¯t fast enough. Pierce was just that powerful, covering the distance between them in the same amount of time Ray had moved less than a foot. But the slicing arc of the red sword missed Ray wildly. He was gone, appearing behind his opponent with a quick use of Temporal Passage, at a spot he himself had rushed through. It was a good thing he had topped off his Aeon Mana just after he had arrived here. Now, he could twist around and fire off a flaming blast from the draconic maw around his hand drawn up by Aetheric Trace. Pierce simply deflected it with his sword. Ray stared, slightly wide-eyed, as the beam of compressed blue fire struck the red blade before diverting its course, hitting the far dungeon wall where it exploded in a shower of flaming rocks. What in the world was that sword? Ray didn¡¯t even know his attacks could be deflected like that. It didn¡¯t even look physically possible. ¡°Two can play the range game,¡± Pierce said. Ray knew what was coming. Sad thing was that it came a little too fast. Nevertheless, he was already moving, dodging away as arc after arc of burning, slicing red energy shot at him. He was not about to make the foolish mistake of trying to fend them off with his Windbane maw¡¯s breath. There was a clear power difference between Ray and his opponent. A straight up contest of strength, even on a magical level, wasn¡¯t going to end well for him. Or at least, that was the impression he was intent on giving. After a few dodges¡ªand he was thankful he was fast enough to evade¡ªRay actually tried blasting an arc with his flames. The result was foreseen. Pierce¡¯s red energy blade sliced right through the flaming blast as it carved towards Ray. As predicted, the difference between their strengths was too high. Since Ray had committed to countering it instead of dodging, there was no time left to evade. But Temporal Passage took him to safety. More importantly, it had emboldened Pierce. He was stalking towards Ray now. Sure, his face was still veiled behind most of the helmet, but the confidence in his eyes was unmistakeable. He believed he had Ray right where he wanted him. ¡°Say goodbye, Raymond!¡± Pierce yelled as he flashed in. Ray simply raised his arm, then fired off the draconic maw¡¯s breath again. Except, this time, he had made sure to pour in some extra Tiers with his Mana Infuser ring. The strength behind the blast rose by a few Tiers, enough to overcome the previously impassable barrier. Pierce¡¯s eyes widened as his sword failed to deflect the blast this time. He was thrown back, his whole body wreathed blue flames as he crunched into the dungeon chamber¡¯s wall. The attack hadn¡¯t dealt much damage. That armour of his was strong, and he was quickly getting back to his feet, his eyes glinting with a greater sense of danger. But Ray was happy. That had been a success. Now, he had solid proof that while Tier 10 wasn¡¯t enough to overpower his opponent, Tier 12 definitely was. He wasn¡¯t wasting any time either. As Pierce got back to his feet, Ray had already summoned several flying Windbane head constructs, after raising Resurrect Recollect to Tier 12. Then he fired them all, including the draconic head on his hand. A part of Ray regretted that he hadn¡¯t learned much about Pierce before killing the guy. But that part was very small. No way was he giving up an opportunity to take out such a powerful opponent. Well, it turned out that he needn¡¯t have worried. Despite the furious attack that Ray had unleashed, Pierce came out of it completely unscathed. A moment before the multiple lasering breaths from the numerous draconic heads struck, Pierce decided to transform. Ray had no other way of describing the abrupt, wild change that his opponent underwent. Pierce¡¯s whole body glowed. All the smoke trailing off his armour disappeared, and even the red sword turned bright white before dissipating into little motes of fading energy. New colours worked their way over Pierce¡¯s form, and the general shape around his figure seemed to change, like his armour was undergoing some kind of weird transformation. The worst part about all that was the fact that none of the streams of compressed fire did anything to him. They failed to burn his body, and when they collided and exploded, the force from the detonation passed right through him. When it ended and the light disappeared, not only had Pierce changed, but he was also completely unharmed. Ray stared. ¡°The hell¡­?¡± Pierce grinned at him. His dark helmet was gone. His whole previous armour was gone, leaving behind a light leather chest piece and some hardened trousers tucked into high boots. Where he had held a bright sword in both hands before, now he had a short, black spear in each hand. ¡°Like my new look?¡± ¡°What did you do? How¡ªwait, don¡¯t tell me your transformation makes you invincible while you¡¯re transforming?¡± The widening of Pierce¡¯s grin was all the answer he needed. Ray cursed. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. He recalled the time he had used a transformation against the transformer. That time he had first fought a Viledrake and the monster had sought to up the ante by assuming a potentially even stronger form. Ray hadn¡¯t allowed it, hammering home with his all his powers. Now, Pierce had used the same idea. But instead of leaving him vulnerable, apparently, his strange ability made him immune to all damage during the duration of the transformation. ¡°And I¡¯m healed too,¡± Pierce bragged. ¡°If you hadn¡¯t noticed.¡± Ray cursed. He hadn¡¯t noticed. Then again, he hadn¡¯t exactly seen any wounds through that thick armour and helm earlier, so it wasn¡¯t like the change was staring him in the face. ¡°Good to know,¡± he said. ¡°Guess I¡¯ll just have to kill you before you can¡­ transform again.¡± ¡°You¡¯re real confident you can do that. I suppose you must have more tricks up your sleeve. Definitely wouldn¡¯t have guessed you can modify the strength of your abilities that vastly.¡± Actually, Ray wasn¡¯t sure what surprise he could call upon to take out Pierce¡¯s annoying ass, but hopefully, something would come to him during the fight itself. For the moment, though, he was curious about one thing. ¡°Tell me,¡± he said. ¡°Do you want to take my Tower Nodes after killing me?¡± Pierce spread his hands. ¡°Isn¡¯t that obvious?¡± ¡°Right. But I¡¯m asking more about what you¡¯re going to do with them. You seem obsessed, but I can¡¯t tell if you¡¯re obsessed to own and use them¡­¡± Ray¡¯s eyes hardened. ¡°Or if you want to destroy them.¡± Pierce blinked. ¡°Sharp one, aren¡¯t you? Why do you care?¡± ¡°Depending on your answer, I wouldn¡¯t mind just giving them to you.¡± ¡°Oh yeah? What if I lied?¡± Ray shrugged. ¡°A liar was never going to ask me about lying. Instead, a liar would pause, would try to sus out what was the answer I was looking for, then feed it to me.¡± Pierce scoffed, which turned into a laugh. ¡°I¡¯ve got a little competition going with my Sylvan buddy. We¡¯re both looking for Tower Nodes, as I said. But where he wants some specific ones to further whatever his real goals are¡ªspecific ones that you supposedly possess, by the way¡ªI want them to destroy them. You were right on the money there.¡± Ray was actually a little surprised to hear that. He might have judged the impression he had gotten off of Pierce correctly, but still. ¡°You know of an actual way to destroy them? Whenever they¡¯re in some kind of danger, I always get a notification that they¡¯re¡ª¡± ¡°That they¡¯re System objects and they can¡¯t be destroyed. Is that it?¡± Ray nodded. ¡°Well, that¡¯s one big pile of bullshit. My entire run up my Tower was based on finding and destroying the Nodes that propped it up. That was the theme, the main goal for everyone inside it. Or at least, the main Objective as set by the System. Finding and destroying the Tower Nodes.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ so strange.¡± Pierce shrugged. ¡°I tend not to question the System.¡± His eyes hardened. ¡°Especially when I can see good reason for destroying what it tells me to destroy.¡± Ray couldn¡¯t even begin to fathom why the System would direct anyone to destroy what it itself used to build up its whole, well, everything. The Tower Nodes were supposed to be the building blocks, the power that it drew on to create these gargantuan edifices called Towers. To actually set Objectives about finding and destroying them seemed too self-defeating. What was the System¡¯s goals? Had it somehow determined the Paragon it was pulling from had grown too influential in whatever Tower Pierce originated? ¡°Wait,¡± Ray said. ¡°What¡¯s the point of taking my Tower Nodes?¡± Pierce frowned. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I realize I don¡¯t know what you went through on your Tower. But still, you were taking out Tower Nodes from your Tower itself weren¡¯t you? I assume you succeeded, with how strong you¡¯ve gotten. But why take the Tower Nodes of another person? The nodes I have aren¡¯t affecting the Tower any longer. There¡¯s no point.¡± Tutting, Pierce shook his head. ¡°You don¡¯t get it.¡± He took a step forward, determination flaring in his green eyes. ¡°The Tower Nodes are corrupting influences. Voices of those so-called Paragons will trick and deceive you to do their bidding. They¡¯ve already been doing that, considering you know about them and possess them already.¡± ¡°Ah, I get it now.¡± Ray wasn¡¯t going to start arguing with the guy about how true that statement was. He was pretty sure Pierce had seen some real shit in his Tower, which had coloured his views on Tower Nodes and thus, it would be the same as arguing with a streetlamp. ¡°So, you get it, huh?¡± Pierce¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°Does that mean you¡¯ll be surrendering your Tower Nodes?¡± ¡°Can you destroy them right in front of me?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Sure¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m just looking for some proof, you know. After all, while you might say you want to destroy Tower Nodes, you¡¯re allied with a Sylvan who¡¯s hunting them down.¡± ¡°Fair enough. I¡¯ll show you how I can take care of them.¡± Nodding, Ray called out a Tower Node of the Fleshcrafter. He hadn¡¯t called it forth or used it ever since the end of his time on the Second Floor, after how close he had come to being captured by that asshole Paragon. As such, he had absolutely no qualms about giving it up. After he relinquished his ownership of the Tower Node, it began floating towards its new owner¡ªPierce. Who had pulled out his own Tower Node in response. Ray blinked. Where other Tower Nodes he had seen so far had been white or some variant thereof, Pierce¡¯s one was entirely black. The crystal also looked like it was made of tiny blocks, a ceramic Lego model rather than the real thing. ¡°I get it now,¡± Ray said. ¡°Of course, we can¡¯t destroy the Tower Nodes. But we don¡¯t have to. Not when there¡¯s a Tower Node that can destroy other nodes.¡± Pierce¡¯s small smile admitted that Ray¡¯s deduction was correct. While Denizens might be incapable of harming System objects, other System objects weren¡¯t held back by such restrictions. ¡°It looks hypocritical, I know,¡± Pierce said. ¡°But I¡¯ve got a small deal in the works. Once my Tower Node has eradicated every other Tower Node, I will turn its power onto itself. That¡¯s all it can do, by the way. Just destroy other Tower Nodes. It can¡¯t affect anyone or anything else, or perform any other action. Do you have an identification ability?¡± Ray frowned. Oh, so that was his proposition. While Ray couldn¡¯t use Primordial¡ªno, it was Eternal Pulse now¡ªon other competitors because of that Amulet of Blindness, that wasn¡¯t true for Mana-interacting items no longer under their direct influence. So, he used Eternal Pulse, focusing on the floating black Tower Node. [Eternal Pulse¡ªTower Node] Tower Node of the Culler The power of pure eradication and destruction might seem an antithesis to all that life and creation stands for. Yet, it is a necessary component. Nothing can be created when the space is already occupied. As such, the ability to cull the world to a blank canvas is fundamental to its proper functioning. ¡°And if you don¡¯t believe even now,¡± Pierce said, his eyes recognizing that Ray had just used his identification ability. ¡°Then watch.¡± Ray did so, a little fascinated, as the black Tower Node proceeded to destroy the one he had just surrendered. All the little dark cubes pulled away from their original positions, quickly covering and pulling in the Fleshcrafter Tower Node. Within seconds, the entire transparent crystal with the chunk of flesh inside it was consumed, covered entirely by the black cubes. ¡°It¡¯s like a crystal anaconda,¡± Ray said, still morbidly fascinated. ¡°Just gobbling it up whole. And it¡¯s now digesting the Tower Node it just ate, isn¡¯t it?¡± Pierce shrugged. ¡°You could say that. Point is, your Tower Node is now gone. Well, one of them, at least. You can surrender the rest now that you trust me, right?¡± The rest¡­. well, the rest that Ray was intent on giving up, sure. He focused and called up the other Tower Node of the Fleshcrafter, letting it hover away from him. Pierce frowned a little, probably weirded out that Ray possessed multiple nodes from the same Paragon, but he said nothing as his Tower Node of the Culler destroyed the second one too. A part of Ray wondered if Paragons could sense when their Tower Nodes were eradicated. Could the Fleshcrafter tell that his influence was being obliterated entirely? ¡°And the rest?¡± Pierce asked. Ray tensed. The sense of danger that had faded after the battle was now roaring back. ¡°That¡¯s it from me. So, now that we¡¯re done¡ª¡± ¡°That¡¯s how you¡¯re going to be, huh?¡± Without waiting for any further replies, Pierce threw a spear at Ray. His reaction was quick. A cast of Resurrect Recollect brought up the Impenetrable Shell before him. While the spear managed to penetrate through the construct, it was still halted before it could hit its main target. ¡°That¡¯s how you treat someone who cooperates with you?¡± Ray asked, retreating back as he cast more spells to summon more constructs. ¡°That¡¯s how I treat liars,¡± Pierce spat. Ray growled, then fired two of his constructs. Pierce just disappeared, reappearing right where his first spear was buried in the Impenetrable Shell before pulling it out and starting his counterattacks. Spectral lances appeared overhead, shooting in Ray¡¯s direction like missiles fired from cannons. Ray dodged them, but they were not making things easy. The ground exploded wherever the ghostly spears struck, sending rocks shooting everywhere with bullet-fast speed. Dodging was proving way too difficult, so instead, Ray used Temporal Passage. As soon as he reappeared, he fired off the draconic maw around his hand. Pierce twisted around with incredible speed, even faster than he had done before. Was this new form stronger, or possessed a different stat distribution? Ray didn¡¯t have an easy way of telling. Whatever the case, as with his red sword, Pierce smashed aside the flaming breath with his glowing spear. Marcus: We¡¯re ready. Are you fighting? Did you take care of the sparkles? While the sudden message was welcome, it still came at a time when Ray was trying hard not to get himself killed. He had to focus on evading before he got a chance to reply. Ray: I¡¯m trying not to die, yes. And yeah, the constant fighting removed most of it. Marcus: Well, just don¡¯t stop fighting even as you teleport, got it? And only teleport when I say NOW. That was a weird request. Ray no choice but to comply, though. A storm of spear strikes flashed in at Ray, Pierce now pushing him onto the backfoot, but thankfully, he had experience that helped him. That crimson Everstead spear-wielder he had fought on the Second Floor had been just as much of a menace. Ray: Any time now¡­ Marcus: Wait for it¡­ Ray dodged more spear rains, as well as countering a gleaming magenta laser from a spear with a Windbane fire breath. Ray: Kinda running out¡ª Marcus: Just make sure you¡¯re ready to fight. Ray: What the hell are you guys doing? Marcus: NOW. Ray cursed. ¡°See you!¡± he shouted at Pierce. He disappeared with a Temporal Passage. When he reappeared, he was inside the purple haze, right next to his flying eyeball construct. There was a lot going on in there, but all Ray was aware of was a huge stony monster before him. Not, not a monster. The Galiant member of Team Albatross. The draconic maw around Ray¡¯s hand was brimming with compressed flames. He wasted no time thrusting his hand out and shooting the Galiant. With a cry, the alien fell back, the compressed blue fire gouging out a massive, flaming rent in its body. And then Ray fell. The purple haze suffocated him, shocking his body like hundreds of volts of pure electric current. ¡°Use your mimic,¡± Gritty shouted. She looked weird, though it was hard to tell because the pain was making his eyes water. ¡°W¡ªwhat?¡± Ray could barely get the words out. ¡°Use your mimic and turn yourself into stone. That¡¯s how we got past the barrier. You can do it, wingman. You need to.¡± Stone¡­ Ray inhaled a shuddering breath and summoned his Imitator construct with Resurrect Recollect. B3 Chapter 23 (154): Falling Stone The mimic construct flashed to life next to Ray himself. A blob of deep blue energy that slowly revolved round and round as though unsure what form to take. Ray tried to gather his thoughts. It was getting hard to breathe, the pain intensifying every second. Was this what Marcus and Gritty had faced when trying to enter this domain? It was unbearable. Stone¡­ Gritty was kneeling next to him. ¡°Focus, wingman.¡± Her words warbled in and out of his consciousness. ¡°I can try to get the bones on you, but it¡¯ll be much faster with your mimic.¡± Ray was pretty sure he had gone crazy because none of that made a lick of sense to him. He was sure he saw another figure come stand next to them, before saying something unintelligible and quickly dashing away. What? A notification popped up, but even that was hard to focus on. At least it shed some light as to what was going on. [Eternal Pulse¡ªDungeon Obstacle] Grave Atmosphere Not all environments are suited for every living thing. This was the tenet drawn upon by the dungeon to deter any would-be intruders. What need is there for guardians and protectors when the dungeon itself becomes inhospitable. To that end, the Vine-Choked Valley choked the very space to ensure none but its stony constructs could exist. Stone¡­ Ray closed his eyes to help himself focus. Stone. Wasn¡¯t it all around him in this dungeon? The petrified vines on the walls, the corpses turned into statues in their clutches, the Gargoyles with their rocky bodies lumbering about. It wasn¡¯t difficult at all to make the Imitator construct figure out the form it needed to take. The new thing was that this form had to be something for Ray himself to use. Directly. With a force of will, he commanded the Imitator construct to cover him, which it did. In less than a minute, Ray was covered first by the gloopy feeling of the mimic¡¯s normal body, before a sudden weight grew strong all over him. But with it, the pain started receding quickly. The shocks and jolts of agony retreated so fast, it was almost like he had imagined them. With a groan, he did his best to get himself to his feet. It was hard. Ray wasn¡¯t tired. He just weighed a lot more than usual. Because, as Gritty had asked, he was now clad in pure stone. ¡°Why¡­ are we doing this again?¡± he asked. ¡°Actually, can you start from the top?¡± He had to clear his throat to get his voice to work properly. The aftershocks of the sudden pain were still clinging to his body. ¡°Because this purple haze won¡¯t let anyone through unless they¡¯ve got enough of any kind of stone on them,¡± Gritty said. ¡°You alright, though? I didn¡¯t realize it was going to get that bad inside.¡± Ray nodded tiredly, focusing on what was going on ahead of him. He didn¡¯t believe he had killed the Galiant with that one blow, even if his spell had carved a humongous hole through the alien¡¯s body. But there was no need to worry that he had gotten up only to be squashed by his boulder-like opponent. The Galiant was still down. Thanks to a dozen portals around him, spewing a dozen massive tentacles that kept the Galinat trapped to the ground. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine,¡± Ray said. ¡°Anyway¡­ where¡¯s Marcus? And more importantly¡­¡± He started looking around. ¡°Where¡¯s Sameer?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ long story.¡± Ray was patient, so he stood and listened to everything that had happened after they had parted from that zone where they had confronted Team Albatross together. Gritty and Marcus had been able to get through the vast majority of the dungeon from that point without much trouble. The real obstacle before them came in the shape of the purple haze. They had experimented and found that the dungeon was indeed killing anything that didn¡¯t have stone in or on it as soon as it entered the purple haze¡¯s confines. As was proven a little later when the Galiant went through without a hitch. They hadn¡¯t seen where the Sylvan was. Gritty had next devised the plan that bone somehow counted as stone, so they could cover themselves in it and proceed. If Ray had been asked, that seemed like a stupid way to get killed. But it had worked. Gritty had an ability to essentially calcify any bones she called forth to make it stronger, and that did count as stone. For the dungeon¡¯s purposes, at least. So, she and Marcus had been able to get past the Dungeon Obstacle. Only to come face to face with a battle between Sameer and the Galiant. ¡°Why you hesitating?¡± Ray asked as Gritty¡¯s tale came to an abrupt stop. Before she could answer, a loud laugh rolled over them. An annoyingly familiar one. Sameer popped out of one of his portals, striding towards them with smuggest of expressions and his hands clasped behind him, every step oozing insufferableness. ¡°Well, well, looks like your friend wasn¡¯t lying,¡± he said with a near-manic grin. ¡°Although, I¡¯m not sure you can call him a friend any longer.¡± Ray frowned at the guy. Then he frowned at Gritty. ¡°What does he mean, Gritty?¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± She took a deep breath before sighing. ¡°Marucs decided there was no time to waste, because Sameer was here alone so the rest of his team could already be at the dungeon boss.¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°And he decided we had to get past the battle anyway we could. So he struck a deal with Sameer. That guy doesn¡¯t care about any of us. He just wants to gut you, so Marcus decided he¡¯d, uh, bring you here in return for Sameer letting us go forward.¡± Ray stared at Gritty. ¡°You sold me out?¡± Gritty smiled widely at his expression, patting him on the shoulder a couple of times. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll have a fun time, wingman. Just don¡¯t die before we¡¯ve secured the treasure, alright?¡± And with that, she was gone, almost cheerily rushing away to wherever the dungeon boss room was supposed to be. Sameer laughed again as Gritty hightailed it out of there. ¡°Beautiful.¡± He rubbed his eyes. ¡°Really brings a tear to my eye to see bullies like you get betrayed. Ah, the world is good.¡± ¡°Fuck off, Sameer. You¡¯re one to talk, all alone here. Where are the rest of your teammates?¡± ¡°They¡¯re killing the boss. Unlike you and your little ragtag band, we¡¯re pretty good at this whole dungeon-clearing business.¡± ¡°Really? You¡¯re the good ones? After losing to me and my team at the last dungeon we were in together and at the auction too?¡± Ray tutted, waving a dismissive hand. ¡°Pretty sure your pals left you here so you don¡¯t screw it up for them like you did the last time.¡± Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°Tell yourself whatever you want. You¡¯re going to die here. Your blathering doesn¡¯t matter.¡± Ray sighed. ¡°Do we really have to fight? Didn¡¯t I beat you once already? You¡¯re going to lose again and the only thing you¡¯ll accomplish is wasting my time.¡± ¡°Shut up.¡± Something Ray had said had clearly gotten under Sameer¡¯s skin because the portals that popped to life around them flashed with ferocity. Two blasted scorching lava, while a second unleashed gale-force winds. Ray was already flying away with Soaring Wings on his back. The best way of dealing with Sameer was by keeping moving, staying agile. The weight of the extra stone thanks to the Imitator construct covering him was making it a little harder than before. At least he was able to modify it to a lighter version without the dungeon trying to kill him again with the purple gas everywhere. As Ray moved, he fired off his counterattacks. Draconic maws around his hands blasted compressed blue flames at his opponent, while summoned constructs attempted the same, swinging in close with their mouths brimming with fire. Sameer didn¡¯t even bother dodging. Ray¡¯s attacks reached him but never did any damage. He was covered with more of his portals, all of which swallowed up anything Ray flung in his direction, reverting them towards their owner from other portals around the battlefield. It was pretty evident Ray wasn¡¯t going to land a single blow without a surprise. Just like their previous encounter. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare think it¡¯s going to be the same as last time,¡± Sameer yelled. He was doing his best to prove his statement. More and more portals were appearing everywhere, shooting various powers that Ray had to evade. At times, he was forced to use Temporal Passage to get away. There was just too much shit flying everywhere. At times, he wished he had some cool time power that could simply stop anything trying to attack him from existing. Eliza had something like that, didn¡¯t she? Why couldn¡¯t he get something like that? But his new class wasn¡¯t really about time. No, it was the life cycle of things that he could truly manipulate, even if some of his spells had tricky names. Ray focused. He needed just one opportunity. Sameer would no doubt be wary of what he had suffered in their last battle. But Ray was capable of a lot more. When he summoned his constructs next, Ray applied more Aeon Mana to Resurrect Recollect. This led to the constructs fully forming into Windbanes, posing a greater danger to Sameer as they couldn¡¯t be killed with a single bolt of lightning or a stray spray of fire. However, Sameer had his own counters. Just as he had at the auction, he created new portals that brought down monstrous creatures from¡­ wherever it was his portals led. ¡°Two can play the little summoning trick,¡± Sameer said. Ray just disappeared with a quick use of Temporal Passage. All the attacks were providing him with a weird cover. So much dust everywhere, so much stray light. It would be hard to spot anything specifically, especially if it moved too fast. Which was what gave Ray the chance to summon another Imitator construct and immediately order it to take his form, sending it out to fight against Sameer on his behalf. Ray grinned. Sounded like Sameer had fallen for it. Another Resurrect Recollect constructed yet another Imitator. This one Ray threw over himself and the first Imitator, making sure he was more or less invisible. He realized the trick was similar to the one he had used the first time, but he was hoping he could make it work. ¡°You think this is going to work again?¡± Sameer asked with a shout. Ray, still invisible, appeared out of the smoke and dust. His eyes widened. The Imitator construct had already fallen. What? He had specifically ordered it to survive as long as it could. His other constructs weren¡¯t doing much better. Sameer¡¯s summoned monsters had killed several of his constructs, even after he had applied more Aeon Mana to make them stronger. No time. There was no time to waste. Ray ordered his other constructs to swoop to their main target, ignoring the enemy summons if need be. The surviving spectral Windbanes all roared and flew straight at Sameer. They didn¡¯t reach him, of course. Harried by the other summons, with more portals popping up to belch their blistering power, every single remaining construct died and fell apart. But not before one of them got close enough. Close enough for Ray to use Temporal Passage. The world shifted in less than an instant. Ray was in position, right where he needed to be, his hand already calling up Core Deconstruction. Just as the spark of white energy materialized in his hand, however, Sameer disappeared into one of his portals. Ray cursed. At the same time, more portals opened up all around him. Everywhere, covering nearly everything he could see. They ringed the entire battlefield like an impassable wall, bounding a huge area around him, fencing him in. He couldn¡¯t even fly up and over them as an even greater number of the portals popped up overhead, joining together to form one enormous rent in the air. A huge hole in the sky that was, unlike the rest, complete dark. Almost as though¡ª Ray realized what was happening a split second before the foot of a mountain landed through the portal to crush everything in the vicinity.
Sameer grinned. Bastard. Bastard. He was finally down, finally gone. finally dead. Holy hell, it had been such a long time coming. He wanted to laugh. Tricks and deceptions. Of course. That¡¯s all the asshole called Raymond ever knew to do, so naturally, Sameer had given him a taste of his own foul medicine. A quick teleport out of the area before enclosing everything with his portals, making sure Raymond had no way of escaping. And then he had summoned an entire fucking cliff to crush everything. Sameer had to give it to that bully. He wouldn¡¯t ever admit it out loud of course, but Raymond had pushed him to use the largest Rent he had created yet. Sameer hadn¡¯t even known he could stitch seventeen different Rents together to create one, massive portal. His previous record had been twelve. But it had worked. He had known the bastard could teleport, but he had covered a large enough area. There was nowhere for Raymond to teleport to. Even if he tried to appear next to his teammates, just as he had done to get here, he would have failed. They were in the boss room now. One couldn¡¯t just teleport inside boss rooms. No, Raymond had to be dead. Finally. Good riddance. As the other fencing portals disappeared, Sameer appreciated his ingenuity. The proof of it stood right before him. A massive cliff stretching up and up, its heights disappearing into the huge Rent he had stitched together. He patted his summoned cliff of grey stone like a pet. ¡°Good work, my¡ª¡± Sameer frowned. It was uneven. Instead of being summoned down to stand entirely vertical, the cliff was at an angle. Listing ever so slightly to one side. Ah. Ah. He checked the cliff bottom. Right. There was that unfortunate other guy caught in the middle of their fight. That Galiant. He had kept the alien trapped with the tentacles from another sequence of Rents. It made sense the cliff couldn¡¯t crush the boulderlike body of the Galiant. For all Sameer knew, the Galiant might be made of even stronger stone than his summoned cliff. ¡°Whatever,¡± Sameer muttered. He sent his summons away. The cliff disappeared, pulled back inside the huge Rent, which broke apart afterwards and dissipated to nothing. Now, to find Raymond¡¯s bloodstain. His skin danced with the prospect of finding the squished remains and¡­ Sameer frowned. Where was it? Where the fuck was all the blood and flesh and crushed bones? Where was it? Wherever he looked, he didn¡¯t see it. Nothing. No blood anywhere. No signs of death. No. No. Sameer clenched his hands into fists. Where were the remains of the corpse that he was supposed to be seeing? No blood anywhere on the ground or the walls, no fleshy or bony bits, no¡ª ¡°Looking for me?¡± Sameer froze. His spine turned rigid as an iron rod, every muscle tensing and relaxing over and over until he felt like he¡¯d have a seizure. He twisted around, his eyes livid, his fingers contorting like they were possessed. Raymond was slowly standing up from within the Galiant. From inside the alien. From the huge, flaming hole Raymond himself had carved out within the alien¡¯s body before their battle had begun. No way. No fucking way. ¡°I¡¯ll admit,¡± Raymond said, laughing a little. ¡°You almost had me there. Real mean trick to summon an entire mountain to crush me. You had a lot of faith I couldn¡¯t teleport anywhere far enough to survive, and you were almost right.¡± He pointed a smug thumb back. ¡°But you kind of forgot I had my defence right there.¡± Sameer¡¯s mouth worked, unable to form a reply. The way that bastard was looking at him, as though he had foreseen Sameer¡¯s attack and already knew of multiple ways to protect himself. No. Impossible. He might have defensive constructs and summons, but nothing would have withstood an entire cliff being dropped on it. No stupid shield or shell. Nothing. Sameer refused to believe Raymond had some other secret he could have used in case the Galiant hadn¡¯t been fortunately here. ¡°Fine,¡± Sameer said. His voice was steady, steely, and full of promise. Just what it needed to be. ¡°I¡¯ll kill you the old-fashioned way. You want to die the hard way? I¡¯ll oblige.¡± Raymond¡¯s lips curved up. ¡°I¡¯ll keep an eye out for any cliffs about to fall on me.¡± Sameer raised his hand as tension threaded through the air, Raymond tensing as they prepared to resume their battle. A strange spike spiralled in out of nowhere and punched through Raymond¡¯s body like a ballista bolt. He didn¡¯t even get to scream before he was blasted off his feet and crashed into the far wall.
Honestly, being attacked out of nowhere wasn¡¯t why Ray had decided to use yet another Imitator construct. Once he had spotted the cavity in the Galiant¡¯s chest as his only recourse when Sameer dropped an entire fucking mountain on him, Ray found he had a surprisingly long time to think. Of course, he was tremendously lucky the Galiant was still even there. But he found he had enough time to decide how best to turn the tables on Sameer. By not coming out in the first place, and instead, creating another Imitator construct. Ray just hadn¡¯t foreseen that it would also save him from getting ballista-bolted by a spiralling projection of Growth Mana cannoning in with a vengeance. He blinked as his Imitator construct simply disappeared. Then he winced. That crash sounded quite painful. Ray took a deep breath. A vicious argument had started outside the Galiant¡¯s body. Maybe it was a sign that he had to get out himself. With a grunt, Ray started getting out. That was when the Galaint, silent so far and appearing more or less dead, rumbled to life. B3 Chapter 24 (155): An Unlikely Partnership New Chapter 24 Ray and the Galiant Ray didn¡¯t have much of a clue about what was going on. Well, apart from the fact that the Sylvan member of Team Albatross had attacked him from nowhere, and the Galiant member wasn¡¯t dead. He hadn¡¯t believed he had killed the boulder-like alien, but now he had proof. So, he used Temporal Passage. With the gigantic cliff that Sameer had summoned to crush Ray now gone, the battlefield was now once again open. As such, Ray had no trouble teleporting to where his mimic construct had been crushed by the giant spiralling burst of Growth Mana. Ray was thankfully veiled with dust. The Sylvan¡¯s attack had been so ferocious, it had cracked the dungeon walls and let loose a small avalanche. It helped hide him from his foes. More importantly, it gave him an opening to check out what was actually going on. Sameer had angrily confronted the Sylvan, who had chosen to appear now that Ray was supposedly dead. ¡°¡­your Floor Lord¡¯s ass, why don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Why do you keep arguing, human?¡± the Sylvan asked. He was a lot calmer than Sameer, though Ray could hear the rising annoyance in his tone. It was almost funny, watching someone else deal with an unhinged Sameer. ¡°Raymond was my prey. My kill. My enemy. You¡¯ve got no right to touch him, you stupid elf!¡± ¡°Elf?¡± Ray had to hold back his snort. It would be even better if they came to blows. As much as he was enjoying the current proceedings, he couldn¡¯t waste his time here. This was an opportunity for him to get away, to reach the boss room and fulfil his objective of winning the dungeon to claim its treasure. This was just a stupid obstacle from which he wouldn¡¯t even gain anything. Slipping past them wouldn¡¯t be easy, though. The Scouring Eyeball he had sent far, far up was still there, a last resort Ray could use in case things went really awry. But using it would create another complication of not plummeting to his death, even if he did have wings to rely on. Even worse, the dust was quickly receding. Ray didn¡¯t have much time to figure out what to do. They¡¯d spot him soon at this rate. He resolved to use Resurrect Recollect again to call up another Imitator construct. It sneaked away in Ray¡¯s form, clad in stone to prevent the purple haze of the Dungeon Obstacle from eating it alive but also camouflaged to make sure no one saw it. ¡°¡­no quarrel with you, human,¡± the Sylvan was saying. ¡°Why do you not see that as a blessing and continue on your way? By all rights, as we are competitors, I ought to kill you where you stand. And yet, I do not. But instead of recognizing your good fortune, you seek to carry out pointless confrontations.¡± Sameer was standing straighter, his back as rigid as a stone column. ¡°This world is filled with bullies and tyrants. Thieves who think they deserve the world because of their narcissism. I for one won¡¯t stand for their existence. So I¡¯ll¡ª¡± They both paused and turned. Looking straight at where the mimic construct was sneaking onwards, acting as though no one could see it. ¡°Shit,¡± Ray muttered. He supposed he shouldn¡¯t have been surprised that the construct wasn¡¯t invisible to them. If Ray had been more careful about recreating the Amulet of Blindness, would they have noticed it still? Unlikely, because they hadn¡¯t noticed Ray when he had teleported. But they were definitely angling to notice him now. ¡°Knew it,¡± the Sylvan said, striding around and looking everywhere. ¡°I knew a scummy little cockroach would not die so easily. Come out, you coward. Face me instead of running away.¡± Ray blinked where he stood. He was the coward? After he had been struck from behind by that asshole? Interestingly, Sameer wasn¡¯t protesting anymore. Now that he had solid proof Ray was alive, his anger had cooled a great deal. Though, Ray knew things were still precariously balanced. It didn¡¯t sound like Sameer was going to join the Sylvan and gang up on Ray. That was exactly what Ray was counting on as he stepped forward. But before he could make his presence known, before either Sameer or the Sylvan could see him, the Galiant rose. Ray had almost forgotten the grumbling that had made him teleport originally, but now, it was impossible to ignore. The heavy grinding grew louder than ever as the boulder-like alien got back up. Ray couldn¡¯t take his eyes off the huge rent in the Galiant¡¯s body. The rent Ray had carved out. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re not dead, Lent?¡± the Sylvan said. ¡°I am glad to see that you are well.¡± Lent the Galiant took his time replying. He was busy using a skill that made a spear of rock thrust out of the ground, killing the Imitator construct instantly. Ray had clearly been right to get away. ¡°Are you truly glad to see me well?¡± Lent asked. The Sylvan didn¡¯t even bother considering before replying, ¡°Well, no, not truly. I was merely performing a nicety.¡± ¡°As I assumed.¡± ¡°You should have stayed down,¡± Sameer said. ¡°I already took you down once. You¡¯re beaten. Dead. I don¡¯t want to have to do it again.¡± Ray glared at Sameer. That was exactly what he had said before their fight. Now the hypocrite was using it against the Galiant. Credit to Lent, he simply ignored Sameer¡¯s insult. ¡°What now, Estavian? Do we kill them both? Or must we wait till Pierce arrives?¡± The Sylvan scowled as the Galiant¡¯s words alerted them to all to the fact that Ray wasn¡¯t dead. With the dust now basically gone, it took the others no time to see where Ray was standing. Really, he probably should have attacked while he still had the element of surprise in his hands. ¡°Can you deal with the portal pest?¡± the Sylvan said. ¡°I will end the other one, then.¡± In reply, the Galiant began lumbering towards Sameer. Ray took a deep breath. Another fight. He was getting a little tired of them, at this point. Especially since they weren¡¯t conclusive, nothing he could take anything away from. Just annoyances. Ray could only hope that Marcus and Gritty had the dungeon boss covered, because it didn¡¯t look like he would be joining them anytime soon. Nevertheless, as the Sylvan approached him, Ray greeted his opponent with a smile. ¡°Looks like I was right. You are the Floor Lord¡¯s lackey. You know, one of these days, he really needs to take care of business himself. How many Sylvans do I need to kill before the Tower Lord gets mad that the Floor Lord has cost so many lives for a personal grudge?¡± ¡°The Floor Lord need not concern himself over one such as you,¡± the Sylvan said with some vehemence. ¡°Such mediocrity is far beneath him.¡± ¡°Aw, you wound me.¡± ¡°Funny you say that¡ª¡± Estavian attacked. The Sylvan was covered in thick Growth Mana, which was probably acting as the stony bulwark against the Dungeon Obstacle¡¯s purple haze. But now, all the Growth Mana glowed a shining golden-white. Spiky bursts of it fired straight at Ray, shooting like radiant missiles. Like the ballista bolt of a projection that had rocketed into his Imitator construct moments earlier. Ray was ready for it this time, however. He used Mottling Aeonguard and Aetheric Trace. The first spell drew up the expanding blue orbs of that would shield against him the attacks directly, while the latter called up Soaring Wings on his back to throw him off to the side just in case the Aeonguard orbs failed to stop the Sylvan¡¯s attacks. Thankfully, they were stopped. As they entered the volume of the deep blue orbs, they slowed to a stop, like they had entered molasses. Within them, the time reversal effect was turning the spiralling bolts back to normal Growth Mana projections. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Ray had used Aetheric Trace to create a draconic head around his hand. He aimed it at the Sylvan to counterattack. His opponent was already charging him, however, rushing him down with his whole body glowing that golden-white. Estavian was basically a gleaming porcupine of spiralling, glimmering Growth Mana that weaved between the Aeonguard orbs and Ray¡¯s blast of blue flames from the Windbane maw around his hand. Ray¡¯s heartrate spiked at the imminent impact, but his mind was fast enough. All those Intellect Tier breaks were definitely helping. He used Resurrect Recollect, summoning up the Impenetrable Shell. The addition of more Aeon Mana expanded the dark shell. In no time, a spectral Duskshell had formed. As Estavian crashed in, the monster took the brunt of the damage from the Sylvan¡¯s spiky charge. Better yet, it stopped the Sylvan in his tracks, freezing him in place as the spikes of glowing Growth Mana dug into the spectral flesh and corporeal shell. Leaving him open for Ray¡¯s counter. With another Aetheric Trace, Ray created another draconic head around his other hand, before pointing both at the Sylvan and firing. Twin, lasering breaths of compressed flame fired out at the Sylvan. There was no time to dodge. No time to defend. The twin blasts connected. And exploded. Of course, Ray himself was so close that he would have been struck by the resultant detonation. That wouldn¡¯t have been great. But Temporal Passage took him away to safety in an instant. When he reappeared where his second Imitator construct had been spotted, Ray had a brief moment to take in the rest of the battle. Sameer and Lent were locked in a dangerous battle on the other side of the area. As usual, portals of varying sizes popped up all around Sameer. But none of them brought out anything that actually harmed the Galiant. Rocks floated around Lent, kind of like Ray¡¯s Mottling Aeonguard, absorbing all the damage that the various portals fired. The few times a bolt of lightning or a blast of flames got through his defence, the Galiant¡¯s bulky body just took the attack head on without suffering much damage. Ray had to wonder how in the world he had been able to carve such a huge hole in the Galiant. Even Sameer¡¯s more dangerous and devastating attacks weren¡¯t having much effect. And then Lent went on the offensive. The attack made Ray a little glad he was facing the Sylvan instead of the Galiant. Lent¡¯s body fractured everywhere, the cracks shining with brilliant, multihued light. It was like he had a damn disco ball inside his stony body. Then the light speared out. Some sliced out like long blades, others shot no different from the lasering breaths Ray fired from the draconic heads. All the while, Lent revolved in place, all of the lights shooting and blasting all over the battlefield. The range was so great, even Ray had to summon several Aeonguard orbs to protect himself. While Sameer had been able to protect himself, he was still forced to retreat. All the way back close to where Ray was standing. Sameer glanced at Ray distastefully. ¡°Never thought I¡¯d be fighting side by side with a bully.¡± ¡°How about side by side with a fellow human?¡± ¡°Just don¡¯t die to the Sylvan so I can kill you myself.¡± Ray had no intention of dying anywhere. He was wondering if they could combine their fight together, take advantage of both their abilities to take down the Sylvan and the Galiant. But that wouldn¡¯t work easily. For one, their opponents had much better practice working together. Most likely. At the very least, they hadn¡¯t been at each other¡¯s throats before. For another, their opponents were coming at them again, giving them no chance to think or plan. The Sylvan was perfectly fine. His armour of spiralling Growth Mana had left him unscathed. Now he was swinging two blades of Growth Mana, sending out projections firing through the air like more ballista bolts. Ray either evaded or stopped them with Aeonguard easily. But the Sylvan had more tricks up his sleeve. He stabbed the glowing swords into the ground, sending Growth Mana projections spiking out of the ground everywhere. More Growth Mana covered him, turning him into a spiky drill that then flew at Ray like a ballistic missile. It was getting difficult to find an opportunity to counter. Especially in a way that would actually harm his enemy. He could have tried trapping Estavian with another construct via Resurrect Recollect, but just firing his breaths wasn¡¯t going to work. Unless, it was an issue similar to what he had faced against the Depthless Gargoyle. Ray used Temporal Passage to grant himself some space. It gave him just enough time to pop another Aeon Mana crystal. He really needed to finish this dungeon before he ran out. Topped up with Aeon Mana, Ray now had no reason to not to blast out as many spells he could. He summoned more constructs with Resurrect Recollect, throwing out more glowing blue orbs with Mottling Aeonguard. They were enough to stop the various attacks the Sylvan was firing at him. He had raised their power by a few Tiers with Mana-Infuser Ring. Now, they were more than strong enough to block basically anything the Sylvan could throw at him. That gave Ray the opportunity to focus purely on attacking. Estavian charged him down as usual, firing off practically everything in his arsenal. Ray¡¯s blood sang in his veins. There was definitely a rush growing stronger and stronger as he was able to stop everything thrown at him. He could do this. Not that it was easy. Besides the seemingly impenetrable Growth Mana defences, the Sylvan had powerful evasive abilities. Had to be some passive ability boosting his dodging. Ray had to find some other way of getting to him. ¡°Die, already!¡± Estavian screamed as he raised the intensity of his attacks. It might have been an attempt from the Sylvan to turn the tides in his favour, but Ray grinned. This was his opportunity. A storm of Growth Mana projections fired against Ray¡¯s defences. The Aeonguard stopped some, the Impenetrable Shell and flying Windbane head constructs halted some others. But one attack still made it through them all. An extended blade of Growth Mana glowing pure white. Estavian¡¯s face had a crazy, triumphant smile as he sheared it in. Ray used Temporal Passage to disappear. But the Sylvan was blindingly fast. Even as Ray reappeared at a spot where one of his constructs had been moments ago, Estavian shot in with his Growth Mana trailing from his back like they were rockets boosters. ¡°You can¡¯t get away!¡± the Sylvan screamed. Ray was still just far enough to dodge. The Sylvan had foreseen it, however. His blade extended without warning. It grew to five times its length in the blink of an eye, shooting forward as fast as a laser. There was no way Ray could have seen that coming. At least, not like that. He cursed that he couldn¡¯t check his opponent¡¯s abilities as the blade stabbed in. But it never caught him. The blade, and the wound it would have left, both disappeared. Instead, a flying Windbane head construct that had not been destroyed by Estavian¡¯s barrage got pierced instead. It was strange to witness. The sword shifted in position, and so did the Sylvan himself, his eyes going wide at the sudden change in his position. ¡°What¡ª¡± Ray smiled triumphantly. ¡°Soul Sacrifice.¡± Those words made no sense to the Sylvan at all, only deepening his confusion. But that was good for Ray. He had planned on taking advantage of the latest ability he had inserted into his crucible, Infinity Mausoleum. The one that allowed any of his active spells to take the damage that was meant for him. Ray capitalized on the surprise. He wasted no time pointing both his arms at the disoriented Sylvan. The Windbane heads summoned there with Aetheric Trace had been raised by a couple of Tiers with the ring. Now, when they fired the fiery breaths gathering in their gullets, the jet stream emerging from them were the size of geysers. The Sylvan¡¯s reactions were still immaculate. More Growth Mana popped up around him, more spiralling projections cladding him in a stronger, more protective armour. It was almost as though he had noticed that Ray¡¯s spells were stronger than before. Estavian was pushed back by the twin, flaming blasts. His booted feet scaped against the rocky ground as he was forced back over a dozen yards. But his armour held. The flames didn¡¯t get through. Even after raising their Tiers, they couldn¡¯t break down the powerful Growth Mana defence around the Sylvan. ¡°You think I failed to notice?¡± the Sylvan asked. ¡°You may believe you have grown stronger, but¡ª¡± ¡°Just die,¡± Ray said. Then he used Momentous Domain. Around the spot where Estavian had been pushed back to, a field of glimmering blue energy emerged on the ground. The Sylvan¡¯s apparition appeared in the next second, standing almost exactly at the same spot that the real one was occupying. ¡°What is this?¡± Estavian asked. Ray didn¡¯t need to answer. The widening of the Sylvan¡¯s eyes proved that he had figured it out too. He was just a little too late about it. The spectral version of Estavian that formed was at the exact moment where Ray had originally fired his twin lasers and caused that explosion that would have caught him too, if he hadn¡¯t teleported away. Thanks to Momentous Domain, the explosion occurred again, time cycling back to the moment where he had cast his spell originally. So, while Ray¡¯s current blast of two lasering breaths still wasn¡¯t enough to overcome the Sylvan¡¯s defences, the addition of the explosion was enough. Estavian cried out as the detonation rocked the entire area. It ruined the structural integrity of the breaths already firing in, causing them to explode too, raising the potency of the burst even more. Ray himself was thrown back by the shockwave, dust and rocks raining everywhere, everything shaking as blue light flickered over the whole battlefield. [Enemy Defeated¡ªSylvan] Auric Propulsor [Tier 4] Sylvan: [Level 58] x1 Essence: +11,600 Knowledge: +3 Aeon Mana Restored: +2,900 Essence to Level 51: 45,280/262,000 Knowledge to next Threshold: 2,542/3,500 Ray didn¡¯t waste too much time recovering from that. He had succeeded, but things weren¡¯t settled yet. He turned. Sameer was still fighting against Lent. Neither appeared to be aware that Ray had won. If he timed this right, he could slip away, find his way to the boss room, and finally¡ª Gritty: You still alive, wingman? The sudden message surprised Ray, but he got moving, leaving Sameer and Lent behind without trying to draw attention to himself. Ray: Did you guys take down the boss and get the treasure? Gritty: Uh, about that¡­ Ray was about to ask what exactly about that did Gritty have to say. But his question was answered moments later without him needing to voice it. The dungeon shook again, worse than before. Much, much worse. Ray had to stop, heart hammering in his chest as everything started crashing around him, before he got moving quickly to avoid the avalanching rocks. It was like the whole dungeon was breaking apart. Ray: The hell is going on Gritty? If she replied, Ray didn¡¯t pay attention, because a horrific roar echoed through the entire canyon. It emanated from a point not far ahead of him. When he looked up, he finally saw what was causing the commotion. At the point where the purple haze was the thickest, where Ray expected the dungeon¡¯s boss room to be, the violet cloudy cover was breaking apart with flashes of white lightning. And from within its bowels, something gargantuan was emerging. Gritty: The dungeon boss. It¡¯s breaking out of the boss room. B3 Chapter 25 (156): Segmented Titan Ray was a little mesmerized by the monster climbing out of purple depths of the dungeon¡¯s centre. Forget wondering about why the boss was even emerging from the boss room. Its appearance alone took up all his thoughts for a moment. The first thing that Ray caught on to was the fact that it was structured somewhat like a centipede. Its body was long and segmented, each part possessing its own, large pair of limbs. Plus, each segment was about the size of a minivan, so the total combination of the segments made the monster pretty long. Besides the limbs¡ªwhich looked a little too human, if Ray was asked¡ªalmost every segment had something else that made it perform some other function. A few segments had wings, some had spikes or horns or other projections, others had what looked like feelers. A lot had even more arms, each holding an oversized weapon, like a halberd the size of a tree or a sword big enough to cut through a tank. Worst was its skull . At the very front of the centipede-like body, the boss had a head that was somewhere between leonine and reptilian, like a dinosaur with a mane of spiky horns. Its eyes glowed with the same deep violet light that the dungeon was suffused with, its maw filled with rows upon rows of sharklike petrified teeth. Oh, yes, the whole monster looked like it was made out of stone. Just like the Depthless Gargoyles. Ray: I can see that it¡¯s the boss. WHY is it coming out of the boss room, though? Gritty: I don¡¯t know. Part of the chamber just kind of collapsed and melded into the monster, and then it started getting out. Ray: The room BECAME the monster?? Gritty: Uh huh. Eliza thinks it¡¯s going to do the same thing, but with other parts of the dungeon. Ray only needed a second to understand what she meant. Doing the same thing. As in, ripping apart chunks of the dungeon to add to itself. Most likely, what Ray was seeing wasn¡¯t the original size or shape of the boss. It had turned into this form after talking apart the boss room, probably turning it into more segments to add to its body. And now, it was looking to do the same with the rest of the dungeon. Ray recalled seeing how the creatures caught in the petrified vines had added to the Depthless Gargoyles¡¯ mass. This boss monster took it a step further, adding different functionalities from the trapped creatures it absorbed. He paused. That almost made the monsters sound¡­ a little like him. Annoying. The dungeon was continuing to shake and break apart, but Ray was starting to notice it wasn¡¯t random. He didn¡¯t have to dodge and evade the falling rocks as much. Not anymore, at least. The dungeon walls were pulling apart, the cliffs falling back and withdrawing. Essentially, it was making the canyons wider, joining them together to make a far larger valley. A far larger boss room for the monster to operate in. Ray pressed his lips together. It was coming at him now. The monster was headed in his direction. He could still hear Sameer and the Galiant locked in battle farther behind him. Would they stop when the monster finally arrived? Well, he supposed he was about to find out. The monster really was approaching now. Ray tensed a bit. It was getting closer and closer, near enough that he could use Eternal Pulse to check how different it was from the Depthless Gargoyles, which turned out to be not that different in the end, apart from a few pesky new abilities he¡¯d need to be aware of. [Eternal Pulse] Segmented Titan [Monster] [Tier 34] [Level 72] The corpse of a dead god will forever remain that¡ªan unmoving shell of a former divinity. But such divine corpses leave their divinity enmeshed in their surroundings. When the time comes, when momentousness threatens inertia, the divinity can regather and reform, reanimating the body. For even a shadow of the former self, of a former Titan¡¯s power, can strike devastation upon all. Skills: Remnant Body [Tier 33]: Draw on the powers of all other trapped remnants, channelling their attributes. From increased strength to enhanced speed to even channelling the elements of the world. At Tier 33, channel up to 33 different remnants at once. Parasitic Growth [Tier 30]: Embed stony parasites in the world around you to ensure you never lack for power. Number of parasites thrown out depends on the Tier. Indomitable [Tier 28]: Your internal framework never shatters, so long as you have some skin covering you. Ensures protection up to Tier 28 attacks. Tectonic Reach [Tier 31]: Increase your reach and force the world to obey your will, simply with your touch. At Tier 31, your reach can go up to 31 meters. Stone Blizzard [Tier 29]: Break apart your body and your surroundings to become a ripping storm that shreds everything caught in your reach. At Tier 29, Stone Blizzard rages in a radius of 29 meters around you. Will of the Many [Tier 30]: Since your body is built through the will and wishes of the thousands interred within your viny tomb, call upon their lost souls to breathe life into every part and parcel of your being. At Tier 30, this ability allows up to 30 segments of your body to work independently. Focused Fury [Tier 32]: Concentrate your wrath against your enemies into a single point, devastating everything ahead of you. Ray looked back. Lent and Sameer were both fighting each other still. They were hardly even aware of the dungeon breaking apart around them, much less of the monster hurtling in their direction. Too busy still trying to kill each other to notice the onrushing danger. Basically, Ray was on his own. With a growl, he turned back to the Titan heading towards. Maybe it was for the best that he had to deal with this by himself. At least he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about being backstabbed. Gritty: Just hold it for a while, wingman. I¡¯m coming fast. Ray: Just you? Where¡¯s Marcus? And what about the other two? Thankfully, Gritty got what he meant when he said other two. Gritty: Marcus is dealing with them, actually. One of them is injured, so he should be able to handle things for now. Don¡¯t worry, there¡¯s nothing in the boss room itself. We looked. We¡¯re going to have to beat that thing if we want to find the treasure, which is easier said than done. Ray wondered if they really had been able to look properly while they were busy dealing with the Titan and an enemy team on top of that. But he wouldn¡¯t have been surprised if the treasures from this dungeon came directly from the monster they were supposed to stop. After all, if all those petrifying vines could trap creatures in them, who was to say they couldn¡¯t hold treasures too? Treasures that had by now been absorbed by the Titan. Ray prepared for the fight as the humongous monster drew closer. He cast Time Veil over himself to grant himself a powerful buff, then summoned a couple of flying Windbane maw constructs with Resurrect Recollect. Even with all that, he still felt a bit dwarfed. Kind of like when he had faced off against his first Viledrake on the Second Floor. An unearthly shriek pummelled down from the Titan as it got closer. It echoed around him, despite the dungeon walls having moved off a bit around him. Ray dragged in a deeper breath, focusing on how best to survive and win. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. For an oversized monstrosity, the Titan moved in way too fast. Ray sent out his constructs to charge in and blast it with blue flames. They didn¡¯t affect the monster much at all. Two of its segments whipped their wings around to act as safeguarding shields, the flames almost bouncing off them. Ray cursed. Then dashed off with Soring Wings on his back as the monster counterattacked. Two of its segments had pikes about as long as a battleship. They poked in, crunching on the dungeon floor to send broken rocks shooting everywhere as Ray dodged. The monster was smart. It didn¡¯t attack with both pikes at once. One forced Ray to dodge, while the second swung around to catch him in his evasive manoeuvre. Thankfully, Ray was agile enough to serve away from the second blow too. His degree of control over his own motion was quite fine. It was his turn to counter. Ray aimed his arm at the huge Titan, firing out a lasering breath from the draconic maw around his hand. The blast did absolutely nothing. He wasn¡¯t sure if he even saw a scratch on the monster¡¯s rocky body. He cursed. Of course. Ray recalled just how difficult it had been to break through the Depthless Guardian¡¯s defences. It would no doubt be even more difficult here. Sure, he had his Mana Infuser ring to count on, but how far could he go before he ran out of Aeon Mana crystals? As he tried to formulate a plan where he wasn¡¯t exhausting his Mana supply, Ray continued dodging. The monster was attacking too quickly, too viciously. Its ability to make the segments work independently was coming into play. The way it moved so erratically, the way so many different attacks swung in with no rhyme or pattern¡­ Ray growled as he was forced to evade the swipe of the massive halberd before ducking under several pike stabs. The monster¡¯s huge maw chunked out a gleaming beam of amethyst energy, which he evaded thanks to his Soaring Wings. Several of the Titan¡¯s wings spread apart, before blasting Ray with a stony storm, a hail of blizzarding rocks that he had to use Mottling Aeonguard to evade. All in all, the monster wasn¡¯t giving Ray a second to do anything except survive. A break. Ray needed a damn break. Temporal Passage did the trick. Ray continued dodging and defending for a while, even using his more attack-oriented spells like the Windbane heads around his arms, to protect himself. Meanwhile, he had sent out a Windbane construct to find an open space. As soon as it had done so, he teleported away. For a tiny instant, Ray considered pausing. Resting. The idea was as appealing as it was completely foreign. He couldn¡¯t rest. It was now or never. Ray summoned up several more of the flying Windbane heads. He was reaching the limit of his Mana, but he didn¡¯t hesitate, bringing up a whole squadron of his constructs. Then he made them all fire at the monster. Each head fired out a blue beam of compressed flames, the lasers combining together into a geyser of erupting energy. It was probably one of the most powerful blasts Ray had ever shot out, and he was making sure it all converged to one point on the monster. Made sure that it would overwhelm his enemy. But it didn¡¯t matter. While the huge blast that made the entire battlefield glow blue did indeed get past the Titan¡¯s defence, Ray had discounted just how effective its segments were. As soon as the combined lasers struck, the Titan broke apart into several parts. The point where Ray had struck remained as a single, lone segment. It was promptly destroyed, the explosion sending up a cloud of dirt and dust into the air. But the rest of the monster, now divided into multiple parts, was perfectly fine. That independence¡­ Ray cursed. He should have figured it would be capable of something like that. Even worse, the segment that had been destroyed was being replenished. The dungeon walls might have pulled away, but the petrified vines were still crawling on the floor. Bringing with them reinforcements. A resupply of the frozen creatures they held trapped within their clutches. Ray couldn¡¯t focus on it, though. The segments were everywhere now. If he concentrated on one, he was bound to be struck by another. He had to keep up his guard. But even then, there were just way too many of them. Which was what allowed the segment with the Titan¡¯s head to attack with Focused Fury. Honestly, Ray was surprised he even recalled the name. Although, there was nothing else that attack could be anyway. The head of the Titan yawned its jaws wide. Deep purple energy compressed within, frothing and bubbling and sparking like it couldn¡¯t wait to explode out. And then it did burst out, shooting outwards in a gargantuan laser beam that split in multiple directions. Ray was dodging already, throwing up Mottling Aeonguard. Even though that wasn¡¯t really enough, the couple of times an amethyst laser got close enough to strike him didn¡¯t actually do any damage. Instead, Soul Sacrifice just meant that two of his constructs were vaporized instead of him. Nevertheless, the state was terrible. Forget finding an opportunity to counter, even after evading the storm of purple lasers, Ray was immediately forced to contend with other segments rushing him down. He was forced to dodge more oversized pikes, halberds, and swords. Ray was still on the back foot. The only potential upside was that he was no longer the only one affected by the monster¡¯s rampage. ¡°Really?¡± Sameer was shouting from someplace behind. ¡°You can¡¯t even deal with one lousy monster?¡± One was really an understatement. Ray was mobbed by three segments at once, one throwing rocks at him with Stone Blizzard while the two others attacked directly with huge, petrified weapons. He used Temporal Passage to catch a break. At this point, Ray was using his constructs to give himself a lifeline to escape the relentless onslaught rather than to fight back. It was starting to feel like a Tier 35 dungeon held nothing less than a raid boss as its final obstacle. Ray looked around to find that Sameer was having somewhat of an easier time dealing with everything. His portals. Those were key. The glimmering openings to other worlds swallowed up everything the Titan threw at him. They were especially effective against the oversized weapons, as the portals would just swallow the weapons and snap closed. Even the Titan¡¯s segments seemed momentarily confused when its overlarge pike was reduced to an overlarge toothpick. Sameer took full advantage of the confusion, summoning more portals to blast the Titan¡¯s segments he was facing with a wide variety of attacks. A torrent of flame shot out of one glowing portal. Another spewed what looked like oil, but it turned out to be alive, a slimy substance that took over its target and started suffocating and digesting it. For all that he had been fighting against the Galiant, Sameer didn¡¯t seem tired or even slightly injured. How many Mana crystals and shards did the guy even have? Speaking of which, the Galiant was similarly standing his ground against the horde of Titan segments now attacking him. Like with Sameer, he was almost completely immune to the monster¡¯s attacks. The only difference was that he didn¡¯t need portals. Lent was just built different. The melee attacks left little to no mark on his rocky body. Those laser blasts that Ray had done his best to avoid did leave cracks and scratches, but Lent shrugged them off like they hardly mattered. Ray soon had to turn his attention back to his own battles. There were so many segments from the Titan. He was once again being pelted with a hail of broken rocks from a few segments armed with wide, stony wings. This was getting annoying. But there was a difference. He wasn¡¯t fighting alone this time. As with a raid boss, Ray had others fighting the thing by his side. Not that he was about to call any of them his ¡°party¡±. Both seemed like they¡¯d much rather kill Ray than ever work with him, if they were given a choice in matters. Thankfully, Ray did have someone he could count on. Gritty: Yeah, makes total sense why you haven¡¯t asked where I was yet. Ray barely dodged several boulders cannoning in at him. Ray: What? ¡°I¡¯m here, wingman!¡± He looked down. Gritty had indeed appeared, unsurprisingly covered in blood with bones poking out of her body here and there. It would have been distracting had she not dealt with the distractions herself even as he called out. Several of the segments that might have attacked him were now trapped in a pool of bubbling blood. Spikes of white bone were thrusting out here and there, stabbing through the monsters¡¯ stony bodies and keeping them busy. ¡°Good timing,¡± Ray said. ¡°Now we can turn the tables on this thing.¡± He had long foregone the idea that he could take down the Segmented Titan on his own. Maybe, if push came to shove, Ray could have found a way to kill it on his own. A part of him even relished the challenge. The same part that had conquered all those dungeons on the Fist and Second Floors by himself. But the situation was vastly different here. He wasn¡¯t so stupid that he couldn¡¯t admit that this dungeon was far too strong for him to be tackling alone in any reasonable length of time. ¡°Don¡¯t be so sure,¡± Gritty said. They dodged together as another purple laser storm scoured through their former location. ¡°We ended fighting it together back in the boss room, and it was still way too big of a handful.¡± ¡°How did it even get out of the boss room?¡± She shrugged. Some of the blood sloughed off her shoulder. ¡°Beats the fuck out of me.¡± Gritty was right to be hesitant. Ray took a quick glance at the rest of the battlefield again, noticing how despite both Sameer and Lent standing their ground against the Titan, they hadn¡¯t done anything to it. They might survive whatever the monster threw at them, but conversely, they themselves failed to land any lasting blows. Ray frowned. It was the exact same as had happened to him. Even when Sameer or Lent somehow managed to destroy a segment, the petrified vines would just bring in a replacement. This was turning into a war of attrition, and Ray was pretty sure they wouldn¡¯t win something like that. ¡°We need to¡ª¡± Ray¡¯s attempt at planning was cut short by Marcus. Marcus: Any of you guys close to the boss room? Gritty provided Ray with some cover, allowing him to chat with Marcus without worrying about getting hit by a blow from the Titan. Ray: Anything wrong? You okay? Marcus: Nope. I think this is it for me. The guy, the Albatross guy, is insane. Ray¡¯s heart skipped a beat. Messages through the System Chat didn¡¯t reveal emotions and tone very well, but the way Marcus was talking¡­ Ray: Get out of there, Marcus. Now. Marcus: Did you get the Titan yet? Ray: We¡¯re working on it. Marcus: Then work on it faster. I¡¯ll hold this son of a bitch off for a little longer. But I won¡¯t last long. Especially with the other two bailing. Ray: No, I told you to get out. You can¡¯t fight Pierce on your own, you¡¯ll die. Marcus: Like I said, I¡¯m pretty much done for already. The last thing I can do is just hold him back. Hopefully, I¡¯ll last just a bit longer. Make it count, Ray. And say goodbye to Gritty for me. Gritty: Don¡¯t die on us, Knight Guy! There were no further messages from Marcus. Even when both Ray and Gritty sent further inquiries, Marcus remained silent. Ray stared at the Titan segments fighting against Gritty, Sameer, and Lent. He knew real victory lay in defeating the monster. He knew this was where he had to fight, ideally. But he left it behind. ¡°Beat that thing for me, Gritty,¡± he said as he flew off. ¡°I¡¯m going to save Marcus.¡± B3 Chapter 26 (157): Piercing Desperation Ray could only hope that Gritty would be able to handle the Titan while surviving whatever Sameer and Lent might end up doing. Though, considering how the monster was taking up all three of their efforts, she shouldn¡¯t be in any danger from the other competitors. He couldn¡¯t worry about it, anyway. There was Marcus to worry about. With Soaring Wings powering him forward, Ray rushed towards the centre of the dungeon that the Segmented Titan had emerged from. The purple haze grew thicker there, but Ray still had the first Mimic construct on him, the stony armour keeping him safe for the time being. Would it be enough inside the boss room? He had no way of telling, but that didn¡¯t mean he was going to hesitate. Marcus might already be dead, the idiot. There wasn¡¯t any portal or archway or anything really that signified when Ray was supposed to have entered the main dungeon boss room. The violet mist just thickened and thickened more. He wouldn¡¯t have even been able to tell if he was heading in the right direction, but he figured the mist thickening was enough of a positive sign to keep going. Ray was justified in doing so when he suddenly popped into just the battle he was hoping to interrupt. He had come upon a wide, stony battlefield that was littered with broken rocks and cracks on the ground. The whole area was bounded by the amethyst vapour, so thick here that it looked more like a solid wall. But the main thing that caught Ray¡¯s eye was Marcus. Just as their last few messages had suggested, he was in a pretty bad state. Ray was still a ways from him, but it was still obvious how wounded he was. Blood covered most of Marcus¡¯s body and his posture was hunched over, like he could barely stand. He almost looked like he had lost another arm. Nevertheless, he was still alive. That was honestly all that Ray cared about in that moment. Not for long at this rate, though. Pierce was stalking forward in his dual-spear form, both spears sparking with black and gold energy. Ray could have shouted, could have tried to get their attention and head off the danger Marcus was in. But there was a better way to go about it. Pierce lunged faster at his target. Marcus had thrown up a last-ditch shield of golden aura. It was nice to see that though he had more or less given up on getting back to his team alive, he wasn¡¯t going out with a whimper. Ray was already moving. He had summoned a draconic head around his hand with Aetheric Trace. Firing a compressed laser that got to Marcus much faster than Pierce allowed Ray to then use Temporal Passage. The world shifted as Ray disappeared only to reappear right between Marcus and Pierce. If either of them was surprised, they didn¡¯t show it. Pierce kept charging, Marcus still had his golden aura up. It wouldn¡¯t have been enough. Not on its own. But that was why Ray had come prepared. As soon as Temporal Passage ended, depositing Ray in the midst of his targets, he cast Resurrect Recollect, focusing on Impervious Shell. A Duskshell roared to life around both Ray and Marcus, presenting its tough, unbreaking back to Pierce. That, combined with the golden aura, was enough to stop the dual thrust of black-gold-wreathed spears from Pierce. Well, enough to make sure Ray and Marcus weren¡¯t killed. The impact still caused an unstoppable detonation to rip through the area. Ray was blinded by the flash of energy, the burst of heat and the shockwave ripping across his body, cracking and breaking most of his stony armour. Ray was coughing as he rolled on the ground. The armour¡ªthe Imitator construct now dispersing¡ªhad saved him. He didn¡¯t need to worry about it disappearing inside the boss room. ¡°Marcus,¡± Ray said through the dust, coughing a couple more times as he got to his feet. ¡°You still alive?¡± Ray wasn¡¯t dumbly looking around through the dust. He cast Resurrect Recollect again, summoning up a couple of the flying Windbane maw constructs, with Scouring Eyeballs strapped to their heads. They¡¯d help on multiple fronts. It turned out searching for Marcus was one thing they didn¡¯t need to assist Ray with. ¡°I¡¯m here.¡± Marcus was coughing too, his words broken by his dry heaves, wracked with obvious pain. ¡°Can¡¯t believe you actually showed up¡ª¡± More coughs. Not good. The dust was veiling them all. Just as it made it difficult for Ray to find Marcus, Pierce was having the same level of difficulty finding where his targets were supposed to be. But with Marcus coughing, they¡¯d be exposed in seconds. Assuming they hadn¡¯t been already via some other skill Pierce possessed. If only Ray could have thrown the same kind of protection he possessed over his allies. Still. He had options. He rushed over in the direction of Marcus¡¯s voice. As he did so, he cast Resurrect Recollect again, this time summoning the Imitator construct. Thankfully, for whatever reason, Pierce hadn¡¯t attacked them yet. Was he watching out for what would be Ray¡¯s next move instead? The dust also cleared enough for Ray to make out Marcus¡¯s silhouette. Thankfully, it was Marcus and not Pierce somehow. ¡°Did you really come all this way just to¡ª¡± Marcus coughed, then cleared his throat. ¡°To help me?¡± ¡°Will you please stop coughing?¡± Ray said, keeping his voice low. ¡°I¡¯ve got mine under control.¡± ¡°You fucking idiot.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not the one who lost my arm and then ended up getting nearly killed by another team. Come on, let¡¯s get out here.¡± He was about to drag Marcus off. This was their opportunity to stop wasting time in this pointless fight. Plus, he was running out of Mana. He didn¡¯t have enough gas in the tank for more fighting. But just as Ray was about to try and find the exit, the dust shifted. The veil lifted. Revealing that Pierce wasn¡¯t where Ray was hoping he¡¯d be. ¡°We¡¯re not getting out that easily,¡± Marcus said with no small amount of resignation. ¡°Or at least, he¡¯s not letting us get away that easily.¡± Ray frowned ahead where Pierce was patiently standing with his spears crossed before him. ¡°Why? What did you do that he wants to kill you so bad?¡± Marcus laughed. There was a weird sound accompanying that laugh that Ray really didn¡¯t like. It sounded like cloth tearing, but wetter. Fleshier. ¡°I think I stole the treasure.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have the treasure,¡± Ray said. ¡°That¡¯s what you guys said. You couldn¡¯t find the treasure anywhere in the boss room, and that it had to be with the boss itself.¡± Marcus shook his head. He held out his good hand. A second later, a Tower Node materialized to float over his palm. Ray¡¯s eyes widened. The Tower Node looked exactly like the dungeon itself. A diamondlike crystal made of blocky stone, crisscrossed with tiny versions of the stony, thorny vines. ¡°How¡¯d you get that?¡± Ray asked. He didn¡¯t wait for Marcus¡¯s answer. One of his constructs had noticed Pierce was moving now that the dust was gone. Ray¡¯s body tensed. ¡°I didn¡¯t find it,¡± Marcus said. ¡°Like I said, I stole the treasure. I snatched it from him.¡± Ray would dearly have loved to learn just what kind of situation and abilities had allowed Marcus to steal anything from someone like Pierce. But that was going to have to wait. They had a killer heading straight for them. ¡°We can¡¯t keep this up, Marcus,¡± Ray warned. ¡°How much gas you got left in the tank?¡± He got what Ray meant. ¡°Five more minutes. I can use my abilities a few more times, for about five more minutes, and then I¡¯m out.¡± ¡°Then follow my lead. We¡¯re going to give this asshole the Depthless Gargoyle treatment.¡± Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Marcus didn¡¯t ask questions. He knew exactly what Ray meant. All for the best, because they definitely didn¡¯t have time to make any extensive plans or preparations. ¡°It¡¯s not going to help,¡± Pierce said, slowly walking towards them like a predator sure his prey had nowhere to run. ¡°All your little plans, your meaningless schemes. One look, and I can tell you guys are tuckered out, about to drop dead on your feet. Just give up the Tower Node, and maybe I¡¯ll consider letting you go with your lives intact.¡± Considering Ray had nearly been killed the last time he had tried to fight off Pierce, he was pretty sure a deal like that was pointless. Plus, he wanted to keep the Tower Node. He wasn¡¯t going to disrespect Marcus¡¯s effort to attain it by giving it up. Nor was he about to be bullied by someone who was stronger on paper. Marcus spelled out Ray¡¯s thoughts quite eloquently. ¡°Why don¡¯t you suck me off instead, and maybe I¡¯ll consider it.¡± Pierce showed no reaction. Besides attacking, that was. He rushed in, spears held aloft and ready to stab in, glowing with red-and-black power. It almost reminded Ray of the chaotic energy he used to wield before his recent Class Evolution. Ray pushed Marcus away and charged in to meet Pierce himself. He cast the new and improved version of Anima Charybdis¡ªEternal Gravity. A translucent whirlpool emerged all over the battlefield. It had to be almost thirty feet in width. The huge eddy didn¡¯t seem to do anything other than pulling in ghostly apparitions from all over the area, and even then, it was barely noticeable. Just like his opponent, Ray ignored it as the real battle progressed. Pierce attacked from range. The back-red energy from his spears formed flaming spikes that flew forward with the power and speed of missiles. Ray knew his best bet lay on overwhelming offence. Trying to protect himself while also countering wasn¡¯t going to work. In a battle of attrition, he would end up losing. So he went all out in attack. The two flying Windbane head constructs shot in after Ray used one to dodge away with Temporal Passage. Sure, that might have exposed Marcus to attack, but the attacking Windbane heads cornered all of Pierce¡¯s attention. One belched a stream of deep-blue fire at him, while the other flew at him with its flaming maw wide open to chomp in directly. Pierce simply stood his ground and stabbed both spears into the earth. The point of impact exploded, a blast of gold, black, and red energy shooting outwards in a powerful dome. Ray cast Mottling Aeonguard just in time. The time-warping navy orbs coalesced together in front of him, forming a protective shield just as Pierce¡¯s blast reached his vicinity. His defence was strong enough, but still, he wasn¡¯t looking to remain on the back foot. Casting Aetheric Trace brought up two of the draconic heads around his hands. The constructs had already been destroyed. So, Ray would have to¡ª Pierce¡¯s blast ended, the Aeonguard orbs falling apart at the same time. Revealing the man himself stabbing in with his glowing spears. Asshole had used the blast as cover to rush in behind the wave of energy and attack directly in case it failed. For just a second, Ray took in the determined, almost feral expression on Pierce¡¯s face. The look of a man who would die before failing. Then Ray yelled out and fired both draconic maws, having raised their Tiers with the Mana Infuser ring. Pierce¡¯s response was just as quick. He shifted one of his spears so that it was now spinning in front of him, fast as helicopter rotors. The twin lasering breaths from the Windbane heads were deflected to either side, washing the entire battlefield with blue fire, scorching the rocks. Meanwhile, the other spear glowed black and red with even greater power. Ray cursed. Pirece¡¯s real attack swung in. With a final push of power, Ray forced the blasts from his draconic maws to push him back. His feet scrabbled on the rocky ground. The only reason he didn¡¯t fall was for the extra stability from his wings. More importantly, the devastating swipe of Pierce¡¯s spear had missed him. Although, he was far from safe. The spear¡¯s slash had unleashed the spikes again. All the black-red flames condensed into the miniature javelins, shooting at Ray like they had been fired from massive ballistae. Ray had his wings to soar over them. The battle fury coursed through him, adrenaline burning in his veins like lava. His whole body was yelling at him to engage, screaming at him to get in Pierce¡¯s face and do his best to kill the asshole. But Ray¡¯s Mana stores were almost out. He couldn¡¯t keep fighting off Pierce personally even if he wanted to. Even if his every instinct screamed at him to do so. So he flew to his left instead of straight at his opponent. Pierce¡¯s eyes followed Ray¡¯s motion for a second. His whole body was set to continue attacking, throwing his spear and those black-red missiles on and on. But then the distraction came in. Marcus rushed in from the right. His missing arm had reappeared with a golden apparition, glowing brighter and brighter as he gathered power. Ray had succeeded. He had distracted Pierce, and now Marcus had a clear opportunity to land the same devastating blow that had destroyed the Depthless Gargoyle in their very first battle inside the dungeon. But for all that Marcus was fast, Pierce was even quicker. He managed to dodge the thrust of the golden arm. Then he bashed aside Marcus with a spear. Though, not before Ray teleported in with the real Marcus. The Imitator construct Ray had unleashed when within the dust cloud had fulfilled its role. Originally, it had taken Marcus¡¯s form to distract Pierce from killing them both. And now, it had performed the same duty. At the very moment Pierce¡¯s spear connected with its side, Ray used Temporal Passage. He had already reached the real Marcus who had been hiding away. Now, Ray reappeared just behind his Imitator construct with the actual Marcus in tow. With his glowing hand, with his unbreakable skill primed, in tow. ¡°Now, Marcus!¡± Ray shouted. ¡°That¡¯s the last of my Mana!¡± Marcus roared. Fuelled by wanting to take revenge against the bastard who had nearly killed him, with ferocious conviction etched on his face, he punched forward, pushing Ray back in the process. Pierce was too surprised to defend himself. Ray and Marcus¡¯s quick, impromptu plan had caught him off-guard. He still reacted in time, though. Ray¡¯s eyes scrunched up in rage as Pierce¡¯s form glowed with a familiar light just as Marcus¡¯s blow connected. The punch set off a blistering, auric detonation that threw Ray back even farther. He recovered quickly, squinting as he tried out make out what was going on in the midst of all that power and energy. Then he cursed. Yes. Just as he had feared. That bastard was using the same trick he had during Ray¡¯s fight. He was transforming, using the invulnerability during his transition to bypass any damage. At least Marcus had the sense to back off. The light and energy cleared, revealing Pierce once again clad in the dark armour, his red sword trailing little gleaming scarlet sparks in the air behind it as Pierce swished it like a show-off. Marcus slowly shook his head. ¡°How in the¡­?¡± Pierce¡¯s laugh was so annoying. ¡°Good try. You got real close. But I told you, it was never going to be enough.¡± ¡°Marcus!¡± Ray shouted. ¡°Back off, now.¡± Ray himself was moving again as Pierce raised his sword. His wings were still up, so he was still able to maintain his speed. Marcus listened too. He was retreating backwards, cradling his injured arm and shoulder as he did so. Pierce wasn¡¯t about to let them get away, however. He rushed in, sword flashing brighter with the imminent prospect of bearing all its power down upon them. Did that guy never run out of Mana? ¡°Not so fast!¡± Pierce shouted as he got into position. There was no running, so Ray came to a stop. Then he grinned hard. ¡°Got you.¡± Ray used Momentous Domain. He had lied. It was hard to tell whether Pierce had believed that shouted nonsense about Ray running out of Mana. Yes, he was practically out, now that he had cast Momentous Domain. The telltale sensation of a spike driving through his mind was all the notice he needed. But the point was, Pierce had fallen for it. He had rushed in, heedless of any danger he might face, straight to where Ray had cast Eternal Gravity earlier. The improved version of Anima Charybdis now drew in all the temporal ghosts of every Mana-based ability anyone cast within a vicinity into the centre of the ghostly whirlpool. And Pierce had rushed right into that centre. So, even though Eternal Gravity had seemingly disappeared, all it took was a last-gasp cast of Momentous Domain to bring it back. To bring back all the power that had been flung out in the battlefield over the last couple of minutes. Spectral apparitions of all three of them burned out, along with the various powers they had manifested. Flying Windbane maws, their lasering breaths, orbs of Aeonguard, all the spiky, red-black javelins that Pierce had flung out, even that final golden punch from Marcus. All of it collided and combined, breaking apart into a furious mass of unstable energy. One that led to an explosion. Ray really had no Mana left this time. All he could do was throw himself down and try to make himself as small a target as possible. The blast still ripped him off the ground and sent him flying. His eyes were so closed, but the light still left a print on his eyelids. Plus, his wings died this time, ripped to shreds as he crashed down, aches and pain shooting through his back and shoulder as he rolled. It was a lot harder to get back to his feet after that detonation. Still. He held his breath. Not just because of the dust. Despite that explosion, despite the sheer energy and power he had condensed into one spot before setting it loose on Pierce¡­ That bastard was still not dead. Ray would have received the system notification otherwise. The amount of experience for killing someone significantly higher level than him would have been sweet. ¡°Marcus,¡± Ray said, turning to where his teammate was groggily getting up. ¡°We need to move. Now.¡± Marcus didn¡¯t argue when Ray started shoving him in the direction of the exit. Even if Pierce wasn¡¯t dead, he couldn¡¯t be in any good condition. Nevertheless, Ray wasn¡¯t about to continue a battle when he literally had no Aeon Mana. But moments later, Marcus came to a stop. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Keep moving, we¡ª¡± ¡°No.¡± Marcus stood his ground, remaining unmovable. ¡°I told you I¡¯d hold him back. So that¡¯s what I¡¯m going to do.¡± ¡°Dude, I hauled my ass here so you could not do that. Now stop wasting time.¡± Marcus didn¡¯t answer. He didn¡¯t need to. The scratch of the sword dragging along the rocky ground pulled Ray¡¯s attention off his teammate to where Pierce was heading towards them. He really wasn¡¯t dead yet. Though, Ray could at least be glad he had gotten close. Pierce¡¯s armour had been ripped apart, and he now looked even worse than Marcus. Red wounds pulsed blood at his waist and arms. His helmet had been blown off, his face a mask of liquid crimson. Pierce must have used some sort of defensive ability. A skill to protect himself at the last instant. The transformations obviously either had some kind of cooldown or wouldn¡¯t activate fast enough to counter Ray¡¯s attack. ¡°Take this.¡± Marcus was trying to shove the Tower Node at Ray. ¡°And get out. I can hold him back now, for sure.¡± Ray was caught. He wanted to not need to sacrifice Marcus to win this dungeon. It was insane that Pierce just wouldn¡¯t stand down. But what else could he do? This dungeon had taken more out of him than he had been prepared for. He was done. Before he could come to a decision, Pierce attacked. Ray hadn¡¯t even taken a proper hold of the Tower Node yet. Pierce leaped with a yell, ignoring the fresh blood spilling from his body, and crashed in. Marcus shoved Ray backwards. A golden aura intensified around him, cracking to life like glass being born from nothing. Ray yelled out a warning. The shield of gold snapped and shattered upon contact with Pierce¡¯s sword. For a brief second, before things turned to utter shit, Ray thought he caught a weird but familiar roil of colours wash over Marcus. And then the red blade stabbed through Marcus¡¯s guts before slamming into the ground. For a third time, Ray was sent flying backwards under the effect of a powerful blast. B3 Chapter 27 (158): Manaless This time, when Ray crashed back to the ground, it hurt. That¡¯s what he got for running out of Mana. No wings to stifle the fall, no other spells to control his descent. No wonder that when he hit the rocky floor of the boss room, he was pretty sure he cracked a rib or two. The pain might have made him gasp, but he got a hold on it pretty quickly. He was fine, really. The more worrying issue was Marcus¡¯s condition, wherever he had fallen. The last Ray had seen was getting stabbed in the gut by Pierce¡¯s sword. Marcus better not be dead. At least the last blow had unleashed another dust cloud. The little patter of broken raining rocks came to an end as Ray slowly got to his feet. He made sure to keep his breaths shallow, making sure not to give his position away by coughing. It probably helped that he had lost the Tower Node in the commotion. Pierce had to be more focused looking for it, which gave Ray an opportunity to locate his teammate. He started walking, his head a little woozy and jolts of pain needling through his back and shoulders with every step. Pierce¡¯s clanking footsteps were loud but distant enough to not worry him. As Ray tried finding Marcus, the dust cleared a bit, revealing a surprising sight. He actually paused to stare. What the hell was Eliza doing here? He blinked. Oh. There had been that wash of strange but familiar colours. That weird power that had been almost shaped like a translucent orb. Now he remembered where he had seen it before. Eliza¡¯s weird time-stopping powers. She had been trying to help them? Against Pierce? But why? Ray blinked. Then frowned. Eliza seemed to disappear. His brain was trying to come up with a plausible explanation of what he had just witnessed. Could she have actually saved Marcus? That stab had looked fatally deadly, but it could have been worse. Deciding to worry about it later, Ray resumed trying to find where Marcus had fallen. He had to be close. Pierce found what he was looking for before Ray did. The dust cleared as his voice rang out. ¡°Got it!¡± Ray grimaced. The bastard had already found the Tower Node. Crap. Where was Marcus? Even with the dust disappearing, Ray still hadn¡¯t discovered the location his teammate had fallen to. The dungeon started shaking. Ray stumbled, nearly falling to his feet. He looked around, heartbeats picking up their pace. The thick purple mist was clearing. Beyond it, Ray saw the walls that made up the canyons that bounded the valleys shifting and changing. They were pulling away. But it wasn¡¯t just changing the layout of the dungeon itself like last time. No, they were crumbling this time. Breaking down. The cliffs shattered, the rocks avalanched down, some of the stony vines breaking and dying. Ray redoubled efforts to find wherever Marcus had gone. At the same time, he poked his only source of information inside the dungeon. Ray: Gritty, you got any clue what¡¯s going on? And Marcus, where are you?? Marcus didn¡¯t answer, though Gritty was quick to reply. Gritty: A little busy here¡­ She was probably still fighting the Titan. So the dungeon was breaking apart but the monster was still alive. Which meant the boss¡¯s defeat wasn¡¯t what had caused it. Ray turned to see through the clearing dust, glaring at where a bloodied Pierce stood with his original Tower Node eating the one he had just recovered. Ah, that explained it. A massive detonation lit up the distance. Everything shook, and Ray¡¯s head snapped around to stare at the blast of blistering light. It came from the direction he had left Gritty dealing with the Titan. ¡°Ah, Lent.¡± Pierce¡¯s words came faint from the distance. ¡°You¡¯re running out of Mana too, I see¡­¡± That had been from the Galiant. Ray was tempted to shake his head in disbelief. He should have figured that boulderlike alien would be similarly powerful like Pierce. More importantly, Pierce now had a clearer view of Ray himself. But he didn¡¯t seem to care. He ignored Ray completely, which made sense, considering he had fulfilled his objective here. The Tower Node was practically destroyed. Ray couldn¡¯t stop him even if he wanted to. It almost stung. He wasn¡¯t even deemed a threat any longer. Or maybe they were both exhausted, more or less injured, and practically out of Mana. Plus, they had bigger fish to fry. The entire freaking dungeon was falling apart around them. Gritty: Uh, wingman, did you find Marcus yet? Ray: Not yet. Although, I think I see him now. What¡¯s wrong? Gritty: The boss is heading straight for you again, assuming you¡¯re still in the boss room. Ray: It¡¯s still alive? TF? Gritty¡¯s warning didn¡¯t come in fast enough. The Segmented Titan was almost upon them already. All that shaking that had started with the destructing dungeon continued as the Titan and its many segments barrelled at them over the broken rocks and fallen vines. For all that its home seemed to be dying, the monster itself was well and alive. And angry. Ray tensed. If Pierce was ignoring him, then he was free to ignore the bastard too. He dashed to where he could finally see Marcus had fallen in a bleeding, wounded heap. The quakes grew even stronger as the Titan appeared in the boss room. Ray reached Marcus, looking back just to confirm he was safe for the moment. The monster was targeting Pierce only for now, for some reason. Whatever. As Pierce did his best to defend himself, Ray looked over his teammate. Since he was safe, Marcus was his main priority. He checked for a pulse. Still alive. Ray¡¯s breaths came a little more easily, though of course, he couldn¡¯t untense his shoulders. No telling when the monster would switch its targeting and attack Ray directly. Although, if his assumption was correct, he should be safe since he hadn¡¯t been the one to destroy the Tower Node. ¡°You¡¯re supposed to be the healer here, Marcus,¡± Ray muttered. ¡°You¡¯re the paladin. Not the guy who¡¯s supposed to need healing.¡± Thankfully, Gritty had purchased some useful healing supplies with their auction earnings. Ray pulled out some healing patches. He pressed it against Marcus¡¯s gut wound, where it latched on and stayed in place. There. That would stop the bleeding for the time being while Ray got Marcus to some place where they wouldn¡¯t be crushed by the Titan. Although¡­ getting out of the predicament was going to need some effort. Pierce was fighting off the Titan¡¯s furious attacks with increasing desperation. The monster¡¯s gigantic weapons slammed in with relentless aggression. It was all Pierce could do to fend off the endless series of overpowering attacks. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. For just a second, Ray felt bad. He remembered the fiercely determined expression Pierce had worn when fighting to get his hands on the Tower Node. Now, that determination had given way to desperation. To fear. But fuck him. If he was that desperate to get his hands on Tower Nodes that he would kill for it, then he could die for it too. Problem was, Ray would have a hard time not dying for it too. He had thought he could just carry Marcus out of the boss room, sneak away while the Titan was focused entirely on Pierce. But just as he was about to start towards the exit, the others arrived. First came Sameer. He was wounded just like everybody else now. His robes were torn, revealing a nasty, bleeding bruise on his shoulder. But the expression on his face was almost giddy. Maybe he was a little too happy at seeing that the Titan was moments away from killing off one of his competitors. But that wasn¡¯t going to happen. Lent arrived next, bringing with him a storm of gigantic floating boulders that all smacked into the monster the next second. The Titan roared, the sound making the air itself ripple as Ray¡¯s ears cringed. A sharp sting smarted inside his head. He wouldn¡¯t have been surprised if the roar had just ruptured his eardrums. ¡°You all will just stand there?¡± Pierce shouted as he dashed away from the monster. He had a small amount of reprieve thanks to Lent coming to his aid. ¡°The Titan will kill you next!¡± He probably wasn¡¯t wrong. But Sameer wasn¡¯t moving. Ray could see why Pierce was worried. Moments ago, he had bemoaned that his teammate was running out of Mana, and he has said too. Which meant Pierce himself was probably going to be out of Mana soon as well. ¡°Nah, I don¡¯t think so,¡± Sameer said with a vicious grin. ¡°We haven¡¯t died so far. Why would we die now?¡± Pierce didn¡¯t get to reply immediately. He was too busy batting away several blows from the gargantuan monster before needing to dodge the amethyst laser shooting in his direction. ¡°You can keep the treasure of the dungeon. I¡¯ll help you defeat the boss, and in return, you get to keep and sell the treasure.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll do that anyway once you¡¯re dead.¡± Ray let them bicker on. It would be stupid of them to interfere when the Titan was solely focused on Pierce. He was arguably the strongest competitor in the entire Immortalizer Tournament. If the boss of this dungeon would take him out here and now, they wouldn¡¯t have to worry about the auction or the later dungeons anymore. ¡°Shit.¡± Ray turned to see Gritty was hurrying towards him, her eyes on Marcus¡¯s unconscious form. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. He¡¯s still alive.¡± ¡°For now.¡± Ray cursed. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me things are even worse than it looks.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened here¡­¡± She took one look where the Titan was fighting against Peirce while Sameer laughed and Lent attempted to help. ¡°Well, I think I can guess. But shit¡¯s gotten wild outside, wingman. The whole dungeon is falling apart. We need to get out of this place before we get buried under an avalanche or something.¡± ¡°Ah, crap.¡± That¡¯s what Ray had been afraid of. ¡°For a second, I was hoping it was just the Titan coming here that was causing all the earthquakes.¡± Gritty shook her head vigorously. ¡°No, it¡¯s bad outside, wingman. We need to go.¡± Ray agreed. To an extent. Getting out now would mean they would give up their claim on the treasure and Ray really didn¡¯t want to do that. Not after all the effort they had put in here. ¡°You want to lose, wingman?¡± Gritty asked. Her piercing eyes seemed to be reading his mind. ¡°And live to win another day? Or you want to die here trying to claw victory out somehow?¡± Ray swore under his breath again. It shouldn¡¯t be a choice like that. Things were spiralling out of control because he was out of options. That was the problem. He had lost control. When he had started ascending the Tower of Forging, he had always claimed that he would never lose control. And yet, in this dungeon, he had lost control of one of his own fundamentals. How in the world was he expecting to win anything when he didn¡¯t even have a control over his own Mana store? About a hundred feet or so away, the Titan was unleashing a barrage of devastating attacks on Pierce. But it seemed he was done fighting. After his unsuccessful attempt at gaining Sameer¡¯s aid, he had decided enough was enough. So now, he ran. Lent was covering him, raising wall after wall of solid rock from the ground. The unstable ground, Ray had to remind himself. More of the surrounding cliffs were shattering, falling down to crash nearby. Gritty was right. They didn¡¯t have much time. ¡°You will run?¡± Lent was asking after Pierce as the Titan tried to crash through the defences to get to them. The monster was tremendously slowed down now, however. ¡°We¡¯re done here,¡± Pierce said. ¡°We¡¯ve got what we came for.¡± ¡°They killed Estavian.¡± ¡°And I killed one of them as well. An eye for an eye.¡± For all that Pierce might have run out of Mana by now, he was still strong and fast. It wasn¡¯t long before both he and Lent were disappearing through the exit. What a bastard. Pierce knew he hadn¡¯t killed Marcus. He would have received a notification otherwise, and since Ray had confirmed that Marcus was indeed alive, there was no way Pierce could have any confirmation that his last blow on Marcus had been successfully fatal. ¡°Sameer isn¡¯t stopping him¡­¡± Ray said, noting how Sameer¡¯s attention was shifting more towards the Segmented Titan. ¡°Which means¡­¡± ¡°We¡¯re all out of Mana,¡± Gritty confirmed. ¡°He couldn¡¯t stop Pierce even if he wanted to. Not for long.¡± Ray sighed. They held back for now. If the Titan passed on, rushing after Pierce and Lent, they¡¯d have an easier time of getting out. Although, the thought of not killing the Titan himself still made Ray¡¯s guts swim uncomfortably. The monster was hurrying through the exit as well. Sameer was hot on its trail, as were the last of the petrified vines that hadn¡¯t fallen apart yet, bringing with them more of their captured prey. Ray blinked. The vines¡­ ¡°Can you take care of Marcus?¡± Ray asked, his words clipped and hurried as sudden excitement caught him like a trap. ¡°What are you going to do?¡± Gritty frowned at him. ¡°I don¡¯t like that look on your face.¡± Ray scowled a little. ¡°What look?¡± ¡°You look like you suddenly decided barrel riding down the Niagara sounds like a wonderful idea.¡± ¡°¡­just take Marcus with you and keep him safe, please.¡± ¡°Yeah alright, but what are you going to do?¡± ¡°The main problem here is we don¡¯t have Mana. Not enough to fight against that thing and win and get out of this dungeon. So I¡¯m going to fix that.¡± That probably wasn¡¯t the answer Gritty was looking for, but Ray more or less shoved Marcus at her before taking off. Cracks ran across the battlefield and grew wider every second. Things were going to be destroyed in moments. He had no time to waste on conversation. Gritty understood that, thankfully. Which was probably why her next statement came through the System chat. Gritty: I¡¯m heading towards the exit. You better not die, wingman. Ray: I¡¯ll try my best not to. Stay safe. Ray wasn¡¯t even sure his idea was going to work. It was a gamble. After all, he wasn¡¯t even sure if the petrified vines counted as monsters. Nevertheless, Ray was adamant about killing them and gaining the same ability they possessed. The power that let them infuse their chosen target with renewed vigour and energy from their surroundings. One of the nearest was slithering off into the distance, heading after the Segmented Titan and ignoring Ray completely. He paused. The stony vines were slithering almost like serpents. Their rocky bodies made small, grinding noises against the rough ground. Ray took a preparatory breath. ¡°Here goes nothing.¡± This was honestly a trivial task. The problem was that it was also a gamble. The earth underneath him was breaking apart. He was potentially consigning himself to a doomed end on the chance that he could gain a new power that would let him beat the Titan. And even if he did kill the Titan and gained the treasure, would it be worth it if he ended up dying in the process anyway? A part of Ray wanted to summon up another construct and send it off along with Gritty. An insurance to teleport to in case things went to shit. Every other construct, even the one he had sent high up above the dungeon, was now gone. But the lack of Aeon Mana prevented that. Cursing again, Ray raised his arm and lobbed a blast of Timereave and Aeon Devour at the slithering vine. A ghostly blue version of Ray emerged from his body. It came from Timereave, the new version of Soulstrike. The sensation was like a chill erupting off his skin. Apparition Ray moved fast, striking the petrified vine with a punch that Ray himself honestly could never see himself doing. Come on, he had literal spells to count on instead. Although, he had to admit that his ghost was pretty strong. The punch broke the petrified vine and immediately stopped it in its tracks. If it had ever been alive, Ray was pretty sure it was dead now. Aeon Devour did the reverse of Timereave. At the point where the punch had cracked the vine open, the spell drew out strands of blue energy that entered Ray himself. [Infinite Mausoleum Activated] Aeon Devour has absorbed the soul of a defeated Petrified Vine. Please select which Aspect of the targeted soul to retain. Soul Aspects
  • Rock Solidity [Tier 27]: Wreathes body in solid rock, while continuing to allow all original functionality. Greatly boosts natural defences and toughness.
  • Soul Suction [Tier 28]: Draws in the power of the local target and converts it to Mana for the caster. The variant of Mana is determined by the natural Mana variant of the caster¡¯s core.
Ray grinned. Yes. There it was. He wasted no time picking the second option. Just as he had thought. The vines were drawing in the power from their surroundings to suffuse the Titan with energy. And in this world, the only energy that mattered was Mana. It also made sense that the vines of course ensured the Mana was a variant that was compatible with whoever the vines were assisting. Ray congratulated his past self for making sure there was an extra empty slot in Infinite Mausoleum. Although, the class evolution had raised the spell¡¯s Tier, so that point was kind of moot. Whatever. He was allowed to feel a little giddy because his bet had paid off. The gamble was a success. The dungeon might be falling apart, but from what remained of it, Ray could now draw in all the Mana he¡¯d need. It was time to kill the Titan. B3 Chapter 28 (159): Supply Vines Ray was tempted to use his new Soul Aspect with Aetheric Trace the very moment after he had earned it. He needed to test it out, after all. But the problem of being out of Mana was that he couldn¡¯t use any spell that would regain him Mana either. Sighing to himself, he decided to get going. It was too dangerous to remain standing at one spot. Everything was still falling part. This whole battlefield would be nothing but dust floating in the air before long. Ray didn¡¯t want to be here when that happened. Plus, he had already taken up a little too long getting his newest Soul Aspect. He had to hightail it where he needed to be. Fighting that gigantic Segmented Titan. Getting there wasn¡¯t exactly easy, especially since Ray currently lacked his general ideal mobility options. No wings to carry him across uneven ground, no Time Veil to boost himself and move faster and faster. All he could do at the moment was run on his own two feet. How pedestrian. It got actually dangerous at certain points. The cracks sometimes got so wide that Ray actually hesitated before jumping across them. He missed his landing at one of those crossings, his jump making his waist collide painfully against the other side painfully. At least he managed to hold on with his arms before swallowing against the pain and pulling himself to solid ground. Then he continued running. No point wasting time being worried or relieved that he was still alive. No point considering how helpless he felt without his Mana-powered abilities. The sounds were drawing nearer. He was moving in the right direction. Not that there were a lot of stable paths for him to take. But it was definitely a stroke of luck Ray didn¡¯t once fight himself trapped or needing to backtrack. He paused when he finally spotted the massive Titan. It was still distant. He¡¯d need to keep moving. But it was confirmation he had nearly made it. Ray got going. He was pretty sure that Pierce and Lent had left the dungeon. Which meant the Titan had to be fighting against the others, namely Sameer¡¯s team. Hopefully, Gritty wasn¡¯t caught up in the mess. Speaking of Gritty¡ª Gritty: You still alive, wingman? We¡¯re nearly at the end of the dungeon. Ray: I¡¯m fine. Thanks for the update. Glad you didn¡¯t get caught up with the monster. Gritty: Where the hell are you? Ray: About to kill the monster and win us the treasures. She didn¡¯t reply to that. He wondered if she was torn between concern for him and the fact that she wanted to win too. Gritty: You got Mana, then? Ray: You bet. Gritty: Good luck, then. And don¡¯t die. It¡¯s weaker than before. Just make sure to target its centre. There¡¯s something like a connection running between all the segments. Once you see it, target it. Ray came to a stop. He was closer to the monster now, as well as the team fighting it. Well, not team. It was just Sameer. Ray: Connection? I was fighting that thing too. I didn¡¯t notice anything like that. Gritty: You¡¯ll see it. Don¡¯t look with your normal eyes. You got Mana now, don¡¯t you? Ray: OH! He was starting to understand what he¡¯d have to do. For now, he used Aetheric Trace. The journey to the battle had allowed him to regain just enough Aeon Mana to cast the spell. Naturally, Ray focused on his newest Soul Aspect. Spiky pain burst around his head, but Ray ignored it. He¡¯d get relief soon enough. Hopefully. Deep blue colours bloomed on his back, energy roiling and thickening. The stony vines emerged from the cloud of gathered energy from his shoulders. Ray didn¡¯t even need to focus much to send them firing in every direction. It was fascinating to watch. The petrified vines, all of them thorny and the colour of the night sky, stabbed into the ground around him, digging into the rocks. A moment later, they began to pull out the earth itself, ripping apart the dungeon even further. For just a second, Ray wondered if they were going to smack him with the stones. Had he accidentally picked the wrong Soul Aspect? The other option had to do with¡ª The broken rocks in the vines¡¯ clutches started breaking even more. They were compressed before they turned into motes of aquamarine energy. No. They turned into Mana. The vines¡¯ colour changed as they absorbed the Mana by consuming Ray¡¯s surroundings. They lightened, turning more sky-blue. Each of the lighter coloured vines shot back towards Ray, returning to the cloud of energy on his back. The darker ones remained processing the rocks to gain Mana. As soon as the lighter vines re-entered the cloud of energy, relief arrived. Ray gasped a little as he felt the headache disappear. He blinked. Then he smiled as he checked his Status. Oh, yes. He had regained Mana. It wasn¡¯t a lot at first. In fact, he had spent more Mana casting the spell than what the spell had returned. But he wasn¡¯t disappointed. The spell wasn¡¯t even done. There were at least half of the total number of summoned vines still left. As Ray watched, the counter on his Aeon Mana store rose higher and higher as more of the vines returned to him. By the time all the vines had completed their absorption process, Ray had regained all the Mana he had spent and then some. He had successfully obtained a process to take in more Mana than he spent. Perfect. It was a little worrying how the vines had needed to literally consume his surroundings to complete their function. The dungeon was already in a terrible state. He would have to actively worsen it to gain more Mana. In his current circumstances, that was definitely a precarious thing to consider. But whatever. Ray¡¯s main priority was winning. He headed towards the fight. Another couple of Aetheric Trace casts had his wings back on him as well as more of the vines to gain more Aeon Mana. Best to top himself up before he got embroiled in that battle against a monster none of them had been able to beat yet, not even together. The fight¡­ was going on strangely. Sameer¡¯s team might not have been fighting with him, but they were present. Well, Eliza was. ¡°Enough, Sameer,¡± she was yelling at him. ¡°You want to die. Look around us!¡± She had a point. The other reason Ray was continuing to move was that he was quickly running out of stable ground. He had to keep it up, keep going so that he didn¡¯t fall through the holes appearing without warning everywhere. Sameer made sure to summon a gaggle of portals first before replying. They ensured he was not only protected, but that he also got some sneaky shots in at the Titan. ¡°Just go on ahead without me. You know I can catch up with you guys.¡± ¡°Not if they destroy everything in one go, you idiot!¡± Ray wasn¡¯t sure who or what she meant by that. But he couldn¡¯t worry about it. He had to figure out a plan of attack. Actually¡­ no. He was the one who held the advantage. The one who wasn¡¯t running out of Mana here. In fact, he was gaining more and more Aeon Mana with every passing second. Plans were well and good, but he didn¡¯t want to waste any more time with the dungeon falling apart. He had to act fast. Ray stood still for a few more seconds until his Mana capacity had nearly filled up. Then he got moving again. As he rushed towards the monster, he tried to follow Gritty¡¯s advice. He shouldn¡¯t look at that thing with just his plain eyes. That was the mistake he was making. Instead, Ray focused Mana into his eyes, casting Eternal Pulse at the same time. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. That finally did it. As the first pulse of translucent blue energy crashed over the Titan, Ray found just what he was looking. Just what Gritty had mentioned. There was a thick thread of purple Mana running through the Segmented Titan, connecting each of its pieces even when they were separated. Ray wasn¡¯t sure how seeing it was going to help, since he would still need to destroy it, and his spells only acted on the physical, corporeal parts of their targets. Didn¡¯t matter. Ray was going to try, regardless. He had all the power to do so. The monster didn¡¯t turn to face Ray even as he approached. It hammered Sameer with its oversized weapons, sending chunks of rocks flying at him in a stony storm. Sameer protected himself with more portals, but he couldn¡¯t counterattack. He was almost out of Mana. Had to be. With room to act, Ray summoned several constructs. Flying Windbane maws came to life round him. The only barrier to creating more was the ringing pain in his head that limited the number of his constructs. He sent the squadron of constructs to attack the Segmented Titan. Ray didn¡¯t particularly care if Sameer stuck around or not. He was going to beat that thing. He was determined to win this dungeon. The monster¡¯s segments broke apart and protected itself against the blistering salvo of deep blue fire from the Windbane heads. Just like last time, the attacks from Ray¡¯s constructs couldn¡¯t damage the monster much. The Tier of its defensive abilities was a little too high. Even worse, when the Segments retaliated with their stony weapons, their lunging body parts like wings and tails, the constructs fell quickly. But that was alright. Ray could summon more. Better yet, he could infuse them with more Mana, raising their Tier and making sure they were strong enough first. New Windbanes came to life around him, extra Aeon Mana creating the entire monstrous forms of the constructs instead of just their skulls. The roared as they assaulted Ray¡¯s target. ¡°You!¡± Sameer shouted. ¡°What are you doing here? I thought you¡¯d run away already.¡± ¡°Looks like you thought wrong,¡± Ray said. He didn¡¯t take his eyes off the monster, but he didn¡¯t need to look at Sameer to make sure he wasn¡¯t sneak attacked. A Scouring Eyeball was floating over the eye, providing security coverage over the entire place for Ray¡¯s benefit. The Segments were having trouble now. Ray¡¯s constructs were stronger, were making sure they were holding their own this time. Now, Ray himself had to step in. The only problem was Sameer. As alerted by the flying eyeball, he was about to attack Ray directly. A portal had come to life next to him. All it showed was a weird eyeball peeking through, the iris glowing brighter and brighter. That wasn¡¯t looking good. ¡°Sameer!¡± Eliza screamed from somewhere behind. ¡°Now¡¯s our chance. Let¡¯s go!¡± Sameer didn¡¯t escape, no matter how much his teammate pleaded. ¡°You¡¯re not stealing my victory from me!¡± he shouted down at Ray. Ray ignored the bastard. The monster was his real goal. With the Titan mostly occupied against the constructs, he called up a couple of Windbane heads around his hands with Aetheric Trace. Those purple Mana spots. That¡¯s where he had to focus. Sameer wasn¡¯t about to let him change his focus so easily. The bastard was trying to attack him again. Ray was about to cast a spell to defend himself when a thunderous crack resounded through the entire dungeon. A powerful tremor took hold, and a second later, the whole battlefield shattered and they all lost their footing. Ray was a little too surprised at the sudden plummet. His heart pounded, panic barely kept at bay. Everything was falling. It wasn¡¯t just him. The Segmented Titan, its many pieces, all of Ray¡¯s constructs fighting against it. Even Sameer was plummeting through the air. Then his mind reasserted itself. Ray cast Aetheric Trace again, calling up Soaring Wings. His descent slowed, though he wasn¡¯t suddenly flying instead of falling. But he could at least control his fall now. The panic rearing its ugly head was pushed back as Ray could actually take note of what was going on. He looked around, trying to see if he was now going to fall to wherever the very bottom of the Floor was, far beneath the sea of floating islands had been spending all his time on. As he looked around, he noticed Sameer cursing as he finally gave in to Eliza¡¯s former demands. He disappeared into one of his portals. At least the asshole was finally gone. Relief crashed like a wave inside Ray¡¯s chest as he noticed the falling rocks coming to a rest on a large shelf of stone. It seemed the whole dungeon island hadn¡¯t broken apart. Yet. Ray could see fissures snaking through the cliff they were about to crash onto. This was going to fall apart before long as well. As Ray¡¯s plummet slowed down thanks to his wings, his attention was hauled back to the monster falling with him. It shrieked out loud as it struck down, and for a heart-stopping moment, Ray wondered if the impact had just destroyed the shelf of rock too. He didn¡¯t even pay attention to the way his ears were bleeding again, with how all noise was muted a bit. But no. The island was still stable. The rocks were still solid. Ray still had some time to kill the thing. To win the dungeon. So that was what he focused on. Gritty: Wingman. I saw the other team come out. Where the hell are you? Ray: Getting us the treasure we deserve. She might have had more questions, but Ray couldn¡¯t even focus on the System chat. It was time to end this. Most of his constructs had survived the fall too. They were full-on Windbanes now, armed with huge, spectral wings. Of course they would be able to save themselves just as Ray himself had. As the Titan crashed down, unleashing a huge cloud of dust and rocks, the constructs rushed in with ferocious aggression. Ray ordered them to focus on the purple spots he had seen earlier. Those were the vulnerable areas. That he was pretty certain about. Plus, the fact that they were of a higher Tier meant they could really harm the Titan now. The most important factor was the fact that there were no more petrified vines bringing it the resources of the dungeon. It had no more reinforcements. No further ability to heal itself. Unlike Ray himself. He cast Aetheric Trace again, pulling out more of his own spectral petrified vines to pull in his surroundings as Mana. It was dangerous. He was actively ruining the structural integrity of a place that was on a precarious precipice. But fuck it, this thing was going down. Here and now. Like with Pierce, Ray cast Eternal Gravity. Not that the monster was going down easy. It was the strongest thing Ray had fought on his own yet. Of course it wasn¡¯t going to die just like that. The parts of the monster took umbrage against Ray¡¯s varied methods of assault upon it. It broke into individual segments, each of them battling back against the Windbane constructs. Huge weapons smashed in, storm of stones flew about, massive wings and tails and claws swiped and slammed about. Its fight was furious. Ray targeted the brain. That huge, half-reptilian, half-feline head that was yawning wide to fire off another laser of amethyst energy. He countered with his Windbane maws around his hand. Twin lasering breaths of compressed, blue fire met the monster¡¯s belching blast. Ray¡¯s attack was faster, though the resultant explosion covered the entire area. No worries. Ray had the construct of a Duskshell to encase him in its protective shell, making sure nothing of the detonation reached him. The same couldn¡¯t be said for the Titan. It was hit head-on by the huge blast, its head cracking open like an egg. The Titan began bleeding the purple energy Ray had spotted earlier. With the head down, for now at least, Ray could take care of the other segments. A few of them had defeated his Windbane constructs, even after Tiering them up with the Mana Infuser ring. Fine. Ray would kill them himself. They attacked him first. As soon as the explosion had ended, huge weapons and limbs swung in. The Duskshell cracked and bowed under their combined might. But it didn¡¯t give way. Allowing Ray to focus purely on firepower. He targeted the offending segments with precision, focusing the lasering breaths from his hand-Windbanes at the points where the purple energy was thickest. Bless Gritty for pointing it out. Just as she had suggested, the Titan¡¯s segments were weakest there. They fell back and died as soon as Ray struck them at their vital spots. Still. They weren¡¯t dead. Several were getting back up. The head was the first to rise, growling despite its wound, ready to fight back. ¡°Seriously?¡± Ray said. ¡°Why can¡¯t you stay¡ª¡± His question was interrupted when another dangerous crack ripped through the area. This place was about to shatter apart any minute now. Ray cursed. With another roar, the Titan and several of its Segments rushed at him altogether. Ray fired one of his hand-Windbanes straight up. Just as the monster reached him, he disappeared with Temporal Passage. His teleportation took him right above all his enemies. Ray began to fall, but as he did so, he cast Resurrect Recollect again to call upon the Duskshell once more. Extra Aeon Mana meant the entire monster was forming around him. The construct had always been about defence. But right then, a sudden idea of crushing the Titan down had popped up in Ray¡¯s mind. So, as he fell on the monster and its segments, he used the mass of the enormous Duskshell to bear down on the Titan. His construct¡¯s gargantuan weight now trapped his target in place. The Titan shrieked out in protest. Its maw opened wide again, pulsing with violet energy to blast out its laser strike. Not on Ray¡¯s watch. He cast Momentous Domain, right on the spot where Eternal Gravity had been. The spell ripped through time to bring back all the power energy ousted out into the area over the last minute. All the lasering blasts from both Ray and the Segmented Titan, all the temporal spirits of Ray¡¯s constructs, all the stony storms from the monster. Just as with Pierce, they all came back in one spot. They all compressed and combined together. Just as with Pierce, everything exploded again. Good thing Ray had remembered to use Temporal Passage. He might have encased himself with a Duskshell, but it wasn¡¯t going to be enough. Not against a blast of that much concentrated power. The only spot that Ray could reappear was where he had been casting Aetheric Trace a while back to draw in more Mana with the petrified vines. A spot that no longer existed, of course. Essentially, Ray just appeared in free space. There was literally nothing around him but open air. Naturally, he started plummeting. Again. But he had his wings on, so just as before, he was able to slow down his fall as he landed at the spot he had been moments ago, after the explosion ended. [Enemy Defeated¡ªSegmented Titan] Tier 34 Monster: Segmented Titan [Level 72] x1 Essence: +24,480 Knowledge: +3 Aeon Mana Restored: +2,448 Essence to Level 51: 69,760/262,000 Knowledge to next Threshold: 2,545/3,500 Ray breathed out harshly. There. The damn monster was finally dead. It was actually a little hard to believe that he had really done it. Although, the changing circumstances definitely helped. Speaking off¡ª [Dungeon Cleared¡ªVine-Choked Valley] There was a lot more after that notification, but it disappeared. Good thing too. The rest of the dungeon shattered, breaking apart. Ray wouldn¡¯t have been too worried about it, except for the message he received from Gritty at the same time. Gritty: Where the fuck are you, wingman? GET OUT OF THERE! Ray: I¡¯m trying. I just beat the¡ª Gritty: DOESN¡¯T FUCKING MATTER. JUST GET OUT. THEY¡¯RE DESTROYING THE DUNGEON. Ray: What? What are you talking about? Gritty: The Floor Lord. He¡¯s destroying the dungeon because it¡¯s apparently too dangerous for their whole floating islands schtick. If you don¡¯t get out now, you¡¯re fucking toast. Ray cursed again, loudly, as he fell. B3 Chapter 29 (160): Convenient Excuse to Kill This time, as Ray lost his footing and began to plummet, he recognized he wasn¡¯t going to be saved by falling onto another shelf of rocks. There was no such thing beneath him. All he had was huge, open air that the rest of the island around him was crumbling into. In other words, the wings on his back weren¡¯t going to help him. Ray might have evolved his Ascension Class, but it wasn¡¯t like that had evolved the Soul Aspects he carried. Soaring Wings still needed solid ground somewhere reasonably close to his body to achieve any sort of elevation. Ray let them go. The wings did slow down his descent a bit, but the idea he had landed on was only going to be impeded by them. Next, Ray aimed both hands downwards at an angle. Aetheric Trace called up the Windbane heads around them. He wasted no time firing powerful lasers out of the maws, the sudden shift in momentum throwing him backwards. Throwing him upwards. It was only seconds before Ray was reaching his targeted location. As he had fallen, he had quickly looked around to see if he was royally screwed or not. That essentially involved determining if the entire dungeon island was unstable and falling apart or not. Technically, the answer to that was a resounding yes. Everything was unstable. But there were layers to it. The whole edifice wasn¡¯t sinking to the bottom of the Third Floor at once. That was why Ray had been able to fight off and beat the Segmented Titan in the first place. His search had been quick. There was indeed a chunk of the island that was still floating, a spur of which was jutting out into the air. Ray¡¯s Windbane blasts were aimed at it. He wasn¡¯t an expert in that sort of manoeuvre by any means. Especially when the disparately aimed lasering breaths did weird things with rotational momentum and had his body twirling around in the air. So much for control. Ray shut off the draconic breaths. He had been flung upwards enough. Resummoning Soaring Wings back allowed him to regain control, and he was able to get himself to the spur of rock. He breathed out to settle the panicking beats of his heart. Those sudden plummets were not good for his blood pressure, that was for sure. Ray took a second to centre himself. A part of him was boiling over with the fact that Sameer had stolen the other dungeon treasure. But he couldn¡¯t worry about that now. He had to focus. Had to get out before everything fell apart. Sending the treasure into his storage bag, he looked around again. As he did so, he tried to get more information. Ray: Are you guys already out of here? Gritty: Yeah. We¡¯re fine. You¡¯re the one I¡¯m worried about, wingman. How are you getting out of there? Ray: I don¡¯t see anyone yet. You said the Floor Lord was going to destroy the whole dungeon, right? No way this thing is putting anything in dan¡ªoh shit. The expletive had come out when he realized Gritty was right. She had mentioned that the falling dungeon was putting Auction Island in danger, which was why the Floor Lord was apparently destroying the Tier 35 dungeon island. Gritty: You see it? Ray: Yeah. I see it. Auction Island is close¡­ Not that it made Ray feel the aggression was justified. Although maybe he was a little biased, considering he was on the island at the moment. His opinions would probably have been different if he wasn¡¯t in danger of being destroyed alongside the dungeon. Ray: I have a feeling the Floor Lord is going to enjoy destroying the dungeon a lot¡­ Gritty: That¡¯s why I¡¯m telling you to get the fuck off it! Ray took a quick breath. He closed his eyes, trying to will his mind to find a proper idea. Everything his immediate thoughts tried to offer up were crazy plans about jumping off the dungeon island and somehow flying to the safety of the Auction Island. Insanity. When he opened his eyes, his breath caught in his throat. Was that¡­ a cloud floating towards the dungeon? The cloud itself wasn¡¯t the main problem, although the way it seemed wrapped with flickering red lightning and familiar curling, spiky growths was concerning. No, the real issue was the riders the cloud was bearing closer and closer to Ray¡¯s location. Ray: Gritty¡­ Are the Sylvans riding in on a cloud? Gritty: Stop staring and get outta there already! Well, that pretty much confirmed. Although, if Ray was looking for a second confirmation, it came soon after the first. As beams of blood-red lightning shooting at the dungeon. Ray yelled out and jumped backwards, aiming for a spot deeper inside the dungeon island that wasn¡¯t falling yet. Just in time. The spur he had been was exploded to smithereens as one of the beaming red bolts struck. More of the crimson beams¡ªthe Floor Lord¡¯s doing, no doubt¡ªhammered in all over the dungeon, ruining what little structural integrity it had left. Alright, Ray was pretty sure the Floor Lord was here on purpose. He had seen an opportunity to take out Ray without going against the Tower Lord, and he was going to take it. Yeah well, Ray wasn¡¯t going down that easily. His mind briefly replayed the desperate, irrepressible aggression the Segmented Titan had displayed till the very end of its life. He was now in the same position. Potentially overwhelmed, facing opponents who had more firepower than him. The difference was that he was not dying here. Ray crafted several flying Windbane constructs to take to the air. He sent a Scouring Eyeball after them, just to see how effective they were against the Floor Lord¡¯s entourage. They never got close. A crackling forefield of red lightning sparked to life far, far out from the cloud. Ray actually froze in appreciation at how far the Floor Lord could cast that ability from his position. The net of red lightning caught his constructs, paralyzing them and holding them still in the air. Ray was still sure they would have been able to force their way through, but it wasn¡¯t just lightning that had them trapped in place. Growth mana materialized from the sparks of lightning, enclosing around the constructs, piercing through their scaly exteriors to stab in. Essentially, Ray¡¯s attack had failed. Pretty badly at that. That was alright. He wasn¡¯t here to beat the Floor Lord in combat. His Windbane constructs had provided valuable distraction for the Scouring Eyeball to look at the remainder of the dungeon island. Ray found what he had been looking for. The dungeon was falling apart still, as was expected, but it was doing so in chunks. Rocks of various sizes were breaking off from the exterior of the dungeon island before plummeting down into the white abyss of the Third Floor¡¯s cloudy bottom. Or rather, towards Auction Island now that the dungeon had floated closer to the central capital of the Sylvans on the Third Floor. Not that the Sylvans were about to let any rocks fall to the city there. That probably explained why chunks of the cloud were tearing apart. They raced towards the various falling rocks, towards the bottom section of the dungeon, each one bearing a Sylvan like they were some kind of a twisted elven version of Sun Wukong. But Ray recognized that was ticket out of here. It would be dangerous no doubt, and¡ª He almost cursed but held himself back as the dungeon shook violently, nearly throwing him to his knees. Cursing would have put him in danger of biting off his tongue. The dungeon was falling apart around him as more of the red beaming bolts were crashing in around him. Cursed Floor Lord was relentless. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. At least Ray knew what he had to do. He headed towards the lower sections of the dungeon island, seeking where the rocks were falling off piece by piece. Ray wasn¡¯t so sure about making his way there in one piece. The bastard Floor Lord was still striking at the dungeon island from a distance. Rocks were avalanching around Ray, pulling the island closer and closer to complete annihilation. Honestly, it felt like the Floor Lord was more interested in destroying everything and burying Ray along with it all. Saving Auction Island was the lamest excuse ever. Ray reached the lower section of the island without taking any hits, surprisingly. It helped that he had called up a couple more constructs to blast away any rocks that aimed for his skull. He probably shouldn¡¯t have used more petrified vines to top off his Aeon Mana. The dungeon was already in a nearly destroyed state. He was making things worse. But he¡¯d be off soon enough, so it didn¡¯t matter. Ray jerked to a stop as a fissure snaked across his path with the speed of a runaway train. It widened as it progressed, forcing Ray to retreat. Then the chunk of the island that he would have rushed onto fell apart. A split-second decision came to him, but before he could act on it, one of the Sylvans shot in. He rode in on a chunk of the dark cloud, his eyes fixed on Ray as he brandished what almost looked like a fencing sword, just made of glass instead of metal. This would have been the moment of truth. If they really were here about stopping the collapsing dungeon only, then Ray should have been saved. Even if they didn¡¯t stop their destruction of the dungeon itself, at least they would help Ray get out of here without getting destroyed along with the rest of the island. Unfortunately, considering they were the Floor Lord¡¯s lackeys, that wasn¡¯t the case. Ray supposed he ought to be thankful they were pretty clear about their intention from the get-go. The Sylvan¡¯s fierce glare promised violence even when he was distant. As soon as his cloud carried him closer, he attacked. The thin sword stabbed into the air, fast as a striking viper, the Sylvan¡¯s ability manifesting at the same instant. Growth Mana came to life on the glasslike blade. Then it leaped off, shooting at Ray as it stretched like a whip. Ray reacted by casting Mottling Aeonguard. He had the constructs flying close by, but they would serve better here as a deterrent, counterattacking the Sylvan instead of trying to protect Ray. Unfortunately, they didn¡¯t have much luck. The Sylvan on the cloud was way too fast, zipping by before either of the flying draconic heads had a chance to blast him with their flames. Ray cursed. The Sylvan might have dashed away, taking his whipping sword along with him, but there were more of them swooping in. Bunch of mosquitoes zooming in at him like annoying gnats. It was probably highly arrogant to consider them insects, especially since at least some of them were likely higher level than him, but Ray couldn¡¯t help but be frustrated. How could he not when he had the exact same experience with yet another Sylvan. This one fired an arrow laced with Growth Mana at him. Once again, the glowing orb of Mottling Aeonguard blocked it, but the Sylvan zoomed past before he could retaliate. At any other time, Ray might have even relished the challenge they were providing. He couldn¡¯t recall any other time where he had fought opponents who were not only fast, but were actively using their far superior speed against him. Wouldn¡¯t it have been glorious to see their faces when he could simply appear next to them with a quick teleportation? But he couldn¡¯t focus on that. Not when the ground itself was cracking under his feet, about to give away and let him plummet. For the Floor Lord¡¯s attacks were relentless. More beaming bolts thundered and hammered in, shattering the cliffsides and everything else around him. He was lucky he hadn¡¯t already been crushed by the rocks, if he was being honest. Ray closed his eyes for a second to focus. He knew the gist of what was going on. The Sylvans were determined to overwhelm him. The distant assault from the Floor Lord, the ones shooting in closer, they were all bent on killing him by any means necessary. So, Ray opened his eyes and ran. He went back up, rushing higher up the island and deeper inside. Ray was too exposed when he was so close to the exterior. Even if there were broken rocks and boulders everywhere, he could just blast his way through. Pretty easy when he could command his Windbane constructs to crush the rocks further with their flames. Sure, that caused a chunk of the island to start falling off. He wasn¡¯t helping the dungeon survive longer with his antics. But Ray had his wings. It didn¡¯t take much effort to jump from one chunk of the island to another that was more stable, carried aloft by Soaring Wings. The Sylvans couldn¡¯t continue targeting him. Even better, they couldn¡¯t see him. Perfect opportunity for Ray to cast Resurrect Recollect again, calling on the services of his Imitator construct this time. He didn¡¯t need it to take his form or distract his enemies. No. That was his purpose. What the mimic would do was get the hell away from this collapsing dungeon. Ray could see a lot of holes in his plans even as he set it in motion. Lots of failure points. But he was running out of options. Desperate times called for desperate measures and whatnot. Stakes of crimson lightning struck around him. They caged him in by ringing him with pillars of their sparking energy, forcing him to come to a stop. Cursed Floor Lord had trapped him. Ray wasted no time making his constructs attack the bolts. He cast Mottling Aeonguard again, making the orbs close around him and expand, holding time steady so that the explosions didn¡¯t reach him. But there was a different problem with the blast that freed Ray. It also shattered the surrounding areas, exposing him to the flying Sylvans again. ¡°Fucking¡ª¡± Ray bit down on his curse as he got running again. More Sylvans had joined the first two that he had evaded. They were armed similarly. One was chucking javelins of Growth Mana that appeared to be able to change direction mid-air. Another was armed with not one but two of those glasslike swords that whipped Growth Mana in from the distance. Distance. That was the issue. They had all planned this out. They were aware that they¡¯d have an easier time of beating Ray at range. Normally, Ray wouldn¡¯t have had an issue countering. But because he was forced to run, to dodge and weave away to keep himself alive for just a little longer on the dungeon island, he couldn¡¯t focus. He couldn¡¯t retaliate. Even when he tried to partition his focus. Setting a Scouring Eyeball and a flying Windbane head construct on each Sylvan didn¡¯t work either. Ferocious though his constructs were, the Sylvans were strong enough to take them. Plus, it was clear they had done their homework. They knew how Ray and his constructs operated. They were ready for him. At that point, he had to wonder how much of this they had planned. Had the Floor Lord always aimed to destroy the dungeon? Had he always possessed some method of keeping Ray away from the other competitors? Or had he simply been able to take advantage of a fortuitous circumstance with incredible adroitness? More crimson bolts beamed at Ray¡¯s location. Oh yes, the Floor Lord was targeting him very specifically. The surviving Mottling Aeonguard orbs were enough to protect him for now. Ray was actually surprised they could stop the Floor Lord¡¯s attacks. They were coming in with a huge amount of speed and power. That his Aeonguard orbs were able to stop them, despite not having their Tiers raised that high, was definitely noteworthy. Maybe his blasts got less effective the farther they got from his location. Or maybe, his Aeonguard orbs were better at combating pure energy than physical attacks. Whatever the case, Ray was thankful for the breather he received. He had a little more time to survive. At the top of the next shelf of rock, Ray came to a stop. It was time to make a stand. He had stable enough footing here. He could do this. The Sylvans swung upwards. They absolutely didn¡¯t care about stopping the dungeon island anymore. They were here for Ray, and Ray only. He had to wonder if there was anyone else watching. Were there broadcasts of the dungeon¡¯s collapse, or had Sridayne and every other broadcaster hightailed it out of there? Not that he blamed them for it. But it was clear the Floor Lord didn¡¯t care about such minor things like having his crime witnessed. Whatever. Ray cast Aetheric Trace, calling on the petrified vines again. They lashed around him, dug into the earth, pulled it up and crushed it, converting matter to Mana for him to absorb. His soul danced with the Aeon Mana filling him up. The Sylvans shot in with their various attacks. What Ray wouldn¡¯t have given to destroy the assholes, to give them a taste of what they were ostensibly trying to do to the dungeon. Another cast of Mottling Aeonguard took care of the Sylvan¡¯s various attacks. Their javelins, their whips of Growth Mana, their arrows, none of them reached him. Interestingly, his second hypothesis was what proved to be correct. The Aeonguard defence was better at stopping pure energy than physical attacks. While Growth Mana was of course, as the name itself said, based on Mana, it was still present as a physical substance than as energy like lightning or fire. At least he was learning something from this stupid encounter. Nevertheless, with the Aeonguard orbs layered over one another, they could still stop everything the Sylvans threw at him. This gave Ray the opportunity to cast Aetheric Trace again, calling up Windbane heads on his hands. Just as they came to life, Ray aimed them, out and fired. Of course, he didn¡¯t hit any of the Sylvans. Not directly. They were moving too fast, dodging and veering out of the way. Even when he swung his hands around, cutting through the Aeonguard shields and trying to hit all the cloud-riding jerks zooming about like flies, he missed them all. That was alright. Ray cast Temporal Passage. His teleportation definitely caught them off guard. The direction of the twin lasering blue blasts changed abruptly. While it was still too random for him to actually hit any of the Sylvans, they were forced to switch their motion abruptly. A couple nearly crashed into one another. Another flew past too close to Ray¡¯s back, and all the petrified vines still on his back lashed out. The Sylvan¡¯s scream fainted as he was flung off his cloud. He had tried to whip out Growth Mana to catch the edge of the dungeon island, but the edge itself broke apart. Ray, with Soaring Wings still on his back, floated back closer to the ground. He might have temporarily stopped the henchmen, but the boss of the mob was still unfazed. The Floor Lord had floated a lot closer with his giant cloud. ¡°What an annoying little insect you are, Raymond Dominick,¡± the Floor Lord said. ¡°I will take a vacation in your honour once you are truly dead.¡± ¡°Funny you say that,¡± Ray said. ¡°Didn¡¯t you know? You only ever get a real vacation once¡ª¡± Apparently, the Floor Lord was such a bastard, he didn¡¯t even believe in last words. Before Ray could even finish his sentence, a storm of lightning bolts crashed around him. They fell upon him like meteors, artillery blasts thundering down from the heavens themselves, like he was being smitten by some insanely angered god. Well, now it was time. The moment before the bolts struck, Ray used Temporal Passage again. This time, he teleported to where his Imitator construct had gone. With all the Sylvans distracted by Ray himself, they had completely stopped tending to the rocks falling off the island. It was to one such rock that Ray¡¯s Imitator construct had latched onto, where Ray appeared. And immediately held on for dear life as he fell away from the Tier 35 dungeon island and the squadron of angry Sylvans plus their Floor Lord who had tried to kill him. B3 Chapter 30 (161): Troubling Announcement Ray¡¯s return to safety wasn¡¯t really that safe. The teleport trick against the Floor Lord and his little goon squad of mosquito Sylvans might have taken him out of immediate, fatal danger. But it had also taken him straight to one of the rocks that was plummeting straight towards the abyss of the Third Floor. He was barely holding on. The sheer speed at which it was descending was threatening to tear him off the rock, to unmoor him from the only anchor he had in his current situation. That would have been pretty bad. Thankfully, Ray had teleported in time. The rock wasn¡¯t past the line of Auction Island. He could still reach real safety. Trying to concentrate against the wind attempting to peel his face off his skull, Ray aimed his hand at the distant Auction Island. Aetheric Trace brought a Windbane maw to life around his hand, and he fired its laser breath of blue fire straight at the island. Next up was Temporal Passage, and he was finally free from free-falling. Ray sighed out a huge, relieving exhale as he struck solid, stable ground. The impact made the last of his breath gust out of him. He didn¡¯t care, though. Why would he when he was finally safe. Ray had escaped the death trap set by the Floor Lord. He had once again survived that asshole¡¯s machinations and lived to fight another day. More importantly, he had actually won the Tier 35 dungeon. It was an incredible achievement, if he was being honest. Well, apart from the fact that Sameer had stolen half the treasure from the dungeon. That fact didn¡¯t sour his mood for long. Not when the dungeon clearing notification finally appeared in full. [Dungeon Cleared¡ªVine-choked Valley] Rewards
  • 25 Aeon Mana shards
  • 5 Origin Mana shards
  • 3 Aeon Mana Tier Points
  • 1 Origin Mana Tier Point
  • 1 True Mana Skill Point
  • 1 Petrified Vine
  • +7,000 Essence
  • Reputation: +50 Cooperative
Essence to Level 51: 76,760/262,000 Knowledge to next Threshold: 2,545/3,500 [Reputation Threshold Crossed] For reaching the 150-point threshold, your cooperation now boosts all your stats by 30 when in a party or Faction. Ray stared as a petrified vine just dropped unceremoniously un front of him. He wasn¡¯t sure what to do with it, but hey, it might have some use in the auction. Speaking of¡­ Ray: I made it. Gritty: Of course you did. If there was any note of relief in Gritty, it definitely didn¡¯t translate through the System chat. Ray just liked to imagine she was happy he had made it. Ray: How¡¯s Marcus doing? Gritty: He¡¯s unconscious but he¡¯s mostly healed up now. I¡¯m just letting him get up on his own time. Ray: How considerate. Gritty: I¡¯m not evil. Ray laughed. It wasn¡¯t just at Gritty¡¯s answer. As he lay on his back on the ground of Auction Island, he was looking far up at the last remains of the dungeon island he had just escaped. The Floor Lord and his Sylvans were still zooming around, trying to contain the dungeon¡¯s death throes while also probably looking to make sure Ray was actually dead. Which he wasn¡¯t. Ray: Could have fooled me. But I¡¯ll come over to the hotel and then we can talk. Best not to stay out in the open for long, and to stay out of the general eye for a little while. Although¡­ he was now not in a collapsing dungeon where taking the time to save him would put anyone else, especially the Sylvans¡¯ precious Auction City, in peril. He had no reason to hide himself. Screw the Floor Lord but he wasn¡¯t going to hide away. Though, he supposed being careful didn¡¯t mean he was hiding away. Ray sighed. Getting mad at the Floor Lord was letting the asshole take up more mental space than he was worth. He got up and headed to the hotel.
Gritty looked like she de-aged about a decade when Ray finally walked into the room he shared with Marcus. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I should insult you or praise you, wingman.¡± He grinned at her. ¡°You could do both.¡± She snorted. Ray looked past her to where Marcus was sleeping peacefully on the bed. He really did look like he had suffered nothing in the dungeon, like he was just taking a nap. ¡°Good job getting him out of there,¡± Ray said. ¡°Ha.¡± Gritty grinned at Marcus¡¯s unconscious form. ¡°Idiot so owes me. Although, I guess he owes you too.¡± Ray smiled. ¡°I figure we all owe each other quite a bit.¡± ¡°Fair enough.¡± She turned back to him, her eyes serious and questioning. ¡°You actually beat that thing and got the treasure? Tell me everything.¡± Ray¡¯s face soured a bit when he recalled the final moments in the dungeon before he was invaded by the Floor Lord and his squad of hitmen. He schooled his expression and explained how he had beaten the Segmented Titan after absorbing the petrified vines¡¯ Soul Aspect, which fixed the problem of running out of Mana. Gritty made a face when he mentioned Sameer popping out of nowhere to steal away the treasure. ¡°Shit.¡± She didn¡¯t hold back from cursing Sameer out. ¡°I had no idea he¡¯d be capable of something like that.¡± ¡°Honestly, me neither,¡± Ray said. It put a dent in their plans of more or less securing victory in the tournament by the next auction. With Sameer possessing the other half of the treasure, it would be a lot harder to recoup a high profit. ¡°Unless we get really lucky and the Tower Lord buys us out again,¡± Gritty said. ¡°Hmm, I¡¯m not so sure¡­¡± Ray pulled out the treasure from the storage space. It really was blocky. A white cuboid that had a rough surface at the bottom. The top had a notch that made it look like something else fit in there. Probably the other half that Sameer had taken. He cast Eternal Pulse to check out the item. [Eternal Pulse] Eternal Pulse indicates there is an item nearby interacting with Mana.
  • Divine Connector: One half of a pair that channels the power of a Paragon, concentrating it into a form that can be compressed into a Tower Node. Required item for creating Tower Nodes.
Ray stared at the item, his eyes widening as he read over the description a couple of times. ¡°On second thought¡­ I think the Tower Lord is definitely going to be interested.¡± At Gritty¡¯s raised eyebrows. Ray read out the description. Her mouth gawked open a little. ¡°You can make your own Tower Nodes with that thing?¡± ¡°I could, if I had the other half that got stolen.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ wild.¡± You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. He had to agree. It was one thing to find a Tower Node, but to find a set of items that could make Tower Nodes? Ray was tremendously curious how exactly they functioned. He tried to see if he could activate it somehow. The description said they compressed the power of Paragon. How did it even obtain that power? Maybe that was why Ray couldn¡¯t seem to find a way to activate it. Or maybe it just needed both parts to function. Maybe it was Sameer who held the ¡°on¡± switch. But Ray figured it wasn¡¯t so easy to create a Tower Node from nothing. The part about compressing the power of a Paragon bothered him. Maybe there was a way he could test it¡­ ¡°We need to be careful with it,¡± Gritty said. ¡°You want to drop it off at the bank and register it for the next auction?¡± Ray wasn¡¯t so sure yet. ¡°I¡¯ll hold on to it for now. Where are you headed?¡± ¡°I figure I¡¯m going to get more supplies from the auction hall.¡± She smiled. ¡°Neat how they helped save his sorry ass, isn¡¯t it?¡± She jerked a thumb back to Marcus lying on the bed. ¡°Keeping some more wouldn¡¯t hurt.¡± Ray nodded. ¡°Yeah, they did help. Good idea on those. I think I¡¯m going to get some more training crystals from Lyvanse, if he¡¯s still up for it.¡± ¡°Good idea. That dungeon was rough.¡± ¡°And we have an even rougher one waiting for us.¡± ¡°Which we still need to win, now that we don¡¯t have all the treasures from the last one.¡± Ray sighed. ¡°Exactly.¡± They took a little break for the time being. Gritty was a little worried that the Floor Lord would find some other way to get at Ray, but he convinced her that he ought to be fine in Auction Island. Nevertheless, he would be careful. There had been no official communication from the tournament admins about the collapsing dungeon. Ray and Gritty figured that they were deciding what answer would benefit them the most. It was also hard to tell if they knew why the dungeon had collapsed, though Ray figured at last the Tower and Floor Lords would suspect something had happened to the Tower Node. Even when they asked Sridayne, they found nothing. She hadn¡¯t heard any peep from anyone higher up. Things were just a bit too recent. She was glad that Ray had made it out alive, though. No point in wasting time, so they headed out for their chores. While Gritty headed to the auction hall, Ray made his way to the spot in the park where he and his team had met Lyvanse. The Sylvan was open to selling Ray and his team more training crystals. Curiously, he also had a warning. ¡°You caused quite a ruckus in the last dungeon, didn¡¯t you?¡± Lyvanse said when they met up. Ray frowned, clutching the ring with the training crystals. ¡°It wasn¡¯t me.¡± ¡°Hmm, that would certainly benefit them to know.¡± ¡°Sure, but I¡¯m not obligated to tell them the truth. Not after¡­¡± Lyvanse¡¯s thin pupils peered at Ray curiously. The Sylvan didn¡¯t know about Ray¡¯s direct enmity with the Floor Lord. Or rather, they had never discussed it. Lyvanse had to know about it. He had an in with the current Sylvan administration, so it was very likely he was aware. Nevertheless, he didn¡¯t press Ray about it. Instead, he proceeded with his warning. ¡°The administration is very curious as to what exactly destroyed the dungeon. It isn¡¯t cheap to organize this tournament, you must know. They are not at all happy that their precious dungeon has shattered. As such, they will not rest till they have unearthed the truth.¡± ¡°Alright,¡± Ray said. He figured they already knew. The broadcasts surely had to have shown Pierce destroying the Tower Node. ¡°But how does that affect me directly? Are they trying to blame me somehow, even with the broadcasts still up?¡± Lyvanse shook his head. ¡°They cannot. Since the broadcasts worked up until the moment the dungeon started collapsing, and there is clear evidence you did nothing truly wrong. In fact, if the administration had any ounce of honour, they should thank you for your attempt to stop the dungeon¡¯s collapse, yes?¡± If Ray thought about it, his actions could be interpreted that way. He had been trying to stop Pierce. Successfully keeping the Tower Node away from him would have ensured the dungeon¡¯s safety. ¡°What¡¯s your point?¡± Ray asked. ¡°I thought you were going to warn me?¡± ¡°I am warning you, just not warning you about yourself. Rather, perhaps you should keep an eye out for any announcements regarding your little tournament.¡± Ray frowned. When he asked Lyvanse to clarify, the Sylvan simply said that he was unaware of the details. Ray would just have to be patient. Sighing, Ray headed back to the hotel. At least he had the training crystals now. He had a way to get stronger, to be prepared for the final dungeon.
Lyvanse turned out to be quite the prophet. Just as he had warned, the administration had a big announcement for everyone. Ray had received a notice from Sridayne to keep an eye out and get on the administration channel. She had actually arrived at the hotel. It was that important. Which it did turn out to be. ¡°We are postponing the second auction,¡± a Sylvan official was saying through the channel. ¡°I repeat¡ªthe second Auction that was to be held in two days is being postponed. The administration is currently undergoing an investigation into the heinous criminal act of destroying tournament property. ¡°This investigation is likely to take at least a few days. While it proceeds, we are unable to divert resources away to conduct the auction with the appropriate care and professionalism. As such, we are postponing it instead. The criminals must be apprehended. As soon as that is confirmed, we will provide further information.¡± Ray wasn¡¯t the only one scowling at the screen where the Sylvan official continued repeating the announcement. Gritty and Sridayne were both unamused by the message. ¡°Making such a fuss about one dungeon¡­¡± Sridayne mused. ¡°Well, I suppose that shows who owns the Tower Lord¡¯s allegiance.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Ray asked. ¡°The Tower Lord organized this entire Immortalizer Tournament Auction. Successfully maintaining the dungeons is one part of that.¡± She tapped the curling horn emerging from her left shoulder. ¡°The other part is delivering the entertainment. All of us broadcasters, all the channels he procured, all the tickets he sold and audiences he attracted, they expect timely delivery.¡± ¡°Oh, I get it.¡± Gritty scoffed. ¡°So the Tower Lord decided the ones pulling his strings through the dungeon are more important than his media mogul string-pullers. Kinda sucks for you, yeah.¡± Sridayne did a strange shrug-like motion that Ray had seen before. He was pretty sure it was the Sylvan equivalent of a shrug. ¡°It hardly affects me. My horns are tied.¡± Gritty blinked at her. ¡°You mean hands.¡± She blinked back. ¡°No I meant horns.¡± Ray snorted. ¡°Yeah, I guess you just got a small vacation. Enjoy it, Sridayne.¡± He turned back to the screen. ¡°But if they¡¯re pushing back the auction, they can¡¯t push the next dungeon back too, can they? Since you say there¡¯s media moguls involved.¡± It was a little hard to believe that Sylvan politics worked in much the same way that human ones might have, but then again, Ray could see the same lines of logic holding true. Sridayne that strange shrugging motion. ¡°We will see. The next few days are certainly going to be interesting. Especially now that they¡¯ve publicised the investigation.¡± Ray needed a few moments to understand what she meant. ¡°Oh.¡± Gritty looked between him and Sridayne. ¡°What?¡± ¡°The publicization of the investigation is sort of the substitute to the auction,¡± Sridayne said. ¡°Or perhaps, more like a peace offering.¡± ¡°Yeah, an olive branch to mollify the mad masses.¡± ¡°Olive branch? Is that a common peace offering on Earth?¡± Ray nodded. ¡°It was historically. I¡­ don¡¯t know if we actually kept using olive branches by the time the System came down.¡± They all turned back to the screen, watching the announcer continue speaking. He was now giving out some basic information about what happened at the dungeon and what exactly the administration was going to investigate. Basically, it amounted to the Sylvans seeking to apprehend the culprit who destroyed the Tower Node of the dungeon. ¡°So,¡± Gritty said. ¡°We just going to wait till the next dungeon or auction, whichever comes first?¡± ¡°The dungeon,¡± Sridayne said. ¡°That is what will come first.¡± ¡°You¡¯re saying they won¡¯t change the schedule?¡± Sridayne nodded. ¡°Right. The next agenda on the schedule is the next dungeon. The last dungeon. I highly doubt the Tower Lord would approve of that getting moved. There are many who are looking forward to the penultimate showdown in the tournament.¡± That was fair. Delaying the auction was one thing. Moving the final dungeon would be tantamount to destroying the entire media arm of this whole tournament business. ¡°Then we¡¯ll need to prepare for it with just the funds we have,¡± Gritty said. But was that all? The more this went on, the more Ray was starting to think about how he was being targeted all the time by the Floor Lord. It didn¡¯t matter if the strongest being in the entire Tower of Forging, the Sylvan Tower Lord who ran everything, had more or less granted him permission to continue participating in the Immortalizer Tournament. It didn¡¯t matter. The Floor Lord was enough of a wily bastard to find various ways of killing Ray. It wasn¡¯t going to stop. Ray had become so focused on winning the tournament, on completing his System-granted Objectives, that he had lost sight of an important truth. The Sylvans were his enemy. He was starting to wonder what the implication of the administration¡¯s success in their investigation would be. They would catch Pierce. They would stop him from destroying any further Tower Nodes, perhaps even kill him. Personally, Ray didn¡¯t care if that asshole died for his own stupidity. But he also understood that the Sylvans had a vested interest in securing the various dungeons¡¯ treasures on the Third Floor. They weren¡¯t mad at the dungeon¡¯s destruction so much as how close they had come to losing the treasures it contained. After all, the Tower Lord himself had paid ridiculous sums to purchase the items Ray had possessed. Items Ray suspected that he didn¡¯t know the full use of, even now. ¡°Sridayne,¡± Ray said. ¡°You recall the items the Tower Lord himself bought off us, right?¡± She nodded, frowning at him in question. ¡°Do you think you could find out more about those items somehow?¡± Ray continued. ¡°See if anyone knows their full function and what they¡¯re capable of?¡± ¡°I can try¡­¡± Sridayne said. ¡°See if my contacts know much about it. But why do they interest you all of a sudden? Do you suspect something?¡± ¡°The only thing I suspect is that the administration isn¡¯t angry at losing the dungeon itself so much as they¡¯re angry at almost losing the treasures the dungeon contained.¡± Both Gritty and Sridayne took a moment to consider that. ¡°But wouldn¡¯t that mean the treasures are now safe,¡± Gritty asked. ¡°You beat the Titan, and you and the other asshole got the treasures.¡± Ray scowled at her. ¡°The hell you mean other asshole?¡± She grinned at him. ¡°No, you are correct,¡± Sridayne said. ¡°All the broadcasts closed as soon as the dungeon started falling apart. You killed the Titan and secured the treasures afterwards. Essentially, you had no witness, apart from your teammates, me, and the other team who stole half the treasure. So if none of you have registered the treasures yet, the administration has no proof they exist.¡± ¡°Exactly,¡± Ray said. ¡°Which means¡­¡± Gitty¡¯s grin widened. ¡°The Tower Lord has to be real mad at the Floor Lord for apparently having killed the one person who was inside the dungeon right up to the end.¡± Ray snorted. ¡°One can only hope.¡± They absorbed that line of thinking for a few moments. It made sense the administration was only using the punishment of the dungeon¡¯s destruction as a cover for their real goal. Interrogating everyone to see if the treasure was in anyone¡¯s possession. ¡°But wouldn¡¯t that mean keeping the auction going would be their best bet?¡± Ray mused. ¡°They would just need to wait and see who ended up selling what¡ªwait, no.¡± ¡°No?¡± Gritty asked. ¡°What do you mean? Cause I was starting to wonder the same thing.¡± Sridayne nodded. ¡°I assume they want to prepare their own bids in case they want to purchase the treasures at the auction, so they want to be sure if the treasures will be present or not.¡± Ray had to wonder where and how the Tower Lord procured his funds, since his assumption would have been that they could simply be present at auction day. Even if none of them registered the treasures at the bank to keep it safe, they¡¯d be present on auction day. But it sounded there were more complications to it that Ray wasn¡¯t privy to yet. It didn¡¯t look like Sridayne was either. ¡°We still haven¡¯t answered my question,¡± Gritty said. ¡°Do we really just wait for now?¡± ¡°Well, I got the training crystals.¡± Ray tapped his ring. ¡°But there¡¯s something else I¡¯d like to confirm.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s time I paid a visit to a friend I haven¡¯t seen in a while.¡± B3 Chapter 31 (162): Paragons and Meetings With the auction cancelled for the time being, Ray and the others had some extra time to prepare for the next dungeon. He had heard from Sridayne that the other teams still in the tournament, the ones who had prioritized winning the lower-Tier dungeons, were all pissed. They had hoped to use the second auction to earn themselves enough to at least stay in some contention for the Immortalizer Tournament. It had left Ray curious just where the other teams stood compared to his team. But he had more pressing things to pay attention to. Such as contacting the Marauder again. Ray called on the Tower Node of the Marauder. The crystal floated before him, looking rather plain compared to the other Tower Nodes he had seen on his journeys. Deceptively plain. It was almost funny. The first power he¡¯d had from a Tower Node was the ability to summon the monsters he had killed in his very first tutorial dungeon. He definitely couldn¡¯t use that here. Unfortunately, powerful though the Tower Nodes were, they couldn¡¯t break space-time to call in creatures via portals or whatever. Nevertheless, Ray focused on channelling its power. On using the skills that it also provided him with. Ray closed his eyes to focus. When he opened them again, the Paragon was before him. ¡°Well, hello there,¡± said the formless figure of the Marauder, made of thousands upon thousands of ever-changing little blocks. ¡°It has been a while, hasn¡¯t it?¡± Ray nodded. ¡°It has. Like you almost forgot about me.¡± ¡°Oh, please. I could hardly forget the man who made a habit of collecting Tower Nodes and pissing off Paragons. But like you, I also have my own little hobbies to attend to. Regardless, what brings you here, Raymond?¡± It felt a little too convenient and easy that he could get in touch with the Marauder so quickly. How many others had a Paragon in their back pocket? It helped ground Ray¡¯s mind and not take anything for granted. But then again, contacting him was only the starting point. ¡°The Sylvans have been aligned with the Fleshcrafter, that¡¯s pretty clear,¡± Ray said. ¡°I¡¯m just curious how that connection is going to play out on the Third Floor. What do they have planned? It can¡¯t be the same thing as the Second Floor, because they¡¯d then piss off the¡­ intergalactic community or federation or whatever it is they¡¯ve got going on.¡± With everything Ray had seen, with the other races present through the Omniverse that the System supposedly had access to, he was pretty sure of one thing. The Sylvans couldn¡¯t be the only ones in power in the wider scope of space that the System was present in. They had broadcasts that expanded out into the wider cosmos, audience members from all over, people who were financially invested in this whole tournament schtick that the Tower Lord had set up. There were powers that the Tower Lord was beholden too, just as Sridayne had stated. But even then, it was pretty evident the Sylvans wanted to stick with the Fleshcrafter. The main leaders, at least, if not certain rebels like Lyvanse. So, Ray was left questioning how the Tower Lord intended to maintain the balance between those two pulls. How was he going to fulfil his goals regarding the Paragon he had sided with while also ensuring the Immortalizer Tournament was a successful venture that satisfied everyone involved with it? And the only hint Ray had discovered was the existence of the treasures the dungeons possessed. ¡°Do you think I am some sort of mind reader who can predict what your enemies have planned?¡± the Marauder asked with a raised, constantly changing eyebrow. ¡°Even if you don¡¯t know the specifics, I assume you had some idea,¡± Ray said, undeterred. ¡°You¡¯re a Paragon, after all. The scope of your knowledge and insight is a lot wider than min.¡± ¡°That may be true¡­ but unfortunately, my insight doesn¡¯t extend much farther beyond your own in this matter. The Sylvans hold their cards close to their heart, and the Fleshcrafter himself has¡­ receded from view.¡± Ray didn¡¯t like the sound of that. He really had been hoping that he could learn from the only source that went above and beyond anything else he could dig into. But then¡ª ¡°I do have one thing, though¡­¡± the Marauder said. Ray¡¯s expression soured. ¡°You¡¯re just keeping me in suspense for your own amusement, aren¡¯t you?¡± The Paragon¡¯s smile changed from a rather humanlike to one that sported many fangs. ¡°Think of it in terms of the structure of the Tower, the dungeons it sports, the things that make it up and allow it to function.¡± Ray frowned, pondering that for a few seconds. ¡°You mean like Tower Nodes?¡± ¡°Well, that is the start. But go beyond that. I believe you are already aware of the connection. You simply need to actualize it.¡± ¡°The connection¡­ oh. Like how the dungeons have treasures in them. And the Tower Lord is clearly targeting those treasures¡­ so, their plans are dependent on us completing the dungeons for them. But they can¡¯t have us give up the dungeon treasures, not unless they make it a game. A tournament. An auction.¡± ¡°Yes, precisely. You see how they are manipulating the very process the System uses to populate Floors, yes?¡± Ray slowly nodded. The overall picture was still a little vague, but he was starting to get a good idea. But it sounded like they were dependent on the System populating the Tower Floors with exactly what they needed. ¡°Can they influence what exactly the System uses to create the Tower?¡± Ray asked. The Marauder shook his head. ¡°Not at all. However, there are ways of finding out what the Tower will be made of. And that knowledge can inform them whether they ought to invest their time and effort into the Tower or not.¡± ¡°Yeah, that would explain a lot.¡± Ray didn¡¯t need much time to digest the information. A lot of that was what he already suspected or had already experienced one way or another. It was just a matter of actualizing it all in his head so that they stuck. ¡°I hope you haven¡¯t brought me here only to collect information,¡± the Marauder said. ¡°But to also remind yourself of your real purpose.¡± ¡°My real purpose, huh¡­¡± Ray mused. Honestly, he had been experiencing the same thoughts already. His focus needed to shift away from simply completing his Objectives and on countering what the Sylvans were trying to do. After all, the Objectives had been set by the Sylvans in the first place. Getting too invested in them would be playing into their hands. He couldn¡¯t have that. ¡°I¡¯m just wondering how it¡¯ll all come to a head,¡± Ray said. ¡°What happens at the end of this tournament¡­¡± The Marauder shrugged his ever-changing shoulders. ¡°You will simply need to wait. Wait, and prepare. Interestingly, your current circumstance allows you to prepare in many ways. Do not ignore them.¡± The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Their little meeting started fading. Ray would have liked to hear more about those ¡°many ways¡± that the Paragon was suggesting, but he actually had an inkling of what the Marauder meant. He just had to act on it now. ¡°One last thing before you go, Marauder,¡± Ray said. ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°Can a Paragon truly never interfere in person in¡­ proceedings? And no lies or half-truths, please.¡± The Marauder took a little time to consider. ¡°You have already encountered it, in a sense. Paragons can never manifest themselves in such low-level Towers. However, the Spirespine you encountered on the last Floor was the compressed Essence of a Paragon come to life. A creature born from the influence of none other than the Fleshcrafter.¡± ¡°Low level? I thought the Tower of Forging was one of the stronger ones.¡± ¡°You have seen nothing of true strength,¡± the Paragon said with a short laugh. Ray raised an eyebrow. ¡°I¡¯m guessing you Paragons count as true strength?¡± The Marauder didn¡¯t answer. Only smiled as he departed, his form slowly but surely fading to nothing. Seconds later, Ray himself was
Ray had been seeking some peace of mind with the Marauder meeting. That didn¡¯t happen. Nothing the Paragon had said allowed his thoughts to cease their restless churning. It sucked. He wanted to focus on using his training crystals and get some more levels in preparation for the next dungeon. Instead, all he was left doing was wondering what the tournament administration up to. Information was scarce after the announcement. He still would have bulldozed his way through the training crystals anyway. But there was another distraction he had to deal with. His hotel was being mobbed and the proprietor had worriedly called him down to help defend against the impromptu siege. Apparently, the other teams participating in the tournament were all mad at him specifically. ¡°What the hell do you want me to do?¡± Ray asked when he met them at the entrance to the hotel. They were a motley crew, comprised of basically every race Ray had encountered so far and then some. It wasn¡¯t every single member of every single team still competing in the Immortalizer Tournament. But the small crowd was sizable enough to worry the hotel manager. A part of Ray wanted to call out to the scant few humans here and there from other Towers, but that felt weird. Especially since they looked just as mad as their various alien teammates. One of the angry competitors, a Ryous with deep blue skin, stepped forward. ¡°I knew that would be your answer. But answer me this first. Are you willing to assist us and make things fair?¡± ¡°Depends,¡± Ray said. ¡°I¡¯m guessing you have some kind of plan?¡± ¡°It is simple. Refuse to participate. If we all come together and refuse to cooperate with this fraud of a tournament, then we can grind it to a halt. They will be forced to meet our demands.¡± Ray wanted to say that it was easy for them to call everything to stop when they had little to no chance of winning. But that was a bit uncharitable. They wanted a chance to win. The only reason they had come here was because the administration had called off the auction. After they had already technically favoured Ray¡¯s team by having the Tower Lord buy everything off him at ridiculously high prices. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be to your detriment if the next auction went ahead?¡± Ray asked. ¡°Like I already have a second set of treasures from my last dungeon run, and that was a Tier 35 dungeon. The rewards I got will sell like hotcakes. It¡¯ll put an even bigger gap between us.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what you think,¡± someone, a Holdstar, said from the back. ¡°Oh yeah? You got some other plan then?¡± ¡°That¡¯s besides the point. You in or not?¡± Ray was in a bit of a bind. He felt for them. If he had been in their position, he would be looking to get things back on track too. But at the same time, he wanted to continue competing in the tournament. ¡°I can¡¯t just say yes off the top of my head. You guys clearly had time to think about it. My turn now. Give me some time and I¡¯ll have an answer for you.¡± ¡°What do you have to think about?¡± It was the Holdstar asking the question again. ¡°It is a rather clear-cut case any way you look at it. You either want things to be as fair as possible, or you are in it in for your benefit and everything else comes second.¡± Ray really wanted to switch their circumstances and see what the Holdstar¡¯s response would have been. ¡°Sure, but that doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m going to agree to any plan you suggest right off the bat. You think you want to make this whole tournament fairer, but you¡¯re missing the big picture. Did you ever stop to think for a second what the tournament admin want?¡± ¡°What has that got to do with any of us?¡± ¡°The Sylvans running this show aren¡¯t our friends. What do you think they¡¯ll do when all the competitors they graciously invited into the Tournament decided they want to bring this whole thing to a halt?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the point. If they don¡¯t run the tournament properly, they don¡¯t deserve to be running the tournament in the first place.¡± ¡°I mean, sure, but running the tournament isn¡¯t what they want.¡± Ray tried not to sound like he was explaining things to kids condescendingly. He would have hated that if he was in their position. ¡°They want what you want. The treasures we gain at the end of the dungeons. The fancy little items and materials and whatever else we recover. That¡¯s what they really want.¡± The Holdstar looked like he wanted to ask why that even mattered to them, but thankfully, there were smarter heads in the group. ¡°You think you know what they intend to do with these treasures?¡± a Ryous asked. ¡°I have some suspicions¡­¡± And before any of them could argue against them, Ray gave them a timely reminder. ¡°I¡¯ve been on this Tower for a while now. I¡¯ve got more experience than I¡¯d like on what the Sylvans like to get up to. So trust me when I tell you, we should all be a little more alert about what this tournament¡¯s end goal is. The Sylvans aren¡¯t on our side.¡± Ray¡¯s words got through. They didn¡¯t argue further, distracted by the potential of what the Sylvans were up to. Some of them were clearly unwilling to give him any grace, but his request was ultimately fair. They couldn¡¯t argue against it. So for now, they decided to leave and give him time to think about it. That was good, because Ray already had a different idea to pursue. ¡°I do not have time for this,¡± Lent said. ¡°Nor for any of your silly ideas. How did you even find where I resided?¡± ¡°At least hear me out, will you?¡± Ray said. ¡°I went to all this effort to find you in this lonely corner of Auction Island. That deserves some time from you, right?¡± Ray had Sridayne to thank for digging up the information. She had reviewed some interviews that Team Albatross had appeared in, eventually finding a piece of intel where their former Sylvan team member had revealed their residence. It was surprisingly far from the Auction Hall. Lent didn¡¯t look like he wanted to give Ray any time. Although, it wasn¡¯t like Ray could actually decipher any expression on that boulderlike face. All he got was that the alien standing before him really was starving for time. It was common knowledge that Lent had been thoroughly investigated. Not only had his Sylvan teammate died in the dungeon, but Pierce had apparently gone missing afterwards as well. Ray had been a little surprised to learn that too. He would have thought that Pierce was disappeared by the tournament administration, but that didn¡¯t seem to be the case. They were continuing to interrogate and investigate, going so far as to interview even the competitors who hadn¡¯t been on the Tier 35 dungeon island to begin with. Of course, a part of Ray wondered if the Sylvans had taken Pierce into custody and were still conducting their dramatic investigation anyway. After all, Sridayne had suggested the public investigation was the rather poor substitute for the actual tournament. Maybe they thought they had to keep up the fa?ade. ¡°Fine,¡± Lent said, his voice grinding out like two heavy rocks rubbing against each other. ¡°What is so important that you must take up my limited time?¡± Ray tried not to take offence at the arrogance. Lent was definitely making it hard. Ray supposed his appearance was a surprise. Plus, the boulderlike alien was stronger than Ray himself, so he naturally held Ray in a much lower estimation. Not that that was good. ¡°I¡¯m guessing you either don¡¯t know where Pierce is,¡± Ray said. ¡°Or you have no inclination of telling me even if you do. Which is fair. But I¡¯ve got a sneaking suspicion Pierce can¡¯t escape from the situation either. Not easily.¡± ¡°Your point?¡± Lent asked. ¡°What if I told you I could get rid of the Sylvans?¡± Even though Ray couldn¡¯t truly decipher Lent¡¯s emotions when he remained unspeaking, he still got the impression he had gotten the alien¡¯s attention. ¡°I will take care of the Sylvans coming after Pierce,¡± Ray continued when Lent didn¡¯t answer. ¡°In return, I want one small thing. When the time comes, Pierce needs to pick a side. And he better remember which side is the one that helped him.¡± From a certain perspective, Ray had no reason to seemingly help Pierce. The guy had literally tried to kill him for possessing Tower Nodes. Ray wouldn¡¯t have minded if it had turned into a fatal fight because they both wanted to win the dungeon treasures for their respective teams. No. Pierce had made it personal. But Ray wasn¡¯t doing this just to help Pierce. Assisting his almost-killer was far from his main goal. It wasn¡¯t like he was going out of his way to fight off the Sylvans for him. His upcoming actions just stood to benefit Pierce¡ªwho had survived, somehow, through his own efforts¡ªand so, Ray had an opportunity to take advantage of. Which was why he was here, standing before Lent. Before another competitor who had to be annoyingly stronger than him. ¡°Your words are duly noted,¡± Lent said. And that was all Ray got before the boulderlike alien turned away. Ray sighed. He had said his piece. That would have to be enough. And now¡ª Gritty: Wingman! Where are you???? Ray¡¯s heartbeat picked up its pace. Ray: What¡¯s wrong? Did something happen? Gritty: It¡¯s the Sylvans. They¡¯re here, and they¡¯re looking for you.