《Lord of EXP Farming [A LitRPG Apocalypse]》
Chapter 1: Welcome to the System
After Earth became integrated with the System, it didn¡¯t take long for Jordan Joyner to learn three important things. First, there was a wider multiverse out there already filled with both other humans and many other races. The second was that of all the races, intelligent crustaceans, not humans, were actually the most populous. And finally, said crustaceans apparently favored the taste of human flesh as a highly-sought delicacy.
But before the circumstances that forced him to discover these three facts, he was just a regular man enjoying a normal evening during the weekend.
¡°You know what? I wasn¡¯t sure what to expect after what they did with Human Earthworm Four, but that wasn¡¯t actually that bad. Like Five might actually get to go on the eventual rewatch list,¡± Jordan said as the three young men walked out of the theater room.
As they passed by a trash can, he threw away his now empty bucket of popcorn and soda cup. Now that they were done with the movie and his hands were free, Jordan fished out his phone to check if he missed anything over the last two hours.
¡°On a technical level, I¡¯d agree that it was really well made,¡± Adam started. ¡°But I honestly think that I¡¯d rather watch it again to write an essay on the sound design than just for the sake of it. It just tried too hard to recapture everything that made One good, but so much worse.¡±
Leo nodded in agreement. ¡°Yeah, they knew they screwed up by making Four too unique and just threw everything off. It¡¯s so obvious that the writers just copied Human Earthworm One¡¯s homework, only changed it up a little to seem new, and hoped to make a profit off the nostalgia factor. That was really hard to unsee, especially after the second half.¡±
Jordan just shrugged as the other two continued to pick apart the movie¡¯s flaws. He¡¯d seen the same flaws, but really didn¡¯t mind them as much. Sure the nostalgia bait was a bit too obvious at certain points. And by no means would he consider it as among the best of the series so far.
Yet overall, he still thought it was perfectly fine as a movie if you just wanted to kill a couple of hours with something enjoyable. He looked back to his phone and read through the latest text from his mom.
She had sent him a reminder to check for Christmas present ideas while he was still at the mall for its theater. Jordan personally thought that shopping for Christmas presents before it was even Halloween was just a bit too soon. But hey, even when you were getting close to graduating with your Bachelor¡¯s and already moved out, mom was still the big boss.
¡°Right. So I¡¯m gonna hang around for a while and put together a gift list for my mom. Either of you wanna come with, or nah?¡± Jordan asked.
¡°Nah, I have an exam on Wednesday that I need to study more for. So I should really start on that as soon as I get home tonight,¡± Adam said with an already tired grimace.
Leo scratched at the back of his neck. ¡°Hmm, yeah, I¡¯ll also have to pass. Would rather grab dinner on the way back and then just chill for the rest of the day. Oh by the way though, remember that this Friday is when the new raid comes out. If we¡¯re all free, I kind of want to see if we can start right after it''s out, maybe even clear it while it¡¯s still day one.¡±
Jordan and Adam both had to think about that for a moment. Since the raid would be released during the morning of a weekday, there was the chance that school or their part-time jobs would get in the way.
But neither could immediately remember if there¡¯d be any known scheduling conflicts, and agreed that they should all be there right as soon as the raid¡¯s available. Actually beating it within the first 24 hours was pretty unlikely, and there was no way that they would claim the honor of being the first party to do so. But half of the fun was just trying it anyway and figuring out its new mechanics for themselves.
From there, the trio parted ways. Jordan went further into the mall to start browsing through the different little stores, and his two friends left together through the exit by the movie theater.
Around half an hour then passed as he just casually looked around, noting down anything that might make a decent gift idea. He personally wasn¡¯t that interested in some of them. But hey, some extended relative or one of his mom¡¯s friends might always like to have a carved wood model of the Empire State Building.
I think Aunt Bethy is into collecting old beer bottles, actually. There should be an antique or vintage shop somewhere around here, Jordan thought to himself.
For a moment he wondered just what the difference was between those two terms and which one was which. And while he could also take out his handy dandy smartphone to find out the answer in less than a minute, that was just slightly too much effort for only a passing thought. Either way, he¡¯d check that store out next and note down any other nicknacks of interest it might have.
Though that¡¯s what his mind said, Jordan¡¯s heart still lingered on the milkshake place he just passed by. While he knew that his weekly spending budget for fun stuff was already capped, maybe it wouldn¡¯t hurt to just-
It was then that the young man¡¯s entire world turned completely black. But just a second later, a screen appeared before him as the only other thing in the darkness.
Welcome, Human of Earth.
Your universe has been selected to participate in the 42nd Merging. Your Species has been found to have reached an acceptable level of compatibility for this process.
You have been designated to be part of Group 42LUE.
As soon as Jordan finished reading through the prompt, it disappeared. Then like someone flipping a switch, the seemingly never ending blackness was filled with light. Yet it wasn¡¯t from the lights of the mall or even that of the sun. At least, it was clearly not Earth¡¯s sun.
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Jordan next found himself standing on a circular, marble platform. Standing there with him was a group of what seemed to be about two dozen people. Surrounding their platform in all directions was a tall grassland, where the vegetation would have at least reached his waist.
Then directly above them was the source of the natural light. A red star, one that appeared to be at least three or four times larger in the sky than the sun.
He tried to open his mouth to say something to the other people, but there was simply no response from his body. Jordan¡¯s eyes would have then widened with shock, but there was also no movement from them. Even trying to speak through his closed mouth, his voice failed to be produced.
More concerning was that when he tried to take a sucking breath, Jordan¡¯s lungs also failed to do anything. His eyes didn¡¯t blink, his heart didn¡¯t beat within his chest. Even the voice within his mind felt quieted and unable to put together a coherent thought. And when he looked around to the others within his group, they too seemed to be just as frozen.
But that was one thing that actually was functional. While his eyes couldn¡¯t blink, they could still move around. While his vision was limited by being unable to move his head or neck, it did allow for at least for those immediate observations of his surroundings.
Initialization completed.
The flow of time shall be normalized upon the user completing the basic tutorial.
Welcome to the wider multiverse.
As those newly integrated with the System, you have been granted a unique opportunity. While the road to supremacy is filled with walls and dangers, those who are among the generation to take the first step to pave the way for future generations of their home universe will be given special consideration.
New Title Acquired:
Title: 42nd Initial Merger
Description: Be amongst the first living wave of your kind to be merged with the multiverse.
Benefits: +5 to all Stats, +5% to all Stats. A greatly increased number of Traits to select from.
As the multiverse grows larger, so does the disparity between the first universes and those newly added through the Merging.
Titles are the rarest form of reward and are given as achievements for extraordinary accomplishments. In this instance, the Title granted will also allow for an abnormal amount of flexibility regarding the upcoming selection of one¡¯s Trait, in comparison to the first Trait selection for those already familiar with the System upon reaching E Grade.
Traits are the foundation for one¡¯s path to the top. A new Trait may only be selected once per Grade, starting from the first at E. While one¡¯s available Traits are usually dependent on their heritage and personal experiences until then, the user¡¯s Title has greatly expanded the available list beyond these typical parameters.
The user should take the time to carefully select from the following list of potential Traits. As their selection will have a significant influence on their available Classes, and cannot be reversed upon being finalized.
Would you like to begin selecting a Trait?
It was then that Jordan¡¯s mind was released from what felt like being placed in stasis. His body, however, was still stuck in place. But now that he could freely think within his own head again, he first had a very reasonable reaction to the recent series of events.
What the actual fuck?! Did someone slip something into my soda? There¡¯s just no goddamn way any of this can actually be happening! Jordan internally screamed.
He then spent the next several minutes going through the many expletives in his vocabulary as he refused to accept that this was real. The college student then started to list off what had to actually have happened. That this was some kind of fever dream after being drugged. Or that maybe he had a sudden aneurysm and his dying mind was instinctively dreaming up a scenario based on his go-to comfort of video games.
Even as time passed, at least to him, the so-called System remained infinitely patient. It did not respond to any of his rants about how it couldn¡¯t possibly exist. Instead, the question from before just remained in the air in front of him.
When he was eventually just emotionally exhausted, Jordan stared at the screen. Despite many attempts to scream at himself to wake up, nothing had worked. And past the regions of common sense and normal thinking, something within his mind said that this wasn¡¯t just a strange dream or nightmare. This was as real as real could be.
Since it looked like he was stuck with this new world and its rules, he¡¯d just have to try and make the best of it. So with a bit of reluctance, Jordan mentally told the System that he was ready to see the list of Traits.
What followed was a new screen that actually had a scroll bar on the side. At the top was even a header that contained both filters and even sort-by settings.
The list itself seemed to be in alphabetical order by default, so Jordan stuck with that for now as he began to peruse the options. And the System hadn¡¯t been kidding about the list being an expanded one. Because there were what had to be hundreds of possibilities before him.
Some of the Traits were pretty basic in their descriptions. Like there was one that just made you faster at running and without using as much energy. Same thing for others for swimming, climbing, and¡ even flying.
From there he saw that there was quite the range in what Traits actually did. Like there were the very basic ones from before, but also some that were quite specific. Such as a Trait that made all training in swordplay more effective. But then others that narrowed the kind of sword down, like one that was the same thing but with a better effect due to just being for katanas.
Yet what caught Jordan¡¯s eye was an early one in the list called Apprentice Magus. Its description claimed that it¡¯d allow one to better understand arcane texts and learn the spells they contain. Did that mean that magic was also real now? Looking through a few other Traits that seemed magical in name, it quickly seemed like it.
It took him quite a bit of willpower not to just immediately select one of those as his choice. As much as the fantasy of casting spells would have been a dream of everyone, him included, he needed to stick to being rational. After having casually perused the list for a while, Jordan decided to see what he could find by making use of the filters.
He saw that there were quite a few kinds of filters. But one that caught his attention was something called affinities. That had its list, with a corresponding number of what he assumed were the associated Traits. The arcane affinity, for example, had 13. Something he quickly confirmed by activating the filter and seeing how the available Traits changed.
There were a few others, some corresponding to the elements like fire, earth, water, and air. Then there were the different kinds of physical affinities, ranging through the different kinds of movement. Or more that specifically impacted the body itself, like making his skin tougher or eyesight sharper. Each one had an affinity to neatly organize what kind of thing the Trait itself modified.
Yet of the affinities, there ended up being one that ultimately piqued his curiosity. Mostly because it wasn¡¯t something he had actually expected to make an appearance in this new reality of theirs. The technology affinity.
Now what do we have here? Jordan asked himself.
Chapter 2: Traits and Classes Oh My!
The technology affinity had three associated Traits.
The first that he read helped one better recall tech related designs and schematics. The second improved one¡¯s learning of newly encountered technology. But when he looked at the third, it actually gave him something to think about.
Trait: Tech Savvy
Description: Improves the intuitive understanding of machinery, electronics, and technology in general. Has a moderately better effect for smaller but more complicated machines.
Benefits: +2 bonus to Wisdom and Intelligence.
Assuming we¡¯re on some other planet or alternate universe, phone calls won¡¯t work. But since magic exists, it might be possible to somehow tap into that to get them working again. And if picking this kind of Trait also gives me a similar kind of Class, I might have the ability to make that happen. But should I really make such a big decision just based on that? Jordan asked himself.
When on an alien world, he did believe that communication was key. There were only a couple dozen total strangers next to him. With how the System said that he¡¯d been designated as just part of one group, other people were likely separated into similar groups.
Was the grouping totally random, or was it based on distances from where they were before? Jordan didn¡¯t recognize anyone near him, but it wasn¡¯t as if he¡¯d been paying attention to those around him at the mall.
If their groups and their current location had anything to do with their positions on Earth, then Adam and Leo might not be too far from him. But his parents lived across the state from him, so who knew where they would even be. And if their starting positions were entirely randomized, then finding them would be an almost impossible shot in the dark.
Establishing the means to contact his friends and family was an important thing. And if he could help the others do the same, then they actually had a chance of being able to organize with the other groups.
Jordan just wished that he was able to speak and strategize with the other people around him. If they had the time to work together to explore their options, then they might be able to make the ideal team for both their own survival and finding their loved ones.
Yet maybe that idea of reliance on what others did was the exact reason why the System kept them separated like this. Forced to just make their own decisions without the input of anyone else.
The young man carefully considered the choice for a few more minutes. But in the end, he followed what both his heart and gut felt was right for him.
Tech Savvy has been selected.
Warning!
This is the user¡¯s final chance to go back and change their Trait selection. After this point will be the viewing of potential Classes. Would you like to go back?
Jordan allowed himself another minute to consider it, just to make sure. But after that, he still felt confident in his choice and confirmed it.
User¡¯s E Grade Trait has now been finalized.
Initializing list of available Classes.
A new screen then appeared before the young man. But unlike the previous with its hundreds of various Traits, this one was much, much shorter. In fact, there were only two options. Yet it quickly became apparent that this wasn¡¯t quite the Class selection he had been expecting.
Within the System, one may have up to two Classes. A main Class selected now at E Grade, and should the user reach it, a Subclass upon achieving D Grade. For Classes, there are two types: Battle and Trade.
Battle Classes focus on one being able to defend themselves and defeat their opponents. Their primary means of progression is through the killing of enemies to gain Experience Points and climb in Level.
Trade Classes have little to no capabilities for combat. They instead put their focus toward building, crafting, and other activities. Their means of progression and earning of Experience Points is through the creation of the mentioned works.
The user may select either type to be their main Class. Then later on at D Grade, they will select the other as their Subclass. Upon final selection, it will be impossible for the user to ever change which one is their main Class or Subclass.
Would you like to view the available options for Battle or Trade Classes?
Now this is¡ something, Jordan thought to himself. Presented with this unexpected choice had more or less thrown his early thinking for a loop. One would probably make it more likely for him to enact his plan with the phones to establish a means of communication.
But if the System went out of its way to make combat a key feature, then who knew how important that¡¯d be. When on a foreign world like this, any potential threats were complete unknowns. However, would the local wildlife be the only threat?
Jordan didn¡¯t like the thought of it, but one had to be pragmatic. In any game that allowed it, PvP would always thrive. It¡¯d be naive to think that if the System rewarded the act of killing, there wouldn¡¯t be people who jumped at the chance.
There were already plenty of serial killers out there in the world who never needed a reward. So if there was an added incentive while on a planet where the governments and laws of old didn¡¯t exist anymore¡ yeah, things could get bad really fast.
He couldn¡¯t even say with 100% certainty if the people surrounding him wouldn¡¯t try something dangerous. And even if they got lucky enough to not have a wannabe murderer in the making, there was still the threat of other groups and just what creatures might be around.
Jordan ultimately decided that making contact with his loved ones wouldn¡¯t mean jack if he died before finding them again. The power to protect himself had to come first. So with that firmly in mind, he had the System give him the Battle Classes.
With his choice made, it moved onto a new pop-up. This screen was also rather short compared to the Trait list, as there were just a total of six options present.
The list of available Classes were largely what one would actually expect to see as the basic choices in an RPG. The first option was Warrior, then followed by Archer, Rogue, Healer, and Mage.
But at the very end, there was one that stood out and caught Jordan¡¯s attention. It was clearly the option added there by his choice of Trait. So he quickly willed to have its details appear.
Class: Combat Engineer
Description: While on the frontlines of conflict, one has little time to focus on perfecting their craft. This Class focuses on still being able to utilize their engineering prowess for the machines of war, but while also having the power to effectively hold their own in battle.
Benefits: +1 bonus to Wisdom and Intelligence per Level.
Class Resource:
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.Description: The Combat Engineer uses Tech Points, or TP, to utilize its Class Skills.
Formulas: The user¡¯s total TP pool is calculated as a base of 10 + (Intelligence x 0.20) + (Wisdom x 0.10), rounded to the nearest whole number. The user¡¯s regeneration of TP per minute is calculated as a base of 0.50 + (Wisdom x 0.10) + (Intelligence x 0.05), rounded to the nearest hundredth.
New Class Skills acquired:
Active:
Skill: Summon Air Drone
Grade: E1
Scaling: Wisdom, Intelligence
Description: Create an autonomous battle drone to temporarily fight by the user¡¯s side.
Base Cost: 3 TP per cast, 6 TP per minute to sustain.
Skill: Overcharge
Grade: E1
Scaling: Wisdom
Description: Push a piece of technological equipment past its usual limits and enhance its performance for a short time.
Base Cost: 1 TP per cast.
Skill: Zap
Grade: E1
Scaling: Intelligence
Description: Conjure a small bolt of electricity to shock an enemy.
Base Cost: 2 TP per cast.
Passive:
Skill: Tinker
Grade: E1
Scaling: Intelligence, Wisdom
Description: Increases the user¡¯s ability to modify existing machines and create their own.
New General Skill acquired:
Active:
Skill: Appraise
Grade: E5
Scaling: Level
Description: View basic info about a target creature or object.
Base Cost: N/A
He scanned through each of the available Skills. It really was like he¡¯d just been plopped into some RPG video game. The System even provided a formulaic breakdown for his Tech Points.
Though it hadn¡¯t actually provided him with the means to actually see his Intelligence or Wisdom yet. But just as he was about to ask about that after finishing his reading of the Skills, the System proved to be way ahead of him.
Warning!
This is the user¡¯s final chance to go back and change their Class selection. After this point will be the viewing of one¡¯s Status and the completion of the tutorial. Would you like to go back?
Note: As part of the Class selection process, the user will be given a set of starting equipment for their Class upon completion of this tutorial.
Jordan thought about it for a moment, and then affirmed that yes, he actually would like to go back. If the option was there, then why not take it and at least see what else was available. There¡¯d be no harm in it, at the very least.
To his surprise, it actually didn¡¯t just send him back to the Class choices. Instead it went a step beyond that and to the first decision between the Battle Classes or the Trades. Now curious, Jordan went ahead and selected the other option just to see what it was all about.
Like the combat Classes, the first few choices seemed like standards for the kinds of crafting you¡¯d see in a video game. There was a Blacksmith, Mason, Alchemist, and Enchanter. Though of those, Mason didn¡¯t seem to fall into that standard. But then just like before, there was a clearly tech-themed Class toward the end. So that was of course the first one he looked at.
Class: Artificer
Description: To some, technology is the greatest and most fulfilling of crafts precisely because of its added complexity. This Class focuses on aspiring to reach the technical skill needed to create all kinds of technology, with a specialization on drones. They are able utilize their engineering prowess to create recreational devices, but can also effectively build the very machines that are used in wars.
Benefits: +1 bonus to Wisdom and Intelligence per Level.
Active:
Skill: Build Drone
Grade: E1
Scaling: Wisdom, Intelligence
Description: Craft a type of drone from a set of starter recipes for various kinds of tasks. The type and resources required depend on the model and quality of the chosen recipe.
Base Cost: Varies
The rest of the available Skills were more of the same. Similar to that of the combat version, but changed to revolve around someone who actually wanted to sit around and just spend their time on building. Which in retrospect, should have been expected.
A part of Jordan wanted to just impulsively rush back to Combat Engineer and pick it. While the Mage would have fulfilled the boyhood dream of casting magic, being able to summon his own battle drone just sounded way too appealing. But for now, he¡¯d remain patient and at least see what all the other Classes had to offer him.
Yet in terms of cutting out the number of choices, he quickly noped the entire list of Trades. While the idea of just working on his own craft was nice, Jordan was still certain about his decision to focus on self-defense. So with that, he went back to the Battle Class list and started to go through the others.
And yeah, even after looking through them all, his vote was still for the Combat Engineer. While the Mage had proved a formidable secondary pick, he ultimately still wanted to use the tech Skills to work on his phone.
That and having a summonable drone to fight for him just sounded a bit cooler than basic spell-based Skills the Mage offered. Now completely comfortable with his pick after having explored his other options, he affirmed his choice in the Combat Engineer.
Choices have been finalized.
The user¡¯s Status is now ready.
General Info:
Name: Jordan Joyner
Species: Human (Earth)
Guild: N/A
System Info:
Class: Combat Engineer
Subclass: N/A
Traits: Tech Savvy
Titles: Initial Merger
Level: 1
EXP: 0/100
Grade: E
Resources:
Tech Points: 16/16
Tech Points Regen: 3.60/Min
Stats:
Strength: 13
Dexterity: 16
Vitality: 18
Endurance: 15
Intelligence: 22
Wisdom: 20
Will: 14
Free Points: 0
General Skills:
Active: Appraise-E5
Class Skills:
Active: Summon Air Drone-E1
Active: Zap-E1
Active: Overcharge-E1
Passive: Tinker-E1
With that, one last screen appeared. Jordan quickly scanned what the System had called his Status. When his eyes landed on the Species first near the top, an immediate thought popped into his head? If Earth was just meant to show his home planet, when why was it in the same line? Was it to imply that they were actually others of the human race not from Earth?
It did say that we were now going to join a wider multiverse. So that has to be the reason, right? It¡¯s the only thing that makes sense for why it¡¯s listed that way, Jordan thought.
The next major thing of note was part of a Subclass listed as not available. But there wasn¡¯t too much of a mystery there with what the System explained before about Classes. The only big question was about the Guild, yet he also had a pretty good guess about what it meant, judging from the name. Beside that, everything else was more or less what one could expect from an RPG.
Alright, guess that¡¯s it then. So what happens now, when will I be able to move? Jordan then went ahead and willed for the Status screen to be dismissed.
User¡¯s basic tutorial is now completed.
Please stand by as the rest of your universe finalizes their selections.
As soon as he read through the pop-up, Jordan¡¯s vision became blurred. A part of him felt that time was still passing as the minutes went by. However, a different part of his consciousness was certain that only a single instant ended up passing by. Yet just as quickly as it came, the distortion to his sense of time was back to normal.
¡°Woah!¡± Jordan yelled as he suddenly found himself falling to his hands and knees. For a few seconds, he was completely disoriented as all his physical sensations returned at once. The same thing seemed to be happening to those within his group.
Some took it better than others, however, as several people also threw up. Only a few actually managed to remain standing, though even they still looked visibly woozy.
But before anyone could really find their bearings, the System decided that it apparently wasn¡¯t done with them quite yet. Because even though their tutorial was now finished, another screen then popped up.
New Quests Acquired:
Chapter 3: Mightiest of the 42nd
Quest Series: Mightiest of the 42nd Merging
Quest: Mightiest Guild
Description: Become the leader of the highest ranked Guild of your universe within one year.
Reward: To be determined upon completion. Lesser rewards will be given to Guild leaders below first place or those who¡¯ve simply joined a Guild that places on the leaderboard.
Quest: Mightiest Kingdom
Description: Become the leader of the highest ranked Kingdom of your universe within one year.
Reward: To be determined upon completion. Lesser rewards will be given to Kingdom leaders below first place or those who¡¯ve simply joined a Kingdom that places on the leaderboard.
Quest: Mightiest Individual
Description: Become the highest Level individual of your universe within one year.
Reward: To be determined upon completion. Lesser rewards will be given to individuals below first place.
Time remaining for this Quest Series: 365 days
As Jordan finished reading through the Quest screens, he had a startling realization. It wasn¡¯t about being the mightiest of humanity or Earth. But very pointedly included their entire *universe*!
Were the actual aliens now stuck on the same planet as them? Was he really about to meet a freaking alien?! Actually, if there was native life on this world, then wouldn¡¯t it all technically be considered as alien to him?
His head was still a mess of conflicting emotions. General confusion for what was happening. A sense of disbelief about how all of this was even possible. Fear for his future and what would happen to his friends and family. But also excitement. The excitement that could only come from something as big as exploring an entirely new world and everything it had to offer.
Jordan picked himself off the ground and brushed his pants off. Yet even though their situation was dire, he couldn¡¯t help but feel his lips tug upward to form a small grin.
Just how many times had he been idly bored at work or in a lecture hall, daydreaming about how life could be more interesting if it was like a video game. Now he had a Status, which popped back up the moment he willed to see it again. In it was a Level, Stats, Skills, and even Tech Points as a stand-in for Mana as the generic resource. Feeling his heartbeat still rapidly beating inside his chest, how could he not feel excited about it all?
Yet when he then looked around, the light smile quickly fell off his face. A man to his left was still hunched over, clutching his stomach as he moaned with pain. Jordan¡¯s gaze went to the puddle of fresh vomit next to the other man, and his eyes widened a little. It wasn¡¯t just the typical last meal or stomach fluids, but was mostly some dark, viscous substance. At first glance, it almost reminded him of mud.
Jordan then glanced at the other people who had immediately thrown up. And it wasn¡¯t just the one guy, but them too that had expelled this mysterious semi-solid. It didn¡¯t seem like anything that could have come from the mall¡¯s food court. Or just any food in general that he knew of.
Oh God! he then thought with disgust as he pressed his nose into his elbow.
At that moment, a sudden stench had assaulted his nostrils. One bad enough that it made him close to being the next person to hurl. A part of him just wanted to get off the marble platform and run away. Just to save his sense of smell from being ruined by the awful odor.
It seemed several others had the same idea as they rushed to climb down off the circle. And they did have to climb a bit, since it was raised around seven or eight feet off the ground. Those who had puked out the obvious source of the putrid smell were luckily helped up by a few brave souls. So just a minute or two after Jordan also went down, the entire group had already evacuated their starting platform.
¡°Oh fuck, it hurts! Please, it hurts so much! I- I think something¡¯s wrong!¡± The man from before was still clutching his stomach in pain even after being helped down. He sat down and rested his back against the marble wall.
¡°Is there a doctor? Does anyone here have any medical training? someone asked.
But there didn¡¯t seem to be any as nobody answered the question. Even those who had also thrown up had already reached the point of at least being able to stand on their own. All but the one person who was still clearly in agony.
It was just bad luck that they didn¡¯t happen to have a medical professional in their group. Jordan still had the stuff in his pockets, and a couple of people were actually still holding their grocery bags. So it looked like they had all been teleported with whatever had been on them at the time. Granted, even if a doctor had been assigned to them, the chances of said person actually happening to have a bag of medical supplies wouldn¡¯t be the highest.
¡°Wait! I picked the Healer Class! I could try something with my Skills!¡± a woman with auburn hair suddenly exclaimed. She stepped forward after everyone else had given the pained man a bit of space. There were some looks of relief from the others, likely from the fact that someone else had actually broken the stillness and did something to help.
When the volunteer kneeled down in front of the victim, she gingerly placed her hands against the middle of his torso. Then in an act that caused many eyes to widen, Jordan¡¯s included, a glow of almost pure white emanated from that spot. He¡¯d read through the description of the Healer and its Skills. But even while knowing what to expect, he still felt a rush of exhilaration of seeing an actual healing spell in action.
Hushed whispers went through the crowd of two dozen. Some gasped about it being a miracle, others were simply amazed to actually see an act of true magic for the first time.
Several seconds later, the man¡¯s pained expression started to soften. His heavy breathing normalized, and some of the color returned to his face. As the first glow of light then faded away, a secondary resurgence quickly took its place.
¡°I¡¯m not sure how exactly I can tell,¡± the Healer started. ¡°But something within his intestinal lining was ruptured. Enough so that it would have needed an immediate trip to the emergency room. I think it should at least be stable now, though.¡±
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She then stood back up, and after a few moments, helped the man stand up. He was still a bit wobbly, but gave her a truly grateful smile.
¡°I¡ the pain¡¯s almost entirely gone now. Thank you, really. I owe one.¡±
¡°Of course. If anyone else isn¡¯t feeling well, I¡¯d be happy to check on you too,¡± she said to the crowd of onlookers.
As one of the other people that had thrown up took her up on that offer, the group returned to a sense of normalcy. People started to introduce themselves to one another instead of just focusing on the Healer.
But at that moment, Jordan had an idea. He recalled that the System had given him a General Skill called Appraise. It did say that it would provide basic information about the target. So he wondered if that included a person¡¯s name.
His eyes glanced over to the Healer, and decided that she might as well be the one to try it on. After just a moment of trying to imagine the Skill being activated, he got a response in the form of a pop-up.
Name: Audrey Clifton
Species: Human (Earth)
Guild: N/A
Class: Healer
Subclass: N/A
Level: 1
Grade: E
After he finished reading the screen, Jordan glanced back at the woman. And in what made his eyes widen slightly, he saw that she was actually looking around with a confused expression. When someone asked if she was feeling okay, Jordan was close enough to overhear her reply.
¡°Ah yeah, I kinda just had a weird feeling all of sudden. Maybe it¡¯s from using too much Mana up at once? I¡¯m not sure, but it¡¯s gone now, so it should be fine,¡± Audrey said. She gave the other person a reassuring shrug as if it were no big deal. After that, she turned away to start another conversation with someone else.
Oh shit, she was actually able to tell I did that? The Skill¡¯s description didn¡¯t say anything about people being able to notice that they were targeted. That¡¯s good to know, Jordan thought to himself.
For the next couple of minutes, the young man did the polite thing and started to also introduce himself to the others around him. Only names were shared, so unfortunately he didn¡¯t know exactly what other Classes other people had. And since nobody else was asking, Jordan felt awkward over the idea of being the first to do so.
He might have just used Appraise if it couldn¡¯t have been detected. But since it was, that idea was already out. For now it was just a matter of curiosity. But if nobody soon decided to bring it up as a topic of discussion, then he¡¯d just have to put on his big boy pants and press the issue. In the meantime though, his mind eventually went to something else that seemed more important.
Now then, the System said that we should be getting sets of starter equipment to go with our Classes. But I¡¯m not seeing any gift boxes falling from the sky or anything like that. So how is our stuff meant to be delivered? Jordan wondered.
But then the System once again showed how it¡¯d have an ever present connection to his mind. He felt a distinctly warm sensation and looked down at the palm of his right hand. He watched as a tattoo in the design of a treasure chest came into being upon his skin. As soon as it fully formed, Jordan sensed a subtle but definitely real presence brush upon his mind.
At the same time, information instantly entered his brain about the nature of the tattoo. It was a mark not actually upon his skin, but imprinted on his very soul. The design on his hand was effectively just an indicator that mirrored its location on his spiritual form.
For how it worked, the tattoo basically led to him being able to actually store things within a self-contained pocket space. Where the mark itself acted as just the gateway between this space and the rest of reality. Jordan would be able to pull any item in or out through wherever the symbol was currently located on his body.
And since it was actually anchored to his soul, it effectively had a built-in measure to prevent anyone else from ever being able to access it. According to the information that had just been dumped on him, there was one caveat to that, however. That kind of basically absolute protection was only in effect while he was still alive. Upon death, the metaphorical lid to his space would be blown open and cause everything to spill out around to his corpse.
Right now, there actually was a set of items already inside it. All Jordan had to do was focus, and he pulled the first of them out. A second later, what looked like a folded up uniform appeared between his hands.
Right on top of it was both a pair of boots and gloves. The clothing was a light grey in color, and seemed like something an electrical engineer might wear at first glance. But it also appeared to be thicker and made of a material that didn¡¯t feel like anything regular used in clothes.
¡°Hey, where did you get that from? Did you pick up some clothing creating Skill or something?¡± someone asked him.
Jordan blinked a few times, and looked to see that now everyone in the group was now looking right at him. In his excitement, he¡¯d completely forgotten that he was surrounded by people. And since they apparently hadn¡¯t asked the System about their starting set yet, him just conjuring the things in his hands out of thin air was quite noticeable.
¡°Oh, no. The System mentioned in my tutorial that I¡¯d be getting some starting equipment for my Class. If yours did the same thing, try mentally asking the System about how to get that stuff. That¡¯s all I did, anyway,¡± Jordan explained.
With that, the group was quickly filled with the silence of everyone collectively following his advice. Jordan found it interesting that he could actually tell the exact moment that someone got their own mark. He couldn¡¯t see it appear anywhere on their skin, though.
Instead each person just got a completely blank look for a second, right before turning into an expression of deep thought. Then one at a time, people started to pull items out of their personal pocket spaces. After having observed them for a minute, Jordan returned his attention to his own equipment. Out of curiosity, he decided to use Appraise on the clothing set.
Name: Engineer¡¯s Reinforced Uniform
Grade: E1
Description: A standard set for Combat Engineers across the multiverse. It has been built to provide the wearer a low amount of protection from piercing, explosive, fire, and electric types of damage.
Huh, neat! Too bad it doesn¡¯t seem to come with a helmet or headgear, though. So all that protection is kinda limited to just below the neck. So, System, quick question. Do I actually have to put it on manually, or can I just automatically equip this like a game? Jordan asked, really hoping for auto equipping to be a thing.
Sadly, there was no response from the System. And since there was no indication that the uniform would suddenly appear on his body, it seemed that he would indeed be stuck with the old fashioned way. But that was fine. He didn¡¯t even need to find a private spot to change.
Since the shirt and pants both seemed to be a bit baggy, it would comfortably fit right over his current clothes. The only thing Jordan would actually need to take off were his shoes and socks, since the equipment also came with new socks too.
So he quickly did that and put the old stuff into his pocket space. Speaking of which, there was actually something else still waiting in there for him. So as soon as he finished changing, Jordan hurriedly pulled it out next.
¡°Holy shit,¡± he mumbled aloud. His eyes lit up with both surprise and amazement.
Name: Energy Pistol
Current Charge: 100%
Grade: E1
Description: A standard handheld pistol for Combat Engineers across the multiverse. It has been built to provide the user a reliable way to shoot condensed, energy-based blasts from range. It can be recharged by the user at the rate of 1 TP per 10% of restored charge.
Now this was going to be good.
Chapter 4: Group Organization
The Energy Pistol basically looked like it had been yoinked straight out of a science fiction movie. Though at the same time, maybe that was him being a bit hyperbolic. Unlike some sci-fi guns he knew of, this one definitely fell more toward the subtle side of things.
It was lightweight and had a fairly simple color scheme of primarily being grey with some blue accents. There was actually a digital screen on the back of the barrel, which currently just said 100%. Now that was something Jordan could appreciate, since it meant he could actively track its charge without using Appraise.
Alongside the barrel also was a hexagonal pattern etched across its surface that made up the bulk of the blue coloring. Actually, that wasn¡¯t quite right. As Jordan looked closely at the pattern, he realized that the blue wasn¡¯t just from paint or anything like that. They were actually streams of energy that were subtly flowing across the blaster.
I wonder if that¡¯ll also act as an indicator of its current charge. Like if it runs out of juice, will this energy pattern just fade away too? Jordan wondered. After familiarizing himself with the Energy Pistol a bit more, he then looked at a second item.
Because it actually came with a holster too. And it truly seemed like both the weapon and uniform were a standardized combo, because pants were already made to perfectly accommodate the holster. Unlike the pistol itself, the carrier was actually quite simple in design. It was just made out of grey leather without any obvious sci-fi tech attached. If it works it works, he supposed.
Though whoever made these items really seemed to have a thing for grey. Which brought up a good question in itself. Was the System the original designer, or did it just copy some large multiversal company¡¯s standards? That was assuming it was even possible for one mega company to actually stretch across the few dozen universes that were apparently out there, since they were just the 42nd addition.
And that then was a second question. Were they the 42nd universe in general, or was there an original universe, thus making them number 43 in total. All the tutorial said was that they were members of the 42nd Merging, so he guessed it was dependent on if the very first universe also counted as the first Merging. It could go either way, depending on if the Merging referred to joining the multiverse or perhaps just the System itself.
Would you clarify that, System? Jordan asked, yet there was no immediate answer. Hmm, please? he tried next.
Yet even the almighty power of saying please didn¡¯t seem to be enough to warrant the System to enlighten him. From there, he tried to make a slew of inquiries. Like was there a max Level that acted as the cap? How exactly did the letter Grades work? Would they be able to advance their Grade to D just by hitting a certain Level, or was there more to it?
Would their Subclass automatically be granted upon D Grade, or were there further requirements to unlock that feature? And then for their Quests, he even asked for some example rewards or how to actually do them. Like how did one go about starting up a Guild or Kingdom of their own?
Then he asked about the System itself. Like it was some kind of supreme deity that controlled reality? Or was it instead actually the creation of some even higher being? Jordan continued to ask about everything he could possibly think of. And each and every time, he was only met by continued silence.
Jordan found it a bit strange. He knew that the System was listening and that it could choose to provide answers. It had pretty directly guided him toward his pocket space, but only after it was asked about. But if he and nobody else hadn¡¯t done so, would it have still given it at some point?
He believed that perhaps there was a key to how the System chose to operate. In the tutorial, it had chosen to define some mentioned terms but not others. Then there was the bit about only giving their pocket space and starting equipment after being directly asked about it.
If one were to look at it as a game designer, the System seemed to be one that expected their players to figure things out for themselves. It said they were given an advantage in the form of the Title that expanded their list of available Traits.
So perhaps that and the tutorial itself was all the hand holding it was willing to provide. Yet just the way it had operated the tutorial was already a kindness of its own. Since having their sense of time warped meant anyone who would have freaked out from being teleported had already done so. Jordan didn¡¯t know just how long it would have taken some people to recover from a mental breakdown while being physically frozen. But the System probably would have just waited for eternity if need be.
That function was probably the main reason why the people in his group actually seemed to be fairly calm at the moment. Though that was just an assumption made from someone who¡¯d been part of the System for less than twenty actual minutes. Time would only tell if his current idea of it would continue to hold up.
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For now, he decided to see what kind of equipment the rest of his group received. And to his surprise, there was actually the variety. In fact, there was one person in particular that stood out to him. One with what seemed to be wizard¡¯s robes, but had the black and white symbol of a large hourglass on the back. The man also had a scepter with an actual hourglass at the top.
The design as a whole practically screamed one thing and one thing only to him.
No fucking way. There¡¯s no way he got that of all things as a Class. That¡¯d be way too busted as even a concept for people at Level 1, right? Like right? Jordan asked himself as he stared at the man.
His curiosity was just way too much right now. He needed to confirm whether or not he had the right idea. Jordan momentarily considered using Appraise. But decided to just walk over to the man and directly ask for himself. That way it might also spark the idea of people actually sharing their Classes now.
¡°Hey, I¡¯m Jordan. I was just thinking that it might be a good idea for us to start sharing our Classes. You know, put together a headcount since it looks like we¡¯re gonna be sticking together for a while. I went with the Combat Engineer from the list of Battle Classes, after picking Tech Savvy as my Trait,¡± Jordan said to start things off.
¡°Oh, that¡¯s probably a good idea. I¡¯m Mark. I picked the Time Sensitive Trait, and then also went with a Battle Class and chose Time Wizard. Good to meet you, even if it¡¯s under these weird circumstances,¡± Mark said as he extended a hand. Jordan took it with an outward smile, but he was a hurt man on the inside.
Welp. Here I thought that my Class was a good one. But being a straight up chronomancer just isn¡¯t fair man. Like if Warrior, Healer, and the others were everyone else¡¯s starting Battle Classes, then that was probably the easiest choice in the world, he mentally grumbled.
Traditionally speaking, when it came to what could be overpowered concepts, time magic was usually pretty high up there. And if Jordan tried to claim that he wasn¡¯t at all jealous, he¡¯d be lying through his teeth. But he at least tried to not let it show on face. No need to be a jerk about it and ruin first impressions.
¡°Hello everyone, my name is Kevin Brown!¡± The crowd turned to the man who¡¯d started speaking with a loud voice. He had positioned himself at one end, just in front of the marble platform. The speaker named Kevin was a tall man, and respectively muscular in build.
¡°Now that we¡¯ve had a chance to all adjust and put on our equipment. I think that it¡¯s important to start organizing. I know that some of you might still think this is a dream or even a nightmare. But this is real, which means we need to consider our most immediate priorities in any survival scenario: shelter, water, and food,¡± Kevin continued.
¡°But before that, I think it''d be a good idea to share everything we know about what this System has given up. If anyone has any pencil and paper, I think we could write out our Classes, Traits, Stats, and basically every variable in each of our Statuses. For example, the value of my Stats sum up to a total of 117. So I¡¯m curious to know how that relates to everyone else¡¯s.¡±
Oh thank God, someone else actually decided to be the main one to bring it up, Jordan thought with some relief. He¡¯d be more than happy to let someone else handle the responsibility of being the organizer. He had always been ready to do the most work in a group project rather than being the main presenter.
But Kevin actually brought up a good point. So as someone else volunteered to sacrifice the textbook in their backpack, Jordan willed for his Status to appear and did some quick mental math.
Huh, would you look at that? Exactly 117, now that¡¯s way too specific of a number to just be a coincidence. But if it does line up with everyone else¡¯s total value, would it have killed the System to have rounded it up to 120? Just for the sake of making it nice and even.
A little while later, they had more or less finished writing everything down that they could think of as potentially valuable information. And yes, 117 was indeed the shared Stat total for each person in their group. Yet that wasn¡¯t all in terms of equally given values. They had also been given the same amount of Title, Trait, and Class bonuses for their Stats. Including the exactly four people who had decided to go with a Trade Class as their main.
Which meant that it only took a bit of working backwards to find out their ¡°base¡± Stats before all the bonuses. Now that came out to a total of 70 per person, which was much better as a nice increment of ten. Though it was also a bit strange, if you thought about it. Just what were the chances that across two dozen people, everyone¡¯s Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence and such just happened to have an equal total.
Like in terms of representing how strong or smart someone was, reality shouldn¡¯t have been so neat and tidy. Especially when their base individual Stats actually did vary by quite a bit. Like the average starting Strength seemed to be 10, while Jordan¡¯s had been below that at 7. In fact, 10 seemed to be just the average for each Stat.
¡°Oh crap, I think I hear something coming this way!¡± a woman suddenly exclaimed.
It immediately pulled everyone out of their conversations as the air became filled with nervous tension. Jordan believed that her name was Elizabeth and was a Ranger with a Passive Skill that sharpened her senses. So if she said something was approaching their group, they all trusted her claim.
Energy Pistol now drawn, Jordan also prepared himself to immediately use Appraise. When first facing an unknown threat, being able to get information would be vital in finding a clue toward potential weaknesses. Then just a moment later, it made its way through the tall grasses.
Species: Rabbit
Level: 1
Description: A common mammal found within the grasslands of Vervina-C. They are herbivores that largely spend their time sleeping and foraging for food within their home environment.
That¡¯s right. Out of all things, it was just a freaking Rabbit. And just like that, all of the momentum from Jordan¡¯s built-up excitement crumbled apart before its ashes were carried away by a strong breeze.
Chapter 5: Flight of the Drone
¡°Oh¡ sorry guys. Guess I just panicked a bit,¡± Elizabeth apologized. Now that everyone had gotten ready for battle only to see Rabbit, the Ranger¡¯s expression was flushed red with embarrassment.
¡°Well, it¡¯s alright. Better to be overly cautious than caught with our pants down. So don¡¯t worry too much about it,¡± Mark said. The man who¡¯d ended up becoming the de facto of their group lowered his warhammer and shield. His class was the Iron Juggernaut, something kind of obvious as soon as one saw how he was decked head to toe in heavy armor.
¡°So should we just go ahead and kill it? Won¡¯t give much in terms of meat, but at least it¡¯ll be a start while we hunt for more,¡± someone suggested.
¡°Well, maybe we should be cautious. This might seem like a regular Rabbit, but we¡¯re still in an alien world. It¡¯s clearly not afraid despite being right in front of all of this crowd, and it¡¯s also Level 1, same as us. It could potentially be more dangerous than it appears,¡± Mark warned.
As a few people nodded in agreement, Jordan frowned. According to traditional video game logic, the basic mobs were almost always significantly weaker even if they were at the same starting Level. While that wasn¡¯t true all the time, he believed it still applied in this case.
He could see the reasoning for being careful, but the Appraise Skill had given no indication of this creature being any kind of threat. All it mentioned was that it was basically just a simple little herbivore.
A part of him was tempted to just prove a point by aiming his Energy Pistol and pulling the trigger. But he didn¡¯t really want to be that guy that spontaneously acted on his own without any warning. Especially if he was wrong, which¡¯d only further make him look like a reckless asshole. So Jordan decided to instead be a team player.
¡°If you think it might be dangerous, then I could shoot it first after giving everyone a second to get ready. I have what¡¯s basically an energy gun, so that should at least do a lot of damage if it survives,¡± he suggested.
After a couple of moments to think about it, Mark gave him a small nod. Jordan took aim as he glanced around at them all to give the promised chance to prepare themselves. Then with a deep breath, he pulled the trigger. In an instant, the screen on the back of the pistol¡¯s barrel updated from 100% to 95%. At the same time, a small energy bolt shot out from the barrel with a low-pitched hum. Jordan was slightly amazed to feel that there was practically zero kickback after firing.
The bolt sped through their air and pierced into the small mammal¡¯s chest. It went straight through its flesh and tore out of the other side. From the moment he aimed the gun to firing, the Rabbit never even reacted till the moment of its demise.
Experience Earned!
+11 EXP
As soon as he saw it, Jordan quickly checked to see his updated Status.
EXP: 11/100
Well that¡¯s pretty generous as far as Experience gains go. So all I need to do is to kill nine more Level 1 Rabbits, and that¡¯ll be more than enough to reach the next Level. Good deal, Jordan thought to himself. Now feeling pretty satisfied, he dismissed the Status screen.
¡°Yep, it¡¯s just like the System said. I got 11 Experience Points for the kill, so it shouldn¡¯t take much for us with Battle Classes to reach Level 2. Though we should probably keep an eye out for anything above our Level. Because those creatures are likely going to be the actually dangerous ones,¡± Jordan said.
He glanced down at the screen showing his pistol¡¯s updated charge. It¡¯d probably be a good idea to figure out how to use his Tech Points to recharge the thing. He still effectively had 19 shots left, so it wasn¡¯t an immediate emergency. But better to do that sooner rather than later.
One of the other members of the group grabbed the corpse of the Rabbit. No blood fell out as it was lifted off the ground. Though that was likely due to the flesh basically getting cauterized by the energy bolt. But for now it was put away in that person¡¯s own pocket space. Which was fine by Jordan as he had no real desire to actually claim his kill.
Although, aren¡¯t Rabbits normally supposed to be pretty skittish? Like that thing might as well have just walked over with a ¡°easy kill here¡± sign with how it didn¡¯t even react to us. Hmm. Well its description did say they¡¯re found on Vervina-C, which I¡¯m assuming is the name of this planet. So maybe unlike Earth, they just don¡¯t have any natural predators around here? Jordan wondered.
Using the video game analogy, it did make some sense. Perhaps the System had picked this area to drop them off in because it was a kind of safe zone. Somewhere that noobs like them could get used to their newfound powers without immediate danger.
But if all of humanity and other alien populations were spread out into small groups across this planet, could there really be that many safe zones? Rather than an intentional choice by the System, had his group just gotten lucky?
While Jordan hoped that the System was so beginner-friendly, that sounded just a tad too naive. If it was just a matter of luck, he could only hope that his family and friends had also gotten lucky. That they too were somewhere like a grassland with Level 1 Rabbits, and not some jungle filled with higher Level monsters.
Once that was settled, their group had basically done everything they could in terms of preparation. The large red sun was no longer directly overhead, but was now slowly inching across the sky. Nobody knew exactly how long a day would be on the planet apparently known as Vervina-C. Yet from how much it had already moved in such a short amount of time, it seemed to be moving faster compared to the Sun back on Earth.
It meant that the darkness of night would come all the sooner. And while there was a resident Pyromancer on hand to start a fire, they didn¡¯t really have a suitable Class for constructing a shelter. There was unfortunately no Geomancer or anything like that among them to just build something directly from the ground itself. And the few people with Trade Classes were focused on crafting items like the Blacksmith, rather than being related to construction like the Mason.
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None of those present wanted to sleep while completely exposed to the foreign world. So when they collectively moved away from the starting platform, they did so with a fair amount of urgency behind their steps.
Yet as the group walked, a few people strayed off to each side. The reason for that was simple. To have a better chance of getting the first dibs on another Rabbit. And, of course, Jordan was also one of those who did so.
I wonder if the Experience Points are variable, or if 11 will be the fixed amount. If it is just 11 every time, then I only need eight more Rabbits to reach 99 EXP. Here¡¯s hoping that there¡¯s at least one that¡¯ll give me 12 instead and let me round that up to 100 for Level 2, he thought to himself.
As he moved, the newly minted Combat Engineer decided to test out one of his abilities. Jordan concentrated on using the Summon Air Drone Skill for the first time.
After a moment of focus, there was a small shift in the air right next to him. The drone itself wasn¡¯t very large, only about the size of a basketball. Its frame had a central core with four extensions, where each one had a rotor. There also appeared to be little wheels at the bottom of the extensions as well to allow movement directly against the ground.
But as the drone was currently flying as a default, the sound of its spinning blades was barely audible. To the point where a moderate breeze would be enough to disguise the noise even if it was right behind you. Yet the most impressive thing about it was attached to the underside of the core. Hanging off the drone was a weapon similar to his Energy Pistol in terms of the style of its design.
Yet instead of just being a small pistol, it had a much longer barrel. And that had a series of what appeared to be some tinted red crystal on each side. These crystals were partially see through and still allowed him to see the same kind of blue energy inside the drone¡¯s gun. Though they appeared to largely dull the energy¡¯s glow of light, likely to help it be better at remaining incognito in the dark.
Jordan mentally whistled in appreciation. Partially to not cause a panic by making any suddenly loud noises. But mostly because he actually didn¡¯t know how to really whistle.
But now that the drone had manifested, Jordan felt an influx of inherent understanding. It was a flood of information similar to what the System did for his pocket space, informing him more about how Summon Air Drone worked. And beyond the simple descriptor of being autonomous, how it operated was actually quite interesting.
At the moment, the drone was in a sort of idle state. One where it would just passively follow him around but not really do anything else. But that could easily and quickly be changed through any of a series of different kinds of mental commands.
These could range from having it enter battle mode to attack things, patrol a designated area, and more. Yet rather than being a simple on or off switch, these inputted orders could be more accurately described as sliding scales.
For example, Jordan could have the drone enter a patrol around him. Where it could then shoot any other creature on-sigh that wasn¡¯t him. So if he were to activate such a command now, that would obviously be bad for whoever the nearest person happened to be. But this was the part that actually impressed him more than anything. Because he quickly realized that in terms of interpreting instructions, the drone was actually pretty smart. More so than he¡¯d have otherwise assumed for just a starting Skill at Level 1.
If Jordan simply told the target to target enemies, it¡¯d be able to interpret that directly through their mental connection. So all the people with his group or any other humans it happened to find would automatically be considered friendly. And then because he currently didn¡¯t know what else to expect from this planet¡¯s lifeforms, it¡¯d shoot at any other random creature. But that too could be tweaked and adjusted at any point to fit his most current needs.
As for the drone¡¯s actual specs, Jordan also inherently knew a few key features. The first was that it had a top speed of 100 miles per hour. And that it did have an effective range before it would automatically be desummoned, which was 25 miles. Now Jordan only ever had a passing interest in drones back on Earth, but as far as he knew, those specs were far beyond anything he could have afforded.
If anything, the only weak point seems to be the upkeep. Let¡¯s see, the base cost was 3 Tech Points. It takes 6 per minute to keep it summoned. And then I currently regenerate 3.60 per minute. So at most¡ it¡¯ll only be able to last for what, right around five minutes? he believed.
That didn¡¯t sound bad at all from the perspective of an RPG or video game power. But for a drone of its speed and range, that time limit would be the main bottlecap. A drone of its relative quality should last for at least half an hour from a regular battery. But for this one, that would be hard-capped by how it currently drained his resources.
A part of Jordan was already looking for ways to try to raise that limiter to the Skill. Like the System said it scaled with his Wisdom and Intelligence. And then that its current Grade was only E1, while Appraise started assumingly better at E5. So his focus on improving the Skill¡¯s efficacy should be on his Stats and whatever it¡¯d take to raise its Grade up.
In any case, that would be something to figure out after he learned more about how Levels worked. And rather than waste time just thinking about it or other possibilities, it¡¯d be better to just reach Level 2 as soon as possible. Which meant that it was about time he got serious about the Rabbit hunt. Luckily, he had just the Skill that allowed him to effectively cheat around the use of tall grass as cover.
Jordan still had five whole minutes of use out of the drone. So he quickly sent a mental command for it to speed ahead of him. He just included two specific instructions. The first was that for Rabbits, it would shoot them on sight. But if it saw any other kind of creature other than a Rabbit or the humans in his group, the drone would immediately return to the air directly above him and fly around in a circle.
He wasn¡¯t sure if there were other creatures in these grasslands. But he felt that would act as a good warning system for anything in their immediate vicinity. With that, Jordan watched as the drone took to the sky and quickly zoomed away from him.
¡°Hey, was that a drone just now? And was that one of our Skills or something else?¡± someone off to the side called out.
¡°Yeah! Sorry for not giving a warning first, but that¡¯s mine!¡± Jordan yelled back.
¡°Good to know, and that¡¯s a really sick Skill dude!¡±
¡°Right?! Thanks!¡± he agreed.
A few seconds later, Jordan pushed away the grass in front of his face. With how the taller parts were above his height in some places, just seeing was a pain at times. But then, not even thirty whole seconds after sending the drone away, something else appeared in front of him.
Experience Earned!
+11 EXP
Jordan grinned at the notification. Then just a couple moments later, a second one popped up right next to it. Just like that, he was a third of the way to reaching the EXP threshold for Level 2.
If this was how things were going to be, then maybe this Merging wouldn¡¯t be so bad after all.
Chapter 6: Level Up!
Jordan was pretty happy with himself, all things considered. His drone had slowed down in its murder spree after a bit. But before he ran out of Tech Points, it had managed to snag him a couple more kills.
EXP: 55/100
In the span of just about five minutes, he was already more than halfway there to Level 2. Did Jordan feel a little bad about effectively having an easy way to search and destroy Rabbits while everyone else had to deal with the tall grass obstructing their vision? Sure, just a smidge. Was that enough to stop him from doing it again as soon as his TP fully refilled? Nope.
Just a bit over four minutes later, Jordan recast Summon Air Drone. He gave it the same set of extras, and this time sent off the Rabbit Murderer 8000 into a different direction. A little bit after it went out of sight, a sudden burst of light flashed in the corner of his vision. Jordan turned toward where it¡¯d come from, a brow raised.
The Pyromancer went that way, didn¡¯t she? What was her name again¡ Hanako? Yeah, that sounds about right. Doesn¡¯t seem like her Skill just started a large fire for us to worry about. So she must have a pretty good handle on it already.
It was just then that there was a second flash of light, and then a third. Was each one an individual usage of her Skill? If so, then she¡¯d effectively just killed three Rabbits in a row. At that moment, another flash quickly corrected that to four in a row. Had Hanako actually managed to find a whole colony or something in one spot?
Spurred by the sense of newfound competition, Jordan mentally urged his drone to hasten its search even further. Then a bit over another minute later, it seemed to have found another target.
Experience Earned!
+11 EXP
With that, his lead had increased again to two Rabbits. Jordan didn¡¯t actually know if anyone else had managed to find any. Hanako was only obvious because of how obvious and flashy her Pyromancer powers were. But he had a pretty good feeling that they were solidly the ones currently in first and second place for the group¡¯s collected Experience.
Experience Earned!
+11 EXP
Experience Earned!
+11 EXP
Experience Earned!
+11 EXP
He grinned as three more notifications appeared within seconds of each other.
EXP: 99/100
Just one more Experience Point. Just one more kill. Then he¡¯d be the first of his group to reach Level 2. At this point, Jordan only wished that they¡¯d set out even sooner. If they had immediately started moving instead of standing by the platform for a while, then he could have reached it all the faster.
But since his kill streak did have a delayed start, Jordan wouldn¡¯t be surprised if someone else on the planet had already reached Level 2. There were billions of just Humans somewhere out there, after all. And that was likely along with who even knew how many aliens from their entire universe.
Experience Earned!
+11 EXP
Level Up!
Level 1 to Level 2
Yes! Alright! Time to see how this works, Jordan thought. But as he was about to open his Status, another notification popped up in front of him.
Congratulations!
By attaining your first Level Up, you have now qualified for placement on the leaderboard of the Quest: Mightiest Individual. You may now view the Mightiest Individual leaderboard and your current place on it at any time.
Woah, really? Well alright then, that¡¯s good to know. Might as well pull this thing up right away and see how other people are doing.
Mightiest Individual:
1: Wilfred Wilbur Wyndham III (Level 6)
2: Zorliay Qorath¡¯zyrunch (Level 5)
3: Yvaro Qorath¡¯zyrunch (Level 5)
4: Carl Rowe (Level 5)
5: Karin Allison (Level 4)
¡
479: Jordan Joyner (Level 2)
Holy shit! Someone¡¯s managed to hit Level 6 already?! It¡¯s barely been more than half an hour since we got our Quests! Just what kind of starting zone did these guys get dropped in? Jordan gaped at the screen.
Also, the presence of aliens was now even more confirmed by some of those top names. It appeared the ones in second and third place were members of the same family. But Qorath¡¯zyrunch didn¡¯t sound like any human name Jordan knew of.
But aside from the appearance of the leaderboard, there was something that Jordan was mildly disappointed by. He¡¯d hoped that by reaching Level 2 so soon, it¡¯d have come with a new Title. Since the System had referred to Titles as rewards for one¡¯s achievement, Jordan had assumed that quickly gaining a Level would soon earn him one. And while that might have been true for the actual first person to reach Level 2, he was clearly behind the curve in that race.
However, he then had another thought. Since the list had used his real name by default, then it stood to reason that it¡¯d do the same for everyone else who got on it. Which meant that he now had a tool for checking in on the basic status for all the people he knew.
Jordan quickly started to scroll down the leaderboard. His eyes scanned each name as it passed by. Then just a little bit later, he found the bottom. There were actually a few people under him, so the last position on the list was actually number 493. Yet after having checked every name, he hadn¡¯t seen anyone that he actually recognized.
Not his family, not his friends. Jordan¡¯s mind quickly went to a dark place as he thought about his parents. They were both in their early 60s and already had a number of health issues. His mother still hadn¡¯t fully recovered from breaking her ankle a few months ago, and walked with a limp.
Then his dad had already needed a cane to move around, due to his lower back and knees having been ruined by decades in a job that¡¯d been hard on them. If they¡¯d been placed in any sort of dangerous area where their group had to run from danger¡
He quickly tried to push the thought out. It¡¯d do him no good to spiral into a mentally dark place. There was still every chance that they¡¯d been dropped in a safe area with people willing to help them out.
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So he instead turned his mind toward Adam and Leo. Jordan hoped that wherever his best friends were, that perhaps they were together.
Since the System¡¯s grouping seemed to be at least partially based on proximity, it was a possibility. It mostly depended on if they¡¯d actually driven off as soon as they got to their cars, or got distracted in a new conversation after leaving the mall and were side by side during the teleportation.
The reason behind that hope was largely for Adam¡¯s sake. He was the kind of person that found it hard to even kill a spider in the bathtub. Killing stuff in video games was one thing. But for him to do so as a means of progression in the real world? No shot. If Jordan had to bet on it, he¡¯d be confident that Adam would pick the more peaceful route of selecting a Trade as his main Class.
Leo, on the other hand, would definitely not just survive but thrive with a Battle Class. Likely even more so than Jordan or anyone else he personally knew. He had been an amateur MMA fighter that actually had both a lot of talent and a win streak.
Everything was in place for him to soon have a promising career ahead as a pro right after he¡¯d graduated high school. But then an injury outside the ring ground that momentum to a screeching halt. And by the time Leo mostly recovered, his prospects of making it as a professional were already all but dead. It wasn¡¯t something they talked about much. But Jordan knew that even after these last few years, the regret from it still hung over his friend¡¯s head.
Because of that, Jordan assumed that Leo would likely pick a Class focused around what he knew best. Even if he didn¡¯t pick a Trait that corresponds to a Class based on hand to hand fighting, it looked like Warrior was one of the default options everyone got. So if Leo was there as the muscle, Jordan trusted that he¡¯d be able to keep Adam safe if things got rough.
But on that thought, he swiped away the leaderboard and moved on. It was time to do what he originally intended and see how his Status changed. So he promptly pulled that up next.
General Info:
Name: Jordan Joyner
Species: Human (Earth)
Guild: N/A
System Info:
Class: Combat Engineer
Subclass: N/A
Traits: Tech Savvy
Titles: Initial Merger
Level: 2
EXP: 10/225
Grade: E
Resources:
Tech Points: 7.40/17
Tech Points Regen: 3.76/Min
Stats:
Strength: 13
Dexterity: 16
Vitality: 18
Endurance: 15
Intelligence: 23
Wisdom: 21
Will: 14
Free Points: 5
General Skills:
Active: Appraise-E5
Class Skills:
Active: Summon Air Drone-E1
Active: Zap-E1
Active: Overcharge-E1
Passive: Tinker-E1
Jordan glanced through the changes. Interesting. So in terms of my Stats, the only automatic progression was to Intelligence and Wisdom. That tracks with the bonus per Level mentioned as part of my Class. But that was enough to push my max TP pool up a point.
He had noticed a few other things. The first was that the leftover Experience from the last kill was carried over, which was good to know. And speaking of which, the EXP threshold for getting the next Level had more than doubled. From 100 to 225. So with the 10 already there, it¡¯d take about another 20 Rabbit kills to reach Level 3. Considering how it was more than twice the last Experience requirement, Jordan wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the next one needed 500.
Then there was something else about his Stats. Jordan now had five Free Points. And when he focused on them, he sensed that he could easily will their allocation into any Stat of his choice. Now that was where things could get a bit spicy. Because while five was a small number in vacuum, here it had a fair amount of weight. For his lowest Stat, Strength, an addition of five would net him an increase of nearly 40%.
On the other hand, it¡¯d be better to play into what I¡¯m good at. Especially while I¡¯m with a group of people that actually have Strength-based Classes, it¡¯d just be a waste to increase it myself. Hmm. Hey System, could you actually define exactly what each Stat means? Like for example, what exactly does Wisdom do and what does it actually affect? Jordan asked.
But once again, the System didn¡¯t grace him with a direct answer. Nor did it even get him a mental nudge in the right direction for him to intuitively understand it for himself. This slightly miffed Jordan. Considering how Stats would appear to be the very foundation of their builds, it''d just make more sense for them to understand what each one actually meant, right?
In any case, he¡¯d just have to trust his intuition. Dexterity and Strength were the most obvious in what they did, just move faster and be stronger. Vitality and Endurance were a bit more closely related, but luckily, he had the Classes of the others within his group to judge off. Those that had granted Endurance seemed to be the archetypal tank, a wall meant to withstand tons of punishment.
He recalled that for their Ranger, Elizabeth, she¡¯d gotten Dexterity and Vitality as her Class bonuses. From what she had written down in their collective notes, her Class revolved around both archery and wilderness survival. And in a survival situation, where was always the risk of getting diseases or being poisoned by something you consumed, right? So it wouldn¡¯t be a stretch to assume that¡¯s the kind of thing that a high Vitality would help with.
Something which did bring up an interesting point, now that he thought about it. Of these four ¡°physical¡± Stats as he decided to dub them, Vitality started as his highest by a good bit.
Before all the bonuses applied by the System from their tutorial, their base Stats seemed to revolve around 10. And while his Strength started as a mere 7, Vitality was a whopping 12. Which had made the latter his 2nd highest Stat, only behind Intelligence at 13.
When it came to Intelligence, Jordan did have to toot his own horn, at least a little. He was pretty well educated when it came to the field of technology. Before getting plucked off the face of the Earth, he¡¯d a decent chunk into his graduate program for robotics. And before that, he¡¯d already earned a Bachelor¡¯s degree in computer engineering.
Granted, he wasn¡¯t some genius. That was just a specific area in which Jordan had studied a lot. When it came to other areas of knowledge, he was a bit more lacking. Like when it came to speaking other languages, he was a painfully accurate example of the stereotypical American that only spoke English. Not for a lack of trying, but trying to teach himself other languages had simply never clicked. So while his education was one potential avenue of explanation, he wasn¡¯t sure if it painted a full picture.
How would the System compare two different PhD¡¯s, for example? Like someone that was an actual medical doctor, versus someone with a Doctorate in something like business? Then there was the whole basis that a formal education wasn¡¯t everything. How would you measure the Intelligence of people who hadn''t gone to higher education, but were nonetheless knowledge experts in their own career paths?
Things like IQ tests were proof that society had always attempted to measure out one¡¯s intellect. But such tests and measures always fell short and were always unreliable in any realistic sense.
And then for his above average Vitality, that was even more of a head scratcher. Sure he got his regular shots and generally tried to keep a decently healthy diet. But other than that¡ eh? Jordan just couldn¡¯t really think of anything else that might justify it. His relatively lower Strength and Dexterity was proof enough of how little he went to the gym or anything like that. So it couldn¡¯t be anything like having particularly good cardio or something.
Though going off the idea of Vitality governing defense against disease and poison, maybe it was just due to always getting his shots? Not that those would help much on a new planet that likely had all kinds of unique pathogens, anyway.
I could always just hold my Free Points for the time being. Although, maybe I¡¯m overthinking this. Actually¡ yeah, I¡¯m definitely overthinking this. Still staring at his Status, Jordan finally came to an actual decision.
Rather than just try to overanalyze the known and unknown details, it¡¯d be easier to just take things at face value. For his Skills, the System directly stated that they either scaled with Intelligence, Wisdom, or both.
And of his Skills, he¡¯d still only tested one so far. Which meant that before anything else, perhaps it was time to give the others a test run.
Chapter 7: Build Decisions
Summon Air Drone scaled with both of the mentioned Stats. But there was still Zap and Overcharge. The former scaled with just Intelligence and the latter with Wisdom.
Jordan turned to the side, facing a direction where he was certain he couldn¡¯t accidentally hit anyone else. Between the two Skills, he decided to focus on trying out Zap first. He held out his free arm, and began to concentrate.
In the back of his mind, he also went ahead and unsummoned his drone. Just because it¡¯d be pretty unfortunate if it accidentally drained his TP before he could finish trying these Skills.
But as he focused, there was a flash of light as two TP were used up. In that same moment, Jordan once again gained an intuitive understanding of how Zap actually world. As it turned out, raising his hand hadn¡¯t even been a necessary gesture. The Skill could appear from any point of his body and just needed a thought to be activated.
At that moment, a bolt of electricity shot out from the tip of Jordan¡¯s middle finger. It moved through the air¡ and that was it. The bolt had barely managed to get about half a foot away from him before it just disappeared entirely. While Jordan was currently in a spot with a lesser concentration of tall grass, the fact that it couldn¡¯t even get far enough to hit some spoke for itself.
Well then, that¡¯s¡ kinda meh. Actually, range aside, maybe I¡¯m being too harsh. If I¡¯m forced into melee range, it looks like this will be my only real option. Like if there¡¯s ever a scenario where I¡¯m unarmed, for example. Since this doesn¡¯t require any movement and can come out of any part of my body, it could make for a good sneak attack, Jordan thought.
Plus there was another point in the Skill¡¯s favor. He could sense that it actually had something that made it stand out from the blasts of his drone and pistol. While their beams seemed to be made out of plasma, it felt like just some kind of pure energy. Something that Jordan only now realized after he had Zap as a point of comparison.
Zap¡¯s energy signature was distinctly based in electricity. Which when directly said, because of course it would be. Normally, such a statement would be so obvious that it was borderline idiotic to point it out.
But in the case of his powers under the System, it felt deeper than that. Like there was a fundamental concept of electricity that went beyond the obvious. It was hard to put the exact feeling into words. All he could say was that it felt baked directly into his intuitive subconscious.
In any case, Jordan moved onto the third Skill, Overcharge. Considering how it¡¯d been described in its description, he readied his Energy Pistol. Once again he started to focus on both the Skill while imagining it affecting the weapon in hand. And once again, there was a quick response.
Jordan again received an influx of knowledge upon the Skill¡¯s activation. He looked down at his pistol. There was no difference in its visual appearance. But he could already tell that due to the Skill, there was a temporary connection between him and it.
He quickly double checked exactly how Overcharge had been described.
Description: Push a piece of technological equipment past its usual limits and enhance its performance for a short time.
With it now in use, he now had an understanding of what exactly this description meant. Jordan understood that pushing it past its usual limits effectively meant he¡¯d get more bang for his buck.
Rather than spend 5% of the pistol¡¯s charge in one shot, this would allow him to double the spending for a single shot. And that single empowered blast would actually be stronger than if he¡¯d just shot two regular blasts in a row. From what he could tell, it felt like it was three times the power for the price of two charges. Now that was a good deal if he said so himself.
Then there was his Passive Skill, Tinker. While it was obviously one that could be actively tested like the others right now, it did scale with Intelligence and Wisdom. Something in of itself was very good to know. Because as the only other Skill with dual scaling, it provided some potentially valuable insight.
Tinker scaled with Intelligence and Wisdom, listed in that specific order. While Summon Air Drone, on the other hand, was the reverse. If both Stats just uniformly provided the same amount of benefits, then the listing would be in a default order, right? One that would remain the same for both Skills. But that clearly wasn¡¯t the case here.
Based on this, Jordan believed that it was a safe assumption that multi-Stat scaling was in order of importance. So for Summon Air Drone, Wisdom was likely its primary Stat while Intelligence was its secondary.
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The only issue with this belief was that he didn¡¯t know what was the actual impact of the scaling. Did increasing his Wisdom make the drone faster, stronger, or perhaps improve its range? Did Intelligence provide the same benefits but to just a lesser degree? Or maybe they actually improved entirely separate functions, but the ones from Wisdom were the more important ones?
Even after getting the general information about the Skill downloaded into his head, the System hadn¡¯t felt it necessary to add that key info in. Out of all the details to be left out, this one was arguably the worst. Since how were they meant to know which Skills to build their Stats around if they didn¡¯t know how the scaling actually worked?
Jordan just sighed to himself. Welp, it is what it is. I guess the only thing to do is take it in stride and just roll along with it. I¡¯ll just have to do things the old fashioned way and try to manually keep track of how my Skills improve as my Stats increase.
Now for the matter of hand. Just which of his Stats was he about to increase? Jordan considered it for a little bit, taking into account both everything he knew and still didn¡¯t know. For starters, he enacted the good old strategy known as the process of elimination.
Strength was the first thing to get crossed out. The decision to do so was almost immediate. He didn¡¯t need to be a burly close-range warrior waving around a large weapon. He was a ranged fighter considering his gun, so getting up close in battle likely meant something had gone wrong. As far as the physical Stats went, Strength was the one he would have the least use for.
The second to get dismissed was Will. It was one of the assumedly mental Stats, however, Jordan just wasn¡¯t sure what it actually did. But what he did know was that it didn¡¯t have any impact whatsoever for the scaling of his Skills and Class. He¡¯d probably ask around if anyone else with a magical Class actually made use of it. For him though, it just didn¡¯t seem like a necessity.
Jordan took a moment to think about the next one to get axed. But after a bit of consideration, he decided on Vitality. While it was one of his naturally highest Stats already, he just didn¡¯t feel confident in investing in it. If his prior assumptions about its properties were correct, having a higher tolerance to poisons and disease would be nice.
However, that was where the problem was. In a world where you had an incentive to kill because it led to further power, what was more likely: to eat a toxic plant and die, or getting stabbed? Whether the one doing the stabbing was a dangerous creature¡¯s horns or maybe another person¡¯s sword, the result was the same.
But with Vitality dismissed, that led to the first true conundrum. How did Jordan want to actually deal with the whole potential unpleasantry of getting stabbed? Would he rather increase his Dexterity to dodge the blow, or his Endurance to simply tank the hit? Both ideas had their own merits. And perhaps ideally, there was a path where he could focus on increasing both.
However, every Free Point spent toward either had the opportunity cost of not increasing his actual Class Stats. So keeping both balanced seemed like it would only drive up said cost. Something which he could later come to regret if it compromised the future effectiveness of his Skills.
Hmm. Of the two, Dexterity is already higher by a single point. So that¡¯s technically a higher base to build from, even if it¡¯s not by much. At the same time, I¡¯d really rather not instantly die just because something super powerful decided to flick me on the forehead. But if I¡¯m fast enough to just avoid that flick in the first place¡
Jordan did also have his equipment to rely on. The Engineer¡¯s Reinforced Uniform did promise in its description that it would provide protection from an array of damage types. However, it specifically said that protection would be ¡°a low amount¡±.
As far as he could tell, it didn¡¯t seem to be made from any clothing material he was familiar with. At least when it came to how it looked and felt to the touch. So he didn¡¯t know what said low amount of protection actually meant, relatively speaking. He had to hope that it was at least pretty decent though. Since if a Combat Engineer was meant to run around a battlefield to maintain the machines of war, they would surely get good equipment to wear, right?
It really was a question of how much he trusted his Reinforced Uniform to do its job. If he focused on Dexterity but still got unlucky, would it make up for that. Or would he instead just rather rely on his Endurance even if meant being slower and less likely to dodge those attacks in the first place?
Jordan¡¯s mind went back and forth on the issue for a good bit. But then he decided to take a deep breath, and step back. Right now, his mentality had tunnel visioned and gotten worried over something that was too narrow. What he needed to do now was try to look at things from a bigger picture. And to do that, he needed to decide on something important. What exactly would be his overall goal for survival and how he intended to win any future battles?
He reviewed how each of his Skill testing had gone. Jordan could cast Summon Air Drone and let it fly around and fight for him. He could enter close range and use Zap to electrocute his enemies. And lastly, Overcharge would allow him to rely more on his pistol by buffing it, potentially alongside any other offensive gadgets he might get his hands on.
Huh. Actually, between those, that¡¯s a super easy choice to me. It¡¯s barely even a contest, Jordan quickly thought to himself. In a sudden moment of clarity, an image for himself had already become clear.
Of course he would let the drone do all the dirty work for him! Who was he kidding? Jordan wasn¡¯t some kind of fighter. If circumstances permitted, he¡¯d always take the ability to just sit as far as possible and let the drone do the fighting. It was what he had done just now with the Rabbits, and if possible, he¡¯d love to just stand within its outer range and watch the EXP pop-ups roll by.
Chapter 8: Unseen Danger
Jordan continued to walk at a fairly casual pace as he felt happy about his decision. As for his five points, he had decided to just split them up as three to Wisdom, and two to Intelligence. Since the former seemed to the the primary stat for Summon Drone, that felt like the right play to make for now.
Once that was done, though, there was just one thing he wanted to double-check on.
Resources:
Tech Points: 13.77/17
Tech Points Regen: 4.18/Min
The screens about his resources had already confirmed the math on how these worked. And that his total TP pool was rounded to the nearest whole number. But it was good to at least confirm as much that the math still checked out, after investing his extra points.
Hmm. Wisdom is the primary one for the TP regen. Hey, System, at this point I already know that you¡¯re always listening, even if you¡¯re a bit picky about what actually gets a response out of you. But would you be so kind as to pull back up the screen showing the math for my TP regen? Jordan asked, hoping that this would actually work. And to his mild surprise, there actually was an immediate reaction to his request.
The user¡¯s regeneration of TP per minute is calculated as a base of 0.50 + (Wisdom x 0.10) + (Intelligence x 0.05), rounded to the nearest hundredth.
Huh, thank you. But let¡¯s see here, just for some fun mental math. Let¡¯s assume I continue to get one point in Wisdom and Intelligence per Level from my Class bonus, and then just dump all my free points from here on out into Wisdom. By what Level would I reach at least 6.0 TP per minute to freely use my drone Skill?
Luckily for him, the math was actually pretty simple. Such was the benefit of working with something as easy as multiplying by 0.10. And by the time he found the result, his Tech Points had just about gotten back up to full.
Level five. If he reached that and then used just three points, it should put his regen at precisely 6.01. Granted, by then he¡¯d just go ahead and also throw in the last couple of points, and bump that up to 6.22. That way he would at least regenerate the TP spent as part of Summon Air Drone¡¯s base cost, albeit slowly.
But as far as goals went, Jordan had just found his first major one. He didn¡¯t know if Summon Air Drone would continue to work even if he were unconscious, like due to the obvious reason of needing to sleep. But if it did and he reached this target, then he¡¯d be able to have his drone flying around indefinitely. And having that constant source of security would go a long way toward him actually being able to rest easy in this new reality of theirs.
With his resources now fully restored, however, Jordan then went ahead and resummoned his drone. As soon as that was done, he reiterated his previous command to have it fly around to hunt Rabbits while looking for any potential threats. As he watched it fly away, Jordan crossed his arms and looked around.
With how obnoxiously tall the grass was, it was hard to tell how everyone else was doing. But if something happened, then all anyone had to do was yell to gather the whole group¡¯s attention. From how it looked though, it seemed like this area was pretty safe. At least when it came to the fact that helpless Rabbits were the only things they had encountered so far, even while continuing to be spread out while moving through this grassland.
Experience Earned!
+11 EXP
Glancing over at the notification, he wondered how Hanako the Pyromancer was still doing. They were still in an unspoken competition for the highest number of kills until they all decided to stop, after all. Though now that Jordan was thinking about it, it had been a bit since he last saw one of her bright flashes of light. If he had to make a guess, it¡¯d be that her Skills were just as resource-intensive, or that her regeneration speed was slower.
Well, either way. Just have to keep doing my own thing while checking that leaderboard every once In a while. Hopefully, someone he knew would eventually make the list. As long they just reached Level two, and the leaderboard itself doesn¡¯t end up having a cap to how many can be on it, it should be inevitable. If nothing else, seeing even just one name from amongst his loved ones would be of at least some comfort to him.
Experience Earned!
+11 EXP
With that notification, Jordan¡¯s thoughts were pulled away from his friends and family, and back to the present. Out of curiosity, he checked to see how his EXP again was doing when compared to how much he''d need in total to gain another Level.
EXP: 32/225
Just 18 more Rabbits to go, from the looks of it. Though as even his drone started to take more time between kills, it likely wouldn''t take until he and everyone else hunting murdered the local population. So for more, they''d need to keep moving until they hit a fresh living ground for the small critters.
Honestly, at this rate, I should be able to hit Level three before the end of the day. The System decided to drop us here, wherever here actually is, in the afternoon after all. So if I can just start grinding first thing in the morning, I might even be able to hit Level five as soon as tomorrow, he thought to himself.
After that, who knows? Perhaps he would switch gears and focus on either Vitality or Endurance as his next Stat of choice. From his prior assumption of how Stats functioned based on the main Stats of the other Classes in their group, he would kind of prefer Endurance. If that one made it so that a knife being stabbed into him would be less likely to cut his skin or dig deep enough to draw blood, that¡¯d be pretty good. At least that way he¡¯d be able to tank a few hits before summoning or calling over his drone to fight for him.
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Jordan continued to make his way through the grasslands. As minutes slowly went by, however, his drone failed to find another Rabbit to shoot at. It even reached a point where eventually he just ran out of Tech Points, and felt the drone automatically disappear. He knew that it would take close to exactly another four minutes before his TP got back up to full at its current regen speed.
As he just kept pushing his way through the tall grasses, his thoughts just wandered. It could be said that Jordan¡¯s natural state was to simply be within his own head a lot. While this meant that he often didn¡¯t fully process the first thing someone suddenly said to them and had to ask them to repeat themselves, it did have its upsides. While at his dull job, in a particularly boring lecture, or as a passenger on a long drive, he could just mentally check out and be far away from the world.
Just as the fourth minute was about to tick by, Jordan checked back in to get ready to use Summon Air Drone again. It was as he was about to so that he felt that something was off, enough to give him pause. At some point while he hadn¡¯t been paying attention, things had gotten quiet. Far too quiet.
He hadn¡¯t even really given it much thought until now. But just before, it¡¯d been relatively noisy. Even while they were spread apart, he¡¯d been able to hear the noises of his fellow survivors as they also moved around and hunted. The light clinks from a heavy suit of armor, the twang of a bow as an arrow was fired, and the various sounds of the occasional Skill being used. And of course, the sound of someone speaking loudly every once in a while as people communicated even while spread out.
It was such a given, that it¡¯d quickly just become background noise to forget about. But now it was just too damn quiet for his liking. The hairs on the back of Jordan¡¯s neck stood up as the sense of wrongness only deepened with each passing second. He opened his mouth to call out to the others, but then froze. His voice was caught in his throat, and by now, goosebumps covered his arms. Yet just as he was about to force out his words as something to say, a sudden flash caught the corner of his eye.
A continuous streak of fire cut through the air. Jordan just watched as he only saw the light it cast when it started, before the flamethrower was turned upward toward the air for him to directly see.
¡°SOMEBODY HE-¡± a feminine voice yelled out from the flame¡¯s direction before being suddenly cut off.
Grabbing his pistol, Jordan¡¯s knuckles turned white as he tightened his hold around the grip. Taking a shallow breath in a poor attempt to keep calm, he quickly cast Summon Air Drone. Jordan quickly had it assume his prior instructions. But rather than just fly around, this time, he had it go straight toward the yelling and flames that he believed should have come from Hanako.
Staring upward, he saw it as abruptly stopped, before quickly turning around to head back toward him. Jordan swallowed, his worries now confirmed. It meant that something neither human nor Rabbit had been spotted.
Go back and fire at whatever it was, now! Jordan mentally commanded. Maybe it was already too late, but if Hanako was still alive, the chance had to be taken. As his drone dutifully switched directions yet again, his eyes cautiously darted around. It was now that he was thankful for not yelling out to the others. Because as the only sound once more was just the sound of a breeze moving through the tall grasses, the otherwise silent area was extremely telling.
Despite the screaming just now, nobody else had reacted so far.
Why isn¡¯t anyone responding? Are they already¡ oh fuck. Oh fuck! A surge of panic welled up in his chest as his mind instantly dived into the worst possible scenario. At the same time, the familiar sound of a low-pitched hum caught his attention. One that sounded similar to his pistol when he had fired it, but just one degree louder.
Jordan shoved away the bit of grass next to his face and held it down. He could then spot the drone as it hung above a particular spot, and was currently firing downward. Its firing rate wasn¡¯t particularly fast, as the drone only shot out a single energy bolt every couple of seconds.
The drone fired off its third shot in a row. However, a kill notification had yet to come of it. Was it just missing? Or was the target just extremely tough? Neither option meant anything good for him. If whatever was on the ground could dodge the bolts or just tank through them, then his other means of attacking would be unlikely to prove more effective.
Then, from behind him, there was a rustling in the grasses. A lump formed in Jordan¡¯s throat as he took a sharp breath. He spun around, pistol raised and ready to fire at whatever came out.
Come on. Come on. Come on! Jordan internally chanted. He took rapid, shallow breaths as he felt weak at the knees. The hand holding his gun shook as it pointed into the almost suffocatingly thick grass. A figure then broke through the wall of grass, yet just as he was a hair away from immediately pulling the trigger, Jordan froze.
¡°Ghhk¡ hgk.¡± Both hands clutched around her throat, Audrey the Healer half-stumbled, half-collapsed before him. The front of her chest was already soaked red as blood dripped between her fingers.
Oh fuck! Jordan quickly dropped onto his knees as she completely fell onto her side. Audrey stared up at him wide, panicked eyes. She worked her mouth as if to say something, but gargles were the only thing that came out.
¡°Don¡¯t try to talk!¡± Jordan said in a hushed voice. ¡°Let me¡ let me¡ shit!¡± His pulse raced as he tried to think of something, anything that he could do. She was a Healer, yet she wasn¡¯t currently healing herself. Had she already burned through all her resources? That must have been it, right?
It was then that Jordan felt his mental connection to the drone disappear. Internally cursing, he looked over in the direction. Though still down on his knees, the grass was too tall for him to see anything. But he hadn¡¯t run out of TP yet; that much was a fact. Which must mean¡ something had just managed to destroy his drone.
Looking back down, Jordan clenched his fists. Audrey was visibly getting weaker by the second as blood continued to gush out of her throat. He had no means to help her, nothing that he could realistically do for her. The young woman¡¯s eyes were already starting to glaze over as she no longer seemed to be looking directly at him.
Breathing even more quickly now, a part of him knew that there was only one thing that he could do for her now. Just one small mercy before she either bled out on her own, or whatever had done this came over and found both of them. But in his heart of hearts, he could already tell that it was simply too late for her.
Jordan placed the end of the Energy Pistol against Audrey¡¯s forehead. Yet she was already so far gone, that she didn¡¯t even visibly react to the action. If she had, Jordan likely wouldn¡¯t have been able to do what was about to come next. Yet her not even noticing the gun pointed at her skull made it slightly easier. But only ever so slightly. He went ahead and cast Overcharge as well, just to make it more powerful and hopefully painless.
Then, with a deep and ragged breath, Jordan fired.
Chapter 9: Life or Death
From the moment he pulled the trigger, his eyes had already been shut. Then after quickly turning around to not see the result of what he¡¯d just done, he only then opened them. Yet, while he was facing away from the fresh corpse, another kind of result appeared before him.
Initial Merger Slain!
Doubled Experience Earned!
+22 EXP
New Quest Acquired:
Quest Series: Mightiest of the 42nd Merging
Quest: Mightiest Slayer
Description: Become the-
Congratulations!
By attaining your-
Jordan didn¡¯t bother to read the rest of the last couple of notifications, Now wasn¡¯t the time for focusing on them, at least. While the information in them might have provided a general clue about what was happening, he¡¯d be a fool to waste more time by standing around and reading through it all. Not when the unknown but clearly deadly threat was still out there, and every second that ticked by could mean that he¡¯d be the next victim.
His breathing was rapid and shallow as practically every inch of his skin was covered in goosebumps. Jordan¡¯s stomach felt like it was twisting in on itself as a metallic tang filled his mouth. The look in Audrey¡¯s slowly dying eyes felt burned into his brain, and it was taking everything he had already to just not collapse and start throwing up.
But he had to stray strong for now, his own survival depended on it. Forcing himself to take a deep breath, Jordan cast Summon Air Drone and immediately ordered it to head back over in the same direction the other one had been destroyed, and start blasting. Using up the 3 TP base cost twice in a row was rough, but necessary. Even in the worst case, the drone should make a good distraction for at least a little bit.
As the drone whizzed away, Jordan kept a sharp ear out for just a moment. Yet aside from the grass rustling in the breeze, he couldn¡¯t hear anything else. Without any indicator of if there were more of the thing attacking, or either way, where the threat was currently located, any direction was as good as any for running. Feeling his legs trembling slightly, Jordan smacked the butt of his Energy Pistol into one of his thighs, silently demanding his body not betray him.
Then with nothing but hope that he wasn¡¯t about to run straight toward his death, Jordan sprinted. He at least knew the drone went one way, so he just went in the opposite direction. He didn¡¯t know if anyone else was still alive or if he was the last one left, but it didn¡¯t matter either way. His only goal now was to do whatever it took for him to survive; everything else be damned.
Tall grass whipped past him as he ran into the unknown. Jordan had to move with one arm always out to keep the grass out of his face. The running obviously did nothing to help with the sick twisting in his stomach, but that didn¡¯t matter at the moment.
Please, please, please! Come on, please just don¡¯t let me die! Jordan silently begged. He had no idea to whom his begging was meant to be reaching. It could have been the System itself, it could have been some higher power, or even just the general concept of luck. In this suddenly much larger world that he would never have imagined, he didn¡¯t think it was a stretch to think that maybe there was someone watching and listening.
It was perhaps around half a minute later that the connection to his drone was suddenly cut off. Without even stopping, Jordan repeated his casting of Summon Air Drone. At least when it came to the base cost, his TP regeneration per minute was more than enough to cover the base cost. Though if they kept getting destroyed too quickly, he¡¯d soon be able to remake one for that time. And in a life or death situation, almost a whole minute without a distraction could easily make all the difference in the world.
Jordan sent the drone away with the same order. But then, very soon after it went back, his heart jumped up into his throat. Because the drone had been flying for all of five seconds before he heard it start blasting at something behind him. Which meant that something was chasing him, and was definitely way faster if it could catch up that quickly.
Lead it away while shooting! Don¡¯t just keep hovering after spotting it! Jordan sent as a new command, practically screaming inside his head. He felt stupid for not already having that be the plan. How many precious seconds had that lack of foresight already cost him? Still mentally berating himself, all he could do now was keep moving and hope that it¡¯d now make a difference.
Just about twenty seconds later, the connection to this second drone was severed. Feeling his throat tighten around the lump inside it, he sent another one. At least drone would be shooting and fleeing at the same time, but the previous one being destroyed faster than the first was¡ a bad sign.
In addition to that was another bit of bad news. Jordan¡¯s muscles were starting to tighten up and hurt. Even an absolute ton of adrenaline could only do so much for someone who spent most of his time ruining his posture by either spending the day hunched over a desk, or spending the night sleeping in absurdly awkward positions.
As it turned out, running track and field in high school stopped mattering when you hadn¡¯t practiced for years after graduating. All the experience did now was make him painfully aware of just how out of shape he¡¯d gotten since then. He could still move quickly due to having quite a spry body type, but that was all he had going for him. No wonder the System had rated his base physical Stats as average or below average for everything but Vitality.
Yet, while it wouldn¡¯t keep him going forever, the adrenaline did help. Where he would have stopped or slowed down to catch his breath for a casual run, the adrenaline coursing through his veins helped to mitigate the ache of tired muscles. Imagining that a hungry lion or such was breathing down his neck, Jordan squeezed his jaw while trying to force his body to sprint even faster.
He sprinted through one last bit of tall grass that needed to be kept out of his face, but then reached a point where the environment changed. Quickly glanced around, he saw that he¡¯d just passed a wall where the tall grass ended and a much shorter field began. For the entire area ahead that he could see, the tallest patch of grass still wasn¡¯t tall enough to even reach his knees. The blades were also of a different color, more of a deeply tinted blue than green.
But now that his vision wasn¡¯t being obstructed every few feet, he saw something far more important. Just a short distance away was a line of trees. The trees themselves were giant, each one at least comparable to an old redwood back on Earth. Even from a distance, he could tell that it would have taken his entire group holding hands with their arms stretched to wrap themselves around just a single trunk.
With the massive size of the forest and how dense it was, the thick canopy above covered it like a blanket shielding it from all light. From where he was, the area below that canopy appeared to be almost like a separate realm enshrouded in darkness. But while Jordan knew that the forest of giant trees was just as likely to have its own deadly creatures, it represented something else at that moment. And that was a goal for him to reach.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
The treeline wasn¡¯t close, and it¡¯d take him at least ten minutes of sprinting at top speed to get there. The logical part of his brain knew that it wasn¡¯t like it marked some safe zone. That crossing the invisible line didn¡¯t represent some mystical boundary that would prevent whatever was chasing him from passing. But for a brain currently drugged up on a whole lot of fear and desperation, logic was secondary.
Come on! Come on! Jordan mentally chanted as he cast Summon Air Drone once more. When it flew back, again he heard it start firing from a disturbingly close distance away.
It sounded like the thing pursuing him was still just barely within the taller grasses. But once it destroyed the drone again and kept chasing him, he¡¯d probably be able to see it in this shorter field. Though in case it was something truly horrible, Jordan doubted that he¡¯d have the stomach to spare even a brief glance backward.
Then, he felt the connection to the drone disappear. This time it¡¯d actually taken longer, thankfully, allowing Jordan almost a whole minute of running. Which meant that there¡¯d be barely any time at all until he could summon the next one.
From behind, Jordan heard a deep, low-pitched rumble. And perhaps against his better judgment, his curiosity was just too much as his head twisted to look back. And the sight that met him was¡ actually not as bad as he¡¯d thought?
It turns out that his mental image of being chased by a lion had somehow actually been close to the truth. Because while it wasn¡¯t a lion, the creature in question definitely looked to be some variant of large cat. Its body appeared to be covered in a layer of grass from the taller field. It was so accurate he couldn¡¯t honestly say if it was just really good camouflage, or if it actually just had grass instead of fur growing from its skin.
Yet there was one feature of its body that gave Jordan hope. And despite the fact it would have been a horrific sight in general, this feature was currently setting his heart at ease.
Part of its body was charred, with the fur or grass completely gone to show burnt flesh underneath. And while Jordan couldn¡¯t see the cause from just looking back while continuing to run, the creature was limping as it continued to chase him. Yet as it was now in the much shorter field where its torso was taller than the grass around it, the cat looked around as if realizing that it was now exposed.
Slowing down to a trot, it then came to a complete stop. Then after staring at the fleeing human for just a few moments, it slowly began to back up. Seeing that it was intending to return to the cover of the previous section of grasslands, Jordan felt a flurry of emotions all at once.
Leftover fear of the animal before him. Suspicion of if it was just one, or if more were around. Relief that it was seemingly intended to leave him alone. Surprise that it was actually quite injured, and not the invincible monster he¡¯d conjured up on his mind. And then¡ anger.
Jordan clenched his grip around his Energy Pistol, before raising it up. Barrel pointed at the cat, it paused as it seemed to recognize the gesture as a threat. But Jordan didn¡¯t care, as his eyes had already narrowed with hatred at the target before him. It thought that it could kill those around him, make him run for his life, and then just duck away when it felt like it?
Hell no.
Tech Points: 4.3/17
Next to him, a drone materialized out of thin air. He already did the mental math on how long it¡¯d persist while he was about to do something else. It wouldn¡¯t exist for long, but just a few seconds was all he needed. Because at the same time, Jordan pumped a use of Overchage into his gun.
Three.
The drone immediately flew straight for the predator at its top speed. The large cat arched its back as it growled, looking between Jordan and the drone while attempting to look bigger.
Two.
Jordan lined up his Energy Pistol to aim at his target. As soon as the drone got close enough, it began to fire. The cat seemed to have already learned its attack pattern, however, as it was already jumping up to dodge the first bolt.
One.
His barrel followed the path of the cat. As another bolt from the drone was shooting toward it, it was already twisting its body mid-air to also make that one miss. But it¡¯d already peaked in the height of its jump, and gravity had just started to reclaim it.
Zero.
Right as it was about to fire off another shot, the drone disappeared as Jordan ran out of TP. As if not expecting that, the cat had already moved to avoid the next attack. Already committing itself to the action while staring at the more pressing threat, it barely paid attention to the human who¡¯d just been standing there. A mistake, as he had just pulled the trigger of his Energy Pistol.
The Overcharge-empowered bolt flew through the air. Without even waiting for the result, Jordan was already firing regular shots to follow it up. Yet even the extra dexterous predator could only twist and move its body so much when it reached the point where it was just about to land on the ground.
The main shot landed true as it took the cat by surprise, piercing straight into its side. With a pained yelp, it tried to leap out of the way of the follow-up barrage of shots. But then its legs buckled right out from under it, and Jordan could see the wound that¡¯d already been there. A hole right through the meaty part of one of its back legs and out the other outside. It wasn¡¯t bleeding, however, because the flesh had been cauterized with a minor burn in the surrounding skin too.
Thanks to where one of his previous drones must have landed a lucky shot, the second bolt hit its upper torso. With less of an impact than the first in the hole it created, but still solid damage. Then the third pierced into the section of flesh that had already been badly burnt, piercing through a section of its back. Then the fourth bolt tore into another part of its midsection. From that, the the beast had started to flee, but then suddenly collapsed and rolled across the grass.
¡°Fuck you, just go to Hell already! You damn-¡± Jordan didn¡¯t care anymore about staying quiet as his emotional turmoil exploded out as a string of curses. Every swear he knew was thrown out at the cat as he continued to fire again and again. His vision had gone blurry as tears welled up, but that didn¡¯t impede his aim now that his target was on the ground.
Experience Earned!
+75 EXP
Breathing heavily, Jordan saw the notification but still pulled the trigger a few more times. But it only resulted in empty clicks as nothing came out. Looking down at the gun, he saw that the charge now read at 0%.
Jordan tried to swallow, but his mouth felt completely dry. His heart was still racing in his chest, but a sense of accomplishment had begun to well up within him. One that was baked deep into his very genes, from the days that his ancestors had fought predators like this one with nothing but crude and ancient weapons.
Slowly approaching it, he then decided to use Appraise on the corpse. Just to see what it would provide as hopefully helpful information.
Species: Grass Panther
Level: 5
Description: A common mammal found within the grasslands of Vervina-C. They are predators that have evolved to camouflage themselves within certain species of tall grass. Due to their highly territorial and aggressive natures, these predators are loners that stop at nothing to ambush any potential threats within the fields they mark as their own.
So it was probably alone, then? But to think just one might have killed everyone else¡ damn it.
The direction of the wind turned, carrying the scent of the body now toward him. The smell of burnt flesh filled his nostrils, and as the belief that the threat was over led to his survival instincts starting to crash back down, Jordan¡¯s legs fell limp. He fell to his knees and keeled over, finally throwing up.
It was over, as far as immediate danger was concerned. But he knew that if anyone else was still alive, he would have heard something by now. Between the yelling from before and his shouting that would have carried across the quiet fields, someone would have responded. But the simple reality was that they hadn¡¯t.
Which meant that now¡ now he was all alone.
Chapter 10: The Aftermath
The Grass Panther was dead, but so was everyone else in his group. Jordan punched the dirt with his bare fist. Then he did it again, and again, and again. All of that and for what? 75 Experience? In what world was that fair?
And as he stared at the corpse, he knew that it wasn¡¯t because he¡¯d outsmarted it or could take credit, at least not really. The burn marks across its skin were definitely from Hanako while yelling out with what would have been her final breath. He wasn¡¯t sure what happened to cause her to spot it and get that attack in while nobody else had manged to do so. Maybe she had just gotten lucky as the simple explanation, but it didn¡¯t matter now.
Fist now throbbing from repeatedly punching the ground, Jordan chewed on the inside of his cheeks. A part of him wanted to just curl up into a ball and hope that when he fell asleep, he¡¯d wake back up in the theatre. That this was all just a terrible dream after all from falling asleep in the middle of a movie.
¡°Damn it, God¡ damn it,¡± he muttered to himself. But his heart knew that he couldn¡¯t afford to do that. For as horrible as it currently was, this was his reality now. All curling up and eventually sleeping in an open field would likely accomplish was likely lead to his death. Because with how exposed he currently was, he¡¯d be easy pickings for literally anything that happened to come across the area.
But that did beg a very important question. What would he do now? As much as Jordan would like to do something as sentimental as finding and burying the bodies of his group members, he knew that wasn¡¯t realistic. First of all, with exactly what shovel would he even do that with? Second of all, as cold as it was to think about it, would it be worth the time spent doing so even if he did have a shovel?
There was still only so much daylight left, and who knew what the night might potentially bring. And while Jordan could collect some meat and such as food, that was only one aspect of survival of three. They said that you needed shelter, water, and food in that order. So without the first two that were more important, he was acting against a constantly running clock.
Yet if there was one reason to go back¡ he could actually think of something. While some would definitely consider this idea as disrespecting the dead, the fact was just that he needed any little advantage that he could get his hands on. They still had all their starting equipment. So that was a lot of both weapons and armor sets that he could take. If nothing else, he could always just keep it all in his pocket space for potential future use.
Taking deep breaths, Jordan steeled himself. Again, time was of the essence, so he couldn¡¯t waste it just by lazing around and thinking about it. Either he would act on the idea right now, or he wouldn¡¯t. Giving the dead predator one last hateful glance, Jordan made his decision. While he was definitely now feeling sore after the adrenaline rush had died down, he still picked up the pace to at least power walk back toward where he¡¯d come from.
The walk back felt like a long one, painfully so. Compared to running for his life where everything had been moving so fast. Even when keeping track of time passed for his drone usage, it still felt now like just one big blur in his mind.
But Jordan pressed on, until he found the first of the bodies. Following the path of crushed grass in his wake, it wasn¡¯t that hard to get back to where he¡¯d started. Until now, before him was the corpse of the one whose life he¡¯d ended with his own trigger finger. Jordan felt a fresh twist in his stomach. Yet nothing came up, however, on account of having just emptied everything inside it a little bit ago.
If there was one good thing about the Energy Pistol, it was that it allowed for cleaner kills. The only blood was when her throat had been torn out. As for the actual bolt to finish her off, it was just a simple hole that started on one side and then went through to the other. No blood or spilled brain matter, just a plain old hole.
While Jordan wasn¡¯t sure what his feelings on the matter would be like later after he had time to sleep on it, he didn¡¯t bang himself up too much for being the one to finish her. There wasn¡¯t any voice trying to claim that he was a murderer or anything like that. It¡¯d been a mercy kill to end what would have been a painful death while bleeding out. At least a small kindness, one could say.
At her side was a small wand, one with a pair of snakes curling toward the top where a couple of wings were sticking. Jordan didn¡¯t recall seeing it earlier, but maybe it¡¯d just been in her pocket space, and then he wasn¡¯t paying attention to when it¡¯d popped up after her death.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Yet the meaning of the design wasn¡¯t lost on him. All sorts of clinics, hospitals, and other things that wanted to symbolize medicine and health also used it. While he couldn¡¯t recall what the specific name for it was, he knew it was Greek. A symbol of the messenger for the Greek Gods, Hermes. Grabbing onto it, Jordan then used Appraise.
Name: Healing Wand
Current Charge: 40%
Grade: E1
Description: A standard wand for Healers across the multiverse. It has been built to provide the user a reliable way to either increase the effectiveness of their Skills, or use the energy within to heal with just the wand itself. It can be recharged by the user at the rate of 1 MP per 10% of restored charge.
Like his Energy Pistol, this design was allegedly the standard for the item¡¯s Class. Which was even weirder, considering the obvious implication. Why the Hell was the symbol of a Greek God something that the entire multiverse shared? The idea of coincidence was so absurd, it didn¡¯t enter his mind for even a fraction of a second.
Jordan shook his head. That was definitely a question for later. For now, he decided to see if he could at least use the thing. While it didn¡¯t come with anything as obvious as a trigger like his gun, it had to be simple enough for a newbie to use. So maybe since this was more magical in theme, all he needed was intent? Seemed like it was worth a shot, anyway.
Squinting, he tried to focus on the wand. As a test, Jordan pointed it at his hand. The knuckles were still feeling a bit bruised from where he¡¯d punched the ground, so that would be a good indicator of whether he could actually heal himself.
Warning!
Incompatible Class equipment detected.
He read through the warning, and just sighed. Of course that would be the case. Being able to just collect everyone¡¯s stuff and swap between them as needed would have been too good to be true, after all. But even with that disappointing revelation, he still went ahead and just tossed the wand into his pocket space anyway. Even if he couldn¡¯t use it directly, there was no reason not to keep it for the time being and see if it had some other use in the future.
Jordan then looked back down at the corpse. It was only then that he realized that there was only one way he¡¯d be able to take her and each other person¡¯s armor. Without some magical looting mechanic like a game, he¡¯d just have to do the old-fashioned way and strip them himself. And that¡ that felt like it would be just a little too much.
Just the idea of doing that felt wrong on several levels. And if he couldn¡¯t use their worn equipment anyway, he wasn¡¯t sure if that gross feeling of doing so would even be worth it. No, he would stick to just the handheld items they had all received. It¡¯d be faster to just grab those, anyway. He stared into Audrey¡¯s dead and half-open eyes, and felt his chest tighten up.
Thinking back to the Wand, a terrible thought came to his mind. If it''d been in her pocket space or simply tucked somewhere on her person, she could have been able to use the remaining Charge. Yet she hadn''t, and looking at the gouges in her neck, Jordan reflexively touched his own with his hand with instinctive discomfort. She might have used up her own resources just to make the wound not immediately fatal, but even then, the blood loss had still been too much.
Enough so that not putting pressure on it with both of her hands would have gone against her body''s every instinct, not to even mention how panicked her thoughts would have been. If someone was on fire and simply wanted to put it out by rolling on the ground, they might not have even had the ability to remember the fire extinguisher a short distance away. He imagined that it was probably something like that, at least. It''d be even worse if it''d been in her pocket space. Since that would have required the use of both hands: the one with the tattoo requiring the palm to be exposed, and then another hand to pull the item from the palm.
¡°I- I¡¯m sorry,¡± Jordan muttered as he reached over to close her eyes. Until the day came that he might come back to bury them, just this small gesture was all he could do for now.
Slain Initial Merger detected!
Traits Collected: 1
Titles Collected: 1
Class: Healer
Level Upon Death: 1
Grade Upon Death: E
Highest Grade Class Skill: E1
Transmute corpse into an Advancement Crystal?
Jordan¡¯s mouth opened slightly to say something, but then closed again. This was¡ unexcepted, to say the least. He already had a very assumptive guess at what this would do. And maybe it would be considered a morally wrong thing to do to a corpse, if his guess was correct. However¡
¡°Yes,¡± he very softly said with some hesitation.
There was no fanfare or process about it. When Jordan said his choice out loud, he blinked. And when he then finished blinking, the body was gone. In what had practically been an instant, there was now just a pile of clothes. Which were still laid out in the exact placement as if they were still being worn. But now there was something new on top of them, sitting square in the middle.
A red gem.
Chapter 11: Making His Promise
Jordan grabbed the gem. It fit easily within the middle of his palm, as it was no larger than just his thumbnail. As it sat in his hand, he of course was quick to use Appraise.
Name: Advancement Crystal
Grade: E1
Description: This gem contains the essence of a Healer and a random selection from their highest Grade Class Skill. The Advancement Crystal can be consumed by any Initial Merger, and the essence inside may be used to influence the consumer¡¯s next gained Skill or evolution of a current Skill. Alternatively, it can be shattered for a single and highly potent use of the Skill contained within.
Along with that essential pop-up was a reminder notification of the one from before, listing the more specific stats like the number of Traits and Titles collected. Jordan only gave it a brief glance to confirm that it was the same, and then dismissed both pop-ups.
The interesting part of the description was the wording of ¡°may be used,¡± which seemed to indicate that it was optional even after being consumed. But before Jordan thought about it any more, he decided that now was probably as good of a time as any to check on the notifications from before. He didn¡¯t have time to read them while getting chased, yet now it seemed like it could provide some potentially helpful context.
New Quest Acquired:
Quest Series: Mightiest of the 42nd Merging
Quest: Mightiest Slayer
Description: Become the individual with the most Initial Mergers slain of your universe within one year.
Reward: To be determined upon completion. Lesser rewards will be given to individuals below first place.
Congratulations!
By attaining your slain Initial Merger, you have now qualified for placement on the leaderboard of the Quest: Mightiest Slayer. You may now view the Mightiest Slayer leaderboard and your current place on it at any time.
Okay, so not really much at all on the valuable information front. Aside from some minor rewording, it was basically just the same message as the highest Level Quest. However, when it came to the leaderboard itself¡ he hesitated for a moment. But then his morbid curiosity just got the best of him anyway.
Mightiest Slayer:
1: Wilfred Wilbur Wyndham III (31 kills)
2: Zorliay Qorath¡¯zyrunch (20 kills)
3: Yvaro Qorath¡¯zyrunch (19 kills)
4: Sebastion Ironclaw (13 kills)
5: Carl Rowe (11 kills)
¡
324: Jordan Joyner (1 kill)
At least for the top three, this leaderboard at least seemed to match the one for Levels. Though just looking at the numbers, Jordan¡¯s heart sunk a little. Maybe it was just to be expected when it came to a population of billions, including who knew how many aliens. Especially since he was still pretty sure that the people with weird names in second and third place were aliens.
But even so, a high kill count after a couple of days or even just one day? That he would at least understand as just a matter of pure numbers. But when he scrolled through the leaderboard, he saw that it transitioned from one to two kills per person starting from position 290. Then it updated to three kills starting from just under 120. Four after 86, and then basically everyone in the top 70 had at least five kills or more.
This meant that in total, the kill count of people killing other people was¡ at least over a thousand? The even sadder fact was that Jordan wasn¡¯t even placed at the very bottom of the leaderboard. Even though it hadn¡¯t been long since he finished off Audrey, there were already way more under his spot that extended all the way down into the low 500s.
All of this in what, the hour or so since they would have arrived?
On that note, Jordan looked up from the sky. When this awoken on the platform, the large sun had been right directly overhead. But right around now, if he just had to estimate, it appeared to be a quarter between that midpoint and the horizon. So just going off that as a guess, he¡¯d say that there were maybe only three hours left until sunset.
Man¡ I really can¡¯t just stay here worrying. Need to collect everyone else¡¯s Advance Crystals and equipment. Then, if I¡¯m lucky, maybe I can figure out what to do after that. Dunno how these Rabbits are staying hydrated, but if I can¡¯t find any water close by, I¡¯ll have to explore that forest anyway, he thought to himself.
For the time being, Jordan went ahead and put both the gem and the clothes on the floor into his pocket space. He then began to walk around to find more bodies. One by one, he would just wander around until he came across another corpse. Effectively each one had been slashed at the throat, silenced by the Grass Panther before they had the chance to call for help.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
As he walked around, he quickly fell into something of a routine. Jordan sped up the search by using Summon Air Drone, and then giving it a simple set of orders. Kill any Rabbits that it found, because why not even at this point? Then if it found a human corpse, it¡¯d hover in place. And lastly, if it took notice of anything else, it¡¯d fly back to him. It was largely through the use of the drone in this manner that Jordan saved time that would have otherwise been spent just randomly wandering around without any sense of direction.
Pushing the tall grass out of his face, Jordan came across a scene. Even just as it started to feel like he was getting numb to the sight of dead bodies, what he saw now still made him grimace. For a moment all he could was stare while trying to keep his breathing even and not lose his lunch.
While some of the more adventurous members had spread out to hunt for Rabbits and treat this world like a game where they would just collect Experience, like himself, that hadn¡¯t been a universal opinion. Other people had taken the more cautious approach of sticking together. So even as some moved away, at least some stuck to the people closest to them to form pairs or small groups of three. Before him now was one such triplet, though it hadn¡¯t seemed to have done them much good in the end.
One had their throat slashed, while the other¡¯s face looked like it¡¯d been smashed by something heavy. The third was someone that Jordan would have hoped might have still been alive, but hadn¡¯t answered for some improbable reason. That was Mike, whose heavy suit of armor should have been a natural counter to the stealth attacks of the predator picking them off. Yet even despite the thick protection around the neck, there were still two pairs of holes that¡¯d been pierced through the metal.
Jordan wasn¡¯t sure what the order of events had been here. Looking closer at the stomped face, he saw that the man¡¯s chest had been shredded apart. Like the Panther had used its thick claws to tear through into his lungs and kill him that way. Yet while he didn¡¯t know who¡¯d been the first one to be attacked and who was the last, it did prove one thing at least.
His own survival was due to just pure luck. Lucky that he had been the last and not the first of its victims. Lucky that the Pyromancer had somehow noticed and managed to both shout a warning while also burning the beast. And finally, lucky that Audrey had stumbled on him, to show that the threat was an immediate matter of life and death. Had it not been for her, he might have gone shouted out to see if anyone else was still there, and just given away his exact position as a result.
When Jordan steadied himself, he repeated the motions of turning their corpses into gems and then collecting his stuff. At the same time, a small list of notifications had steadily been appearing at the side of his vision.
Experience Earned!
+11 EXP
Experience Earned!
+11 EXP
Experience Earned!
+11 EXP
¡
Two more Rabbit kills put his total Experience at 205, just 20 away from his next Level. Basically meaning that it would be just another pair of Rabbits until he hit Level 3, along with a very slight amount of progress toward Level 4. Jordan wished that he could have returned to the mental headspace where that prospect would have excited him. But now it just felt empty.
Maybe it was technically balanced in the eyes of the System, but a thought had entered his head just a moment ago. One that put it all into a perspective that he just couldn¡¯t wrap his thoughts around.
Less than seven Rabbits.
That was how much Experience the Grass Panther had given him. Just over half a dozen harmless critters, versus an extremely dangerous beast that had killed everyone but him. Yet in just the time his drone spent flying around while he searched for bodies, it¡¯d almost farmed enough Experience to match the Panther anyway. In a game such a thing made sense, because it was just a game. But here in the real world, the comparison between creatures that were complete opposites in lethality just felt¡ wrong.
Was the number marking one¡¯s Level truly the only thing that mattered for that calculator? Out of every other difference that could be pointed out between any two animals, was nothing else even worth an ounce of consideration in the System¡¯s eyes. Was it just the number, and then double for murdering another person? All for what when it came to that bonus, to encourage them to directly compete and kill one another?
¡°Fucking Hell, man,¡± Jordan mumbled. That train of thought was one that got depressing really, really quickly.
But he as walked around where the middle of the group would have been, he found more instances of people who¡¯d stuck together. And for each one, the Grass Panther had repeated its apparent pattern of clawing out one throat, and then killing another person by either biting the neck or smashing the face while tearing at the chest. The type of kill was pretty consistent, such as those with any amount of armor protecting their neck had always been killed by its long fangs.
Jordan eventually came across the last pair of bodies, at least according to his count of the total members of their group. At one woman¡¯s side was the book which they had all recorded their starting information with. A symbol of making cooperation one of their very first acts in this new world. He picked up the book, and just spent a few seconds to flick through the pages and glance through the names.
After putting it into his pocket space, he then collected the bodies and their stuff. But as he was about to put away what would be the final Advancement Crystal, Jordan made a promise. One that he spoke out loud to both himself and his fallen group.
¡°I don¡¯t know if turning you into gems is the right way to go about things. But¡ either way, I won¡¯t let them go to waste. I¡¯ll survive on the Hellhole of a planet for as long as I can. If you have any family or friends out there, I¡¯ll remember your faces and keep the text with your names safe, so I can tell them what happened to you. If there¡¯s a way to ¡°win¡± this sick competition, then I¡¯ll do it. Because fuck any other result if it¡¯ll mean your deaths are in vain,¡± he solemnly declared.
Chapter 12: Scouting and Reflecting
In all his walking around, Jordan hadn¡¯t managed to find a stream, pond, or any other source of fresh water. Though he had made a point to start collecting the corpses of Rabbits, and had already thrown a few of them into his pocket space by now. Who knew if they would last long in there or if the meat would soon go bad like normal. Guess there was only one way to find out, and that was to wait.
But without being able to secure any water here, he began to make his way back toward the treeline. With how dark the forest was from all the giant trees there, Jordan would be lying if he claimed that it didn¡¯t seem unnerving. However, between the moving and around and high-adrenaling fleeing from before, his mouth felt dry with thirst. If it meant getting a drink sooner than later, he would just have to take his chances.
While he waded through the tall grass though, he did finally receive a notification that he¡¯d been expecting.
Experience Earned!
+11 EXP
Level Up!
Level 2 to Level 3
As soon as it came, Jordan opened his Status and immediately dumped all the Free Points into Wisdom. Once that was done, he just gave his Status a brief once over to make sure that everything was in order.
General Info:
Name: Jordan Joyner
Species: Human (Earth)
Guild: N/A
System Info:
Class: Combat Engineer
Subclass: N/A
Traits: Tech Savvy
Titles: Initial Merger
Level: 3
EXP: 2/900
Grade: E
Resources:
Tech Points: 10.02/18
Tech Points Regen: 4.86/Min
Stats:
Strength: 13
Dexterity: 16
Vitality: 18
Endurance: 15
Intelligence: 26
Wisdom: 30
Will: 14
Free Points: 0
General Skills:
Active: Appraise-E5
Class Skills:
Active: Summon Air Drone-E1
Active: Zap-E1
Active: Overcharge-E1
Passive: Tinker-E1
Between the five Free Points and one for free from his Class, the increase in Wisdom had led to a nice jump in his TP regeneration. Along with the free point from his Class toward Intelligence, because if even only by a little, it also helped. But all in all, he was now much closer to the goal of always being able to keep his drone constantly summoned.
If Jordan hadn¡¯t been certain of his goal before, he absolutely was now. Having to waste critical seconds just waiting for his resources to regenerate enough for him to recast the Skill could have cost him his life. So the sooner that never became a worry again, the better.
As the sun only continued to edge closer to the horizon, however, he stepped up his pace toward the forest. By the time he left the tall part of the fields, his drone only managed to kill one more Rabbit. Then as he traversed through the shorter section, he continued to have it fly around, but it didn¡¯t seem to find anything by the time he reached the treeline.
Now standing right at the boundary, Jordan took a good look deeper into the woods. The trees had already seemed massive from afar, but somehow managed to feel even bigger up close. With how wide their trunks were, a Grass Panther could have been on the opposite side of the nearest tree, and he would never have been able to tell. At least not with his eyes from just looking around himself, that is.
Assuming that he cast it from full TP, Jordan¡¯s drone could now last for just over 13 minutes before his resource ran out. Then it would be about three minutes and 42 seconds until his TP was fully regenerated. It was the in-between period that Jordan couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit nervous about.
He raised up his Energy Pistol and looked down at the screen. The charge currently read at 100%. As it turned out, recharging the gun was actually about as simple as it could get. While he¡¯d been walking through the grass, he had just intended for his TP to go inside, and that¡¯s exactly what happened next.
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Since it took only ten TP to get it back to 100%, that basically meant that even when emptied, it would take less than three minutes to fully recharge his Energy Pistol. Assuming his drone wasn¡¯t being summoned at the same time, anyway.
Jordan took a deep breath as he braced himself. He made sure that the Resources section of his Status remained in his vision for him to keep track of. Then he cast Summon Air Drone, and gave it a command.
The drone had a max range of 25 miles before it would automatically get desummoned. Before now that¡¯d been kind of overkill. For a scouting mission, however, that would actually be perfect. Since the drone could fly at a top speed of 100 miles per hour, if his math was correct, then it should be able to fly 22 or 23 miles before he ran out of TP. So pretty dang close to the max range.
When he then sent out the drone, he ordered it to desummon itself the moment it spotted an animal. While having it immediately start blasting was tempting, this was just for information. And he figured that this way would give him the most accurate measure of how far anything was from him. Or at least anything that the drone was able to spot anyway. Because as the Grass Panther proved by being hidden until he already knew where to have it look, the drone¡¯s ability to notice things wasn¡¯t infallible.
Jordan smacked his lips, really still wanting an ice-cold glass of water. But after taking the time to think about it, it turned out that the steady and cautious approach was the best. Way better than his original plan of just walking in a straight line until he found something; he didn¡¯t need to walk in at all until he already knew where said something was.
First he would start with three missions for animal finding. One in a straight line down the middle, and then two more off a bit to the left and right at an angle. If the drone didn¡¯t find anything for all three, then Jordan would have spent a bit under 50 minutes on getting to know that there at least wasn¡¯t anything it could find in the area ahead of him. Since that¡¯d be roughly 40 minutes for the actual flying, and about 8 for TP regeneration between flights, then rounded up for neatness.
Then the next step was to repeat the same procedure, but with finding water. Where he¡¯d tell it to just fly until it found a lake or stream. Unlike a regular machine whose code would first need a lot of teaching what was considered a big puddle versus a lake, Jordan had the benefit of a mental connection with his drone. One where it simply read his intent to instantly work off his personal understanding of the difference.
Finally, one more animal check in the direct line between him and the freshwater source. The shelter part of food, water, and shelter would still be missing. But once he could make a campfire to boil his water and cook the Rabbit meat with, Jordan could look for the nearest source of natural shelter. Perhaps there might be a cave somewhere, or since these trees were so monstrously huge, one that was dead and hollow would be big enough to accommodate him.
As Jordan waited, he sat on the grass. Though with the Energy Pistol still in hand, he didn¡¯t fully let down his guard.
Almost 50 minutes came and went. Almost, because the third patrol ended with the drone desummoning itself toward the last few minutes. Yet even so, it¡¯d managed to get just over 20 miles away before that happened. So, for the length of the total area ahead of him that it¡¯d explored, that was an all-clear in the drone¡¯s mechanical eyes. At least for exploring the first 20 miles.
Now came part two, to repeat the process. After Jordan summoned his drone and gave it the respective order, he looked up at the sky. His estimate of the time until sunset still felt accurate, as he¡¯d been given plenty of time to watch it steadily move. As such, he still believed that there was only another two-ish hours left before things would begin to get dark.
Up to half of his remaining daylight could go by with the search with water. Maybe even more if he got unlucky and needed to do additional trips for the drone. To the point where Jordan wasn¡¯t sure if he necessarily wanted to look for shelter in the woods after darkness came. At least here in the fields of grass, there should only be Rabbits left. Perhaps he could return to the platform they¡¯d started on and build a campfire there. It¡¯d be super exposed as the main downside, but at least it¡¯d be a spot where he could build a fire without needing to manually clear away a section of grass.
Mmm. Is there something wrong with me? Jordan suddenly asked himself while waiting. I watched people die today, and stared at¡ too many corpses¡ up close. But now I¡¯m just acting like this is some typical survival scenario again. Shouldn¡¯t I be traumatized to the point of barely being able to do anything? Especially not just sit around and patiently wait like this?
Granted, Jordan knew literally nothing about how someone was ¡°meant¡± to respond to a traumatic situation. It wasn¡¯t like it stopped bothering him. In fact, he still felt rather squeamish when picturing some of the more gruesome deaths in his mind just now.
But if he stumbled upon at least one more corpse in the woods from another group, it probably wouldn¡¯t bother him as much as the first time. He would at least maintain a grip and prioritize the grabbing of another Advancement Crystal while checking to see if whatever killed the person was still close by. Maybe that reaction would be considered abnormally cold. Or perhaps it was normal for someone to quickly start getting numb to death. Who knew?
Jordan let the thought stew for a bit. If doing nothing but wait was good for one thing, it was giving him time to just reflect and be with his own thoughts.
Chapter 13: Kingdom Hunt
As the minutes went by, he eventually just put aside his earlier concern. At a certain point, his thoughts just began to enter a circle of repeating worries. And even now, he was at least self-aware enough to understand that he needed to stop thinking about it entirely. Worrying about a question with no answer wouldn¡¯t do him any good, after all.
But at a certain point, he did begin to wonder about something else. Just what exactly his next goal would be? Besides addressing the immediate needs for basic survival, that is.
Would he just wander around, killing anything he could while avoiding creatures that he couldn¡¯t? He could do that anyway just by letting his drone fly around while doing something else. But what would that something be, was the question. Jordan supposed the best thing would likely be to try and find the nearest group of fellow survivors.
Even without any idea of how far anyone else could be or how big this planet was compared to Earth, he would eventually find something if he just walked for long enough. Just a sign they left behind, like an old firepit, would be a good enough start to try and start following a group¡¯s trail.
However, at the same time, Jordan couldn¡¯t be too naive. There was a chance that even if he did manage to find a group, it wouldn¡¯t necessarily be a good thing. Not when he had a leaderboard that he could access at any time, that proved that not everyone would be welcoming and sought peace and harmony with their fellow man.
Mightiest Slayer:
1: Wilfred Wilbur Wyndham III (52 kills)
2: Zorliay Qorath¡¯zyrunch (26 kills)
3: Yvaro Qorath¡¯zyrunch (26 kills)
4: Sebastion Ironclaw (19 kills)
5: Carl Rowe (16 kills)
¡
560: Jordan Joyner (1 kill)
All it¡¯d taken was around the last hour for him to drop a couple hundred spots down the list. This time, he didn¡¯t even want to take an estimate of what the total kill count would be now. Who even knew at this point just how much more it¡¯ll grow overnight after he finally managed to get some sleep? And that was just now.
He could only imagine that it¡¯d just get worse as more and more people learned that killing other Initial Mergers rewarded them with both double Experience and valuable gems. Along with being able to claim their equipment, of course.
Finally, Jordan felt it. Just around nine minutes since the drone had flown off in search of water, it¡¯d been desummoned. Which meant either one of two things, actually. Either the drone had found water at would roughly be about 15 miles away from him. Or it¡¯d just been attacked and then destroyed.
Because that was the flaw with his connection to the drone. It was pretty much limited to only giving mental orders and knowing that it was still there. At least as far as Jordan knew so far, it didn¡¯t have the capacity to send him a signal back through their connection. If it did, that would have made it much easier to set up a distress signal for various situations. Sadly though, that was not the case. So all he could do was make a guess that it either succeeded or just got destroyed.
Let¡¯s go ahead and send another that way, just in case. If it disappears after the exact same amount of time, then it should be good. Even if something is in that area, it should vary in how long it takes to spot the drone. Hmm, you know what? I have a good idea to make sure that isn¡¯t the case.
After waiting the customary few minutes for his TP to get back to full, Jordan had a new order for mind as he recast the Skill. From his inherent understanding of how it functioned, he already knew that its pathing had plenty of wiggle room in terms of more complex instructions.
For the first eight minutes, it would fly in that direction in the exact same manner as before. But then it would take a detour and go around in such a way that it¡¯d delay its journey by precisely one minute. So after ten minutes in total had passed, it should reach the freshwater source and automatically desummon.
If its rounded detour went the way Jordan imagined in his head, it shouldn¡¯t actually end up being that far away, even at the furthest point. Close enough that if there was an aggressive beast in the area, it would still take notice of the drone eventually and then destroy it before the full ten minutes elapsed.
Ten minutes then came and went as the drone was desummoned right on schedule. It was actually kind of a surprise, as Jordan had honestly not expected that to succeed without incident. But hey, a happy surprise was better than the opposite, so he certainly wouldn¡¯t be complaining about it.
With that matter now settled, Jordan stood up and patted off the dirt from his pants. There wasn¡¯t any excuse to delay further, and the remaining time for daylight was still burning. However, that did actually present a bit of a problem. Compared to the drone¡¯s max range, it was ¡°only¡± 15 miles. But when instead compared to the average human walking speed of 3-4 miles per hour, that was quite a lot.
Hiking for hours was one thing on its own. Doing so in the darkness of night while surrounded by the unknown was just a tad more worrying. Jordan¡¯s fingers rubbed against the grip of his gun as he hadn¡¯t started moving yet, even after getting up. A part of him was very, very tempted to delay the trip until morning.
However, was that really any better, or did the promise of daylight only offer a false sense of security. The light of the sun only did so much when the entire area was shadowed by a thick canopy from the giant trees, even during the brightest part of the day. Add that if there were any ambush predators, all they needed to do was attack from above or just camp on the opposite side of the huge trunks.
If the drone didn¡¯t spot such attackers ahead of time, then it certainly wouldn¡¯t matter if it was day or night anyway. That did little to help with the rather instinctual fear of the wilderness at night, but Jordan didn¡¯t wait for him body to be fully convinced by logic. He just forced his legs to start putting one foot ahead of the other, and started moving forward.
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As he walked into the woods, Jordan summoned his drone. For now, it was to circle him as a constant patrol and return if it spotted any kind of animal. So he decided it would be 120 feet away from for its circling, because its speed meant that it¡¯d only take it a second to return to him at its top speed. And that was even factoring in the fact that it¡¯d need to maneuver around trees and such.
With how relatively close it¡¯d be at all times, he should see it coming before it actually arrived. Then Jordan could try and look for what it spotted from afar, and use Appraise to see what he was dealing with. Depending on the results, he¡¯d act from there as appropriate.
The forest was quiet as the Combat Engineer walked. The only sound was that of his own footsteps on dry leaves and his own heartbeat thumping loudly in his chest. There wasn¡¯t much he could do about the leaves to walk more quietly, because they basically covered the entire ground layer of the forest.
Fucking Hell, it¡¯s way too quiet. Would anyone at least like to make a distant roar or other noise? Something? Anything? Jordan thought to himself. Even knowing from his drone that there was supposedly nothing in the immediate area, the silence was eerie. Especially considering that even something that made a noise outside the drone¡¯s scouting zone should still be heard from afar, like large mammal calls.
But there was nothing, not even the sounds of insects. Even the wind felt quiet, as it only really made noise for the leaves far above his head. Yet at the ground level, the many massive trees acted like a wall that broke the wind long before it reached him.
As time ticked by, the sun dipped below the horizon. It didn¡¯t take long until the last of its light was gone, dipping the woods into almost total darkness. Maybe there was a moon and sky full of bright stars that might provide just enough to see. But Jordan wouldn¡¯t know, because none of that light was strong enough to pierce the canopy and reach him.
The only small comfort was his drone. Because of how dark it was, he could easily keep track of the light it gave off as it patrolled the set perimeter around him. Thanks to the first scouting mission being correct, all he had to do was walk in a straight line. Easy enough, except¡
Ah crap, aren¡¯t people really bad at that? I think I read somewhere that when blindfolded, practically nobody can walk straight for even like 20 feet. Much less something 15 whole fucking miles. Damn it, I should have thought of that sooner, he silently berated himself.
But before he got too upset, Jordan¡¯s brain had quickly worked out a potential solution to that immediate problem. He had already been forced to stop at multiple points on this journey and effectively just hug a tree. Because there was no way that he was going to keep walking during the few minutes that his drone was gone, and his TP needed to regenerate.
So since he¡¯d need to stop anyway and then restart his drone¡¯s guarding to make him feel safe, he could use that time anyway to ensure he was going the right way. All he had to do was order it to start flying toward the direction of the freshwater source, and then start the circling after it was 120 feet away from him. That way he would at least get an update after every reset, effectively.
The first time this update came, Jordan indeed confirmed that he¡¯d been walking in totally the wrong direction. If the water was hypothetically north from him, then he had somehow gotten turned around enough to start walking southeast instead. If this had gone on for too much longer, then he would have just walked entirely out of the drone¡¯s scouted area, basically invalidating that entire time spent being cautious.
He was sure some hungry predator out there would have loved for that to have been the case. Anyway, now was the time to correct that dumb mistake and get back on-
Quest Update!
Quest: Mightiest Kingdom
Achievement: An Initial Merger has succeeded in the claiming of a Mandate within the first 24 hours of the Merging! As a universe-wide reward, all other Initial Mergers will receive the temporary chance to expedite the claiming of their Mandates until a total of 25 have been claimed.
New Quest Acquired:
Temporary Quest: The First Lords of the 42nd
Description: Claim your own Mandate and become the head of a new Kingdom. As part of this Quest, you have been granted a sense of direction toward the nearest Mandate. This sense will only remain until the end of the Quest.
Reward: The Title of Lord. Additional rewards may be granted based on performance.
Mandates remaining for this Quest: 24/25
Jordan''s eyes flickered as he read through the lines of text. More and more, it felt like he was starting to get left behind as others had already begun to excel. But this was far too important, and not a chance that he could let slip through his fingers.
It would have a direct impact on the other Quest about Kingdoms. Yet even more pressing was the immediate reward that this new Quest had guaranteed. Right now, he only had the Initial Merger Title, and that had come with a bonus of 5 flat Stat points along with a 5% increase. If that was just what a free Title that seemingly everyone received could give, then what about this limited one that was part of a Quest that had been distinctly labeled as temporary?
After dismissing the pop-ups, Jordan closed his eyes. Then while focusing, he could feel it. The sensation was subtle enough, but now that he¡¯d noticed it, he could still keep track of it even without concentrating. The sense of direction could be compared to a rope that had been tied around his waist, and then was being ever so slightly tugged. It seemed that all he had to do was follow the direction it felt like it was pulling him from.
That direction was outside the area he¡¯d checked, though not by much. If the drone¡¯s prior scouting area could be described as between ten and two o¡¯clock, then this felt like nine o¡¯clock. Fortunately, that was opposite of the side that the drone had ended its third scouting mission a little early.
It was technically a risk, even so. One that he logically should patiently wait and have his drone doublecheck the area. Even if he didn¡¯t know exactly what to look for or how far the Mandate was, his drone could at least scout that direction until his TP ran out.
Thought that would mean then waiting up to the full time for it to do so, and then wait for his TP to regenerate. Which meant spending that whole time without his faithful guardian in the dark forest. So yeah, screw that whole idea.
At least the nice thing about the pull was that he¡¯d never get lost. Since the feeling that it gave him felt constant.
But time was ticking to make a decision. And with only so many spots available and literally billions of competitors, this Quest likely wouldn¡¯t last long. Not when everyone else just needed to start walking toward their own pulls, and it was just a matter of who was brave enough to do so and venture into the unknown.
¡°...Fuck it,¡± Jordan cursed to himself. He turned away from the water, and toward the pull instead. As thirsty as he already was, he could survive a while longer without a drink. He¡¯d thought about wanting an actual goal just earlier, and here was something that would be as good as it likely got.
He had already lost out on the benefit of claiming to be the first to discover these so-called Mandates. But Jordan would be damned if he didn¡¯t at least claim one of those 24 remaining spots. Starting right then and there, he wouldn¡¯t just aim for mere survival and hoping to see tomorrow every time he slept.
No. From this moment onward, he would strive for more. Not just survive, but claim at least a piece of this insane reality and turn it into something he could actually control.
Chapter 14: Choices, Sweet Choices
Jordan felt like he¡¯d been walking for almost an hour and a half now, since getting the new Quest. Thankfully, he had his drone as a pretty accurate measure of time passing since all he needed to do was keep track of how many times he¡¯d summoned it. Ah, but it was about ten minutes ago that something of note finally happened.
Yep, his drone had finally spotted something. Which Jordan then identified as the following when he saw it himself and used Appraise.
Species: Bark Snake
Level: 2
Description: A common reptile found within the giant forests of Vervina-C. They are carnivores that primarily spend their time camouflaged in the branches of the trees they call home. As ambush hunters who rely on constriction to kill, they often stay hidden from anything not small enough to be their prey.
While actually seeing the snake had required directing the drone to hover directly above it, Jordan didn¡¯t spend a lot of time appreciating just how much it looked like tree bark. Because it was only a few seconds later that he then gave the drone a new order. One that almost immediately resulted in a new pop-up entering his vision.
Experience Earned!
+24 EXP
So yeah, that was pretty nice. Along with Experience, he now had a dead snake in his pocket space. It hadn¡¯t been very large, only about the same size as a common garden snake back on Earth. But it would probably make for an interesting meal, and the skin might turn into a cool piece of clothing with its bark-like texture. Now did Jordan even know the first thing about the process of turning raw skin into anything usable? Nope, but that¡¯s what learning through trial and error later would be for.
Anyway, finding the serpent had actually done a fair bit to help with Jordan¡¯s nerves. Something was a lot better than a suspicious amount of nothing, after all. Since the drone flew around at a fairly constant height, he imagined that there were a lot more that it simply hadn¡¯t gotten high enough to spot.
Now all wasn¡¯t quite peachy yet. There was still the matter of keeping an eye out for both what the serpents considered prey, and far more importantly, anything higher up in the food chain. The fact that the first thing that he encountered had been Level 2 compared to all the Level 1 Rabbits in the field was also a bit concerning. Because if that turned out not to be a coincidence but instead a pattern, it would mean that the strongest things around here would likely also be at a higher Level than the Grass Panther.
As Jordan continued to cautiously walk through the almost totally dark forest, he could tell that he¡¯d been making progress. The pull was getting every so steadily stronger as he got closer. It¡¯d been so gradual that he hadn¡¯t even noticed it at first. But as he consciously compared it to how the pull initially felt, the difference was definitely there.
However, there was an issue. Because even though it felt like he¡¯d been making decent speed, considering the circumstances, it was starting to feel like it wasn¡¯t fast enough. This was due to the tracker that the Temporary Quest had provided, which clearly showed that others had already gotten ahead of him.
Mandates remaining for this Quest: 21/25
Since the Quest had started, three more spots had been taken. Counting the one that started it off in the first place, it meant that there was only one more left to claim a spot in the top five. But as risky as it could be, Jordan would be willing to pick up the pace if it meant that he could make it. Since the extra rewards should be paced on placement, the top three would assumedly have been the best, aside from the first. So if he just hurried up and barely made the top five, that should still be-
Mandates remaining for this Quest: 20/25
Well, fuck me then! Like seriously, right as I was having that thought? That¡¯s just personal at that point; I don¡¯t care what anyone else says. No way that was a coincidence and not specifically to screw with me, Jordan swore. Well, it seemed that just grabbing a spot in the top ten would have to do instead.
Jordan was tired, thirsty, and rather drained by the traumatic experience of the past day¡¯s events. As far as being in his right mind was, this was not one of those moments. He had already been starting to feel rather irritable, but the setback of losing out on his initial hope of making the top five was only making it worse at this point.
Taking a deep breath of the cool night air, he tried to calm himself. No human was perfectly rational and able to always look at things objectively like a robot; that was an obvious fact. Yet Jordan, at least in his opinion, believed that he was decent at becoming self-aware of his emotional state and trying to address its impact on his thinking. Missing the top five wasn¡¯t the end of world, nor would it be the case even if he missed the top ten as well. All he needed was to grab just one of those spots to complete the Quest, even if it was the very last one and didn¡¯t give him any additional rewards for it.
Yet the competition was clearly fierce. And as he thought about it, he realized that there was every chance that someone else was being pulled toward the same Mandate as him. Jordan didn¡¯t know if it was simply a matter of who claimed it first, or if this was a matter where people who got there around the same time could compete for it. A big part of that depended on if the claiming of a Mandate was an instant thing, or actually a process that took some time to do.
If it needing to compete was the case, and the person or people there were also on the Slayer list, but for the wrong reasons¡
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The thought lingered in Jordan¡¯s head as he then soon ran out of TP. Which as usual, forced him to pause for a few minutes and wait. But as he leaned back against the trunk of one of the trees that might as well have been a wooden wall to him, he looked down at the tattoo on his palm. A few moments later, one of the gems appeared in his hand.
His original plan had been to wait until he was somewhere that felt safe and secure. Then just figure out what to do with them all as a collective. Part of that waiting until later was because he¡¯d felt hesitant to consume one now to see exactly what happened. Because what if something too dangerous to handle had attacked him, and he could have used the one-time use effect to save himself?
Jordan was also the type who always hoarded even the most common consumables in video games, and then beat the final boss while barely using any of them. So that natural inclination was also a likely factor in his thinking so far. In the real world, however, it¡¯d do him no good. His thinking needed to be a bit more short-term to address his more immediate concerns.
Name: Advancement Crystal
Grade: E1
Description: This gem contains the essence of a Mage and a random selection from their highest Grade Class Skill. The Advancement Crystal can be consumed by any Initial Merger, and the essence inside may be used to influence the consumer¡¯s next gained Skill or evolution of a current Skill. Alternatively, it can be shattered for a single and highly potent use of the Skill contained within.
Out of the about two dozen members of their group, a few had been Mages. Which was totally fair, as who wouldn¡¯t pick the magic Class when not offered something you really considered to be better? But it meant that he also had a couple of spare gems of that type, so he was now willing to at least sacrifice one as an experiment.
Welp, here goes something, then. How literal is consume? Jordan asked as he tried to focus on the gem. He first tried to imagine it just breaking and absorbing its power directly into his hand. When that didn¡¯t work, he went ahead and just popped the whole thing into his mouth.
The instant the Advancement Crystal made contact with his tongue, it vanished before he even had a chance to taste it. Immediately afterward, a new screen appeared before him.
Advancement Crystal absorbed!
Please select the following for its essence¡¯s use:
Influence next Skill gain.
Or
Influence current Skill evolution.
Note!
A Skill gained or evolved through the use of an Advancement Crystal will not take away from either earned from future Level increments. However, subsequent uses of either method will require the consumption of additional Advanced Crystals after each use.
Jordan¡¯s eyes widened as he read through the text. From how the gem¡¯s Description had read, he kinda assumed that it would be a future thing. Like if he consumed the gem now, it would only have an impact down the line when he actually gained or evolved a Skill later. But now he¡¯d been hit by a double whammy of very critical information.
First, it had just said that his guess had been wrong, and it would actually have a very real impact right here and now. But it also just confirmed how he was meant to go either even without the Advancement Crystals. And as simple as it sounded in retrospect, all he needed to do was keep gaining Levels. Specifically ¡°increments,¡± as it¡¯d said. Which meant that the first major increment would be either Level 5 or Level 10, if he just had to assume.
The question is¡ do I want a new Skill or evolve one of the ones I already have? Evolving should mean a beneficial upgrade of at least some kind, right? Otherwise, what would even be the point? Jordan asked himself as he thought about it.
As far as his Skills went, Summon Air Drone being the current MVP was no question. As far as the least valuable¡ Zap would be his pick, if he had to be honest. Because while Tinker as a Passive Skill might seem like the more obvious choice, that was kinda an unfair comparison.
Description: Increases the user¡¯s ability to modify existing machines and create their own.
This is what one would describe as a downtime Skill. Where when he actually had time to just sit down and work on trying to create something, it would finally get its chance to shine. He just didn¡¯t get any use of it now because the present circumstances hadn¡¯t given him the chance to.
So, between what could be called the more combat-minded Skills, Summon Air Drone didn¡¯t need an explanation, and Overcharge was at least immediately useful when paired with his Energy Pistol.
Heck! Jordan could probably even use Overcharge on the drone, now that he suddenly realized his foolishness in somehow not thinking of that sooner. So if that idea worked, then Zap just became even more of an ugly duckling in comparison. So as far as the evolution went, his choice would be to hope that Summon Air Drone got even better, or that it could make Zap into something more useful.
It was either that, or just roll the dice on what a brand-new Skill might look like.
Hold on¡ let¡¯s try this. Just to see what will happen before I¡¯ve picked. Jordan made a second Mage gem appear in his hand. Then after just thinking about it for another second to make sure that this was what he wanted to do, he ate it.
Advancement Crystal absorbed!
Please select the following for its essence¡¯s use:
Influence next Skill gain.
Or
Influence current Skill evolution.
Warning!
Previous selection is still pending. The currently absorbed Advancement Crystal will be held until after the first selection is made. It can then be used to either make progress toward the subsequent use of whichever option is picked, or immediately applied to the first use of the other option.
Ahah! There we go, now we¡¯re talking! Jordan felt a triumphant grin finally tug on his lips as he made the System cough up some more info. So if he understood that correctly, then he should actually be able to pick both at least once. Then he¡¯d just have to see afterward what it¡¯ll take to do it again for either one.
But with that weight lifted off his shoulders, it meant that he could put off his decision for a Skill evolution for just a little bit. That can just keep stewing in his brain as he got to check out what a new Skill looked like in the meantime.
Alright, System. Influence the next Skill gain.
Chapter 15: Starting His Power Boost
Jordan slowly sat down as he looked at the screens popping up. He¡¯d been on his feet for a while now, and his left foot was oddly more sore than the right for some reason. Anyway, he probably needed a second to sit and take a break as it was. At the same time though, he made sure to summon his drone and have it keep patrolling while he then gave his full attention to the next screen.
New Class Skills available!
Pick from one of the following:
Active:
Skill: Summon Land Drone
Grade: E1
Scaling: Wisdom, Intelligence
Description: Create a land-based, autonomous battle drone to temporarily fight by the user¡¯s side.
Base Cost: 2.5 TP per cast, 5 TP per minute to sustain.
Skill: Field Workbench
Grade: E1
Scaling: Wisdom, Intelligence
Description: Create a temporary workbench stocked with essential tools that allow for simple maintenance of repair of most standard machines.
Base Cost: 5 TP per cast, 10 TP per minute to sustain.
Passive:
Skill: Basic Technomancy
Grade: E1
Scaling: Intelligence, Wisdom
Description: Increases the user¡¯s ability to fuse the capabilities of magic and machines into the hybrid known as magitech.
So there was good news and bad news here. The good news was that the System had unexpectedly been nice enough to give him a choice, rather than throw a random Skill that he just had to take and deal with. The bad news was also that it¡¯d given him a choice, because now he actually had to think about it and choose just one.
And man, was it a choice indeed.
Okay, so it said that the Advancement Crystal would have an influence, and I think I¡¯m seeing that in the last option. At least that one was pretty explicit about adding magic to its description, so there¡¯s that. Now, on the other hand¡ does papa want a new drone for his birthday? I think so, but¡ what does the System count as essential tools? Because if I can hit that TP regen, then a free, pre-stocked workbench would be kind of nice to have.
First things first, Basic Technomancy was almost immediately eliminated. While he wouldn¡¯t have complained too much if that¡¯d been the only result of a random selection, it was clearly the inferior option. But it did establish the precedent that at least one choice would be directly themed around the Class inside the Advancement Crystal, so at least there was that going for it. Yet not much else, he just had to admit.
Now granted, the new drone Skill would be hard to use concurrently with his original one. At least in terms of how their costs compared to his current man TP and TP regen.
His max TP was 18 at the moment. So if he cast both Skills at the same time, their combined base cost would immediately bring that down to 12.5. Then to maintain them would require an upkeep of 11 TP per minute. So after factoring in his regen of 4.86 per minute and doing the math¡
Huh, almost exactly two minutes. That was honestly quite a lot better than he had initially expected. For a fight, just a couple of minutes would actually be fairly long while. So if one person attacked him, Jordan could just turn around and turn it into three versus one. Where they would have to deal with both of his drones, and him as he also blasted away with his Energy Pistol.
Actually¡ two versus one would be good enough. Assuming that this drone also has the same max range, why would I even need to stay in the area? I can just book it, and let the drones do all the work. Same logic as when it was just Summon Air Drone, but now there¡¯ll be two, so it¡¯s like¡ double the logic. Yeah, that probably made sense.
Now as much as Jordan¡¯s heart already belonged to the idea of a second drone, there was a part of him that still valiantly tried to rebel. That tried to stake a claim in the name of the Field Workbench, and convince the rest of his heart that it would be the better choice. That while a second drone would indeed be cool, this would actually make it easier for him to make use of the Tinker Skill outside of fighting. Once he had a secured shelter and the required TP regen, he could just keep the workbench up at all times and use that to work on whatever his heart desired.
And that was true, Jordan had to be a tad pragmatic in his expectations. When it came to these Skills, he¡¯d already made a choice. The decision that would forever decide what every Skill would be like had come from earlier that day, as long ago as that already felt.
Class: Combat Engineer
Description: While on the frontlines of conflict, one has little time to focus on perfecting their craft. This Class focuses on still being able to utilize their engineering prowess for the machines of war, but while also having the power to effectively hold their own in battle.
Benefits: +1 bonus to Wisdom and Intelligence per Level.
The System had made it pretty clear that there was a line between combat and non-combat Classes. His Class seemed to be something that couldn¡¯t quite be called a true hybrid, but was relatively close to said line on the metaphorical scale. Rather than build and create permanent machines, the most it seemed it¡¯d ever give him was effectively just field maintenance.
So with that in mind, he could know what to expect from the Field Workbench and any future Skills like it. They wouldn¡¯t be anything that allowed him to do something like build his own battle drones from scratch. But instead would let him repair them, if the ability to do so ever came from another source. Now granted, that source was pretty much guaranteed to come in the form of a Subclass. Since as the System had also explained, as he willed for it to pull up those old screens¡
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The user may select either type to be their main Class. Then later on at D Grade, they will select the other as their Subclass. Upon final selection, it will be impossible for the user to ever change which one is their main Class or Subclass.
He didn¡¯t know how long it would take to reach D Grade. It could only be assumed that was through reaching a certain Level. That could be 25, 50, or even 100. Who knew for sure until anyone got there? In any case, he was willing to wait until then. Especially survival would ideally be less of a daily goal by then anyway, versus just having more firepower now for said survival.
On that note, he had now fully made up his mind on what he¡¯d be picking.
Selected new Skill: Summon Land Drone
Finalize the user¡¯s selection?
Yes, Jordan affirmed. With that now done, he went ahead and immediately addressed the next screen awaiting his attention.
Advancement Crystal absorbed!
Please select the following for its essence¡¯s use:
Influence next Skill gain.
Or
Influence current Skill evolution.
Once again, just to see what would happen now, Jordan tried to select getting a new Skill. This time, however, a different kind of pop-up appeared.
Insufficient essence for this option!
Current Advancement Crystal essence: 0/10
Wait¡ only 10? Really? So if I can assume that each gem adds at least one point of essence, then I should be able to also gain a second new Skill! And if I just need one for the evolution and then another 10 more for the next¡ Holy shit, that means that these gems are worth even more than I imagined, Jordan thought as he stared at it with some disbelief.
His thoughts quickly went back to the Mightiest Slayer leaderboard. He had already assumed that the total number of kills would jump up from the doubled Experience and Advancement Crystals. But if 22 total gems could lead to such a massive boost between the two options, then it was only a matter of time before people slaughtered each other to at least get that many. And then even more, as they inevitably sought the next step of progression to get ahead of everyone else.
To make matters worse, you didn¡¯t even need to be the one to do the killing in order to turn the corpses into gems. One could only imagine the kinds of fights that¡¯ll eventually break out amongst the survivors of a clash between large groups. Because why share those kinds of spoils when this System was clearly showing a theme in rewarding that kind of selfish behavior to put yourself first?
But for now, it meant that Jordan could take as much as three more steps forward today. First things first, he needed to be 100% sure that the first evolution would only cost one gem, and that he hadn¡¯t misunderstood that implication.
Alrighty, let¡¯s go with current Skill evolution.
Skill evolution is confirmed.
Please choose one Class Skill from the following to be the subject of evolution:
Summon Land Drone-E1
Summon Air Drone-E1
Zap-E1
Overcharge-E1
Tinker-E1
Notably absent was the single General Skill that both Jordan and everyone else in his group had received. The gained Skills had only directly said that they were Class Skills, so he supposed that it was at least consistent in that distinction. It did make him wonder if there would be a way to gain more General Skills. But that was for future Jordan to find out.
Right then, let¡¯s not pick something too quickly. Because first things first¡ Jordan mentally focused back on the connection to his patrolling drone. It was still doing its job, without any problems. So he supposed that it wouldn¡¯t hurt to desummon it and be inefficient with his TP usage for just a quick moment.
As one drone disappeared, another soon took its place.
Appearing on the ground next to him, Jordan once again felt a rush of intuitive knowledge as he used the new Skill for the first time. The land drone was about the same size as its older sibling, so comparable to to a basketball. Though rather than it frame being a core with four parts extended out for the propellers, the land drone was just a fully centralized unit.
In shape, it was honestly a lot closer to a modern tank than anything else. It even had the matching treads to make the comparison more accurate. Yet as if to make up for the dramatic lack of mobility compared to the other drone, this one clearly had more firepower. Because while the air drone had just a single gun hanging off the middle of its underside, this little guy had two. Again in a similar style as his Energy Pistol, but with a pair of barrels that were side by side and sticking out the front of the main body.
As the final physical difference, Jordan knew that his drone was a lot tougher. Partially because just by looking at it, one could tell that despite the similar size, this guy had a lot more weight and heft to him. And just from the System-granted information, it was actually just reinforced with thicker pieces for its body in order to withstand extra punishment.
When it came to the specs beyond the actual body, there were a couple things of note. First of all, the max range remained the same at a solid 25 miles. For the max speed, however, it was exactly half that of the air drone at only 50 miles per hour. Which Jordan supposed couldn¡¯t be a subject of too much complaint, since that was still pretty fast and only somewhat under highway driving speeds.
You know what? Screw it, I¡¯ll be able to do one more of both anyway after this. So, System, let¡¯s just double down for now and evolve Summon Land Drone, Jordan decided on what was effectively just a whim. This new drone was already cool, but now what if it could be made even cooler with a Mage-sourced evolution?
Selected Skill for evolution: Summon Land Drone
New Skill evolutions available!
Pick from one of the following:
As three more options popped in front of him, Jordan only needed to give them a brief glance to already come to a conclusion. The new Skills were all at least decent options, but as for the evolution and the options it gave him.
This was the good stuff.
Chapter 16: The Ultimate Power… Vroom!
Evolution: Size
Description: Significantly increases the size and weight of the drone. Additionally results in a high increase to the drone¡¯s overall durability. However, this comes with a moderate decrease in its maximum speed and a minor decrease to its maximum range.
Evolution: Speed
Description: Significantly increases the maximum speed of the drone. Additionally results in a high increase in its general mobility. However, this comes with a moderate decrease in its weight and overall durability.
Evolution: Arcane Core
Description: Replaces the core functions of the drone with one that is mana-based in nature. This change in its base systems will result in its bolts being made from mana instead of energy. Additionally results in a minor increase in its maximum speed and a moderate increase in its fire rate.
Note!
No matter the evolution chosen, the final result for the Grade E2 Skill will be a decrease in both its base cost and upkeep. The exact amount of this change will be calculated after an evolution is chosen and will depend on that selection.
So, once again, the choice that was influenced by the Mage essence was obvious. But unlike the new Skill, the option before him now was actually quite attractive. Out of the three picks, it was also the only one that promised an increase in fire rate. And who would complain about their drone shooting more often?
The first two were a contrasting pair, as it was very one or the other. Big and tough, or speedy and mobile. By general mobility, Jordan could only assume that it would change how the drone¡¯s treads work or something like that.
Jordan considered the options for a minute, weighing their merits and differences. All three had their ups and downs. Even the last one. Because while it didn¡¯t carry an explicit downside, he could already imagine that it was kind of like locking yourself into a certain path on a skill tree in games.
This seemed like a pretty fundamental change in the drone¡¯s ¡°theme,¡± so to speak. So if he went more mana-based now, then it would likely remain the same way for any further evolution. Of which the System had also just hinted that this Skill would likely be evolving more than once.
Because in that note, it¡¯d offhandly mentioned that evolving meant increasing its Grade to E2. And if every Grade increase meant an evolution, and he knew that Appraise had been given as E5 by default, he might be able to evolve this Skill three more times. Granted, the System could prove that idea wrong in a couple of ways. Like perhaps Appraise as a General Skill was E5, but then his Class Skills actually had a cap at E3 or something. Or that maybe not every Grade also came with an evolution, and it was at even numbers.
Anyway¡
Selected evolution: Size
Finalize the user¡¯s selection?
Yep, he confirmed. Now, why that one? Because at the end of the day, Jordan was a simple boy with a simple heart who believed that bigger toys meant cooler. And also because he didn¡¯t want to commit to the Mana Core as a path if that assumption was right. So between the last two options, he already had the air drone as the mobile option, so Speed felt a tad redundant.
Skill cost recalculated!
Base Cost: 2 TP per cast, 4 TP per minute to sustain.
¡°Oh shit!¡± Jordan said aloud as he leaned forward. He wasn¡¯t sure what he¡¯d been hoping for on that front. But that new upkeep meant exactly one thing. The land drone could remain active at all times. His eyes were practically glimmering with excitement. But then before anything else, a new screen appeared.
New Title Acquired:
Title: Adept of Advancement
Description: Be amongst the first thousand Initial Mergers on your planet to gain both your first new Skill and Skill evolution.
Benefits: +3 to all Stats, +3% to all Stats.
Well hot damn¡ the System just really is more generous than I thought. All I did was use the gems that it rewards people with when other people die. So this is basically just a new reward for turning in a reward. Not that I¡¯m complaining too much if you¡¯re listening, oh System. It¡¯s just¡ damn. Actually, that +3 to all Stats. Does that mean what I think it does?
Resources:
Tech Points: 12.10/20
Tech Points Regen: 5.47/Min
So close, yet so far until the original goal of 6 TP per minute. But as far a Summon Land Drone was concerned, this Title was an epic boon. Since not only could he perpetually keep the Skill going, but the surplus regeneration meant that it would only take a short amount of time to regenerate the base cost.
But with that happy surprise now settled, he immediately began to cast the newly evolved Skill in question.
When the System said it¡¯d get better, it hadn¡¯t been lying. For when the upgraded drone materialized in front of him, Jordan actually had to look up at it. Because from the position he was currently sitting in, the drone was quite a bit larger than just basketball-sized.
After Jordan quickly rose to his feet, he was able to get a more accurate impression. Standing right next to it, the very top of the tank was now at around his naval¡¯s height. Now as a tank, it was actually longer than it was tall. So that still made its overall size pretty impressive.
He also got an update on his inherent knowledge of the drone. And as far as the decreases to its max speed and range limit, it actually wasn¡¯t that bad. From 50 miles per hour, it had now had a max of 40. And the range had gone to exactly 22 miles. Which frankly annoyed Jordan just a smidge, because who would be insane enough to prefer 22 over the pristine wholeness of either 20 or 25?
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But the neat thing about the drone was that its top was flat. Since it wasn¡¯t an actual tank, it lacked the features that a normal one would have, such as the hatch for someone to go in and out. Which meant that there was something potentially very useful that he could now do.
Using one of the treads as a step to boost himself up, Jordan climbed onto the top of the drone. Then he sat down, sitting with crossed legs on the metal surface. The barrels of the pair of energy guns gave off a fair amount of light now that they were bigger. Still relatively dim compared to something that was actually intended to give off light, but at least he could confidently see his hands now when his arms were fully outstretched.
Jordan wasn¡¯t sure if he would be able to sit like this for long. The first hill he encountered would likely be his doom. Though sitting unsecured like this did mean there was always the chance he fell forward, and then got caught under the tracks of the drone before he could react to desummon it or have it stop.
Out of all the ways one could meet their end on this planet, getting run over by your own Skill would at least be one of the funnier ones. Also very sad, but still, kind of funny. Though to prevent himself from meeting that untimely demise, Jordan did reposition himself by getting on his hands and knees instead, and then felt around for any bits within reach on the sides that he could grab onto.
The final resulting position was one where he ended up flat on his stomach, arms almost fully extended while reaching down the each side, and his legs hanging off the back. It was not exactly the height of comfort, with several pointy edges poking into awkward places. But for the time being, it would do. Just like that, he had upgraded from the measly speed of a human slowly walking through the dark, to someone driving through the streets of a city in their car.
Let¡¯s see here, that ended up killing a few minutes as it is. How¡¯s the Quest looking? Jordan asked himself.
Mandates remaining for this Quest: 18/25
Okay then, so not very good. Two more spots gone in just the time it¡¯d taken for him to sort out the Skill stuff so far was not the most promising of signs. Especially if he intended to still at least make a serious effort for placing in the top ten. But dramatically upping his travel speed had been a major gain, so as far as trade-offs went, just two Mandates was a worthy one to make.
This was largely because the tugging he¡¯d been feeling toward the nearest one was still there. So if someone else in the area had already claimed it, Jordan would have immediately noticed. A part of him was curious about if that would just eliminate him from the Quest, or if the System would just auto-direct him to the wherever the nearest, still unclaimed one was. But better not to find out, and just step back into gear instead.
On his trusty metal steed, Jordan set forth to not waste any more time. The rest of the Advancement Crystals weren¡¯t going anywhere, after all. But this Mandate might, if he waited for too long. Plus it would be better this way for how he used the gems. Since he could still do one more evolution and get another Skill, yes, but his decision would be rushed if he did so now. But once the Mandate was found and he could claim a Kingdom, of which what that exactly meant was to be determined, he could take all the time in the world to think about it.
And there was another aspect as well, though he hoped it wouldn¡¯t come to that. If other people or powerful monsters were in the area, the one-time use effects of the gem might be needed. If his TP and Energy Pistol ran out before a threat could be dealt with, then the just over 20 Advancement Crystals still left in his possession could make a huge difference.
The quiet of the forest was then disturbed as a tank treads of the drone crushed the layer of dry leaves in its path. Unlike the air drone whose propellers were fairly quiet, this one was¡ well, still more quiet than Earth tanks to be fair. Both because of its relatively small form as what would be like a child-sized tank, and the fact that if it could be compared to anything fairly, it would have been fully electric engines.
It only sounded obviously loud now because of how eerily silent the woods were in comparison. While if this were a noisier environment like the downtown of a city, the land drone¡¯s noise would have seemed rather inconspicuous. Yet even with that thought to make the argument more fair, what mattered in the here and now was the simple fact about relative sound levels.
Anything that was close by or just generally had sharp ears would have no problem hearing it. So even as he cruised through the forest and had to alter course by noting the giant trees as they entered his field of vision, Jordan still had to remain highly alert. Who knew what, or who, might hear him coming and could set up an attack?
About half an hour then passed.
Jordan rolled his shoulder as he tried to shift his legs around. It hadn¡¯t taken long at all before his awkward position while hanging onto the drone had gotten extra uncomfortable. As far as metal steeds went, this one definitely needed a metaphorical saddle.
But he wasn¡¯t ready to call it quiets yet, despite the discomfort. Because he could tell that the Mandate was now almost tantalizingly close. As it turned out, moving over ten times faster meant the pull of the tugging was feeling at a rate also ten times greater than before. Who would have thought?
Huh, and hear I was about to spend almost a whole day walking for water. If I¡¯d gone back and had this guy, I could have made it there by now. Even just getting here would take taken¡ what? At least six hours on foot? Jordan thought to himself somewhat amusedly.
It really just went to show how much smaller the world got when you could traverse it at a reasonable speed. Once he did have a way to make a comfortable seat that could be secured to the top of the drone, no distance would truly be too great.
As he had that amusing idea, Jordan¡¯s thoughts suddenly skipped a beat. He could feel it. The rope pulling at him had just reached full tension.
The drone lurched forward as its owner commanded it to come to an immediate stop. The inertia pulling him forward made Jordan¡¯s stomach do a flip that would have gotten perfect 10s from judges at a gymnastics competition. That sudden stop actually felt rather terrible as it felt like someone had just sucker punched him, but he didn¡¯t care. Because he was finally here.
Despite its small size, it would have been impossible to miss. When Jordan hopped off the drone and his sore legs complained under his weight, he didn¡¯t even notice the feeling. Because the second he looked at the spot just a few yards ahead of him, his eyes were immediately drawn to it.
A golden crown.
The design of it was pretty simple, just a gold circle with five pointed extremities sticking upward. For now, it was just sitting there on the ground, resting on the bed of leaves. Yet despite not actually giving off any light, it almost seemed to glow. Jordan walked up to it without even thinking, his right hand already moving to reach out for it.
As soon as he was close enough, Jordan grabbed the crown. His hand tightly gripped around its the base. And as soon as he touched, Jordan already knew. It was something he felt more certain of more than anything he¡¯d ever known in his entire life, leading up to this moment.
It would belong to him and him alone. Now and forever, until the very end of his days. And with it this feeling, a screen appeared to affirm his claim.
Quest Complete!
Chapter 17: Upgrades, People, Upgrades!
Temporary Quest: The First Lords of the 42nd
Description: Claim your own Mandate and become the head of a new Kingdom. As part of this Quest, you have been granted a sense of direction toward the nearest Mandate. This sense will only remain until the end of the Quest.
Reward: The Title of Lord. Additional rewards may be granted based on performance.
Mandates remaining for this Quest: 17/25
Congratulations!
You have claimed the 8th Mandate and quality for at least one additional reward!
New Title Acquired:
Title: Lord
Description: Be one of the few who claim a previously unclaimed Mandate and start a new Kingdom.
Benefits: +5 to all Stats, +5% to all Stats, ownership of a Kingdom.
Additional Rewards:
+2500 EXP, Upgraded Title, First Kingdom Boon
Level Up!
Level 3 to Level 4
Jordan¡¯s vision was filled with multiple screens as the System smacked him with a rush of pop-ups. His legs still feeling rather sore from the ride here, and the fact that he was feeling a little weak from being dehydrated, he quickly sat down. The dry leaves loudly crunched as his weight pressed on them, the crown still firmly held in hand.
More notifications had already continued to appear, but the tired and now slightly overwhelmed man just shook his head. With just a thought, he had them all pushed off to the corner and minimized. For now, he¡¯d address it all as just one thing at a time.
First things first, that absolute horde of Experience Points. Jordan sharply inhaled through his nose as he processed just how insane it was to get so much in one go. To get it himself, he would have needed to slaughter over a hundred of those Bark Snakes.
Yet something else about it was equally surprising. Despite being a metric ton of Experience, it¡¯d been only enough for one Level. Just how much did it even take then for the next?
EXP: 1637/2025
Okay, so that was at least enough to get him most of the way there. But even so, that was quite the sizable jump in requirements for getting to the next Level. From the starting 100, then 225, 900, and now this. He would have to actually sit down and do the math from that pattern so far to find out what the next threshold should look like.
Still wild that it¡¯s going to require a lot of killing just to reach Level 6 afterward. Just how the Hell did the top guy get there so fast? Like the only possible way would be if the System had placed him in a pit filled with a literal army of stuff to kill. Actually, you know what? That might not be that far off from being plausible, Jordan considered.
If it can be assumed that not every starting zone was magically created equal, then there would be those that had to be more dangerous than others in terms of the local animals. While the Grass Panther had decimated his group, it was true that it¡¯d been the only threat that he had encountered so far. But the predator itself had only been Level 5, which must not be anywhere near the strongest thing on the planet. Not if there were people who could be surpassing it in Level by just the end of day one.
So if someone had been dropped in a cave or something where instead of Rabbits, the common animals were equal to the Grass Panthers, just surviving would be a nightmare. But then what if, just hypothetically, someone had killed their entire group for an early boost to at least reach Level 2? What if that group had been even bigger than his own? Which meant even more double Experience to farm assuming you somehow, someway managed to take everyone down before they ganged up on you.
In any case, while Level 4 was relatively close, Jordan wasn¡¯t sure how long it¡¯d take him to reach Level 5. Maybe it¡¯d just take a lot of grinding of snakes, or perhaps this part of the forest deeper in had stronger animals. Or he could just keep getting directly rewarded by the System from future Quests, since this had now been established as a precedent for the future.
Moving on, Jordan opened the next screen.
Title Upgraded:
Lord to High Lord of the 42nd
Title: High Lord of the 42nd
Description: There are those who start a new Kingdom from an unclaimed Mandate, and then there are the truly rare few who are the very first to bring order to an untamed universe. For all dynasties to come, it is those who start from these original High Lords that may eternally stand above all others.
Benefits: +10 to all Stats, +10% to all Stats.
Holy- That¡¯s just a bit too much, isn¡¯t it?! Like that¡¯s several Levels of Stats right there! And it¡¯s just applied such a big increase to all of them, just like that?! And just for finishing one Quest faster by placing really well? Like the experience alone was amazing, but this, it¡¯s just-
Jordan was rubbing one hand against his chin and lower mouth as he read and then reread the screen again, just to make sure he hadn¡¯t gone insane and misread it. He was just in utter disbelief as his eyes repeatedly flicked across the text.
But wait a second. If there are eight billion people alive, and I¡¯m specifically in the top eight. Then doesn¡¯t that mean¡? Jordan¡¯s eyes then widened as the realization finally hit him like a sledgehammer.
¡°I¡¯m one in a billion. I- I¡¯m one in a billion!¡± Jordan repeated with a loud voice. In every widespread competition, there had to be a top. Those who placed at the highest percentile, or even percentile of a percentile. While many dreamed of being part of that elite few, rarely did anyone seriously expect it. But in this case, he was one of them.
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That was the reason why the reward was so out of this world. It was like winning the lottery, and then wondering why you got so much more money than the average from scratch tickets. Out of billions, only a relatively tiny amount of people would be able to claim this Quest. With an even smaller amount who would be considered as worthy of the additional reward for what the System considered as placing well.
And from the way the Description had read, this was highly limited as well. Because it¡¯d talked about being the very first, period. Even if someone came by right now and ripped the crown out of Jordan¡¯s hand, it might not matter as much for them anyway. Because they would still only be the second one to claim it, and not the never-repeating title of first.
¡°Hah! I can¡¯t believe it! Hah, hah hah!¡± Jordan let out a somewhat crazed laugh filled with both his excitement and remaining disbelief. The laughter cracked at times due to his throat being sore and mouth still rather dry with thirst.
Then reaching into his pocket space, he pulled out a gem. The very first of the Advancement Crystals he¡¯d collected, made from Audrey the Healer. Jordan regarded the small little gem, and held it up.
¡°It might be too early to say this for sure,¡± he said after clearing his throat. ¡°But when it came to this Quest, I think I can say that I won. For what I promised before, it¡¯s a damn good start. If this new Title gives me an edge over everyone else, then I¡¯ll do my damndest to keep that lead.¡±
For now, though, he put the gem back away. Jordan then opened his Status, just to take in exactly what it looked like after the massive boost the Title had given him.
General Info:
Name: Jordan Joyner
Species: Human (Earth)
Guild: N/A
System Info:
Class: Combat Engineer
Subclass: N/A
Traits: Tech Savvy
Titles: Initial Merger, Adept of Advancement, High Lord of the 42nd
Level: 4
EXP: 1637/2025
Grade: E
Resources:
Tech Points: 24/24
Tech Points Regen: 7.88/Min
Stats:
Strength: 30
Dexterity: 33
Vitality: 35
Endurance: 32
Intelligence: 46
Wisdom: 51
Will: 31
Free Points: 5
General Skills:
Active: Appraise-E5
Class Skills:
Active: Summon Land Drone-E2
Active: Summon Air Drone-E1
Active: Zap-E1
Active: Overcharge-E1
Passive: Tinker-E1
In less than 24 hours, his Stats had ballooned massively. But aside from the boost to his Resources, it felt hard to put them into perspective. If the initial theory of base 10 for each Stat being an average for humans was indeed true, then what did that mean for him now? Was he suddenly at least three times stronger than the average, or five times wiser? Or if the curve was different than just an equal multiplier according to the difference, then could the result be even greater?
In any case, it was time to assign those five Free Points. And now that he¡¯d leapfrogged past the goal of regenerating 6 TP per minute, it¡¯d be potentially a good chance to switch things up. After thinking about for just a moment, Jordan went ahead and decided to put them into Intelligence.
Why?
Because his land drone basically meant that Dexterirary wasn¡¯t needed. Since there was no world where his running would be faster than just grabbing onto it and having it flee at top speed. Then, if he managed to away, being tougher wouldn¡¯t necessarily be needed either. You can¡¯t get hit if you¡¯re miles away from someone who only has a sword to swing, after all.
So the most important thing for the time being, he felt, was to increase his max capacity of Tech Points. That way if his drones got destroyed quickly by something, he had plenty of reserve TP to resummon them. The more total TP he had, the more times in a row he could just afford to spend the repeated uses from the base costs.
When Jordan did so, the percentile boosts from his Titles very quickly reminded him once more of their value. Because rather than a new total of 51 Intelligence, it now sat at 52 instead. So it¡¯d effectively thrown in an extra Free Point for the price of five.
Finally, just one more pop-up remained. And hopefully he¡¯d been saving for the best for last. Because surely something called a First Kingdom Boon had to be really good.
New Kingdom Boon Acquired:
Boon: Herald of Industry
Description: After the formation of the Kingdom¡¯s initial territory is complete, this Boon shall provide the automatic building of a structure. As a High Lord, the Boon also includes an additional reward in the form of a unique construction within the structure. Of which the construction will befit the nature of the Boon itself, and will be unique amongst other Kingdoms in the user¡¯s universe.
Note!
The first Boon of a Kingdom is always selected by the System based on the user¡¯s Class and inherent preferences. If the user wishes to deviate away from this default assumption of their Kingdom¡¯s path, the opportunity to do so will be given through any Boons received in the future.
As of late, the System had been feeling quite generous with providing these little informational notes. Not that he was complaining, but it just had to be noted.
That sounds¡ interesting. The bit about the unique construction is just a little vague, but okay. Now, System, what was that about you automatically building something for me? Jordan asked, his curiosity most certainly piqued.
In response, the cool metal crown in his hand began to feel warm. As he looked down on it, a mark began to appear on the back of Jordan¡¯s hand. It was the same one that had the tattoo symbolizing his pocket space on his palm.
Even through the glove covering it, a golden light shined as a new symbol appeared on his skin. When Jordan took off the glove, he caught the moment that the new tattoo had fully formed and the light had just begun to fade. As the first had been in the shape of a treasure chest, this one¡¯s purpose was abundantly clear.
For it looked just like the crown he currently held. Or rather, the one he had been holding onto, because now it was gone. The second the glow had fully faded away, Jordan¡¯s clenched fingers suddenly met empty space before being pressed together. As he focused on the new tattoo, just like before, an influx of information about how it worked then hit his mind.
¡°Oh boy. This- this is definitely going to be an upgrade over just finding a cave for shelter. I need¡ space. Yeah, gotta stand back for this,¡± Jordan mumbled to himself as he then began to look around. He went ahead and ordered his drone to back away until it was next to the nearest trees. As it did so, he also walked over to join it.
Because when looking around, one would be able to note that the Mandate had been placed right in the middle of a modest clearing. Where all the trees around it formed an even circle that had them equally away from the center.
And what the System had planned in terms of the free building would be taking up nearly that entire space.
Chapter 18: Starting a New Kingdom
Building to begin shortly.
Please finalize the user¡¯s desires for the structure.
With that prompt from the System, a sort of overlay filled his vision. It was best compared to many games with building mechanics, where one could see a transparent preview of what was being built before actually committing to it. Something similar happened now, as Jordan also got several screens popping in to add more detail to the process.
The default structure was basically just a cube. It filled almost the entirety of the available space in the clearing. But aside from just the visual reference, the System also provided more exact specs about its size through one of the screens.
Dimensions:
Length: 25 Meters
Width: 25 Meters
Height: 25 Meters
Jordan couldn¡¯t help but whistle a bit with appreciation. It seemed that even the almighty System could recognize that Metric was objectively the better¡ well, system! And while he was fine with working in Metric and had the conversion between it and Imperial long since ingrained into his mind due to the nature of his studies, he couldn¡¯t help but be biased. Jordan was an eagle-riding, burger-eating, grease-blooded American, after all. So, even though his mind knew which measurement system was objectively better, his heart still urged him to auto-convert it in his head anyway. To show the System that he would not be forced into-
Dimensions:
Length: 82.021 Feet
Width: 82.021 Feet
Height: 82.021 Feet
Seeing the updated text, Jordan wondered if the System was actually a conscious entity with its own personality. Because while he could appreciate the attention to detail in the exact conversion, something about it just felt rather sassy. Who knew, it could just as easily be him assigning intent where there actually wasn¡¯t any.
But man, what the Hell is up with that square footage? Just over 6700 square feet? I¡¯d have been fine with something equivalent to a tiny cottage. But at that size, this thing is a fucking mansion! And that¡¯s just the basic length and width I¡¯m thinking about; if you divide that height into stories by adding floors, that¡¯s just even more insane! Jordan thought to himself.
He rubbed his hands together as he took it in. Partially just a motion he did out of excitement, but very largely due to the fact that he was starting to get cold. It¡¯d been night for a while now, and the cool air was beginning to feel fairly chilly.
Hopefully the new building came pre-equipped with heating too. However, as Jordan then glanced around the other screens, those hopes were pretty quickly dashed. Because as far as he could tell, it would be rather lacking in the department of anything coming installed.
The next step was to determine two things that seemed to be tied together. First the material that the building would be constructed from, and then that would change the thickness of its borders.
Materials:
Multiversal Standard Concrete
Multiversal Standard A5 Steel
Titanium
Aluminum
The options present were fascinating in themselves. He imagined that it would have been easy for the System to just throw something like concrete and decide the exact composition on its own. But like the description of his Engineer¡¯s Uniform, it¡¯d pointedly went with something that was apparently a standard across the multiverse.
Now, there was a chicken or the egg question in there, however. Because was something the standard because it¡¯d been decided between universes and then accepted by the System? Or was it the standard because the System had already called it such to other universes, like in this instance?
But alright, let¡¯s look at what we know. Which is¡ not much, to be honest. Pretty sure that the ideal type of material for a building to be made of is a civil engineering question, likely better if they also got a a degree in metallurgy or something. If the question is which one would I want if someone started using their Skills to break through the walls, then¡ titanium? All I¡¯m sure about is that titanium has a reputation for getting a good back out of your buck, in terms of how strong it is for its weight. Hmm. Jordan considered the question for a little bit, but then decided to look at it from another way.
If these options were in a vacuum, then it¡¯d be a hard choice where he would likely end up just making a basically random guess. But when it came to making a comparison, the System had provided one form of measurement. The thickness of each material.
He could only see two good reasons why they would vary, at least off the top of his head. The first was that the System wanted to keep the total mass of the building around or below a certain level. The second was that it because the building would be the first and main base of his Kingdom, it may want to keep a certain amount of balance in terms of durability.
It would be kind of wild if someone got a base made of sticks and straw, and another got a nigh impenetrable fortress of metal. Though at the same time, this was the same System that had previously considered Time Mage and regular Mage to be equal Classes to start with. Or compare the other options to his own Class, and the undeniably awesome Skill of summoning a long-range drone.
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Right, let¡¯s try this. Should as good of a test as any to see what¡¯s going on here, Jordan thought to himself. It¡¯d only taken him a few seconds of thinking to realize how he could find out.
With just a thought, he had the System reduce the base¡¯s dimensions by half. Something which actually added an additional, interesting result. Because as the blue outline of the building immediately shrank down, there was still a second outline bordered with red left in its place. Glancing through the list of screens to double-check, he quickly confirmed what the new outline was.
Kingdom Territory:
Length: 82.021 Feet
Width: 82.021 Feet
Height: 82.021 Feet
Jordan also found out that this too was something he could decrease. But¡ why would he? Like the option was nice in terms of just having the freedom to do, but he¡¯d be surprised if anyone did it. Maybe it was just a feature for giving up territory claims that another Kingdom might want. So not relevant now, but potentially later. In terms of expanding it, however, Jordan quickly found that this starting territory was already at the max.
In any case, the results of the test were promising. Even after shrinking down the size of building, the thickness values did not change. He could lower it all the way down to being small enough to easily hold with one hand, and yet there was still no effect on the walls¡¯ thickness.
So since that seemed to be predetermined, Jordan made the decision simple for himself. Just go with the option that would provide the thickest walls. That felt like the wisest decision in terms of overall defensive capability. In which case, the answer was concrete. With that now settled, he moved on to other screens and adjustments.
The remaining details of the base were just that, details. He did adjust the overall shape to be less of a basic cube and instead more rectangular like a typical concrete building. This did result in some of the maximum territory not being utilized, but it felt fine to leave some out. In terms of finding out if territory meant anything in terms of actual function that could be applied outside of just the building¡¯s placement, having some outside could be helpful.
Aside from that, Jordan did discover that he could do some interior adjusting as well. Specifically in the form of actually being able to add multiple floors himself. However, there were limitations to this. He was able to keep into the details of ensuring that some part of each upper floor was cut-out to make space for either stairs or ladders. What he could do was manually either of himself. Jordan even tried to finagle it into making something like a rock climbing wall as a type of ladder. But for the walls themselves, that level of detailing didn¡¯t seem to be possible.
So yeah, for now he just went with smaller holes for ladders. Since it felt like that would be easier to make himself later than stairs that he would trust to remain stable and easy to use.
Several years ago, Jordan had an uncle who¡¯d advised him to look into civil engineering instead, after he¡¯d expressed an interest in computer engineering during high school. His uncle had ended up passing away a few years ago, but if there was an afterlife, Jordan was certain he was laughing at him from down there. And yes, down was definitely the direction of afterlife where he would have gone.
Finally, it was done. Jordan gave all the screens a final once over to make sure that there was nothing left he wanted to change at the last second. After finding no such desirable changes to make, he breathed a sigh of relief.
It¡¯s been¡ a long, long fucking day. Don¡¯t even know if I¡¯ll actually be able to sleep once I start trying. Or if I can, if it¡¯ll even be restful and nightmare-free. Jordan felt a tingle run up his spine as he reflexively pictured the faces of those who had died. Despite an attempt to make some peace with what had happened by making his promise to the deceased, the final expressions of their dead faces would likely remain stuck in his memory for as long as he lived.
His head turned upward as he looked up at the sky. Even all the way up to the top, the clearing remained free from any coverage by the forest¡¯s canopy. It was now since entering the giant forest that he actually had a chance to see the night sky of this world.
There was no moon, at least not one that he¡¯d been able to see so far. But the sky was practically crammed with stars. Living in urban areas his whole life, Jordan had never personally gone stargazing in an area away from any light pollution. But the sight before him put even the most wondrous pictures and videos of Earth¡¯s starry nights to shame. In many spots, the sheer density of stars almost made it seem like there wasn¡¯t any space between them. At first glance, it often gave the initial appearance of actually being merged together into massive yet still clearly distant stars.
Because of them, it was in this clearing that Jordan was actually able to see reasonably well without any assistance. Perhaps it was thanks to this that he was able to spot what he saw next. For when Jordan looked down from the sky, his gaze quickly caught movement between the trees almost opposite from him.
The figure seemed to be still well over a hundred feet away from the clearing. Yet, just as Jordan had blinked with surprise, a deep and uncomfortable sensation washed over him. When someone said that they could feel when they were being watched, it was often assumed that they were being paranoid or at least hyperbolic. But that was the only real way to describe this feeling. Jordan just knew that someone had looked at him with the intent to observe him.
Beyond the initial shock, the more reasonable part of his brain knew what happened. Someone had just used Appraise on him, and this must have been what Audrey felt like when he had tried it on her. At this point, Jordan was only surprised about how lacking her reaction had been to what was a most creepy and unwelcome feeling.
Yet knowing exactly who¡¯d it been from, Jordan cast his own Appraise on the incoming figure. Who quickly stopped in place just as the screen then popped before him.
Name: Joey Moore
Species: Human (Earth)
Guild: N/A
Class: Rogue
Subclass: N/A
Level: 2
Grade: E
Well¡ shit, Jordan thought to himself. And right before he¡¯d affirmed to the System that his choices for the building had been finalized and ready for construction. Talk about bad timing.
Now the question remained: would that fact prove to be a positive or a negative?
Chapter 19: First Encounter With Humanity
Jordan¡¯s heart skipped a beat as his mind raced. His Energy Pistol was still put away from when he had been holding onto the drone. But at the moment, he could almost feel the weight of it in his hand as he considered if he should pull the weapon out.
The next few seconds seemed to almost stretch into eternity. Made even worse by the silence as neither he nor the newcomer had moved or said anything since spotting each other. Jordan already knew that rather than some cosmic coincidence, there was only one reason why the other man had arrived. He had felt the pull toward here, same as him. However, that was exactly the problem.
The Quest should have let him know that this one was already claimed, right? Even if the System didn¡¯t redirect you to the next nearest Mandate, it should have at least done that much, Jordan wondered. If he was right, then the man would have felt it, but then chose to keep coming this way anyway.
Yet even if things went awry, Jordan had a trump card in hand. The drone was maybe only a dozen or so feet away from him. Right now, it was just barely between the trees bordering the perimeter of the clearing. This meant that it was shadowed over, and the light coming from the guns in the same style as the Energy Pistol should have been incredibly hard to miss. Even if he hadn¡¯t looked at it directly first, the guy definitely should have seen it by now.
Jordan went ahead and relayed a quick order to the large drone. If it came down to it, at least it-
¡°Hey! Jordan?! Right?!¡± the man apparently named Joey called. Finally breaking the awkward stretch of silence, he¡¯d raised his voice to be clearly heard across more than a hundred feet separating the two of them.
¡°That¡¯s right¡ Joey! First person I meet while wandering around, and their name also starts with J! Pretty fun coincidence, isn¡¯t it?¡± Jordan called back, hoping to cool the tension a bit with his words.
¡°Yeah! Guess so! Listen, I¡¯ll just cut to the chase since it¡¯s getting cold as balls standing here! There are some people with me, waiting a little further back! We were following that Quest when it suddenly ended a bit ago! Decided to come look anyway, and you¡¯re here! So I¡¯m guessing you claimed that Mandate it was talking about!?¡± Joey inquired.
Well, no point in hiding it. Even if I tried to lie or deflect, it¡¯d be obvious as Hell anyway, he thought to himself. Jordan squinted through the shadows to see if he could catch of the group. However, he couldn¡¯t even get a good grasp of what the other man really looked like, much less catch the outlines of anyone even further back in the darkness.
¡°That was me, yep! Claimed it just a bit ago, and was just looking at the notifications I got for finishing the Quest!¡± Jordan began with what was technically the truth. ¡°But do you wanna get closer and meet in the middle?! Who knows what creatures might be out there?! And us being this loud is probably just announcing that we¡¯re here to anything that can hear us!¡±
¡°I think I¡¯ll chance it! Because how the fuck are you already Level 4!?¡±
¡°Mostly the Quest! Gave me 2500 Experience as part of the reward!¡± Jordan truthfully informed.
¡°Is that so?! Then how come you¡¯re all alone?! I have my reason for being solo right now; what¡¯s yours!?¡± the other man asked. There was a not-so-subtle tone of accusation in his words. Which to be fair, if a stranger was both abnormally high Level and alone¡
¡°My group was attacked by something called a Grass Panther! It snuck up on us in the field we started in! I only managed to survive because someone else had managed to hurt it! But by that point¡ it was too late,¡± Jordan¡¯s voice dropped a bit as he finished. He wasn¡¯t sure if that last part had actually been loud enough for the other guy to catch properly.
¡°So they¡¯re dead?! I¡¯m sorry to hear that; I really am! But you got to know how that sounds from my perspective!? Do you have any way to prove that¡¯s actually what happened?! It might sound rude, but I¡¯d rather not be too trusting of someone who¡¯s double my Level! I got people relying on me, and we can¡¯t be too careful when the word¡¯s already gone crazy!¡± Joey further pushed.
Well that was a bit of a problem. In another world, Jordan¡¯s go-to answer would have been that they could go over and check the bodies. Since the way they died would provide clear signs of being attacked by a large animal, not a person. Yet all that evidence had been erased the moment their corpses were turned into Advancement Crystals. As far as committing the perfect crime went, the System made it easy as pie.
For half a second, he considered bringing up the Mightiest Slayer leaderboard, but then quickly realized that would be an awful idea. First of all, it didn¡¯t exactly prove much beyond the fact that he had only killed one person. Yet even that much couldn¡¯t shown if they didn¡¯t have access to the leaderboard in the first place, assuming that Joey was telling to truth about his people just waiting. Second of all, assuming they were unable to see it, wouldn¡¯t that be suspicious as Hell?
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Yes, he had killed at least one person to gain access to a leaderboard that required killing other people. No, he totally pink swore both that it was only one, and that it¡¯d been a mercy kill to give her a faster and more painless death. So he wasn¡¯t actually a crazed murderer, unlike a bunch of other people higher up on the list. It wouldn¡¯t make for a very good look, to put it as the understatement of the century.
¡°Honestly?! You¡¯ll just have to take my word for it because that¡¯s all I''ve got! But if you don¡¯t want to trust me, that¡¯s fine! Nothing says you have to stay here, and can¡¯t just move on with your group! If you need it, there should be a source of fresh water not that far from here! I wanna say it¡¯s something like five or so miles that way! I could be a bit off though, so you¡¯ll need to look around for yourselves at that point!¡± Jordan pointed toward what he believed to be the approximate direction of the water his drone had scouted out.
The good thing about the Mandate being in a similar direction was that it also put him much closer to it. He was just estimating the distance, since that difference in in direction was still enough to throw it off a bit. Especially so in a world where it was hard to find reference points for things like the cardinal directions, since traditional methods didn¡¯t matter much on another planet with its own everything from Earth.
The stranger named Joey had remained silent for the next few seconds. Likely thinking to himself, now that the helpful tip about the freshwater had been pointed out. He was probably wondering if Jordan was even telling the truth about that.
However, it wasn¡¯t like he had much to gain about lying about such a thing. All it¡¯d give him was a chance to leave the area, yet it wasn¡¯t like anything stopped him from easily escaping now into such a dark forest. Which was a conclusion that the other man seemed to eventually agree with, as he then responded.
¡°Alright, I appreciate the tip! I¡¯ll head back to the others now and tell them what you said! If you¡¯re still here after we check it out, I might come back later to visit again! Just don¡¯t take it the wrong way if we¡¯d rather keep to ourselves, though!¡± On that note, the figure in the shadows had slowly started to back away.
As he did, Jordan raised an arm to wave him goodbye and get in one final word. His original intent was to just wish them goodbye and good luck. But at the very last second, he mentally smacked himself for not thinking to ask something else sooner that was far more important.
¡°Wait! Before you go! Is there anyone named Adam Wright or Leo Price in your group?! They¡¯re good friends of mine, but we separated at the mall not long before the System grabbed us all! I¡¯m hoping that maybe they got put into a close by group instead of mine, and that they¡¯re doing okay!¡± Jordan called to the leaving the man.
The Rogue paused. After going further into the shadows, the movement of him turning back could be barely seen.
¡°Not that I¡¯m aware of! But hey! If the water is where you say it is, maybe other groups will find it too! If we find your friends there, I¡¯ll tell them about and point them your way!¡± He called back. And although his voice was a little more raised, his tone was now a degree less suspicious.
¡°I¡¯d appreciate that!¡± Jordan replied with a wave. That marked the end of the encounter, as the stranger quickly disappeared entirely from his sight. It was only after he was sure that man was long gone that Jordan turned his attention back to the base building. Though just in case his own warning about something overhearing their loud conversation came true, he did take some precautions.
First he took the obvious step of drawing his Energy Pistol to keep it in hand again. After that, he adjusted his orders for the drone and had it begin a patrol. It just needed to circle the immediate area and desummon itself if it spotted a human, but for anything else, it was to just open fire and start blasting.
But now after that sudden interruption, finally, the moment had arrived.
The desired structure has been finalized!
Automatic construction will now begin!
Estimated time until completion: 30 minutes
With that prompt, all the other screens then disappeared. Both of the outlines also went away, but only in terms of their current visual representation. Jordan still had a distinct sense of where the line for the territory bordered, and felt that he could point out the exact spot for its location, down to the centimeter.
Starting from the top right of the ground, at least from where Jordan was standing, a concrete square then appeared. He didn''t even get to see a process for its creation. That spot had just been dry leaves one second, and then concrete the next. Around 15 seconds later, another square appeared to its left. As Jordan just observed for the next minute, the floor of his new base continued to get built by just one piece at a time.
Well, I got half an hour to kill now. And I still need to get a drink, so I could make that the last goal for the night now that shelter has been officially secured. Then when I get back, I¡¯ll make a fire and have some roasted Rabbit for dinner, Jordan thought to himself, deciding his next plan of action.
Now there was the chance that he might awkwardly encounter the other group on the way to the source of fresh water, since he¡¯d just pointed them that way. But he didn¡¯t think the chances of were very high in truth. Since if they were indeed a group like Joey had claimed and that hadn¡¯t been a lie, then it would probably take them about two hours to reach it. Meanwhile, if his estimate of it being about five miles way was right, then the time it¡¯d take him while riding his drone should be¡ seven to eight minutes.
Man, having an actual vehicle to ride was truly starting to feel kind of overpowered. For the time being, he would just get there and back. Then hopefully the other group would warm up to him, and willing to at least give him a chance. Jordan knew that he could use the company, compared to being all alone in his soon-to-be-built home.
Chapter 20: End of Day One
As Jordan then rode through the forest on the top of his drone, the other inhabitants of Vervina-C also remained active. For those on the same part of the planet as him, night turned the fear of being in a strange world into pure terror as darkness shrouded the land.
For those on the opposite side of the planet, the promise of dawn brought hope to end what¡¯d been a long first night. Then for others still who¡¯d been dropped in the vast underground networks of the planet, the time of day mattered not in dealing with their new reality.
The System did not discriminate on who was considered an Initial Merger. Even toddlers who had barely any concept of how to act were not removed from those considered valid competitors. Out of the many who died in just those first several hours, a non-zero amount had been due to the obvious consequences of these children being given lethal powers that they should have no right to be given in a sane reality.
However, not all would pass even the initial culling. For when the System said that the people of Earth had reached an acceptable level of compatibility, what it considered to be so was a figure less than 100%.
The few people in Jordan¡¯s group who had suffered ruptured internal organs would have been considered on the luckier side. Because compared to those who were considered the least compatible, not even a team of Healers in each of their respective groups would have been enough to save them from the resulting effect on their bodies.
In terms of the total number of deaths within that initial period, those killed as part of the Mightiest Slayer Quest were but a tiny fraction. Even for those that had survived so far, their lives were filled with suffering as the System had been equal in their population¡¯s distribution, but only up to a certain degree.
While Jordan and his group had started in a field with only a single threat that they could have easily dealt with if they¡¯d been working together as a cohesive unit, only so many got such a kind start. Many other groups were put into environments that were considered fair only by the System¡¯s unknown standards. Where some areas had a high density of monsters, and so the group placed there would also be given a higher number of members to start with.
Yet that didn¡¯t always prove to be a good thing. More people also meant more chances for something to go wrong, which can cause a domino effect. Sometimes, it¡¯d taken just a single person violently lash out during a panicked moment to spark a fire of chaos. Though even when this wasn¡¯t the case and the large group remained stable, those who¡¯d been dropped in areas with particularly aggressive and high Level beasts would often get wiped out anyway.
Such was the reality for humanity. Of the different sapient races that¡¯d been part of their universe and now also forced on Vervina-C, they were the second most populous. Yet in terms of overall mental hardiness and readiness for an event such as the Merging, humanity was undisputably in last place.
Unfortunately, the competition would prove fierce for placement of the top Species of their world. For there was another Species that would prove to be both the first most populous and capable of handling the Merging. And as Jordan did something so mundane as moving to collect water, it was the one at the forefront of this top Species that only continued to strive toward climbing the ladder of progression even higher.
The Species in question was one not limited to just the 42nd universe, but widespread and feared across the entire multiverse. Their size made even the largest humans seem childlike in comparison. Their tough bodies allowed them to shrug off all sorts of physical attacks with ease, where even if humanity had been able to bring their guns, it still wouldn¡¯t have made a difference. And their fierceness in combat would make even the most aggressively territorial of creatures reconsider if defending their territory would be worth it.
The most common sapient Species in the multiverse, always evolving on almost every planet capable of supporting life. It was only a question of if they evolved to eventually become the peak lifeform of their world, which they most often did. Such a trend led to their standard belief that they were chosen by the System itself as the destined Species that would someday rule over all of existence.
Even the planet Earth had these creatures, although it was still only in their relatively stage. Had the Merging waited another billion or so years before occurring, they would have most likely evolved by then to become the apex of that planet as well.
The Species in question was, of course, the Crab.
God damn, just how fast is this guy going to keep leveling up? Jordan asked himself as he drove away from the source of fresh water. It¡¯d been a river, perhaps over 15 feet wide on average and at least just as deep.
It was at its shore that Jordan had discovered a very, very neat trick. When it come to something that it could take in, his pocket space was very generous. His initial plan had been to clean and then use the helmets in there as makeshift buckets. But when gallons of water had been easily absorbed right into the tattoo on his palm from an idea he¡¯d tested just on a whim, that hadn¡¯t proved to be necessary.
But now with plenty of water for the near future secured, Jordan had decided to see how the leaderboard for Levels was going. And while his own placement had obviously jumped by quite a lot compared to just a couple of hours ago, others had clearly also remained productive. Particularly the person who continued to absolutely dominate the top spot on both it and the Mightiest Slayer list.
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Mightiest Individual:
1: Wilfred Wilbur Wyndham III (Level 7)
2: Carl Rowe (Level 6)
3: Zorliay Qorath¡¯zyrunch (Level 5)
4: Yvaro Qorath¡¯zyrunch (Level 5)
5: Sebastion Ironclaw (Level 5)
¡
12: Jordan Joyner (Level 4)
Alright, maybe even quite a lot was actually a humble way to describe his own jump up the leaderboard. To go from the hundreds to just a smidge outside the top ten was most certainly not something to downplay. And that was even considering how others had placed higher than him in the Quest for the Mandate.
If the System did provide an additional reward for the top five or top three, he wouldn¡¯t be surprised if it¡¯d been in the form of even more bonus Experience. Especially since the Title seemed to have already been the best it was willing to offer from how it was described. Or at least that¡¯s what he hoped, because Jordan didn¡¯t want to imagine how insane it¡¯d be if there was an even better version of the Title with higher Stat bonuses.
Though from the current status of the leaderboard, Jordan noted a few things while on the journey back to his new base. The first was that Wilfred had broken the record for the highest Level again by being the first to reach Level 7.
Though assuming that he¡¯d also placed well for the Mandate claiming Quest, it was still a significant slowdown in progress compared to earlier that day. Perhaps it just went to show the degree that the Experience requirements per Level went up and basically forced one to Level slower.
The second point was that one of the previous members of the top five was down. Her first name had been Karin, that much he could remember for sure. But while Jordan did scroll down the list a bit to double-check, he confirmed that she hadn¡¯t just gotten pushed down.
No, she appeared to have simply been removed from the leaderboard entirely, which could only mean one thing. That at some point since he last checked it, she must have died. And now her spot had been taken by Sebastion, who was someone that notably was also a peak performer on the Mightiest Slayer listing.
Third and finally, Jordan once more did a quick check for his friends and family. Hell, he even checked through the Slayer leaderboard too, because one never knew what could happen. However, he still couldn¡¯t find any names that he could recognize. That was something he could have accepted earlier when he first checked after reaching Level 2, but considering how much time had already passed¡
Adam I can get, but at least Leo should have hit Level 2 by now. But if he hasn¡¯t, then¡ fuck man. Then there¡¯s Mom and Dad. If something like the Grass Panther chased them, they wouldn¡¯t even be able to run with Dad¡¯s leg being what it is. Please¡ please, just let me be wrong. Let them be okay, somewhere out there. Jordan could only hope that whatever circumstances they faced had prevented them from joining either leaderboard without meaning their deaths.
Yet that kind of vague hope could only carry a man so far on a good day. And having seen firsthand just how brutally efficient in murder the creatures of this world could be, today was not a good day for hope. Jordan sometimes wished that he could be a little more naive, a little more willing to just accept that hope as what had to be reality.
Over the course of the next few minutes, tears trickled down his face. With both hands needed to hold onto the drone and his arms fully extended, he had little ability to wipe them away. But perhaps somewhere in himself, for the sake of his heart, these freely flowing tears were an emotional outlet that he actually needed to have.
Asking himself if they were still alive every few hours would only compromise his mental stability and thinking in the long run. So, until proven otherwise, Jordan had to act with the assumption that his friends and family were already dead. That he would take the night to grieve, but only tonight.
When Jordan returned to the site of his base, the tears had already dried from the air that hit his face while riding his drone. And despite wanting to start focusing on his grief, he couldn¡¯t, at least not quiet yet. First, he needed to prioritize his basic survival needs and have dinner.
Cooking the meat and boiling the water would require fire, yet the blanket of dry leaves covering the ground was a major hazard for a forest fire. And as tempting as it was to just let one happen and burn a part of this world down, that would ultimately be just self-destructive since he¡¯d get caught in it too. Jordan hadn¡¯t yet reached the mental breaking point needed to intentionally do something like that, and hopefully never would.
So Jordan spent the next several minutes clearing a spot. It was a large circle almost directly in front of what would become the entrance to the building. Once the hazard was mitigated, he then built a pile made from some dry twigs, branches, and such he¡¯d found while clearing the ground. Finally, Zap as a Skill finally made itself useful as an excellent fire starter.
It took a bit of fanning to actually get going, even with the extremely dry material. But once the fire caught and became self-sufficent, Jordan felt himself finally relax a bit. For a human in a strange place in the wilderness, a campfire was an inherently comforting thing. Yet just as he was about to start setting things up to get some water boiled first, a notification interrupted him.
Automatic construction has now been completed!
The user¡¯s First Boon has now been installed within the finished building!
Congratulations!
By attaining your Kingdom, you have now qualified for placement on the leaderboard of the Quest: Mightiest Kingdom. You may now view the Mightiest Kingdom leaderboard and your current place on it at any time.
Kingdom created!
Before leaderboard placement can be finalized, the user must affirm a name for the Kingdom.
Jordan rubbed his eyes. He thought that he was done for the day, but it seemed not quite yet. Now he needed to check inside the building for both what the First Boon was like, and just to generally see what it looked like now that the interior was done. But before that, he supposed that he could take care of this first.
Assuming that there wouldn¡¯t be a chance to change ever again after affirming his choice, it would likely be a permanent decision. So, with that being said, just what kind of name should his new Kingdom of one even go by?
Chapter 21: Naming a Kingdom
Names were easy, since anything could hypothetically be one. Now, good names? Good names were a bit harder. Especially considering that it was entirely subjective, and what one person thought was a decent idea might seem entirely awful to someone else.
Jordan¡¯s Kingdom? Nah, a five-year-old could do better than that. Maybe base it off my Class for the Nation of Combat Engineering, or Combat Engineer¡¯s Kingdom? Hmm. You know what? That second one¡¯s not too horrible, but let¡¯s just add it to the ¡°maybe¡± column for now. Actually¡ would adding the Kingdom just be redundant? Because if they¡¯re all Kingdoms, then would adding it to the end of the name just become Kingdom Kingdom? Or would the System add the extra Kingdom to the front instead? Jordan asked himself.
He considered the question as his hands mindlessly worked to construct a spit over the fire. There were plenty of sticks and branches to construct one out of, especially now that the clearing had enough light for him to actually see them.
So, as his mind was occupied, he just tried to stay productive by getting something set up to hang a metal helmet from. The helmet in question had already been pulled from his pocket space, with spare clothing used to plug up the eye holes as tightly as he could. In lieu of a proper bucket, it was the best he had. The sooner he could get some water boiling to kill off any germs and then let it cool back down until it was no longer hot enough to burn his mouth, the better.
When Jordan had collected the water just earlier, he¡¯d been tempted to drink straight from the source. In the dim light his drone provided, the river had looked crystal clear and welcomingly refreshing. With how thirsty he already was, a large part of him had been tempted to just cup his hands into the river and finally start drinking something. Hell, there was even a chance that his Vitality, if functioned like he assumed it did, was now high enough that he wouldn¡¯t get sick.
Or for that matter, would the germs of another planet even impact him? Both bacteria and viruses tended to only affect certain types of victims based on which ones they directly evolved to infect, right? So who was to say if some alien virus would even know what to do if it found itself inside his human digestive system?
Anyway, the rational part of his brain had won out in deciding to play it safe. He¡¯d heard before at some point that one of the worst things that can happen in a survival situation was to get sick or injured. Which meant that the least he could do was not be an idiot and get himself sick by taking unnecessary and wholly avoidable risks.
The Techno Empire? No, that sounds¡ tacky? Is that the right word? Meh. Anyway, how about, hmm. How about The Drone Empire? Jordan continued to internally comment on the ideas as they came to him. He didn¡¯t put that much thought into any of them, just allowing a stream of consciousness to spit out names that he then considered for just a few seconds at most before moving on to the next.
It helped to have something so simple and honestly kind of silly to think about. While the decision would be permanent and likely follow him forever, that didn¡¯t stop it from feeling like something kids might do as they thought about names for their made-up nations to rule over. And then debated about how their nation¡¯s name was obviously the most awesome of them all. Compared to the much darker subjects he could have been currently thinking about instead, it made for a nice distraction.
You know what? Jordan thought as he used his old shirt to tie the helmet to a branch, allowing to just slightly hang from the middle.
The helmet swung a bit as his tying skills were put to the test. Hands raised, he was prepared to stop it from falling before it crashed into the fire below. But thankfully, it held, and seemed to be stable enough for him to pour the water in. For that, all he had to do was hold his palm over the upside-down helmet and open his pocket space. Then with his other hand, he ¡°pulled out¡± a stream of water.
He thought of it that way, because he still made the same motion that was like drawing a sword from an invisible sheath. However, that was mainly just because it was the closest comparison he could currently make. Because all he needed to do to activate the pocket space was the action of acting as if he was reaching into it.
The moment he did so while thinking about what he wanted, it just spat the thing out into his waiting hand. In this case, that item had been approximately enough water to fill the space within the helmet. Since that was how the pocket space worked and its very loose definition of what was considered a valid item, he could just as easily start collecting the air around him if he really wanted to.
Why don¡¯t I just simplify things by taking a page out of the System¡¯s book? Jordan continued his earlier thought. The Boon it gave me was called the Herald of Industry, so why not just base the name on that? How about¡ The Center of Industry. Hmm, no, probably too wordy for a nation¡¯s name. Actually, why not just Industry?
Jordan rubbed his chin as he actually latched onto that idea. One word, short and simple. Whether or not the System throws in Kingdom every time it''s mentioned, it still works either way. So that could be Industry, Industry Kingdom, or Kingdom of Industry. I guess the only way it doesn¡¯t really work is if the System decides to make it read as Kingdom Industry instead. But if it does that for everyone else, I¡¯m sure others will suffer that too as an awkward start to every name. And if collective suffering is the case, then I can live with that.
The desired name of the Kingdom has been finalized!
Industry¡¯s placement on the leaderboard has been finalized!
With that prompt, his next action was obviously to open the leaderboard to see it for himself.
Mightiest Kingdom:
1: Golden Empire of the Eternal Golden Prince (Rank 1)
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.2: Golden Empire of the Eternal Golden Prince (Rank 1)
3: Kingdom of Clan Qorath¡¯zyrunch (Rank 1)
4: Vervina¡¯s Heartland (Rank 1)
5: Golden Empire of the Eternal Golden Prince (Rank 1)
¡
8: Industry (Rank 1)
What the Hell? Jordan¡¯s eyes narrowed as he stared at the screen, confused. In any normal circumstance, his initial reaction would been of joy at being so high up and so close to the top five. But now he was just weirded out about the three Kingdoms whose repeating name had taken up not one, not two, but three of those top spots.
And it didn¡¯t even end there. The seventh spot on the list was a fourth instance. Behind him, the total number of Kingdoms on the leaderboard currently tallied 12. There luckily wasn¡¯t another instance of this Golden Empire, at least not yet. Though at this rate, he would not be surprised if it showed up at least a few more times by the time all 25 freely guided Kingdoms from the Quest were established.
Just who could this Golden Prince even be? Unless the System just put at least four Mandates bunched together in one spot, there¡¯s no way one group could have claimed that many. Unless¡ maybe they didn¡¯t need to be close together? What if all these guys are part of some faction, and at least one person got a Class that allows for long-range communication? Jordan asked himself as the water steadily continued to heat up.
It was very possible for such a Class and related Skills to exist. In a world where he could conjure drones out of thin air, long-range telepathy or something wouldn¡¯t exactly be the strangest thing. He wasn¡¯t sure what kind of Trait one would even need to have picked to unlock such a Class, but when billions of people existed, practically every Trait had a chance to get picked at least once. If you only needed one person with such Skills to establish communication between far-away groups, then mass coordination on day one was definitely viable.
As he remained lost in idle thought, the water slowly came to a boil. When it did so, he allowed it to stay boiling for a few minutes before moving it away from the fire. Then as the water was given time to cool back down a bit, Jordan used that time to throw a Rabbit on the spit. However, it turned out that being lost in your own head wasn¡¯t always the best idea.
¡°Ah, shit!¡± Jordan cursed as the horrid stench of burning fur assaulted his nose. He¡¯d started to cook the Rabbit without thinking about preparing it, and so this was the natural result. While his patrolling land drone allowed him some peace of mind from the cooking meat and its potential to attract hungry predators, the smell itself was still horrible.
Jordan then hurriedly pulled the branch away from the fire as the easiest way to remove the Rabbit quickly. But in the rush, he knocked over the clumsily built spit, causing the whole thing to fall apart into the fire below. One stick only dipped into the flames for a moment before rolling off. Thankfully, it hadn¡¯t been in there long enough to catch fire and spread it to the dry leaves outside the cleared pit.
Pulling it off hadn¡¯t helped with the already burning fur, however. But then after cursing himself for not doing so first, Jordan threw the small body into his pocket space. Closing his eyes, the young man then rubbed at his face as the moment of chaos passed. Then after taking a deep breath to calm himself, he began to gather a fresh set of sticks to rebuild a new spit over the campfire.
It¡¯s not a big deal. Just some burnt fur that smelled bad. Not a big deal at all; just get over it and move on, he mentally told himself. But deeper in his heart, Jordan knew that he wasn¡¯t in the
best place. If even a minor inconvenience could throw him off his game by this much, then it only proved that what he needed now was water, a hot meal, and then some especially needed sleep.
To at least address that first need, the water had at least gotten cool enough to not scald his tongue. Taking a careful sip at first to make sure of that, he allowed it to sit in his mouth before gulping the liquid down. Then he took a large swig, gulping down entire mouthfuls at a time with barely any breaths taken between each gulp. The heat from the recently boiled water filled his gut and chest.
But while he normally preferred his drinks ice-cold, it was still almost heavenly now in its refreshment. From a trip to the movies with plenty of popcorn and caffeinated soda, Jordan had arguably been dehydrated even before the Merging. Something made worse by the long day filled with more than its fair share of stress and physical exertion.
Yet more than just quench his thirst, the water did wonders for his psyche. It felt almost cleaning, like the bit of tightness his throat had been holding for hours could finally relax. How much it actually helped versus how much the feeling was just him imagining it was hard to say. But for the time being, something was most certainly better than nothing.
Sighing with satisfaction, most of the water had been drained. With a helmet not acting as the best cup, quite a bit had gone down his chin and spilled onto his shirt. But that was fine. Taking out a sword from his pocket space, Jordan studied how it reflected the fire¡¯s light for a moment. Then he pulled out a different Rabbit, and cut into its fur.
You¡¯re supposed to do it like this, right, Dad? The memories of camping and being taught such things by his father were distant. It¡¯d easily been well over a decade since those days, before Jordan¡¯s dad had lost his job and been forced to switch to one that paid considerably less. With that forcing every week to be a long one to compensate for the pay difference by always working overtime, there hadn¡¯t been many chances for more camping trips.
After making the cut, Jordan pushed his fingers into the incision. Then, with both hands, he pulled in opposite directions. It only took a bit of effort for the skin and fur to peel off as he pulled. He vaguely recalled that Rabbits and such were one of the easier critters to deskin like this.
Experience Earned!
+24 EXP
He glanced up at the notification. Speaking of critters, it seemed his drone had just murdered a Bark Snake or something else that was Level 2. At least the main benefit of its constant patrol was now starting to kick in. If anything came close while he slept tonight, they should turn into additional notifications for him to view upon waking.
Moving a bit away from the campfire for this next part, Jordan still had the sword in hand. Grabbing a few arrows from the Ranger¡¯s quiver, Jordan stuck the skinned mammal into the side of a tree. Then stretching out its legs with one hand, it took just a single good swing to cut off the Rabbit¡¯s legs. Letting the blood drain out was another thing he recalled as a common practice.
Jordan¡¯s stomach rumbled as he walked around. The water currently sloshing around inside hadn¡¯t a lot for his actual hunger and had only helped a little by filling his stomach. But it could wait for a bit longer, because if he was going to have a meal, he¡¯d do it right and prepare it properly. Or at least as properly as Jordan knew to do, anyway.
But since that now needed some time to drain, it was finally time to address something he¡¯d been putting off. Mostly out of nervousness at what it could possibly be, since it would apparently define the very path his Kingdom would start on. It was about time he went inside the building and saw just what the already installed Boon had for him.
Chapter 22: Herald of Industry
¡°Woah!¡± The single exclamation of surprise was all that his mouth could conjure up as he walked inside. There hadn¡¯t been a door into the building, just the open space where a doorway would have gone. So the sight now before him had been immediately viewable from the moment he had stepped in front of the entrance.
For having a single building be the start of a Kingdom, the System hadn¡¯t slouched. What Jordan had seen during the initial construction had now provenly just been the blueprint for the general construction. After that had been done, the System had clearly gone to town to handle the interior design itself.
After only being able to do it himself to a limited degree earlier, he certainly wouldn¡¯t complain now. Because anything he would have designed for the inside would never have been able to match what the System had chosen to do.
Overheard lighting in the form of long fluorescent lamps illuminated the space. Concrete shelving lined the walls to each side, with pairs of cabinets occasionally in between them. On one side was the space he¡¯d left for a future ladder, but now that plan wasn¡¯t needed, as one made of concrete and fixed to the wall had been provided as well. At the middle point of the left and right walls was a single, long table. Above each one was a set of cabinets for even more storage capacity.
As Jordan looked around, a sense of warmth removed any leftover chill in his bones. And as if to prove that it wasn¡¯t his imagination, a light breeze carrying the cool night air hit him in the back. With how much colder it felt now compared to just earlier, it made him shiver. But it seemingly indicated that along with the lighting, the building had also come with built-in heating. Something which was freaking amazing, at least, in his humble opinion.
Yet the crown jewel of it all had to be saved for last. Opposite from the doorway, there were two things of note. One was a concrete door, which in itself was puzzling. Because as far as Jordan knew, where he¡¯d come in from should have been the only entrance. And even that hadn¡¯t been granted a free door to come in through. But far more prominent was the object next to the door, which took up a large amount of the central space of the back wall.
Unlike everything else that was solely made of the same concrete as the building itself, this thing was primarily made of metal. The machine was rectangular in shape, longer than it was tall. As Jordan walked closer to it, he estimated that it was about 10 feet long, and then 5 feet in both height and width.
The object itself was fairly sleek and minimalist in its actual design. It was made of some kind of blue-grey metal and uniformly polished smooth on all sides. The only exception to this was two spots. On the front side was a sliding door made of glass, and then about four feet away from it was a second one.
In Jordan¡¯s mind, the best way to describe them would be cubicles. Because on the side of each sliding door was a bit of empty space, as if something was meant to be put inside them. The pair of spaces inside the machine wasn¡¯t too large, as they seemed to be also rectangular at three feet in length and one foot in height. Considering their length and the space between them, each was at the edge of the front side.
Okay, you definitely have some kind of purpose. The question is: what? Hmmm. What if I do this? Now just a few feet away from it, Jordan came to a stop as he tried something. His idea was to see if using Appraise on the large object would yield any results.
Name: Industrial Transmuter
Charge: 100%
EXP: 0/10000
Rank: 1
Description: The First Boon and centerpiece of Industry¡¯s future potential as a Kingdom. It acts as both its own device, and the central power source of the Kingdom¡¯s first building. This System-created machine is one of a kind, as it allows for the recycling of any object into another of the same materials and mass. The only limitations are the size of the item transmuted and the user¡¯s imagination.
¡°No fucking way. That can¡¯t be right, can it? I- I need to test this out, now!¡± Jordan excitedly said as he hurried toward it. The demon of sleep was temporarily banished as the adrenaline rush of pure wonder kept it at bay.
¡°Let¡¯s see, what to¡ Hmm. Ah, sure, let¡¯s go with this!¡± His mind had raced for an item to use a a test. Everything in his pocket space was an option, but he wouldn¡¯t want to screw up anything useful like the Healing Wand. Even if his incompatibility had stated that he couldn¡¯t use it, he would bet that he¡¯d only get one chance to use the Transmuter, or else he risked the magic inside being ruined forever.
From the tattoo, he then produced an arrow. The Ranger had been given plenty as part of her starting set of equipment, as someone who had never practiced archery in his life, they weren¡¯t exactly needed. They were meant to go with the bow which was also magical, but they were just another weapon. In essence, there wasn¡¯t much they could do that his Energy Pistol couldn¡¯t do anyway.
¡°Alrighty, so let¡¯s put you in here, and then what?¡± Jordan asked himself as he placed the arrow into the space on the left. At first, there was no reaction. So just nodding to himself, he then closed the sliding glass. The moment it was fully closed, there was an audible click.
Jordan blinked as a rush of understanding and knowledge then hit his mind. He glanced between the two slots. The young man rubbed his hands together as he processed the information he had just gained.
Okay, so that explains the Charge but lack of how I can recharge it in the description. Unlike the Energy Pistol, I can¡¯t just use my infinitely regenerating TP and call it a day. Instead, I basically have two options, Jordan thought to himself as he then held up one finger.
Option one. When I activate the Transmuter, I can use the item put in one space and turn it into another item that¡¯ll pop out the other side. All it takes is a mental command, and then literally just my imagination to turn it into whatever object I can mentally picture. If the picture is valid for the amount of material put in, then it¡¯ll automatically transform. If not, then it just won¡¯t do anything.
He then held up a second finger. Or, it can go with option two. Which-
Experience Earned!
+24 EXP
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His thoughts were interrupted as he glanced at the notification. He then dismissed it.
Option two is how this thing can recharge itself. Rather than turn the object into another object, the material can be converted into energy. That energy is then used the power the device itself, and apparently this base¡¯s lighting and heating too. Luckily for me, that last part isn¡¯t too major of a concern. From what I can tell, the lights and heat don¡¯t actually take that much of its energy at all, Jordan finished the thought.
About 100 days was how long the Charge would last if he never touched the Transmuter. Which was honestly pretty great, because that would make it an excellent measure of keeping track of time. While his TP regen versus a Skill¡¯s upkeep was good at tracking minutes at a time, longer amounts would have been harder. He would just need to it the old-fashioned way of manually recording-
¡°Wait, why am I being an idiot? The other Quests are still doing that for me. Man I¡¯m dumb if I already managed to forget that,¡± he chastised himself. Jordan then pulled up the screen in question just to see if it¡¯d updated at any point since night had come.
Time remaining for this Quest Series: 365 days
Seems like that was a no, at least so far. At this point, he could see it being of two things. Either the time remaining first thing in the morning, or when it¡¯d been the moment they received the Quest. If Jordan had to make a guess, the latter would make more sense in order to keep it exact. So it¡¯d probably tick down by one day by tomorrow when the sun was directly overhead for noon.
Anyway, his suddenly being forgetful aside, it was testing time!
From his pocket space, Jordan pulled out the book his group had used to record their Stats, Classes, and such in. He skipped to the first empty page he found before also grabbing a pencil. While the System had provided the general necessities of what he needed to know, it didn¡¯t tell him everything. Which meant that experimentation was required. And if he was going to test the details of the Transmuter¡¯s rules, then he was going to it right by recording his findings from the start.
¡°Test Number One: Arrow to Arrow,¡± he mumbled while writing down the words as the page¡¯s header. As the name implied, he would start with something simple first. Turn the arrow into another by simply picturing one with a different design for the tip. Aside from that change, everything else would remain the same.
With his request made, Jordan felt the machine kick into action. Literally, as the whole thing began to vibrate while the actual transformation was happening. The vibration was powerful enough for him to feel it through his shoes. Though it only lasted a few seconds before coming to a sudden end. Apparently, it was already done.
Jordan noted that it¡¯d taken what felt like roughly four seconds. In addition, he then took a look to see what the energy level now displayed.
Charge: 99.5%
Half a percent, not too bad in his book. He wasn¡¯t sure if that was exactly 0.5%, or if the System had simply done a bit of rounding like it did with his Stats. Now there was the same question for both the time taken and amount of Charge used. Were they simply fixed with every use, or dependent on the object transmuted?
As for the arrow itself, Jordan took a few steps over to the exit cubby. Sliding open the glass, he pulled out the item within.
Hmm, slightly warm to the touch after being transformed. As for the actual result¡
It was a perfect replica of what he¡¯d pictured. The arrowhead now had a serrated edge as a change from its previously regular edge. But the biggest difference was on the surface of the metal body itself. Because etched into the metal was a smiley face with sunglasses.
One might wonder why he¡¯d gone for that in particular. And while his answer to the person asking would have been ¡°Why not?¡± the truth was a bit more practical. For this test, he¡¯d decided to see just how detailed of a change he could get it. As far as initial results went, this made for a promising start.
¡°Alright, now what happens if I try this?¡± Jordan asked himself as he pulled out a fresh arrow, just to keep the starting item identical.
The second test would be similar to the first, just with one difference. It would be Arrow to Arrow: Overcharge Edition. This machine should be considered a piece of technological equipment. And if that were correct, it would make it a valid target for the Skill, so why not?
What was the worst thing that could possibly happen?
A large group of Crabs had gathered and now waited. Over 50 members strong, their group had been one of the larger ones to start together after the Merging. Almost all of them were Level 2, with several at Level 3 from the fighting they¡¯d done so far.
The flooded cave system they¡¯d started in had been filled with all manner of beast, yet they¡¯d fought through, pushing forward even as lives were lost. For no sacrifice was too great when it came to the reason they¡¯d traveled and now stood in place, waiting. Because when their Golden Prince called, death would be the only excuse to not answer.
They stood still in rows of five. None moved, none spoke. Were it not for the slight movements they made, one could have easily mistaken them as statues at first glance. They¡¯d been ordered to wait, and so they did nothing but wait.
Finally, the one they¡¯d been waiting for entered the tunnel and approached their group.
It was technically a Crab like them, but it didn¡¯t matter if the System said so. Because if anyone acknowledged this being as even just being the same Species as them, that fool would have been torn limb from limb as a blasphemer. For none of them would dare to compare themselves as being equal to their leader and object of worship in any measure.
If normal Crabs were comparable to small elephants on Earth, then their leader would be bigger than the largest kind of elephant. While their bodies were various shades of red and orange, their ruler¡¯s was purely golden. Even the golden tattoo on his claw was of an inferior luster compared to the glory of his natural form.
While those gathered were wearing their System-granted gear, he was not. For no equipment could possibly be an improvement over his blessed body. The only thing he wore was part of his standard attire from their world, which was an oversized top hat with an attached monocle.
And finally was his majesty. The divinity that made every other Crab recognize him as a superior being whose very birth had been a sign from the pantheon they worshipped. Even his own father, the official king of their home, had always bowed when he entered the room.
¡°My subjects,¡± their divine ruler began. Just those two words were a blessing for all of them to hear. Several of the gathered Crabs began to shake in place as simply being directly addressed was a joy beyond joy.
¡°Die by my claw, so that I may rise unto greater heights. Give your lives so that my glory may never be challenged.¡± With that command, he approached the far left Crab at the front line. He raised one claw that was nearly as big as the smaller Crab¡¯s whole body, but then paused.
Still shaking with joy at being the first chosen, the Crab cried out. ¡°Eternal glory to the Golden Prince! Eternal glory to Wilfred Wilbur Wyndham III!¡±
Crunch!
Goo splatted across the ground as a single blow crushed the Crab like a stomped soda can. As the Golden Prince moved to the next in line, a different Crab with metallic claws quietly turned the corpse into an Advancement Crystal. This Crab was the butler to their ruler, a member of the Ironclaw family that had dutifully served the royal family for dozens of generations.
One by one, the gathered Crabs¡¯ lives were snuffed out. Even the smallest amongst them, the youth, were not spared. And in the glory of the one who personally killed them, all would exclaim one last cheer before the end.
Chapter 23: Exploring the Kingdom’s Basics
When it came to Jordan¡¯s next test, the start of it went as planned. He put the second pre-transmuted arrow into the left slot, and then closed it. Jordan then placed a hand directly on the machine, and focused on using Overcharge.
He watched his Resources and saw that the TP cost was spent. It seemed like the Skill had been successfully used, but there was only one way to be certain. For this attempt, he attempted to imagine the exact same thing as the last time, just to see if the Skill would change the result. Jordan moved over to the output slot on the right after using the machine.
As the Transmuter came to life, it once again began to vibrate. Jordan noted that there was a bit of a difference from before. The shaking seemed a bit more powerful compared to the first time, but only by a little. Just enough to be of note, but not worthy of much concern beyond that. But then, once again, the whole thing died down after exactly four seconds of being active. This time, he made sure to count it out in his head and be sure of how long it took.
Jordan looked at the glass slide. The glass itself was almost black with how heavily tinted it was. The space and object on the other side were only just barely and vaguely visible through it. He put his hand on the handle, hesitating for a moment before opening it.
Well, here goes something. Let¡¯s just hope it doesn¡¯t explode the moment I pull you open, Jordan thought. He hoped that not speaking out loud meant that he didn¡¯t jinx himself just now. Putting on his big boy pants, he just quickly slid it open, his muscles tensed as he was ready to jump back.
For better or worse, however, that tense readiness had been a waste. There was no explosion or some other freak accident that he would have been worried about. The transformed arrow just sat in the cubby, waiting to be picked up.
He grabbed the arrow, and immediately felt that it was a bit warmer than the first test. Like the vibration, it was just barely enough of a difference for him to confidently notice that one even existed. But when Jordan studied the actual features of the arrowhead itself¡
Huh, really? The machine definitely felt the Overcharge, but there really isn¡¯t any difference? I was able to make my mental picture of it super close, since I just looked at the first one as a direct reference for the final result. But I guess I was expecting it to end up being¡ better, somehow? Jordan questioned with a slight frown.
Jordan then checked the machine¡¯s current Charge. Perhaps the improvement came in the form of being more efficient with energy consumption.
Charge: 99.0%
Okay, so that was a no, then. Maybe Jordan was actually just too tired by now, and the difference in the machine¡¯s vibrating and the arrow¡¯s heating was actually just in his head. Considering that he already acknowledged that it wasn¡¯t a significant change from before, that was a valid possibility. He looked down at the notes, and wrote in some more to conclude test two. Once that was done, he just sighed and put it back into his pocket space.
He glanced around at all the space for storage that the System had included. As nice as it was, was it even needed? Until he hit a limit with either the capacity of his pocket space or the size of the objects it could fit, there was no real reason to use anything else. Since the stuff inside the pocket space can only be accessed by its user until that person dies. And when that happened to cause all the things within to then spill out, it wasn¡¯t like it¡¯d matter to him. Since, you know, he¡¯d already be dead at that point.
Probably better to save further testing for the morning after dinner and some shut-eye. I think I¡¯ll then do a repeat of the second test, just to make sure it wasn¡¯t my imagination. After that, we¡¯ll see what ideas came to me in my sleep.
With that plan made, there were just two more things he wanted to check. Both because the Rabbit probably still needed a bit more time to drain, and because he¡¯d be too curious to sleep otherwise. One thing was to see how the upper floors looked and how they compared to the ground level. But the second and far more pressing thing was right close by. Just what was the purpose of the seemingly random door that the System had decided to add?
Jordan intended to find out. With it only being a few feet away, he walked up to it. He then placed his hand on the handle and pushed down to open-
Access Denied!
Insufficient Kingdom Rank
Required Kingdom Rank: 2
¡°Access Denied?¡± Jordan repeated with knit brows. ¡°System really decided to give me a crown but not all the keys to my own Kingdom, huh? ¡Haaaah, fine then. In that case, it is what it is. But how am I meant to get it to Rank 2? I assume it¡¯s by getting the ten thousand Experience, but then how is that supposed to fill up?¡±
There had been something of note in that department from his two tests. Or rather, the lack of anything to note. Because even after the uses of the Transmuter so far, the EXP listed had yet to increase by even a single point.
EXP: 0/10000
The general knowledge granted to him about the System hadn¡¯t exactly been helpful in this regard. Though looking at it and how the Rank was listed right next to it, the most obvious conclusion would be that it¡¯d hit Rank 2 after accumulating ten thousand Experience Points. The how to do so was still the question left hanging in the air, however.
It can¡¯t be gaining Experience while I gain some. If that was the case, it should have done it just earlier. Hmm. What if I just put my hand on the Transmuter again and then try to focus on it? That might give me an answer, he thought.
Taking just a few steps over, he placed a hand on his side. Jordan then thought about the question while focusing. After a few seconds passed, his eyes suddenly widened, before quickly narrowing instead. When Jordan pulled his hand back, he wore a conflicted expression. On the one hand, he had his answer now. But on the other hand¡
Damn, it¡¯s basically an Experience vampire. I have to directly deposit my own Experience into it. And as far as it let me tell, there¡¯s no way of getting it back once it¡¯s in there. That¡¯s¡ hmm. Man, I don¡¯t know. If it were maybe just a thousand Experience, then I¡¯d be willing to bite the bullet. But ten thousand? Even resetting myself all the way back down to Level 1 still wouldn¡¯t be enough. But hey, the silver lining is I¡¯m not the only one that¡¯s going to screw over.
Jordan darkly chuckled to himself as he imagined the top guy of the Mightiest Individual leaderboard seeing that requirement. From the name, he pictured Wilfred Wilbur Wyndham III as being just a generically rich-looking British dude. The kind that probably had inherited land from an ancestor who was an earl or something hundreds of years ago. And probably had a family tree in their mansion that could prove that they were somehow distant cousins with the British crown.
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From what the imprint of new information had told him, it¡¯d suck for everyone competing for the highest Level. Because they couldn¡¯t just have any random person make the sacrifice of putting their EXP into increasing the Rank of their Kingdoms, assuming theirs also all worked the same way. Nope, only one person and one person alone would be allowed to do it. That was whoever got to say that they were one in charge of the Kingdom itself.
He then looked down at the hand where the tattoo of the crown had imprinted itself. When Jordan focused on it, he could vaguely sense all the powers it gave him that related to the Kingdom itself. How he could pull up the screens detailing the exact size of his territory again. Or now that he looked carefully, he didn¡¯t even need to touch the Transmuter to pull up its screen. That was just something he could also make appear at any time now.
But from all the screens and statistics about the Kingdom that he very quickly skimmed through, one thing was missing. He couldn¡¯t find an option to simply pass the crown to somebody else. Since when it came to the Experience giving, the easiest work-around would be to just have someone become the Kingdom owner to do it and then swap back. Granted, that would take a bit of trust that not everyone would be willing to give, but if it were an option, then it¡¯d undoubtedly be abused by someone.
However, Jordan couldn¡¯t say for sure. This was due to another screen that made him doubt if the option would even have been available to him if it did exist.
Kingdom Population: 0
Apparently, he did not count toward this stat. Which did at least support the idea that the Kingdom¡¯s ruler was not of the Kingdom, but placed above it. Yet if there wasn¡¯t anybody around that he could pass ownership to, then it¡¯d make sense why that option wouldn¡¯t even present itself. So until he got that number up to one, he couldn¡¯t say anything about that idea with absolute certainty.
Well, even if it¡¯s an option, it isn¡¯t all bad. Ten grand is equivalent to resetting a hundred back who¡¯d just reached Level 2 back down to the start of Level 1. So even if it¡¯s possible you other got to sacrifice the Levels of several top performers, or a bunch of other people that would all need to be convinced. Here¡¯s hoping that it¡¯s a little while before anyone else gets ahead of me and reaches that point first, Jordan concluded.
But with that matter at least temporarily settled, the mysterious door would sadly need to be put off for later. For the time being, Jordan made his way toward the ladder and popped up to see what the second floor was like. Then, after taking a brief look around, he went up to the third floor and repeated the quick inspection. Then the fourth, and the fifth¡
Hey, if there was one thing he didn¡¯t skimp out, it was the building¡¯s height. Being 82 feet tall, that would have made it a respectable height for a building in some city¡¯s downtown area. Not including the roof, the main base for Industry had a total of seven floors. Which was definitely a sign that it was meant to be enough room for a fair number of people, and not just one guy and his now always-summoned pet drone.
As for the floors themselves, there wasn¡¯t a whole lot to say about them. Each one was basically just a copy and paste of the first floor in terms of the general layout. The only difference was that the first floor had the machine and mystery door on one end, while the other floors just had a blank space. Maybe the System just hadn¡¯t bothered to fill that in with more stuff, or maybe it¡¯d been intentionally left alone to give him some wiggle room for custom usage.
In any case, the final stop was the roof. The ladder system did provide him access to it, so he might as well check out the view and see if there was anything up there. As Jordan finished the climb up, a moderately stronger breeze hit his face first. The air was cold, and made him internally wish that his starting equipment had come with something to cover his face.
When Jordan stood up on the roof, he glanced around. There was nothing of note up here, but when he then looked to see the view instead, there was a sharp inhale. The forest of giant trees still took up the bulk of his field of vision. Their huge trunks seemed to extend toward the sky for what had to be dozens upon dozens of more feet, at least. Perhaps even a couple hundred before it became the canopy of intersecting branches and their many leaves.
Yet, from the vantage point, it did allow him to see something that seemed to be far away. Something that he might have never noticed on the ground, due to all the trees that would have blocked his line of sight at any time. But from up here, it was easier to look through the gaps between them and get a better angle.
The distance was hard to estimate because the forest was so dark. But the thing appeared small and far away. And it most certainly wasn¡¯t natural by common Earth standards.
¡°What the¡?¡±
Jordan saw what at least appeared to be a perfect sphere made purely of purple light. The sphere seemed to be still near the ground, at least for now. From his current perspective, it appeared to be the size of a quarter. Though if it was hundreds of feet away, that meant it¡¯d be pretty large in reality. Yet, with how it was the only glowing object in an area blanketed in the darkness around his base¡¯s clearing, who could say for sure? He just at least felt that it couldn¡¯t be too far away, or else a tree would eventually block it anyway, even with his heightened lookout.
Yet after climbing up several dozen feet of ladder, the exercise only reminded him that he could be eating something right now. Plus when considering his currently exhausted condition, venturing out to check the unknown on a whim would likely not be a good idea.
With a somewhat regretful sigh, Jordan decided to play it safe. While he finally ate dinner, he¡¯d at least send his land drone over to check it out. Without any orders to shoot anything, just to keep going and then desummon itself when it reached the strange ball. At least that would give him a more accurate measure of how far it actually was from him.
As the drone immediately responded to his will, it was time to have dinner. First, he would need to remove the Rabbit¡¯s organs before cooking it. But after that, he would at least have some hot food in his belly.
When Jordan then climbed back down, it didn¡¯t take him long to remove the organs in question. Letting the carcass bleed out had resulted in less blood loss than expected, based on how not that much had drenched the leaves underneath. But he was too tired to care about that for now. And then he just cut open its front to remove all the organs he saw, rather than take the time to sort them out.
Once the Rabbit was prepared, he skewered it onto the spit and then slowly rotated it over the fire for an even cook. As he did so, Jordan felt the ping of his drone eventually desummoning itself. Unfortunately, his TP regen now being higher than its upkeep meant that he couldn''t just use the cost over time to keep track of how many minutes passed. So, for the time being, Jordan had been forced to switch back to the old-fashioned way of just manually counting it out in his head while turning the meat.
From the drone¡¯s speed and how long that took, I think that it¡¯s somewhere around two and a half miles away. Opposite direction from the river, so at least it isn¡¯t right between me and the group heading for the water. If that thing whatever it is, is still there by the morning, then I¡¯ll think of what do then, Jordan decided.
When the Rabbit appeared to be a nice golden brown, he tore off a bit of meat. While he wasn¡¯t sure how to judge the meat¡¯s internal cooking compared to chicken and such, it looked fully cooked without getting too dry. Jordan¡¯s mouth had already been watering for the last several minutes as the smell of cooked meat had fully awakened his appetite. So without any further hesitation, he consumed the torn-off hunk of Rabbit, barely even chewing before swallowing the still-hot piece down.
Despite the fact that it should have been too hot and punished him with a burnt tongue, Jordan surprisingly felt fine. It was hot, yes, but not nearly enough to feel even the slightest bit painful. Was it just a lower temperature than he expected, or had the increase in physical Stats actually made a difference in how hard it was to burn himself?
But before Jordan could wrap up the night, he ripped off a leg and stood up. Before taking his meal inside the base, there was just one last thing he needed to check. Taking quick steps around the walls of the building, he moved to the opposite side from the entrance and campfire.
Ahhh, of course. I should have expected as much, huh? Jordan thought to himself. The mysterious door from the System, just based on its placement on the wall, should have lead outside. But now, looking at the other side of the wall, there was no evidence of the door.
Biting into the leg, Jordan now had food, but also a lot more food for thought to end the night with.
Chapter 24: Morning Review
Jordan woke up with a loud, prolonged yawn. Sleeping on a concrete floor would have normally been a terrible experience. But when the floor had something heating it from beneath, and one was exhausted from a long and hard day, it¡¯d been a rather heavenly experience. And, of course, what better to follow a good night of sleep than a very pleasing list of notifications to immediately see upon waking?
Experience Earned!
+24 EXP
Experience Earned!
+24 EXP
Experience Earned!
+24 EXP
¡
Experience Earned!
+39 EXP
Over the night as he¡¯d been sleeping, his drone had gone on something of a murder spree. Which is precisely what he had ordered to do, after all. Before going to sleep, Jordan had summoned and told the drone to just keep driving around in random directions within its max range. From there, it just had to ignore anything he¡¯d consider friendly, which were just other humans, and then shoot anything else on sight. That instruction had now led to the rather pleasing sight currently before him.
EXP: 1964/2025
Exactly ten Level 2 creatures and one that was presumably Level 3 had taken him so close to the next Level. All he needed now was three more of those Bark Snakes to cross the final gap and get him there. Since the drone was still on its patrol for more creature murder, hopefully that would come sooner rather than later.
Jordan stood up and stretched. Despite the physical exhaustion from yesterday and sleeping on concrete, he felt less sore than he would have expected. Not that he would complain about it, but it was a bit surprising when considering everything that happened before he finally got to lie down.
Now, why had Jordan been willing to sleep without his drone¡¯s guard? Since if it was out hunting, that obviously meant that it couldn¡¯t have also patrolled and protected the area around his base. Well, it was a risk, but one that had been at least somewhat mitigated.
When Jordan finished stretching, he glanced around the area he¡¯d chosen to sleep in. It ended up being up on the sixth floor of his base. Multiple stories up from the ground level, with at least one floor between him and direct access to the roof. While the lack of a door still meant anyone could have walked it in, it at least protected him from any animals that couldn¡¯t climb the ladder.
And if people had arrived and started moving around without knowing where he was, they would hopefully have made enough noise to wake him up. That part had been the biggest worry about sleeping without his drone¡¯s immediate protection, but it seemed to have worked out well for him in the end. Anyway, now was the time to relight the fire and get started on breakfast.
As Jordan climbed down the ladder, he was curious about the current time of day. It was hard to say exactly what time it was and how long he¡¯d been resting. So, before anything else, he checked one spot that might provide a bit of assistance before he reached the ground floor and went outside.
Time remaining for this Quest Series: 364 days
¡°Well, I¡¯ll be damned, it actually updated. But in that case, let¡¯s see if it¡¯s afternoon yet,¡± Jordan mumbled while climbing. If this became his daily routine, at least he wouldn¡¯t need to worry about a lack of morning exercise to keep his muscles warmed up.
When Jordan walked outside the building, the warmed air from hours of daylight greeted him. Overhead, the sun seemed to have reached just a bit past its midpoint. It was maybe just an hour or so past high noon right now, if he had to make a guess.
Huh, I probably overslept, but that¡¯s a pretty big difference in how far into the day we already are. But, if we really started in the exact middle of the day yesterday, then sundown was only about four hours after that. So, assuming that the night is also the same length, it means that a full day-night cycle on this planet is only 16 hours. Considering that I didn¡¯t end up sleeping until it was already pretty deep into the night, the current time actually makes sense.
Being asleep for that long did mean plenty of time for things to change, however. So as Jordan prepared to light the fire and get some more water boiling, he decided to see how the different leaderboards had updated since he¡¯d last checked on them. First, just because it was the latest one he had unlocked, he started by opening the Kingdom leaderboard.
Mightiest Kingdom:
1: Golden Empire of the Eternal Golden Prince (Rank 1)
2: Golden Empire of the Eternal Golden Prince (Rank 1)
3: Kingdom of Clan Qorath¡¯zyrunch (Rank 1)
4: Vervina¡¯s Heartland (Rank 1)
5: Golden Empire of the Eternal Golden Prince (Rank 1)
¡
8: Industry (Rank 1)
So far, so good. The fact that nobody had jumped to Rank 2 seemed like a pretty safe bet that the exploit he thought of actually didn¡¯t exist. Because there was no way that he would have been the only one to think about it, anyone who could have abused it almost definitely would have done so.
Other than that, the total number of Kingdoms had expanded a bit. There were now a total of 20 on the leaderboard, so the Quest was somewhat surprisingly still ongoing with five spots remaining. As for the faction of Golden Empires, there was now a fifth instance of them at number 18 on the list. He assumed that, more likely than not at this point, there would be six of them when all 25 Mandates for the Quest were claimed.
And then we¡¯ll see what happens after that. The Quest only started after someone claimed the first Mandate super quickly, and only acted as a guide toward the nearest one from you. So unless there really are only 25 in total, there might be more around after the Quest wraps up. Guess it¡¯s just a matter of waiting to find out if a 26th Kingdom ever shows up, Jordan thought.
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As the fire started to come back to life, he went ahead and refilled the helmet with a fresh batch of water to be hung from the spit. While doing so, it gave him an idea. Well, two about the same concept, technically.
Hmm. It¡¯s been a day or so. How are the Rabbits holding up in the pocket space? Jordan asked as he pulled one out. The bones from last night¡¯s dinner were still also in there, because why waste anything that can be used for today¡¯s testing?
But when he inspected the Rabbit, it seemed to still be okay. He wasn¡¯t immediately hit by the stink of rotting flesh, so that was a good sign. Pulling out the sword, he repeated what he did last night to deskin it. Then inspecting the meat without the layer of skin and fur hiding it, it also still seemed to be good.
Right, now let¡¯s try bleeding it out again. Maybe I screwed up by cutting off the feet, when it¡¯s supposed to be the head? Jordan asked himself as he brought it to the same tree as before to hang from. Also using the same arrows to this time pin it by the feet, he swung the blade and lobbed off the head. Leaving it bleed out, he returned to the campfire to actually try something.
From the fire, Jordan reached for one of the outer sticks. He grabbed it, and then proceeded to throw the flaming piece of wood into his pocket space. Jordan wanted to see if it would still be on fire after waiting a little while before pulling it back out. If it was still on fire, then that would be pretty good proof that being in the pocket space must hold an item in some sort of stasis.
And as for the Transmuter inside his base, how would it handle a burning stick? Fire was a chemical reaction, not an actual element or ¡°thing¡± that would be considered a material. But in a world where magic already threw normal physics out the window and into the dumpster, he was curious to see what the machine would do with it.
Anyway, testing could wait until after breakfast. He wasn¡¯t in a rush, so as much as the nerd within wanted to say otherwise, taking care of himself still took priority. As the water started to come to a boil, he took off the helmet from where it hung. At the side of his vision, he had already pulled up the next leaderboard to browse.
Mightiest Individual:
1: Wilfred Wilbur Wyndham III (Level 7)
2: Carl Rowe (Level 6)
3: Zorliay Qorath¡¯zyrunch (Level 6)
4: Yvaro Qorath¡¯zyrunch (Level 5)
5: Sebastion Ironclaw (Level 5)
¡
48: Jordan Joyner (Level 4)
Aside from being knocked down by a couple dozen places, there wasn¡¯t much to say about the top spots. As for the total number of people who had at least reached Level 2, the figure had ballooned like crazy.
To see it, he went down to the very bottom of the leaderboard. Something that he thankfully didn¡¯t need to scroll through. Because when Jordan wished that he could just get there without manually scrolling, the System decided to come through and just immediately update it to the last one in the list. So that was definitely something.
15,721,054: Zhang Wei (Level 2)
Yep, in the approximately 16 hours since the Merger began, over 15 million people had reached Level 2 or higher. Which was honestly fair, considering how quickly he had managed to do so. Out of billions of people and how relatively little Experience it took to get there, he was honestly a bit surprised that the number wasn¡¯t higher than it was.
But at the same time, who could even guess how many people were at Level 1 but had at least made at least some progress so far? Perhaps by the time tomorrow came, that listed figure would be at over 50 million or even higher as people got more and more used to their new reality. However, Jordan did use the somewhat annoyingly hidden function of just getting to command the leaderboard to search different spots to try one more thing.
Show me Sophia Joyner, my mom. He had to try it, at least once. Despite what he had told himself last night about their chances of survival, willfully not knowing would kill him if he didn¡¯t try to find his loved ones after seeing just how many had been added to the leaderboard.
However, there was no response from the System. He then tried just a random name he¡¯d seen while looking at the top two dozen or so, and focused on them. In response, the leaderboard immediately jumped back up that spot. This proved that the search wasn¡¯t the problem; she was just not there to begin with.
Naturally, he then tried his other friends and family too. Once again, the result was nothing. His morning now feeling considerably worse than it¡¯d started, he decided to skip checking the Mightiest Slayer leaderboard for now. All it¡¯d say was that a lot more people had decided to keep going on murder sprees and kill one another for the benefits the System provided for it. One didn¡¯t need to keep active track of those numbers to already know that they would have also explosively increased.
He would likely make checking the Kingdom and Level lists a part of his morning routine. But unless there was some drastic change that was actually of note, he probably wouldn¡¯t call that much mental attention to them. It did seem like the Level leaderboard had slowed down in terms of the top five, after all. So now it was just the growing number of total people on it that would likely be of note.
Before the water finished cooling, Jordan went ahead and took a sip. Like the meat last night, it should have been too hot and burnt the inside of his mouth. But once again, he was totally fine and treated it just like a regular drink. Guess it meant that his Stats meant that he truly had become immune to things that would have been hurtful just 24 hours ago. It was hard to say where the current limits of that were, but it was nice to know, nonetheless.
Jordan looked over to the hanged Rabbit. ¡°Huh, been a little bit now, but not seeing a lot bleeding. There was some right after I cut off the head, but I don¡¯t think there¡¯s been that much since. Damn, wish I had taken the time to actually memorize some survival stuff over the last few years. Going off what Dad showed me when I was¡ what? 12? Can only help that much. I bet that if any decent hunter were here, they¡¯d smack their forehead with how obvious the answer I¡¯m missing is.¡±
But one couldn¡¯t know what they didn¡¯t know. So unless someone told him, he¡¯d just have to live in ignorance. He did have a couple of guesses, but that was all they were, just probably incorrect assumptions.
¡°Hmm, you know what? Let¡¯s hold off on the meat-only breakfast for just a minute. I think I just got an idea for my third test,¡± Jordan said, putting down the helmet after taking another drink. It¡¯d been a few minutes at that point, so he went ahead and pulled out the stick from his pocket space.
And wouldn¡¯t you know it? The thing was still fully aflame, just as he¡¯d put it in. This meant that the pocket space really did put the things inside in some sort of stasis, almost like they¡¯d been frozen in time. So if he had meat and fire, why not throw them both into the Transmuter to see what would happen? He could still picture the fully cooked Rabbit from last night in his head, so that mental image was definitely secured as the basis.
¡°Right. From here on out, today is about testing and only testing. By nightfall, I¡¯ll have this machine¡¯s rules fully figured out inside from out!¡± Jordan declared to no one but himself.
Chapter 25: Testing!
Sparing no time, Jordan made the decision to start with test three before revisiting two. He could have breakfast first, and then keep experimenting as he ate.
He approached the Transmuter with both the lit stick and the Rabbit, after grabbing it. While the fire was still going, Jordan placed both inside the machine and made sure that both sliders were closed. As he heard the click to indicate that they were fully secure, a mental picture was already forming in his mind.
Jordan wanted roasted Rabbit on a skewer. He imagined the wood as fully processed, like the sticks used for a kebab. Already separated pieces of Rabbit meat as a kebab, to be precise. For this one, the organs had yet to be removed and were still inside of it. But that was fine, as it would let him see how the Transmuter dealt with the extra material that was intentionally left out of the desired image.
The large machine vibrated once more as it kicked to life. Notes already in hand, Jordan counted aloud out the processing time.
¡°One Mississippi, two Mississippi¡¡±
This time, it was by the count of five that the vibrations came to an end. So about a full second longer than the pair of tested arrows from last night. Before anything else, he then checked what the cost had been for the Transmuter¡¯s Charge.
Charge: 98.6%
¡°Alright, so a decreased cost of 0.1% from before. Let¡¯s see if that¡¯s possibly because it ate the excess materials or not.¡± Jordan went over the output slot, and opened the sliding glass. Even before reaching for the object inside, his mouth started to water the moment the delicious smell of cooked kebab hit his nostrils.
Once again, the machine had done exactly as he¡¯d desired. Jordan pulled out a skewer whose length was almost entirely covered by small chunks of meat. Once again, the transmuted item was only fairly warm to the touch, though the meat definitely appeared to be fully cooked through.
Experience Earned!
+24 EXP
As the pop-up flashed in his vision, he took a bit off the top of the Rabbit kebab. As far as he could tell, it really hadn¡¯t included any of the organs and had shaved a bit of mass off the stick to make it a thin skewer. In terms of if the fire was even necessary, he would find that out in a minute.
¡°Little bland, definitely needs some seasoning. Hmm, slightly gross thing to think about while eating, but if I collected sweat and such, it should be able to separate and extract the salt, right? Eh, maybe something to try at least once at some point,¡± Jordan pondered as he took another bite.
Anyway, he really should redo the Overcharge test now. Just to get it out of the way so he can move on to trying more new experiments, if nothing else. Putting away the pencil and notes so that he had a free hand while still eating, he then pulled out a third arrow.
Only about a minute later, Jordan took another bite of kebab while logging the result. It was now confirmed that his past self from last night hadn¡¯t just been imagining things. Test number Two-One was an identical repeat from before. Slightly more powerful vibration and then heat coming off the finished item, but otherwise no difference compared to not using Overcharge on the Transmuter.
Now the time for what he personally logged as Test Three-One. Since he still considered cooking more Rabbit meat into a kebab as the same test, just without the added fire this time. To keep the base from getting dirty, Jordan went back outside to once again skin, behead, and then bleed out another Rabbit. And then, in the time it took to initially bleed a bit before slowing down, he had grabbed a new stick of roughly the same size as the first one.
It felt a bit tedious to repeat the process when the machine would have easily deskinned and removed the bones anyway, but it had to be done. The point wasn¡¯t to make things easier for himself, at least not yet. The point was to replicate the results of an experiment while only changing one factor. If one didn¡¯t care and just let all the factors be completely different, then why even bother trying to repeat the test?
¡°Results of Test Three-One,¡± Jordan was soon noting after deposing the second kebab into his pocket space. ¡°Identical to Test Three in every noticeable way. Adding fire seems to have made no difference in either the result or the Charge usage. For the arrows, I was unsure if the shafts were made of real wood due to being given by the System, or if they were some alternate material. But now, it can be concluded that the Industrial Transmuter has no trouble working with organic matter.¡±
It had to be noted that at the end of the day, Jordan had studied to be an engineer, not a labcoat scientist. Which meant that when it came to the full process of the scientific method, he was willing to work with what could called an¡ abridged version. As long it worked and got what he needed to know recorded, then it was fine, right? No need to sweat the details beyond what actually matters from an entirely practical standpoint.
In any case, it was time for the grand reveal of the fourth test.
As much as Jordan did like the taste of Rabbit, he was more of a medium-rare steak kind of guy. Yet until the day that he encountered cows on this planet, or at least a very similar animal, proper beef steak appeared to be in short supply. But in that case, why not make some himself? Rabbit or cow, both were just protein and fats in terms of their fundamental building blocks. So if he just pictured his ideal steak and focused extra hard on it specifically looking and tasting like beef, it might work.
Jordan put another whole Rabbit into the machine. Thanks to the hunting done by his group, a fair number of their bodies had been picked up. By his count, even some of those that his drone had killed but then he, admittedly like a bit of a fool, had chosen to ignore picking up were present. Someone else had picked up the slack on that front, before their chest had been ripped apart and¡
He tried to forcibly blink away the mental image. When it came to focusing his mind¡¯s eye, he didn''t even want to know what would happen if he accidentally pictured their face while transmuting meat. If the Transmuter even accepted the accidental image, the resulting product would likely be pretty morbid, to say the least.
After taking a few seconds of just breathing deeply in and out to clear his head, Jordan activated the machine. Or at least¡ he tried to activate it. But when he tried to will it to start creating the steak he was picturing, it remained inert. Of his tests so far, this was the first one that actually got rejected.
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¡°Alright,¡± Jordan began to note. ¡°It seems that the Transmuter actually is rather strict with what it considers the original material. According to its own judgment, Rabbit and beef are too different despite both being meat. I will now proceed with an alternative idea as Test Four-One. This time, it¡¯ll simply be the creation of a Rabbit steak. However, rather than literally being beef, I¡¯ll try to focus on simply making it taste the same as beef steak.¡±
With the Rabbit still inside the input slot, all he had to do was reimagine the desired product before trying again. Once again, however, there was no response from the machine.
¡°Huh, actually expected that one to work. But if I have to make a guess, maybe even just tasting like beef would require a change in the fundamental composition of the material? I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s similar a matter of there not being enough fat or something. Or if it¡¯s an even deeper issue of the protein structure of the meat itself being too different. Will require further testing,¡± Jordan concluded.
But that sounded like something that would require multiple tries in the form of various iterations of the test. In any case, he decided that all the different versions of Test Four could be saved for later. For now, he just pulled the Rabbit back out and returned it to his pocket space. Now was the time to move on to Test Five, which will be-
Experience Earned!
+39 EXP
Level Up!
Level 4 to Level 5
¡°Oh! Must have found another Level 3; that¡¯s pretty cool. The second one for today, so maybe they¡¯re just more active in the forest during the day? Anyway, let¡¯s get these Free Points spent first before I forget,¡± Jordan decided as just a quick change of pace.
As for where they would be allocated this time around¡
Hmm, good question. It¡¯s really a choice between two things. Do I want to keep pumping up my TP regen until it can at least support both of my drones¡¯ upkeeps at the same time? Or do I want to focus on either Endurance or Vitality? Splitting the Free Points between both would probably be a smart way to steadily make it harder to get sick, hurt, and improve my stamina. At least, that should be an overall assessment of what both would help with. Actually, what am I even thinking?
It wasn¡¯t really an honest choice to make; Jordan just wanted an excuse to repeatedly justify his already predetermined decision. Of course he was going to aim for keeping both of his drones online 24/7. To decide anything else would only mean that madness had finally claimed his poor mind.
In fact, it might already be too late for him. The very fact that he¡¯d gone with Intelligence for his last Level instead of more Wisdom could only have been due to an instance of at least momentarily going insane. Hopefully, it was merely a lapse of judgment due to his exhaustion by that point last night and not a sign of mental cracks already forming. But once the Free Points were allocated, Jordan took a look at his now updated screen.
System Info:
Class: Combat Engineer
Subclass: N/A
Traits: Tech Savvy
Titles: Initial Merger, Adept of Advancement, High Lord of the 42nd
Level: 5
EXP: 2/3600
Grade: E
Resources:
Tech Points: 26/26
Tech Points Regen: 8.94/Min
Stats:
Strength: 30
Dexterity: 33
Vitality: 35
Endurance: 32
Intelligence: 53
Wisdom: 58
Will: 31
Free Points: 0
General Skills:
Active: Appraise-E5
Class Skills:
Active: Summon Land Drone-E2
Active: Summon Air Drone-E1
Active: Zap-E1
Active: Overcharge-E1
Passive: Tinker-E1
Huh, another jump in the new EXP requirement. You know what? I said that I¡¯d try to figure out the math for that later. Well, later is now, and I already have a decent sample size for the pattern. Just have to see if the math ends up being simple enough for me to figure out right now, Jordan thought. Better to just get it out of the way now, versus pushing the matter even further down into the vaguely eternal future known as later.
The known sequence so far was as follows: 100, 225, 900, 2025, and now 3600. A pretty fast increase in the rate of required Experience Points between Levels, all things considered.
So from 100, you could just multiply it by 2.25 to get 225. Then, from that to 900, that¡¯ll be multiplied by 4. After that, multiply by¡ huh, 2.25 again to reach 2025. And finally, multiply that by¡ hmm. Jordan actually had to scribble out the calculation on a piece of paper, rather than doing it in his head again.
1.78 if you round up, but technically it¡¯s 1.77 infinitely repeating. Okay, I can kind of appreciate the System not keeping the formula too simple, even if that¡¯s now more work for me to figure it out. How about we try this next, then?
Minutes dragged on as Jordan continued to think of and then try new ideas to crack the sequence. After a little bit, he went over to the nearest table and its paired chair so that he could actually sit down. Plus it meant that after placing the paper down, he could jot down notes with one hand while finishing his breakfast with the other. Something which ended up being both kebabs, as he switched to mindlessly biting off chunks of the second one soon after finishing the first.
¡°Ahah! Fucking finally!¡± Jordan cheered a little while after the second skewer was also cleaned off. The resulting formula actually wasn¡¯t that complicated, not at all. It¡¯d just ended up being rather specific in an annoying-to-figure-out kind of way. If Jordan¡¯s solution was correct, which he did feel rather confident that it was, then it could be written out fairly easily.
(Current Level times 15) times (Current Level times 15). That would result in the next sequence for the following Level¡¯s EXP requirement. So, if you took that from when he was Level 4, the fully solved formula would be as such:
(4*15)*(4*15) = 3600
It had just thrown him off for a while because the initial EXP requirement for Level 1 was outside the formula. Maybe the System just liked an even 100 as the starting point, or something. But once he had the random idea to start looking at it from Level 2¡¯s requirement of 225 as the real starting point, then things had steadily begun to click together. Perhaps it¡¯d been designed this way because they started for Level 1, not Level 0. And if you were to put 0 into the formula, then the result would obviously just be 0.
Once again, the power of brute forcing random guesses until you stumble upon the answer proves its value! Jordan proudly thought to himself.
It was a sentiment that would likely have made many mathematicians shake their heads in shame. But once again, he was an engineer, not a mathematician! And if a process works, then it works! As long as the final result remained valid, then it didn¡¯t matter what others thought about the method for how you got there.
Now with that done, he could move on to further testing with the equipment he gathered, like turning that helmet into an actual bucket. But it was still good that he had focused on the formula now. If he had decided to just put it off, then he would just entirely forgotten about-
¡°Oh, damn it!¡± Jordan cursed, smacking his forehead. Of course that thought would trigger something that he had managed to completely forget about. Something that he should have remembered to check right after waking up, before he even came down the ladder. But he hadn¡¯t, because it turned out that he truly was still a forgetful moron in disguise.
The mysterious purple sphere from last night.
Chapter 26: Worst Kind of Interruption
After Jordan had finished climbing all the way up the roof, he quickly discovered that there was some bad news. No matter how hard he looked, he couldn¡¯t spot the purple sphere again. And as nice as it would be to brush it off as just his mind playing tricks on him last night, he knew that actually thinking that way would be foolish. It¡¯d definitely been there, but now, it was just gone.
Welp, let¡¯s hope that doesn¡¯t come back around to bite me in the ass. But maybe it¡¯s something that¡¯ll show up again tonight? Jordan asked himself. He wasn¡¯t sure if it was some kind of weird creature, or just some sort of magical phenomenon. With how little he knew about what was even possible in this new reality of theirs, it could be anything.
All he could do for now was to make a regular point of checking to see if it reappeared, especially at night. If it did, then he¡¯d just need to go from there to decide what he¡¯ll do next.
Until then, it was back to his regularly scheduled program for more testing. But after being awake for a little while now and eating his breakfast, Jordan could use some more water. However, it was finally time to make the upgrade from makeshift bucket, to an actual bucket.
In his pocket space were plenty of things that he would honestly never use. The equipment given by the System, the clothing people had changed out that¡¯d he also taken, and just whatever else had been on their person before the Merging. Only things like his Energy Pistol or the Healing Wand were magical and therefore valuable, which meant that everything else was entirely expendable. Especially since if he needed something new after using it all up, there was nothing to stop him from taking a transformed item and then just transforming it again.
When Jordan returned downstairs to the Transmuter, he quickly got to work. Of course, he also kept notes, but this was something that he decided to call a batch test of sorts. Just to see how it handled various tools and items in terms of both the result and associated cost.
Several minutes of using the machine later, Jordan had a whole list of results.
Desired Transmutation: Bucket with padded handle.
Material Used: Metal helmet with cloth.
Charge Needed: 0.8%
Desired Transmutation: A 16-hour watch.
Material Used: Non-digital silver watch.
Charge Needed: 0.5%
Desired Transmutation: A large set of nails and screws of varying sizes.
Material Used: Metal breastplate
Charge Needed: 0.6%
Note: A cube of metal was made from the excess material that wasn¡¯t needed.
Desired Transmutation: A hammer, pair of screwdrivers, and adjustable wrench.
Material Used: Excess material saved from the creation of nails.
Charge Needed: 1.0%
And the list went on as Jordan had used it to create even more stuff that he thought would prove useful. The last major thing of note was the creation of items that were very necessary. A trapdoor for the access to the roof, and a regular door for the main entrance.
The trapdoor was the easier part. It didn¡¯t need to be that big, nor very secure. It would be mostly to just prevent the rain from falling through the roof access and all the way down to the ground floor. Also to make it just a bit harder for something to not fly in from above, or jump down from the surrounding trees.
But yeah, all that really required was for him to gather enough sticks and such to fill a large part of the Transmuter, and then turn them into one solid object. Then he just put it into his pocket space, climbed up the ladder, and then placed it over the hole in the roof. He would fancy it up with an actual mechanism later, but there was another thing that would need that kind of work more.
The actual front door.
When it came to that, Jordan had to give security a bit more priority. He didn¡¯t have enough metal on hand to make it anything super tough. And even if he did, the doorway itself was too big for him to just throw some material in the Transmuter and call it a day. The door itself would need to be approximately eight feet tall and three feet wide, which was obviously too big for the output slot.
That was where the set of various tools he¡¯d just made would come in. If he couldn¡¯t have the fancy machine do all the work, then Jordan would just have to go old school and do it himself.
¡°I really don¡¯t want to deal with installing the hinges into solid concrete though, so I¡¯ll need to make my own doorframe to start. But then I¡¯d need to secure that to the concrete anyway, so¡ Ahhh fuck it, can I just make a drill instead?¡± Jordan complained aloud. He went to the Transmuter after getting what he believed to be the appropriate materials and¡
No. It simply didn¡¯t work. Which the complexity of the item itself wasn¡¯t the issue, as he¡¯d gotten the watch to work. From a regular mechanical watch, he¡¯d gotten it to transform into one with 16 hours on the face instead of 12. This way he could keep track of the time more precisely while indoors, and in a way that was easier than translating it to and from normal Earth time in his head. So why did it accept him changing a watch in such a way, but not make a power tool?
Was it because the watch itself was still the basis as the original item, versus just throwing what he believed to be the right materials together to create an electric drill? He¡¯d gotten metal, bits of plastic from random stuff like cards in wallets, and electronics in the form of smartphones and such. Yet clearly something was either missing from the input, or misunderstood in how he had tried to picture the desired product.
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Oh well, it is what it is then. Even if the door itself is just multiple pieces attached together, and then its installation in the doorway is also scuffed, that¡¯ll just have to do for now. It doesn¡¯t have to be the fanciest thing in the world, at the end of the day. Just needs to make someone kick it down, versus just being able to walk right in while I¡¯m asleep or focused on something else. He rolled his shoulders.
The red sun steadily moved across the sky, though out of his sight. Due to being surrounded by the giant trees, the clearing only really got a direct view of the sun during the afternoon. It had already dipped below the trees by now, and then had moved further down toward the horizon hidden by the forest.
Jordan wiped the sweat off his brow as he looked at his ¡°finished¡± work. The door looked exactly like the kind of thing you¡¯d expect from someone who had never installed a regular door in his life, but thought it wouldn¡¯t be too hard to install one after nailing the door itself together from multiple pieces. Which was to say, it looked like utter crap.
¡°Well as long as it works,¡± he began while giving it a test swing. ¡°Oh yeah, that¡¯ll-¡±
After the first couple of seconds had gone well, a bit of door attached to one of three hinges cracked. It then snapped away from the hinge, which led to a catastrophic shift in how much the other two had to support from the shift in weight on them. While the hinges were made of metal, the door itself had been constructed from wood, since that was the most abundant material around.
¡°-Ah, damn it!¡±
Another few seconds later, Jordan was now staring at the door that¡¯d fallen onto the floor. Splintered bits of wood were still stuck onto the hinges. After it¡¯d hit the concrete ground, a section where two parts of the modular door had also split apart and partially separated.
Jordan sighed. ¡°Man, I wish Leo was here. He probably would have been able to do it all himself, first try. And I¡¯m sure he would have made it look easy too.¡±
When it came to any skill that was considered practically hands-on, Leo was a true genius. He was the kind of guy who bounced around all sorts of jobs, only working for maybe half a year at a time at the very most, before moving on to the next one.
But if the job required working with your hands more than anything, then Leo might have been the fastest learner in the world. And that wasn¡¯t even hyperbole. After taking an apprenticeship as a plumber and gaining a few months of experience, he¡¯d once mentioned that the guy teaching him had asked if he¡¯d secretly been doing it for years and only pretended to be bad and inexperienced at first.
¡°Welp, nothing to do by try again, right? The trapdoor was fine, but that¡¯s just covering the hole in the roof. If the wood itself is too weak even after being processed by the Transmuter, then that could be the problem. Or it¡¯s me, and the way I imagined it wasn¡¯t good for making it structurally sound. Only one way to find out,¡± he said.
A part of him was worried about using the machine too much and quickly going through its Charge faster than he could replenish it. But at the end of the day, all it really needed was that last 1% of battery to keep the lights and heat on for a few months.
As the world grew darker from dusk, Jordan was fitting together the second door. His plan was to take a break for dinner once this project was finally done, and then maybe take just a bit of time to relax before going to sleep. Maybe he would instead decide to start thinking of something to sleep on, rather than just the concrete floor.
However, those idle thoughts were suddenly paused as Jordan heard something. Something was loudly and quickly stomping on the dry leaves outside. With how relatively quiet the forest one, he could clearly hear it even before the source was close by. But with how the noise seemed to be growing a bit louder with each passing moment, whatever the source was, it was rapidly moving straight toward his base.
What the Hell? Did some animal smell me or the cooked food? Jordan thought to himself as he pressed himself against the inner wall by the doorway.
His Energy Pistol already in hand, he mentally desummoned his land drone and was about to summon it again beside him. It would take up the space of the doorway as the air drone flew out, acting as a combo of offense and defense while he moved to the roof. Though that would be right after seeing what he was dealing with, since it sounded like it¡¯d be showing up any second now.
Right at that moment, deep and ragged gasps for air were heard. Now frowning deeply, Jordan peeked his head into the doorway. Coming from the side, a woman then half-ran, half-stumbled into view.
Her blonde hair was a disheveled mess, as the leather armor she wore was stained in dirt with leaves stuck to some parts. For the parts of her body not covered by the armor, she was covered with sweat. When she then came to a stop, hands on her knees as she leaned over, drops of sweat quickly dripped off her nose.
Jordan lowered his gun as he stepped through the doorway, his brows knitted together with confusion more than anything now. This lady, who appeared to be a few years younger than him, maybe only in her late teens, seemed to have intentionally come directly, which most likely meant that she was a member of the group that Joey had claimed to be a part of.
But why was she here now, and what would have made her so clearly exhausted? Had she already been coming this way, but then was attacked and chased by something? Yet before Jordan opened his mouth to ask that very question, she looked up at him as he stepped closer. He did a slight double take as she looked up at him with concerningly red, bloodshot eyes.
¡°Please, we- we¡¡± she tried to start, before pausing to swallow heavily. From his pocket space, Jordan pulled out a metal water bottle he¡¯d made earlier, and that even came with a screw-on lid.
¡°Hey, hey, you¡¯re alright. Here,¡± Jordan said as he walked up to her and held out the bottle. ¡°Have some water, and take a few deep breaths. Then tell me what happened.¡±
Nodding, she grabbed the bottle and quickly began to gulp down the liquid inside. Looking her up and down as she drank, Jordan only became more sure that she¡¯d been running for what must have been a while. And now that several seconds had passed since her initial arrival, it didn¡¯t sound like something had been immediately chasing right behind her¡
After the woman took one last gulp, she took just a single deep breath in and out before trying again.
¡°We were attacked, by- by-¡± her words were shaky as the water bottle trembled in her hands. ¡°By that thing!¡±
Jordan sharply exhaled as he clenched his teeth. The still all too recent memories of yesterday quickly rushed through his mind. Trying to remain outwardly calm and get a grip on himself, he couldn¡¯t stop his entire body from still becoming visibly tensed up.
At his side, the land drone appeared. ¡°Just point me the right way, and I¡¯ll head there immediately.¡±
Chapter 27: Bamboozled
Riding on his land drone, Jordan raced through the forest at its top speed. There were a few close calls with trees, as he tried to keep it on as direct a path as possible toward his destination. Though even then, there was every possibility that he would still be too late.
Come on¡ can you go any faster?! Jordan tightened his grip on his drone as he applied a cast of Overcharge. He hadn¡¯t actually tried using the Skill on his drones yet, but this was as good of a time as any.
But in what was an unexpected reaction, he felt a mental ping. One that was giving him a choice, though he knew that it¡¯d have to be made quickly before the Skill automatically picked for him at random. He could either apply the use of Overcharge to the twin guns for an empowered shot, or¡
The drone sped ever faster as it gained an immediate burst to its acceleration. The treads moved with new life as the Skill also temporarily raised the drone¡¯s speed cap while it zoomed ahead. Jordan could sense from the mental connection that the new max was double the usual. However, his drone would only reach that point for just a second. For by the time it accelerated up that speed, the boosting effect from Overcharge had already begun to wear off.
Yet just as it was about to start slowing down, he cast the Skill once more. Again it sped up, now even faster than before as the new use of Overcharge stacked with the last. The engine, normally barely audible, could now be heard as a purr.
Clinging so tightly to it, Jordan could clearly feel the body of the drone as it was warmed. It was still accelerating up to the even newer max speed of 100 miles per hour. So only an increase of 50% as a drop-off in gains, rather than doubling yet again or adding another 40 to be triple from the original.
From the direction the young woman had pointed, Jordan had already known that the destination would be the river. It made perfect sense that they¡¯d stayed there after he had told them about it. If you were going to make camp anywhere, after all, it might as well be next to a fresh source of flowing water. Had the System not clearly predesigned the clearing to act as the location of his Kingdom along with almost immediately prompting him to build the base there, he would probably have it placed by the river instead.
But it meant that they should be somewhere between four and five miles away from his Kingdom. At the drone¡¯s base max speed, that¡¯d be something like seven minutes until he arrived. If he could maintain the speed boost to be something like at least 80 miles per hour, however, then Jordan should get there in under four, maybe closer to three minutes.
From the way the uses of Overcharge seemed to already be pushing the drone to its limits, he didn¡¯t want to risk taking it too far. If doing so caused the drone to shut down, or even worse, explode or something, then that obviously wouldn¡¯t be desirable. Even the best case would still mean stopping to summon a new one, and wasting valuable time due to resetting his momentum from scratch.
Jordan zoomed past the giant trees of the woods. It was only now that he really considered just how large this forest was compared to the relatively tiny field his group had been dropped off in. Perhaps it just went to show how seemingly random and varied the biomes of this planet could be.
The metal body of the drone felt consistently warm under his clothing, as he paced the uses of Overcharge to be just enough to maintain the speed of 80 miles per hour. Thanks to the Skill only costing 1 TP per cast and his regen being nearly 9 TP per minute, he could use basically every seven seconds without worrying about actually cutting into his resource pool.
However, even at the optimized time of three minutes, that was still three whole minutes. Depending on the circumstances, that could either pass in the blink of an eye or seem to stretch on for an eternity. As Jordan¡¯s initial rush of adrenaline and panic had begun to stabilize, it ended up starting to feel more like the latter. And in that time, a stray thought suddenly passed through his mind.
Would¡ wouldn¡¯t I already be too late? Jordan didn¡¯t like the thought, but it had to be considered. While he was rushing at freeway speeds, the lady must have been running to his base from there. Even if her physical Stats were high enough to allow her to sprint like a top athlete for a long period, that would still only be so fast, right?
He very quickly did the math in his head. Even if he were generous and said the distance was only four miles, that¡¯d still be pretty far over uneven terrain. Though maybe she had sprinted fast enough to be superhuman at a consistent 30 miles per hour, through the use of Skills or just a high enough Dexterity. Which even so, would still have taken eight minutes to run. If she¡¯d left the moment their group was attacked, then eight minutes already a long time.
A bit over ten minutes would have passed by the time he got there, which meant only one thing. When he arrived, they would either have settled it themselves, or it would simply be too late for him to do anything. At least not do more than avenge them, anyway, if the thing attacking them was still close by.
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Fuck, but if it¡¯s bad enough that she ran off to get my help¡ God damn it. Should I have tried to find out more about what was happening before I left? But that would just be wasting more time, and she might not have been able to say much anyway if she kept panicking. Damn it, why can¡¯t the right thing to do be an obvious choice to make? Jordan internally cursed as he questioned his rashness.
The worst-case scenario had already begun to play through his mind. Everyone there already being dead by the time he arrived, and the creature that killed them was long gone. So he would have to just get a count of the those that had died, and report back to the lady about what happened. And if every other member were accounted for from nobody else being able to flee as well, then he¡¯d have to bear the bad news about her being the lone survivor.
A knot in Jordan¡¯s stomach tightened. Just one day. Would just one whole day without a tragedy occurring around him have been too much to ask for? He had hoped that today would be a peaceful one where he could at least try to forget about yesterday, and just throw himself into busy work instead to keep his mind occupied. But no, even that small amount of respite was apparently too great of an ask.
Jordan¡¯s thoughts remained a jumbled mess as the next couple of minutes came and went. The shore of the wide river soon came into view, and his drone was ordered to slow down and then come to a halt. Hopping off, he approached the river and glanced both up and down its stream. The trees didn¡¯t seem to grow too close to it, so he could see quite far along the area directly next to the river itself.
There weren¡¯t any immediate signs of the group. But in retrospect, perhaps that should have been expected. As far as directions went, simply pointing could only be so accurate to bein with. Especially so if the pointer in question was exhausted and clearly not in the best state of mind.
I¡¯ll just have to search the area until I find them, then. Don¡¯t know which way to go, so can only search both. I can summon the air drone to check one direction, while I ride the opposite. Hopefully, I pick the right way from the start. Any second wasted just means more people that could be¡ dying¡
Jordan¡¯s thoughts trailed off as he took in the environment. There were the tranquil ripples of the water, and rustling of leaves being moved by the breeze carried over the river. The final bits of light from the sun were still just barely enough to illuminate the scene before him.
It was quiet. The ambient sounds could even be described as serene. Yet that was exactly the problem that he just now realized. Aside from the giant trees and thick canopy, one of the things he noticed most about the forest was just how much local noise it lacked.
Yet that shouldn¡¯t have been the case right now, not at all. If people were being attacked and killed, they should have been screaming and yelling bloody murder. With little wind within the forest itself and a lack of ambient sounds to act as a wall of noise, the screams and such should have carried for miles. In fact, there was every chance that he might have been able to hear them from as far as next to his Kingdom, right?
And yet, this whole time, he hadn¡¯t heard a single thing.
The hairs on the back of Jordan¡¯s neck stood up as he glanced around, his gaze now filled with suspicion. Something about this was¡ wrong. He normally wasn¡¯t someone who would put much stock into something like going with your gut, but he couldn¡¯t shake the ominous feeling now coming to him.
Only meeting Joey without ever being able to see the other man. The woman who¡¯d also come alone, running straight to his base as if knowing that he would still be there. Maybe it was out of desperation, and knowing that someone who¡¯d been Level 4 might have stuck around after claiming the Mandate. And even after he claimed it, anyone close by would still reasonably remember the direction the Quest had pulled them.
His thoughts turned toward the one leaderboard he hadn¡¯t checked this morning, due to not wanting to see the updated numbers. After his own group had died, he¡¯d been happily willing to take Joey at his word, and believe that more people were out there and would live close by. And even if initially suspicious of his quickly gained Levels, they would eventually come around.
Maybe even move into his building and form the start of an actual community. That was something that most humans desired, especially in desperate times.
But if anyone could hypothetically have what it takes to join the Mightiest Slayer leaderboard, then shouldn¡¯t he also have been inherently more suspicious? At least willing to ask questions first, rather than naively jump straight into action without finding out a damn thing beyond what he was initially told?
What the Hell is going on? Jordan asked himself. It just didn¡¯t make any sense. With each moment that passed, the spiral of doubt and uncertainty only tunneled deeper into his mind.
If that woman had been able to run for help, it obviously meant the threat had been noticed. So it wasn¡¯t like what happened with the Grass Panther, which had stealthily picked them off before an alarm could be raised. Even standing here where the water would be better at carrying noise, he really should have heard something by now. Anything, really.
At that moment, a chill ran up his spine. The now unmistakable feeling of being watched, or rather of someone using Appraise on him, immediately caught his attention.
¡°Excuse me, sir Human,¡± a loud voice with an oddly posh accent then said. When Jordan quickly spun toward the source of the words, his eyes widened. As the large figure approached, their several legs barely crunched against the bed of leaves.
¡°Do you have a moment to discuss being a willing sacrifice for the glory of our Golden Prince?¡± The newcomer asked with a quite polite tone.
Jordan couldn¡¯t it as it took him a moment to process just what it was he was seeing. His mind had registered the voice as belonging to what sounded like a British man. But what was before him wasn¡¯t even a man, but a Crab. A very, very large Crab.
Chapter 28: Chased by a Crab
Melody had watched the owner of the Kingdom as he¡¯d quickly rode away. The very sudden appearance of the mini tank had been surprising, but she¡¯d done a pretty good job of hiding her shock. Though as goofy as his riding on the tank had looked, she had to admit that it¡¯d allow him to move much faster than expected.
Well, doesn¡¯t matter at the end of the day. Fucking idiot¡¯s probably gullible enough to waste his time searching up and down that entire river anyway. Didn¡¯t even need to use that whole damn speech I thought of; he just trusted me and took off immediately, she thought to herself as she picked a leaf off her armor.
¡°Is he gone?¡± Joey asked from behind, making her jump a little. She turned to the Rogue, not for the first time hating the Skill that allowed him to sneak up on her like that. In his equipment as a Rogue, the overweight and balding man looked pretty goofy. Enough that it made her feel better, knowing that he didn¡¯t have a mirror to see how dumb he looked.
¡°Yeah, he¡¯s gone. Barely even had to sell it, though. I thought you said that this guy was the careful sort when you met him? Like when he wanted you to step into the light while that tank was next to him?¡± Melody asked with a raised brow.
Joey simply shrugged. ¡°Sometimes people are too smart for their own good, and sometimes their brains might as well be peanuts. Especially when they get worried about other people instead of just themselves. Remember that one cop, last year?¡±
¡°Oh yeeeeah, that asshole. Can¡¯t believe he fell for that,¡± Melody said with a chuckle. ¡°Made me spend so many nights making sure that fake letter from his mom was perfect, and thinking about ever way he could check that it wasn¡¯t. And the dumbass wasted all that time by just rushing straight to where we told him to go, all alone and half-cocked.¡±
¡°And the cops that we got teleported here with. How many did we kill before they even reacted, more than half? It¡¯s like I always say, never underestimate how being put on the spot can short-circuit a person¡¯s rational thinking. Anyway, he might have reached the Crab by now with how fast he drove off. Let¡¯s get this place secure before whoever lives comes over.¡±
Melody just nodded. Time was limited after their hand had been forced. But now they just needed to make the best of a rushed situation.
After failing the Quest to claim the local Mandate, the System hadn¡¯t directed them toward the next nearest. What it¡¯d done instead, however, was grant them a new Quest. One where the parameters were rather simple, actually.
Within a time limit of ten days, they just needed to kill the current Lord and then have uncosted control of the Kingdom until the end of those ten days. They had planned to wait until the close to the end of that period to ambush the guy. That way with so little time left, they didn¡¯t then need to worry about anyone else doing the same to them.
The sudden encounter with that Crab had expedited that process, however. But for all he lacked, Joey at least had a smart tongue when it really counted. So somehow, he¡¯d managed to convince that beast to wait until they sent someone of a higher Level than themselves its way.
So all they had to do now was use this fort as a base while waiting it out. Because no matter who won, it didn¡¯t matter if they had to then be on the offensive side of what would become a siege. And when that person inevitably needed to sleep at night, then they would pick them off.
However, that wasn¡¯t even the best part. Because on top of receiving the Kingdom after the Quest¡¯s time ran out, there was even a bonus reward. One that promised would make this rushed version of the original plan more than worth it.
Jordan¡¯s thoughts were moving at a thousand miles per second. He¡¯d been getting a bad feeling, but this was entire galaxies away from anything he could ever have guessed. An ambush or something? Sure, maybe. But getting approached by what could only be described as a giant Crab with a voice that sounded like it belonged to someone who could always be complaining about the British weather? No, not in his wildest dreams.
¡°Do you have no response? I know for certain that we speak the same language, due to my interaction with others of your kind. Ahh, wait a moment, I understand. Just the honor of being offered to willingly be a sacrifice to the Golden Prince must come as a shock. If you need time to-¡± The Crab was cut off as a bolt of energy suddenly shot at it.
In the time it¡¯d wasted talking, Jordan¡¯s land drone had responded to an order commanding it to turn around and begin firing. At the same time that he then began to run away from the Crab, his air drone appeared in the space behind him with orders to also begin shooting while flying around.
He hadn¡¯t even questioned his decision to shoot first. If someone talked about being a willing sacrifice to some other person or being, then the chances of them being a bad guy were pretty high.
¡°Ack, you savage! You reply to the Golden Prince¡¯s generosity with such, such barbarism!¡± the Crab angrily roared. While tactically increasing his distance from it, Jordan only glanced back to return the earlier use of Appraise in kind.
Name: Clovis Fawns
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.Species: Crab (Eternal World of the Golden Prince)
Guild: N/A
Class: Natural Juggernaut
Subclass: N/A
Level: 4
Grade: E
Only one Level under me? Hell yeah, I¡¯ll take that. Jordan hadn¡¯t actually expected that he¡¯d be the one to hold the advantage in terms of just pure Levels. However, he still couldn¡¯t just let that fact get to his head. Not when his opponent quickly proved that it wouldn¡¯t be so easily dismissed as a threat.
Despite being as large as an elephant, the Crab moved with an unexpectedly high burst of speed. From just steadily approaching closer, its legs became a blur as it moved sideways toward him. Even after suffering a few energy bolts from his drones at this point, the only signs of damage were some minor-looking burn marks on its body.
Son of a bitch, of course you¡¯d head straight for me, huh?! Jordan cursed to himself. A sapient enemy would have to be stupid to for the summons instead of the one controlling them if said controller was within sight. But even so, it was still annoying as the Crab moved far faster than he could possibly run.
The land drone managed to get off one last shot from behind before it disappeared. In its place, a new one appeared directly in front of Jordan. In the same action, he leaped onto it while ordering the summon to immediately begin driving forward at max speed.
At the edge of his vision, Jordan could keep track of his current Tech Points.
Tech Points: 20.1/26
With both drones summoned, he was only spending just barely more than 1 TP per minute. So as long as he didn¡¯t use any more Skills and only worried about their upkeep, his resource pool would last for just about twenty minutes. In a perfect world, that would have been more than enough.
Yet even as the drone had quickly accelerated up to its top speed, the Crab was still gaining on him. A lot more slowly now than when he was just using his own two feet, but still, it was steadily inching closer. As it moved, the Crab named Clovis snapped its claws like they were tongs being customarily tested before a barbeque.
¡°Well, fuck me then!¡± Jordan swore under his breath as he had no choice but to cast a use of Overcharge into his drone for a speed boost.
As the surge of acceleration let him temporarily outpace the Crab, his faithful air drone was still following the target. Yet even as it continued to fire at the Crab every couple of seconds, the giant creature just ignored the energy bolts as they slammed into its shell. Clovis clearly knew that his drones were only capable of doing so much damage, which clearly wasn¡¯t much as its shell had yet to even be pierced. So it just continued to shrug off the hits as they came, clearly not worried about the little burn marks they were still inflicting.
Just how tough is this thing?! It¡¯s not even wearing any armor, for fuck¡¯s sake! Jordan wasn¡¯t sure if a Crab like it would have even received equipment from the System. But it had a Class and clearly appeared to be sapient like him, so was there any reason why it wouldn¡¯t have been given any fit for its body?
Its Class¡ Jordan thought back to the name for it his Appraise had presented. Natural Juggernaut sounded rather identical to what Mike had been as an Iron Juggernaut. But while the latter had worn heavy armor from head to tie, would the Natural part of the name indicate that armor would be unnatural?
Maybe instead, whoever had that Class would just rely on their own body¡¯s toughness or receive a different kind of equipment that he couldn¡¯t see on the Crab? Jordan barely had any time to consider the theory as he used Overcharge again, but it would at least make sense at first glance. The question was: even if he were right, would knowing that now do him any good?
Jordan felt stuck. His ideal goal of being able to flee a fight and let his drones handle all the work from afar wasn¡¯t really going as hoped.
Having to hold on to the land drone with both hands, he couldn¡¯t shoot at the chasing Crab with his Energy Pistol unless he wanted to risk falling off with the next bump in the ground. And since the land drone wasn¡¯t capable of flipping its guns backward, it couldn¡¯t exactly fire while facing away from the target. Which left just his poor air drone to try and singlehandedly shoulder the burden of being on the offensive.
¡°Stop at once, you cur! In the name of the laws of the Golden Prince, your blasphemous response to his generosity shall not be forgiven!¡± Clovis declared with while shaking one of its claws at him like a fist. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that it was actively chasing with the intent to kill him, then Jordan would have found the idea of a British Crab saying such things with such passionate seriousness to be rather funny.
As his heart was still beating furiously in his chest, however, Jordan took a deep breath. In the time it¡¯d spent running after him while yelling, Clovis could have been using ranged attacks instead. The fact that it hadn¡¯t was a pretty strong indicator that it didn¡¯t have any. The Crab was clearly tanky as Hell with the fact that the consistent blasts from his air drone hadn¡¯t even managed to slow it down.
However, it didn¡¯t seem to have much going for it beyond so tough, huh? It was fast; that much couldn¡¯t be questioned. Without the combo of Overcharge and Summon Land Drone working well together, he¡¯d have been caught by its claws more than a dozen times over now.
With another use of the Skill, the gap between them continued to only steadily increase in his favor now. If Jordan used it at the same rate as he rushed to the river, that gap would only keep increasing without risking his drone being pushed too far. And even if the shots from his air drone didn¡¯t seem to be doing much, they were doing something.
So, with enough time, the game of chase should turn into a war of attrition that¡¯d be in his favor. Plus by the time the TP cost added up from the upkeep and repeated uses of Overcharge, he could just desummon the air drone and let it build back up for a while.
¡°Again, I say stop, you¡¯ve violated the law!¡± With a voice so enraged that it became a high-pitched shrill, the Crab screamed at him. Jordan looked back and saw an object so tiny compared to the massive claw pinching it, it was almost comical. Yet there was nothing comedic about it when he looked it for a second longer and realized what the item actually was.
A red gem.
Oh! Son of a-
With a quiet crack, the Advance Crystal shattered in the claw. And as the gem disappeared, the single-use Skill within it was unleashed.
Chapter 29: Of Crabs and Men
Jordan groaned as a dull ringing filled his ears. There was a sharp, stabbing pain at the top of his head. His hair felt physically matted as something warm and wet dripped down the back of his neck. Dark spots ran across his vision while the world itself felt distant and out of focus.
What the? What¡ happened? He asked himself while trying to shake the fog and confusion out of his head. A mistake, as all that motion accomplished was the pain intensifying and temporarily blurring his sight even further.
For another second, Jordan couldn¡¯t even remember what he¡¯d been doing before this point. But then, when he looked around while trying to forcibly blink his eyes into focusing, his gaze landed on a large, orange-red figure. That¡¯s when it came back to him, or rather, it partially did so.
There was a clear gap in memory, as he didn¡¯t even know what had actually happened to him. One moment, he¡¯d been riding his drone as the Crab had crushed the gem. And now, in what felt like just an instant later, he was on the ground and directly in front of a tree¡¯s trunk.
He tried to take to deeply inhale, but then he suddenly stopped midway through. Jordan gasped as the attempt at a sucking breath resulted in an intense pain in his chest, like a muscle had been pulled. A moderate distance away, the Crab had slowed down. Like a predator sure that its prey could no longer flee and was now cornered, it took its time to make the final approach.
Jordan¡¯s eyes eventually landed on the ground the Crab was passing by. From where his land drone had driven over, there was a clear indent in the bed of leaves that. But in what had to be a couple hundred feet between him and the Crab, there was a sudden stop to that indent. Then, glancing back at the trunk right next to him, he saw a cracked depression in the wood. Like something fairly big had just hit it very, very hard.
Something that was approximately the size of a human skull, for example. One that¡¯d been flung into the tree from the back of a drone in what was effectively a similar scenario to someone speeding down the freeway without a seatbelt, before being thrown through the front windshield. In that example scenario, he should have been dead with his head turned into a squashed watermelon, plain and simple.
But it seemed like fate was on his side, or rather, a more rigid body from the System. Since it appeared that all the bonuses resulting in all his physical Stats being in their 30s had turned this into what ¡°only¡± felt like a bad concussion. At the very least, he was still alive. So that was as good of a start as any.
Jordan tried to get up to his feet. Once again that was a mistake, as his body immediately betrayed him by sitting his ass right back down before he could even finish standing up. It was only as the ringing finally started to clear from his ears that Jordan heard the Crab speaking. It¡¯d been apparently been in the middle of a whole monologue, and he was only now at least partially tuning in.
¡°-Has punished you for your wicked ways! From the few of you Humans that I have met, it is now clear to me that none of your kind are without evil in your hearts! For only evildoers would be so¡ so audacious as to reject the Golden Prince¡¯s summons for the honor of being a sacrifice! But know this, villain! Even if you do not wish to be taken alive, then so be it! In your death, you shall only allow me to become a more worthy sacrifice in your stead!¡± Clovis proudly declared.
Jordan tried to take the moment to just focus on his breathing. However, while deep breaths were basically impossible, even just shallow ones still hurt. It was impossible to diagnose just how bad the impact had been, but something was clearly fucked up beyond just a concussion.
Was this inability to properly breathe due to broken ribs? Or were his lungs themselves damaged? He had no idea how one was even meant to tell without having any medical experience.
However, he was clearly in no condition to run or fight. His air drone was still dutifully doing its best, since sleeping while his land drone hunted last night had already proven that he didn¡¯t need to be conscious for them to stay summoned. Yet even that was then taken away, as Clovis then turned toward it while actively monologuing.
¡°-And begone with this accursed metal insect with its stinging from afar!¡± Picking up a particularly large branch off the ground, the Crab pulled its arm back while holding it with its claw.
Joints that Jordan wasn¡¯t sure normal Crabs usually had then clicked as it took aim. Then with both precision and speed that would have put a pro javelin thrower to shame, it launched the branch like a spear aimed straight at the drone. Seeing what was about to happen, Jordan had made an attempt to order the drone to try to evade and randomize the way it flew around. It was for naught, however, as the drone was then impaled and forcibly desummoned from taking too much damage.
But that distraction had bought him precious time. Time that the still working part of his brain made sure to tell him to make use of while the Crab was looking away. As Clovis had focused on the drone, a red gem of his own had appeared in Jordan¡¯s hand. First things first, he needed to focus on his current condition.
Please be the healing Skill and not something else that won¡¯t help, Jordan silently begged as he crushed the Healer¡¯s gem. Thankfully, his body was then hit by a feeling that could only be described as warm, but in a soothing way.
He sharply inhaled as pressure around his lungs felt alleviated, allowing him to breathe again. His vision was now sharp once more as the fog in his mind almost entirely cleared up. Jordan¡¯s head still felt rather sore and even a bit itchy. But it was now like the soreness that came in the days that followed after a wound had closed up.
Jordan wasn¡¯t sure how it compared to the Healer¡¯s Skill back when she was actually alive. But for something that was only a one-time use versus just consuming it to gain a new Skill or evolution, it¡¯d definitely proven that limitation to be worth it. While he wasn¡¯t entirely back up to 100% in terms of his overall physical condition, it was more than enough for now.
¡°Oh? You dare to continue struggling, then?¡± Clovis said while turning back to him. The eyes extending over the top of its head seemed to regard the Human as he then stood back up.
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Of course it¡¯d heard the gem being crushed, in the same way he¡¯d heard the same even from a distance while riding his drone. For something so small, they were apparently quite loud when being shattered. And with the relative quiet of the forest, it would have been almost impossible for the Crab not to notice the noise.
I already know the drones don¡¯t do much, even the land drone from the first few shots it got off. Which means that my Energy Pistol also won¡¯t do jack, even with Overcharge. Maybe if I can stack a few uses of Overchage into the land drone¡¯s guns, but would I have time for that? Screw it, then. If my best tools don¡¯t work, then I might as well keep trying something else I have. In for a penny, in for a pound. Steeling his resolve, Jordan was forced to quickly make a decision.
From his pocket space, he pulled out another gem. A part of him was silently thankful that the System allowed the item taken to be directly from what he willed, and not something that had to be actually rummaged around for. I mean that even though all the Advancement Crystals shared a nearly identical appearance, he already knew exactly which one was currently in his hand.
¡°Ahah, do you truly think such things can save you now?! It matters not how many such crystals you have in stock, Human! It will not save you from the retribution deserving of one who dares reject the generosity of the Golden Prince! Behold, and quake before the full power of this humble servant of the glorious one!¡± Clovis boasted before growing to become even larger.
Over the course of just a mere second, the Crab¡¯s size had nearly doubled as the result of what had to be one of its Skills. But at the same time, there was the sound of Jordan crushing another gem. All he could do now was rely on the look he¡¯d taken at the notes of the Skills his group members had listed, and hope that both his memory was correct and the random Skill inside was favorable.
A second later, it appeared as if nothing had happened. When Jordan had used the healing gem, it hadn¡¯t come with an inherent understanding of the one-use Skill. The same was the case for this gem, from the Time Mage, as it quickly felt like a total dud. Had he accidentally just used the Passive Skill or something?
At the same time, the now even more giant Crab had finished its speech, and now ran right for him with a massive claw raised up. And despite the increase in its size, it only moved faster than before.
¡°Fuck! Come on, come on!¡± Jordan practically begged the next one to be better as his legs got moving. He also began to cast Summon Land Drone, but that would take a couple of seconds to finish. With how quickly the Crab was going, that might end up being too long. Especially considering that it¡¯d take even longer for it to accelerate, even if he used Overcharge to boost its speed from the start.
The third Advancement Crystal he took out was from the Pyromancer. While he couldn¡¯t remember the exact details, he knew that all her Skills were highly offense-orientated around fire. And that there was at least one Skill that was like a pretty decently ranged flamethrower. That was one he was hoping to get and point back at the Crab.
He¡¯d see how it liked getting cooked alive, as its own huge shell turned its body into a living oven for its insides!
Just as his land drone began to appear, Jordan crushed the gem. With the attack hopefully enough to at least hurt the Crab, it should at least give him a chance to hop on his drone and-
From his hand, a blast of fire went out in all directions. Like the fireball of explosion with the broken gem as the center, it consumed Jordan and instantly caught the dry bed of leaves aflame. Jordan barely managed to let out a scream as his Engineer¡¯s Uniform only resisted the heat for a few seconds, before it began to burn with his now melting skin. His flesh practically bubbled as his hand and arm were simply gone, completely blown off by the blast itself.
The possibility that the Skill within an Advancement Crystal could harm him as the user had never once popped into his mind. Because why would it? The designer of such a mechanic would have to be particularly cruel to make it that way, and without ever warning the user about such a thing being possible. Yet even though his last thoughts were of shock, horror, and regret, they wouldn¡¯t have to last very long.
Not when the scream was soon cut short. Partially because his cooking lungs had quickly turned the yell into a raspy whisper. But mostly because when the pain almost immediately became too great to deal with, his mind simply shut down. As the world turned black, Jordan would never have believed that out of everything, this would be how he died.
And then¡ he was back.
Back to a previous moment in time, as if the last few seconds simply hadn¡¯t occurred. Jordan was still standing there, having just crushed the Time Mage¡¯s gem. He could still feel the heat of being burned alive, but he also understood that the feeling was just in his head. The Crab looked around, having just grown in size. But even it seemed to also remember the future they had just experienced and was now clearly confused about what had just happened.
A mental lightbulb then lit up above his head. The gem hadn¡¯t been just a Passive or something useless after all! It¡¯d rooted him to that point in time when the Skill was used, and then pulled him back. Before the Crab could shake off its obvious bewilderment, he needed to act. Once again, Jordan pulled out the Pyromancer¡¯s crystal. But this time, he knew what had to be done to get things right.
Jordan threw the gem, only calling out when it was already mid-air. ¡°Hey ugly! Catch and enjoy that as a little gift!¡±
As it flew through the air, the distance between them was short. The Crab¡¯s eyes affixed on the crystal as it caught the bits of light that managed to fit through the canopy.
¡°No!¡± Clovis cried out with terror, only now knowing what would happen. Its enlarged form only made it an easier target to throw something at. So they both knew that the future would repeat itself, but with just a different individual as the victim.
The Advance Crystal shattered around the middle of the giant¡¯s shell. With a high-pitched scream of its own, it flailed before attempting one last, desperate charge at Jordan. But before it could even close the gap, the Crab stumbled on its own legs, causing it crash into the ground with a loud thud.
Both drones already appearing at his side while also drawing his gun, Jordan wasted no time in immediately following it up. From what was basically a small firing squad, shot after shot of energy blasts hit a target that was simply too big to ever miss, even as it rolled around. They didn¡¯t stop until after the minute that it took for his foe to finally become still. And even then, Jordan only commanded them to cease after the confirmation he¡¯d been waiting for then appeared a few more seconds later.
Initial Merger Slain!
Doubled Experience Earned!
+112 EXP
On the evening of the second day of the Merging, the smell of cooked Crab filled a certain forest. Along with it was the smell and smoke of leaves as they turned into kindling for a quickly spreading wildfire. Jordan covered his face with his arm as the smoke was already starting to get into his breathing.
With that kind of blaze, there was no way he was going to go in now to collect the Advancement Crystal and whatever loot might have just left the pocket space. Especially now then the very real memory of burning to death was still fresh on his mind. He¡¯d have to wait for the flames to die out on their own, and then get whatever remained later. For the time being, anyway, there was a far more pressing matter at hand.
The Crab had clearly been expecting him. Which meant that a certain someone had set him up to die. And now, more likely than not, would likely still be found loitering in his Kingdom.
That was simply not something he was just going to roll over and accept. No way in Hell.
Chapter 30: Trespassing? In His Kingdom?
From deep behind the line of trees, Jordan stared at his base from afar. It¡¯d only taken him another few minutes to get back here with his land drone. Though as he¡¯d drawn closer, he had decided to desummon it and be a bit subtle in scouting things out first.
The lady who found him hadn¡¯t been seen, yet. But while a part of him was tempted to gun hot-headed and ready to demand answers for what seemed to have been a prepared ambush, he forced him to remain calm. It wouldn¡¯t hurt to just watch for a bit, and then try to see how she was behaving and go from there.
A few miles away, a column of smoke was only growing bigger and darker with each passing minute. It would have been hard to see at first, as most of the smoke was initially caught by the thick canopy that acted as a ceiling. Yet that was quickly changing to become easily visible to anyone who might have been around to look.
But while it was hard to say how much water was in the trees themselves, the ground of the forest had been practically begging for a wildfire to start. With a whole layer of dried leaves and plenty of dead branches and sticks around, along with what bits of vegetation could grow in the dim amount of sunlight, it was the perfect set-up for a blaze. If being the one responsible for setting the fire counted as him being the one to slay anything caught in it, then he would find out soon.
On the roof of his base, two figures came into view as they stood by the edge. One was the lady who had pointed toward the Crab. Even from a fair distance away, Jordan noted that her appearance had been considerably cleaned up compared to her earlier dirty and disheveled look. Beside her was a man that Jordan didn¡¯t recognize. He just appeared to be on the larger side, and in contrast to the relatively young woman, at least looked to be in his early 40s or something around that.
Unfortunately, Jordan couldn¡¯t use Appraise on either person. At least not unless he wanted to alert them to his presence. Yet while staring at the man for a few more seconds, Jordan squinted a bit.
Is that Joey, from yesterday? Jordan asked himself. It was hard to say for sure, as the lack of light around their meeting last night hadn¡¯t exactly been conducive to his ability to see the other man. But just in terms of the vague outline of a person he saw yesterday through the darkness, it did seem to line up. And as the sun had now basically set and allowed the stars to take its place, it would soon be dim with just the starlight filling the clearing.
They¡¯re both wearing dark, almost black armor. Leather, if I had to make a guess from just how it looks. I know Joey¡¯s Class was listed as a Rogue, and their equipment being dark leather would fit that as a trope. So if that is him, then it at least looks like the other girl is also a Rogue. That was unless she¡¯d swapped equipment, which Jordan supposed was possible. Unless the magic items, there didn¡¯t appear to be any limitation on switching armor with other Classes.
As he stared up at them, the woman pointed the finger at what was likely the rising smoke. Though with how dark it was now, the glow of the spreading fire itself was probably also easily noticeable. As for what she said next, one might have expected it to be difficult to make out the words from afar. But luckily, she was more than loud enough for that not to be a problem in the slightest.
¡°Joey, what the fuck is up with that!?¡± She yelled, very helpfully confirming the man¡¯s identity. ¡°Did one of those shitbags set this whole damn forest on fire! I didn¡¯t sign up to get caught in that for this shitty, sorry excuse for a Kingdom!¡±
Hey¡ well, screw you too! Jordan internally retorted. If she thought his Kingdom was so bad, then she was free to leave and go find one of her own instead.
Her partner was sadly much more calm and quiet in his response. Jordan could see his mouth moving as he appeared to be saying something, but he couldn¡¯t hear any of it. However, whatever he said quickly seemed to have failed in placating the woman¡¯s worries.
¡°Wait it out?! I¡¯ll have you know, point Dexter, that we¡¯re surrounded by fucking trees! Even if we clear the ground of leaves around us, the fire will be literally everywhere! If you want to-¡± She paused as Joey turned toward her, his face now away from what Jordan could see. A couple of seconds later, the young lady threw her arms up in the air with clear frustration.
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¡°Nah, fuck that, and fuck this! Feel free to either die in the fire or choke with all the smoke if you want! This shitty building doesn¡¯t even have windows for air, if you haven¡¯t noticed! Just a door that doesn¡¯t go anywhere, and some crappy machine that doesn¡¯t even work!¡± She then turned and stomped away from the roof¡¯s edge. Though even while doing so, she continued to yell.
¡°So if you want to say here and die for some concrete chairs and shit, be my guest! ¡®Cause I¡¯m out! If this place isn¡¯t gone by the time the fire¡¯s out, then I¡¯ll come to claim whatever¡¯s left to finish that damned Quest!¡±
Joey threw up his own arms as he called after her, loud enough for Jordan to hear him now. ¡°Melody, don¡¯t be like that! Melody! Hey, don¡¯t just ignore me! Hey, come on, don¡¯t be like that!¡±
So Miss High Temper¡¯s name was Melody, huh? That was at least something. Far more importantly, it looked like she was about to make Jordan¡¯s life a whole lot easier.
Because almost on cue with that thought, the front door of the building slammed open. Something they¡¯d apparently been nice enough to finish and install for him, at least. Though it seemed that said nicety had been partially reversed now, as there was currently a visible crack in the wood that hadn¡¯t been there before.
As Melody loudly stomped out the entrance, Jordan ducked behind the tree he was next to. The chances of her looking right at where he was currently standing were low, but not zero. Especially since Jordan wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the Passive Skill for Rogues would allow them to see better at night. People whose jobs were being sneaky would be pretty bad if they just blindly stumbled around the best time to sneak around, after all.
Peeking around the tree a few seconds later, Jordan saw the woman¡¯s back as she walked away in the opposite direction from him. Which was fair enough, considering that moving toward him also meant moving toward the wildfire. He glanced back at the doorway, but didn¡¯t see the other man looking like he was about to come out to follow after her.
Well, alright then, I guess they just had a falling out? It did feel¡ a bit much, though. Did they spot me and exaggerate it to make me think that¡¯s what happened? Like is this Melody chick actually walking away, or is she going to double back and get me from behind if I focus on the guy still inside? Jordan asked himself, frowning as he wondered if he was just overthinking it.
Either way, it didn¡¯t much for what would come next. She had basically all but outright admitted that their intention had been to claim his Kingdom for themselves. But there was clearly an issue with that idea. When Jordan glanced down at the back of his hand, even with the gloves on, he could still feel the outline of the crown imprinted into his skin.
Unless there actually did turn out to be a way for him to willingly transfer ownership, someone would have to take it by killing him first. With how seemingly bloodthirsty this System appeared to be, he truly would not be surprised if overthrowing the Lord through death was actually the only method to claim their Kingdom. In any case, whether it was the man still inside or the woman who intended to come back only after the wildfire was done, their goal remained the same.
Which meant that there were only two main options left for Jordan to pursue. He could either take the pacifist route of being the one to simply walk away. If they couldn¡¯t actually use the Transmuter, then the only thing useful to them would be the building itself as a fort. But if he got to keep the Title and the Kingdom remained in his name, then it would hypothetically be okay for him to just leave and go somewhere else. Whether that choice to leave was just for a while, or even longer for an indefinite amount of time.
Or there was door number two, which was to deal with them now and take back his base. What that meant was something the Jordan of Earth would never have thought himself capable of. But that Jordan was dead, literally, as of just several minutes ago.
While it had been reversed, what he experienced had been very real. Jordan¡¯s breath quickened as he could almost still feel his skin bubbling, the sight of his arm simply being gone before the searing agony practically blinded him. His pulse sounded loud in his ears as his lungs remembered being burned to a crisp after taking just a single breath filled with fire. One hand placed on the trunk of the tree; there was a small crack as his fingers squeezed against its bark.
Even if the Crab itself had been the metaphorical bullet to hit him, they¡¯d been the ones to point the gun at him. Doing so with the full expectation that he would die to open up ownership of his Kingdom, more than likely. It was one thing for someone to want him dead, but somehow, it just felt even worse that they had left the dirty work to be done by another. As if doing it themselves wouldn¡¯t have been worth the effort.
Jordan¡¯s other hand shook as it held his Energy Pistol. Not with fear, not from shock, not even from the trauma he¡¯d just experienced. But with rage. Encountering the Crab was their fault. Now forever knowing what it was like to die in a fiery explosion was their fault. And he sure as Hell wasn¡¯t going to forgive them for that, even if they went so far as to immediately surrender and promise to leave this area forever so he would never see them again.
It didn¡¯t matter; things had gone too far for that to even be possible. They wanted him to die while they just waited somewhere far away?
Fine, he could play that game too.
Chapter 31: Granting Death From Afar
Melody was fuming as she walked away from the building in a huff. It didn¡¯t matter what Joey had tried to say otherwise; she was done with this crap. When her eyes had first seen the multi-story structure from the outside, her imagination had gone wild with the possibilities.
The System had called it a Kingdon, so she had naturally pictured herself as the queen of what would become an empire. One where a legion of vassals would faun over her, and anyone who slighted her would face her wrath and be killed as she sat back on a comfy thrown. Despite being both her cousin and literal partner in crime, she would finally be able to get rid of Joey at that point too.
Mainly because it was annoying to deal with the fact that he believed himself to know better than her, despite actually being a total dumbass himself. Both he and everyone else who¡¯d ever thought the same thing. But he¡¯d helped her out of a few tough spots, so that was the only reason why she had tolerated his need to always comment with a ¡°better idea.¡± Tolerated it until now, anyway.
Yet this had officially gone too far. She wasn¡¯t going to risk being caught in the blaze when the whole freaking forest might as well have been covered in gasoline with how flammable the whole thing was. Not for the building they had actually searched from top to bottom.
For what should have been the start of an amazing Kingdom, it was just a whole lot of nothing. Just concrete walls, with concrete cabins, and even more concrete everything! As for what wasn¡¯t just more concrete, there was just a door that neither of them could open, and then the big machine that refused to do anything no how much they had fiddled with it.
Melody wasn¡¯t even able to damage the damn thing to at least get her anger out, because none of her attacks had left so much as a scratch on it. The only saving grace of the building was the heating and lighting, but even that wasn¡¯t worth dying over.
She initially had so much hope upon seeing that as something built for one random dude to live in, it had enough space to act as a whole apartment. Yet all that hope was now as empty as the inside of the building itself.
However, the idea of an apartment complex then made her thoughts stray. Right before the Merging, that¡¯s where she and Joey had been. After a gas station robbery gone wrong, they¡¯d been lying low at a trashy apartment while getting ready to ditch the city they were in. But apparently, they hadn¡¯t been careful enough in concealing their tracks, but a whole metric fuckton of cops had broken down the door and swarmed the place.
Yet before anything else could happen, they had all been teleported away. Given the whole spiel about some big event, and now had the chance to pick a Trait and Class. Assuming that what she¡¯d smoked earlier that day might have been laced with something stronger, she had just gone along with it as part of some weird trip at first. But then after everything had been picked, they had winded up in some random part of this huge forest.
She had no idea why, but for some reason, like half of the cops had been doubled over with. It was like someone had repeatedly shanked them. But that was a blessing in disguise. Because while half of them were down and the others were confused about the Merging, she and Joey had gone to work clearing them out.
Though when they had been dying on the ground, Melody made sure to call dibs on finishing them off after she¡¯d killed the first one. As soon as she¡¯d seen the notification about doubled Experience, there was no way in Hell that she would have let Joey take any of them for himself. Something which had led to a very nice disparity in their Level, especially after they had spent today hunting around for more stuff to kill.
While Joey was still stuck at the very end of being Level 2, she was already a decent amount of Experience into being Level 3. And while he¡¯d gotten two of the Advancement Crystals the cops had dropped after they figured out those things worked, Melody had taken the rest for herself. To just keep them safe in her own pocket space, or so she had claimed. However, in reality, she had already used them while Joey slept yesterday to gain a second new Skill.
One that scaled nicely with Will as her main Stat, along with her other Skills. Sure, all her other Stats were pretty poor as a result of focusing on Will. But as long as she had someone else to act as a meatshield, like Joey or whoever she liked more to replace him, all would be well.
As for her equipment, even that wasn¡¯t hers. No, she had picked it off the body of a cop who had somewhat ironically opted to be a Rogue, of all things. Melody thought the dark leather suited her better than the pretty ugly attire the System dared consider appropriate for her. Just because the Class she¡¯d chosen was to be-
At that moment, Melody heard a very quiet buzzing. One that clearly hadn¡¯t been there just a second ago, coming from somewhere in the air behind her. She spun around, her eyes widening like a deer caught in headlights when she saw what it was. But at that same moment that her gaze had fixed upon it, there was a flash of light.
A couple of seconds later, it was followed by a dull thud.
¡°That damn girl, I swear she¡¯s always like this. You¡¯d think she would change to at least take things seriously on a whole freaking new planet?¡± Joey said while shaking his head. He had remained on the roof, now watching from another side as his cousin stormed off into the darkness past the treeline.
He let out a deep sigh. ¡°Whatever, screw it. Does it matter that I basically raised her like a little sister? Apparently freaking not! But if she wants to act like she¡¯s still 12 and not her actual age, fine. It¡¯s already dark out, anyway. Once she¡¯s cold as balls, she¡¯ll come crawling back to enjoy the heating this place has. I¡¯m not gonna sit up here in the cold air, waiting for her to show up sooner or later.¡±
Joey then turned toward the roof¡¯s hatch. The piece of wood covering it had already been set aside, but he might as well put it back on the way down. Few things were worse than being somewhere warm only for a chilly draft to blow in. Or in this case, any ash or debris from the wildfire that was still spreading out there. For a few moments, his gaze lingered on the orange-red glow in the distance.
Between the guy and that Crab, I¡¯m willing to bet the former started the fire. Dunno what all his Skills are from his Combat Engineer Class, but that drone of his looked like it could dish out some pain. Wouldn¡¯t surprise me if either that or one of his other Skills did it. But¡ is the Crab dead yet, or are they still going at it? Joey asked himself.
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The latter would be the best-case scenario. Since it meant that even if one of them won right now, they¡¯d already be surrounded by the wildfire. However, at the very least, he knew that the man named Jordan wasn¡¯t dead yet. If he was, the System should have given them at least some kind of indicator about the Quest and if he could claim the Kingdom yet.
Even if he survived the Crab, the wildfire actually made their plan even better. They would have the security of being inside of this fort, while he¡¯d be stuck out in the burning woods. And if he went for a direct assault instead, then that was still also accounted for.
Melody, when she got back soon, would take the front and use her Skills to pin him down or at least keep him on the defensive. Meanwhile, Joey would sneak around and go for a rather literal stab to the back. Plain and simple to pull off, no matter what his cousin would say to disagree.
Now back on the ladder, Joey reached up to pull the cover back over the roof access. However, something flew directly above it. Something that was only the size of a basketball, and already had the barrel of its gun pointed at him. A drone!¡°Shit!¡± Joey cursed as he let go of the ladder and simply allowed gravity to take over.
And not a moment too soon, as a bolt of energy then zipped through the air where his head had just been. As he fell down, the drone was already adjusting its aim while hovering in place. If he stayed on the ladder, then all it had to do was just keep pointing straight down.
With a quick push, he shoved himself away from the ladder. The force pushed him away from it, and sent him crashing into the concrete of the floor below the roof instead. The impact winded him as it¡¯d still made for a pretty heavy fall, knocking the air out of his lungs for a second.
But with a grunt, Joey forced himself to quickly get back up. He was already fully tensed, and drew a blade from his pocket space.
¡°Come on¡ I¡¯m ready for you now, you bastard,¡± he muttered under his breath. The second the drone went down the ladder to get him back into its sight, his plan was simple.
Leap onto it and smash it into the ground. Then while pinning it so that the gun was pointed away from him, repeatedly see if he could either stab it. Or if stabbing weren¡¯t very effective against the in-between bits of its metal body, then he¡¯d just try to break it the old-fashioned way of repeatedly smashing it against the concrete.
And yet, as a few seconds passed, it hadn¡¯t come down yet. Joey felt a bead of sweat travel down his back. Cursing under his breath, he realized what the ploy was.
The door was still left wide open from when Melody had her little temper tantrum and couldn¡¯t even bother to slam it shut behind her. If he¡¯d been given literally less than half a minute, he would have gone down and secured it. But of course the attack would be started now.
The bastard must have already been around to watch Melody leave, and decided to strike now while she was still gone. It felt way too soon in Joey¡¯s mind, but maybe the blaze had been lit on purpose to throw them off. But if he had managed to either kill or escape from the Crab, it didn¡¯t matter either way. It was do-or-die time.
That¡¯s two kinds of drones I know he has. I¡¯m guessing the flying one will keep watching the ladder and pin me to this floor. If it were me, I¡¯d stick that mini tank right in the middle of the doorway since it¡¯s the only exit. So I¡¯ll get shot when I go for the ladder, and then get shot at again if I try to leave from the ground floor. I can either get past the flyer and get back up to the roof, which might be his plan. Or I can stay here and wait for Melody, which might also be his plan. Mother of all things shitty; I really have to pick one of just those two options, don¡¯t I?
No. After thinking about it for another second, he realized that there was a third choice. And it was exactly just crazy enough to work.
He could quickly get down to the first floor. Then making use of his high Dexterity, he figured there was enough space in the doorway for him to just leap over the tank. If Joey could pull that off, he could then make a break for the treeline. In the darkness of the night, his Skills as a Rogue would be able to actually work their magic. He would first try to find Melody. But if that didn¡¯t seem to be doable, then he could still-
Rather than coming down from above, a flying drone flew up from below instead. Teeth gritted, Joey still just rushed forward to take it out before it could fire. It wasn¡¯t like he had much of another choice at that point. Joey went to grab the drone, intending to force it down into the concrete floor.
¡°Ow! The Hell?!¡± His bodily reflexly recoiled at the heat. Even through his leather gloves, the metal body of the drone was painfully hot as his fingers touched it. That delay from his nervous system naturally trying to get him away from it was only half a second, as he then controlled himself to still use his other hand to thrust the dagger at the drone.
Even at close range, his Dexterity might still be high enough to dodge. All he had to do was watch for the exact moment it fired the bolt, and then move away from the line of the barrel.
However, just as the tip of his dagger stabbed into the drone, there was no energy bolt. Instead, it just exploded on impact. In what was a blast of fire and metal shrapnel, it exploded in what was just a foot away from being right in front of his face.
The heat burned his head as Joey fell to the ground, screaming while covering his face. Right after stabbing into his flesh, the bits of shrapnel had just as quickly disappeared. But that was almost worst, because the fully open wounds they left behind were certainly still there.
Blinded by the metal that had flown right into his eyes, the world was now dark around him. Trickles of blood from the shrapnel ran down his blistering skin, only further irritating the burnt flesh. Between the total blindness, unable to hear anything over his own screams of agony, and just the raw pain itself, Joey didn¡¯t even notice the original drone that only then came down from the roof. But as its gun aimed for him, it was a couple of moments later that his pained cries suddenly ended.
With the matter now settled, Jordan glanced at the screens currently in front of him.
Initial Merger Slain!
Doubled Experience Earned!
+78 EXP
Initial Merger Slain!
Doubled Experience Earned!
+24 EXP
He could only imagine how many spots he¡¯d jumped on the Slayer leaderboard today, now that his total count was at four. But such a thing didn¡¯t matter to him, as he had no interest in ever finding out his current placement on the list or how many were on it now.
Anyway, without ever having to look at either person himself as they died, it was over now. All he had to do now was turn the corpses into Advancement Crystals and take whatever was in their pocket spaces.
Well, never wanted to do it until now because of the stacking maintenance costs and risking my TP running out too quickly. But as far as a stress test for keeping up multiple air drones at once goes, that really couldn¡¯t have gone any better. And that was along with the result of putting too many stacks of Overcharge into a drone''s gun than it could handle at once.
If nothing else, how the second day of the Merging had ended would certainly be one to remember.
Chapter 32: Collecting the Loot Owed
The remainder of that night was a rather simple one for Jordan. After desummon all but the one drone that had killed the lady, he had it lead him to her corpse. The kill had been as clean as just a single shot through the head. The intent had been for the drone to effectively go behind the woman and assassinate her from above without her ever knowing. Though when he saw the horrified expression still partially on her dead face, it seemed that she might have actually noticed it, but only after it was already too late.
Next to the freshly deceased body was a whole lot of equipment. Various sets of armor and weapons from what appeared to be a whole mix of Classes. But in addition, there were more than a dozen police officer uniforms. No guns, however, that he could see. Yet it made him glance back at the woman¡¯s face. There were only so many reasons that a bunch of cops was part of the group you got transported here with.
One of which was the most mundane explanation that she and Joey had also been cops themselves. Though considering their behavior with each other and leading him to die, he had a funny reason that it was for a less innocent reason. In any case, Jordan just went ahead and grabbed it all to throw into his own pocket space. After that was done, there was just one thing left for him to do.
Slain Initial Merger detected!
Traits Collected: 1
Titles Collected: 1
Class: Manipulator
Level Upon Death: 3
Grade Upon Death: E
Highest Grade Class Skill: E2
Transmute corpse into an Advancement Crystal?
After confirming the prompt, the body turned into a red gem as expected. However, even at just the first glance, he could tell that something was just a bit different a bit. He pulled another one from his pocket space to directly compare them and make sure it wasn¡¯t just his imagination.
¡°Huh, no, it¡¯s definitely a bit bigger than the others. Even Hanako¡¯s wasn¡¯t like that, even though I know she should have also reached Level 2 from the Rabbit hunting. Since that¡¯s taken into account from the description before, that might have been why the one-use effect was so¡ potent,¡± Jordan mumbled as he trailed off while thinking back to the fiery blast.
After taking a deep breath of the cool air to help clear his head, he mentally pushed past it. But unless Level 3 was some marker to make a difference, it probably wasn¡¯t that. Which left only one other option that made this gem actually distinct from all the rest he¡¯d collected. This lady, Melody, had actually gotten at least one Skill evolved to E2.
Though aside from that, her Class did also give a bit of pause. As far as names for a Class went, Manipulator triggered a pretty big red flag. Did it mean in the sense of manipulating the environment or objects? Or the more concerning idea that his mind went to, people?
Jordan shuddered a bit, and not because of the cold air. He was willing to believe that his reaction to quickly leaving to save the now known to be made-up group had been genuine. That it¡¯d come from his nature as at least a decent person, and as an emotional response to having already lost his own group. Even if they had been all strangers, it still hurt to see the brutal ways the Grass Panther had killed them all, to leave him alone.
However, what if his thoughts and emotions haven¡¯t been fully his own? What if it was the worse scenario of the Manipulator Class actually being one that messed with his mind? It would at least partially explain why his response had been so immediate and unquestioning. At least at first, until a little time had passed and it then almost became painfully obvious that something had been fishy.
He looked down at the unassuming crystal in the palm of his hand. If his slightly paranoid assumption was correct, then there could easily be more people out there with that kind of ability. Hell, even if he was wrong, that could still be the case since there appeared to be all sorts of potential Classes out there.
As far as a list of typically evil powers goes, there¡¯s a reason why mind fuckery usually places pretty high up there, Jordan thought to himself as he put the gem away.
The easiest thing to do would be to simply hope he never encountered any such mind fuckers from here on out. But the smarter thing would be to have a way to defend against it. Though how he was going to go about getting such means, he¡¯d have to figure that out.
With that fairly concerning worry now added to the list of worries on his mind, Jordan took the last set of clothes that had been worn by the now gem-ified corpse. Rolling his shoulders, he opted to just walk back to his base instead of riding the land drone.
His target hadn¡¯t gone that far before getting taken out by the drone, after all, so it wouldn¡¯t take him long to get there by walking. But at least this way, he could take a minute to just keep breathing in the cool air while letting it clear his mind. His intent was just to effectively let the walk act as a calming mental reset, of sorts.
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A short time passed, and Jordan was now back inside his base. He began to repeat the process from before, by first taking the loot dropped by the dead man. Which wasn¡¯t nearly as many items, indicating that Melody had been the one holding onto almost all the stuff they collected.
Slain Initial Merger detected!
Traits Collected: 1
Titles Collected: 1
Class: Rogue
Level Upon Death: 2
Grade Upon Death: E
Highest Grade Class Skill: E2
Transmute corpse into an Advancement Crystal?
Jordan wasn¡¯t surprised to see that Joey had also gotten a Skill to Grade E2. For anyone responsible for the deaths of one or two people, the use of the Advancement Crystal dropped to get a least that much was all but guaranteed. It was just a question of whether one went for the new Skill or the evolution first.
When he went to pick up the crystal, however, Jordan noticed something new that was also odd about it. It was something that he hadn¡¯t been able to notice just earlier, due to how dark it was outside. But now inside his base and under its lighting, he could tell that the color of the gem was also different. He pulled the young woman¡¯s gem along with one of his older ones, and put them together for a direct comparison once more.
Okay, so both of them are a bit bigger and match each other in size. But also, they¡¯re the same difference in color from the other gems, Jordan observed.
The new pair of crystals were just a shade closer to purple than the rest of the red gems. Or would it be more accurate to say that they were closer to violet now? Meh, that particular detail didn¡¯t matter as much as the simple fact that there was a little bit of blue now evenly mixed with the red. So, if that were the case, would getting a new gem whose highest Skill was E3 result in one that¡¯s even bigger and bluer still?
If so, then he would probably one to get a properly accurate measurement of their dimensions. Both this pair and one of his old gems. But that could come either later tonight or even in the morning. Because for now, he needed to prepare for the wildfire that he imagined would soon be spreading this way.
To begin with, Jordan first went over to his Transmuter.
Hello, beautiful. Those two didn¡¯t hurt your pretty¡ metal? Since I was gone, did they? Jordan cringed as he¡¯d been helpless to stop the thought after it had started. One could only be thankful that he hadn¡¯t chosen to actually say the words aloud for the universe to hear.
Cringe aside, the machine appeared spotless with not even a smudge on its surface in sight. Jordan took some material in the form of spare pieces of wood, and used them to create a rake. Specifically, one that allowed him to cheat the size limit of the slot. Well, maybe not actually cheat-cheat, but just take advantage of the whole point of one kind of tool design.
Foldable items!
Through the almighty power of having just one part of it that allows the item to be folded in half, and snap into place as it is fully extended. As for the actual vital piece that was the folding mechanic itself, Jordan actually also made it out of wood instead of using a bit of metal.
As evidenced by the second door that was still on even after being slammed open, he had figured out that the problem really hadn¡¯t been him. It had actually been the dead wood itself that was crappy, at least at first.
But then when he had made a new batch for which he specifically focused on its structural integrity, the result had been an immediate improvement by leaps and bounds. There would of course remain a limit to the strength of wood versus metal. But as far as day-to-day use went for the things he created, it was a promising bit of progress to make.
With rake now in hand, Jordan stepped outside to begin clearing out all the leaves in the clearing. The less that burned around the immediate vicinity of his base, the better.
He didn¡¯t have the faintest clue on how long it would take the fire to spread the about four miles between him and the river. But just in case, he moved as quickly as he could to get as many leaves as possible into a pile without worrying about the strays he missed. He¡¯d rather get 99% of something done in under 20 minutes, than reach 100% if that meant working for over an hour, as his father would often say.
Once the clearing felt sufficiently¡ cleared, Jordan put the rake away and went back inside. After securely closing the door behind him, he then went up the ladder to make sure the cover for the roof was put back into place. With those two as the building¡¯s only access points, no smoke should be able to come in for as long as they stayed securely in place.
Jordan was slightly worried about both objects being made from wood. However, if it reached the point where the fire was directly touching either to set them ablaze, then there would already be a big problem as it was. Hopefully, it wouldn¡¯t come to that point and all he needed to do was just stay inside and wait it out.
But since he wasn¡¯t nearly tired enough to sleep yet and would be sitting indoors anyway, there was at least one productive thing that he could do now. From his pocket space, Jordan pulled out each piece of a particular set of items he¡¯d been holding onto. Using three of them for their one-time effects had been the reason he was still alive, yes. But had he just fully consumed them earlier, things might not even have reached that point in the first place.
With all his Advancement Crystals now placed on one of the base¡¯s tables, he sat down on the chair beside it. He was technically one shy due to being unable to collect the Crab¡¯s until the blaze died out, if the corpse could even be turned into a gem at that point. But for now, he already had more than enough to start using them for their purpose.
It was time to get both another new Skill and an evolution added to his repertoire.
Chapter 33: Fundamental Evolution
After laying out all the gems, Jordan had a total of 19 in front of him. Out of the original 22, he¡¯d spent two the other day, and then just used three for their one-time effects. And finally, he had just gained two more to bring it up to the current number.
Damn, should have known better by keeping a more careful track of them. Welp, seems I can¡¯t do the new Skill and the evolution right now after all. Got to just pick one for now, and then hope I can still get the Crab¡¯s crystal later. Probably not until the morning, at least. Just depends on how the wildfire is doing after I eventually fall asleep, Jordan thought to himself with a small sigh.
For the time being, however, he needed to go ahead and make a choice. Which did he want to do first: evolution or a new Skill?
There was also the question of either would actually work in terms of the Advancement Crystals used. If it was like before, then at least one option presented would be influenced by the nature within the absorbed gem. But while that was easy enough to understand with one, what happened when he needed to consume ten? Would it be the first one consumed, the last, randomized, or some unknown weighting of properties decided by the System?
Well, he wouldn¡¯t even know until after it happens. So while Jordan could spend the rest of time continuing to worry about it, it¡¯s not like it would make a difference in the end. He¡¯d just have to treat it as just another test, and consider whatever happened as simply a learning experience for the future.
On that note, he went ahead and grabbed the Manipulator''s gem, and threw it into his mouth. Might as well start with the two most powerful ones first, right?
Advancement Crystal absorbed!
Please select the following for its essence¡¯s use:
Influence next Skill gain.
Or
Influence current Skill evolution.
¡Influence current Skill evolution, Jordan decided after just another moment to be sure of what he wanted. In the hypothetical situation where he couldn¡¯t get another gem from the Crab, then he would rather have the reliability of evolving a current Skill than rolling the dice on if any of the new options were good.
Insufficient essence for this option!
Current Advancement Crystal essence: 0/10
Jordan felt a mental ping tell him that he still didn¡¯t have to commit to this option. That he could still back out to the prior screen, and pick the other option as to where he wanted to allocate the absorbed essence. But he was still sure about his current decision, and as such, willed for the essence to go there.
Essence for Skill evolution gained!
Current Advancement Crystal essence: 1/10
From there, Jordan consumed the next bigger crystal. Then he consumed the Iron Juggernaut gem from Mike, the Ranger gem from Elizabeth , and a mix of other gems from the varying types within his group. Though he intentionally aside aside the few gems from people who went with Trade Classes, like a Blacksmith. Better to save those for the next new Skill, rather than let it have an influence on the evolution and add some kind of non-combat option.
Until soon, all the chosen Advancement Crystals were consumed.
Essence for Skill evolution gained!
Current Advancement Crystal essence: 10/10
Skill evolution is confirmed.
Please choose one Class Skill from the following to be the subject of evolution:
What then popped up was the same list as before, featuring all his current Class Skills. Though between them all, only two were really worth considering. The land drone, or the air drone. And if Jordan had to be already honest with himself, he knew what his heart wanted.
Rather than spread out and become a jack of all trades, in any RPG he played, he generally preferred to focus on taking one path to the absolute max. Even in games where that usually translated to being a glass canon that endgame enemies could shatter with just one look, all it meant was that he needed to play better around his own strengths. So in this case, this meant that the plan was to take Summon Land Drone and increase its Grade to E3. And as for what he hoped to gain? More firepower, pure and simple.
Even if the Crab had clearly dedicated its Stats and Class around being super tanky, the lack of damage his drones could do had been rather pathetic. If Jordan had done this evolution just earlier this morning, and given the land drone more oomph in its attacks, then having to burn through three gems to survive might not have even been necessary.
Alright System, same as before. Let¡¯s take Summon Land Drone and evolve it to E3.
Selected Skill for evolution: Summon Land Drone
New Skill evolutions available!
Pick from one of the following:
Warning!
Before the evolution choices had even appeared, Jordan blinked as this time around, the System had made a warning screen show up first. Both curious and slightly concerned that it was labeled as a warning and not just a note, he kept reading.
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The user has reached E3 for their first Skill. Take note that, unlike other Grades, this midpoint represents what is considered a Fundamental Evolution. The options made now are to be considered as permanent alterations to a Skill¡¯s foundational path. Even as an additional Fundamental Evolution is unlocked for each Grade, the one chosen now will serve as the basis for those future evolutions.
Okay, so in other words, this was the part of the skill tree with a point of no return. But in exchange, the options had to be really good to be worth it. And as Jordan moved on to the next screen, he quickly confirmed that they were already looking quite promising.
Fundamental Evolution: Elemental Firepower
Description: Significantly enhances the firepower of the drone¡¯s weaponry, increasing both the strength of its attacks and the rate of fire. Additionally, the drone gains the ability to allow the user to swap the type of damage its weapons fire with. Energy-based remains the default; however, any other available type can be either chosen during the initial summoning, or instead swapped at any point.
Scaling: Wisdom (Gain one additional elemental type for every 25 Stat points.)
Fundamental Evolution: Transforming Body
Description: Significantly enhances the composition of the drone¡¯s makeup, increasing both its durability and flexibility. Additionally, the drone gains the ability to allow the user to transform the shape of its body. The tank remains the default; however, any other available shape can be either chosen during the initial summoning, or instead swapped at any point.
Scaling: Intelligence (Gain one additional transformation for every 25 Stat points.)
Fundamental Evolution: Permanent Manifestation
Description: Moderately increases every aspect of the drone¡¯s functions, increasing its weapon power, fire rate, speed, toughness, flexibility, and maximum range. Additionally, the drone gains the ability to allow the user to manifest it as a permanent object. One permanent drone begins as the default limit, but more can be summoned as the maximum is raised with the Scaling of the Skill.
Scaling: Intelligence (Gain one additional summon for every 25 Stat points.)
Scaling: Wisdom (Gain one additional summon for every 25 Stat points.)
Note!
Depending on the evolution chosen, the final result for the Grade E3 Skill will vary greatly in both its new base cost and upkeep. The exact amount of this change will be calculated after an evolution is chosen and will depend on that selection.
With a deep breath through his nose, Jordan fully sat back against his concrete seat. This was¡ a lot. Fundamental change was definitely the right way to describe it, because this was a lot more complicated than simply picking between a bigger or faster land drone.
Alright, first things first. Hey, System? Any chance on some added details around for me? If you have any sort of actual personality and like me already being Level 5 and getting that Title as a High Lord, then can you just do me this solid? All I¡¯m asking for is just a bit of info on the first two choices, and what their Scaling would start me off with if I picked either. Is that really too much to ask for? Jordan mentally requested from the System.
A few seconds of silence then came and went. So yes, he guessed that it really was too much to ask for. Then he would just have to make a decision without knowing what the first two elements or shapes would be for those choices. It was unfortunate, since he would really have liked to know, as that would determine his thinking. But he would just be forced to make do with the information that the Descriptions had provided.
Okay, it looks pretty complicated. So instead of worrying about the details, let¡¯s just simplify it then. Option one: Better shooting with elemental swapping. I assume that means it¡¯ll be energy-based to start as it said, but then I can will for it to be fire damage, electrical, cold¡ and other stuff. Just depends on what defines an element, but I assume we¡¯ll go by video game logic until proven otherwise. Jordan cracked his knuckles.
Option two: Tougher body, and by flexible, I think it means elastic. By the way it says the tank will remain the default shape, it can be assumed that the other ones will be very not tank-like. Perhaps another kind of vehicle with actual seating? Or something that I can¡¯t even imagine, from what could be a literal multiverse of possible shapes the System might be pulling from.
He then looked at the last, but not least screen. Option three: Straight up just a permanent version of the Skill to make it the simplest. But from the Scaling, it would mean that I could, right now, have a total of five active as the limit? Wouldn¡¯t even be able to support that if the TP upkeep remains the same. But if that limit can actually be done with how it changes the costs, then that¡¯s just¡ kind of busted. Like just to compete with what would be the start of a full-blown swarm, the first two choices would have to be really insane with their buffs.
The System had gone out of its way to make sure that he knew that this decision would be one that would last for as long as he lived. That even future big evolutions like this would only be based on what he chose now, and not necessarily chances to change course.
Tapping his fingers against the table in front of him, a few minutes slowly went by. Jordan made sure to read through each option again, at least a few times each. Even without all the details, he tried weigh their pros and cons against each other. But¡
At the end of the day, Jordan remained a simple man. And with the same logic that had told him that bigger was better, it now whispered that more was better. Then after forcing himself to hold off and think about for just a little longer, the desire within his slightly childish heart only cemented itself further. Once again, he already knew what he truly wanted.
Selected evolution: Manifestation
Finalize the user¡¯s selection?
Mhmm, make it so.
Skill cost recalculated!
Upkeep Cost: 20% of total TP reserved.
Note!
Reserved Skill cost will depend on the current progress of the Skill¡¯s Scaling.
¡°Wait, what?¡± Jordan asked aloud as he rose to his feet. Looking away from the table, he immediately used the Skill. As the drone was summoned onto the floor next to him, he felt the inherent knowledge it provided be updated.
¡°Ohhhh, so that¡¯s how you work, huh? Not permanent as in truly lasting forever and real, but¡ huh. But if that¡¯s how it functions, then it means there¡¯s something I can do,¡± Jordan looked at the drone, the gleam of a mad scientist now in his eye.
¡°I can take you apart piece by piece. And even if you¡¯re fully broken and ruined, you won¡¯t automatically be desummoned.¡±
Chapter 34: Birth of Drone Legion
Thinking through the updated knowledge he gained about the Skill, Jordan was honestly fascinated more than anything. The thing the System had noted about the TP cost made more sense as well as he looked as his current resources.
Tech Points: 21/21(26)
The first thing to note was the fact that even when reducing it by 20%, some very quick math showed that the System was still rounding the new total. Had it not done so, it would currently be at 20.8 instead.
Now, here was the part that was interesting about the Scaling. Stepping outside, where there would obviously be more space for this next part, Jordan focused on using the Skill. One by one, he created a set of new drones. Something which the casting time remained the same as before for each use, as a note. Until soon, a total of five drones were now in a semi-circle in front of him.
Tech Points: 0/0(26)
Jordan was officially out of TP. Just to test, he tried to use Overcharge on a random drone, and felt the Skill¡¯s inability to be used due to the lack of resources. Yet, despite being drained to zero, all the currently summoned drones remained online.
So, five drones, where each one cost one-fifth of his total TP. From the information provided so far, Jordan believed that when his Stats increased to make it six drones, the cost would go down to one-sixth of his TP per drone. And had he somehow gained the evolution back when the Stats wouldn¡¯t have provided any extra, then just the single drone would have cost all his TP.
In addition, he could tell that the general buffs to the land drone were already in effect. The moderate increase in speed had basically canceled out the moderate decrease from the size evolution, bringing its max speed back up to the original of 50 miles per hour.
Along that same vein, the slight decrease in max range was now more than compensated for, bringing it up to a net positive limit of 28 miles. And while the new number made sense after considering the previously lower amount, the lack of rounding up to 30 still miffed him a bit.
Now, there was just one part that wasn¡¯t necessarily the worst thing in the world. It was just more¡ interesting. As of right now, Jordan didn¡¯t want to take the risk of always being emptied of his resources. So just to play it safe, and to see how this bit he already knew about would practically look like, he tried to desummon one of the drones.
Nothing.
Lightly nodding to himself, it matched the intuitive knowledge he¡¯d already received. But just to try something else out anyway, he then ordered one of the drones to desummon itself.
Again, nothing.
Okay then. Now let¡¯s do the way this is actually going to work from here on out. Less like flipping a switch on and off, and more like pulling the plug and then needing to wait for the battery to die.
Rather than directly desummon it, Jordan just took a second to focus on cutting off the TP supply. Then looking down at his watch, which had fortunately survived his crash into a tree, Jordan kept careful track of the time.
Even after cutting off the TP, the drone remained active as he gave the other drones a command. One that would at least keep them all productive, rather than stand around as their sibling perished. Now on the hunt for anything that wasn¡¯t Human or Crab, they sped off to try to shoot anything that lived before the wildfire spread to get them first.
Ten minutes.
That¡¯s how long it took for the drone to be desummoned now. Yet rather than simply a timer before it instantly vanished, it was more like a drawn-out process. In the time he had spent waiting, Jordan had made the drone drive around while also occasionally shooting at night. Around the five-minute mark was when he noticed a steady decline in the capabilities of the drone. It began to move around slower, fire at a lower rate, and with blasts that seemed a bit more sluggish.
This decline only accelerated with each passing second, until before all ten minutes had even fully passed, the drone had already become little more than just the world¡¯s biggest paperweight. If Jordan had to put a marker on it, he would personally say that it was just around eight and a half minutes that the drone became functionally useless. It was still able to move and shoot at that point, yes, but only to such a degree that it could honestly be considered rather sad.
Anyway, once the full ten minutes had passed, that¡¯s when the drone fully disappeared like usual, and the TP spent was added back to his total pool. Though with a detail that would be very important to keep in mind for for the future.
Tech Points: 0.6/5(26)
The current amount was just what he¡¯d already regenerated over the last few seconds. But it meant that the TP was still spent, and would need to be regenerated first before he could spend it on any Skills again. Not that it made too big of a difference, since ten minutes would be too long for getting back during a fight, even if he began the process as soon as an enemy attacked. But still, something to remember.
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Now feeling a bit more sleepy, there were just two more things left to do before he called it for the night. As the other drones were left to follow their command, he went back inside. Since they were still laid out, Jordan picked up a random gem from his remaining spread, and consumed it. Then, when the resulting System prompt appeared, he tried to select another evolution.
Insufficient essence for this option!
Current Advancement Crystal essence: 0/25
Right, so not getting that any time soon, hopefully. Though¡ who knows. Assuming the Crabs also showed up here in groups, then there has to be more than just that one. And even if the others from its specific group are already dead, then it¡¯s already been proven that they¡¯re being dropped in the same places as us. So it doesn¡¯t seem like the System is just putting each Species within its own starting zone of the planet, or anything, Jordan thought to himself.
It was only feeling weird that out of every kind of sapient alien to make first contact with, British Crabs would be the ones to meet. If such a thing had been a bet, Jordan would have certainly gone with something else and lost his money. In any case, for the time being, he allocated that point of absorbed essence toward the ten needed for gaining a new Skill. As nice as the thought of quickly getting Summon Land Drone¡¯s Grade to E4 and even E5 as the apparent cap was, that would take way too much killing at this rate.
I¡¯ll just have to wait and see what Level will be the one to get me there naturally. It should be a thing, from what the System said yesterday about it. Just a question of if I¡¯ll have to wait until Level 10, since reaching Level 5 clearly didn¡¯t get anything new for me. Anyway, I¡¯ll probably save taking one of the drones apart for the morning. Better to let them run around now and farm some Experience before that fire kills everything around. But speaking of things that are around¡
After returning the other gems to his pocket space, Jordan began to climb up the ladder. There was just one final thing to check on while it was still night. Something which might actually determine if he went to-
Experience Earned!
+24 EXP
Huh, one of the drones already found something. Well that was definitely pleasing to see, considering that they¡¯d only been sent out for a bit over ten minutes. Especially after the previous patrols should have already cleared out anything unwise enough to live anywhere near his Kingdom while remaining detectable by the land drone.
But as Jordan then opened the roof access, he knew that before he slept, he needed to see if-
Experience Earned!
+24 EXP
Okay, again that was cool. But after dismissing the new screen-
Experience Earned!
+24 EXP
Now standing on the roof, Jordan gave it a second to see if it wanted to interrupt his train of thought again. After a few seconds, it seemed to have calmed down. As nice as these screens were in getting his immediate attention for important stuff, when a bunch appeared in a row across his vision, they could get rather-
Experience Earned!
+39 EXP
¡°Okay, that time was on damn purpose and we both know it, System. Could you do me a favor and just¡ like, minimize EXP notifications for a while? And also just condense those screens as a stack in the bottom left corner of my vision until I want to see them? Can you do that for me?¡± Jordan requested.
Thankfully, the System was at least respectful of his will in this matter. In an instant, all the prior screens still in front of him were minimized and banished to the corner of his eye. It was even nice to make them look defocused until he intentionally looked at the newly made stack, making it even less intrusive. As a side note, Jordan went ahead and checked to see where that currently brought him in terms of his overall Experience progress.
EXP: 351/3600
Just under a tenth of the way there now, so that was good. If the above murder rate continued at even half its current speed throughout the night, then he did look forward to seeing where it¡¯d put him by dawn. It was only a bit over an hour into the night, after all, so there was still plenty of time left until the sun came up. Speaking of which, now that he wasn¡¯t getting interrupted, it was finally time to address the matter of something that was only seen during the prior night.
Looking out past the clearing, it didn¡¯t take Jordan long to find it again. Just like yesterday, the purple sphere was out there, sitting still in the darkness. He still had no idea what it was, but the fact that it was in the same spot as yesterday was definitely something to note.
Hmm, so assuming this is the start of a pattern, then it might just reappear ever night. But¡ if it¡¯s an actual, physical thing, then what happens when the wildfire gets here? Jordan asked himself. He looked over toward the direction of the blaze.
The orange glow was definitely bigger and brighter than before, to clearly indicate its spread. It thankfully did seem to be growing slower than he would have expected, as evident by the fact that it hadn¡¯t reached here yet. In fact¡ it seemed to have mostly grown longways rather than actually seem that much closer. Like it was certainly big enough that he had to sweep his gaze across the horizon to see it all.
Well, that¡¯s not normal. Not freaking normal at all. Fire doesn¡¯t just spread in one direction like that; it should be going everywhere that it can like crazy. I know for a fact that the whole layer of leaves on the ground basically covers the entire forest, so it should be spreading across that alone in every direction. Even if the trees themselves turn out to be not very flammable, all the dry kindling begging to catch fire should be the perfect recipe for a fucking monster of a blaze, right?
It was almost like, rather than anything else, the fire was traveling in a line that was largely parallel to his Kingdom. But again, while Jordan didn¡¯t exactly have a certification in wildfire expertise, common sense told him that this was entirely unnatural.
Jordan was back in a state of having too many questions, and not nearly enough answers. After assessing his current condition, he made a decision. While he was a bit tired and fairly sore from today, especially around his noggin, it wasn¡¯t enough to compromise him. It especially wasn¡¯t as bad as the exhausted state he¡¯d been in before finally falling asleep yesterday.
Glancing back over toward the mysterious purple ball, he made an executive decision. Jordan sent out the order for his four active drones to return to just outside the building. Knowing that it shouldn¡¯t take them long to drive straight back here, he already made his way back to the ladder to begin climbing down.
Rather than continue to push it off for later, he was going to leave now and find out just what the Hell was up with this purple sphere.
Chapter 35: Pondering the Purple Orb
As predicted, it didn¡¯t take long for his squadron of drones to return to the clearing. By the time he got down, Jordan had taken a second to wait just inside the door to enjoy the base¡¯s hitting while taking the chance to have a drink of water. But as soon as heard all four arrive outside, he stepped out.
Next to him, the air drone popped into existence. Even if max TP was currently only at 5, he was still regenerating just under 9 TP per minute. So Jordan could basically keep the entire squad of evolved land drones and a single air drone up at all times. Including himself with his Energy Pistol, he was a one-man firing squad of six.
Hopping onto one of his land drones, Jordan sent the air drone ahead to scout out the immediate vicinity around the sphere. Just in case there were any people or creatures around it, it would automatically desummon itself upon sighting any of them. Which as he drove off while it flew ahead of his squad, that brought up an interesting question to think about.
Huh, so when I order to stay within the limit of its range, it¡¯s never been a problem because it understands what that means. But I already know from way back when I used the Skill that if it did go past the range limit, then it would just auto desummon. Yet what about these land drones? Would it be a situation where the TP supply is cut-off, but if I take like one step forward to be back in range, it would automatically reconnect? Hmmm. As far as what the evolution gave me in terms of understanding, yeah, that should actually be how that would work.
Jordan also still needed to test if he was right about the new ability to use the evolved land drones in the Transmuter. Because unlike a normal drone that would desummon after taking a critical amount of damage, these guys just stuck around for however long he supplied the portion of total TP.
That was it; nothing else mattered in terms of whether they stuck around or not. Though he was curious if even the parts of a broken drone could be put into the Transmuter while he supplied the TP, what about the ten minutes after it was cut off?
Since the drone was still functional for that time until it fully disappeared after the delay, would it also still be useable as at least temporary material? Or would that make it just disappear faster if put through the Transmuter. Which now that he thought about it, that could be an interesting way to cheat around the ten minute delay until he got the TP back, if that second option was how it¡¯d go.
Questions for after he checked out the mysterious orb. Which could also just be potentially saved for until the morning after he went to sleep anyway.
In any case, Jordan had to be honest with himself. Riding through a dark forest on one drone as others flanked around him in a formation was definitely up there in the most awesome things ever. Especially because of how dark it was, the dim light of their energy guns could be easily seen as a rapidly moving glow through the shadows. In terms of just pure rule of cool, this choice in evolution was already worth it.
Around a minute and 30 seconds later, Jordan knew that the air drone should have arrived by the sphere. He paid close attention to his mental connection to it for the next few moments, really expecting it to disappear and that something would be waiting for him over there. But then, when no such thing happened, he just slightly nodded to himself with a bit of relief. With that settled, he gave it the updated order to just keep patrolling the immediate area in a circular pattern.
From the very easy math of his land drones moving at half the speed of the air drone, it took him approximately another minute and 30 seconds to reach his destination. Though even before then, it didn¡¯t take a genius to know what he¡¯d been getting close. While the start of the journey had plenty of trees in the way that blocked off his line of sight most of the time, most wasn¡¯t the same as all the time. There were plenty of moments where he still got a glimpse of the purple ball.
Each time, Jordan watched as it seemed to grow bigger as he continued to draw closer to it. He had assumed that it must have actually been pretty big, and had only appeared as small as it did from the roof due to being quite a distance away. And as it turns out, that expectation had been correct. However¡ that was probably the one less notable aspects of the sphere, as he very quickly came to realize.
¡°God damn, who messed with the AC?¡± Jordan asked aloud as his drones were given the order to slow down for their final approach.
Even while holding his body against the always mildly warm metal of the drone, he still shivered as the ambient temperature felt like it¡¯d dropped by at least a couple dozen degrees. It¡¯d already been rather cool at night in the forest, but the kind that would have been fine with a heavy coat and such. But now it was like the bone-chilling cold of winter itself had attacked.
It was hard to get a good look while only being able to somewhat peer his head over the drone while riding it. So when it came to a complete stop, Jordan hopped off for a better look. And what he then fully saw made him raise a brow. Though that reaction was while also pulling his arms quickly around his chest, because it actually had gotten cold as¡ well, not Hell. But that wasn¡¯t the point!
The orb definitely was pretty huge up close. Floating off the ground, its center was probably something like 25 feet up in the air. Even its bottom-most point was still about five feet away from the ground, just from comparing it to himself in height. A fun fact about Jordan was that if he stood with good posture and didn¡¯t account for boots, his eye level was nearly exactly at six feet.
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Yet despite its size, one reason for the low temperature could clearly be seen in a circle around the orb. A thick amount of snow covered the leaves, though from how it looked, it was clearly layered. At the top was a thin amount of fresh snow, of course. But in some spots, he could see ice too, along with evidence of where it¡¯d somewhat melted before refreezing.
Something which seemed to be evidence that the snow hadn¡¯t just arrived, but had been here for quite a bit. Even now, Jordan could see new snowflakes falling from the orb and slowly landing on the ground. With how bright the glow of its purple light was, the immediate area around it was clearly lit up, which made it easier for him to see.
Aside from everything else, the sphere itself was strangely¡ unassuming. Or at least that¡¯s the best way he could think to put it. There were no crackles of arcane energy or the humming of some otherworldly power. It was just there, completely still and calm across its entire surface. It produced no noise, or at least nothing that a human being could actually detect. And if it weren¡¯t for the light it produced, the whole thing might as well have been a sculpture with how totally neutral its behavior was.
¡°Okay then, this is¡ not anything I was imagining,¡± Jordan said as he could now see his breath. ¡°Damn it, it¡¯s just way too cold! I need to layer up if I¡¯m going to just keep standing here to stare at the thing.¡±
From his pocket space, Jordan pulled out some robes and such that hadn¡¯t been turned into something else by his Transmuter yet. While he was a fairly tall guy, his build was also on the leaner side of things. Which made the robes a pretty good fit on him, since even those that were made for someone shorter still went past the knees in length. So that bottom being more like his thighs was still completely fine with him.
Jordan shivered in the minute it took for him to layer up, but once it was done, he pretty quickly felt better. But as just one last thing, he then pulled out something that was basically just a strip of extra cloth and tied it around the lower half of his face to protect it from the cold.
Alright, now that I¡¯m not slowly freezing to death, let¡¯s see what this thing is really all about. What does Appraise get me? Jordan asked himself right before using the Skill in question. Yet as soon as he read the top of the screen that immediately popped up, his eyes became fully widened.
Name: Planetary Gateway
Description: A rare but natural phenomenon in the multiverse that can be found on Vervina-C. The gateway functions as a portal that is connected to at least one other gateway at another location on the planet. Anything that touches it will be instantly transported to the other side. These portals often have varying requirements for when they appear. Some are active at all times, others are tied to environmental factors such as the time of day, and others still may require any variation of general or highly specific conditions.
¡°Oh shit, you¡¯re not for real, are you? Like¡ for real, for real?¡± Jordan asked the System itself as he had just finished reading the text. This was just something that happened to exist within only a couple miles of his Kingdom?
Nuh-uh. No way that was just some random coincidence for something that even the System had described as being rare across the whole freaking multiverse. Like even if they were rare in general but there were a ton on this planet due to the Merging being a special event; what were the chances that it¡¯d basically act as his neighbor?
Depending on how big the planet itself was, the random odds of that would be super close to zero. Yet it if wasn¡¯t random, and instead specifically tied to the fact his Kingdom was close by and intentionally placed as such by the System¡
Is there another Kingdom, or at least the Mandate for one one somewhere near the other side? Because if yes, then it becomes more probable that this could be a feature that every Kingdom gets. Actually, hold on. If that is how it works, then those Kingdoms would make a lot more sense! Jordan opened up a specific leaderboard, just to see where that was out now.
Mightiest Kingdom:
1: Golden Empire of the Eternal Golden Prince (Rank 1)
2: Golden Empire of the Eternal Golden Prince (Rank 1)
3: Kingdom of Clan Qorath¡¯zyrunch (Rank 1)
4: Vervina¡¯s Heartland (Rank 1)
5: Golden Empire of the Eternal Golden Prince (Rank 1)
¡
8: Industry (Rank 1)
When he got to the bottom of the list. Jordan found something that he hadn¡¯t been sure about, but was now confirmed. Considering the speed of the Mandate claiming before he had also finished the Quest, it made sense that all 25 spots had already been taken by now. Something which should mean that the Quest was now fully over for everyone. Yet, it seemed that when it came to the world of new Kingdoms being built, that Quest could now be confirmed as not being the end.
26: Golden Empire of the Eternal Golden Prince (Rank 1)
Of course, it¡¯s another one of these Golden Prince lovers. Which¡ I guess these are all Crab Kingdoms, huh? Unless they¡¯re not like us, and actually had multiple sapient races back wherever they came from. Plausible, but anyway. I know this is a bit of a leap in logic, and even something a fallacy to confirm one thing by using it as the explanation for a separate subject. But if every portal comes with each Kingdom and attaches two together, then it would explain how they¡¯ve expanded so damn quickly.
Plus, the System had very intentionally added ¡°at least one other gateway¡± to what the text read. So that was a very obvious way to say that one was just the minimum, with an unknown max of connected portals that could allow someone to potentially hop all over the planet.
From his pocket space, Jordan pulled out his ever-reliable set of notes. He was already here, after all. There was simply no way that he was going to just go back and head to bed before figuring out how this thing actually functioned. So even if it hadn¡¯t been his intent for the night, there was only one thing to do now.
It was time to run some tests and learn about portal shenanigans.
Chapter 36: Portal Shenanigans
From playing around with the gateway, Jordan very quickly learned a few things about how it actually worked. First, he had poked it with a stick, which was a classic move in the world of scientifically learning about anything and everything.
Something which had instantly proven to be interesting, as the stick vanished from his hand the moment its tip touched the orb. Not pulled into it or forcefully tugged out of his grasp in any way, but simply gone. It might as well have turned into a puff of smoke, with how quickly his grip was just around the thin air where it used to be.
Noting this result, Jordan then found and grabbed a much longer branch. One that was at least four feet in length, and would serve as a good comparison. He repeated the previous motion while holding onto the opposite end that was poking into the orb. And once again, the whole thing simply disappeared from between his hands.
The gateway transports whatever object touches it, and so far I¡¯ve shown that it at least takes organic, if dead, material. The size of the object and how much of it actually makes contact with the gateway seems to be irrelevant. If a limit to what can go through the portal does exist, I can only assume for now that it would be based on the size of the portal itself. Which considering how big it is, that¡¯s a lot of wiggle room for all sorts of things, Jordan thought to himself as he jotted down his personal thoughts.
If anyone ever did manage to kill him and take his Kingdom for themselves, at least they would have the advantage of all his detailed notes. It was a bit of a randomly dark thought that popped into his mind, but hopefully one that would never come to reality.
Next, he tested his drones and how the portal dealt with them.
Jordan first had his air drone fly right into the portal. An action that made it disappear, yes. However, it was at that exact same instant that he felt his mental connection become cut off as it was desummoned. Now that brought an interesting question. Did the portal actually destabilize the Skill itself, or was it the simple fact it¡¯d forcibly brought the drone outside of its maximum range? Actually, that in itself prompted yet another question.
Would a gateway, even if it went to the direct opposite side of the planet, really count as outside his Skill¡¯s range? In the sense that if the gateway itself was considered an actual thing that acted as a tunnel, then whatever was on the other side could be technically considered as just one step away. So if the portal remained open and functional, then a theoretical argument could be made that from where he stood just outside of it, everything on the other side would be within range for as long as the drone remained within the range limit of the portal itself.
To start finding out, Jordan looked at the land drones. However with them, there was a bit of an issue. They were simply too short to reach even just the bottom of the sphere. The very top of very bodies only equaled his stomach in height, and even though the barrels of their twin guns did extend out, they weren¡¯t adjustable. Though if the land drones could point them straight up, that still wouldn¡¯t have been quite enough to make up the difference.
Hmm, can¡¯t I just do this? Jordan asked himself as he squatted down, and attempted to assume what he at least believed to be proper deadlifting form.Then while finding a spot under the drone to hold on to, Jordan tried to primarily use his legs to lift it. And while he was fully ready for it to either be too heavy to lift at all or at least a titanic effort, he blinked with surprise as it actually began to come off the ground with far more ease than expected.
Just a few seconds later, he was holding up the whole body of the land drone. It didn¡¯t even feel that heavy, necessarily. Even after losing all his momentum to now be standing still, Jordan felt that it wouldn¡¯t be difficult to then begin lifting it up toward the orb. And aside from that, just holding it as he was now felt like something that could be sustained for at least a few solid minutes before it even began to tire out his muscles.
Hot damn, I think I¡¯m finally seeing the result of that 30 in Strength, huh? Because either this thing is much lighter than you¡¯d think for a fully metal tank of its size, or I¡¯m just that strong now. Well¡ I guess the jury¡¯s still out for the density of whatever it¡¯s actually made of. Even as the System said its evolutions have made it tougher, the metal it¡¯s built from doesn¡¯t seem to have ever changed. Hmm, just some more food for thought, I suppose.
In any case, he then adjusted his grip before pushing the land drone up and into the sphere. Jordan watched both his TP and focused on his mental connection to the drone. If it simply cut it off from him or basically acted like anti-magic that forcibly destroyed even the permanent manifestations, he would find out in a second. And then just like the sticks, the weight of the land drone was removed as it disappeared instantly upon contact.
Jordan felt the TP connection become cut off, and for just a split second, he was a bit disappointed. But then, just as he started to feel that way, surprise replaced the emotion. Jordan¡¯s cold lips tugged upward into a grin as he felt the drone again and sensed it like normal.
If the portal did have a disruptive effect or brought the drones into some weird dimensional between the gateways that were considered out of range, then it only mattered for the air drone that would instantly disappear. But for the land drone that could survive without being connected to him for ten minutes, it was only like a momentary loss in signal.
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He couldn¡¯t help but give himself a mental pat on the back for what was retroactively a genius decision for the Fundamental Evolution. Even if he had no way of knowing that it would apply to a magical portal, that didn¡¯t stop him from praising what had clearly been predictive foresight.
Now rubbing his gloved hands together, partially with glee but also just to warm them back up, he began to consider the next move. Jordan could still maintain a stable mental connection with the land drone on the other side. So, just to prove that it could still take his commands, he gave it a rather simple one to start with. If possible from wherever it ended up, it was to drive through and come back.
A few seconds later, the lucky test subject didn¡¯t return from its trip abroad. Though Jordan could quickly think of a few reasons for this. The most simple of which was that the opposite gateway was hoving the same distance in the air above relatively flat ground. Something like that would make it pretty much impossible for the drone to just drive through on its own, like on this side.
Or it could just be a matter of the terrain. If the other side was a winter wonderland, then Jordan didn¡¯t assume that being dropped into what could potentially be several feet of snow would be good for its mobility. That or literally any other reason under the sun that might be preventing its ability to return through the portal.
Hmm. Oh! Here¡¯s something else that might work, actually. Let¡¯s just¡ play it safe, just real quick. It¡¯d be a real shame if his idea led to him accidentally getting shot by his own drone, after all. So to help prevent that, Jordan ordered another drone so that its side was the part facing the orb. Then, after taking cover on the other side by getting onto his knees, he ordered the teleported drone to orient its position as needed and then fire a single shot through the portal.
Just a few seconds later went by, before a single pair of energy bolts from the dual guns flew through the air. While it did shoot toward the side of the orb that he¡¯d been standing, it thankfully wouldn¡¯t have been close enough to hit anyway. Still, better to find that being overprepared wasn¡¯t needed, than being punished for being underprepared instead.
Right, so its ability to take my commands has now been proven. How about this, then. If the drone can spot any living creatures from its current position, then it¡¯ll fire twice. If not, then only fire once. Take as much time as needed to first confirm for every direction that it can see, he relayed as a new order.
He waited less than ten seconds before a single shot of duel blasts once again popped through. At least now he could feel a bit safer about there not being anything, or anyone, waiting just close by on the other side. Plus as an additional benefit, this had also acted as another test whose results could be noted down.
First of all, the energy blasts were obviously able to come through. So there wasn¡¯t any disrupting force to just fully cancel them out, at least. Then, second of all, their momentum had been conserved.
So if Jordan went running through the gateway, then he should also still maintain that inertia after crossing over to the other side. But if the energy blasts could be fine while the air drone was forcibly desummoned, then it did mean there was something about the details that needed comparison and further study from more examples.
But speaking of him running through the gateway¡
Jordan had probably learned as much as he reasonably could while safely staying on this side. Sure, he could probably think of more tests and learn a couple of other details to try and find out a bit more first. Like one thing that pretty quickly came to mind was simply playing the waiting game.
Where he just went back to his base and left the drone on the other side. So after day came, he could find for sure if he was right about the purple sphere only even appearing at night. And if so, whether that would cause the drone to be fully cut off and disappear after ten minutes, since the gateway wouldn''t be there to technically count as remaining in range.
This whole time, the air around the portal had been relatively calm. But while he was thinking about it, a powerful gust of wind came through and practically smacked him in the face with a wind chill so atrociously cold, that it made his breathing stop for a second.
Nope! Thank you multiverse; the message has been received, loud and clear! Just another layer or two of clothing isn¡¯t going to cut it if the other side is going to feel like that. I need to treat this thing like I¡¯m about to climb Mt. Everest or something like that. Because screw letting my impatient ass get frozen to death from my own stupidity, Jordan very clearly decided after seeing a bit more sense. As much as the reminder that quickly made his eyes feel dry had sucked, it was good that he got it now, compared to feeling it as soon as he got to the other side.
Jordan now had a new plan. The first thing to do now was go back home and get some sleep. Then first thing in the morning, he would see what the update was on the wildfire. Now that he knew that the orb was a portal, he highly doubted that fire would do much to hurt it. But then if the fire was out or at least safe near where he¡¯d thought the Crab, Jordan would see if the Advancement Crystal could still be recovered.
After that, the rest of the day trying to see how the Transmuter would exactly work with the land drone. Though on that front, just the difference in how the portal treated it versus the air drone was already a pretty good start. And at some point, he would also use that time to use the several sets of clothing in his pocket pace and turn some of it into hardcore winter gear.
Finally, when tomorrow night came, he would put on his brave face and explore whatever waited on the other side. In the meantime, however, there was just one last thing that could be done while he was already here. Putting them through by lifting them up, Jordan had all but one of the other land drones teleported through the gateway.
While it was still open, it¡¯d be a waste not to have them do some Experience farming around the other side, after all.
Chapter 37: Multiverse of Observers
Far above the tallest trees and where the highest clouds gave way to the edge of space, something hovered over the planet known as Vervina-C. For the world with no moon, it would have been the only notable satellite around. However, if anyone on the planet had looked up at the sky and even closely observed the exact spot where this object remained locked in place, they would have seen nothing.
Off in the distance of space, Vervina-A and Vervina-B could also just barely be seen as points slightly larger than the stars even further beyond. All three were part of the event of multiversal interest known as the 42nd Merging. Though each planet was separated, with each one having its own individual set of leaderboards and such for its respective Quests.
But in the station overlooking Vervina-C in particular, a gathering of some of the multiverse¡¯s most well-known figures was being held. When each of their respective Guilds had been given the chance to send one representative in A Grade to observe the ongoing Merging, these individuals were the ones chosen. And what did they do with such an awesome responsibility that only came once in the timespan of billions of years, where practically none of them would live long enough to see the next Merging?
They partied, of course.
The inside station was practically the most exclusive of VIP lounges. With plenty of space to stand or sit around the luxurious furniture provided by the System itself. On the side facing the planet, a wall of glass panels allowed any standing next to it to look down and watch the planet as it slowly rotated. Food and drink were provided, though many also brought their own. In one corner, a small crowd was smoking a substance so potent that a single dropped would have sterilized all life in Earth¡¯s oceans.
But more than just a party for pleasure, it was a chance to form connections. Within that area, the System itself enforced a policy that simply made fighting impossible. So in addition to being sent to observe the Merging, those present were almost all given the task to act as diplomats.
In past Mergings, it was stations like this one where alliances lasting millions of years were formed, or wars that had been ongoing for the same amount of time were finally put to an end. That was the kind of authority that these A Grades had been carefully given by their respective Guilds.
And to focus on such things only made sense. After all, the 42nd Merging had only been going on for a very, very short amount of time as of yet. To the vast majority of those present, there simply was nothing currently happening that could have possibly been worth getting too invested in.
Especially not until the first year passed. It was only then that the System would allow them to no longer be restricted to act as simply observers, but allowed some amount of interference.
Even the Kingdoms being formed by the first High Lords weren¡¯t quite worth getting attached to. As it went for every Merging, most of them would be gone before the first year that marked the completion of the Quest series the System almost always started with.
So it would be after this point that the diplomacy between themselves would be mostly done anyway, and the ongoing events of the Merging could receive their first attention. However, this was only the general opinion of the majority, of which there were always still at least a few exceptions.
Two of which were currently sitting side by side in front of the glass wall. Half of their attention was on closely observing the planet in front of them, while the other half was focused on the various screens whose numbers and figures were almost constantly in flux. Although, it was only really one of the two that tried to split their attention in such a way. Since the other tried to repeatedly sabotage it by also adding idle conversation to the mix as well.
¡°I still can¡¯t believe that Humans drew the short end of the stick, this time around. Is this the first Merging where they¡¯ve had such an awful compatibility and have to suffer being stuck with¡ you know¡¡± A female vampire said as she nudged her head to the pair¡¯s left. A fair distance away from another seat, one of the few also already paying close attention to the Merging was a Species that many in the multiverse knew, hated, and feared. A Crab.
The vampiress looked back at her companion. Her deep red eyes were only a shade darker than her scarlet skin. Something which was only further contrasted by her long, white hair. For her particular variety of Vampire, her air should have also been just another type of red, yet this difference had always made her something of an outlier in her homeland.
Reflected in those red eyes was the image of the man beside her. Or at least one who was once just a regular Human male, but had been a different Species for many years now. A being of pure technology whose very soul had been removed from the weakness of flesh and replaced by the reliability of metal. Where a normal man¡¯s face had once been, was now a digital screen of pure black.
Though it was only dark when he either was idle or intentionally obscuring his emotions, as under normal circumstances, it would light up with various colors to show his current intent and mood. Better for communication than inferring from regular facial language, at least what he frequently claimed.
¡°Another instance of this did occur, Nishandra, back in the 8th Merging. The Humans of the time were also paired with a race of Crabs while suffering from an even lower survivalable compatibility. Their compatibility at the time was only 8.7%, compared to the current rate of 14.5%. The Crabs of the time also had a higher rate than the ones of this Merging. If based on that metric alone, the Humans of this Merging stand a considerably higher chance of surviving the first year,¡± Kirus explained with a clearly digitized voice.
¡°Still, I can¡¯t help but feel bad for them, you know? I¡¯ve heard all sorts of stories of how Humans from a new universe always struggle, even after their Merging has settled. Like the last Merging, where the poor things only barely scraped by, only to be wiped out when their world was opened up for the multiverse to freely visit. It¡¯s just a pity,¡± Nishandra sighed with genuine sadness.
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As a natural-born Vampire, she viewed the struggling Humans in the same way that they would view an abandoned puppy. Just something to be looked down on with compassion from any who considered themselves to be magnanimous. Her companion, despite having been born Human himself, chose not to comment on that specific point.
After all, it was just a fact that amongst all the A Grades present on the station, there wasn¡¯t even a single Human. There were only those born to another Species entirely or had long since moved away from their humble origins, like Kirus. Despite being the second most populous of every sapient Species in the multiverse, to be born Human was to be born with an inherent handicap when compared to the many advantages of the other races.
¡°In any case, I do not fear that the one close by will overhear us. Just from your prior statement of Humans dealing with Crabs being implied as a bad thing, he would have already taken that as an insult. It would seem that something, or perhaps rather someone, in that world has fully taken all of his attention. Perhaps it is the one currently at the top of every leaderboard, who is also a Crab. Although, I have yet to personally take a closer look at this individual myself,¡± Kirus suggested.
Nishandra nodded after taking a sip from a drink whose color can only be described as glowing a radioactive green. ¡°I haven¡¯t been that much attention to the top of the leaderboards either, to be honest. They change way too often within this first year to really mean anything until after then. Ah! But I did find what appears to be a small number of Vampires from the 42nd universe. As long as they survive, I¡¯m sure the clan will be thrilled to induct them as a new lineage.
¡°But now that you mention it, maybe we should also take a little peek at the leaderboards¡¯ current leader? Mostly because if you¡¯re right, I can only wonder what kind of being has caught that old Crab¡¯s attention. I heard the superiority complex is strong with that one, like did you know that he often uses the shells of his own Species as furniture? It¡¯s quite barbaric, so I hear.¡±
While Kirus was sure that claim was likely just a rumor, as his companion was a lover of all things related to gossip, it did still have a nugget of truth to act as the basis.
Crabs were a notoriously prideful Species who believed themselves to be the apex of all life. This mentality naturally meant that they became even highly judgemental of themselves as to who was the most superior. Any and every feature could be subject to scrutiny, to the color of their shell, the shape of their eyes, the size of their claws, and more.
In any given Kingdom of Crabs, there was not a Lord and subjects, but simply a temporary leader with so-called followers who all believed themselves to be more worthy of the crown, and simply waited for the right time to claim it. This was actually considered a good thing for the multiverse as a whole. Since it meant that Kingdoms and Guilds of Crabs actually spent quite a lot of time fighting each other, while everyone else gave them a wide berth.
Which made it all the more curious to the Vampire and Android. Because there was exactly no reasonable world where a prideful A Grade Crab gave any sort of care toward a single E Grade. Hoping that the Crabs as a whole proved their superiority by claiming victory in the Merging? Sure, that made perfect sense as just a matter of honor. But even just one who had claimed an early lead in the leaderboards wouldn¡¯t have stirred so much focus, that they could talk behind his back without drawing the Crab¡¯s ire.
At almost the same time, both of willed for a new screen to appear in front of them. One that acted as a live video feed to directly observe a chosen individual from any angle and distance. As observers in this System-created space, it was just one of the temporary powers given to everyone present.
The vampiress¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Kirus, that¡¯s-¡±
¡°Don¡¯t say it aloud,¡± the Android interrupted. ¡°That is the one phrase that may grab the attention of the Crab alongside everyone else here. But to think that such a thing would come from one born before their universe¡¯s Merging? I thought it impossible, and yet, the evidence before us now remains the same.¡±
Nodding, Nishandra swiftly regained her composure. Though she still glanced back at all the others still enjoying this event as a social party. All it would take was for one person to spread the word about what they had just seen, and all that would immediately come to an end. If anything could get them all to care about even these early days of the Merging, it would be an instance of what she agreed should have just been outright impossible.
When it came to the 42nd Merging, not even the pinnacle beings above the highest of Grades known as Gods were able to interfere. So, without the interference of Gods, the Merging so far should have been free of any divine presence. At least until the System opened the door to allow them to add their own influence to the chaos. Yet the thing inside this mere E Grade was undeniable in its identity.
A Divine Spark.
When Jordan awoke in the morning, he felt surprisingly rested when considering the previous day¡¯s events. The lack of dreaming was something to perhaps be thankful for, to make that happen. However, he could already feel the results of sleeping on hard concrete in his back. Even though a small pile of clothing had been added for a bit of padding to sleep on, it only helped so much.
As Jordan slowly opened his eyes, he noted that the connection to all but two drones had been cut off. The only ones left were the land drone he¡¯d ridden back on, and a new air drone to join it in an overnight patrol around his Kingdom. He could only hope that before the portal must have closed to no longer let them count as within range, they managed to-
¡°Holy¡ that¡¯s, that can¡¯t be right? Hah, I can¡¯t believe it!¡± Jordan exclaimed as his eyes quickly landed on the screen before him.
Level Up!
Level 5 to Level 6
Or rather, screens, plural. Because directly underneath it was something he truly hadn¡¯t expected to gain at Level 6 of all Levels. But at his point, he certainly wasn¡¯t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Skill advancement earned!
Please select one of the following:
Gain new Skill.
Or
Evolve current Skill.
Note!
If Advancement Crystals have been used for either of the selected methods, then this Level-based increment will not count toward the stacking essence required for either option.
Finally, at the corner of his vision was the thing that caused this to happen. The condensed stack of minimized EXP pop-ups had grown rather thick. Which meant that in just the one night that they were on the other side of the gateway, his drones had been amazingly successful in their murder spree.
Sitting up, Jordan was already grinning at what looked to be a very promising start to this new day.
Chapter 38: Strange World
Before anything else, Jordan wanted to see just what his land drones had been killing to get him what would have been more than three thousand Experience Points in just one night. So in what could be considered just a small mistake, he willed for the stack of EXP notifications to actually be shown like normal. Jordan¡¯s vision was immediately flooded by a whole list of screens. But as his eyes quickly darted between them, things began to make more sense.
Experience Earned!
+56 EXP
Experience Earned!
+56 EXP
Experience Earned!
+75 EXP
Compared to the forest around his Kingdom where the most common animal, the Bark Snakes, were only Level 2, the creatures on the other side of the portal were clearly a bit higher Level on average. He knew that the Grass Panther had given 75 Experience while being Level 5. Compared to that, it seemed that the average Level of things beyond the portal was 4, with an equally uncommon number of Level 3s and Level 5 mixed in.
So, with that in mind, Jordan knew just from a quick estimate that it would have taken between 50 to 60 Level 4 creatures to fill his Experience up. Between the three drones that were sent through and given what might have been several hours of time, that actually was pretty reasonable. Especially if it was a fresh environment, where nobody else had hunted the local animals yet for their own farming. And depending on what said environment looked like, if the land drones potentially had an easier time being able to spot and aim at their targets.
After dismissing the notification swarm and refreshing his request to have them minimized, Jordan decided to then check what his current EXP was looking like.
EXP: 237/5625
And when it came to his progression toward Level 7 so far, that wasn¡¯t a bad chunk at all. Just under 5% of the way there, but considering he¡¯d just gotten a new Level, still not bad.
As for the Free Points gained from his new Level? It almost didn¡¯t even need to be said at this point, but the answer was to obviously dump them all into Wisdom. Though now it was even more incentivized than ever, since just focusing on getting one Stat power grinded up each increment of 25 would be the best for the Scaling of his land drone. So that Jordan would be able to raise the limit on the total number of them that could be out at a time.
So yeah, that investment brought the Stat up to an updated figure of 65. Which raised his total TP by one point to 27, and increased his TP regen to a new and sexy rate of 9.70 per minute.
But before Jordan made a decision about the thing that actually mattered right now, he decided to hold off on it. Just for a few minutes, as he stood up and went back down to the ground floor.
When he stepped outside, Jordan took a deep breath of the early morning air. The distant smell of smoke filled his nose, though there weren¡¯t any signs that the wildfire actually passed by his Kingdom.
Right now, it was just around one o¡¯clock, according to his watch. So there was still a full seven hours of daylight remaining until the next night came around. But even with plenty of time from a full day ahead of him, Jordan figured that breakfast could wait until after he returned from a quick trip outside his base.
After summoning three new instances of his land drones, Jordan sent out two while grabbing onto the last one. As his noble steed began to drive him off toward his destination, Jordan could appreciate that the return to its original speed of 50 miles per hour would get him there just a bit faster.
But nothing wrong with getting there even faster, right? The quicker I get there, the quicker I can see if I can still turn whatever¡¯s left of the Crab into a Transmutation Crystal. And see just what the Hell is up with that wildfire, cause even around my base, it doesn¡¯t seem to have touched this whole area? Jordan thought to himself as he glanced around, more than a bit confused.
In just the time he¡¯d been thinking that while his drone had been moving, it¡¯d already taken him hundreds of feet away from his Kingdom. Yet even while past the clearing, the leaves he hadn¡¯t cleared out here had still remained untouched by the blaze.
Yeah, no, that¡¯s weird. If my Kingdom itself had some magical protection from environmental hazards? Sure, I could get behind that and appreciate it if the System gave it that kind of bubble. But my territory is basically just the clearing itself; there shouldn¡¯t be any reason why the wildfire couldn¡¯t spread to literally everything else around it. Hmmm.
Now a bit concerned, Jordan began to hurry his drone by using Overcharge to make it go even faster. And since his TP regen was closer to 10 per minute, he could do so even more liberally than before. Especially as it seemed like that compared to before the Fundamental Evolution, the drone could take an extra stack or two of the Skill in a row before it started to become worryingly strained.
A short time later, Jordan finally found evidence of where the wildfire had actually been burning. But man, was it weird. Because in his non-expert opinion, Jordan was still pretty confident that fire didn¡¯t draw and arbitrary and unnaturally straight line for the limit of where it spread. Especially when the thick layer of leaves and such on the ground were the exact same past the line, as it would have been on the other side that actually got burnt.
¡°What the Hell¡?¡± Jordan trailed off as he looked around. His brows were furrowed with puzzlement as a covering of ash surrounded him. The wildfire had certainly finished and died out, at least in the immediate area. But the way it did so was just confusing in a way that made him frown.
The blaze actually hadn¡¯t gotten that much further from the river than he would have expected. Maybe just a half a mile or so out from the river itself, if he had to make a guess. But when he looked to his left and right, it seemed to stretch out for his eye could see. He really hadn¡¯t just been going crazy when he saw the glow of the flames last night, and thought that it seemed strangely stretched out lengthwise.
From all appearances, it really did look like the wildfire had stubbornly burned only a limited and neatly defined area around the river. But then had refused to go even a single inch past that line.
Jordan continued to ride his drone the rest of the way toward where the Crab¡¯s body should still have been. But even so, the strangeness of what he¡¯d seen still didn¡¯t leave his mind.
He eventually did return to the spot where he¡¯d killed the Crab. Yet rather than an entire corpse, there wasn¡¯t much left of the remains in question. The shell was cracked and broken in various places, and entirely scorched after being cooked at the center of the fiery blaze. When Jordan hopped off his drone and got closer on foot, he could see that the inside of the shell was practically hollow. It seemed that basically all the fleshy inside bits were just gone by now.
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Not sure if it¡¯d still even work, Jordan placed a hand on what was left of his foe. But then to his mild surprise, a prompt still appeared.
Slain Initial Merger detected!
Traits Collected: 1
Titles Collected: 2
Class: Natural Juggernaut
Level Upon Death: 1
Grade Upon Death: E
Highest Grade Class Skill: E2
Transmute corpse into an Advancement Crystal?
Huh, guess a corpse could still be all kinds of screwed up and still be good enough to be turned into a gem. Hey¡ how come I didn¡¯t notice this before? It can¡¯t be a coincidence that the System says to transmute it, right? Like if it wanted to be separate from the Transmuter, then it could have easily gone with a different choice in wording.
Jordan also noted that the Crab had died with two Titles. He wondered if it was like him and also been one of the first to get a new Skill and evolution, and earned the resulting achievement. Or perhaps it¡¯d managed to do something else that had prompted a new Title as a reward, that he simply didn¡¯t know about.
In any case, the coincidence in word choice did make him think of something. As Jordan affirmed the screen and turned the charred shell into an Advancement Crystal, he questioned how it could potentially relate to his Industrial Transmuter.
Was the act of transmutation just a broad category that could apply to multiple things, that didn¡¯t necessarily have to be related beyond that general purpose? Or was there a more direction connection, like something that could allow him to stuff a corpse into the Transmuter and turn it into a gem that way? The idea of that was pretty morbid to think about, but still, he couldn¡¯t help but admit that he was rather curious.
Unfortunately, when he looked around, Jordan couldn¡¯t find any equipment that should have been expunged from the Crab¡¯s pocket space. He even thoroughly dug through the pile of ashes around him, but nothing turned up. Which meant one of two things. Either the Crab didn¡¯t have anything on it as the simple explanation, or what it had owned was flammable enough to now be one with the ashes.
Well, there technically was the idea that someone had already come around to take the loot. But why would they have done so without also turning the Crab into a gem? Maybe there was a chance that this scavenger simply hadn¡¯t known about that mechanic. However, he was just speculation at this point. Anyway, it was just after a few more minutes of looking that he decided that none would be found.
But Jordan now had a total of nine Advancement Crystals. What happened next would be rather obvious, since he¡¯d already consumed the tenth yesterday as the first point of essence toward a new Skill. So, since he was already here, why wait until he got back to his base?
Between the choice from before and the nine gems he could consume now, he could get both a new Skill and yet another Skill evolution all in one go. He figured that would be the best way to go about things, since it¡¯d add something fresh and potentially useful to his repertoire while also bringing Summon Land Drone¡¯s Grade to E4.
First things first, Jordan began the process of improving his drone again.
Selected Skill for evolution: Summon Land Drone
New Skill evolutions available!
Pick from one of the following:
Evolution: Size
Description: Significantly increases the size and weight of the drone. Additionally results in a high increase to the drone¡¯s overall durability. However, this comes with a moderate decrease in its maximum speed and a minor decrease to its maximum range.
Evolution: Speed
Description: Significantly increases the maximum speed of the drone. Additionally results in a high increase in its general mobility. However, this comes with a moderate decrease in its weight and overall durability.
Evolution: Strength
Description: Significantly increases the maximum strength of the drone¡¯s weapons. Additionally results in a high increase in its firing rate. However, this comes with a minor decrease in both its durability and speed.
Huh, well, that¡¯s a little¡ samey? Jordan thought as he scratched the back of his neck. It was just a tad disappointing for the first two options to be exactly the same as before, if he was being honest with himself. At the third one was different from then, at the very least. However, even this was still rather informative.
It appeared that this was where the use of the Advancement Crystals actually mattered. That for normal evolutions that didn¡¯t involve their consumption, there was a default set of options. Something that was fairly supported by the nice use of alliteration in the names of the evolutions presented.
Man, even bigger drones are super tempting. Imagine if that would actually get it up to the size of a tank, or at least close? But before the Fundamental Evolution, I did think about wanting more firepower before I decided to go with the firing squad method instead of more guns. But while the Crab was definitely a dedicated tank build, I don¡¯t know how tough they naturally are as a Species. It¡¯d be pretty wild for creatures that are so different to end up with the same total number of starting Stats as us, after all.
Jordan just couldn¡¯t see a world where that would make a ton of sense. Not if the Crabs had both the Strength and Endurance to actually match their size. Or Dexterity too, if the last one had naturally been that fast without investing into the Stat. Something that a tank-focused build would be unlikely to do, if he had to imagine.
Granted, that did leave a few other Stats that could be lower than what Humans started with to compensate. But just how low could Stats like Intelligence or Wisdom really get, for something that was also sapient and capable of speech?
Anyway, he knew when his train of thought was starting to get derailed. So before it could get too off-track, Jordan made himself return to the matter at hand.
Considering that the other evolutions so far contributed to the toughness of the land drone, I don¡¯t think they necessarily need to be even more durable. And since the trade-off for the firepower is listed as just a minor decrease in that and its speed, I think it¡¯s a good trade to make. Since depending on when the next Level-based chance is given, it might be a while until I can upgrade it again until E5. So rather than give into my more childish way of thinking that bigger is always better, I honestly should play it safe and go with the more reasonable option of better guns, shouldn¡¯t I?
At the very least, that would make the firing squad even more effective against any durable foes he came across in the future. Especially if all Crabs did turn out to be pretty tough as well, aside from just the one that¡¯d also been a Natural Juggernaut as its Class.
Once that was settled, Jordan quickly affirmed his choice to the System and finalized it. Then from his pocket space, he pulled and started to consume all the remaining Advancement Crystals he possessed. For each one, the essence naturally went toward gaining a new Skill. When it came to this, he was curious to see just what kind of choices the influence of the gems would provide.
Finally, all ten points of essence were then allocated.
New Class Skills available!
Pick from one of the following:
When Jordan looked at the three options provided, he read through them one a time. However, the first two were quickly tossed out the window and into an open dumpster. Not because they were necessarily bad. But because the third option would be perfect for his plans for the rest of the day after returning to his base. Plans that, ideally, would become the foundation for not just having a firing squad from his Skills, but a true army that he had built.
Passive:
Skill: Mental Blueprint
Grade: E2
Scaling: Intelligence, Wisdom
Description: Increases the user¡¯s ability to accurately recall the details of any machines worked with. This also improves the user¡¯s recollection of how these details of a machine¡¯s makeup relate to its general functions.
Oh, and as a rather important detail that probably should be mentioned, these new Skills also started at a higher Grade than before.
Chapter 39: Mystery After Mystery
Jordan wasn¡¯t sure what starting the Skill at E2 actually did. There was no clear indicator or note from the System about it, beyond the fact that it was clearly stated as such for each presented Skill. He could only really assume that it might only come up after he finalized his Skill selection, or that it was just a built-in boost that it would already come with.
Maybe even as part of the inherent knowledge after using it once, he could tell if the System had actually pre-selected an evolution for it. In any case, he would only find out after he finalized his choice. Something Jordan did with little hesitation, as he already knew that this Skill would be immediately applicable to his intended project.
With a new Skill and evolution under his belt, Jordan then took a proud look at his current Status.
General Info:
Name: Jordan Joyner
Species: Human (Earth)
Guild: N/A
System Info:
Class: Combat Engineer
Subclass: N/A
Traits: Tech Savvy
Titles: Initial Merger, Adept of Advancement, High Lord of the 42nd
Level: 6
EXP: 237/5625
Grade: E
Resources:
Tech Points: 27/27
Tech Points Regen: 9.70/Min
Stats:
Strength: 30
Dexterity: 33
Vitality: 35
Endurance: 32
Intelligence: 54
Wisdom: 65
Will: 31
Free Points: 0
General Skills:
Active: Appraise-E5
Class Skills:
Active: Summon Land Drone-E4
Active: Summon Air Drone-E1
Active: Zap-E1
Active: Overcharge-E1
Passive: Mental Blueprint-E2
Passive: Tinker-E1
As for actually trying out the Passive to see if it got him any inherent information, he¡¯d have to wait until he got back home first. Though he¡¯d actually have to get some real hands-on working with tech to get that going, most likely. Since even with his handling of the Transmuter so far, it hadn¡¯t really felt like Tinker had ever been activated.
Jordan hopped back onto his drone. Even from its own evolution, its guns didn¡¯t really look all that different. Though now that he thought about it, he¡¯d always seen the difference only after a new instance of the Skill, hadn¡¯t he? Somewhere in the distance, a drone had its TP supply cut off. Though it would still be ten minutes until it fully took effect, so something to be resummoned after he returned to his Kingdom.
But on that note, he did make just a slight detour before heading back to his Kingdom. Since he had those few extra minutes to kill anyway after the driving time, Jordan decided to spend them taking a look across the boundary of the wildfire. He followed along the path of the line of where the leaves had been burnt to ash and where they¡¯d been left untouched. Yet rather than just a weird coincidence in one spot, it really did seem to be a line that extended for as long as he could see while riding his drone alongside it.
Looking at it was actually kind of unnerving, if Jordan had to be honest. It wasn¡¯t just a line, but a perfectly straight one. When practically everything in nature had at least some level of imperfection, if you looked closely enough, this was just eerie. Something about it just felt wrong. Like a boundary line between chunks of where a video game environment began and ended, but placed in real life instead.
And yet¡ as he thought about it, some aspect of it did seem familiar. Like he¡¯d seen this sort of thing already, at some point in the last couple of days. But where? And when? It was just the vague sort of familiarity, from another instance of it that he might not have recognized at the time.
The line was a clear boundary. One that was near the river was the only landmark of note, acting as a sort of separator between the river and the forest. A separator¡ between the forest and¡
Jordan¡¯s eyes widened with sudden clarity. The field! The trees between that grass field where this had all started had been placed in a straight line. Jordan was sure of it; he just hadn¡¯t noticed at the time due to how distracted he¡¯d been with the Grass Panther and reeling from the deaths of his group.
It would be an extra detour to delay the planned schedule for today, but Jordan ordered his drone to begin heading there anyway. It wouldn¡¯t take him that long to get there, really. Not when his drone was still moving at 50-
Wait a fucking second. The evolution for the guns hasn¡¯t applied yet, but neither has the debuff for its speed or toughness! That¡¯s¡ huh. That feels like something that could be potentially exploited, right? Like someone, somewhere, will find a way to take advantage of that as a glitch. Or is that actually an intended feature, System? Jordan asked, to which there was of course no response from the System itself.
It was to be noted that, unlike the first evolution, this last one hadn¡¯t come with any changes to how the TP cost of the land drones functioned. Though perhaps that was comparing apples to oranges anyway, since the Fundamental Evolution had entirely changed how the resource cost worked.
With that as some very interesting food for thought, Jordan speeded his way back to the field of grass. With some liberal uses of Overcharge to get there even faster, something which was quickly becoming the new standard, it didn¡¯t take him long to reach it.
When he did, all Jordan needed was just one look to confirm that he¡¯d been right. Despite the tree trunks obviously being of varying sizes, there was an invisible line between the forest and field that none of them passed. It actually looked quite obvious, in retrospect. But with this and the one by the river to officially establish the beginning of a pattern, what did all of this even mean?
Jordan didn¡¯t want to go so far as to assume that he was in some sort of simulation or virtual reality. That was just a cat that could stay deep inside its bag with all the issues that kind of thing would bring about, well, everything. But at the same time, the idea of this all being some virtual reality just¡ didn¡¯t feel right. Jordan knew that wasn¡¯t actually an explanation based on any sort of real logic.
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But when he tried to picture this as being just an artificial simulation, something deep inside seemed to simply reject that whole idea. Besides, if that was the case, then that felt like an important detail that should have been mentioned from the start. He couldn¡¯t think of any benefit the System would have in hiding it, and instead chose to present this situation as just them being moved to a different planet.
As Jordan idly turned the drone back around toward his Kingdom, it was with a contemplative expression on his face. As he rode through the forest, his mind was far away and deep in thought. Boundary lines between areas that could block environmental changes like forest fires. A predetermined spot for the Mandate and where his Kingdom would have its starting territory. The gateway that was relatively close by, which seemed to be there as a means of fast travel to the area on the other side.
It all just felt very¡ intentional. Like these things had been placed with an intended purpose in mind. And with how the System seemed to encourage direct competition and handed out rewards like candy to those who did perform the best, he could only imagine that this setup would lend itself to that idea.
Jordan could already picture at least a couple of ideas. Because if there was a Kingdom somewhere on the other side of each portal, claimed or unclaimed, he could only imagine that it¡¯d be an easy way for other such gateways to act as the key to world conquest. Why start with your actual neighbors if, instead, you could just conquer the other side of the world and defend the single portal as a key point?
And finally, for real this time, there actually was just one last stop before his Kingdom. Jordan rode up to where the gateway had been last night. But before he¡¯d even reached it, he could already see from a distance away that it truly was just gone.
When he got to where it¡¯d been, the only evidence of its prior existence could still be found in the snow on the ground. Only slightly melted in the warmth of the early morning, due to how shaded the tree canopy kept everything below it. He imagined that when night came once more, the portal would reappear to freeze anything that melted while potentially bringing a fresh batch of snow with it.
By the time Jordan returned to his Kingdom, a good bit more than ten minutes had passed since he¡¯d desummoned the drone earlier. So as soon as he hopped off the one acting as his loyal steed, he summoned a new land drone to check out what the evolution had done for its appearance.
And when he saw it, he couldn¡¯t help but whistle a bit.
Both the size and length of the twin barrels had grown. And with the pre-evolved drone next to it, the direct comparison was even easier to make. The hexagonal pattern on the barrels was even more intricate than before, with the blue glow they emitted clearly a bit brighter than before. The red crystals that contained more blue energy within also appeared to be bigger and brighter. Along with just more of the crystals along the base of the barrels, in general.
Yep, definitely looked like its guns had gotten an upgrade.
For a moment, Jordan contemplated if there was an exploit he could create out of keeping all the drones in their pre-evolved forms. But after taking a bit of time to think about it, he couldn¡¯t really think of any good ideas. At least not anything that would be worth the handicap of deceased firepower, which would kind of go against the point of why he¡¯d gone with the evolution in the first place.
So, with that decided, he just went ahead and desummoned the other land drones too. As soon as the ten minutes were up, Jordan would immediately resummon the drones and send them back out for more farming. As long as one land drone and air drone remained close by to patrol the area around his base, he was fine with sending the rest out to explore their maximum range.
Actually, probably a better idea to keep two land drones as the patrol instead. That¡¯ll free up the air drone to try and hunt anything that¡¯s higher up in the trees. Since after a certain point in height, there just really isn¡¯t an angle the land drones can aim from just by adjusting their position.
With that thought, he went ahead and just sent a mental command to the air drone with that updated order. After that, Jordan went inside to make himself some breakfast with the Transmuter. He was now down to his last Rabbit, so it wouldn¡¯t be long until he fully switched to a Bark Snake diet.
Though sustaining that would require him to have the drones lead him to wherever their murder spree was, and right after it happened so he could put the corpses away before they began to decompose. It was too bad that they didn¡¯t have the capability of grabbing stuff to just bring back. Though if that was something that might have been unlocked through the Fundamental Evolution that allowed their shapes to change, it was too late to regret it now.
In addition, Jordan would probably need to add some variety. He could only imagine that the lack of anything other than small critters in his diet would be good. His body currently felt fine, but it probably wouldn¡¯t be much longer until it began to get on his case about the lack of essential nutrients. Considering that the Transmuter couldn¡¯t turn one kind of metal into another, he doubted that he could turn the plant matter around into an edible salad.
Something to think about. Perhaps if he looked hard enough, he could forage for mushrooms and such. Or better yet, why even do the foraging himself? If the drones were capable of understanding what water was and located the river, then they could surely do the same for anything he imagined growing as fruits, vegetables, and such. If the System added Rabbits as a creature on this planet, then surely copying over apples and stuff from Earth wasn¡¯t outside the realm of possibility.
But after breakfast was quickly consumed with, it was time to get to work. From his pocket space, Jordan dumped some of the ash he¡¯d been digging through earlier and had remembered to take with him. The dumped ash was put inside the Transmuter, and basically fed to the machine as its own breakfast to restore a bit of Charge.
Now then, Jordan did want to get to the fun part of taking his drone apart and playing around with that. But he already knew that if he did so now, he¡¯d forget to make his preparations for tonight. So, just to get it out of the way, he began to pull out sets of clothing to start Operation: Freezing To Death Is Bad.
The plan was very simple. He just wanted to turn the spare clothes into proper winter wear. Including better protection for his face, that was more than just a strap of fabric acting as a cheap bandana. The first part of that would be eyewear. Something that could be done with what he owned, since he did have a decent amount of plastic to work with.
A slight smile formed on Jordan¡¯s face as a somewhat amusing thought came to mind. In this world, hard plastic would likely remain much more precious than metal for quite a while. He knew that Blacksmiths existed as its own Class, but more than that was the simple reality of materials. For his Transmuter, metal could be easily collected just by taking a piece of equipment from the many Classes that were given items with varying levels of metal.
From just a small weapon like a dagger being the only thing given by the System, to enough armor to cover someone head to toe. There was also the idea of natural ore deposits for things like iron, which he was sure had to exist at least somewhere on this planet. He was pretty willing to bet that he could just toss a chunk of raw iron ore into his Transmuter, and then just get a cube of refined iron back as the machine ate all the impurities within the ore.
But putting that thought aside, it really only took Jordan a couple of minutes until the winter gear for tonight was ready. A full set of thick clothing, made to be big enough to fit over his Engineer¡¯s Uniform.
Alright, that¡¯s done. Now then, Jordan thought as he stepped outside. The other newly summoned land drones had already been sent off. But one still remained as the drone that had pulled the short straw. But even so, what it had remained here for was in the name of something far greater than itself.
It would be a sacrifice in the name of research!
Chapter 40: Trauma, It Sucks
While the sun might have been fully up, it was still considered fairly early in the morning for those living in a certain forest on Vervina-C. A Bark Snake flicked its tongue with annoyance as it was disturbed from what had been a restful slumber up to that point. Its serpentine form slithered across the branch currently acting as its high-up near the canopy.
Not that far from where it¡¯d been sleeping, a great deal of noise was echoing through the otherwise tranquil forest. The banging of metal against metal, some being¡¯s victorious and semi-maniacal laughter, the boom of a small explosion, followed by a loud string of what even the dumb Bark Snake understood to be swearing.
It just slithered over to the next branch, hoping to get just a bit further away from the noise. However, unknown to the serpent, a flying object had already spotted it and begun to charge up a shot from its rifle.
At the very corner of his vision, Jordan didn¡¯t even notice the latest addition to his new stack of Experience notifications. He was currently far too busy to pay any attention to such a currently irrelevant detail like that.
Well, maybe less busy, and more dealing with the consequences of his own hubris. Staring into the silvery back of a phone to see his reflection, Jordan really hoped that a lack of eyebrows would be a trend and not just weird to see. Now, how did such a thing happen in the first place?
Jordan had begun the process of dismantling one of his land drones. He did attempt to command it to make itself fall apart, but that hadn¡¯t worked. So what he had instead done as an alternative was load it with too many Overcharges uses than it could handle. And then like the air drone from last night, had it unleash all that extra energy before it could go away, and violently exploded as a result.
Now, while one might think that was how his eyebrows and what had been the start of some facial hair had gotten singed off, that would actually be wrong. He had actually focused the Overcharge uses on the guns, and then ordered the drone to take a few seconds to drive a few hundred feet away from his base before firing its guns to explode. And then even just to be on the safe side to account for rogue shrapnel, he¡¯d also used those few seconds to run into the building and close the door behind him.
Following the boom, Jordan had then gone out to pick through all the scraps. It was his belief that the best way to learn about how something worked was to first break into a bunch of smaller pieces. Then try to imagine in what way they were fit together to make the whole, like putting a puzzle together.
While many would call that a dumb method to learn about precious technology, it was the method he used for his dad¡¯s smartphone, many years ago. As it would coincidentally turn out, Jordan¡¯s father was also one of those people who thought that method was rather dumb, and didn¡¯t really appreciate what he¡¯d done. While the grounding of his life had come afterward, Jordan still looked back at the memory with a light smile as he¡¯d been picking up the pieces of exploded drone.
The following part was how Jordan had actually got an unwelcome clean shave, however. After grabbing as many drone pieces as he could find, he¡¯d taken back to his base for study. The second after he¡¯d dumped them all into a table and began to sort through them, Jordan had felt the tingle of inherent knowledge rush into his mind.
Just by holding a piece of rather alien-looking tech and then actually trying to think about its purpose, he had just known that it belonged to the drone¡¯s motherboard. Opening the Skill in question that Jordan knew had just taken effect, he reminded himself about how it read.
Passive:
Skill: Tinker
Grade: E1
Scaling: Intelligence, Wisdom
Description: Increases the user¡¯s ability to modify existing machines and create their own.
As far as a Description went, ¡°improves the user¡¯s ability¡± had just been a little vague. But now he understood how it actually worked. Just by handling a machine or part of one with the actual intent to work with it, he received an understanding of what he was working with. So even though the design of just a piece of the motherboard was wholly exotic compared to something from Earth, he¡¯d still been able to know that¡¯s what it was.
When Jordan had found another piece of it to put the two together, he felt the new Passive Skill kick into effect. Just by looking at how the broken bits of what had to be millions of circuits fit back together, he felt that he could never forget the design. Like if he closed his eyes, he¡¯d be able to forever remember how to perfectly picture it in his mind¡¯s eye. Jordan had been right on the money in his hopes.
Mental Blueprint would be a fantastic Skill to use in conjunction with the Industrial Transmuter. So fantastic, even, that its addition as an option had felt too good to be a coincidence. More and more, Jordan believed the System was likely taking his own thoughts and desires into account with the new Skills and evolutions presented. If that was the main factor or just one of several, however, he couldn¡¯t really say for certain.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Then picking up one of the red crystals, Jordan studied it. Once again, Tinker kicked in to give him a more general understanding of what he was actually looking at. The crystal could best be described as a sort of energy cell, at least as far as the Skill let him tell. It was actually a bit weird to think about how it actually functioned.
Tinker didn¡¯t give him a dictionary definition or anything like that; he just¡ knew. Similar to the inherent knowledge given as the basics of how a Skill functioned, but not quite the same. It was more like an active recall, where he thought about how a certain aspect of something machine-related functioned while he was working with it, he might just be able to then answer himself. Like he¡¯d always known the answer to a question, but had just forgotten up till that moment, was the best way he could describe it.
In any case, the red crystal was effectively where his TP went when he cast Summon Land Drone. They were basically like batteries that stored the TP and used it to power the drone¡¯s functions. That was also why there was a direct supply around its twin weapons, to quickly pull from for the energy of repeat bolt firing.
Now the crystals by the barrels themselves had been placed as a connected series, whose sides were touching. Curious about that particular feature in its design, Jordan had picked up another crystal and held the pair together. And that¡¯s where his mistake had been.
The second they made direct contact, a rush of understanding clicked into place. Despite their solid-looking form as crystals, these guys actually were rather easy to make unstable when touching against each other like this. Something that the land drone, when whole, had the function of keeping stable. But not only was that source of stability gone, the exploded drone was still being fed with the reserve of TP it was taking up to remain manifested. This meant that the red crystals with blue energy inside were still being actively powered, even now.
¡°Oh fuckety fuck!¡± Jordan cursed as he dropped the crystals and immediately tried to get up from the seat. But the reaction that had already been started wouldn¡¯t stop now, and had already been working fast to accelerate. After getting up, the only thing he had time to do still was throw up his arms in an effort to protect his head.
A blast of heat and pure force then sent Jordan, and all the loose items on the table, flying. Jordan was thrown all the way against the opposite wall of the concrete room, knocking the air out of his lungs upon impact. After then falling down to the ground, it took him a minute to just catch his breath. Then while groaning, Jordan blinked the dancing lights out of his eyes before slowly pushing himself back up.
Now we were back to the present, of him inspecting the damage. Aside from the hair getting singed off from the heat, it wasn¡¯t like the skin of his face had been magically left alone. From what he hadn¡¯t shielded with his arms, there were some minor burns. Nothing too bad, just blisters that only hurt a little now and would probably itch like Hell later.
Though staring at the poor reflection of himself, the phone had begun to shake in his hands. Jordan¡¯s breath became short as his heartbeat rapidly sped up. He could feel the blisters on his face turn into skin actually melting off. The hair on his head combusting into a full blaze that made him a living torch of fire. Feeling sickened and about to throw up, Jordan quickly put the phone away and stopped looking at the damage.
Man, this is a full-blown panic attack from fucking trauma, isn¡¯t it? Jordan thought to himself as he wrapped his arms around himself, trying to forcibly stop the shaking. It was almost funny in its own way, how even the ability to logically recognize what was happening did jack shit to actually make it better.
The reality was that, even if it¡¯d only been for a moment, even if it¡¯d been quickly reversed by a Skill, he¡¯d burnt to death. For just a second, Jordan had died. And before that, he¡¯d experienced things that nobody alive could describe. Not even he could describe it to anyone, really, if just thinking about it shook himself up so badly.
Think about the physical; ignore what¡¯s going on mentally. Think about the physical; ignore what¡¯s going on mentally. Just treat yourself like a machine to be diagnosed. Turn off everything else. Come on Jordan! Just do it! He mentally chanted.
He tried to force himself into looking down at the rest of his body instead. Of how despite also taking the blast, the parts of the body actually covered by his starting equipment remained largely unharmed. And just to further distract himself, he opened the screen of what could be thanked for that.
Name: Engineer¡¯s Reinforced Uniform
Grade: E1
Description: A standard set for Combat Engineers across the multiverse. It has been built to provide the wearer a low amount of protection from piercing, explosive, fire, and electric types of damage.
After that, it still took him a few more minutes just to mostly calm down. Only mostly, since his pulse continued to feel a bit higher than normal. This wasn¡¯t something that just a night of sleep would be able to help. He wasn¡¯t if anything could, really.
But then, a dark thought gave him a half-smile. ¡°At least I¡¯m not a Pyromancer or have any Skills directly related to fire. How fucked would it be to have your trauma triggered by your own powers every time you used them?¡±
It didn¡¯t really help much, but it was good to find the humor in even bad things, right? But after taking one last deep breath in and out, Jordan forced himself to start gathering the drone bits that had gotten scattered in the blast.
He still had more work that needed to be done.
Chapter 41: Just Nerd Things
¡°Just don¡¯t blow up. Pretty please don¡¯t blow up in my face,¡± Jordan muttered to himself. He carefully tried to remove one of the power cells, as he¡¯d now taken to calling the red crystals, from the drone. With a quiet pop, he felt all the tension from it go away as he pulled it out. The power cell still wasn¡¯t fully disconnected, as a thick wire still connected it to the inside of the drone¡¯s body.
A bit of time had passed since his earlier accident. Enough for him to have done a general review of all the bits and pieces of the drone, and handled them enough for Tinker to give him a basic comprehension of what he was working with. So after desummoning that one and waiting the required ten minutes, Jordan was not outside with a fully intact land drone.
Now that he¡¯d gotten a better idea of how it could work while exploded into scrap, he felt a bit more confident about slowly taking it apart the old-fashioned way. Though handling the power cell directly had still caused his blood pressure to rise a bit, the current lack of it blowing up immediately was a great relief. With it still in hand, he took a closer look at how it was still connected to the drone.
Seems to be made from silver, from the look of it. But man, what¡¯s the diameter of this wiring, like half an inch? The thing¡¯s freaking huge! Jordan stared at it with a bit of awe. At that size, it wasn¡¯t just a single solid wire, but instead a braid of silver wiring twisted together. Now, what difference did that even make?
Well, this was the part where Jordan¡¯s education could finally be flexed a bit, no Passive Skills required. It was only now that his degree in computer engineering and partial progress into a graduate program for robotics could prove its usefulness. But what did that mean? Well, computer engineering could often be confused for computer science just by the same first word in their names. For anyone who¡¯d never looked up the difference, that was fairly understandable.
But to make a long story very short, in general, computer science has a greater focus on software, while computer engineering did some software and also focused more on the hardware side of things. If you wanted a job coding the backend of a website? Computer science or something, although who really cares? However, if you wanted the much cooler job of potentially designing a new generation of GPUs? Then you went with the superior degree of computer engineering.
Not that Jordan was biased in that comparison, or anything. Nope, not at all.
Anyway, computer hardware obviously requires electricity in how it functions. So, as part of becoming a computer engineer, one would take courses that were also taken by electrical engineers. Though unlike those bastard electrical engineers who think of themselves as know-it-alls that could do the job of every other type of engineer, Jordan could admit that there were some gaps in his knowledge.
It was due to said gaps that despite being a type of engineer, he¡¯d been a bit thrown off by deciding the optimal material for a building. Though if Jordan had to be honest, he would admit that there was every chance that it had come up in his education, but hadn¡¯t been properly learned.
There was some homework and even a few exams that he probably should have been caught cheating. But hey, whose fault was it when it came to that? The student just playing the game, or the professor who did multiple choice as the bulk of the exam grade while recycling the same questions for years, thus leading them to be easy to find online?
And made even worse by a very recent and clearly not fully planned policy by the university at the time, that allowed students to take exams remotely while ¡°sick.¡± Something which surprising nobody but the admin, somehow, had obviously led to a full-blown pandemic of ill students until they reversed course. But since they had implemented that with anti-cheating measures that were really the easiest thing to get around, the damage had already been done.
Anyway, what had he been thinking about earlier before getting sidetracked? Ah, yes, the wiring. So one of the main advantages of standard was that by nature of being a bundle of thin wires, it was physically more flexible.
This made them good for something that moved around a lot, shook, or frequently vibrated. In such applications, they were the better choice for something you didn¡¯t want to replace a lot from what would otherwise be micro bits of damage. That¡¯s why stranded wire is often the go-to choice for electronic devices, because nobody wants to deal with wire replacement for those.
However, it had to be said that there was a bit more nuance to this kind of wiring. Like the exact way in which it was stranded. Of which there were a few different standard types, but that was a whole discussion of its own for another day.
Solid wiring, on the other hand, did have its own advantages. Being a single and thicker piece meant less surface area for dissipation. Because while one might think that the stranded wire they¡¯re holding is tight enough not to have room for air gaps, they¡¯d be wrong. There was always room for air gaps. Always.
But that efficiency meant that solid wire was better for short distances that didn¡¯t have the previously mentioned problem of shaking a lot. In addition to just being easier and cheaper to make, as well. When it came to a building¡¯s infrastructure, a solid core wire was generally the preferred choice.
Though for both, there were always exceptions for where they were used, of course. It was just a matter of which type was seen as better for the application in question, rather than following some golden rule. Aside from the legal rules of actual codes and such, anyway.
So, for the stranded wire in front of him now, half an inch was definitely on the hefty side for its diameter. Now, that was definitely huge, but not outlandishly so. Yet there was one factor that made things a bit more¡ interesting, to say the least.
It was half an inch, without any insulation. Not because Jordan wasn¡¯t counting it, but simply due to the fact that it was a naked wire. One that was made of silver, at that, meaning it had both a lower resistivity and higher conductivity than basically all other metals. So why didn¡¯t people use silver all the time for such applications if it was so great? Because silver was expensive, while copper, as the second-best metal, was much, much cheaper.
Yeah¡ no, I wouldn¡¯t ever touch that with my bare hands. But it should be fine, as long as I always wear the gloves from my Engineer¡¯s Uniform. If the Reinforced part of its full name lets it tank that power cell blast earlier without a mark, then the electrical protection should be able to handle this. At least I¡¯d hope so, or else it¡¯d be kind of screwed up for the System to provide starting equipment that doesn¡¯t even let me poke around an upgraded version of a Skill; that¡¯s basically just the land version of the Class¡¯s starting Skill.
However, it did bring up a fair point. Was there even electricity going through that wiring? And surprisingly in this world of magic and the seemingly impossible? Yes, actually, yes there was. From his poking around with the exploded bits earlier, Jordan had managed to find out a very important detail. While it did absorb his Tech Points as a basically infinite energy source, it didn¡¯t just use it in its ¡°raw¡± form.
Now, as for what that actually meant¡
Ker-chunk!
¡°That was a¡ healthy sound. Yep, totally didn¡¯t just fully break that off,¡± Jordan lied to himself as a metal plate hit the dirt. It¡¯d taken a bit of swapping between his collection of tools, but he¡¯d managed to pull it off in order to take a look inside the drone.
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Now in its defense, it was after he¡¯d started doing so that Tinker had given him a feeling that there was a better way to remove the plate without actually breaking it. But the impression it¡¯d given him was one of requiring a very specific tool, but since it was just a feeling and not an associated mental picture, it wasn¡¯t really one he could just have made at the moment. Though for future reference, he¡¯d probably take the time at some point to figure it out himself through some trial and error.
But within the drone, there were a couple of things of immediate note. The first was a whole bunch more of the power cells. Which he believed to be the ones responsible for powering the land drone¡¯s movement, separate from the set around its guns. It was most likely how it worked for when he used Overcharge, and had to make a choice between a more powerful attack or a speed boost. He was essentially just choosing which set of power cells that energy was going to go through.
In addition to them were plenty more wiring, of course. But the thing at the very center was the real prize. Back when the System had given the option for an evolution called an Arcane Core, it¡¯d only described it as a change to the drone¡¯s base systems and core functions. However, as it turned out, there was a literal core too.
Pulling off another plate to give himself more room to actually fit his hands and tools through, Jordan then reached inside. Then very, very slowly, he began to fiddle around in an attempt to find a way to safely remove the core without making something go kaboom. Luckily, going extra slow meant plenty of time to remain aware of the nuggets of guidance provided by Tinker. If there was one part of this process that he wouldn¡¯t cut any corners on, it was this.
Though at the very least, he was a little less afraid of a fiery accident occurring again. Because after earlier, he¡¯d made sure to look through his pocket space to think of something to mitigate the ability to get burnt, should something even worse happen. And luckily, he¡¯d found something.
Name: Blacksmith¡¯s Flame-Resistant Uniform
Grade: E1
Description: A standard set for Blacksmiths across the multiverse. It has been built to provide the wearer a moderate amount of protection from fire damage overall. With an added resistance to the piercing and bludgeoning damage types for its gloves.
Now while Jordan couldn¡¯t use the weapons and such tools for other Class, it turned out that the clothing was a different case. There was a limit to that, however, which was called practicality. Could someone collect enough sets of various sizes to turn themselves into what would basically be a Russian nesting doll of armor? One where each layer could potentially cover a different type, to protect themselves from everything?
Sure, but with how much stuff you¡¯d have to wear to achieve that, it simply wouldn¡¯t be very feasible. Jordan was already getting sweaty working under the sun, while wearing two sets of equipment like this. Plus, without showering or bathing for the last few days, he could only imagine that anyone who met him now would probably get killed by the smell alone.
Yeah, Jordan should probably make the time to head by the river and take a bath in it. He decided to do so a couple of hours before sunset. That way his hair would have enough time to be fully dried off before his intended exploration through the portal tonight.
But, eventually, Jordan¡¯s bated breath turned into a heavy sigh of relief. About the size of the main body of the air drone, it was pulled outside and now sat in his hands.
Earlier, Jordan had only handled individual pieces of the core. Or specifically, those that had actually survived the explosion from too many Overchage stacks. Because, as he¡¯d already begun to figure out, the core of the drone was apparently super fragile. From what Mental Blueprint allowed him to recall about exactly which surviving parts had been related to the core a a whole, only a minority of them had remained intact.
This core, it¡¯s basically everything for the drone. It can survive having its guns, treads, or both critically damaged. But if even one part of this thing fails? Yeah, that causes a cascade of failures that quickly leads to the whole thing shutting down. Just by being able to directly handle and closely inspect the whole thing, Tinker was dutifully providing him with more information on how it all came together.
For one thing, it was the thing that seemed to convert his TP into electricity. And also could do the reverse as needed. This at least appeared to be proof that Tech Points wasn¡¯t some wholly magical resource pool that only affected his Skills and Energy Pistol, but something that could be explored as an actual energy source.
Additionally, Jordan was now pretty sure that this was what actually caused a drone to desummon when damaged. With how long its claws had been, for example, the Grass Panther would have easily been able to scratch at the core when it¡¯d taken down his air drones. All it would have needed to do was catch it with a mid-air swipe, and tear through the metal exterior to damage the precious core beneath.
But while his air drone would continue to be desummoned, the land drones would not, thanks to the Fundamental Evolution. However, after the evolution, if their cores were shut down from combat¡
His eyebrows rose with a sudden understanding. One of the core¡¯s purposes was to stabilize the power cells. That¡¯s why they were fine now, side by side, but had caused that blast earlier when he put two of them in contact. Yet since that stability was a function of the core, that would be tossed out the window the moment it shut down.
So, if something ruined the core without blasting apart the drone as a whole like the Overcharge explosion? Well, an explosion would very quickly happen anyway. An even more powerful and violent one, if anything. At least from what just two touching had caused, and then could be imagined as scaled up with what had to be at least a few dozen power cells in total.
¡°But if that¡¯s how it is,¡± Jordan muttered to himself as he had an idea. ¡°As well as the Overcharge strategy worked against that guy, it isn¡¯t always feasible. Not when I have to be touching the drone, and then also be close enough to the target for the drone to reach them before the Overcharge juice goes away on its own. But if I could at least order the land drone to cripple its own core and self-destruct without desummoning like the air drone would¡¡±
Jordan decided to give it a try. First, he put the core down before heading back into the safety of his base. Then, Jordan gave it an order that was simple in its mental wording as the first try. He ordered it to self-destruct.
A few seconds passed, and nothing happened. As his second order, he tried to have it turn off the system keeping the power cells stabilized. Again, nothing. Then for attempt number three, Jordan instead ordered to just shut down the entire core.
That one actually did something! He immediately felt a change in the mental connection as it¡ cut off his TP supply to the drone. So rather than go kaboom, it just did the cut off that he¡¯d done before to begin the ten-minute desummon process, just from its end instead of his. And while the ability for it to do so was technically something useful for him to know, it just hadn¡¯t been the ideal result he¡¯d been hoping for.
When Jordan had been working with the core earlier, he¡¯d done so on his knees. Just to due to how short the land drone itself was. But after grabbing the core again, he sit down with crossed legs on the dirt. He was going to find out if there was a mechanical reason why his idea had failed, beyond the drone simply being incapable of processing the order itself. And he intended to do his best to discover that reason if it existed, even it if took long enough for him to need to get comfortable first.
Minutes upon minutes steadily ticked by as the sun slowly moved across the sky. Jordan carefully tried to inspect the core and use his tools to mess with it a bit without accidentally setting something off. Until eventually, he found what he¡¯d been looking for. Or rather, Tinker informed him about it.
It wasn¡¯t that the drone hadn¡¯t understood the order, but a physical restriction. After removing part of the outer shell of the core itself to get an even deeper look into its inner workings, something had been hiding inside. A computer chip. One placed near the middle of the core, and was connected damn near every part of it.
And thanks to Tinker, Jordan had an understanding of what it was meant for. The chip basically acted as a safety feature, one that prevented the very thing he¡¯d been trying to do. As far as he could grasp, the only reason the Overcharge trick worked was because the energy levels involved literally overwhelmed the chip itself. Whether that was by overheating it to the point where it began to form, or simply short-circuited it with the energy levels involved, he wasn¡¯t sure yet.
You know, makes me wonder, just exactly whose design did the System base these on? I can only imagine it¡¯s like my uniform or the material for the base, where it¡¯s apparently based on a so-called standard for the multiverse. But someone has to set the standard. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s some large company or other kind of organization, but it means that if the drones are also copied from their standard, then their design is going to be inherently different than something the System itself built, right? Hence the need for a built-in safety feature, probably to keep the consumer from blowing themselves up, Jordan thought to himself.
But now there was obviously something that he needed to do. To at least try to see if it could be done even once, just to see if he could. Because even though some might consider it a bad idea, he would say that it was an important part of understanding the drone¡¯s mechanisms, so that he could more easily build one himself.
He wanted to see if it was possible to deactivate the safety feature.
Chapter 42: Problems and More Problems
With a tired sigh, Jordan took a sip of refreshing water. Sitting at the entrance to his base, the Blacksmith clothing set was currently lying on the ground behind him. Now that he was done with it, there¡¯d been no reason to keep it on when he could be cooling back down instead.
The red sun was well past its high point by now, as the time read as almost half past five o¡¯clock on his watch. So it would be just a couple of hours longer until sundown at around eight. After taking another minute to finish his current break of just relaxing for a bit, his plan now was to head to the river for some needed bathing.
As for his grand idea of deactivating the safety feature and beginning Operation: Drone Goes Boom With You? Yeah¡ that hadn¡¯t gone as well as he really would have hoped. Luckily, it wasn¡¯t in the sense that he¡¯d triggered something to cause his doom in what would amusingly have been his second death by an explosion of flames.
But man, that safety feature was a tough egg to crack open. The way it triggered was pretty calm, though. As soon as he went too far in trying to mess with it, the thing just triggered the fail cascade to turn off the whole core and just shut it all down.
That in turn led to what could be simply called a hard stop to his workflow. The bad part being that the core fully shutting down like that also counted as it manually cutting itself off his TP supply. And annoying enough, reconnecting his TP reserve to it was possible, but not in a way that even made a difference.
Because instead of being an actual solution to reset the drone, it just immediately shut down again. So it seemed to be that once triggered, the safety just locked itself into place. So the old trick of turning it off and on again would fail him. Meaning that he basically had to wait out the timer to summon a new land drone after ten minutes.
The silver lining to this was that those ten minutes could be well spent. After all, Jordan had only gotten blasted in the face by the power cells because he¡¯d kept up the connection of TP, after they¡¯d been fully separated from the exploded core and safety mechanism. Jordan had learned that the drone slowly losing power across the ten-minute period wasn¡¯t true when the core was already fully shut off. At that point it just became fully inert, with not even a single spark of energy going through its systems.
This meant that during those ten minutes without TP, it was fully safe for him to do as he wished. Jordan could even pull out a hammer and shatter the power cells without any consequence. Which was something he did, of course, just to take a better look at their interior structure. And it was actually rather interesting. Rather than just being a solid red crystal, the power cells were actually filled with internal rivets. It was like the outside of a golf ball, but just for the inside instead.
Jordan looked down at his watch. There was only another half a minute or so left until his latest idea would fully play out. Although it was less an actual idea of real substance, and more just proving a point to himself.
Putting away his water bottle, he picked out something that only looked like the central core of a land drone. But it was actually a recreation, without the chip acting as the safety. How had Jordan managed to do so, if dealing with the safety switch had been supposedly impossible?
Well, after spending the last few hours tiring out his eyes with focused inspection of every inch of the core, Mental Blueprint had worked overtime to let him memorize every detail. And during the last few ten-minute periods of being able to safely mess around with it, he¡¯d naturally taken it apart.
Though even with a hammer, differently shaped screwdrivers, an adjustable wrench, pliers, and other basic tools, it¡¯d consistently taken him the vast majority of those ten minutes just to get it open. Even with Tinker helping and what ended up becoming a bit of practice, his record time to access the inside of the core had been just under seven minutes. Leaving with just over three to actually take a look at the interior itself, before it was desummoned.
Now, Jordan had tried to get rid of as an issue. Because if he could just connect his TP, even if it auto cut it off a moment later, that should refresh the ten minutes, right? Since an infinitely refreshing timer might as well be as good as no timer, for this purpose anyway.
However no, of course it wouldn¡¯t be that easy. If the core was shut down, even without tripping the safety mechanism, it didn¡¯t connect. Not even for long enough to be a timer reset, apparently. But if it was exploded into a bunch of tiny pieces, it could remain connected to his TP! Like what kind of logic even was that?!
Jordan was now sure that somewhere out there, whoever had designed this was now cackling with evil. Knowing full well that their drone and how it functioned as a Skill would be a roadblock for whoever tried to replicate a non-Skill version. There was simply no way that something like this hadn¡¯t been intentional.
But after learning as much he could, he ended up being able to disconnect and take the whole core to the Transmuter. Which had allowed him to make a version that didn¡¯t have the safety chip, and was adjusted to remain functional. Or, at least, it should in theory.
As the time hit ten minutes from the starting point, the core disappeared from his hand. Even after going through the Transmuter, it was still considered a piece of the drone. But what was extra annoying was that it still refused to let him reconnect his TP to refresh the timer, even after the chip should have been gone. This was the part that Jordan had gotten stuck on, and now felt a bit frustrated.
He knew what the core looked like before he messed with it enough to set off the safety mechanism. Yet even then, that wasn¡¯t enough. From what he could tell, it put it into a weird grey zone, more than anything.
One where it was still considered part of the land drone and disappeared after the ten minutes were up. But not different enough to get around whatever caused the TP block to still happen, and let him connect to it like if it¡¯d been exploded apart instead.
Jordan was missing something important, that much he was at least certain of. He looked off to the distance, where more of his land drones would still be moving around for things to shoot at. Just as a test, he¡¯d gone ahead and given one the order to drive at full speed toward the edge of the Skill¡¯s range. Then as soon as the TP had gotten cut off, he¡¯d walked several feet forward and felt it reconnect the moment he was back in range.
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So to summarize, there were three states the land drone cared about when it came to his TP reserve. If it was whole, if it was fully destroyed, and if it was taken apart and the core messed with. The first two had no problems with it came to his TP, while the third had nothing but problems. Yet it was the last state that Jordan needed to work with, in order to learn more and eventually succeed in recreating his own drone.
Though it was more than just the core that was weird. During his hands-on studying, he had realized the silver wiring was also a bit off. Now the thing with silver was that it reacted to oxygen and became tarnished, which obviously was bad for its capacity to act as a wire when it happened.
Because electricity that had to pass through the tarnished metal generates heat. And what does enough heat eventually lead to in a machine full of silver? Even more tarnishing. Then what does more heat made by more tarnishing eventually lead to? Fire. And what was fire? Not good.
But Jordan had believed that it was simply something like the outside of the drone being a good seal, while the inside didn¡¯t have any oxygen inside it. Not a vacuum necessarily, just instead filled with any other kind of gas that silver didn¡¯t react with. Even if the shell of the drone wasn¡¯t a perfect seal, it only had to be good enough for it to be a long-term problem. The kind that only proved an issue after months or ideally even years of operation.
However, that assumption had been incorrect. Jordan had since discovered that the silver was actually treated. The revelation from Tinker had only come while he directly handled the wiring itself while the TP was disconnected and the core fully shut down, just to be safe. But he didn¡¯t know exactly how it was treated to not rust in such a way that didn¡¯t have any impact on its conductive properties.
He was sure that at least some methods also existed on Earth too, rather than being alien tech. But it just wasn¡¯t something he was personally aware of. Not that he would have access to whatever chemical solution it¡¯d be, even if he knew exactly what he needed.
Anyway, it was just another moment where Jordan was frustrated and wished he actually had someone he could rant at while pacing around. But for the time being, Operation: Unlimited Drone Works would have to be assigned as a more long-term endeavor. At least until the secret sauce that this recipe was clearly missing was eventually discovered by him.
But on that note, Jordan summoned a new instance of his land drone. Now riding it, he hit with a use of Overcharge while now making his way toward the river. At least now when he used Overcharge, he had a far deeper understanding of what was actually going on inside the drone. Rather than just vaguely knowing that the energy could either go to the guns or treads, he now knew that it was actually being cycled through the core and the chosen set of power cells.
As Jordan reached the river, he had already ordered all his drones to meet him there. Because as far as someone or something taking him by surprise, he¡¯d be damned if it was while he was in the nude. At least over these last few hours, his other drones had done a fairly good job in farming Experience Points up until now.
EXP: 943/5625
A bit over 700 EXP gained while he hadn¡¯t needed to lift a finger for any of it was a pretty good thing, if he had to say so himself. Which he did.
Though on the note of his current progress toward Level 7, Jordan only then realized that he¡¯d already forgotten about what was supposedly his new morning routine. Well, nothing said morning like late afternoon or early evening, right?
Mightiest Individual:
1: Wilfred Wilbur Wyndham III (Level 8)
2: Sebastion Ironclaw (Level 7)
3: Carl Rowe (Level 7)
4: Zorliay Qorath¡¯zyrunch (Level 6)
5: Yvaro Qorath¡¯zyrunch (Level 6)
¡
8: Jordan Joyner (Level 6)
He blinked while looking at the leaderboard. He hadn¡¯t looked since yesterday morning, but there¡¯d been surprisingly little movement in the top five. Aside from the top guy gaining yet another Level to be ahead, and a little reshuffling, the only other thing of note was how close Jordan was now to the top. Just three spots away until his name would always be the first seen by everyone who checked the list.
But as far as the total number of people on the leaderboard, the number had again exploded since he last checked. Now, the figure was at a new total of over 290 million people who¡¯d at least reached Level 2 to be on it. As the river then came within sight in the distance of his vision, Jordan was still a bit bewildered.
Yesterday morning, for a world with only 16-hour days, that figure had been around 15 million. To go from that to 290 million, the jump was massive! Granted, that was still only a relatively small portion to reach Level 2 by what was the evening of day three. But even so, Jordan could only imagine that either a lot of people had been on the cusp of Level 2 when he last looked, or had gotten busy since with at least getting that first 100 EXP.
And with so many more now on the leaderboard¡
The land drone came to a stop by the river. Hope was a complicated thing. Many wanted to feel it, himself included, of course. Yet at the same time, there was the fear that letting himself have to much of it would just be setting him up for an even greater disappointment. That every time he checked and couldn¡¯t find those he cared about, it¡¯d only refresh his worries and make them worse.
Burying hope wasn¡¯t actually that much better, but at least he could do so while claiming to be realistic. That if he just got used to the potential reality of none of his loved ones making it, then he could be mentally equipped. Whether it was from the direct confirmation about somehow discovering that they had died, or enough time passing that it indirectly became the only possibility. If he just got ahead of it emotionally, then maybe, just maybe, it would numb the pain that¡¯d come.
And yet¡
As Jordan got off from the drone and idly stepped toward the river, he asked the System to check for names. His mother, his father, and then his favorite aunts and uncles. None of them got a response back for the leaderboard. Then he checked for his best friends. First for Adam, whose name also didn¡¯t show anything. And secondly Leo, who-
5,854: Leo Price (Level 4)
¡
29,982: Leo Price (Level 3)
¡
324,555: Leo Price (Level 3)
¡
100,568,421: Leo Price (Level 2)
A few more names also popped up as separate screens across his vision.
Just the fact that they were multiple meant that there was every chance that none of them were actually his friend. But at the same time, one of them could be. He found himself gnawing on the inside of his cheeks as his heart felt heavy with a furious cocktail of emotions. Hope, doubt, and fear alike all begin to fight within him.
Despite knowing that it was just his bias, despite knowing the chances were more likely not true, despite knowing it would be impossible for him to know for sure¡ Jordan found himself wanting to believe. To sleep tonight, thinking that at least one of his friends was still out there. That he was somewhere on this planet and starting at the same leaderboard, believing the same thing for Jordan. Jordan could only pray that he wasn¡¯t deluding himself, and that at least one name on this list was actually the right person.
Because now that the spark of hope had flared, it¡¯d be nearly impossible to simply ignore it again.
Chapter 43: Exploring the Gateway
Jordan checked his watch, before taking a look up. It was almost eight o¡¯clock now, and the sun should have been mostly set by now. From how little of the light of late dusk actually peeked through, it had already begun to get dark.
After finishing what ended up being a very refreshing bath and taking the time to fully dry off, he now stood near the gateway. Or rather, where it would soon be. There would be no harm in getting to it a little early to wait, after. Especially since it would actually be rather helpful to have a specific time known for when it opened, and then closed again later, to most efficiently have his drones farm whatever had the misfortune of living near the other side.
You know? As far as ecosystems go, I really hope that every animal on this planet breeds super quickly. Or else between me and literally every other person killing everything that moves for Experience Points, the ecosystem¡¯s populations are going to be absolutely screwed in the next few¡ I was gonna say years, but just months might be more realistic at this rate. Welp, not much that can be done about it. It¡¯s not like I can afford to stop getting more Levels, Jordan thought to himself.
Soon enough, the time on his watch finally ticked over to eight. Assuming that this planet had a day that was exactly 16 hours long, it was now the midpoint where day transitioned to night. Now as if it was that precise of a length in a day or if it was like Earth, which Jordan believed was ever so slightly off from 24 hours. He wanted to say that he remembered reading somewhere that like leap years to adjust the calendar, leap seconds were also a somewhat frequent occurrence.
Sadly, on that front, he couldn¡¯t just check the Internet despite still keeping his phone safe in his pocket space. Though that was just his phone. The phones and such of any other person had already been recycled into their base materials and been put aside for future use in the machines he was going to build.
Fwoosh!
At about two minutes past eight, the portal opened. There was a blast of cold air in every direction as what had to be at least a few dozen pounds of snow was dumped on the ground. Jordan took a deep breath of the rapidly cooling air as the environment on the other side brought down the ambient temperature.
He quickly rolled back down the sleeve of his winter gear and covered his watch. Underneath the watch itself was another sleeve of a lighter layer of clothing. But the main layer that would hopefully protect him from the cold was thicker and poofier. The inside was insulated with all the Rabbit fur he¡¯d collected, along with other cloth from after that was all used up. While the outside was made from the synthetic material of other clothing meant to protect from both water and wind.
The puffer-looking style was just from a very vague memory of what he believed researchers in Antarctica typically wore. While Jordan wasn¡¯t entirely sure if that recollection was correct, he would soon find out if it¡¯d be enough, regardless.
I have to see this for myself. If there really is a Kingdom somewhere on the other side, my drones can only do so much in establishing first contact. Not when the only order I can give for a signal is to have it shut down the core and let me feel the TP get cut off, if it spots another person. But if there¡¯s a Mandate that hasn¡¯t been claimed yet because nobody else could survive being dropped in the cold, then I¡¯ll have to be there to claim it myself. Not sure if the drones can even be used to find it, since it could be buried in snow for all I know, Jordan thought to himself.
However, that was based on the assumption that the Mandate would appear as a crown again, which could just as easily be proven wrong. So in that case, if he didn¡¯t know what he was looking for, then the drones wouldn¡¯t be of much help anyway for scouting its location.
Right, well, no reason to delay further then. I¡¯m about as ready as can be. So now it¡¯s just about seeing the other side with my own eyes and going from there. With that, though, he reached out to the portal. The moment a single finger made contact with it, he was gone.
For just a moment, he felt weightless. Then Jordan was on the other side, his eyesight temporarily blinded by the flashbang of sudden light. He felt himself fall by a few feet, until his legs sunk into snow. It was at least a few inches deep, enough for him to feel it go past his ankles and reach a bit up against his shins.
Jordan blinked a few times as his eyes needed to readjust to the sudden change in lighting. Even through his slightly tinted eyewear, the drastic change from night to day took a bit of getting used to. Especially because of all the pure white snow around him, which only served to reflect some of the light of the red sun back up and into his eyes.
But when the worst of it passed and he could actually see again, Jordan felt his breath be taken away by the sight. He was in a mountain range where snow-covered peaks surrounded him in all directions. The sky overhead was currently a reddish gold with the sun just a bit over the horizon. A heavy breeze carried bits of loose snow with it as it circled around the area.
He was currently standing on a relatively flat spot between a couple of mountains. Though even they weren¡¯t the tallest around, as he could see even taller ones off in the distance. However, there was a limit as to how much Jordan could actually see in detail. For the farther out he looked, the more the landscape appeared to be enshrouded in a layer of fog.
It was rather beautiful, in the majestic sense. Jordan never had the chance to actually go mountain climbing before, so this was a first for him. It did mean that he didn¡¯t have any experience to directly compare it with being on one of Earth¡¯s mountain ranges, but there wasn¡¯t anything that could be done about that now.
There were surprisingly few signs of tracks from the land drone treads from before. Though when Jordan looked closely, he did see what appeared to be lines of snow that were slightly more dented than the rest. He supposed that the tracks must have already been mostly covered up by however much it had snowed since then.
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Which meant that he was currently pretty lucky to have come through while the weather was in a good mood. He would just need to be careful to keep an eye on the sky in case it decided to be a bit more fickle. If a blizzard or something came in while he happened to be far away from the gateway, then that wouldn¡¯t exactly be ideal.
All around him, land drones began to appear one by one. He¡¯d figured it would be easiest to just summon them after he crossed to the other side. After the fourth land drone appeared, he then cast Summon Air Drone to bring on the final member of his little squadron.
Jordan looked over to the sun. From the direction it was coming up from, it appeared to still be dawn on this side of the gateway. Which meant that, at least roughly speaking, he really was somewhere on the opposite side of the planet from his Kingdom. Glancing back at the portal, he could now make at least an educated assumption.
The side in the forest appeared at night, while this one¡¯s condition was the opposite of daytime. So, if that were correct, then the portal would close when it got dark on this side. Jordan couldn¡¯t be 100% sure of that, but he believed it at least made sense as a surface-level guess.
His watch was currently covered, but Jordan now felt like it¡¯d been a good decision to just keep between the layers. Had he put it back into his pocket space instead, it would have been unable to continue keeping track of the time. Something that might be an issue, should a sudden blizzard hit and make it hard to keep track of the sun. The metal of the watch would quickly get cold, yes, but it shouldn¡¯t be a problem as long as it didn¡¯t get in direct contact with his skin.
Jordan then clenched and uncleched his hands. When it came to the cold, his extremities were the things that needed to be worried about the most. But for his fingers, toes, ears, and nose, he still felt pretty fine. A little bit of the cold had started to come in, especially for his feet that were fully buried under the snow. But as far as the immediate ability to survive in this kind of environment, it was as good of a start as any.
From his prior test of pushing the drone through it, he knew that anything that went in the portal would come back out from the same relative position. That¡¯s why the snow that would have built up on the ground while it¡¯d been closed was dropped from the bottom, and not the top.
Because if Jordan had pushed in the drone from the bottom, only for it to pop out the top, then gravity would have sent it right back down. And considering that Jordan had never suffered a drone falling on his head, that clearly hadn¡¯t been the case. Something that was probably for the best, as the other way around would have very easily led to some serious shenanigans when it came to portal physics.
But why did that bit of info even matter? Well, it had everything to do with his search for the potentially unclaimed Mandate. If there were any good place to start, it¡¯d be the spot away from the gateway that his own Kingdom would be, when compared to the other side. So while he knew the approximate distance already, being sure of the directions was arguably more important.
Alright then, let¡¯s get going boys, Jordan mentally said to his drones as he began to walk. While the land drones started to spread out in even distanced directions around him, he had the air drone fly ahead.
In this kind of mountainous terrain, its mobility would be more important than ever. So he had it scout ahead and gave it the order to desummon itself if it saw any people, Crabs, or an unnatural structure. Since if someone had already claimed a Kingdom close by, then anything built there would be constricted to that predefined parameter for its territory.
Jordan felt the connection to his land drones as the air drone quickly became a tiny dot in the distance. The other drones would remain no further than a thousand feet from him at all times. So with each of them covering a different side, that basically made for a square of that length of relative protection. Where anything that came by would at least be likely to pass by one of them and activate their order to engage any creatures on sight.
A bit over a minute since he sent it away, Jordan saw his air drone back in the distance, now slowly getting closer. Behind it was a plume of snow being kicked up. Frowning at how soon this had happened, he pulled out his Energy Pistol. At least he¡¯d thought of this, and given it the additional order to start coming back if it spotted anything else that wasn¡¯t what it¡¯d been searching for.
With a mental order, the four land drones began to converge on their flying brother¡¯s position. Considering that it¡¯d taken a minute before turning around, he believed the air drone was about a mile away. With their varying distances away, the land drones would take different amounts of time to reach it. Plus there was the highly uneven terrain to take into account. At the very least, the snow didn¡¯t seem to be too much of a problem for their treads.
But as it drew closer, Jordan then saw a shape in the cloud of kicked-up snow. One whose details were too far to make out, but he could at least tell the general outline of the¡ animal? It was hard to say; the only outline he could see was that of an upside-down pyramid.
Begin shooting at it, and slow down to be just faster than what¡¯s chasing you. As soon as another drone arrives, just fire from above and maintain the maximum distance you reliably hit it from. Jordan then relayed similar orders to all the land drones. Rather than just stay in place while firing, they were to assume evasive maneuvers if targeted and only focus fire if the enemy¡¯s attention was on chasing a different drone.
At the closest land drone got near enough to begin firing; the thing was still something like three thousand feet away from him. A distance that Jordan decided was more than close enough for him to do something now. With the pyramid shape now more distinct, it should be good enough for Appraise to work.
From what he knew of the Skill from its inherent understanding, there wasn¡¯t really a range limit. The target in question just had to be close enough for him to actually ¡°see it¡± without any obstruction. So if it hadn¡¯t been for the cloud of snow, he probably have been able to do so while it was still at the edge of his vision. But for the time being¡
Species: Ice Spirit
Level: 6
Description: An uncommon spirit found within the mountain ranges of Vervina-C. They are beings that largely spend their time simply wandering around the frozen environment they were born in, only becoming actively hostile when sensing anything giving off more than a certain degree of temperature.
Ahhh, no thank you. I don¡¯t think I want to stick around to watch the drones and see how they do against the strongest thing I¡¯ve seen yet. So I¡¯m just going to¡ not do that. Yep, Jordan thought to himself. He turned around, with exactly one goal on his mind.
Nope out to the other side of the gateway, and just hope he got a kill notification soon.
Chapter 44: First Encounter With… Someone?
Getting back to the portal had been pretty quick, since all Jordan needed to do was retrace back through clear path where he¡¯d already forced his way through the snow. But after popping out on the other side, the first thing he did was shake off the snow that was still clinging to his legs.
Well, I can at least still feel the connection to the air drone. So that proves that the forced desummon before was just due to it getting disrupted as it went through the portal, while the evolution from the land drones makes them not worry about that. That¡¯s good to know, Jordan thought as he stepped away from the gateway.
Though while they were all still fighting that Level 6 foe, he was now currently alone. This meant that aside from his Energy Pistol, Jordan was a bit defenseless. Or at least that was how he currently felt, after getting used to the comfort of knowing that they were always one or more drones patrolling around to keep him safe.
Well, Jordan could always summon one more land drone. That would just end up reserving 100% of his TP to bring it down to zero. Which¡ that was actually something he hadn¡¯t tested in regard to the air drone yet. Since that would make it temporarily impossible to someone a new air drone on account of not being able to pay the base cost, would the regeneration still count, even if he technically had zero Tech Points?
Something to find out in a minute, probably. In case that did lead to the air drone getting desummoned, he¡¯d rather not lose a gun in the ongoing fight. And that was for a couple of reasons. First, its general mobility and ability to fly made it great as something for the Ice Spirit to potentially chase around as it remained out of reach. Second, he would know as soon as it was desummoned if it did take critical damage, though hopefully as the last one to be finished off.
It was the second point that made it different from the land drones. If something took out their guns but didn¡¯t do enough damage to actually shut down the core, then he wouldn¡¯t be able to sense the TP being-
Wait a minute. Jordan? You¡¯re a dumb, stupid, idiot boy. I can easily get around that. With that thought, he updated a new command to the land drones. If they were to receive enough damage so that either their guns weren¡¯t functional, or their treads were damaged so that they couldn¡¯t position themselves to aim toward the target, then they were to shut down their core and subsequently cut themselves off from his TP reserve.
The second he did so, Jordan immediately felt the mental snap of one removing itself from his TP.
Ahhhhh, that¡¯s not good. Not when it¡¯s only been a minute since the first land drone would have engaged. But at least it¡¯s not something like all of them being cut off the second I did that. So that¡¯s¡ good? Silver lining! Let¡¯s call it a kind of silver lining, yeah, he decided while beginning to pace around in the area in front of the gateway.
Jordan also made sure that the System would actually show him the Experience, rather than automatically add it to the minimized stack. Though about ten seconds later, he felt another land drone cut itself off from his TP supply. He took off the outer jacket of winter gear while moving a bit further away from the portal. With just his building nerves alone, it¡¯d started to get a little too warm under the heavily insulative clothing.
What if this Ice Spirit actually managed to easily wipe out all of his drones? What if it was actually smart enough to understand that he¡¯d been their summoner and was the next threat that needed to be taken out? What if it understood the portal, and if it couldn¡¯t find him, decided to come over to this side in order to chase him? What if-
Experience Earned!
+192 EXP
At that moment, Jordan¡¯s spiral of worrying was like a car that suddenly had to slam on the brakes. Yet as soon as he processed the fact that the monster was actually dead, the next thing that came to mind was about the notification itself. That number was¡ too high, right?
I mean that can¡¯t be right, can it? Based on what other things give, I think it should only have dropped a bit under a hundred Experience Points or so. That at least sounded about right from him. From how Level 5 creatures dropped 75 Experience, while those at Level 4 gave 56.
Then he checked to see if he¡¯d somehow missed a notification about this Ice Spirit actually being another Initial Merger to count as someone slayed for double Experience. But from what he could tell, there was no such screen. Compared to what he¡¯d been expected, he could not assume only one thing. Perhaps something that wasn¡¯t just a coincidence with how he¡¯d gained a Level-based Skill choice for the same Level this morning.
If Level 6 was a checkpoint, for some reason of all numbers, then perhaps that also applied to the monsters of this world. But if Level 6 was a marker for guaranteed doubled Experience, did that mean that the rate of EXP per Level would also remain doubled? The math for the EXP gained was actually rather simple, enough so that he¡¯d already figured it earlier between rounds of working on the drone. Though it hadn¡¯t taken him long to solve, and could be written out as such:
(Enemy Level times enemy Level) plus (Enemy Level times ten)
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So if you plug in the numbers, one times one is one. Then one times ten is ten. Add the pair of results together, and you get¡ 11! Yay for math!
Anyway, when Jordan actually thought through the formula, then a Level 6 creature should have dropped exactly 96 Experience Points. But instead, it¡¯d given him 192. So if it were the same formula but then doubled afterward for the final result, then a Level 7 would hypothetically give 238 Experience Points.
Either that¡ or something that Jordan then thought about it. Which was that you¡¯d also get 192 if the second part of the formula were Enemy Level times 26. Now did that sound a little too specific of an increase? Yes. But this was also the same System that had decided that Level 6 was the best increment possible for a Skill-based reward, so who could say for sure?
In any case, that same math would bring Level 7 to 231 EXP gained instead. So Jordan would just have to find out for sure after he beat the first enemy of that Level. But either way, it did bring a dark thought to mind.
If the base EXP at Level 6 was doubled, and then doubled again for slaying another person ¡
Jordan recalled the Mightiest Individual leaderboard. So far, he was one of only a relative few to actually hit Level 6. It was an achievement that put him ever so close to the top five, after all. But when morning came, it would be to shine the dawn of day four since the Merging started.
With 361 days left in the Quest at that point, there would be more than enough time for people to hit Level 6 by then. Hell, if one were to assume a steady rate that never slowed down, his own Level would be somewhere in the hundreds by the end of the first year. So who was to say how long it¡¯d take for people to realize that aiming for those of a higher Level wasn¡¯t just more EXP, but also was even more.
With a small sigh, Jordan stepped back through the gateway. After putting his top coat back on, of course. But as he considered the reality of it all, he really wasn¡¯t looking forward to the bloodshed to come.
Especially since it¡¯d already come to his doorstep, he wouldn¡¯t be surprised if more people like that pair would eventually arrive in an attempt to claim his life. He could only hope that as he checked the leaderboard, he didn¡¯t see one of the Leos suddenly drop off it. And if he did, then all he could do was pray that it would be a stranger and not his friend.
Someone out there probably thinks it might be cruel to pray for that kind of thing. But honestly? Screw them. If I had to pick between those I care about or some strangers, that¡¯s an easy choice that I could make every time. Even if you try to trolley problem it by saying it¡¯s ten for one, or whatever, it doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯ll- woah.
His train of rather self-righteous thought was interrupted by the sight that greeted him. Quite soon after walking through the portal, it hadn¡¯t taken him long at all to see. A few hundred feet away from where stood was the corpse of the Ice Spirit. Although, perhaps corpse wasn¡¯t the best thing to call it. A pile, perhaps?
Because just a couple dozen feet from the ruined form of one of his land drones, there was a stack of broken pyramids. Some were missing entire hunks, but even those that did have a spiderweb of cracks and holes from where they¡¯d been shot through. The worse of the damage was to the largest pyramid that now roughly sat in the center of the pile.
Huh, well, seems like energy bolts work just fine against big pieces of ice. Actually¡ it looks like the thing was made of normal ice, but maybe it¡¯s like magic ice? Hmm, no harm in taking some, either way. Either it¡¯s magical and I can try to figure out something to use it with, or I have a supply of ice cubes to keep my water chilled, just the way I like it. Jordan tried to think of happier thoughts by thinking about that kind of thing. It was a bit forced, but made for a much better train of thought than one revolved around death.
From there, things went pretty smoothly on his part. When he stood up close to the pile of ice pyramids, the largest piece was still bigger than he was. Something that was also way too big to simply put into his pocket space as is. But with a bit of help from his drones, and pulling out a hammer, Jordan quickly broke it up into smaller pieces that he could actually pull into his pocket space.
Potentially useful ice, now collected!
Jordan then hopped onto one of his drones. At this point, the novelty of actually exploring a new environment with his own two feet had begun to wear off. So now was the time for him to actually expedite things a bit and take the much more practical approach of just riding a drone to make the trip shorter. Especially since it now seemed pretty proven that their treads had little issue with the snow-covered terrain.
Now that the very rude interruption was dealt with, he had the drone head toward where a Mandate would hopefully be waiting. With his air drone still alive, Jordan also had it resume its prior orders and fly ahead.
A few minutes passed as the environment did have an impact on the maximum speed that his land drones could safely maintain. At least when it came to keeping the human riding one safe and not fearing that he¡¯d end up being sent tumbling down. The steeper parts of the terrain also did have an impact on the time taken. But overall, the delay it caused was still only in the timespan of minutes, so not really that significant.
Well, just gotta keep an eye out for any more of those Ice Spirits. With how big that one was, don¡¯t think they¡¯re just fully buried and hiding under the snow. At least not around here, though it could be possible in much deeper areas. But as long as there aren¡¯t any other sudden surprises, it should be fine. Just have to resummon two more land drones when I stop. Other than that, all will hopefully go as-
At that moment, there was a violent beating of what sounded like wings. Jordan looked up, and had to squint as the noise was coming from the direction of the sun. Even with his slightly tinted eyewear, looking directly at the sun was still not something that Dr. Joyner would recommend.
But then his eyes suddenly widened, as the figure moved away from the sun. Or rather, figures, as in plural. Because one was what could only be described as a blue dragon desperately trying to flail around while flying in the air. And the other, with four arms attempting to strangle the dragon¡¯s neck, was a¡ stone humanoid?
Of course, Jordan had definitely brought this on by tempting the System with his thoughts.
Chapter 45: Following His Desire
It was only after a few moments of observation that the relatively small dragon seemed to lose control. Both it and its rider tumbled through there and proceeded to crash into the side of a different mountain than the one Jordan was currently on the slope of. Along with a spray of snow, loud cracks echoed throughout the mountain range as chunks of ice were dislodged and began to tumble downward.
Just making a guess, Jordan wanted to say that the pair were somewhere around a mile away from him. Unlike the giant forest, the overall structure of this environment made it pretty easy to see things from a distance with little obstruction. However, two miles was about the approximate distance he could reliably see in general. As past that was when the fog made the made the further mountains harder to make out.
Even after their crash, the dragon and stone humanoid seemed to still be moving. From where he stood, their figures were relatively tiny and harder to make out the details. Yet that was just a trick of being so far away, as Jordan could assume that just to even see general details of their forms from afar, both would have to actually be pretty large. The dragon appeared to be about three times larger in overall size, but still appeared to be struggling with the seemingly unwelcome rider that remained attached to its body.
At a certain point in its struggles, the dragon forcibly rolled in the wrong direction. Now caught by the forces of gravity and its own momentum, both of them began to tumble down the fairly steep slope of the mountain. Even so, the stone humanoid seemed to refuse to let go of its neck as they began their rapid and chaotic descent. Now, as for Jordan¡¯s thoughts and plans about this ongoing situation?
You know¡ I don¡¯t think I want to even touch that one. They seem like they¡¯re already having fun on their own, so it¡¯d just be rude of me to barge in and interrupt. But at the very least, maybe I could try to see if they aren¡¯t too far and moving too fast for me to land an Appraise on the dragon, he then decided. Between the two targets almost cartoonishly rolling down the mountainside in their gripple, the bigger one should be easier to his Skill on.
Species: Frost Wyvern
Level: 8
Description: An uncommon animal found within the mountain ranges of Vervina-C. They are predators that largely spend their time flying through the air or relaxing near the peaks of mountain tops. While they hunt both regular creatures and spirits, their dietary preference leans toward the former.
¡°Oh, Hell no. Yeah, that¡¯s way too dangerous for me to catch its attention. Definitely not touching that, even with a drone,¡± Jordan decisively said to himself. But did the beg the question. If this was the new-new record for the highest Level creature he¡¯d seen, then just how strong was the one still holding onto it? Because from the way it looked, it seemed as if the Wyvern was actually trying to do whatever it could to get its foe away from it.
On that note, he had his drone just continue on its way. Whatever happened between them was considerably not any of his business. And even if the stone humanoid was a fellow Initial Merger and could likely be considered a person that could talk, like the Crabs, that didn¡¯t necessarily mean that Jordan was eager to meet this individual.
Because for someone to be wrestling a Level 8 beast like that and seemingly even be winning, that was a whole lot of Experience Points that would have needed to be grinded. With what he¡¯d known so far about what both humans and non-humans alike had been capable of to get that strong, friendless was not something that could just be automatically assumed. Not until proven otherwise, anyway.
Granted, I¡¯m assuming that¡¯s even another person. Could just be a more humanoid-looking monster native to this planet, for all I know. If I stare at them long enough, there might eventually be a chance where they¡¯re holding still and I can actually use Appraise on the stone guy, without the Wyvern being in the way. But then if it is a person, they¡¯ll feel it and know¡
In any case, Jordan willed for his land drone to keep moving. Soon after turning away and driving off, he heard something that sounded like the roar of the Wyvern. But still intent on keeping out of it, he just kept it out of his mind. Perhaps if the Wyvern did win and were heavily injured, he¡¯d send some drones over to finish it off. However, that would only be if it either couldn¡¯t fly, or if he was way outside of where it¡¯d be able to look. Jordan could never know when something actually smart enough to recognize him as the drones¡¯ controller would attack, other than another person.
But soon, his land drone came to a stop. Hopping back off it, Jordan heard another sound of a distant crash that still echoed across the mountain range. Yet now that he¡¯d actually reached the approximate area where his own Kingdom would be located, relative to where the portal was, it was time to start taking a more careful look around. In the time since he¡¯d sent it to fly ahead, the air drone had yet to indicate that it¡¯d spotted anything to trigger his desummon command.
Let¡¯s see¡ so definitely no structures or buildings, at least that I can spot from here. So if there is a Mandate here, and granted that is a fairly decent if, it doesn¡¯t seem to have been claimed yet. Now then, if I were a Mandate hiding somewhere in a snow-covered mountain, where would I be? The other one was in the middle of a clearing that would have stuck out like a sore thumb in the forest, from a bird¡¯s eye view. So I should probably try to find something like that here, huh? Jordan thought to himself as he continued to scan the surrounding area.
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The environment itself was a bit peculiar in its overall design. In that the mountains themselves all seemed to actually intersect in their bases. And in such a way that made it so that the collective base was raised to be way higher than the ground level would have been. So even the ¡°bottom¡± of the area between the mountains was still a pretty high elevation that was covered in snow. While Jordan had no idea if this was normal or not by Earth''s standards for mountain ranges, he personally thought it was a little odd, at least.
While he looked, two more land drones popped into existence by his side, one after the other. Since Jordan was standing there anyway, there was no reason not to take care of summoning them to bring the total number of land drones back up to four. Rather than immediately send the pair out to join their currently patrolling brethren, Jordan had them stay near him. It just felt much safer that way.
Jordan repeatedly clenched his hands while scrunching his nose. Even with his gear, the wind hitting him while riding on the drone had gotten to him. And even as he stood there, the regular breeze had also picked up a bit from what it was before. Even if the base temperature was tolerable for his current clothing, the wind chill was becoming a freezing monster of a thing.
¡°HWAHHH! Hahhh! Ahh. Ah.¡± A masculine voice echoed across the mountain range.
It was like the war cry of someone who¡¯d just swung a weapon of all of their might. The sound was then quickly followed by an equally loud, but clearly pained screech. Without actually being able to see what had happened, it definitely at least sounded like the Wyvern had been on the receiving end of something it didn¡¯t like.
Wait a second, is that it? Jordan asked himself as he then spotted something. Just a few hundred feet from him, there was a dark spot in the snow. One that might not have even been there initially or just hadn¡¯t been noticeable at first, but could now be seen as the intensifying wind had blown some of the snow around. It was a gap, a hole that led¡ somewhere.
Good of a lead as any, he decided while hopping back on the drone. Even if it was just a few hundred feet away, no reason to waste his available transportation by trudging through the snow himself. Especially not when around here, it was more like a foot in depth that his shins had sunk way more deeply into than he¡¯d be comfortable with. Which was not at all, for the record.
As soon as he reached it, Jordan confirmed it. The hole wasn¡¯t just a crevice or shallow gap, either. From what little of the sunlight could get through it, there was clearly a much wider space on the other side. Jordan bent down, and began to remove the snow in order to widen it enough for him to go through. Something which proved to be¡ kind of a mistake. At the very least, the goal of quickly making it making it bigger was achieved, just not exactly in the way he had intended.
¡°Oh cra-¡± Jordan swore as the snow all around him began to fall in. It was a sudden collapse triggered by the bit he¡¯d dug away by hand.
¡°-aaaaaa guh!¡± Having fallen for what was at least a few dozen feet, he hit the bottom with a wet thud. In the cave he was now in, the rocky ground was covered with snow and ice, which was now mixed together into a compressed layer beneath his body. With his body now solidly a few inches deep, he supposed that he was lucky to be on top, and not the alternative of being buried alive.
But only a few seconds later, he was picking himself off the ground. Jordan¡¯s foot slid off for a second as he tried to get up, but he quickly managed to balance himself before fully slipping and falling on his ass. For not the first time, and what would most certainly not be the last at this rate, Jordan thanked his Endurance for being high enough to not leave him with a broken rib or three. If something like this kept happening, maybe he should reconsider the strategy for his Unspent Points were used per Level¡
No, that must have been the potential concussion talking. Of course, it had to be something like that. Why else would he ever think to deviate from the course of investing purely in more Wisdom, especially now that it would lead him to more land drones?
Attempting to brush as much snow and little shards of ice as he could off himself, Jordan took a look around. Now that the hole was much bigger, more light was currently spilling in for him to see. But as his eyes adjusted to be able to see through the relatively dimmer parts where the light wasn¡¯t directly touching, he was able to get a pretty good sense of where he was.
This area could definitely be described as a cave, at least of a kind. As he turned, Jordan tried to breathe in deeply. An action that actually made him wince a bit, as it just caused him to feel a tight sort of pain come from the front of his torso.
Glancing up, Jordan could now accurately estimate that he''d just fallen from a height of around 70 or 80 feet. It seemed that when it came to falling that kind of distance, an Endurance of 32 still wasn¡¯t quite enough to basically give him what could be called immunity from fall damage. For the time being, he could just hope that it was something more like a bruise, and not a fractured bone or worse.
But then, when his eyes settled on what was in the middle of the cave, the pain he felt no longer mattered. Jordan moved forward, his thoughts now purely and singlemindedly focused on the object currently before him. Just like before, it was a supernatural draw that would not be denied as it forcibly took precedence above all else.
Sitting there, somehow untouched by the snow that should have buried it, was another golden crown.
Chapter 46: Number One!
On another part of Vervina-C, a large Crab with a golden shell stood in the middle of his chamber. Despite having only been a few days since the Merging began, it already had lavish decor like rugs, paintings made in his own image, a wall covered in Advance Crystals that weren¡¯t enough for more progress yet, and more.
Because if there was anything that could counter a short amount of time, it was plenty of loyal subjects working to provide only the best for their Golden Prince. For in his infinite wisdom, and not the Stat, he knew that not everyone could simply be culled for his own quick gain in Experience Points.
Although as those with non-combat Classes steadily gained Experience and Levels by always working on their crafts, the idea of killing them had already become¡ tempting. But if there was anything that could outweigh the desire for short-term power, it was the long-term vanity of having an entire Species of loyal followers who worshipped him like a god.
Next to the Golden Prince were the remains of a creature he¡¯d been snacking on. One whose own Species was still a very recent discovery, as very few had been met so far. And even fewer still was the number captured rather than immediately killed. Although the latter was soon to change, after some lesser Crabs had been hungry, and deigned to feast on this new Species¡¯s flesh before turning them into Advancement Crystals to be offered to their beloved ruler. And the opinion they formed was one the Golden Prince had found himself sharing.
Despite their odd appearance, these Humans were absolutely delicious. Especially the one that his subjects had captured alive for him, insisting that the taste would be best while still as fresh as possible.Yet what they had not known was the Human brought before him had apparently been the kind of creature to not lay eggs, as was the natural way of giving new life, but instead were like one of the creatures back home that did live birth as the far more gross method.
However, even though it was unexpected, the Golden Prince had to admit something. For something that was barely a morsel due to its tiny size in comparison to him, that nugget of flavor had by far been the best part of his meal. But now that it was done, he answered the System Prompt to turn the little that was left into an Advancement Crystal.
Only one, as sadly it didn¡¯t seem that the youngling still growing within counted as an Initial Merger. But even if it had, it still would have been quite a few more Advancement Crystals until he could gain yet another Skill. Yet as his most loyal servant took action to add the new gem to the collection embedded into the wall, he knew that it wouldn¡¯t be much longer until he took yet another step forward to get even further ahead of all others on this planet.
But, there was one area where supremacy had just been challenged. On a leaderboard that he only rarely bothered to check due to how the top spots had yet to move, there was finally an update. One that he would not discover until later that night, and would cause the Golden Prince to then feel spurred to take action. And what was the leaderboard in question?
The Mightiest Kingdom.
Mandate claimed!
The territory of the High Lord¡¯s current Kingdom, Industry, has now expanded!
When Jordan had touched the crown, it¡¯d immediately disappeared. Then even through his heaver winter gloves, he could see the golden outline of a crown on his hand as the symbol temporarily shined bright enough for its light to go through the glove. But just before he could even fully read the screen before him, another couple of pop-ups had already appeared.
New Title Acquired:
Title: Truly Ambitious Expansionist
Description: Be the very first Lord to claim a second Mandate.
Benefits: +10000 Kingdom EXP, +5 to all Stats, +5% to all Stats, +10% to one Stat of the user¡¯s choice.
Kingdom Rank Up!
Rank 1 to Rank 2
¡°Wait. There¡¯s no¡holy¡¡± Jordan started slowly while still catching his breath from before. By his side, a fifth drone appeared. But even though its summoning led to the desummon of his air drone outside, he just needed a spot to actually sit down that wasn¡¯t just snow. Because, hoo boy, did he heed a minute to actually process both the Benefits themselves and what the Description had declared as a fact.
He wasn¡¯t amongst the first of a certain number. He wasn¡¯t one of the very first of an even more elite club to do something. Jordan was the very first, period. And that was something that he simply couldn¡¯t even believe.
That can¡¯t be right! Not when the Golden Prince already has so many Kingdoms in his name. How can that even make any sense? Jordan asked himself as he pulled up the leaderboard to check.
Mightiest Kingdom:
1: Industry (Rank 2)
2: Golden Empire of the Eternal Golden Prince (Rank 1)
3: Golden Empire of the Eternal Golden Prince (Rank 1)
4: Kingdom of Clan Qorath¡¯zyrunch (Rank 1)
5: Vervina¡¯s Heartland (Rank 1)
¡
And yet, despite his confusion, the golden screen plainly showed off the updated list. Jordan¡¯s Kingdom had taken the top spot on the leaderboard. He had taken the top spot.
All thanks to the Benefit that had instantly shot up his Kingdom in Rank by filling all the required Experience that would have otherwise needed to have been taken from his personal pool. Something that would have likely reduced him in Level, if the System even allowed for his current EXP to go below zero. Something that would have been way too big of a sacrifice to make, when the benefit still wasn¡¯t exactly known.
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In Jordan¡¯s case, it would allow for him to unlock that mysterious door when he got back to his base. But as for everyone else? He had no idea what kind of advantages they¡¯d be offered for reaching Rank 2 as well. So it was no wonder that nobody had risked pulling the trigger, if it meant falling behind in the race for Levels.
And yet¡ the Title and current leaderboard could only be due to one thing.
It really isn¡¯t just one person going around to claim these Mandates. Not from the way it automatically expanded my Kingdom, and didn¡¯t even give me the choice to just start a second one or something under a new name. So it¡¯s a bunch of lackeys that somehow can communicate from afar, but each one is becoming the Lord of their Kingdom that has just decided to share the same name and common cause. But as far as the System is concerned, they¡¯re just individuals who might as well be total strangers, right?
Jordan wasn¡¯t sure why they remained separate Kingdoms, and hadn¡¯t combined into one mega Kingdom yet. Under a System that loved this much competition, the ability to conquer other Kingdoms or to willingly surrender your territory to another surely had to be valid mechanics. On the other hand, when he had first received the crown on his hand, it had been with the feeling that the only way to part with it was death. So perhaps voluntary surrender of a Kingdom wasn¡¯t an option, at least not in a way that would allow the losing Lord to keep his head and live to see another day.
But if the leader of this Golden Empire faction was just kicking back and letting others do all the work to gather a whole network of Kingdoms in his name, and each lackey just claimed one each¡ then it really meant that they had left the door wide open for Jordan to waltz in and claim this Title himself. Something which also meant that no Lord of any other Kingdom had done the same yet, obviously.
He¡¯d been under the assumption that if he got a portal next to his Kingdom, then perhaps everyone did. And if it led to another close by Kingdom, then that would also be the case. But it¡¯d been around two days since Jordan had first claimed his own Kingdom, which was just even more time for the seven others who¡¯d done so before him. Rather than thinking that none of them discovered and explored their respective gateways first, perhaps it was his initial assumptions that needed to be challenged.
This Title though, like holy shit! With that bit about picking a State for the last percentile bonus, the one I choose will have a total bonus of 33%! He paused to take a few calming breaths to clear his thoughts. Okay, first things first, I need to allocate that. While I could think about it and maybe make a difference decision, the end choice almost has to be Wisdom. Just because that¡¯s what I¡¯m going all-in with, but also¡
Wisdom: 74
Before picking that final bonus, it was just super freaking close to 75. Something that would get him to the next increment of Scaling for Summon Land Drone. Which would both increase the cap he could summon at a time to six, and adjust their reserved TP cost to 1/6th his pool. So, at this point, it¡¯d practically be a crime not to pick Wisdom and push the final point to reach that increment!
Selected Stat: Wisdom
Finalize the user¡¯s selection?
Jordan naturally affirmed the decision, and then immediately to see how it had updated the relevant numbers.
Wisdom: 80
On top of the points gained from the Title before the selection, he¡¯d just gained another Level¡¯s worth, just like that. At this point, if someone with just the starting Title of Initial Merger thought that he was practically cheating ¡ yeah, he couldn¡¯t fully disagree.
Not when someone could use Appraise on him and just see that he was Level 6, but have no idea what his effective Level might as well be from a total Stats perspective. But speaking of the effectiveness of his Stats, he checked to see how some other numbers had now changed.
Resources:
Tech Points: 0/0 (31)
Tech Points Regen: 11.62/Min
Oh right, the current reserved costs. They¡¯re all still in effect for the previous Scaling until the drones are replaced. Which means¡ at least ten minutes to update them if I desummon the drones now. Welp, better sooner than later. Especially when I can have an extra land drone now while still keeping enough TP to have an air drone, if my math maths correctly, Jordan thought to himself.
At a new value of 1/6th his TP reserve per land drone, and how the System rounded it before, keeping five of them active should leave him with about five TP. Which as far as coincidentally matching numbers went, that would be a fairly amusing case.
But after sitting up from the one that had been acting as his seat, he decided to just go ahead and pull that trigger now. Aside from the now fairly big hole in the ceiling, Jordan was currently in a fairly hidden area. One that was better than being outside where someone on another mountain could also spot him from a couple of miles away, at least. Basically anything that wasn¡¯t snow did kind of stick out like a sore thumb out there.
Within just a few seconds, all of his land drones had their TP supplies cut off. At least when cutting them off the regular away like that, they would remain functional for the ten minutes before they disappeared. Even if the last half of that was a fairly rapid decline in performance, it at least meant that he wouldn¡¯t have to risk being totally helpless for that entire period.
As Jordan waited, he decided to go toward the far wall of the cave. In what was most definitely not just a coincidence, he estimated that it was about the same size as the clearing around his base. Out of a bit of nervousness for the current time and how long he¡¯d need to wait for the drones to disappear, he rolled back his outer sleeve just enough to peek at his watch and-
Oh¡ damn it. Of course it¡¯s broken from that fall. The face of the watch was just covered by a bunch of cracks. Some small shards of glass were also missing, but could be quickly found as still caught in his sleeve. With a sigh, Jordan just took it off and tried to throw both it and every bit of glass that he could see into his pocket space. At least fixing it would be as easy as just pushing it through the Transmuter later, when he got home.
At the very least, that wasn¡¯t nearly enough to actually make him upset for long. Not when he still had his Status open, and could see the massive inflation in Stats he¡¯d just received. Seeing that even his physical Stats were all either in the high 30s or low 40s now, Jordan couldn¡¯t help but feel a little giddy.
It was almost definitely unfair that he could invest his Unspent Points into what was more like a glass cannon summoner type of build, but then not actually be made of glass. Not when compared to anyone else who did the same without the padded Stats to more than make up for it.
But it was at that moment that, from somewhere outside, a voice loudly yelled out.
¡°Forefathers one and all! Bear witness! Bear witness upon me, and know my name as Haje! Bear witness to my victory today! Bear witness to my present resolve to someday reach you! Bear witness to my future resolve to best you all in combat! And quake in fear, for the day that you must personally bear witness my surpassing of you!¡±
Jordan froze, because upon hearing that speech, he very quickly realized something. He wasn¡¯t hearing some echo from far away.
That voice was coming from somewhere close by.
Chapter 47: Greetings
Jordan¡¯s heart had already skipped a beat as he realized that the masculine voice was definitely the same one who¡¯d been talking before. One whose accent, unlike the obviously British Crabs, he couldn¡¯t really compare to one from Earth. If there was anything of note about how it sounded, it was that it actually made him cringe a little. Because as the person outside had spoken, their words had carried an undercurrent that sounded like jagged rocks being ground against each other.
But it sounded close, that much he was certain of. Just how close was a bit hard to say, however. As being several dozen feet down in this little cave was probably throwing off how things sounded. Yet in terms of horizontal distance across the surface outside, he believed that it couldn¡¯t be more than a couple hundred feet.
What did he say his name was? Hay-jee? Maybe it¡¯s just me, but that sounds like it¡¯d be from somewhere in east Asian? Definitely not in any of those accents though, from how he¡¯d spoken. But just from the fact he spoke English like the Crab, it at least proves that he¡¯s an actual sapient being. And that now between both of them, it really does look like there¡¯s a pattern where every Species also happens to speak English? Jordan asked himself.
However, knowing that did little to calm down his rushing pulse. If anything, that whole yelled-out speech just now was even more worrying. Since from the way it¡¯d been said, it made the stone humanoid only sound like the stereotypical type of warrior that just loves fighting and proving himself in battle.
And the problem was that if said individual noticed the now more obvious hole in the ground and jumped down, Jordan would basically be trapped with him with nowhere to go. While he could sense that this cave was now considered a part of his Kingdom¡¯s territory, the System hadn¡¯t really provided anything he could actually do with that. Unlike before, it hadn¡¯t even given him a free building that he could have potentially bunkered down in.
Instead, he was currently in a cave where the only way in and out was currently several dozen feet above his head. And Jordan didn¡¯t even know how climbable the walls leading up the ceiling were, even with his current physical Stats, since they¡¯d almost certainly be slick with ice.
If it weren¡¯t for the person right above, Jordan probably would have still found it pretty easy to find a way up. Even just now, he could think of a couple of viable solutions between all the stuff in his pocket space and the potential use of Summon Air Drone. However, present circumstances made all of that not really doable for the moment.
Then there was the issue of time. Jordan knew that there were at least a few more minutes left until the ten-minute mark ticked by. But right now, he could tell that he wasn¡¯t even halfway there yet. For as far as he could tell, the land drone beside him was still operating at its full power. It would probably take a bit longer until it even reached that point, especially as how when you were consciously waiting for time to pass, it did the funny thing of seeming to tick by at an even slower rate.
Jordan opened the two leaderboards for individual people. He wasn¡¯t sure how Haje was spelled or if he had a last name that wasn¡¯t known yet, but he tried to to search for him.
On the Mightiest Individual, there indeed was a ping for someone of that name, with no last name, listed at Level 4. As for the Mightiest Slayer leaderboard, there wasn¡¯t a response.
Ahhh, screw it. Either he finds this spot and comes in here, or I let him know myself. If something¡¯s about to happen anyway, then I might as well take control of it. Better than just sitting down here and twiddling my thumbs, Jordan decided with a long sigh. His father had once said that if you wanted to lead the flow of a conversation, then do the obvious thing and be the first guy to start talking.
¡°Hello, out there!¡± Jordan had cupped his hands together to yell out from the cave. ¡°I¡¯m sure your forefathers are quaking in fear at the thought of you rising up to meet them someday!¡±
For the next few moments, the only thing filling the silence was the echo of his own voice. Then there was¡ laughter. Or at least something that sounded kind of like laughter, as it was more like the noise of rocks being ground together again, but this time taken up by a factor of ten.
¡°Indeed! I am certain that they shall curse the day that I, of all descendants, became the end of our clan¡¯s line! But tell me, are you a friend to celebrate my latest victory with? Or a foe to test my might, so that I may have my forefathers bear witness upon me once more on this day?¡± Haje said while clearly moving toward the cave. As for every step he took, they were heavy enough to shake an increasing amount of more snow down the ceiling.
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Alright, the classic friend or foe question. As far as an opening to a conversation with an alien goes, not the worst possible start. Beats being asked if I want to volunteer myself as a sacrifice, at least.
Jordan decided to keep his Energy Pistol within his pocket space. That way it could still be quickly drawn while giving him the friendlier appearance of seeming unarmed. Though his land drone would still be there with guns pointed, so¡ who was to say if that really made a difference?
¡°A friend, I hope! I saw how you wrestled that Wyvern out of the sky! That¡¯s definitely something worth celebrating, I¡¯d say!¡± He called back. Then from above, the heavy steps came to a stop as a figure appeared next to the ceiling of the cave. One whose large form managed to obstruct the sunlight coming down, and filled it with even more shadows.
From just where he could see from below, Jordan quickly realized that in terms of the other sapient races he¡¯d met so far, humans were definitely on the short side. The stone humanoid standing above him was at least 15 feet tall, if he just had to make a guess. Though now that he was a lot closer, the term humanoid was becoming less accurate as Jordan had a chance to study his features with more detail.
Haje had four arms, with the bottom pair being considerably longer. Though like a normal human, he did have just two legs. However, it was in this generally bipedal form that the main similarities came to an end.
He wore no clothes, instead fully showing off a body that could be described more like some kind of stone golem or elemental, more than anything. While still vaguely humanoid in shape, it was rather blocky while also greyish brown in color. However, that was just what Jordan could tell from what was underneath the layer of snow that also covered it.
Then there was Haje¡¯s face. He¡ didn¡¯t really have one. It was just a somewhat blocky head sitting directly on the torso with no neck between, and appeared to be rather smooth. Jordan had no idea how he performed anything like yelling or talking, as there was no mouth alongside the total lack of any other facial features. While Crab had been elephant-sized and weird in its own ways, it had at least been a recognizable kind of creature from Earth. This being, however, was actually a lot more of what could be truly considered alien.
After looking at each other for a solid second, Jordan felt the almost skin-crawly sensation of Appraise being used on him. So while still starting at the person above him, he returned the use of the Skill in kind.
Name: Haje
Species: Jabelite (Unnamed Planet)
Guild: N/A
Class: True Master of One
Subclass: N/A
Level: 12 (4)
Grade: D
Jordan read through the screen. He paused for a second at the planet being listed as unnamed. Was a bit confused at what the Class name could mean. But then when he got to the Level and Grade toward the end, he completely froze. Jordan¡¯s jaw was left slack as he truly couldn¡¯t believe his eyes. He glanced between the screen and Haje, his mind needing to do a total mental restart just to form a coherent thought.
Wha- how?! How the actual fuck is that even possible?! Jordan mentally screamed as he suddenly became much, much more frightened of the individual above him. Both at the Level that seemed to be impossible as it contradicted the Mightiest Individual Leaderboard, but also¡ the Grade. Despite the apparent like of a Subclass that the System had promised upon reaching D Grade way back when, the letter presented was still there.
However, above very quickly turned into in front of him, as the so-called Jabelite then stepped too close to the edge of the ceiling. The snow beneath his likely heavy body practically had no shot at supporting it. And so he fell through the moment he stepped on a spot that didn¡¯t have the actual ceiling, but was just the snow compacted into the hole.
Even as Haje fell like¡ well, a stone, he didn¡¯t make a sound upon landing and kicked up a cloud of snow. A rather stoic being in that front, he was now much closer and practically loomed over the smaller human. While Jordan¡¯s land drone was still at the ready, he was now far less confident in its ability to actually act as a way to defend himself.
¡°If you wish to call yourself a friend¡¡± Haje began. Jordan tensed up, ready for anything from the now clearly much more powerful being before him. His mind raced at a thousand miles per hour as he wondered just what he could even do, should the worst-case scenario occur.
The stone giant then sat down with a thump. ¡°Then allow us to swap stories of our greatest victories in combat! I would wish to share such tales with a drink, but I fear that I have none! So instead, let us drink in each other¡¯s achievements!¡±
Well, perhaps things might not be that bad. At the very least, sitting down to hold an actual conversation would allow Jordan to do one thing. Like learning more about Haje, and specifically asking about one thing in particular.
Just what the Hell was up with his listed Status?
Chapter 48: True Master of One
¡°-And then I finished the Crab off with a hail of attacks while it was still on fire. Though looking back on it, most of that fight was just me running while it chased. So it¡¯s probably not that good of a story to tell, huh?¡± Jordan finished as he sat in front of his new companion.
He¡¯d just spoken about his battle with the Crab the other day, though he did make the conscious choice to leave out some key details. Such as the existence of Advancement Crystals, and instead had just vaguely said that he had a one-use item in his pocket space that allowed him to set the Crab aflame. Jordan figured that if the much more powerful person in front of you didn¡¯t know that they could turn your corpse into a gem, then it might be safer not to say as much while basically trapped with them.
¡°Mmm,¡± Haje hummed with crossed upper arms.
It was only while they were directly in front of each other that Jordan noticed that the stone giant had six fingers. Four fingers that were of even length, and then he had what could only be described as a pair of thumbs, one placed at each side of his hand. It was just another point in the column of differences that, in reality, made ¡®humanoid¡¯ a less accurate description.
¡°If fleeing from a fearsome foe and yet still defeating them is not a good story, then I will have to forget many of my own. There are cowards who run to hide, and then those who make distance to win. I know of a clan to the south of my own, back home, who would use mighty spears to hunt and puncture a thousand holes into beasts who were too dangerous for close combat. And yet I would never have dared to call them cowards for such a way of fighting.¡± As Haje had spoken, all four of his arms had imitated the throwing of a spear.
Jordan simply nodded. ¡°Fair enough. So, how about your turn for a fight story? Would it be that Wyvern you wrestled just now?¡±
¡°Hah! No. While the flying lizard was fierce in its act, its teeth and claws couldn¡¯t match that. I doubt that even a single swipe or bite was enough to scratch me. No¡ if there is one story that I must tell to anyone who has not heard it yet, it would be the one behind this.¡±
Haje then turned around while still sitting, and gestured at what was apparently his back. It was a bit hard to tell before, since even when speaking, Haje¡¯s voice seemed to somehow emanate out from across his whole body in all directions.
Yet when Jordan saw what was on the other side of the stone torso, he blinked with surprise. When the snow was wiped away, the rock that made up the larger being¡¯s body was rather smooth, almost to a polish. On his back, however, there was a jagged scar that ran across almost his entire back. One which was about a foot wide, and at least just as deep.
¡°Damn, what gave you that?¡± Jordan asked while looking closely. The inside of the scar was also rather smooth, which he assumed meant that it¡¯d come from something rather sharp.
¡°The Lord of the Mountain, as my people have called it for generations. A terrible beast that terrorized my clan for just as long. Some even said that it was born from our ancestor¡¯s wrath, claiming it to be punishment for forgetting the old ways. Bah! I believed it to simply be a creature like any other. And so, with nothing but my own four fists, I sought to prove it. If I could slay the Lord of the Mountain with no weapons, and only my own body, then none could deny my greatness!¡± Haje began with a prideful tone.
¡°But it was a mountain that not even I, as one of my clan¡¯s most promising warriors, could climb. All the beast needed was just one strike to end the battle before it had even begun. The only reason I live was the attack sent me falling off the side of the mountain, and it chose not to leave its nest to finish me off. I held a grudge about that day for many years. Now, however, I am somewhat thankful for the lesson in knowing my capabilities. So as you have now heard for yourself, I consider even a humiliating loss a good story. Even if it is one where I failed to land one strike of my own in return.¡±
Jordan frowned slightly as a thought came to mind. Haje had mentioned this event taking place years ago. Yet, just what was that in reference to? How did his people keep track of a calendar? How long were the days on his homeworld, just to begin with? So, just to satisfy his curiosity before the conversation moved on, he decided that now would be the best time to ask.
¡°Just to ask, how long is a year on your homeworld? Like for mine, it¡¯s 365 days. Which is¡ weirdly the same amount of time that our Quest Series has. So I¡¯m just wondering how that relates to your experience, from someone whose planet should be totally different in that regard?¡± He inquired while rubbing his gloved hands together, wondering about the other man¡¯s thoughts on the very specific time the System had set on the Quests.
¡°It¡¯s the same,¡± Haje replied simply after turning back around.
¡°For¡ the Quest?¡±
¡°For everything you said. Long ago, the clans came together to also make a schedule that we could all follow. They decided to mark a year as 365 day and night cycles. To tell the truth, I did find it strange that this world has the same length of day as my own. But I chose not to give it much thought.¡± He gave the idea a nonchalant, four-armed shrug.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
¡°Wait, now that¡¯s where things are different!¡± Jordan exclaimed at the sudden contrast. ¡°This planet is like two-thirds the length of my own for a full day and night. So why is both the number of days in a year and length of one day the same for you, but then the latter is different for mine?¡±
Jordan would have been willing to find it acceptable if it had been consistent. If Haje had said that his own planet also worked off 24-hour days, then he would have chalked it up as some weird shenanigans from the System.
That it had basically acted as a deity that predetermined each Species to have the same starting pointing. Something that could also be used as an explanation for how they were able to even understand each other, which was another point that needed to be brought up. Though while Jordan was still wrapping his head around the most recent revelation, he wasn¡¯t sure if he could-
¡°Now you tell me, for something else that is strange. How is it that we share the same language? Your name and way of speaking are similar to those of a far northern clan that we rarely met. But from what I remember of those times, you speak in a way that is not the same, but close. And yet you do from just the head, and not the whole body like us, which is¡ strange,¡± Haje inquired.
¡°I- I¡¯m not sure. While I can¡¯t recognize your accent, your name sounds similar to something people from my own world might use. And that Crab I mentioned, both its name and accent were also identical to the people of a nation from my home world. If I had to make a guess¡ I can only assume that it¡¯s due to the System. It must be acting as a translator to make it even possible for us to be talking to each other like this. That¡¯s the only thing that makes sense, I¡¯d say.¡± Considering that the comparison for their accent was apparently a two-way street, Jordan would be willing to bet a lot of money on that being the case.
I wonder if the System is just trying to approximate it in a way that¡¯s close. Like actual language difference aside, there¡¯s no way my ears would be built to even properly hear how Haje would be speaking a stone person with no mouth, who uses his whole body to somehow produce sound. Makes me wonder what else might be translated to what I would understand. When he says clans, is it the same way that I would think of a familial clan from Earth? Or is it a nuanced difference, where clan just happens to be the closest word to what he actually means? Jordan asked himself.
A part of him almost wished he¡¯d taken the chance to talk to the Crab more, in order to learn more about this subject from its perspective. At that moment, the ten minutes must have been up, as his land drone finally disappeared. Something which he only briefly glanced at to acknowledge.
Haje took a moment to brush some snow off himself. ¡°Hmm, well, it makes no difference in the end. We are on this planet now, and we all share the same Quests to grow in power. This System expects us to prove ourselves as the mightiest. So our Species, our home world, our pasts, none of it matters in the face of what must be done. I say that such things are merely distractions, that should be tossed from the cliffs of the mountain beside us.¡±
¡°Well¡ I guess that¡¯s one way to look at it, huh?¡± Jordan said with a small chuckle. While he didn¡¯t fully agree with the idea of simply ignoring things like that, he could appreciate that kind of outlook on life. But now that he was feeling a lot more comfortable after the talk so far, he felt ready to ask the burning question that¡¯d been on his mind.
¡°So, Haje. Let me know if this is too personal as a secret you¡¯d rather hide. But just why is that your listed Level is¡ what it is? And did you really manage to already hit D Grade?¡± He asked, leaning forward a bit with eager anticipation.
¡°Bah, I have no secrets worth hiding. The Level is because of the Passive Skill from my Class. It doesn¡¯t do a lot. Just gives me more Experience per Level and increases the Stat points I get to spend from each Level. That¡¯s all. Even gave me a warning that only my true Level will count for the Quest leaderboard,¡± Haje said in a way that was still way too freaking nonchalant for the enormity of what he had just revealed.
What the fuck kinda overpowered¡ Jordan found himself immediately thinking. Luckily his face was fully covered with goggles to hide his expression. Although, even if it wasn¡¯t, would a totally alien Species like the person before him even be able to read human facial cues? He wasn¡¯t sure if that would be included in the System¡¯s auto-translate as communicated intent or something.
¡°That sounds amazing in my opinion,¡± Jordan then said after schooling his twinge of jealousy. ¡°But if that¡¯s just the Passive, then what are your other Class Skills like?¡±
¡°Don¡¯t have any,¡± Haje shrugged. ¡°Only the Passive, and no starting equipment too. The System gave me all sorts of warnings to make me aware of those restrictions. It even said that I would not be able to select a Subclass at D Grade. Not that I cared much for that, since I have no interest in any of those Trade Classes it mentioned anyway.¡±
With that clarification, Jordan suddenly found himself a lot less jealous. ¡°But¡ why? While extra Levels and Stats do sound great on their own, that seems like you¡¯re sacrificing a lot, actually. For that, I can only guess that you get a ton of extra Unspent Points per Level, right? Oh! And did your Passive get a chance to evolve at Level 6?¡±
¡°Yes, for the second question, and It did again at Level 11. For something that the System called a Fundamental Evolution. For how many¡ it changed. When I first got it, it was ten Unspoint Points per Level. After the Fundamental thing, I picked the option that makes it 20 now.¡±
¡°And¡¡± Jordan blinked as he wanted to clarify just one more point on that subject. ¡°Did that upgrade get applied retroactively? Like to all your previous Levels¡¯ Unspent Points, or only for that point onward?¡±
¡°Oh, right. I did get around a hundred Unspent Points to add. Felt much stronger afterward, even more so after the boost from that Title for being the first to hit D Grade. Which I guess still counted even with the whole leaderboard thing,¡± Haje replied, again, with the most casual of shrugs.
Meanwhile, Jordan felt like he might perish from a heart attack at that very moment.
Chapter 49: Establishing a New Friendship
God damn, AND a Title for speedrunning to D Grade? Jordan asked himself with disbelief. Now, that was something he just couldn¡¯t let go of. As the actual final point to address before moving on, he made sure to immediately ask about what kind of numbers its bonuses gave. Just like before, Haje¡¯s answer was both direct and rather casual.
It was plus 15 points to all stats, along with the 15% bonus to match.
It only took Jordan a moment to realize just how awesome of a single Title that was. In terms of the flat number of Stats given, it was equal to what he got just now as the first to expand a Kingdom, and his High Lord Title, combined. The only upside was that while the percentage bonus to all Stats would also have been equal, his latest Title had also come with that extra 10% to add to any single Stat.
A part of him wondered about what other Titles the large rock man might have. For example, did he also get the Adept of Advancement Title for the three flat and three percent Stat bonuses? All that required was both gaining a new Skill and evolving a current one, which should have theoretically been doable for Haje. Even without the use of Advancement Crystals, that would just have required using the Level-based reward he got at Level 6, and then apparently Level 11 from his earlier remark.
And finally, there was the modification from his Class to consider too. Jordan¡¯s gave him an extra point per Level for both Wisdom and Intelligence. Though if your Class was basically just a numbers go up generator that didn¡¯t seem to care about any particular builds or paths in itself, then what kind of mod would that give? He could only assume that at this point, it¡¯d be something like an extra point for each and every Stat.
However, while it¡¯d be easy for him to ask that and more questions, Jordan hesitated. While Haje didn¡¯t seem to really care, this was starting to feel like a one-sided interrogation instead of an actual conversation like before. Where he¡¯d eventually annoy the other party at worst, or bore him at best. And when dealing with someone who seems to love the thrill of fighting, even the latter of boredom might lead to some potential complications.
¡°Jordan, I enjoyed your story. But if you would call yourself my friend, then you must do something. A tradition, one of the few of the old ways that my clan continued to pass down. Strike me with your mightiest blow, so that we might see if it can leave a mark upon my body.¡± Haje then stood up, and gestured to his torso.
Huh, well then. I thought he was about to ask for a straight-up brawl with our bare hands or something. But once I do it, will he want to hit me with his strongest hit in return? Don¡¯t think my soft and squishy waterbag of a body can handle that¡ so let¡¯s check first, before committing to anything.
¡°Alright then, I just need to use a Skill to summon that thing you probably saw earlier. But just to ask now, will you want to hit me back in return? Just to know if I should be preparing myself, I mean,¡± Jordan quickly clarified that last point, in order to hopefully at least seem less cowardly about the idea.
¡°Mmm,¡± Haje pondered the question. ¡°You wish to summon that thing from before as the one to deliver the strike itself? If that is the case, then that object is what I will strike in return to cement our friendship. Come then, as I said, you may go first.¡±
Jordan nodded, now feeling a lot more relieved that he wouldn¡¯t be the one getting hit. With just a thought, he summoned a new land drone to appear in front of him. And when he checked his current TP, it also fully confirmed that each land drone would now reserve 1/6th of his total Tech Points.
Resources:
Tech Points: 23.2/25 (31)
Tech Points Regen: 11.62/Min
Huh, looks like the System¡¯s doing more rounding. 1/6th should mean 16.67%, but to get 25 out of 31 is more like¡ 20%, roughly. Well, shit, that¡¯s not good. If it¡¯s just rounding up, then I won¡¯t see an actual benefit from the Scaling like I¡¯m supposed to. Man¡ that just sucks. What¡¯s the point of the permanent army option, then, if the Scaling isn¡¯t even properly implemented to work the way it¡¯s advertised? Jordan mentally complained.
If it kept going like this, then he wouldn¡¯t see a big difference until it reached either 1/9th or just 1/10 the reserve cost, depending on if it chose to round the former. While it should at least even out for the latter, then what would happen after that? Would 1/14th of the cost still get rounded up to 10%? Would he have to keep upping the Scaling until it was brought all the way down to 5%?
On the other hand, Jordan¡¯s mind was quick to think of a potential solution. Rounding to a whole number had a bigger effect for smaller numbers. To go from 19.5 to 20 was a relatively bigger difference than 99.5 to 100, just in terms of the scale of that change when compared to the final result. So if he actually began to prioritize increasing Intelligence in order to increase his max TP in turn¡
For the time being, he put the thought aside as he approached the drone. If all he got was a single attack, then Jordan would just put as many stacks of Overcharge as he could into the guns. Or, at the very least, enough for the most powerful blast possible while still below the point where the whole thing would get overloaded and just go kaboom.
¡°Well¡ hope you¡¯ll be ready in just a few seconds. Because once I get this thing powered up for its shot, I¡¯ll only have that long to get the attack off. Oh, and both of these barrels will shoot the attack at the same time. If that¡¯s okay to still count as just one?¡± With that warning, Jordan sent a mental command for the drone to aim and then hold its fire until ready. On that note, he then cast Overcharge and directed the first use into its twin guns.
Haje just stood there, his upper arms crossed while the other pair hung at his sides. It was hard to say for sure with the lack of eyes to read. But just from the way his head was pointed, he seemed to already be staring directly into the barrels that would momentarily unleash the dual energy blasts. Without any comment to say otherwise, it seemed he was okay with counting them as a single blow.
The land drone¡¯s body became hot enough to have an effect on the cold air and snow around it. And feeling that it¡¯d taken as many Overcharge stacks as it could take, Jordan wasted no time. With its guns already aimed at the target, he gave it the signal to fire just one shot.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
From its barrels, a pair of energy blasts practically exploded out. The force from which they were fired was just shy of warping the metal of the barrels themselves. With only a few feet between it and Haje, it barely took the blink of an eye for the energy bolts to travel that distance. They slammed into the central torso with a small shower of sparks and¡
Nothing. Haje didn¡¯t even react to the impact from the energy bolts. Not a flinch, or even being moved back a single inch from the force of the impact itself. When Jordan looked at the spot where they landed, it didn¡¯t even look like they¡¯d actually done anything, either. As far as he could tell, it was as if the drone might as well have not fired to begin with.
The stone giant then took a few steps forward. Looming over the comparatively small land drone, he then raised one of his longer, lower arms with a closed fist. Then with a strike that made Jordan take a step back with how shockingly fast it came down, relative to his size, he punched straight through the top of the drone.
Holy- did he just¡? Jordan asked as Haje then lifted his arm back up, with the drone still attached. That¡¯s when he saw it. Rather than just punch through the body of the land drone, Haje had actually just punched through the drone itself. Because now, poking out the bottom from between its treads, was his rocky fist.
Haje pushed the busted drone off his arm. ¡°To have another object attack on its own is a strange Skill. But that was a mighty attack, one that I would proudly consider as worthy for one to call my friend.¡±
¡°Uhh, thank you?¡± Jordan replied with a small frown as the praise felt weird for how little the bolts did. ¡°But was it really that good of an attack? Doesn¡¯t seem like it really did anything, especially since you didn¡¯t even react to it.¡±
¡°Oh, is that what you think?¡± Haje chuckled. ¡°If so, then you must take a closer look.¡±
He then helpfully pointed at one spot in particular. Still unsure, Jordan stepped right up to him and looked at the bit of stone that was right before the giant¡¯s finger. Now with his eyes squinted, he tried to take as careful of a look at it as he could. And then, he noticed it. Something that could technically be considered as a dent but could easily be mistaken as just a minor blemish instead. If one were to sell a car with this dent, it would take the most stringent dealer in the world to take notice of it during their inspection.
¡°Unlike animals and other creatures of flesh, we Jabelites do not heal from our injuries. A scar on our bodies is a scar for life. By putting many points between Strength and Endurance, my own body is now even tougher than what the toughest members of my clan once boasted. Be proud, Jordan. If you perish in the days to come, then the memory of my first friend on this world will still be forever marked on my body.¡±
¡°Huh, well¡ that¡¯s good to know. Speaking of which, you keep mentioning your clan. Did any of them come with you when we all got transported here?¡± Jordan inquired.
At that question, Haje¡¯s tall frame noticeably lowered a bit. It was hard to say due to how inherently inflexible his body seemed to be, but Jordan imagined it to be equivalent to someone hunching down.
¡°No, I am¡ alone,¡± he spoke in a low voice. There was a sadness in his tone that would have been almost impossible to miss. And when Haje chose not to elaborate immediately, Jordan made the prudent decision not to pry further.
¡°Now then!¡± Haje suddenly exclaimed with a straightened form. ¡°When I fell into this cave, the System said that I entered the territory of a Kingdom called Industry. I believe that this Kingdom belongs to you?¡±
Jordan blinked. He hadn¡¯t known that was even a thing that people got notified about. As far as things to keep in mind went, that was a rather important note that could now be filed away in the old mental folder.
¡°Yeah, I started a Kindom a couple of days ago. Just had the chance to expand its territory to here, right before we met. Didn¡¯t you also get that Temporary Quest on the first day and a feeling pulling you to claim a Mandate? That¡¯s what I did, before claiming the Mandate that was right here,¡± Jordan freely explained, as something he didn¡¯t mind openly sharing about.
¡°Mmm, I did. But it was while I was on the hunt for worthy creatures to slay, so I did not care for the Quest itself. Now when I still remain so behind on the leaderboard for Levels. Unlike my home, it is hard to find foes here,¡± Haje complained.
Jordan felt a bit confused by that remark. It was a good point. If the rocky giant had been in these mountains this whole time, then how exactly was he still only Level 4? Especially when there were higher Level enemies around, and he didn¡¯t seem to be afraid of still fighting stronger enemies. So why did Jordan¡¯s drones find so many after just one night, while his new friend seemed to be struggling over the last few days?
Wait, the Ice Spirit. Didn¡¯t it say that it only got hostile around stuff above a certain temperature? If Haje is just stone all the way through and doesn¡¯t produce his own body heat, then from its perspective, wouldn¡¯t he just be a weird kind of rock? If one were to assume that other monsters here did that same thing as a sort of theme, then it might make sense. Since compared to the freezing air, even just the heat of the drones as they moved around would still be enough of a temperature difference to trigger stuff, Jordan theorized.
¡°Well, Haje. Since we¡¯re friends now, I might actually be able to help you with that. My summon should be able to find stuff for you to fight, if you just follow it around. But since you already know that this is part of my Kingdom in this little cave, and I don¡¯t know if you¡¯d get any benefits from this, but how about you join my Kingdom as a member? Ah, and feel free to say no. It¡¯s just that there¡¯s nobody else but me, so I honestly have no idea if it¡¯d even do anything for you,¡± he proposed.
And that was due to another little quirk by the System. This time in the form of one of the screens that he could bring up, regarding his Kingdom.
Population: 0
Jordan himself didn¡¯t seem to actually count as a member. Something that he believed was another point for the idea that a Lord couldn¡¯t willingly give up control, but more likey had to die. Because while it could just be him reaching for an assumption, it did seem like that a Lord was considered not under the Kingdom, but was part of the Kingdom itself in a fundamental sense.
The stone giant was silent for a couple of moments. During the pause, Jordan swallowed. Had he offended Haje in some way? From the way he¡¯d spoken about his clan, was the offer to join his Kingdom now something that he might have taken badly?
¡°Mmm, I do not see a reason to say no. Yes,¡± Haje then said, while his head appeared to not be looking directly at Jordan, but somewhere slightly off to the side.
The Kingdom invitation has been accepted!
Citizen name: Haje
Note!
As a Kingdom with a Lord and at least one citizen, a Guild can automatically be established! Would the user like to form and name this Guild now?
Yes/No
¡°Oh!¡± Jordan said aloud, before looking back up at his new citizen. ¡°Hey, Haje¡ just one more thing.¡± After then briefly explaining the latest pop-up to him, his companion had just one thing to say.
¡°Well, what are you waiting for? If it is for the third Quest, then let us form it now and see where the Guild leaderboard stands.¡±
Chapter 50: A Shocking Revelation
If he¡¯s already down for it, then yes, Jordan affirmed to the System.
Congratulations!
By attaining your Guild, you have now qualified for placement on the leaderboard of the Quest: Mightiest Guild. You may now view the Mightiest Guild leaderboard and your current place on it at any time.
Guild created!
Automatically invited members: 1
Before leaderboard placement can be finalized, the user must affirm a name for the Guild. Any invited Guild members can also propose the name, but as its leader, the user will act as the final decider.
¡°Huh, did you get the invite for the Guild already?¡± Jordan asked while looking up from the screen.
¡°Yes,¡± Haje replied. Just a moment later, Jordan got a pop-up that confirmed the accepted invitation.
¡°So, all we need to do now is pick a name. If you have any ideas, I¡¯m open to suggestions.¡±
Haje shrugged. ¡°It is your Kingdom and Guild. You are the leader, so I will accept whatever your choice is. I only care for our position on the leaderboard; the name itself matters little compared to that.¡±
Hmm, fair enough, I guess it¡¯s all on me then. Alright, Jordan, Industry was already a 10/10 name if I do say so myself as a biased source. What can you cook up this time, you naming savant you? Closing his eyes, he focused all his mental prowess on one train of thought. Every single point of intellect and creativity combined to think of the best name possible.
The desired name of the Guild has been finalized!
Industry¡¯s placement on the leaderboard has been finalized!
¡°I see, that is the straightforward choice,¡± Haje commented as he¡¯d likely also just gotten a pop-up about the finalized name. The human in front of him just nodded, feeling infinitely wise about his choice of what to call the Guild.
Did it actually end up being the most creative pick in the world? No, not at all. But at least one could say that it was functional. If something looked at Industry the Kingdom and Industry the Guild on separate leaderboards, then there would be no mistake in the connection. Better that than having a different name for each, and then just later on having people find out that they¡¯re basically one and the same, anyway. Or at least that was the logic that he had ended up using to justify it.
¡°Can you access both of the leaderboards now?¡± Jordan asked as he went ahead and opened the Guild leaderboard to see where their starting placement was on the list.
Mightiest Guild:
1: Golden Empire of the Eternal Golden Prince
2: Adventurer¡¯s Guild
3: League of Warriors
4: New Earth Guild
5: Yvaro¡¯s Guild
¡
26,812: Industry
¡°Hmm, yes. Ah! It pleases me to see that my friend is not only the proud leader of the Mightiest Kingdom,¡± Haje began while Jordan was still looking at the screen. ¡°But for the Mightiest Guild¡ mmm. Being the top Kingdom is still an achievement to take pride in!¡±
Thank you, those words are very encouraging, and that pause was definitely not felt, Jordan sarcastically thought to himself. Though even he couldn¡¯t disagree, because the results of this screen completely contradicted the over two leaderboards. How could someone be one of the people, have the top Kingdom, and yet also be so, so far down in this list for Guilds?
At the top, practically expected at this point, was the Golden Empire. Though, unlike the Kingdom leaderboard, Jordan found something a bit more unexpected. When he quickly scanned through the top couple hundred or so, he didn¡¯t find another instance of them being on the list. Even going down a bit further than that, just to be sure, he still didn¡¯t see another placing for the Golden Empire.
Huh, so no spamming different spots on the list this time. But while I got the option automatically just now for inviting Haje to my Kingdom, there¡¯s no way that can be true as the only way. Not when there are tens of thousands more Guilds than there are Kingdoms. Like if we go to the bottom to see just how many there are under us¡
He then had the System scroll all the way down. Which revealed that there were just about 140,000 Guilds in total. This was in comparison to under a few Kingdoms. And as for the total population of people on the Mightiest Individual list, that figure was even higher now at 315 million. Something that made for a pretty fair jump from 290 million, back when he¡¯d checked it just a few hours ago. But then he had a sudden thought.
Hey, System, if you can automatically pick out names, then what about Species? Update the Mightiest individual leaderboard and then take me to the bottom, but only include human beings. Jordan then blinked as the text on the screen then shifted. He had half-expected that not to work. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!
But when he then looked at the result¡ his heart skipped a beat.
40,240,502: Musa Khan
Only 40 million Humans had reached Level 2 over the last few days. So out of the few hundred million total on the leaderboard, mankind as a whole only represented a small minority. But¡ how? Out of eight billion people, how could so many have even failed to gain 100 Experience Points by now? Even if you weren¡¯t trying to gain Levels, just defending yourself from random monsters should have at least gotten that much EXP, surely?
Briefly glancing over at Haje, it gave him an idea. Next, Jordan asked the System to show him a new screen for the leaderboard. This time, to filter it so that it only showed the Jabelite Species. The System obliged, and the updated number was even worse the humanity¡¯s. For Haje¡¯s entire Species, just under ten million had gotten to Level 2.
Now considering the number of Kingdoms under their control, Jordan had a bad feeling about what the next request would look like. He had it check how many Crabs were on the leaderboard. And as for what that number turned out to look like¡
They were at just a little over 200 million. For the unfiltered Leaderboard, practically two out of every three people on it was actually a Crab. Now that did mean there were about 50 to 60 million individuals left on the leaderboard that were still unaccounted for. So that was at least one other sapient Species out there that Jordan still had yet to meet. But compared to the revelation of how poorly humanity was doing, that thought was secondary in importance.
¡°Now then, let us leave this cave. If there is nothing left for us to do here, then as promised, you can assist in my hunt. I do not wish to insult you, but with how small your body and limbs are, will you need help to get out?¡± Haje then asked, breaking Jordan out of his train of thought.
The human gave the leaderboard screens one last look, before dismissing them from his sight. Yet even after they were gone, the concerned expression on his face still remained. For only half a percent of Earth¡¯s population to have gotten to Level 2 by now, that math just simply wasn¡¯t mathing. Not unless there was something of truly gargantuan importance that he just didn¡¯t know about.
This had to be the case, but what could possibly lead to such a drastic result? Yet for now, Haje¡¯s question meant that he couldn¡¯t just stay in his own head for as long as he wanted.
¡°You know? While I could get out on my own, I have a feeling it¡¯ll be faster with your help. So I¡¯d appreciate it, thanks,¡± he replied with a nod.
The next part was rather predictable. With one arm, Haje grabbed the much smaller human. Then, with his new friend secured, all he needed was just one leap to fully jump out of the cave. There was a deep boom of snow being shifted into the cave as Haje¡¯s entire weight landed on the area just outside of the hole.
Jordan didn¡¯t worry too much about the land drone still down there. With its core fully busted up, the TP connection had automatically gotten cut off anyway. So while he could summon a few more now, it¡¯d just be several more minutes until that one in particular could be replaced.
One at a time, four land drones began to appear around him. With the busted-up one below, he was technically now at five ¡°active¡± drones. He then looked over at his Status for his current TP, and was pleasantly surprised.
Resources:
Tech Points: 5/5 (31)
Tech Points Regen: 11.62/Min
Huh, I guess I shouldn¡¯t have gotten so ready to be upset just earlier. I can still summon one more land drone, so that actually evens out in terms of what the current Scaling looks like. Sorry for doubting you, System; I guess your weird TP rounding still checks out to not make the Scaling useless. With that matter now something for him to feel a bit better about, he went ahead and cast Summon Air Drone as well.
Jordan pointed at the air drone. ¡°That one found a Level 6 spirit just a short while ago. It should be able to find more like it, if the past predicts the future and all. Do you mean if these land ones also hunt around this area for me to keep getting Experience Points too? I¡¯ll send them off in different directions, so they shouldn¡¯t get in your way.¡±
¡°That should not be an issue. If this flying summon of yours allows me to find more prey than I was able to find myself, then you will already have my gratitude. To deny your own hunts in return would only dishonor my claim as your friend.¡±
Nodding, Jordan¡¯s plan was to now send his land drones to find stuff to kill. Considering the amount of firepower it¡¯d taken to beat that Ice Spirit, he figured that for now, it might be smarter to split the four of them into two pairs. It would mean less area covered by their search, but also that if they encountered something tough, they¡¯d be less likely to get wiped out.
¡°Alright then, but I should let you know that the actual base for my Kingdom is¡ both near and very far away. You wouldn¡¯t happen to have already come across a big sphere that¡¯s labeled as a gateway, would you?¡± He asked.
From looking out at the landscape, Haje turned toward him. ¡°I have. While the other side was full of warmth, but there were was little in terms of prey that I could hunt. Even with my Stats, the only worthwhile prey was far deeper underwater, where my kind often struggle to move.¡±
Jordan had politely nodded along. At first, in the back of his mind, he¡¯d just been worried and glad that Haje had been the one to find and check out the portal. And not someone else, like an invasion of more Crabs. But the moment the stone giant had spoken that last sentence aloud, Jordan was immediately thrown for a loop. He looked up at his new companion¡¯s head, not quite sure if he''d actually heard him correctly.
¡°Deep¡ underwater, you say?¡± Jordan inquired.
¡°Yes, I went inside a vast body of water that seemed to stretch as far as I could see.¡± Haje stretched out his arms to emphasize. ¡°By the time I turned back, I had gone deep enough that the surface felt as distant as the sky above our heads. Back home, I have only heard stories of such a great amount of water, from a far-off clan that lived close to one.¡±
¡°And¡ where is this gateway?¡±
¡°Hmm, is it not the one you spoke of? I found it at the base of these mountains, on the first day that the System took us to this world. It should be should be that way,¡± Haje said, while then pointing in a particular direction.
A direction that was almost the opposite way from the portal Jordan had come through.
Chapter 51: Hexagons Are The…
The day was still young for one particular mountain range on Vervina-C. For one human man, there was more than enough time left until he would need to worry about that side of his portal home closing, even if it¡¯d simply open again the next day.
Although if he were to be trapped on the frozen mountains for a night, or even longer due to any bad weather, then he¡¯d already come prepared for the risk. Since his pocket space could hold things in stasis, he had naturally brought both a campfire¡¯s worth of flaming sticks and such, along with cooked Bark Snakes collected in the time after his bath in the river.
But it was thanks to this assurance that Jordan felt comfortable with the current detour that was being taken. When Haje had been transported, it¡¯d been at the base of this mountain range, where he¡¯d then happened on the portal. Then while still only Level 1, he¡¯d made the rather brave choice to explore it, before coming back to climb up the mountains instead.
Jordan rode on his drone as Haje led the way. And the stone giant was indeed leading, as he managed to run at a pace that still moved faster than even his drone at top speed with the spaced-out casts of Overcharge. Because even though Strength and Endurance were his primary Stats, Dexterity was apparently his third choice. Or at least it felt like that had to be the case, since Haje was clearly able to run so fast for what had to be Stat-related reason.
Man, I hope it¡¯s just that he had invested plenty of points into Dexterity too. But then¡ it was a similar story with that Crab, despite having a Class with Juggernaut in the name. Crabs are naturally pretty fast, even if something about the way they¡¯re built makes them run sideways. And Haje¡¯s height would mean that each stride he takes is worth multiple of mine, despite him seeming to be really heavy. System, is it really just that humanity¡¯s start Stats mean that we kinda suck as a Species? Jordan mentally asked, to which there unsurprisingly was no reply.
¡°Hey, Haje!¡± Jordan called from behind. ¡°Real quick question, but do you have any idea what your Stats looked like at Level 1? Like your total between all seven of them, before the Title, Trait, and any Class modification you have?¡±
¡°No, I did not bother. But what do you mean by seven? I only have three Stats,¡± Haje replied without turning to look back or slowing down his pace.
To that, Jordan immediately had a doubletake. ¡°Wait, really? I have Strength, Dexterity, Vitality, Endurance, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Will. What do you have?¡±
Strength, Dexterity, and Endurance ended up being the answer. And when Jordan naturally asked if that was just another limitation of his new friend¡¯s Class, the answer was no. Not only due to the lack of that being one of the warnings it¡¯d given him before selecting the Class, but also due to everything that had come before that point.
Apparently, the list of Traits that Haje had been given access to was pretty different from what Jordan had gotten. Haje hadn¡¯t received any magical Traits, nor any that had offered the four missing Stats. Then when it came to his Class selection, that had also been different.
From what Jordan and his initial group had found out together about which Stats were the primary Stats for different Classes, he could now summarise that Haje simply hadn¡¯t gotten the options for those Stats he was missing. Such as not receiving the choice to become a Mage or Healer, as two examples.
However, when Jordan had briefly mentioned the fact about coming here with a group, he noted that it caused a brief change in Haje¡¯s movements. A flinch that was almost immediately corrected, and might even have been missed if Jordan had blinked at the wrong time. But when the large man chose not to comment on it, he respected that and chose to also leave it be.
Yet at the same time, Haje also didn¡¯t bring up the idea of ever comparing his starting Stats with others of his kind. Yet from the implied evidence that they managed to gather so far, a fairly safe conclusion could be made.
It was simply the result of a difference in Species. One which made Jordan quickly wonder something else. Was it that humanity had access to ¡°all¡± seven Stats, or were there even more that only a different Species could use? For example, what did the Crabs see for their listed spread of Stats? Did they have less, the same as humanity, or even more?
At the very least, he could take solace in the fact that it wasn¡¯t just another impossible question with no way to find an answer. Whenever Jordan met more Crabs that were hopefully friendlier, and the other Species that were also on this world, he would have his chances to find out. But it did mean that, for now, he would have to just push it aside until then.
But in any case, it meant that Jordan had to do a mental recalculation for his estimate on how Haje¡¯s Stats were spread. He has assumed that his mentioned favorites of Strength and Endurance would get the majority, but then at least a little would be put into others. Since if one had a surplus on Stats, then why pad out all of them to not be too far behind, just in case?
Yet with only three options to pick from, then Jordan could only imagine how long it¡¯d take until Haje got his first thousand points in one Stat. He¡¯d probably get another Title from it too, knowing how the System was giving those out like candy to reward those who were already doing well.
To tell the truth, it actually made a lot of sense. While Jordan¡¯s land drone had failed to harm the Crab, that had been before its latest evolution to upgrade its guns. Along with just the basic fact that due to the situation at the time, he hadn¡¯t been able to hit it with any Overcharge-empowered shots. Which since the first stack was a double-power buff, and the additional stacks were like its speed boost in their scaling, it was something that made for a massive difference in power that would then be applied as a dual shot.
Yet between all of that, and presumably his own high Stats making a difference in a way that he didn¡¯t fully understand yet, it¡¯d barely made an impression against Haje¡¯s body. But if his companion only had three Stats and a metric ton of points to dump into, what had to be a high base Endurance to begin with? Yeah, that was fair.
But it was from this conversation that Jordan also learned about an additional restriction imposed on Haje¡¯s Class.
He had no Resources. No Stamina Points, Mana Points, or Tech Points like Jordan. It wasn¡¯t even listed as zero; instead, that part of his Status simply wasn¡¯t even included. If anything was a sign that Haje was likely to be forever restricted to that single Passive without the ability to gain more Skills, that was probably it. Because he could see the System¡¯s logic, if one didn¡¯t ever have Skills that used Resources, then why even include it as what would basically just be clutter in their Status?
But time steadily marched on. Starting from Level 1 as he had looked for things to fight, it¡¯d taken Haje the last few days to climb up the base of the mountain range and reach the area where he and Jordan would eventually meet. Yet a lot of that time was simply spent wondering around, versus the almost direct line they were going now to head back there. Plus, unlike the slow ascent, they both had their own means of moving much faster than he did then. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
The sun had gone past its midpoint to mark the day as at least late into the afternoon. Though it¡¯d recently become a little harder to tell. Compared to the blue skies Jordan had seen when he¡¯d first gone through the portal, a mass of thick and dark grey clouds now covered the sky overhead.
Even with the bad weather they promised still having not yet arrived, just their blocking of direct sunlight was enough to drop the ambient temperature by several degrees. Jordan was at least glad that the uses of Overcharge kept his ride fairly warm at all times, and allowed it to also act as his personal heater.
When they arrived at the edge of the mountain range, Jordan asked if they could stop. He needed to take a break to eat something, also while relaxing his sore muscles from clinging onto the drone for the last few hours straight across multiple inclines and declines. But also for another reason. He wanted the chance to admire the breathtaking view before him.
They were already far below the actual peak of the mountain that they stood on; he estimated that they were somewhere still around a couple of miles above the base. Jordan was amazed that he could even breath so easily with how thin the air must already be at such a great height. But perhaps that was just another testament to how superhuman his physical Stats already made him. Yet at the same time, while viewing things from that high-up angle, the world before him seemed to stretch on into infinity.
Jordan couldn¡¯t even guess how far out the horizon was. He understood that being up meant being able to see a lot farther out than being on ground level. Dozens of miles at his current height, perhaps? Though that was really just a shot in the dark guess, more than anything.
And as beautiful as the world before him was¡ it also didn¡¯t make a lick of realistic sense. Somewhere to his left, far beyond the mountain¡¯s base, there was a sandy desert. And then directly next to it was a forest on one side, and a lake on the other. Then to its diagonal top left, was a snowy flatland of some sort.
Though from such a far distance, it was a wonder that he could see the different environments with a decent degree of detail. Especially as the dray grey clouds made it so that current lighting conditions weren¡¯t exactly optimal. A bonus to his vision from one of his Stats, perhaps? It was possible, especially since having a higher Will, for example, hadn¡¯t yet made his willpower really feel any better.
But the wild types of environments next to each other weren¡¯t even the strangest part of what he saw. No, from his vantage point, he could now clearly see the dividing lines that acted as a hard cutoff between each type of biome.
From his earlier view of the line of trees between the forest and starting grassland, and then where the wildfire ended not that far from the river, he¡¯d assumed it to be a square grid. A straight line for every cardinal direction to make each one a square placed alongside one another, into something that might have looked like a wild chessboard from the top down. As it would turn out, the idea had been pretty close, but the actual shape that made up this grid had been rather off.
Hexagons.
The whole planet and its seemingly random placement of environment types was just a God damn grid of hexagons. From the ground level, the line had appeared to be straight enough that he assumed it to be one side of a square. But from here, he could now clearly see how the lines met for sharp turns to form the hexagonal shape. Granted, each line still appeared to be extremely long, enough so that it would be difficult to tell from the ground level, unless he happened to be standing directly at one of these edge points.
If that kind of information had been known to him from the very start, he would have assumed that they must have been in a video game or something. And while the theory of this all being some screwed up, highly detailed simulation couldn¡¯t technically be disproven, it at least still felt pretty real to Jordan. But looking at the neatly divided biomes just felt¡ wrong, on an instinctual level. It was an eerie feeling, to say the least.
But while he¡¯d been staring, Jordan had already pulled out some pre-cooked Bark Snake to chew on. He then glanced over to Haje, who also appeared to be looking out at the view. He looked down at the partially eaten food in his hand, and then back to Haje again.
Wait, he doesn¡¯t need to eat food, does he? Not even sure how he would, considering the lack of a mouth and how he¡¯s made of stone. But on the other hand, he talked about hunting back in his home world, which would obviously need to be for a different reason than just farming Experience Points. Huh, Jordan thought to himself. After swallowing down the latest bite, he figured that he might as well go ahead and ask. And then planned to at least offer some if Haje affirmed that he, somehow, did eat food.
¡°No, we do not consume plants or meat. We hunted for glory and pride in our skill as hunters. But more than that, we hunted to survive. Within my kind¡¯s bodies is a core. One that our stone bodies form around. If it is destroyed, it means my immediate death. But to the creatures of our world wished to consume our cores. I do not know how it makes them stronger, but it does. And so they hunt us, and we had to hunt them in return,¡± Haje helpfully explained.
But as he had done so, one of his arms had partially reached up to the deep scar in his back. It¡¯d stopped before actually touching it, and then was lowered down. Jordan took it as a likely subconscious movement that he assumed meant one thing. Whenever Haje had faced the Lord of the Mountain, his own core must have come pretty damn close to being sliced in that single strike.
On that note, Jordan made quick work of the rest of his meal, and followed it with a big swig of water. As for how the temperature felt on his face during the brief moments that he took a bite and had to expose it to the cold air? Well, the good news was that he could still feel how cold his lips were. Because it was freezing enough that he¡¯d be worried it would just skip straight into the stage where he stopped feeling it entirely.
The two of them then began their downward trek to reach the base of the mountain, and exit the mountain range itself. From here, he could still clearly see the line where the snow at the base suddenly stopped and turned into a brown hexagon of just plain, barren dirt.
Thankfully, it appeared that Haje had a rather good memory in terms of his sense of direction. As they went downward, Jordan was pretty quick to spot the purple sphere. It looked tiny from a distance, but still stuck out like a sore thumb from its position just a bit away from the mountain¡¯s base. As it turned out, an object that was big, perfectly spherical, and a glowing color that stuck out from most environments was pretty easy to point out from afar.
"So just to ask," Jordan began. "Did this portal just drop you in the middle of the water, or was there a coast for solid ground on the other side?"
"There was a beach. It is only a short distance from the water''s edge. But unless it has changed in these few days since, it should be the same for when we enter it now." And that was all the answer Jordan needed to at least know he wouldn''t directly end up in the ocean, with nowhere to go.
As they got closer, Jordan used a quick cast of Appraise on this new portal.
Name: Planetary Gateway
Description: A rare but natural phenomenon in the multiverse that can be found on Vervina-C. The gateway functions as a portal that is connected to at least one other gateway at another location on the planet. Anything that touches it will be instantly transported to the other side. These portals often have varying requirements for when they appear. Some are active at all times, others are tied to environmental factors such as the time of day, and others still may require any variation of general or highly specific conditions.
Hmm, same as before, then. Ah well, Jordan thought to himself with a mental shrug. The chance of gleaming any new information had at least been worth a shot.
Yet when they got up to it, Jordan found himself quickly removing the outer layer of winter gear. Now that they were away from the snow and officially in a new biome, the massive difference in temperature meant that he¡¯d get way too hot in what he was currently wearing. When they were just a dozen or so yards away, however, Jordan was hit with a breeze that came from the portal.
One that was both very warm, and carried the distinct scent of the ocean. Jordan had to quickly rub at his eyes to stop the tears forming in the corners, before they could betray him into becoming actual tears that might have escaped their prisons. As a great feeling of nostalgia welled up like sand filling his chest, sadness in turn felt like lead that might sink him into the earth.
Because it reminded him of when he was a kid, and the exactly one time his family had gone on a vacation to the coast.
Chapter 52: Obligatory Beach Episode!
Maybe it was due to worry in the back of his mind about what happened to his parents. Even he he pushed it out of his thoughts, it was still there as a background noise of wondering if they were dead or alive. A feeling that only got worse when Jordan discovered how few humans were actually on the individual leaderboard. He¡¯d tried not to immediately think about it, but that wall of mental fortitude couldn¡¯t also block the wave of nostalgia that was currently hitting him.
The tears he¡¯d fought back immediately began to well up again as his brain was sent straight down memory lane. Of that one road trip where his father had saved up just enough money to afford to take a whole week off from work. Of those precious days in a row where his mother was perfectly healthy, and didn¡¯t suffer from her frequent bouts of illness and weakness. Of the time that Jordan spent playing in the sand and wading into the water.
His parents had done all they could to provide him with a fun childhood, while trying not to let him know how much of a struggle it was for them to give him a better early life than they had experienced themselves. Though children could be oddly perceptive little things. So it hadn¡¯t taken him that long to be old enough to get the sense of how they were really doing.
Which was why he¡¯d acted as his mother¡¯s caretaker while not in school, on her especially bad days. Why he had gotten a real job as early as he legally could while still in highschool. And why he had taken out a loan for his higher education while funding the rest by himself, while hoping that an eventual career in robotics would pay enough for him to at least let his parents live comfortably in their older years.
But now they were out there, their fates unknown. Even if they were dead, the chances of Jordan ever knowing for sure were astronomically slim. How could one person ever find two bodies on an entire planet? Especially if said bodies might not even be findable, because someone had turned them into a pair of Advancement Crystals and looted whatever was on them?
Yet, here he was, about to take the second trip of his life to the ocean. This time, one that he¡¯d be going on without them.
¡°Is something the matter?¡± Haje asked, snapping Jordan back to reality.
¡°Y-yeah. Think a bit of sand must have gotten in my eyes from that breeze. That¡¯s¡ that¡¯s all,¡± he tried to explain away, now that his goggles had already been taken off as a valid excuse. Jordan took a deep, shaky breath. He must have looked weird from Haje¡¯s perspective, just staring into the portal while frequently wiping his eyes.
Even with someone else at his side, he¡¯d gotten pretty used to being able to freely just get lost in his own thoughts. It was to the point where Jordan had momentarily forgotten that Haje was even there. Something that he should probably make sure to be more mindful about, from here on.
¡°Well,¡± Jordan began. ¡°We¡¯re already here, so we might as well check out the other side, right? Maybe you can go into the water and see if you can now hunt anything swimming around. Now that your Stats should be way higher than when you first came across this thing, hunting in the deep parts should be easier for you. And I¡¯ll come as well to explore the beach and try out a few things. Maybe even see if there¡¯s another unclaimed Mandate around for me to expand my Kingdom¡¯s territory some more. How does that sound as a general plan?¡±
Haje seemed to consider the question for a moment. ¡°Hmm, yes. I see no issue with it. With my current Stats, the depth I reached before should not be an issue now.¡±
¡°Right, no time to waste then!¡± Jordan exclaimed. The sooner they could get to the other side, the sooner he could distract himself by focusing on the search for another potential Mandate. If he got lucky, maybe the System would even reward him with yet another Title for having a single Kingdom that controlled three different territories. Not that he really knew what territories were even good for yet, besides apparently alerting someone when they entered his turf.
Having already hopped off his drone, he sent a mental command for both it and the other land drones that had followed to gather underneath the sphere. Just like the one before, it was hovering a few feet from the ground. He also went ahead and dismissed his air drone too, since he knew that it wouldn¡¯t be able to cross anyway.
Jordan stepped up to the first drone and bent his knees to begin picking it up. Something that should be even easier than it had been before, thanks to his latest Title and its solid boost to his Strength. Yet just as he was lifting it above his chest, Jordan¡¯s companion took notice of what he was doing.
¡°Hmm? Let me help,¡± Haje offered before reaching for the drone. Jordan simply let it go, not even trying to fight against the decision the stone giant had already made. However, as he then lifted it up, the resulting sight was one that really reminded Jordan of just how big of a difference it made to be, well, big.
The way Haje picked up one of his land drones was almost comical. Something that reached up to Jordan¡¯s stomach was so relatively tiny in his hands. From that perspective alone, it looked more like a toy tank that a kid might bring to play with in the playground sandbox. This only proved to appear more true as he easily poked it into the portal, while his other arms grabbed the remaining land drones at the same time in what seemed to be rather casual multitasking.
¡°Huh, well, thank you. I¡¯ll see you on the other side in just a second then,¡± Jordan said as he touched the gateway. And in the next instant, he was on the other side. Once more, he fell by a few feet before his shoes landed on the ground below. He was greeted by warmth, and glanced up to see that the sun¡¯s location here was still just shy of its midpoint in the sky.
The sound of the ocean waves gently hitting the beach was the first thing he heard upon crossing the portal. Something which made Jordan only then realize that the portals didn''t carry sound to the other side.
They let the wind and any scents it carried through just fine, but for some odd reason, all forms of sound was where it drew the line. Perhaps it was due the the same reason that caused his connection to his air drone to be forcibly desummoned when it tried to enter. Yet, who could say for certain? The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
But not that he was here; Jordan was quick to note a few things. The first was the beach itself, or to be more specific, the sand it was comprised of. It was a dark grey, almost black color. And now that he was standing on the other side, there was a scent in the air that hadn¡¯t been carried by the breeze that went through the portal. One that was rather metallic, and left a very mild but lingering taste in his mouth.
Yet if that wasn¡¯t big enough of a hint, what this sand is made from was pretty much confirmed when Jordan looked at the land drones that had been deposited to this side of the portal. Pulled to its metal body were clumps of the dark sand.
It¡¯s a whole beach of magnetic sand! No¡ not sand, Jordan thought to himself as he picked up a handful, and closely inspected it. Meanwhile, Haje had already sent through the last land drone and also fell through the gateway with a heavy landing.
There were a couple of different materials that could be branded as ¡°magnetic sand.¡± Which Jordan was fairly familiar with them because magnetism itself was awesome, and those packets of stuff were always fun to mess around with. But one good look at the handful itself was enough for him to be fairly confident that it was iron filings. Or just iron powder, to put it another way.
Now, was it the safest thing to be constantly around without nose protection? Not really, since even at the very moment, he was probably breathing in trace amounts of the stuff. But even without taking the potential benefit against such poisoning from his Stats into account, it wasn¡¯t really an issue. As far as Jordan knew, it was less a risk of him dropping dead at any moment, and more a long-term thing from weeks of constant exposure.
He looked around. As Haje simply stomped toward the calm water, already acting on his intended goal, Jordan watched him for a moment. The stone giant just walked into the ocean, the bottom of his legs sinking into the powder but seemingly having zero issues with just wading through it. Then Haje¡¯s body steadily began to disappear under the water, as each movement forward took him deeper and deeper into the ocean¡¯s embrace.
Jordan waved him off. ¡°Happy hunting!¡±
Haje didn¡¯t say anything in return, but raised an arm over up to wave him back. A gesture that made Jordan wonder if Haje¡¯s people also had waving as a thing, or if he¡¯d seen and mimicked him. While the latter would require him to be able to see from the back of his head, the lack of actual eyes made anything technically possible in terms of how he could see.
In any case, Jordan did the usual maneuver of summoning a new air drone first. As for the land drone smashed by Haje, that one had been replaced a while back. So now his fleet of drones had hit a new record of exactly half a dozen that were ready and waiting for his commands. Which he then gave in the form of the standard order to hunt for any creatures and then do the usual signal if they found anything else.
All except for one land drone, which had been singled out as the unlucky pick for something he quickly wanted to test out. Were they waterproof? If so, that would open up the possibility to also drive into the ocean and find some sea creatures to shoot at. So, he promptly gave it the order to go straight into the calm sea water and¡ no.
It turned out that the land drones were, in fact, not waterproof. Jordan¡¯s initial worry was that the barrels would prove to be the point of failure, but it didn¡¯t even come to that. The moment the power cell crystals alongside the base of the twin guns were fully underwater, Jordan heard a popping noise. One that was very, very quickly followed up by bubbles of boiling water immediately around the drone.
¡°Oh shit!¡± Jordan exclaimed with wide eyes. Expecting an imminent kaboom, he was quick to cut off his supply of TP to the drone. And just in case that wasn¡¯t enough, he also gave it the order to shut down its core, just to be certain.
Of course, only being a few steps away from the gateway meant that he could easily just leap back to the base of the mountain. Something which he promptly did, in case it was too late and an explosion was about to happen anyway. From the other side of the portal, Jordan gave it a count of ten. Even if the sound of a big kaboom didn¡¯t get carried through, the heat and pressure wave definitely should. But even after ten seconds, and then some more to be safe, passed, there was still no blast.
Jordan then decided to pop back onto the beach. The land drone was still there, notably not in smithereens and spread out as a thousand pieces of shrapnel. Though the water around it was still boiling, at what seemed to be the same rate as before. After staring at it for a few seconds while still ready to jump back into the portal, he finally allowed himself a sigh and relaxed his tense body.
Okay, duly noted. They are not waterproof, and the outer power cells do not like being submerged. Will have to find out later if that¡¯s just a property of what¡¯s likely saltwater, or if it¡¯d be the same way in that freshwater river as well back home. Though when it comes to diving, I doubt the air drone would do much better underwater. So no grinding Experience Points from sea creatures in the near future for me, it looks like, he concluded.
However, he imagined that it might not be that way forever. If the System provided him access to a land drone and an air drone, then who was to say that a water drone wasn¡¯t in the cards as a potential new Skill? It almost had to, to at least be a full set. Even if he didn¡¯t end up picking it since underwater drones wouldn¡¯t help much in literally any other environment.
As an alternative, the multiple shapes option for his land drone¡¯s Fundamental Evolution might have also been a solution. Maybe instead of a tank, one of those shapes could have been a submarine or boat mode? Well, when it came to that evolution, it was no use in regretting a ship that would remain forever sailed. Pun fully intended.
Well, at least I learned something new about how my drones work today. Something that the System didn¡¯t automatically give me from using it, or by exploring its functions while Tinker added to knowing how the different parts worked. Now¡ if I ever wanted to do Operation: Self Destructing Drones Go Boom As A Final Fuck You, I guess I could explore dumping them with water as an idea?
Jordan just stretched his arms as he contemplated the thought. Whatever he planned would need to be deployable under three conditions: mid-combat, far away from him, and automatically triggered without his input. Obviously, the ideal would be something that put a checkmark next to all three. But in the meantime¡
Now kneeling, he proceeded to begin scooping the iron powder straight into his pocket space. While his Jordans did their thing, he intended to take as much of it as he could. If he could refine it as properly usable material through the Industrial Transmuter, then it meant that Jordan was already sitting on a metric ton of iron.
A few minutes passed as he just continued to shovel the material into his pocket space. He didn¡¯t know exactly how much he¡¯d even collected at this point, bit already felt like quite a good bit. Jordan¡¯s intention had been to do for ten minutes, and then summon a new land drone to see if he could find a third Mandate to claim. However, that plan was then tossed out the window as he felt something.
Like on the mountain range, he¡¯d sent the air drone to specifically go on head to scout out the distance and direction where the Mandate might be from the portal. Yet after about six minutes of collecting iron powder, he felt his mental connection get cut off. Jordan immediately looked up, and stared in that direction. He then got back up to his feet. While there was the chance it¡¯d been desummoned from getting destroyed by some monster, there were also the orders he¡¯d given it.
And that was to desummon itself if it spotted anything he considered a built structure, or recognized as a sapient Species.
Chapter 53: Hills and Hill Moles
Jordan peered out from on top of a large mound of dirt. While the beach of iron powder stretched across the entire length of the ocean, which was further than he could see, that wasn¡¯t quite as true for the width of the beach itself. About a mile or so away from the coast, he found the hard line that acted as the border between iron powder and just regular old dirt. Specifically, dirt that was part of a hilly biome of hills and tall mounds.
Although, while the beach itself had been fairly serene, the hills did have their fair share of animals. This had been in the form of creatures that only be described as oversized moles of some kind. Large enough to be compared to a small car, and rather ugly with wrinkly skin that was mostly naked, save for seemingly random patches of fur.
Yet Jordan only observed with crossed arms as his land drone took down the eighth one he¡¯d seen by now. A kill that only took a single shot from its twin guns and didn¡¯t even require the use of Overcharge to strengthen the energy blasts. As soon as it fell to the ground, dead, he opened his Status to see where it¡¯d put him.
EXP: 1559/5625
Bunch of Level 4s, so far. Let¡¯s see¡ looking at the kill notification stack, it looks like there are a couple extra in there. Must be from one of my other drones either encountering more of them somewhere else, or another kind of creature.
As Jordan was looking at his Status, another Hill Mole popped out from a close by hole, which was just one of many from what had to be a whole tunnel network. And yes, from when he had used Appraise on one, the System uncreatively said that they were indeed called Hill Moles. It¡¯d also described them as being pack animals that were also very aggressive toward anything that intruded on their territory. So as soon the latest to come by had spotted them, steam-like breath immediately shot out of its nostrils as it moved to attack.
Before its attack could even begin, however, a blast of energy came at it from above. The Hill Mole screeched with pain, and instinctively tried to hide back in its hole. But the resummoned air drone did not let up, as it followed it down while still shooting down more energy bolts. With how large the tunnels were to accommodate their diggers, there was more than enough space for the air drone to keep firing even as its target tried to get deeper.
The drone then fired for the third time in a row with a bolt that pierced straight through the large creature¡¯s back. And that proved to be the finished blow as it stopped moving, dead. Jordan got another notification before he willed for the stack to be minimized again.
Experience Earned!
+56 EXP
Hmm. You know what, System? Don¡¯t fully condense them into a single stack. Instead, let¡¯s just keep these Experience notifications minimized until I actually look at them, please? I¡¯m kind of missing being able to see them as they roll in, Jordan thought to himself. At least this way, he could still see the individual notifications as they appeared, rather than automatically being added to a tiny stack whose number of total new pop-ups wasn¡¯t immediately obvious.
Now, why was Jordan even cleaning this Hill Moles up in the first place? His goal should have been to check out what was either a structure or people, right? Well, yes. Though with how flat and without obstacles the beach was, he had recognized that anything with superior vision had the chance to spot him before he noticed it in return. So that was why he had sought a different type of biome to go around through, if it provided him more cover.
It¡¯d initially been smooth sailing after he summoned a new land drone to ride on. When Jordan had encountered these hills, he thought he¡¯d gotten lucky and could just drive through them as the perfect environment to get a look at things while having some cover to hide behind. That was until he came across the Hill Moles.
Unfortunately, the holes that were basically everywhere and seemingly random in their placement had forced his drone to slow down before he fell into one. And it was this slowing down that gave them a chance to pop out of their tunnels, where they immediately started to get aggressive and attack. So until he either killed them all or just cleared out enough that he went through their area without more attacking, he had to take the slow route a bit and walk as his drones did all the dirty work.
Hmm, wonder how Haje is doing. At least he knows what I¡¯m doing, wait¡ would he know where to find me? It¡¯s not like I actually pointed out the direction the Mandate would be to him, once we got here. Hey, System. Is there literally any tangible benefit to being part of the same Guild? Like maybe a helpful sense of direction for other Guild members, now that I¡¯m asking for it? After all, there had been instances where the System only gave something out when actually prompted, and not before.
But from his questioning, a screen did then appear.
Guild: Industry
Leader: Jordan Joyner
Members: 2
Average Level: 5
Highest Grade: D
Note:
The full functionality of Guilds is unlocked through the increase of total members in a Guild. This is in addition to the average Level and highest Grade achieved amongst all active members.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Ohhh, okay then, this is definitely something. Let¡¯s see¡ Haje already got us the boost from him already being in D Grade. So that should have already unlocked at least something good, right? Jordan asked as he tried to will for the System to give him more. Which it did, but instead of it being another screen to start, it was a tingling sensation from the palm of his hand.
He looked down at the hand that had the mark for his pocket space. And as he focused on it, Jordan was then hit with an influx of understanding. His eyes narrowed as he took it all in, but after he processed it, his lips curled upward.
Holy shit, we have a shared pocket space for the Guild! Jordan mentally exclaimed as his eyes twinkled with the possibilities that had now been opened up. First thing first, it had to be pointed out that there were certain restrictions to this ability. But as far as limits went¡ they were far more kind than what Jordan would have implemented if he¡¯d been the one to design this and try to balance it.
This Guild-only pocket space acted like it was called, as in just for the Guild itself. It wasn¡¯t like Jordan now had direct access to Haje¡¯s stuff, or vice versa. But they could both, from anywhere and at any time, separately put their things into the Guild¡¯s shared inventory. Now as the Guild leader, Jordan sensed that he did have some power over this. Such as being able to let Haje put stuff in, but not take anything back out.
Yet while he could implement something like that now, he chose not to, because that wasn¡¯t really necessary when it was still just the two of them. But as their Guild likely grew in the future, it would be handy to have the ability to micromanage what random people could and could not take. Because yes, it even went detailed enough to let him restrict specific items.
But for how it actually functioned, Jordan took out a bit of cloth. It was just a random object to use as the practical test in order to experience it for himself. He then just focused on the Guild¡¯s pocket space, which caused the tattoo on his palm to tingle. Then as if he were putting it inside his own, he pushed the cloth into his palm, and watched it disappear in an instant. Then while still focusing on wanting the Guild inventory, he pulled it back out, stopped focusing on it, and put it inside his own pocket space again. And¡ that was it.
The only other thing of real note was that knowing what was in the pocket space at all times was something only he as the leader got to know. Anyone else would just have to already be aware of what they wanted to pull out, and hoped they¡¯d been given permission to do.
Man, there¡¯s no way this isn¡¯t busted as it is now, right? Like imagine being an archer in a Guild, and there was someone else who crafted your arrows. They could just put in the shared inventory, and you can just keep pulling them out as basically an infinite supply! Like how is that not broken as Hell from a balance perspective, without any general limits from the System on how much or how often you can take stuff out? Jordan questioned, before he then took a peak at the small number of notifications in the corner of his eye.
Experience Earned!
+56 EXP
Experience Earned!
+56 EXP
Experience Earned!
+56 EXP
Meanwhile, his land and air drone were still cleaning up the remaining beasts. Jordan approached one of the corpses, and took out a blade from his pocket space. While the Hill Moles themselves were way too big to just shove whole into his pocket space, he might as well take at least some to try. Who knew, maybe they would prove to actually taste pretty good when cooked? Or at least he hoped, since the Bark Snakes he¡¯d been eating lately were just a bit too chewy for his liking.
In any case, it was just a few more Hill Moles until the last energy blasts were fired. Something which brought him to a nice new total of 1951 EXP. As another minute then passed without any more popping out from the tunnels, Jordan had collected plenty of their meat. When it came to cutting through chunks of flesh, having a Strength of 37 did quite a bit to make the process easier.
At this point, he¡¯d already collected enough to be comparable to buying a whole hog or small cow from a farm. So as long as it tasted good, Jordan had now secured enough meat to last him for months. Now he just needed to follow up on his earlier idea to find some edible plants and such at some point, and a healthy diet would be secured.
He did still feel a bit bad that the vast majority of the Hill Moles, along with nearly everything his drones had killed on their patrols, would be left to rot. But perhaps some scavengers would come by to not let these corpses fully go to waste. Although, back in the forest, any scavengers over there would have also been shot by his drones if ever spotted by now, so¡
With the Hill Moles seemingly cleared out, Jordan brushed his clothes. Despite an attempt to be careful, some blood and such had still gotten on him. Though after realizing that brushing it off wasn¡¯t really helpful, he elected to just put them through the Industrial Transmuter instead. While it was a low task for such an awesome machine, it wasn¡¯t his fault that it also acted as both the perfect washer and dryer.
And with that thought now tucked into his head for after he returned to his base, he ran past the last of the holes, and then hopped onto his land drone to keep riding.
Let¡¯s see, it can¡¯t be too far now. Probably another mile or so, from how long it too for the drone to desummon itself, Jordan thought to himself. He tried to keep an open mind and acknowledge the possibility that it might have just gotten destroyed by either a flying creature or something with range. Yet, with how close it¡¯d gotten to where the next Mandate would be if the pattern so far held true, he had a feeling.
One that didn¡¯t take much longer to be proven as Jordan approached his destination. He hopped back off his drone, and got down on his hands and knees. Now just behind the top of a hill, he stared down at the beach before him. In the middle of it was a metal dome, one that was definitely constrained to the same overall size limits as his own Kingdom¡¯s building.
The beach around it was still one of iron powder, but even before seeing any of the dome¡¯s residents, he could already tell who¡¯d be living in it. For all around the dome was a chaotic series of holes, like a large creature¡¯s fangs had repeatedly been pushed into the powder.
That¡ or the tell-tale sign of the pointed legs of the giant Crabs.
Chapter 54: Simple Crab Hunt
Jordan studied the metal structure and watched for any potential movement. At this point, both of his drones were patrolling the area behind him and to his sides. If someone came out of the dome and looked up, he didn¡¯t want them to spot the air drone flying directly overhead. But at least this way, he could have the confidence of knowing that nobody was currently sneaking up on him. So he lay there, still observing while now fully flat on his stomach.
Yet the question was¡ what was his plan here?
If it¡¯s a Crab or a group of them¡ should I send my drone to attack while I go far away? Or should I at least try to talk to them first? I know that they¡¯re sapient too, so attacking first while unprovoked would morally be the same as any other person. But when if they are aggressive and do some spiel of sacrificing myself to their Prince like the other one, then- Jordan felt his train of thought come to a sudden stop, go flying in the air, and then do a sick flip before landing on a new track.
Do I even need to let them know that I¡¯m here in order to communicate? If the System allows for the translation of our spoken words, then what about reading? Because if they have screens with text on them like mine doesn¡¯t, then they should be able to read, right? He asked himself with lips pursed in deep thought.
However, Jordan could already see a few alternative explanations. Like that they couldn¡¯t read, and so the seemingly all-powerful System just did something other than text-based screens instead. Or that they could, but then the System didn¡¯t actually do that form of translation. But luckily for him, this was one of those situations where it didn¡¯t hurt to at least test something out. If he sent a note ahead and they couldn¡¯t read it, then he lost nothing from it.
It only took a few more minutes until Jordan spotted movement. In the meantime, he¡¯d already taken his notebook out of his pocket space, tore a page of paper from it, and then wrote out a message. The message itself was nothing too complicated, just an introduction using only his name and Species with nothing else about himself mentioned. And then an offer asking if their Kingdom would be open to friendly relations with him.
But from behind the dome, a single Crab stepped into view. Something which seemed to at least indicate that the entrance to the dome was on the opposite side from where he was currently looking.
From around the side so as not to give away the direction of his position, Jordan then ordered his drone to fly toward at a steady and hopefully non-threatening pace. Hanging directly from the barrel of its gun was the piece of paper, which hopefully would be recognized before the Crab tried to destroy the drone and the message along with it.
Thankfully, the method to deliver the note wasn¡¯t a waste of time. Rather than immediately attack, the Crab definitely noticed the drone as it slowly approached. Without saying a word, it just stared before silently pulling off the piece of paper. Even when using a full page, the paper still looked like a tiny scrap in the single claw it was being held in. Jordan had at least taken that into consideration by making the text far larger than he usually would, but hopefully, that would be enough to make it eligible.
Seconds passed as the vertically long eyes of the Crab just stared at the message. Jordan wasn¡¯t sure to fully make of the lack of a real reaction so far. But the fact that it was still looking at it was a sign that it was actually reading it, right? Or at least that¡¯s what he was hoping. Finally, the Crab tossed the paper aside, which was already not the best of signs. Yet then it grabbed the drone in the grip of its giant claw, and immediately crushed it into a small ball of ruined scrap metal. After doing so, the Crab turned back toward where it¡¯d come from.
¡°Oi! Lads! There¡¯s another one of those Humans in the area! Who wants to hunt it down and take it away with the last ones to catch up with Emmeline? For the honor of aiding the gathering of more delicacies to be offered to the Golden Prince?!¡± The British-sounding Crab called out to what was confirmed to be definitely more Crabs inside the dome.
Last ones? Delicacies for their Prince? Jordan asked himself with narrowed eyes. But as the Crab was turned away, he cautiously moved backward. As far as intentions went, that was already more than enough for him to go ahead and make a decision about what to do next.
Then as soon as he was far enough down the hill that it wouldn¡¯t see him if he stood up, he did so and hopped onto his land drone. The moment his hands were secured to it, he immediately had it drive away at top speed. It was fortunate that the Crab was a couple of hundred feet away and that his land drone drove with relatively little noise, so it shouldn¡¯t notice the sound from afar as it just moved over dirt.
From the other side of the hill, Jordan heard more loud talking, now coming from multiple Crabs. But as he quickly drove away, making out their words was just as quickly hard to do. Yet from the first statement before, their intent was clear enough.
Jordan had given them the benefit of the doubt and gone with a friendly greeting, even if it meant losing his first chance for a sneak attack. But if they wanted to hunt him down with the intent to capture and take him away somewhere? Then fine, he could have no trouble with extending a similar policy.
For his own questions about the taken Humans, he only needed to capture one of the Crabs alive in return to interrogate it. The rest could be hunted down as they tried to hunt him. With that single thought, Jordan called his remaining land drones to him and summoned a new air drone. From how long it would take his other drones to gather together, it wouldn¡¯t take more than a few minutes until they were all assembled.
And if the Crabs were away from the base to start searching for him in the meantime, then that would be all the better for what was about to come next.
Benedict Knight was a proud Crab. Before the birth of the Eternal Golden Prince, he had hailed from what the people of Earth would consider to be an equivalent to a minor nobility in the system of a medieval kingdom. Though that had stopped mattering while Benedict himself was relatively young, since the moment the Golden Prince was born, all concepts of nobility and social structure were destroyed. Even before their glorious and divine ruler had spoken his very first words, the people had hailed him as a living god and promptly renamed their entire world to honor him.
Before their Prince, all were equally worthless and valuable at the same time. Worthless in how all their lives combined would be worth nothing if put on a scale next to his. Yet valuable at the same time, for any act that aided the Prince in what he asked of them would always be considered a holy one. There were no greater joys than when a chef felt when the Golden Prince ate their food, then what a craftsman felt when he used what they¡¯d made, then what a painter felt when he admired their work for even just a moment.
And despite his nobility meaning nothing and his family becoming equal to the common masses, Benedict felt no different than anyone else. How could he? In the last few decades of the Golden Prince being alive, none had felt even a shred of ill will against him. Even their most vile and wretched criminals had turned into saints with the hope that they could contribute to society and become redeemed. The very concept of feeling anything other than zealous love for their Prince was a foreign one to them all. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
In fact, they didn¡¯t even imagine such a thing to be possible. That was, however, until all the Crabs of their world were instantly and suddenly transported to this one. So it was that as Benedict searched for the mysterious Human who¡¯d sent that note, just a single thought was on his mind.
How could these Humans not see the glory of offering their lives to the service of the Golden Prince? What could possibly have compelled the last group especially to go so far as to fight back and escape, rather than embrace the honor of being personally requested by his majesty himself? Are these Humans simply evil, or are these creatures simply born without the brains needed to understand the love of being wanted by the Prince? Benedict asked himself as his legs quickly moved along the beach.
That last idea would be particularly sad, if true. He didn¡¯t even want to imagine what it must be like to not exist with a heart like that. Perhaps for such beings, death truly was a mercy.
Focusing back on the task at hand, Benedict took a look around. At this point, both he and the other had been searching for a little while now. Yet there were still no signs of the mysterious Human who¡¯d sent the message. All they knew was that he had introduced himself as Jordan, something which did bring the Crab a moment of pause.
Could it be the same Jordan as the one listed so high up on the Mightiest Individual leaderboard? The one who would be at a higher Level than his entire group, including Florence? He was the Crab who was both their group¡¯s leader and the one who had claimed the Mandate as per Prince¡¯s instructions. All Kingdoms were to be claimed in his name until such time that all their Lords could reasonably meet the Prince at the same time. From there, he would claim all the Kingdoms in one fell swoop.
While all the Crabs already recognized these Kingdoms as being ¡°his,¡± this would ensure that the Prince would become their sole ruler all at once and become the indisputable king of this entire planet. Benedict did not question this strategy. He simply believed that if it was the Prince¡¯s plan, then there must be an infinite amount of wisdom behind it that he could never comprehend.
Not, it couldn¡¯t him. Such a man would surely be out slaying higher Level prey, like those elementals to the East. It¡¯s the only way he and the others up there could hope to compete for the number two spot. Naturally, the thought of anyone beating the Prince to take the top place did not even cross his mind as a possibility.
In any case, he had so far failed to find any signs of either the Human himself or any tracks his strange two legs might have left behind. Yet Benedict hadn¡¯t been confident that he would be the one to find the Human anyway. That would most likely belong to another Crab in their group with the Tracker Class.
His responsibility was one of a different purpose. A purpose that many Crabs had felt would be needed when first brought to this world, even when frozen by the System without the means to share the idea. They had simply come to the same conclusion, knowing that it would be imperative to hear the orders of the Golden Prince so that they might obey.
Benedict was a Telepath. And with a Skill that scaled only with Will, he had invested every single point possible to increase the Stat as much as he could. Then with a bunch of other Crab Telepaths that had been spread out, it hadn¡¯t taken them long until their ranges started to intersect, and a communication network was born.
Though that had just been the starting point. As far as Benedict was aware, a more reliable means of communication had already been established. One that was not between individual Crabs, but between their entire Guild. And since all Crabs could receive the request from afar, the current network still had its use in spreading out the invitations to have everyone join.
But as a Telepath, he needed to be the one to establish the connection. Once it was started, then it could be a two-way street between him and the one on the other side. Yet maintaining had a resource upkeep, which meant that it couldn¡¯t be done indefinitely. Yet getting his resource regeneration up to that point was his most immediate goal.
He decided to go ahead and use the Skill in question to check on his fellow Crabs. Starting with the Tracker, perhaps one of them had found better luck in finding and capturing the Human yet. Benedict then used the Skill, focusing on the person that he knew for sure would still be somewhere within its maximum range.
And he found¡ nothing. The Skill didn¡¯t work, as if the targeted Crab simply wasn¡¯t there for it to lock onto. Now a bit confused, Benedict stopped moving and stood still by the calm waters of the beach. He tried again, now focusing on a different member of their group. Once more, the Skill failed to find the intended target.
One by one, Benedict continued to fail to use his Skill. He looked around with a mix of both confusion of weariness. While a bit of time had passed, he didn¡¯t think any of them had gone outside the range of his Skill. Not when its maximum range was quite large, and all of them should have kept it in mind while moving around.
There were only two members of his group that he had yet to contact. The first was Emmeline, who had left with the captured Humans from before. She was still in range despite the time that had passed, which seemed to indicate the Humans themselves must have been slowing her down with their inferior number of legs. Then there was the on-paper leader of their Kingdom, Florence. Now feeling quite worried, Benedict tried to contact him.
However, yet again, there was no response from the Skill.
¡°Bloody¡ what is going on?¡± Benedict muttered out loud. He turned back toward the direction of their Kingdom.
Should he go back? Benedict wished he had a way to make use of the shared pocket space for the Guild to express his concerns through it. Yet their group didn¡¯t have writing tools. He was certain that some Crabs were likely crafting some to spread around, and just haven¡¯t shared some with them yet. Not that he would complain, since the prioritization of supplies would surely be a decision made by the Golden Prince.
From behind him, there was the sound of something quickly moving through the air. Benedict only noticed it at the last second, which was already a second too late. An unknown projectile then shot into the back of his body, and burning pain was as immediate as it was fierce.
¡°Gah!¡± Benedict cried out. He looked down to see that there was even more pain, but also coming from the front. It took just a moment for the Crab to glance down and see the hole that had been pierced all the out through the frontside of his large body. Yet at that exact same moment, a whole set of projectiles were piercing into him next.
Waves of agony reverberated throughout his very being. Some of the attacks were aimed at his legs, cutting clean through them and causing the giant Crab to fall. Benedict tried to reach for his pocket space, but then another attack came. One that he now saw as a bolt that moved so quickly that it¡¯d almost just been a blur. Before he could interact with the pocket space, however, this bolt cut off his claw with perfect precision. Precision that was just as quickly matched by another bolt that also aimed at the relatively thin piece that attached the large claw to the rest of his body.
More bolts then pierced through him. With an Endurance that was only supported by his natural starting point, it barely made a difference. If there was one saving grace for the Crab, it was that the pain quickly grew so great that his body started to become totally numb.
Yet in a surprise attack that had taken all of just a few seconds, all of his limbs had been severed. No blood poured out, for better or worse, as the wounds had been cauterized by the same bolts that created them. Now only weakly breathing while on his back, Benedict was staring up at the blue sky above.
A cold shiver then went across him as he felt someone use Appraise on him. Yet rather than try to look for the source, Benedict could only try to channel his Skill one more time. The pain, even when numbed, would make focusing on it difficult. But if he could just warn Emmeline-
Like the harbinger of death, a small object moved in front of the sun. With aim adjusted straight for where the Crab¡¯s brain would be, it shot out one last bolt. Before he could even finish channeling the Skill, Benedict fell limp, already dead.
Initial Merger Slain!
Doubled Experience Earned!
+78 EXP
Jordan briefly glanced at the notification as he looked at the corpse of the Crab riddled with holes. His initial intention had been to interrogate it first, even if it ended up being like the last couple he decided to question. Even when on death¡¯s door, the only words they¡¯d answered with was a refusal to betray their Golden Prince. Yet the moment he had used Appraise, killing the Crab as soon as possible had instead become his immediate priority.
No way was he going to risk letting a Telepath poke around his mind.
Chapter 55: Starting a Different Kind of Hunt
Jordan inspected the Advancement Crystal in his hand for a moment. With that last Crab slain, he¡¯d collected a total of 15 today. Something which also came with the bonus of a generous helping of Experience Points. Almost all the Crabs had been Level 3, save for their leader, who¡¯d been Level 4. So when you put all that together plus the doubled amount for slaying Initial Mergers¡
EXP: 3155/5625
More than halfway to Level 7 now, he thought to himself. Now that he knew from Haje that D Grade and the ability to unlock his Sublcass were only a few more Levels away, Jordan hoped to get there quickly. He didn¡¯t think that it was unreasonable to believe that selecting Artificer as a Subclass would be a great aid in furthering his ability to create his own drones.
Heck¡ he should be able to double-check what its Skills looked like, just to remind himself. So with the Crabs now taken care of, Jordan took a moment to do just that through a mental request with the System. A moment later, a new screen popped up before him.
Active:
Skill: Build Drone
Grade: E1
Scaling: Wisdom, Intelligence
Description: Craft a type of drone from a set of starter recipes for various kinds of tasks. The type and resources required depend on the model and quality of the chosen recipe.
Base Cost: Varies
Oh yeah, that¡¯ll be the good stuff. I¡¯m going to assume that all the recipes will be in my head, from how it¡¯s all worked so far. So then there are two possibilities: the models for the recipes are either the same or different from my current summons. But even if it¡¯s latter, I should be able to take all the details and apply it to creating my own version of the land drone still. Heck, from the way it talks about starting with a whole set of recipes¡ His thoughts trailed off as the possibilities danced within the forefront of his mind.
Granted, Jordan didn¡¯t know for sure if the Skill themselves would be the same. There was the chance that the Class and Subclass format was simply a choice of which one you wanted to have first. Or it could just as easily be something where the Subclass was more limited, instead of potentially doubling your total Skills, assuming you never gained a new one before then. With Haje¡¯s own Class restriction, there would be no way for him to know, however. At least not until Jordan reached it himself, which would hopefully come sooner than later.
Hmm, speaking of Haje, I should probably reserve one of these gems for him. Still dunno if I¡¯ll even be able to save up the x needed to get Summon Land Drone to E5 before I reach Level 11. But either way, all he should need is one to get another evolution for his Skill. In fact, he should only need 11 gems to get his Skill up to E5 for himself. So that could be done the moment after I meet back up with him. Hmm.
He needed a moment to think about that one. On the one hand, he could see two immediate pros. That would be the ability to quickly satisfy his curiosity to see if reaching E5 brought anything special, like the Fundamental Evolution at Grade E3. And even if it didn¡¯t, it would still allow his new friend and sole citizen of his Kingdom to become even stronger. Perhaps, if he wasn¡¯t already, the bonuses the evolutions brought might make Haje the most powerful Initial Merger on the whole planet.
Yet on the other hand, there was a reason why Jordan had been weary to tell Haje about the Advancement Crystals before. And while they¡¯d called each other friends now, all one had to do was take one look at humanity to know how greed could easily make friends and family alike tear each other apart. This was along with the fact that they¡¯d still only known each other for just a few hours at this point.
If Haje were to attack him now, Jordan believed that he could at least get away. Especially now that he once again had a set of these gems. Since Jordan could pick from the different options they provided and make use of their one-time effects in a pinch. However, if each evolution made Haje¡¯s Stats more inflated, would the gems even help if he turned on Jordan right after gaining two free evolutions?
Shaking his head, Jordan decided to move on from that question. It would continue to stew in the back of his mind, but he didn¡¯t need to make a decision until he at least met up with the stone giant in question again. So for now, he could just think about something else instead. For example, right before he put the new Advancement Crystal away, he felt a bit disappointed. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
I tried to ask some of the other Crabs about the people they captured, but none of them ended up willing to talk. But it was just my luck that out of all of them, the one I killed last was a Telepath. Assuming he has some kind of mind reading or even mind control Skill, I might have been able to use it on one of the others. Haaaaah, damn it. Now I wish Appraise didn¡¯t alert the target; then I would have been able to use it on all of them. Would have been as easy staying hidden from afar as they came out. But¡ no. Jordan sighed as he regretted not being able to learn anything.
Though at least some of the Crabs had been wearing armor, and all of them had owned at least one item of some kind. Jordan did find it interesting that some of them had been given equipment to wear, compared to every person in his group at least getting something. But perhaps that was the System being at least kind enough to recognize that Humans generally needed clothes, while maybe that wasn¡¯t the standard for Crabs?
However, while he¡¯d been glad to loot them, they had unfortunately not dropped anything of use regarding the captured Humans. All Jordan had to go off was a single name: Emmeline.
At the very least, I know a couple of things. The first is that Appraise listed them as already being members of the main Guild for the Golden Prince. One that I can only assume has unlocked a ton of stuff by now if their coordination for claiming Kingdoms is anything to go. Plus just how it¡¯s already listed as the top Guild. And then the second is that¡ we¡¯re not just food, but ¡°delicacies¡± to them. And if they¡¯re taking people alive instead of just transporting the corpses by keeping them fresh inside a pocket space, I¡¯m not sure if I even want to know the end result of that.
But even so, he could make a guess on what it meant. And if he was right, Jordan felt that if given the choice of being taken dead or alive, it¡¯d be an easy one to make. Though in his humble opinion, he would much rather never end up in that kind of situation to begin with. On that pleasant note, Jordan hopped onto his land drone and drove back to the Crabs¡¯ home. Or rather, what would soon be called a new extension of his Kingdom.
Several minutes later, he hopped back off the drone. The iron powder directly around the dome now had even more holes from fresh Crab tracks. Yet now that he was approaching the building itself, Jordan noticed something that he hadn¡¯t from afar. They were faint and mixed with the Crab tracks directly around the dome itself. But going in a somewhat straight line away from the dome was another set of tracks.
Humans shoes.
Even when away from where the Crabs had moved around, they were still rather faint. Likely just due to the passage of time and the wind shifting the powder of the beach, he assumed. Yet while they were even harder to see in some places than others, it was still enough for him to know where they¡¯d been going. Moving directly away from the dome¡¯s only entrance, they had actually just kept walking along the beach. Had Jordan initially investigated the area from another angle than his position by the hills, he probably would have seen them a lot sooner.
Jordan kneeled down. They¡¯re a¡ day old, maybe? Or- ah screw it, I have no damn idea. But definitely looks like a whole group of people. All sorts of designs for the soles of the boots, so that at least helps to differentiate them. Maybe around five people, from the looks of it. Anyway, guess there¡¯s only one thing that I need to do first, then.
He glanced back at the dome. When Jordan had slain the only Level 4 amongst the Crabs, he had received an additional pop-up. Compared to just the usual notification, it¡¯d stood out clearly from the rest.
Lord slain!
Kingdom Mandate claimed: Golden Empire of the Eternal Golden Prince (Rank 1)
Note!
The slain Lord¡¯s Mandate has automatically been absorbed. But to claim the corresponding Kingdom, the user must do so within its center. In addition, any living subjects of the slain Lord¡¯s Kingdom will be notified of the transfer of ownership.
As far as the order of events went, the System had helpfully made it clear for him. If he didn¡¯t want to warn the last Crab escorting the Humans, the Kingdom claiming would need to wait a minute. Though even if that hadn¡¯t been the case, he still would have gone to help them out first. Because even if claiming the Kingdom only delayed him by a minute, the right thing to do would be to leave immediately.
Promptly hopping back on his drone, Jordan sought to do just that. While he didn¡¯t know how long it¡¯d been since they left, he did know something else. His land drone could drive a lot faster than a single group of captured people could ever walk. And when as he ordered to look ahead, his air drone would be able to fly even faster than that.
Unless the Golden Prince¡¯s stronghold happened to be a lot closer than he would ever want it to be, Jordan believed that there was still every chance he could catch up to them.
Chapter 56: The Rescue
Along a beach of dark sand, Sammy walked. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that she and three others were trudging. They¡¯d been moving almost non-stop since yesterday by now. They hadn¡¯t even been allowed a wink of sleep over the night. Not when the giant Crab leading them had initiated that they simply keep moving instead. And with a stain of dried blood still on one of its claws, none of them had dared to protest.
Her feet were basically numb from the constant walking. Each step forward at this point was forced. Long-dried tears were on her cheeks as Sammy¡¯s brain focused on just the willpower to keep moving one foot in front of the other. To her right were the others, while the Crab led from the front.
The early days of the Merging had not been kind to them. Before getting transported here, Sammy had been out at a steakhouse for dinner with her boyfriend. But when the System had taken the two of them away, they¡¯d been plopped here with 28 other people. However, to say that they had originally been part of a group of 30 could be considered inaccurate. Mainly due to what happened within mere moments of being unfrozen by the System.
Despite it being incredibly warm and sunny, Sammy still shivered a bit at the fresh memory. Of how 25 people had quickly fallen to the ground, clutching their stomachs in pain. Out of the three total Healers, two had been the ones to fall victim, including her boyfriend. What came after that had been¡ painful, to say the least.
The one Healer still standing had done his best to help. The others, like her, had done all they could in terms of at least trying to look around for water and such. But they were ultimately useless and could rely on just a single person with a healing Skill. Of the 25 victims, however, he only managed to save a few and stabilize them.
As for Sammy¡¯s boyfriend and the other Healer? They had each tried to use their own Skills as much as they could. Then when someone discovered the pocket spaces and the starting equipment inside them, the two Healers also used their items until they ran out of energy.
But even with the third Healer¡¯s assistance as well, all it did in the end was draw out their ultimate demise. Whenever Sammy closed her eyes, she could still see the look of pure agony on her boyfriend¡¯s face. Could still hear the moans and crying, that eventually turned into begging between ragged breaths for someone to just put him out of his misery.
Then to make a terrible situation even worse, they were attacked. It was by a single monster that Appraise had called an Earth Elemental Lord. Compared to that Level 19 monstrosity, the small group of Level 1 Humans might as well have been bugs.
If there was one saving grace, it¡¯d been that the monster was slow. Either that, or it¡¯d only been mildly interested in killing them all, but not enough to put in any real effort. Yet even so, the few people who were healed from whatever mystery condition killed so many ended up dying anyway, rendering all that effort for naught. Still suffering from the after-effects, they hadn¡¯t been able to run quite as fast as the others. So in the end, they ended up getting left behind as the rest of them sprinted away, not stopping until the Elemental was far, far out of sight.
After that, they¡¯d just tried to survive as best they could. Though many of them were still shell-shocked by what happened. From those that had been the worst off from whatever had killed from within¡ it was a reminder that there was a surprising amount of blood inside a person¡¯s body, most of which ended up outside. Sammy in particular had been hit hard, as she still couldn¡¯t fully believe that the man she¡¯d been hoping to marry soon was gone, just like that in such a terrible way.
Then yesterday, they had encountered the Crabs. Or rather, it¡¯d be more accurate to say that the Crabs had found the makeshift camp of the five survivors. The Crabs had offered them the chance to willingly become sacrifices, which they had soundly rejected by trying to flee the greater number of giant creatures. Yet before any of them managed to get away, a terrible headache hit Sammy hard. And then¡ the rest became a blur.
It was like she became separated from her physical body as it went into autopilot, following actions that didn¡¯t come from her. Instead, her consciousness felt like it ended up sinking into a murky river, only half aware of what was actually happening to her body in the real world. The same thing ended up happening to the other Humans, as their bodies ended up willingly following the Crabs around. They were eventually given the order to follow this one Crab, which they also did while their minds felt locked away and unable to act.
That was until they were a few hours of walking away from the rest of the Crabs. All at once, a sudden moment of clarity hit the five of them. Yet with the one Crab still ordering them to follow, none of them had been brave enough to try. Not when it towered over them with claws that looked like they could easily crush a person to death in their grip. Or at least, until last night.
With the Crab taking the lead and always walking ahead, one of them had tried to sneak away. When Sammy had noticed the man slowly yet steadily straying off to the left, she¡¯d realized what his plan was. She had tried to catch his eye with silent gestures, and then attempted to communicate that he shouldn¡¯t take the risk.
Yet he did it anyway. After steadily getting further and further away without drawing the Crab¡¯s notice, the man suddenly broke off in a run. Despite the distance already made, however, the Crab almost immediately noticed and turned toward him. Then in a furious rage, the Crab rapidly closed the distance with an almost unbelievable level of speed. And when it reached him, it swung at him with just a single claw.
And then¡ something strange happened. Something that took almost an hour, and ended up becoming the only break they¡¯d gotten so far to actually sit down and have a chance to rest.
The single blow from the Crab had killed the man. Sammy didn¡¯t see exactly how bad it¡¯d been from a distance, even if the bright stars above did a lot to keep the night from being totally dark. Yet she had seen the way he crumpled to the ground, and then never got back up. However, upon realizing its blow had killed him, the Crab began to sob aloud.
It apparently hadn¡¯t meant to kill him. After putting the body inside its own pocket space, the Crab took a full hour to cry forgiveness. Not from the man, but from the Golden Prince. With the desperation in the Crab¡¯s voice, Sammy could only imagine that this being had to be some kind of god they worshipped. From how much the Crab wailed and begged, one would have thought that it¡¯d just been forsaken for committing a grave sin. The words it used in its sobs asking for forgiveness were the kind of religious fervor that sounded like it could only come from a true zealot.
Despite its clear distraction, nobody else ended up trying to use it in an attempt to flee. Not after they saw just how quickly the Crab could move when it wanted to. And from the way it¡¯d ended the man¡¯s life by what it at least kept claiming to be an accident, fighting it wasn¡¯t an option they considered either. If that was an accidentally fatal blow, none of them wanted to even imagine what a strike with the actual intent to kill would look like.
So after the Crab eventually calmed down, they ended up continuing to follow it through the night and morning. At this point, they just didn¡¯t have much of a choice. Even if the Crab was more careful not to kill anyone who ran away, that didn''t mean it couldn¡¯t stop them. Sammy could only imagine what alternatives to ensure their compliance that might entail, and chose to just keep walking instead.
While they didn¡¯t know for how long this on-foot journey would continue, she could only hope that it wouldn¡¯t be for much longer. At this rate, just the never-ending walking might kill them before anything else did. As for what the end of this journey would entail? Well, if the Crabs were planning on sacrificing them, then she could only hope it¡¯d be a quick death. With the hole left in her heart and the pained screams of the man she loved still ringing in her ears, that was all she was even willing to hope for at this point.
That was simply her state of mind right now. At the lowest point of her life, just focused on walking because stopping would likely mean getting punished. Where even if they reached their ultimate destination, death was what seemed to await them anyway. Despite knowing that, she just felt too powerless and emotionally empty to do anything other than remain a helpless victim, being pulled by the far stronger currents from the river of fate. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!
And then, while still looking down at the ground directly in front of her, a shadow caught her eye.
Sammy looked up. She had to squint her eyes, as the thing casting the shadow was somewhere directly under the sun and thus hard to look at. But between the rough shape of the shadow and what she could see through the squinting, the object itself looked familiar. Something that was unexpectedly modern for the unknown and crazy world they¡¯d be forced into.
Is that a-? Before she could even finish the thought, there was a small flash of light. A single bolt flew down from the object. Sammy blinked as she flinched back, but then quickly realized that this bolt wasn¡¯t aimed at her. Nor was it aimed at any of the other people with her, for that matter.
The bolt shot at the Crab, whose back was still turned away from it, unaware of what was about to happen. The moment it pierced straight through its back, the Crab immediately cried out with pain and spun around.
¡°Which one of you bloody- wait, what¡¯s that?!¡± The Crab yelled; its rage only targeted at them for a moment before also noticing the thing flying high above.
The Crab then drew one of its claws back. Held within it was an item that Sammy hadn¡¯t dared to use Appraise on so far, in case the owner somehow noticed. But something that was then activated, as gusts of visible wind formed between its claws in the shape of a bow. The bow itself was oddly designed, forming between and around the shape of the claw.
Yet a bow it definitely was, because when the Crab then used its other claw to pull back the string, an arrow made from wind then formed. However, in the couple of seconds that it took for the Crab to do this, another bolt came flying down. But seemingly more ready for it, the Crab quickly dashed to the side and just barely managed to avoid it.
It then released the arrow, which in Sammy¡¯s eyes, flew at a speed that seemed a bit slower than the bolt. When the flying attack moved to the side to also successfully dodge the projectile, Sammy saw it more clearly. Her thought had been right; it was definitely some kind of drone.
Her eyes widened with disbelief as tears formed. Does that mean¡ someone¡¯s actually here to save us?
But then, as the Crab dashed closer to the small group of Humans to dodge another bolt, they quickly realized that just standing around would be a bad idea. With Sammy being one of the first to move as quickly as her sore legs allowed, they tried to make some distance between themselves and the sniper battle going on. The Crab didn¡¯t react to them moving away, as it was likely far too focused on the most immediate threat.
Aside from the first sneak attack, neither the Crab nor the drone managed to land a shot. Each one managed to dodge and return fire as a back-and-forth. As the Crab moved around, Sammy eventually noticed the hole that went clean through the center of its entire body. She only hoped that despite the lack of immediately obvious blood loss, the wound would eventually slow the Crab down.
However, the opposite happened instead. Seemingly becoming impatient with how its shots so far had missed, the Crab activated a Skill of some kind. More wind magic was summoned, but instead seemed to contained directly around its entire body as some sort of aura. The moment that aura was fully formed, the Crab¡¯s movements accelerated to the next gear. When another bolt came flying down, the Crab easily dodged it. Then as it returned fire, its claws moved with enough dexterity to send three arrows flying back in the time it¡¯d taken to fire one just before.
The drone managed to avoid two of the arrows, but failed to fully dodge the third. From the ground, Sammy cringed at the noise of metal being scratched. It¡¯d been by just barely, but even a glancing hit was a signal of the momentum that had now just been swung in the Crab¡¯s favor.
The last event was then repeated a few more times. The Crab easily avoided the bolt, before rapidly shooting a set of arrows where at least one would do a bit of damage. But on the fifth exchange since the Crab activated the Skill that¡¯d given it this advantage, one of its arrows finally landed more than just a glancing blow.
It was hard to see where it¡¯d landed at first. But when the drone came falling from the sky, Sammy then saw that the wind arrow was sticking right through one of its propellers. Seeming to believe that this wasn¡¯t enough, the Crab then let loose another three arrows. And with its ability to move away now crippled, all three stuck home right through the main body of the drone. However, instead of crashing into the ground, the drone then just disappeared into thin air.
Sammy looked around for a moment to see if she¡¯d missed its crash while blinking. But when she failed to see any evidence of it landing anywhere, it seemed to well and truly gone.
¡°Damn it. We should have attacked while that monster was distracted,¡± A man quietly said from several feet away. Daniel was his name, she believed. Though with how all out of sorts Sammy had been for the last few days, even something as relatively simple as keeping track of a few names was something she didn¡¯t feel confident in.
The Crab then deactivated the Skill it¡¯d been using, dispelling the aura of wind around its body. But then it stumbled in place, which was something they all noticed. Sammy didn¡¯t know if it was because of the wound, or simply an aftereffect of the Skill, but the Crab was definitely off-balance.
Not letting this chance slip by, Daniel then pulled something out from his own pocket space. A spear. Sammy¡¯s eyes widened as she shook her head.
¡°Don¡¯t do it, you¡¯ll get us all killed!¡± She quietly begged. Whoever sent the drone had to still be out there. If they just waited, another attack against the Crab would soon come. But didn¡¯t matter if they struck now before more help arrived; that¡¯d just be suicide.
Not heeding her, the shape of the spear changed in Daniel¡¯s hands. Its form shifted into something more like a javelin, which he then held back and prepared to throw. Sammy¡¯s gaze quickly looked between him and the Crab. The latter still wasn¡¯t looking at them as it was apparently remaining on the lookout for another drone or attack in general from the sky.
Sammy then looked at the other two survivors. They were Antonio, the last Healer who did his best to help. And then Kelley, an Enchanter whose Skills were entirely focused on crafting. Not really counting the Healer, the fact that Sammy was a Cryomancer meant that she was the only other one who could really fight if it came down to it. So if Daniel was already going to launch a ranged attack while the Crab was still distracted¡
You know what? Fuck it, Sammy thought as she gritted her teeth. If we¡¯re going to die now because he can¡¯t wait, then might as well die fighting.
From her own pocket space, she pulled her own starting item. Apparently not seeing them as actual threats, the Crabs hadn¡¯t even bothered to take their equipment. A fact that made it all the easier for Sammy to channel her grief and hurt, and turn those feelings into anger and spite. Nodding at her, Daniel took aim. At the same time, she raised her staff and began to channel Mana into a Skill.
With their timing now coordinated, both unleashed their attack at the same time. Daniel threw his spear as a reddish aura enveloped the weapon. While Sammy, using her staff as a conduit to empower the Skill, shot out a large and pointed cone of ice. The Crab turned as the attacks flew through the air, with the spear flying much faster and going ahead.
The Crab raised one of its claws to block the javelin. But with just a gesture, Daniel remotely changed its trajectory at the last moment, causing it still pierce into the Crab¡¯s body anyway. The cone of ice then slammed into the claw a moment later, but the larger projectile hit with enough force to yank its claw and crack the exterior.
¡°You! His majesty offered you the chance for something so great, and this is how you betray his kindness?!¡± The Crab angrily screamed. ¡°I will rip off your limbs and make your Healer stop the bleeding, if that¡¯s what it takes to deliver you savages alive!¡±
Blood trickled from both the Crab¡¯s claw and its central body. The javelin was still stuck from where it¡¯d partially managed to pierce through the Crab¡¯s shell. With another gesture from his hand, the javelin began to pull itself out. Yet the Crab just grabbed the weapon, and promptly snapped it in half with its claw.
¡°Ah, shit!¡± Daniel exclaimed as his face twisted with panic. Meanwhile, Sammy released another ice attack. This one, however, was seen way ahead of time and, as such, was easily avoided by the Crab.
Sammy swallowed. With that, their fate was already likely sealed. At least she could take pride in the fact that they¡¯d made the monster bleed and cracked its shell. Even when they were dead, it would still remember the pain they¡¯d inflicted today.
Yet even knowing that it was likely futile, she kept her staff ready and channeled another attack. She was feeling pissed. Both at the world for doing this to them, and the Crab that made for an easily justified target for her anger. If the Crab wanted her to stop fighting now, then it actually would have to tear her limbs off and prevent her from channeling more Skills.
But just as she was about to fire at the Crab starting to charge them, Sammy blinked. Because of that, she missed what happened in that split second. The next moment, all the Crab¡¯s movement came to an end as it fell to the ground. And where its head had been just that mere second ago, there was only¡ a very large hole.
¡°Hey! Are you guys alright?!" a male voice called out. Sammy''s mouth was still slightly open from pure surprise, and she turned toward where the sound of the unfamiliar voice had come from. It was a man waving at them from a few hundred feet away.
At his side was a small tank with twin barrels, which appeared to be glowing red hot.
Chapter 57: Recruiting Effort
Initial Merger Slain!
Doubled Experience Earned!
+78 EXP
Dismissing the screen, Jordan took in the small group of people before him. At first, he¡¯d been following five of them, plus the Crab. But on the way here, he had noticed an odd point where the Crab and one of the Human tracks suddenly shifted away from the rest. From how the number of unique footprints then decreased to four from that point onward, he could make an educated guess on what happened.
He then approached the group as his drone followed next to him. The distance between him and them wasn¡¯t much, and with his physical Stats being what they were, even a brisk walk was much faster than what the average pre-System could jog. Jordan took note of the broken spear sticking out of the Crab, with the lower half of its shaft on the ground. Then there were the chunks of ice as well, making it definitely seem like these people weren¡¯t entirely helpless, at least.
When Jordan had felt his air drone desummon despite having orders to engage, he¡¯d known that it must have been destroyed. That was why he then made liberal use of Overcharge to quickly close the last stretch of distance. Yet at some point before his arrival, while it would have been dangerous to do so, they¡¯d taken a shot at the Crab. He could respect that.
Jordan felt the cold shiver of one of them using Appraise on him. At first he wasn¡¯t sure who, but then the man wearing the more warrior-like armor widened his eyes. A reaction was as big of a giveaway as any. But since someone had used it first, he took that as fair game to then Appraise them in turn and find out what variety of Levels and Classes they had. Starting with the man who¡¯d used Appraise on him, of course.
Name: Daniel Martin
Species: Human (Earth)
Guild: N/A
Class: Spear Master
Subclass: N/A
Level: 2
Grade: E
Name: Sammy Jackson
Species: Human (Earth)
Guild: N/A
Class: Cryomancer
Subclass: N/A
Level: 2
Grade: E
Name: Antonio Garcia
Species: Human (Earth)
Guild: N/A
Class: Healer
Subclass: N/A
Level: 3
Grade: E
Name: Kelley Green
Species: Human (Earth)
Guild: N/A
Class: Enchanter
Subclass: N/A
Level: 1
Grade: E
From the way they reacted, each of them obviously noticed the returned usage of Appraise. But Jordan had to admit that despite the icky feeling it brought, Appraise would probably be normalized sooner than later. It would almost have to be, considering just how useful it was to know the essentials about the person as soon as you met them.
So the Healer¡¯s the highest Level. Huh, now that I think about it, aren¡¯t they pretty unique for a combat Class? Like as far as I can recall, they don¡¯t have any Skills that actually hurt things. Is it just from the healing they do that they can gain Experience Points? That must be it, though I wonder how the System does the math on that formula. Hmm, something to ask about later, Jordan thought to himself.
Other than that, he was actually the most interested in the Enchanter as a Class. Nobody had picked it in his original group, so Jordan genuinely didn¡¯t know the exact details. All he rememberd was from when he skimmed it during his initial Class selection.
Although¡ that actually was something that he should also be able to simply have the System pull back up. Something Jordan now figured could actually apply to every Class he¡¯d been offered back then, Healer included. But since that would take up both his attention and a bit of time, he decided to just push his curiosity aside for later. Since at that moment, he also felt the others use Appraise on him.
¡°Hello there. As you would have just seen, I¡¯m Jordan. I¡¯m sure you have a lot on your minds, but¡¡± Jordan then reached into his pocket space, a motion that made a couple of people tense up.
He pulled out some food and his water bottle. ¡°But first, here. I¡¯m not sure if snake meat will be to your liking, but at least it¡¯s something, right?¡±
Three of the four still seemed a bit weary. Jordan couldn¡¯t blame them, at least not really. With all the Crabs being Level 3 with the exception of the single Level 4, his own Level was even higher by a relatively good margin. As far as being cautious around someone much more dangerous than yourself, it wasn¡¯t like he didn¡¯t do the same thing upon meeting Haje just earlier.
But then the fourth, the female Enchanter named Kelley, almost immediately stepped forward to take the water bottle. She removed the cap and quickly began to chug its contents down with heavy gulps. After a few seconds of chugging passed, she handed back the bottle and wiped at her mouth with the sleeve of her light purple robe.
¡°Thank you¡ we haven¡¯t been able to drink anything since those Crabs found us. I¡¯m Kelley, but uhh, I guess you also already knew that?¡± She said as Jordan took back the bottle. Something which he then refilled in front of them by directly accessing the plenty of pre-boiled fresh water in his pocket pace.
¡°I guess so,¡± Jordan replied with his best easy-going smile. He then handed her a share of the cooked Bark Snake, which she also gladly took.
But while Jordan wouldn¡¯t have considered himself the biggest people person back on Earth, he was damn glad to just be in their company now. Not just for the company itself after mostly being alone for the last few days, but for what they represented. They were people he¡¯d actually managed to save this time. And while having more people around him like a crafter obviously had its pragmatic benefits, it also just felt nice to see the thankful look in her eyes, and know that he did something good today.
The male Healer was the second then the second person to take a drink and share of food. Followed by the female Cryomancer, and then the male Spear Master last. Refilling the water each time for them, Jordan then filled it up for one last time for himself as well. As they all sat down on the iron powder to just chew on their individual pieces of Bark Snake, Jordan didn¡¯t miss the sighs of almost pained relief that came from sitting after being on your feet for who knows how long.
For a little bit, none of them said anything. Jordan himself wasn¡¯t in any particular kind of rush. From the math he did in his head for how far out they were from the Crab¡¯s base, he assumed they must have been walking since yesterday evening. However, that was based on what he knew about the average walking speed. It could have been even longer, considering that one¡¯s pacing tended to slow down when exhausted. But eventually, the Cryomancer was the first one to speak up.
¡°Are you by yourself, or are there others?¡± Sammy asked after finishing the last of her small meal. ¡°It¡¯s just that the System mentioned that you¡¯re in a Guild.¡±
Jordan tapped his knee as he decided to answer truthfully. ¡°As far as Humans like us go? Then it¡¯s just me. But I did meet someone named Haje not too long ago. You could say he¡¯s uh¡ stone giant of sorts. He¡¯s pretty nice, though.¡±Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
¡°Do you know about any other kinds of aliens?¡± Daniel asked with a raised brow.
¡°None that I know personally, no. The only ones I know of for sure are the Crabs, and Haje¡¯s Species is called a Jabelite. But if you filter the Mightiest Individual leaderboard by Species, there are plenty more on there that don¡¯t fit either, or are Human. So I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll probably find out more about the other sapient races sooner or later.¡±
From that point onward, the back and forth in conversation was pretty straightforward. The four Humans would ask him the most questions about the things he knew, which he openly and honestly answered as best he could. And then in return, Jordan would ask his own questions to learn more about them and what they¡¯d been up to in the Merging so far.
Something which quickly led to his hearing of some rather¡ disturbing information. Specifically when they informed him what happened to them right after the Merging actually started. Of how their group, originally numbering 30 people, the vast majority perished within the hour from a condition of unknown origin. From the way it was described, it couldn¡¯t help but remind Jordan of what happened shortly after being able to move in this world.
He recalled the few people who¡¯d started to throw up right after the Merging began. What still remained a mystery without answer was what they vomited. It hadn¡¯t been food or any other ordinary substance found in a person¡¯s stomach. Instead, it¡¯d been a dark substance that had both stank like Hell and reminded him of mud in its general appearance. Jordan then inquired about another aspect he remembered, which was how Audrey had commented about her Healer Skills telling her that they had suffered some sort of intestinal damage.
¡°Yeah, I guess¡¡± Antonio said as he solemnly shook his head. ¡°But for the people I tried to help, that¡¯s an understatement. It¡¯s like¡ it¡¯s like the insides of their organs were shredded, fused back together, and then wrecked from the inside again. I managed to help a few, but that¡¯s only because they were in the best condition to start with. We did have a couple of other Healers¡¡±
Antonio¡¯s gaze shifted to Sammy. The Cryomancer was just staring down at the ground with a downcast expression. With a deep sigh, Anotonio looked back at Jordan.
¡°But they ended up having the worst of it. God, the way they¡¡± The Healer glanced back at his companion, and stopped himself. ¡°Anyway, then as if things couldn¡¯t get any worse, that damn Elemental found us. We ended up having to leave behind the people I managed to help, since they weren¡¯t in any condition to run quickly on their own. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s some cruel joke from the System, but how were we even meant to deal with something like that monster?¡±
Your Species has been found to have reached an acceptable level of compatibility for this process. Huh. The exact words of the System once again entered the forefront of Jordan¡¯s mind.
And then, in an explanation that made him look into the distance with a bit of worry, they told him more about the Elemental itself. That it actually wasn¡¯t just an Elemental, but had been a Level 19 monster of a creature called an Earth Elemental Lord. If you were to walk directly away from the beach, it wouldn¡¯t take long before you entered its biome. That was a direction that would roughly be East, based on Earth¡¯s standards of where the sun rose from.
It at least confirmed the theory that not all starting areas were created equal. Jordan¡¯s own group had been relatively lucky, in that sense. Due to only encountering the Level 1 Rabbits at first, one could argue that it¡¯d been their own fault for letting their guards down and slowly spreading out.
So even those who remained in smaller groups of three or four people had still been vulnerable to getting picked off by the Grass Panther. But if the Grass Panther had been that high of a Level at 19 instead? Well, it was pretty safe to say that in such a case, there was no shot in Hell of him managing to defeat it and surviving to be here right now.
In any case, it was after that they ran into the Crabs. And from the way it was described, it sounded like Jordan¡¯s cautious approach to killing the Telepath without getting close had been the right call to make. But speaking of the Crab¡
Knowing that they¡¯d all be there to see it anyway, Jordan went ahead and turned the corpse into an Advancement Crystal before their eyes. Aside from the gem, there were only a couple of items on the ground that had already left their pocket space upon death. Well, those, and a man¡¯s corpse.
For just a moment, he left the body alone. After putting the other items away, he did take the two halves of the broken spear and walked back over to them to the presumed owner.
¡°What is that gem? Is it from some kind of Skill of yours?¡± Daniel asked as he took the pieces of his spear back.
¡°No, it¡¯s just a standard feature anyone can do. I¡¯m guessing none of you touched the bodies of those who died?¡± Jordan asked.
¡°We didn¡¯t exactly have the means to bury them anyway. And¡ just the way they smelled from, and how that dark stuff began to ooze out¡¡± The Spear Master visibly shuddered as he seemed to recall the memory.
Got it; definitely not someone a reasonable person would ever want to touch. And from the vibe I¡¯m getting, the reality of how the corpses looked like after they died is probably way worse than what any of them are willing to put into words. Just means there are a couple dozen unclaimed gems out there, if it weren¡¯t for that Level 19 monster that might still be close by¡ Jordan then blinked as he realized where his thoughts were going.
Had it really become already so easy for him to see the dead as just gems wastefully not claimed yet? But at the same time, was that really such a bad thing? It wasn¡¯t an inaccurate description, to say the least. Unless necromancy ended up being a thing, which who knows if that¡¯s a Class somewhere out there, it¡¯s not like preserving corpses did any favors for anyone. One could even argue that it was an even better way to honor the dead than just burying or burning them, by letting their power aid in your own survival.
¡°If you use Appraise on it, it¡¯ll give you some info,¡± Jordan began. ¡°But basically anyone with the Initial Merger Title can be turned into one of these after they die. I already did it just earlier with all the other Crabs you guys ran into, for example. As for how these Advancement Crystals work¡¡±
Jordan then proceeded to give them the rundown on how they functioned. He told them everything he¡¯d learned so far, still not hiding anything.
He even demonstrated how it did apply to every Initial Merger by turning the man¡¯s corpse into a gem too. Something which caused a visible mix of emotions of each of their faces. But it was better for that bandage to be ripped off now, than to somehow believe it only actually applied an ¡°other¡± Species. When faced with grim things, it¡¯d be all too easy to delude yourself into thinking that it couldn¡¯t possibly apply to you or those like you as well.
Now, one might question this level of open honesty, especially considering his earlier hesitation with Haje. But it really was a simple difference that came down to one main factor: confidence. Per perhaps just plain old arrogance, depending on how you looked at it.
The Enchanter wasn¡¯t even a combat Class, and the Healer didn¡¯t really count as a fighter either. So against the pair of Level 2s, Jordan simply didn¡¯t feel very threatened. If he ever felt paranoid that they might turn on him during his sleep or something, he could always keep a drone close by. Though thanks to the inflated Stats from all his Title bonuses, Jordan kind of doubted they could kill him with one shot in his sleep anyway.
When he breathed deeply now, the pain he¡¯d felt in his chest after falling several dozen feet earlier was already gone. If that wasn¡¯t a testament to how his body had changed in both durability and its ability to recover, he wasn¡¯t sure what was. In any case, while Humans had a notoriously bad habit of making dumb decisions, Jordan hoped that they would know that sticking with him would be in their best interest, more than the short-term benefit of a betrayal.
¡°But rather than just sticking around here,¡± Jordan eventually continued after his explain about the gems. ¡°Why not come with me? I have a base as part of my Kingdom in a forest, one that I¡¯ve already cleared out any immediate threats. There¡¯s a pretty cold area on the way, so I¡¯ll need to head back first to get you guys some winter clothes. That should only take me a couple of hours to get there and back at most, though, so how does that sound?¡±
The four took a minute to discuss it among themselves, but the result was practically a foregone conclusion as it was. They¡¯d seen his name and Level, and recognized it as one the first you¡¯d currently see when looking just under the top five of the Mightiest Individual leaderboard. When someone who already helped you out then promised more safety, you took it.
Especially when they then got the official System invitations. Something which implied that what he offered wasn¡¯t just a handout given for free, but part of following under him and everything that would mean. And despite how strange it might seem at first, the latter was actually more trustworthy to many in times of crisis.
Soon enough, the membership count of both the Kingdom and Guild called Industry went up by four.
Chapter 58: Thinking About the Future
Five drones moved across the beach with their riders, who were hanging on with varying levels of ease. The land drones themselves weren¡¯t exactly built to be ridden; it was just something their owner had very quickly gotten used to. And it didn¡¯t hurt that hanging onto something for extended periods of time had only gotten easier as his physical Stats increased.
It was almost convenient that the group had only numbered for people, however. It meant that they each had a ride without forcing Jordan to either reduce his total TP to zero, or have his land drones make multiple trips. As they drove across the beach of iron powder, they were effectively just retracing their steps back to the Crab¡¯s base.
Jordan glanced at the trail of footprints he passed by. He wondered how the others felt as they looked at the prints of where they had walked. What it was like to know that a distance it¡¯d taken them a full day and night to make on foot was now being done within just over an hour while riding the drones.
Since the gun evolution brought the speed of the land drones back down to 45 miles per hour, that was still more than ten times faster than what a person could walk. On the way to rescue them, Jordan had used Overcharge to make that trip even shorter in time. Though since it¡¯d be kind of rude to leave them in the dust like that, he just settled with the drone¡¯s base speed for this part of the ride.
But soon enough, they arrived at the former home of the Crabs. Jordan was the fastest hop off his drone as he then immediately marched toward the entrance. The others needed a bit longer to shake off the soreness that came from holding onto the drones for the last hour, especially since they hadn¡¯t exactly gotten that much rest after their long walk. As soon as he walked into the middle of the metal dome, however, a pop-up appeared before Jordan.
Mandate claimed!
The territory of the High Lord¡¯s current Kingdom, Industry, has now expanded!
Unfortunately, it wasn¡¯t followed up by yet another notification praising his deed and rewarding it with an additional Title. But it did at least mean that on the leaderboard, one Crab Kingdom would officially be removed from the list. As far as a consolation prize went, knowing that the Golden Prince would likely notice this change was something he could enjoy the thought of.
Still weird that nobody who claimed a Mandate managed to claim a second one before I did earlier. Though maybe they got lucky with getting dropped near a Mandate, but not so lucky in that they have to deal with living with another super high Level monster, and can¡¯t explore? Or maybe I¡¯m the one that just got really lucky, with these portals. Although¡ the pattern so far of where a portal is located in relation to a mandate has now been pretty consistent. Too consistent to just be a series of coincidences, Jordan thought to himself.
On that note, he took a look around at the inside of the dome itself. Despite the fully open doorway, the interior was far warmer than it was outside, and by another degree even more humid. It was to that point that even after standing inside for less than a minute, beads of sweat were forming on his forehead.
While it seemed like the Crabs had no problem with living under the more regular conditions outside, Jordan could only assume that this kind of environment was their preference. Which as giant crustaceans went, made sense to him. Speaking of their preferences though, the rest of the dome was about as alien in terms of furniture and design. The first thing to note was the deep blue lighting that radiated from along all sides of the dome.
But when it came to looking at the other stuff, part of the problem was how big everything was. Despite the dome itself not being overall larger than his own base, all that space was seemingly being dedicated to just the single ground floor. The furniture was clearly built to accommodate the large size of the Crabs. But as for the design itself, while still being made of metal, round furniture was the order of the day.
There was some stuff that Jordan believed was a set of a table and chairs, just based on their positioning. Yet they were entirely rounded, to the point where the chairs could be described as cylindrical in shape more than anything. Jordan had no idea what kind of design style from Earth this was closest to, but he was sure someone out there would have been more enthusiastic about it. As far as Jordan was concerned, however, he didn¡¯t care much for it and quickly moved on.
After looking around a bit more, he eventually came to a conclusion.
Damn, doesn¡¯t look like they have a unique Boon for me to take for myself. If this Kingdom didn¡¯t get one, then I guess it must have been one of the later ones to get claimed. Since I got one with the High Lord Title as the eighth Kingdom, I can only assume it applies to the whole top ten. Hmm, should have kept the Kingdom leaderboard open to see what this one was placed at. Even if I didn''t know which copycat name it was, I could have figured it out by seeing what shifted in the list afterward. Ah well, too late for that now.
However, it wasn¡¯t a total waste. For Jordan did manage to find something that still piqued his interest.
Name: Central Controller
Charge: 97%
EXP: 0/10000
Rank: 1
Description: This device acts as the central power source of the Kingdom¡¯s first building. Standard to every Kingdom with an automatically constructed building, it adjusts the internal conditions to be comfortable to the Lord that controls it. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Jordan was interested in how this thing¡¯s Description compared to that of his Industrial Transmuter. They were kind of similar, but this one lacked any mention of it being a Boon, and instead went into greater detail of it basically being a standardized AC system. This seemed to mean that with Kingdoms like his own that did get a Boon, the System chose to just roll this feature in as well as a package deal. Though in his case, the Description for this part of its functionality had only gotten like one line, and focused a lot more on the Transmuter instead.
Well, let¡¯s see, then. I¡¯m the one controlling it, so shouldn¡¯t you be kicking into being what I think is comfortable now? Jordan internally asked the machine. A request that was noted and heeded by the System, as he almost immediately felt a shift in the air. Within mere moments, the local humidity was already dropping to be far more tolerable as it then kept going. Nodding to himself, he was at least glad to know that was something else that updated only when prompted.
As far as the Kingdom itself went, there wasn¡¯t really much left for him to do here. Like with the Mandate he had claimed in the mountains, the territory here was a small bubble, fully disconnected from his original Kingdom. But Jordan didn¡¯t want to believe that claiming these territories now was a pointless endeavor, despite their immediate lack of obvious usefulness.
Instead, he believed that it might be better to think in the long term. The System had made it obvious that despite being separate leaderboards, there was some connection between Guilds and Kingdoms. Why else give him the prompt to start a Guild, the moment his Kingdom actually got its first member beside himself? From the total number of Guilds, there were obviously other ways. Maybe, like how the System often did things only when prompted, it might even be as simple as two or more people expressing the formation of a Guild as their will.
But if I were a betting men, I¡¯d be willing to put money that there are some hidden functions I haven¡¯t unlocked yet. Right now, since it doesn¡¯t count me, my Kingdom has a population of five people. That hasn¡¯t revealed anything yet, but what about when that reaches ten, or even more? Until proven otherwise, I should act with the assumption that the System will reward me if I actually put effort into expanding my Kingdom¡¯s population. Easier said than done, since I don¡¯t know where to even find others. But if I encounter more groups of people in the future, I should at least keep trying to recruit them. Maybe at some point then, the System will unlock something good, Jordan theorized.
Having spent the last couple of minutes now inside the dome, Jordan then stepped back outside. He¡¯d told them that he only needed a few minutes at most to take care of Kingdom business. So with that done and nothing else of major note that needed his immediate attention, there was no reason to linger.
¡°Right,¡± Jordan began as he nodded at the four. ¡°Like I said, it shouldn¡¯t take me more than a couple of hours for me to get some winter clothing ready for you all. Then, when we¡¯re back in the forest my base is in, there¡¯ll be plenty of space for you to settle down.¡±
As he¡¯d spoken, Sammy uncomfortably shifted in place. ¡°While I think I¡¯m speaking us for all when I say that we¡¯re thankful for what you¡¯re doing¡ just what is that you expect from us?¡±
¡°I can give you two answers to that, short term and long term.¡± On the way here, it¡¯d been something he already thought about. ¡°I know things have been rough, as much of an understatement that is. So for the next day or two, all I ask is that you take care of yourselves. Food and water are plentiful, so take as much as you want and then get as much rest as you need. After that? I¡¯m not some micromanager that¡¯s going to breathe down your necks. I trust that we¡¯ll find a way to our parts in helping each other stay alive on this planet.¡±
¡°Well¡ all I¡¯m good for is fighting with my Class. But I- I don¡¯t think I can do that. I¡¯m just not that kind person, and- and-¡± Tears began to run down Sammy¡¯s cheeks. From the way her voice had cracked, Jordan could only emphasize with her. He could imagine the pent-up emotions she must have been putting down for a while now, only for them to come up now at once.
Tentatively, Jordan tried to reassuringly place a hand on her shoulder. ¡°That¡¯s okay. For now, just focus on yourself. But for the future, I can at least promise you all this much,¡± Jordan said as he then glanced between the other people and momentarily locked eyes with each person.
¡°I will never force you to risk your own life, or do something you¡¯re totally opposed to. If you have a combat Class but don¡¯t want to fight? That¡¯s okay, you don¡¯t have to. Just take things one day at a time, and we¡¯ll go from there. But here, for in case any of you want some before I get back.¡± He then handed Sammy his water bottle, already refilled, of course.
With that, he just talked to them a little more about the minor details. Just to give them a more accurate rundown of what to expect from the cold mountain environment, the need to go through the portals, and such. While perhaps some of said details were less minor then others, it was just a fancy way of planning out a road trip at the end of the day. Just one where they might need to keep an eye our for Ice Spirits or Wyverns along the way, and let either Hage or Jordan¡¯s drones take care of it.
After making sure they didn¡¯t have anything major they wanted to bring up now, Jordan then rode off on his noble and metal steed. As his other drones followed him, he left one land drone to keep a patrol around the other Humans. Just as a precautionary measure against the unknown, more than anything.
Soon, as Jordan approached the portal, he noticed a familiar figure. Standing next to the gateway was Haje. Seeing him, Jordan did feel a little embarrassed by the idea of not even knowing how long his new friend must have been waiting for him. But at the same time, it did bring up an idea. In terms of a thought that¡¯d been in the back of his mind for more than an hour now, he finally came to a conclusion.
He had promised that he wouldn¡¯t force Sammy or anyone to fight if they didn¡¯t want to. And while Jordan himself intended to keep to that, the world they now lived in was unlikely to be so kind and accommodating. To not at least recognize that reality would just be wilfully naive of him. But all that meant was that for those who were willing to put their lives on the line, they had to make up for those who weren¡¯t. Yet as far as a willing fighter who was already worth more than the other Humans combined in terms of battle prowess, only one obvious name came to mind.
Haje.
When he got close to the portal and he stone giant next to it, Jordan hopped off his land drone. Then he reached into his hand, and pulled a gem from his pocket space. While this remained a bit of a leap of faith, he decided to trust in the positive impressions made so far.
It was time to use his recently gathered Advancement Crystals and let Haje have his own power boost.
Chapter 59: D Grade Menace
¡°Hey, Haje, hope I haven¡¯t kept you waiting for too long?¡± Jordan said as he walked up to the stone giant by the portal. One who simply shrugged in turn.
¡°Not very long, no. But waiting is easy; one must simply do nothing. For my clan, to have time for doing nothing was the reward of a good hunting season. It would take many days before I chose to stop waiting.¡±
As potentially Speciesist as it might sound, Jordan wasn¡¯t very surprised that someone made from stone was good with patience. Though it was an interesting thing for him to learn about. On the one hand, you had the warrior who clearly sought good fights and the chance to prove himself. And then, on the other hand, was enough patience to be considered the saint of that virtue.
Plus, the way Haje generally spoke felt much wiser than the warrior-like yelling he¡¯d done before they actually met. Yet maybe trying to figure him out was a fundamentally pointless endeavor. After all, it wouldn¡¯t be weird at all for an entirely different Species to be equally different in how their minds and personalities worked in comparison to Human standards. Especially when said Species didn¡¯t even have a brain or other organs filled with chemical hormones, but instead were made of rock and had a core acting as their source of life.
¡°Fair enough,¡± Jordan then replied with a nod. ¡°In that case, how did things go on your end? Manage to actually hunt anything down while underwater, like you were hoping?¡±
¡°See for yourself,¡± Haje pridefully said. As the larger being didn¡¯t make any moves for the next couple of seconds, his meaning eventually clicked for Jordan. He wanted him to use Appraise.
Name: Haje
Species: Jabelite (Unnamed Planet)
Guild: Industry
Class: True Master of One
Subclass: N/A
Level: 15 (5)
Grade: D
¡°Oh! Looks like it. Congrats on a good hunt, then. But just to ask, did you get anything good, like another Skill upgrade at Level 15?¡± At the very least, it definitely looked like that Haje¡¯s effective Level was basically triple the actual number. So if that trend remained true for when Haje hit Level 10, just as an example, it would then be treated as Level 30 by the System.
¡°No.¡±
That was as straightforward of an answer as it got, but the point was taken. With one of his newly collected gems still clutched in his hand, Jordan held it out to Haje. In terms of the highest Grade of a Skill between them, Jordan was still one increment ahead at E4. But now would be the time to change that.
¡°So, while you were doing that, it turns out the local Mandate was already claimed. While I was looking for it, I came across this group of Crabs¡¡± Jordan then proceeded to give a summary of what he¡¯d been up to. He also made sure to tell Haje about the four people he¡¯d helped out and recruited as a small batch of new members. And most importantly, about the Advancement Crystals the Crabs dropped, like the one currently sitting in the palm of his hand.
¡°Hmm. If these gems only come from others like us, then I can already see the wars that will be fought over them. Like the beasts that hunted my kind to consume our cores, we will consume each other as well. But if we must hunt or be hunted, then let us remain the hunters,¡± Haje said as he gently took the gem from Jordan¡¯s hand.
It was this next part that Jordan was honestly kind of curious about. For him, the Advancement Crystal only got absorbed when it touched the inside of his mouth. Yet considering how Haje lacked a mouth or anything else that would be used for ¡°consuming¡±, he wanted to know how the System would treat the difference in Species.
Looking at the gem for a moment, Haje then pushed it against the front of his central torso. The moment it made contact with his stone body, it disappeared. Haje¡¯s body then shifted as he looked back up. At this point, Jordan simply popped his knuckles as he waited, knowing that it would take his companion a minute to go through the relevant System prompts.
When the stone giant looked back down at him, Jordan went ahead and pulled another Advancement Crystal from his pocket space. Which he then held out as well.
¡°Here, go ahead take this one too. I don¡¯t know if the number you¡¯ll need for the next evolution will be different with your Class restrictions, but it should say ten. But just to make sure, did it even give you the option to get a new Skill thanks to the crystal? Or did the gem have any impact on the evolution?¡±
¡°It did not. The only choice it gave was to evolve my Skill, and that was the same as before.¡±
Nodding, Jordan had kind of figured as much. He had just wondered if the influence from the crystal would still have any effect, but that appeared not to be the case with his Class restriction. Yet now that he had already invested a penny, Jordan went ahead and chose to put in a full pound. One by one, he pulled out and handed off gems to his companion.
At this point, Jordan mostly wanted to find out if anything special would happen upon getting a Skill¡¯s Grade up to E5. And since that discovery would happen a lot faster for Haje than waiting for himself to either gather more gems or reach Level 11, this was just the chosen approach. Especially since by doing so, even if it were just another regular evolution with nothing unique, it would only make this powerhouse of a friend even more powerful.
Soon enough, Haje then absorbed the tenth and final Advancement Crystal. After handing it off, Jordan took a step back and crossed his arms as he looked up at the stone giant. Like before, Haje was currently looking at the air, clearly staring at a screen from the System that only he could see.
For a few moments, Jordan quietly watched and waited. Though he already knew that the wait shouldn¡¯t be for very long. Due to the way Haje¡¯s Class was designed, the process couldn¡¯t be more streamlined. So it should only be a couple of seconds longer at most before-
Haje¡¯s entire then began to glow. And not in the faint aura of light kind of way, but the sort of glowing that heavily reminded Jordan of how highly radioactive material glowed in the dark. Something which then caused him to subconsciously take a couple of steps back as his eyes narrowed with worry.
¡°Uhh, Haje, you good? Should I be worried about what¡¯s happening to you, or is this a good thing?¡± Jordan asked.
The stone giant then looked down at his hand, and inspected it. ¡°I feel¡ good. Strong, stronger than I¡¯ve ever been. The System did something I wasn¡¯t ready for. After my Skill reached E5, it gave me a new screen that said I could evolve it again, for reaching D Grade. And when I accepted, it gave me another screen saying that having a Skill at D1 now made me a true D Grade,¡± Haje said, stressing a part that the System must have emphasized in its message.
As he¡¯d spoken, the glowing had steadily begun to die back down. By now it was basically back to normal, though Haje was still looking at his four hands. The stone giant then turned toward the sun as he held up his arms, an action that allowed Jordan to notice something. Aside from the temporary glowing itself, being marked as a ¡°true¡± D Grade had brought another major and rather physical change. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
¡°Haje! Your back!¡± Jordan exclaimed with fully raised eyebrows. ¡°It¡¯s- it¡¯s healed!¡±
¡°What!? That is not possible!¡± Haje replied with a confused tone. He then reached back with his hands, but froze as his stone fingers rubbed against where the massive scar used to be.
With how wide and deep the gap was before, Jordan would have comfortably been able to fit his whole head inside. But now it was pretty comparable to a tiny crack in the sidewalk. It still stood out in contrast to what was otherwise a relatively smooth surface, but now it looked like he would barely be able to fit a fingernail into it. A visual description that Jordan then communicated.
¡°I cannot believe it, but it must be true. From the time of my ancestors, my people¡¯s wounds have never healed. Every mark of damage against our bodies is the history of our battles. But now¡ it is like my challenge against the Lord of the Mountain never happened,¡± Haje slowly and solemnly said.
Jordan sighed as Haje turned back to face him. On the one hand, this was a healing effect and change that must have come straight from the System itself as an intended result. Something that he couldn¡¯t help but be curious about, as he wondered if something similar would also happen to him upon reaching D Grade.
Yet, on the other hand, if it changed something that happened to be culturally important to you, he could understand why that might lead to some conflicted feelings. But rather than just remain silent, he chose to at least offer his own perspective. If Haje didn¡¯t want to hear it, then he could simply say so, and Jordan would respect that wish.
¡°We can¡¯t say anything for sure until it happens to me. But if the System always does some change to our bodies for being a true D Grade, then that¡¯s a universal experience that we¡¯ll all share. I don¡¯t know if that¡¯ll lead to something I would also consider impossible for Humans like me¡ yet if that is the case, however, it could be a sign. Maybe even proof that we¡¯re not the people that we used to be, and that this is a different word with different rules. And we should be ready for that as a new chapter in our lives.¡±
Jordan hadn¡¯t really tried to make his words into an actually good speech, but had simply spoken what came to mind. He at least believed it¡¯d be more genuine that way, than something he carefully crafted like it was something for debate club. Though as far as any sort of argument went, the amount of ¡°ifs¡± he used just now probably wouldn¡¯t make it the most convincing to begin with.
¡°Hmm, a new chapter. Yes, you might have a point. Even before this, things have changed. I am no longer the Haje of my clan, but now the Haje of your Kingdom. But enough of that, there is something else you should know. After my Skill¡¯s Grade became D1, the System changed my Level to 18. And with that, I just now went through the message that let it evolve again to D2. And you can see for yourself how that has strengthened me,¡± Haje explained, prompting Jordan to use Appraise once more.
Name: Haje
Species: Jabelite (Unnamed Planet)
Guild: Industry
Class: True Master of One
Subclass: N/A
Level: 20 (5)
Grade: D
Jordan blinked. Dude. Here I am actually being surprised that there¡¯s a Level 19 monster that sounds like it doesn¡¯t live too far from here. Meanwhile, Haje just dunked on it with an even bigger Level of his own. But if that¡¯s a four times Level boost now, with likely even more Stats per Level, and then the percentile bonus of his Titles¡ wait. Doesn¡¯t that mean what I think it means?
¡°Huh, so with that, what would that potentially put your highest Stat at? Like I¡¯m assuming you just got a bunch of Unspent Points, so I¡¯m wondering how high the number would be if you were to invest them all into just maximizing one Stat?¡± He asked.
¡°Hmm. I have just now put them all into Endurance,¡± Haje stated after a moment of silence. ¡°If the System wishes for me to have a body that is healed of its past scars, then it is only right that I make it stronger. To let only the most worthy of foes put a new mark on my stone! But for what the number is¡¡±
Jordan traversed the mountain range, his fleet of drones already spread out to guard a large area around him. Luckily, it was still day, as he had predicted. He just hadn¡¯t been completely confident of that after spending an hour at the beach. This was on a magical planet where the weather and environments could only be described as impossible, after all. So there had been no guarantees that time wouldn¡¯t also be screwed up, especially when portals allowing one to travel across the world in an instant were involved.
Speaking of the weather, the wind had picked up with a fair amount of snow. That and more of a general fogginess in the air led to a severe decrease in visibility. Thankfully, that wasn¡¯t really an issue for Jordan in terms of navigation. He¡¯d just ordered the land drone acting as his ride to head back to the other gateway, and it was now doing so in what felt like the correct direction. But it did mean slowing down a bit to traverse the terrain more safely, which just gave him more time to reflect on his last conversation.
Haje¡¯s Endurance was currently in the low 700s.
That put it at almost ten times the value of Jordan¡¯s own highest Stat, an even 80 in Wisdom. It was a number so far beyond anything he¡¯d grown familiar with in the time spent with the System so far; Jordan simply couldn¡¯t fully wrap his mind around that. Just the number of Levels it¡¯d take for him to catch up by constantly dumping every Unspent Point he could into min-maxing Wisdom would be ridiculous. Enough so that he hadn¡¯t even bothered with actually doing the math for that figure, even if it¡¯d be a simple thing to quickly figure out in just his head.
Perhaps it was because of his rather absurdly high numbers that Jordan hadn¡¯t been surprised with how their conversion had ended. He¡¯d naturally gotten Haje up to speed on things. Something that included telling him about the shared Guild inventory, the Level 19 Elemental, and other details learned during their relatively short time apart.
Haje, of course, had ended up focusing primarily on that middle bit. So the second their talk winded down, the stone giant had straight toward the approximate direction of the monster. The way he moved could have only been described as one degree under someone going for the Black Friday sale of a plasma TV, at least back when that kind of thing was actually a deal worth throwing punches over.
Jordan had just left him to it. He had also wished him good luck, but he didn¡¯t really think that Haje needed it. Compared to someone that the System effectively considered Level 20 in pure Levels, but separately had Stat boosts putting his Stats per Level at a far higher pedestal, a Level 19 monster just didn¡¯t seem very impressive. If Jordan could kill creatures that were above him in Level, then he honestly couldn¡¯t see a world where Haje had trouble with something a whole Level below him.
Though Jordan did look forward to learning how much the Elemental Lord dropped in Experience Points. While sticking around and sending his drone over to assist had obviously come to mind, he had ended up deciding against it. Better to let Haje have the total amount of Experience from the fight and-
Ah, dang it. I should have asked those guys about what their Experience from the Crab looked like. Since I got the full amount, and was the one who did the actual kill shot. But two of them also did some damage. So did they get the full amount too, partial for contributing, or is it even something like only the actual killer takes all? Jordan asked himself, as these rides were always a good time for sudden thoughts to pop into his head.
When Jordan soon arrived by the portal leading back home, it gave him a chance to do something. Before he did the thing of manually lifting and sending his land drones over, he took out a piece of paper and scribbled something down. During their earlier conversation, Jordan had also confirmed that like the Crabs, Haje could indeed read English. Something that the latter had noted to be weird, and Jordan learned that his people didn¡¯t even have a writing system. He decided to just chalk Haje¡¯s ability to read to the actual System, likely facilitating it as a part of the inherent translation feature.
Though in this case, the message he wrote now wasn¡¯t for Haje, but for his fellow Humans. He had been curious about the split in Experience, and so left the note and pencil in the Guild inventory as something for them to read and reply with. Until a more reliable means of communication could be established, Jordan had simply asked all his current members to check the Guild¡¯s shared pocket space on a regular basis. So, time would soon tell when any of them actually did so.
A minute later, Jordan was back riding his drone in the forest. It was pretty late into the night now on the other side, but he still had plenty of time to make some more sets of winter clothes and get back to the beach. Yet it was less than halfway on the drive back that something made Jordan frown all of a sudden, and pulled him out of his usually distant thoughts while riding.
Despite still being around a mile and a half out from the building, it seemed like he¡¯d just crossed the boundary of his Kingdom¡¯s territory. And with that came another feeling. One that was a sensation that hadn¡¯t originally been there before, even when standing inside his base.
On a fundamental level, as arrogant as it might sound, it felt like everything within his original territory actually now belonged to him.
Chapter 60: A Difficult Choice
As Jordan basked in the feeling, it didn¡¯t take long for him to sense that everything in the area belonging to him was a bit of a stretch. It was more like every non-living thing, which obviously didn¡¯t include the giant trees of the forest itself or any creatures that called this part of the forest home. It did, however, seem to extend to the layer of dry leaves which covered of ground and all the dead sticks randomly strewn about.
However, there wasn¡¯t that much else to it. To feel like this small corner of the corner revolved around him was a nice feeling, but not something he currently seemed able to do anything with. Perhaps if another Initial Merger were to enter his territory, he¡¯d now be able to know? Or maybe there was more to it, but he still needed to actually get back to his base to unlock it. With no other way to find out, Jordan continued to use Overcharge to have his drone get him back there all the sooner.
When he soon arrived back at his base, Jordan quickly noticed something. His base was different; as in the concrete building itself had changed. From afar, it didn¡¯t look that different. But as he pulled into the clearing, he could see that the material of the building had undergone a moderately subtle transformation. The kind that someone might not think much of, unless they were already familiar with how it¡¯d looked before, like himself.
The concrete had changed in two ways. The first was color, which could now be described as a few shades darker than its previously standard grey. Then, the second was texture. When looking at it closely, one would have seen that the concrete used to have a relatively rough surface. This would have been in the same way someone typically imagined a concrete sidewalk, for example. Now, however, its surface had been smoothed. To the point that when Jordan got off his drone and rubbed his hand against it, it almost felt slick against his glove.
When Jordan then opened the door, a curious sight made him raise a brow. It was yet another door. One made from more smoothed concrete, and something that had definitely not been there when he left. This new door had no handle or any immediately discernable way to actually open it. But just as Jordan asked himself how he was meant to do so, it immediately swung inward.
Okay then? Do you have any of those Notes you might have forgotten to send over earlier, System? Since unless someone was nice enough to come over and surprise me with a free renovation, this must be obviously part of increasing my Kingdom¡¯s Rank. But it would be nice if you have screens or just inherent knowledge you¡¯d like to send me, Jordan thought to himself before he then stepped inside. As soon as he passed by the doorway, the door then automatically closed behind him.
Within his base, a couple of things were pretty immediately noticeable. The first, surprisingly enough, was the air. Or rather, the air quality. When Jordan breathed it in, he couldn¡¯t help but feel that it was¡ enhanced. He wasn¡¯t sure how else to describe it.
To him at least, it was more than just clean, but actually downright refreshing to inhale into his lungs. Just from the first few deep breaths, he already felt much more awake and energized than he did just several seconds ago. Any built-up tiredness that would have begun tempting him to start thinking about sleeping in a couple of hours was gone, just like that.
Jordan had a very distinct feeling that this sensation wasn¡¯t just in his head. Was that maybe even why the System had given him a free door with it? To keep this extra good air trapped inside? It was either that, or that the automatic door just acted as an improvement to the base¡¯s inherent security.
When he glanced back, Jordan noted the lack of gaps to indicate the doorway itself. Had he not known otherwise, he might have thought there wasn¡¯t even a door at all, but that it was all just a solid wall. Something that definitely felt like an intentionally air-tight seal. From the lack of windows in the base, the only other opening would be the roof access. At the very least, he would make a point to also check that out before he left.
As for the rest of the interior, the changed concrete had also been universally applied. Jordan still wasn¡¯t sure what that actually meant, practically speaking. But surely it had to be an upgrade of some kind, or else what would be the point? The first idea that came to mind would be in regard to the material¡¯s toughness. His base basically could be considered a fortress, at the end of the day. So with a perfectly tight door, it¡¯d make sense that an upgrade would make it even harder for someone attacking to actually break their way in or just generally try to destroy the whole building.
In terms of the actual design of the building and its furniture, that was almost the same as before. Almost, became there was one major exception to that. While the Industrial Transmuter by the back wall still appeared to be unchanged, that wasn¡¯t true for the wooden door that¡¯d been off to its side. First of all, it was now also made from the concrete. But more importantly, it was faintly glowing with a light that also seemed to be beckoning him to come closer.
Now, while the jury was still out on whether Jordan was generally a fool, he at least wasn¡¯t a total idiot. Even without a direct prompt from the System, he knew a ¡°hey, you should check out this thing!¡± indicator when he saw it. It would be the first time from the System for such a thing. But considering all the other game-like it¡¯d used to thoroughly change his reality, it wasn¡¯t that surprising. And with how he¡¯d already been curious about what the door would unlock upon his Kingdom reaching Rank 2, he naturally went over to it with quick steps.
As he approached, his mind raced with anticipation. Would it be an expansion for his base? Doors obviously tended to lead into rooms, so that idea did make sense. But one never knew. The System could always choose to surprise him instead with something he might never have guessed.
When Jordan then placed a hand on the glowing door, a pop-up appeared. And to his delight, the text screen was obviously different from before when it¡¯d told him to come back when he met the requirement. Yet when he actually began to read the text just a second later, however, his delighted expression turned into one of surprise.
New Kingdom Boons Available!
Pick from one of the following:
Boon: Industrial Miner
Description: This Boon shall provide a stationary machine within the user¡¯s Kingdom. This Industrial Miner will be able to detect and then extract any material of the user''s choosing within the Kingdom¡¯s territory. As a High Lord, the Boon also includes an additional reward in the form of expanding the depth of the Kingdom¡¯s territory by a high degree.
Boon: Industrial Communicator
Description: This Boon shall provide a stationary machine within the user¡¯s Kingdom. This Industrial Communicator will be able to detect and then contact any other Kingdoms within its range. As a High Lord, the Boon also includes an additional reward in the form of expanding the Communicator¡¯s range in correlation with any increases to the size of the Kingdom¡¯s territory.
Boon: Industrial Surveyor
Description: This Boon shall provide a stationary machine within the user¡¯s Kingdom. This Industrial Surveyor will be able to scan and then map out the area within the Kingdom¡¯s territory. As a High Lord, the Boon also includes an additional reward in the form of improving upon the Surveyor¡¯s base functions, and allows it to also mark points of interest based on the user¡¯s chosen parameters.
The first option had been Jordan¡¯s favorite from the start. A Miner for materials to pair with his Transmuter. What could possibly be more appealing than that? He¡¯d been initially confident that the answer was nothing, but then he just had to read the second choice and started having doubts. Now with eyes narrowed with uncertainty, he also read through the last Boon presented.
Okay, Jordan, process of elimination. While the Surveyor does sound good, it¡¯s not as necessary. That marking points of interest would be useful for finding things like the portal, since who knows what else is just out there and waiting to be found. But that¡¯s a bit more long-term, anyway. Since even with the upgrade to my Kingdom¡¯s territory, it wouldn¡¯t even cover far enough of an area to reach the portal right now. Now, as for the first two¡ man.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
Getting his thoughts in order, Jordan believed it came down to two main things. Did he want to potentially get materials to aid in his own use of the Transmuter, or to potentially contact friendly Kingdoms to aid in the further recruitment of others to his own banner? For both, ¡®potentially¡¯ was most certainly the keyword that had to be highlighted.
The only thing he knew for sure was the territory of his Kingdom. Jordan currently had a very distinct sense that its range of one mile in each direction also applied vertically. Now when the text said that the depth of that would be expanded to reach even further underground, he wasn¡¯t sure what a high degree meant in this context. Would that be doubling to two miles, or perhaps even more? He believed that he would only get the exact number after he finalized his choice and the machine itself was built.
Yet then there was the question. Even within that total range, whatever it may be, would there even be anything for it to extract? Jordan already had a supply of iron powder now, and it should be noted that the iron itself definitely wasn¡¯t just your standard variety stuff. The constant exposure to the wind and water of the beach should have a least made the top layer rusty as Hell, but that hadn¡¯t been the case. So, at least the iron powder itself was definitely a bit special, for one reason or another.
But would there be more iron or the metals underground? Maybe. It would be kind of screwed up if the System offered him the Miner, only for it to reveal that there would be nothing worth mining in its current range. So one would at least hope the System would be kind enough to at least make it worth the use of a precious Boon. Yet at the same time, nothing was guaranteed.
In that same vein, however, was the argument regarding the Communicator. Once again, the exact range would likely only be known after it was built. Yet while the existence of underground minerals could easily be predetermined by the System, he wasn¡¯t sure if the same could be said about other Kingdoms. Maybe the System would make the range super, super far to allow him to contact even far-away Kingdoms. But it was just as likely that either nobody was around, or it was just another Kingdom of those fanatical Crabs.
But the potential was in the ability to maybe contact his friends and family. There still weren¡¯t that many Kingdoms in the world, at least not when compared the much, much higher number of Guilds. Yet what if he contacted a Kingdom with fellow Humans, and then they knew of everyone else in their own area past the Communicator¡¯s range? And then if they were willing to find out, the word could be spread around.
Jordan knew that the math wasn¡¯t exactly in his favor. If he assumed this planet was the size of Earth, then there being less than a hundred million Humans to reach Level 2 wasn¡¯t a good sign. Especially if their groups were indeed spread out across the whole planet. However, there was another factor to consider in that equation.
While they were open, did the portals count as something the Communicator could go through? In the same way that the ¡°signal¡± for his land drones could remain established, and still counted being on the other side from him as within their range.
If that was the case, then the practical application of the Communicator would skyrocket in value. Though once again, Jordan could only speculate for now, and wouldn¡¯t be able to find out for sure until it would already be far too late for him to change his mind.
However, he felt that there wasn¡¯t any sort of time limit for the decision in front of him. He could take care of it now, but there wouldn¡¯t be a penalty for doing so later. Something that would allow him more time to think about, yes, but that wasn¡¯t actually the main reason why he¡¯d do so. It was because, at least sometimes during key moments of self-awareness, Jordan knew himself far too well.
If what he assumed to be a new room for the second Boon were quickly built, then he¡¯d naturally want to check it out. Then Jordan would want to actually give the Boon a test run to see how it actually worked, of course. Depending on the results, he may then be tempted just to try one more thing. And then next thing he knew, he¡¯d wasted hours in a spiral of distraction where he only intensely focused on the most interesting thing immediately in front of him.
Case in point, he¡¯d already gotten distracted by the general changes to his Kingdom, and was now still looking at the door.
Yet that¡¯d be no good for someone who was still on a deadline. He¡¯d come here with a relatively simple task in mind. Use the Transmuter to make a few more sets of winter-ready clothing, and then immediately leave to pick up those who were still waiting for him.
Jordan started to look down at his wrist, but then quickly remembered that his watch was still broken. Something that could be fixed now that he was back home. But then he¡¯d have to reset the time, which would just be a guess at this point. Something that he could do now anyway, to be fair. But while he would still take a few seconds to fix it, he decided that accurately adjusting it would be a thing for morning Jordan to deal with.
He definitely still had at least a few hours until the portal closed on this side. If that were to happen though, it¡¯d mean being forced to wait through the whole of the next day. Yet even if his distraction didn¡¯t get that bad, it¡¯d still be a delay in what he had promised wouldn¡¯t take too long. Even if nothing bad were likely to happen during that period, it¡¯d just be kind of rude for him to establish himself as a High Lord who couldn¡¯t even keep his word for something so basic.
Speaking of people promising things; however, Jordan did take a moment to then check on something. The pencil and paper from the shared Guild inventory were still there. Which he didn¡¯t even need to pull them out to know, as it seemed like an inherent function of being the Guild leader was knowing everything that got put in there.
However, it wasn¡¯t something that was so automatic as for him to instant know if an item was put in or taken out. It was more like just focusing on it for the System to then give him an updated understanding of what the pocket space currently held. But in this case, that didn¡¯t really make a difference. Since if one of the others had replied and then put the pen and paper back, he didn¡¯t have a way to tell. All he knew about the paper was what it actually was, but not the contents written upon it.
When Jordan took out the paper, he was pleasantly surprised to see that a response to his earlier had already been written down. One that was a pretty simple and straightforward answer. No, none of them had received Experience Points from the dead Crab.
Which was in spite of him knowing for a fact, because they¡¯d told him earlier, that two of the survivors had also attacked it. Something that definitely seemed to lean toward the theory of ¡°winning blow takes all,¡± which would mean that kill stealing was on the table as a thing. So since he didn¡¯t intend to do such a thing to Haje, sending drones to aid his hunt of the Elemental Lord wouldn¡¯t have directly rewarded Jordan anyway.
In any case, he went ahead and walked away from the door and over to in front of the Transmuter instead. When Jordan then took out some extra clothing from his pocket space to start making the sets of winter gear, a sudden sensation brushed his mind upon his hand touching the machine. At that moment, the System gave him an update on how the Transmuter now worked. After the Rank increase to his Kingdom, its functionality had also been upgraded in a very key way.
For a still unknown cost to its Charge, he could adjust the parameters of the slots. Right now it was much longer than it was tall, but if Jordan so chose, he could change that now. As long as the result remained equal to or less than the original volume, he had full freedom to make the slots any shape he so pleased. He already sensed that the default function was that it¡¯d apply to both slots, but he could also adjust them independently if he wanted.
Later, Jordan, later. It¡¯ll still be here when you back. Just do what you came here to do, and then walk right back out that doorway. Once you¡¯re back, you¡¯ll have all the time in the world to test this upgrade out, Jordan internally chided himself, already feeling the temptation of distraction once more.
Not allowing anything else to waste more time, for now, Jordan went ahead and made the other clothes. A passing thought did enter his mind if the Cryomancer actually needed a set, since while she¡¯d just been some robes with a hood, one would assume from her Class that it already came with pre-build cold resistance.
On the one hand, she hadn''t brought it up when he¡¯d declared his intentions. But on the other hand, she did seem a bit out of it in a way that was more than the others. Even while speaking directly to him, there¡¯d been a look in her eyes that made him feel like a part of her mind was somewhere else.
Just in case, Jordan decided to make her a set too, anyway. If it turned out that it wasn¡¯t needed, then he could just recycle the material after coming back. So with that decided, he quickly made all the sets with the hope he¡¯d gotten the sizing close enough for each person without actually knowing their measurements.
Once that was done, Jordan did remember to check out the roof access as the last thing to do. Which did allow him to confirm that it¡¯d also gotten a concrete hatch installed. Which meant the piece of wood he¡¯d added was probably just right above it, fully redundant now. Removing that and the door he¡¯d made could come later, but it wasn¡¯t an immediate priority.
After giving the door to unlock a new Boon one last look, he left the building, the decision of which Boon to pick still rolling back and forth in his mind.
Chapter 61: Welcoming Them Home
Somewhat surprisingly, the next series of events went as smoothly as they could have gone. Nothing interrupted or stalled Jordan as he returned to the portal and then went across the mountain range. Even the snow going on the other side remained pretty stable, with no sudden full-blown blizzards or anything like that swooping in.
He went to the portal for the beach, and then drove to where the Crabs had been living. As expected, the four people waiting for him were still there without anything happening to them either. Jordan exchanged a bit of small while handing over their clothes to get changed, which they just needed a minute to spread out in and around the dome for privacy. After that, things remained pretty nice and peaceful as they all then traveled back to his base and what would also be their new home for the foreseeable future.
Now they were already back in the forest of giant trees, on their way there. And during the little while it¡¯d taken for him to pick them up and come back, Jordan had been given plenty of time to think and sort through his thoughts. He was currently glad about his decision to hold off on which Boon to pick, because it¡¯d allowed him to get past just the mess of initial thoughts that went through his head.
The Industrial Miner was just objectively the best choice.
For what he would want from it, the Communicator just needed too many ¡°ifs¡± to work. If its range could be cheated by going through the portals. And either way, if it would go far enough to establish contact with wherever the next nearest Kingdoms were. Then if said Kingdoms would even be open to communication, whether they be Crabs or not. Finally, if there were even the slightest of chances that his friends and family would be findable through the inherently limited number of Kingdoms he¡¯d be able to contact at first.
Even when removing the purely emotional aspect of his loved ones and instead being more pragmatic with the idea of just recruiting others to his Kingdom, Jordan wasn¡¯t sure. Obviously, he could only contact other Kingdoms. Which he believed that it was less likely that they¡¯d just hand over their Kingdoms to him, and far more likely that the best outcome would be that of an alliance.
Of course, the former still appeared to not even be possible until proven otherwise, for whether killing the Lord first was an absolute requirement. While Jordan still hoped it would be doable to allow the option for at least a relatively peaceful expansion of his Kingdom while pulling others under it, he couldn¡¯t shake a deep feeling that death was the only option.
In any case, if he¡¯d chosen the Communicator it would have been right after he saw it as a rash and purely emotionally driven decision. One that he would have likely regretted later as more rational thoughts gave him the almighty power of hindsight, but wouldn¡¯t have mattered once the machine was already built. And in the absolute worst-case scenario, he might have just alerted hostile Kingdoms of Crabs or another Species to his presence and allowed them to start a war.
All things considered, the Miner was just the most logical choice. Even if the System weren¡¯t kind enough to put good stuff to mind within its starting range, it would at least be more likely to find something useful as that range got upgraded.
This was unlike the Communicator, where even multiple range upgrades in a row still might not lead to anything desirable. Now if it¡¯d said that he could establish contact with any Kingdom and Guild, that¡¯d be an entirely different debate. And while that might have been possible with future Rank increases to Kingdom, that was still just another ¡°if¡± to add to the pile.
Due to what was now almost just half the distance between the portal and the edge of his Kingdom¡¯s territory, it didn¡¯t long at all for them to cross the invisible boundary. Jordan was naturally riding a bit ahead of the others. Did it actually make any difference to do so? No, not really. When the land drones were already told the right way to go, there wasn¡¯t any point in leading them. But it just felt natural enough that the question of why he¡¯d done so anyway hadn¡¯t even crossed his mind.
Yet just a couple of seconds after he crossed the border, he felt something. Four somethings in a row, to be precise. Jordan felt something that could only be described as an alert, one that happened directly inside his mind instead of being a System pop-up. But there was also more to it. The set of mental pings had also come with the distinct sensation that there actually wasn¡¯t anything to worry about, but that he¡¯d simply been informed for the general reason of simply knowing what¡¯d happened.
Jordan glanced back at the four people riding right behind him. Their land drones appeared to be moving together as a straight line. At the very least, anyone watching from a distance would have sworn that they¡¯d crossed the border at the same time. But not Jordan. As part of what the mental alert told him, he just knew that Sammy¡¯s drone had been the first to cross, and then that Daniel was the last.
It was a difference of just a fraction of a second, but he still just knew. Jordan also knew the reason why the alert hadn¡¯t been that¡ alerting, so to speak. It was because they were members of his Kingdom, so why would it be an issue if his own citizens entered the Kingdom¡¯s territory? He did find it interesting that even then, the System apparently thought that it was something he still at least needed to be informed of.
Jordan didn¡¯t inherently know if this also applied to animals, or just Initial Mergers. But from his own personal assumption, he imagined it might be the latter. Mostly because this feature would have been implemented for a while before he first came over to notice it. And in that entire time, he hadn¡¯t once been alerted because some small critter or something crossed the borderline.
But even that much would already be incredibly useful. Since his Kingdom¡¯s territory also went both a mile underground and into the air, surprising him would be difficult. Nobody would be able to fly in or dig a tunnel below the ground without him still being able to know that they were coming. Jordan did wonder if anyone with a Skill for stealth might be able to bypass that, however. Until the day that someone who was a Rogue or a similar Class came by to test it out, he should probably take the cautious mindset and assume they actually could just sneak in.
Even with that in mind, Jordan¡¯s shoulders became relaxed for the short remainder of the drive. Between this new form of security and the fact that his drones would also still be patrolling the area past the border, he couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit more secure. At least if an army of Crabs were to ever show up with the intent to avenge their slain kin, he¡¯d have a bit of time to prepare as much as he realistically could.
But the group of drones soon came to a stop at the edge of the clearing that marked the location for the center of his Kingdom. Something that Jordan supposed could technically be considered a tactical disadvantage. As the lack of cover from the canopy of giant trees meant that anyone with the ability to fly or had any other means to get a bird¡¯s eye view would be very easily able to spot the tall concrete building in the forest.
¡°Woah. You didn¡¯t actually build this whole thing yourself in just the last few days, did you?¡± Daniel the Spear Master asked while disembarking from the land drone. Aside from Jordan himself, he did so in the least awkward manner, at least relative to his companions.
Jordan shook his head. ¡°Nah, fully automatic from the System doing all the work. Like I said, there¡¯s not exactly a ton in terms of furniture. But there¡¯s plenty of space, and we can figure out a way for you to have your own fair share of privacy too. Plus it shouldn¡¯t be that hard to separate the upper floors out into rooms, while leaving space for other people in the future.¡±The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Not all the space within the building was free, of course. Part of that was due to how the System had lined the walls with things like the cabinets and such. But the biggest reason would be the ground floor, which was why Jordan had specified the upper levels just now.
As the High Lord around here, he believed it wasn¡¯t too selfish to basically claim it for himself. Especially as it¡¯d be very inconvenient for him to have anything less than direct access to his Transmuter, and what would momentarily be the Miner as well. Though as far as people going up and down the ladder, or in and out the door while he was present, Jordan really didn¡¯t think he¡¯d mind. As long as they didn¡¯t actively try to disrupt him as he worked for some benign reason, he could just mentally filter out them moving around.
Now did Jordan have a plan for what would happen, should one of his citizens unfortunately become an unwanted thorn in his side? Well¡ for now, he¡¯d just have to cross that bridge when he got there. Though if he did intend to grow his Kingdom¡¯s population in the coming weeks and months, that question likely would need an actual answer eventually. For the time being, he just hoped that it¡¯d be a good and long while before he came across that bridge.
¡°So I think I should have already mentioned this earlier. But while it doesn¡¯t have beds yet, the way the floor feels from the heating is just-¡± Jordan spoke as he led them to the front door. As they looked at the wooden door, he couldn¡¯t help but feel a little amused at how it was almost hiding the cooler automatic door behind it. A concrete door that when he then revealed, Jordan couldn¡¯t resist the temptation to just be a little childish.
¡°Ahem,¡± Jordan cleared his throat before he raised his arms out the side. ¡°Open sesame!¡±
Naturally, the door responded to his mental will to swing open right as the words left his mouth. With a bit of a goofy smile, Jordan then turned back to see how the four behind him had reacted to this display of magical power.
Sadly, he seemed to be mainly working with a rather tough crowd. Antonio looked like he was already half-asleep while standing, Daniel was now giving him a rather skeptical look with one brow raised, and Sammy was also staring at the ground, slightly swaying in place.
Though, to be fair, even Daniel had bags under his that were deep enough to act as an alternative storage from the pocket space. Just the fact that they hadn¡¯t all fallen asleep while waiting for Jordan to pick them up just now was probably a testament to their willpower to stay awake. He could only imagine that, like himself, they wouldn¡¯t care about the floor being made from concrete and would just instantly pass out from how comforting the heating ground felt.
Meanwhile, Kelley the Enchanter¡¯s eyes were wide and gleaming like an only child who just woke up to see a massive pile of Christmas presents under the tree. She took a few steps forward, seemingly in utter awe. And while Jordan had been the one to do the little trick, actual amazement was not the reaction he¡¯d been honestly expecting.
¡°Woah¡¡± Kelley muttered as she approached the concrete door. She raised a hand as if to touch it, but stopped herself just shy of its surface. Her eyes flickered, her gaze studying the whole thing from top to bottom.
Jordan tilted his head slightly, now more than just a little confused. What was it that she found to be so fascinating? This reaction was definitely due to more than just a magically opening door, right? Right before he could ask the question on his mind, Kelley was a second ahead of him to provide the answer.
¡°These enchantments are¡ insane. They¡¯re just on a completely different level from our starting items.¡± She then inhaled, and her eyes only widened further as she breathed in the energizing air going past the open door. A little bit of the air also managed to hit the others before dispersing, causing them to blink from what could basically just be called better caffeine.
¡°I can barely even read any of it, but there¡¯s just so many, and they¡¯re all so powerful. This was all added by the System too, right¡± Kelley asked as she looked turned back toward Jordan. Who just nodded and then gestured for her to go on.
¡°There are enchantments for so many things, like¡ this one!¡± She pointed at what at least appeared to be a random part of the door. ¡°I think it¡¯s for something defensive? I''m not sure; all of this feels like it¡¯s way beyond what my Skills can even explain to me. It just gives me a feeling that even if we tried our hardest, we wouldn¡¯t be able to scratch it.¡±
¡°Interesting, what else can you notice?¡± Jordan asked as he squinted at the door, trying and failing to see what she saw. It clearly must have been a result of her Class.
From her being an Enchanter as a Trade Class, Jordan had naturally assumed that it¡¯d be like enchantments in games that gave items special effects. Heck, all their starting items were still at E1, with no obvious ways to upgrade them yet. So he felt it was a safe bet that unless the System had another way to do so that he just didn¡¯t know about yet, Kelley might be the key to upgrading the Grade of things like his Energy Pistol. Yet for her to inform him of about their being what seemed to be a ton of magical enchants on his base had been a surprise, but a welcome one.
As Jordan attentively listened to Kelley nerd out about her Class, they and the others all stepped inside building and allowed the door to close. Jordan wasn¡¯t sure if the energizing air was limited, or something just being supplied in the same way as the lighting and heating now. But just in case, it was probably for the best not to just leave the door open too long and let it all leak out.
In just a short while, Jordan was alone as his first citizens had all gone upstairs. He¡¯d only been able to learn so much from Kelley, but she had done her best to explain something that he couldn¡¯t perceive. But he learned that the art of enchanting could basically be described as magical scripting. Where one wrote a sort of arcane code directly onto the surface of an object, infused it with energy, and then it would take effect. Kelley herself had given been a set of what she said the System called basic recipes, but still sounded pretty damn useful to Jordan. They were things like enchanting items to self-repair when damaged, make things more durable, improving the efficiency of their Charge usage, and¡ actually giving mundane things an effect that required a Charge.
About half of her recipes were for things that could be called passive effects, like self-repair, and then the active effects, like letting someone put their own Resource into a regular stick for a magical attack. These recipes apparently even had sub-types freely provided by the System, depending on the ¡°attuned¡± Resource in question. So someone like Jordan, who used Tech Points, would get different effects than a Mage with Mana Points, for example. It was very fascinating stuff, and as soon as Kelley got her rest, Jordan looked forward to deep diving into it tomorrow.
And yes, she and the others would still get their chance to rest. When Jordan placed his hand on the machine that was both the Transmuter and central base of his Kingdom¡¯s functions, he focused on the air that was keeping him wired and awake. He sensed that, like the heating and lights, it could just as easily be toggled and controlled.
Jordan could even leave it active only for the ground level, and make it so that the upper floors only got basic air. Despite the ladder keeping the space between them open for airflow, the inherently magical control he had allowed him to keep the types of air fully trapped in their designated space. He could even prevent the special air from leaking out when the door opened, which he obviously dead, while internally shaming the System for not making that the default.
This way, they would actually be able to get some restful sleep. After what happened to them recently, the mental reset of being asleep was probably the thing they needed most right now. But with that settled, there was just one other matter that could finally be addressed.
The Surveyor was interesting, and he had perhaps been a little too quick to dismiss it. Yet even after considering the merits that it could likely also do things like locate underground metals and such, the automatic extraction of the Miner would just make things so much easier.
Considering that Jordan¡¯s goal was to make a push for the last few Levels until D Grade and unlock his Subclass to start manually building his own drones, the potential for automatic material gathering was just too fitting for his future plans for him to pass up.
So on that note, he walked over to the door, and quickly chose and finalized which Boon he wanted. And with it, a new pop-up quickly appeared in front of him.
Automatic construction will now begin!
Estimated time until completion: 10 minutes
It looked like he¡¯d have to wait a bit longer, but soon enough, Jordan would get to find out the Miner¡¯s capabilities.
Chapter 62: Industrial Miner
From the other side of the door, Jordan sensed that the System was doing its thing. It seemed like it was currently building an extension to his base, in order to accommodate the Miner. While this process had started immediately and without his input, he didn¡¯t necessarily mind just leaving it up to the System.
Now, the funny thing about ten minutes was that it fell into that range of only being a short amount of time for some things, or a long amount for others. Have to do some big exam or turn in homework that you held off on doing until right before it was due? Very short amount of time where each minute passes with every blink of an eye.
But if you were just waiting for ten minutes to pass and stood there? Every minute seemed to drag on for what felt like a small eternity. And while Jordan could have just waited it out, it was only after the first minute that he decided to be a bit more productive with his time instead.
There was one issue with the portals, and that was how his land drones couldn¡¯t use them on their own. As it turned out, this was actually very easy to deal with, and something he really should taken care of right after he first discovered the gateway. While waiting for the Miner to be built, Jordan went up to his Transmuter.
He then did the mental math on the dimensions of what he wanted to create, and whether he could do it one go or needed it to be something on the more modular side to assemble. In terms of height, Jordan figured that it didn¡¯t actually need to be tall enough to reach the portal. It just needed to be enough for the top of the drone to touch the bottom of the sphere, which was a requirement that meant this side project would be much easier to pull off in under ten minutes.
Just a few minutes later, Jordan watched as a land drone went through the portal. He then went through it himself, and noticed that his placement of the thing on the other side had been off by a few inches. With just a nudge from his foot, that was fixed easily enough.
What Jordan had built could essentially be called a pair of ramps. One placed on each side of the gateway, so that his land drones could come to and from with ease. The ramp for the mountain-side of the portal had taken just a bit longer to get ready than its counterpart. As due to the the difference in weather conditions, he felt it might be a good idea to make that one a bit more sturdy.
One by one, all of his land drones had followed him here and were now on the other side. The sun was now quite lower in the sky for the mountain range, but that was fine. Jordan would give his drones a set of orders that they should hopefully be able to follow continuously without trouble.
The planned schedule would be as such. During the day, on the forest¡¯s side, the land drones would patrol the giant forest while grinding Experience Points. Then as soon as the portal appeared after sunset, they would use the ramp to cross over and hunt around the mountain range. Once it was approximately half an hour until the gateway would disappear, they would then come back and return to the forest and resume hunting there. It should also be noted that the land drones would fully spread out while within the forest, and remain in pairs while in the mountain range.
Jordan at least believed that was the best compromise between them covering the most area while being less likely to be destroyed by the higher Level denizens of the mountains. While this was ongoing, a lone air drone would remain in the forest to patrol the area directly around the edges of Jordan¡¯s Kingdom. Just so that extra layer of security would always be there, even as the land drones spent half their time in the mountains.
I¡¯ll probably still have to replace the land drones as they¡¯re taken out by Ice Sprits, Wyverns, or whatever else is out there. But at least I can just do that as necessary while sitting in my base, and send out the land drones again as soon as they¡¯re summoned. Now, I wonder how long it¡¯ll be until they grind enough Experience Points for me to hit D Grade? Jordan asked himself as he hopped on the single land drone that hadn¡¯t been sent across the portal yet.
He still needed it as a ride back, but then would immediately have it go through to join its kin. Having five land drones as what he could currently summon without zeroing out his TP did mean that one would have to be alone without a buddy. But such was life, even if it did mean this lone drone was more susceptible to being destroyed while fighting things.
When it came to the predicted rate of Experience gain, he knew that they had gathered over 3000 EXP after the first whole night across the portal. While they were in the forest during the day, he estimated that the figure might drop to a bit under 1000 due to the lower average Level of creatures. Though maybe it¡¯d be even lower now that a large number of local forest animals had likely already been killed by now, so there would obviously be fewer in the area to keep murdering.
Yet at the same time, his land drones hadn¡¯t really encountered the stronger foes within the mountain range during the previous night. So maybe as they found those instead, those higher amounts of Experience would compensate for the difference? He did know from Appraise that the Wyverns tended to live near the peaks of the mountains, so assuming that was where the higher Level stuff in general resided, that could be something for his land drones to focus on.
Hmm, there¡¯s no way so much killing can be sustainable, right? Even if I assume those four aren¡¯t interested, Haje is definitely going to still keep farming Experience Points for himself, too. Let¡¯s say that there are enough creatures in the area and through the portal for my drones to farm a few more Levels of Experience, and at least let me hit D Grade. What happens after that? Assuming this isn¡¯t like an actual game where things will eventually just respawn, I¡¯ll soon need to either expand my drones¡¯ range, or I¡¯ll have to personally move around to other biomes they can¡¯t currently reach from here.
For the former option of a substantial range increase, he at least hoped that was something D Grade could provide. It¡¯d seemed like Haje¡¯s own Skill had received a massive boost when it hit D1 for its Grade. So as soon as he hit Level 11 himself to evolve his Skill to E5 first, Jordan felt it wasn¡¯t unreasonable to think that Summon Land Drone would get a similarly potent upgrade.
With that thought, Jordan arrived back at his building. Just a bit over ten minutes should have passed by now, yet he was quick to notice something. From the angle he was driving in from, he should have been able to see the new room that had been built by the System. And yet, as far as he could tell, there was no extension or anything obviously different about the building at all.
Huh. The System showed the live construction of the building before, while it was still in progress. So definitely not just a case of only appearing when finished, and it not being done yet. Well, only one way to find out what the System decided to do, he thought while hopping off his drone. There was another reason why he was confident about the building being done, and that was because the System had said so while he¡¯d driven here.
Automatic construction has now been completed!
The user¡¯s Second Boon has now been installed!Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
As Jordan then approached the front door, he sent his land drone off to spend the remainder of the night through the portal. When Jordan entered his base, his gaze immediately went over to the other side. Just like the building¡¯s exterior, the interior also remained the same. Even the concrete door next to the Transmuter appeared to be unchanged. As he then walked up to it, he already tried to focus his will on it.
¡°Ohhhh, so that¡¯s how we¡¯re doing it? Alright System, I can taste what you¡¯re cooking,¡± Jordan muttered aloud. The System had indeed built an extension to his base that the door would lead to. Just not one that went across the wall like he¡¯d expected, but instead had been built straight down. Now that did beg a question. If there wasn¡¯t anything on the other side of the door itself, how had the System implemented the space needed for a ladder or stairs? The answer was that it simply hadn¡¯t.
When Jordan touched the door, he felt that it wasn¡¯t an instant process like the gateway outside. Instead he got a mental pinging, one asking him for permission first. Which he naturally gave, and was promptly teleported.
An instant later, he reappeared in a new room. From what the System had informed him, Jordan was currently about 20 feet under the very middle point of his Kingdom. The underground room he now found himself in was pretty simple in terms of its design. He was surrounded by concrete, in a cube that was 20 feet long in every dimension. Despite being detached from the rest of the building, this room still had lighting in the ceiling, heating, and energizing air.
But of course, it was the machine in the center of this chamber that was really worth mention.
The Industrial Miner was rather big. It was tall enough to touch the ceiling, and took up about half the room¡¯s total space in terms of length and width.
When it came to the machine¡¯s design, Jordan believed that it could be described as fairly cubical in shape, with the main body being just one large cube, and then a much smaller and rectangular part to its side. When Jordan looked at the latter more closely, he discovered that it was actually a metal chest.
Opening the chest, he saw a chute that connected it to the main body. The chest itself was about five feet in length, three feet in height, and then three feet in width. Some very quick mental math put that at a volume of 45 cubic feet, which was a pretty good amount of storage space.
Sadly, the metal and almost entirely closed nature of the machine made it like the Industrial Transmuter. Where to find out how the inside actually looked and start figuring out how it worked, he¡¯d have to break into the thing. Putting side the risk of irreparably breaking something, Jordan didn¡¯t even know it¡¯d be possible. As the System had long-since informed him that the metal these Boons were made of could be simply described as very, very, very durable.
Name: Industrial Miner
Charge: 57.2%
Rank: 2
Description: The Second Boon and backbone of Industry¡¯s future potential as a Kingdom. This System-created machine is one of a kind, as it allows for the identification and automatic extraction of any underground materials. The only limitations are the number of items within its range, and both the Charge and time needed for each extraction.
Two things were quickly noted by Jordan. The first was that this machine shared a Charge with the Transmuter, which he supposed did make sense as the latter was also the central power for his while Kingdom. And the second was the Miner had a listed Rank to match his current Kingdom Rank, but not the ability for him to increase that by feeding it his Experience Points.
Speaking of which, one might wonder how much it took for him to do that now. Since that was something he¡¯d already seen, when he used the Transmuter earlier. The answer to this was as interesting as it was straightforward to keep in mind.
Ten thousand Experience Points, which was exactly the same requirement as before. Now that meant that the cost would likely remain the same after hitting Rank 3 as well, unless the System pulled a fast one. For now, that was too high of a cost for Jordan to pay. And now that he actually had citizens in his Kingdom, he still had the feeling from inherent knowledge that only he as the Kingdom¡¯s owner could pay it. At that price, that would mean setting himself back by a couple of Levels. So for the time being, it was a matter for after he at least hit D Grade at Level 11, and could better afford the setback.
Right, let¡¯s see how you actually work, Jordan thought as he then placed a hand on the Miner. The moment he willed for it to activate and tell him more about its functions, it quickly responded. And when it did, Jordan used his other hand to start rubbing his chin.
¡°Interesting,¡± Jordan muttered to himself. ¡°So like the Transmuter, this is going to take a bit of testing. Since I¡¯ll first need to pick an amount of Charge to feed it for the size of the area it¡¯ll check. Then when it gives me a list of what it found, I¡¯ll have to just pick something and figure out how much Charge and time it takes only after it starts the extraction process. Huh.¡±
Knowing that much now, Jordan pulled out his handy notebook and pencil. He would have to manually keep track of the costs and time requirements, and then steadily figure out how each was determined. So just to start with, Jordan decided to put down 5% as the initial Charge to survey the ground.
Putting his hand back on the machine, he felt it respond to his will. The Industrial Miner shook for just a few moments as the used-up Charge was deducted. And then, a new pop-up appeared before him.
Material deposits located!
Range checked: 0.5 miles
Found Deposits:
-Unknown metal
-Unknown metal
-Unknown metal
¡
Dozens more results appeared on what ended up being quite a long screen. All of them were listed as unknown metals, which was¡ not exactly as helpful as he would hoped. The only thing that was actually good to know was the range was confirmed to be in every direction by a feeling put in his head.
So assuming it continued to scale evenly, that meant the entire size of his territory could be covered with double the Charge at 10%. However, that was before the increased depth to his Kingdom¡¯s territory that had also been provided by the Boon. As far as how deep of an increase that actually was, Jordan still didn¡¯t know for sure.
Though there was one last part to address. Which was an addition bit of information the System had decided to give him at the very bottom of the screen.
Note:
From the top, found deposits are listed in order of expected time and used Charge for their extraction. In addition to other factors, this is primarily determined by their distance from the Industrial Miner and the inherent nature of the material within the located deposits.
Jordan couldn¡¯t help but chuckle a bit. Despite his initial reaction being that of slight annoyance, he did admit that this was the more fun way of doing things. Rather than simply have it all spelled out for him, he couldn¡¯t deny that there was a certain satisfaction to figuring out the details himself. With that being said, he went ahead and selected the top result.
Once again, the Miner hummed with life. The floor beneath Jordan¡¯s feet shook, and he thought he could hear the sound of stone being crushed. But something about seemed¡ distant? It was hard to say, as at least some of the noise would naturally be muffled by being underground. Yet after he began the extraction process, he checked to see the current Charge.
Charge: 49.0%
So that had cost him exactly 3.2%. That would be a pretty hefty price to keep going. Jordan had been making somewhat of an effort to recharge the Transmuter by occasionally feeding it things like dirt and dry leaves, which were abundant. At least enough to offset his use of it so far, without spending too much time just collecting such things. But if he was going to frequently use the Miner, it seemed that side of Kingdom management would need to be stepped up.
But now there was a minor issue, or rather, a Miner issue. The machine was still humming with life as it was definitely active and doing its job. Yet it soon became clear to Jordan why the System had deigned to add a storage container that was a lot larger than the chute that would deposit the extracted material into it.
This might take a while, and Jordan currently had no idea how long he¡¯d need to wait.
Chapter 63: Duality of Patience and Impatience
At least waiting wasn¡¯t all bad for Jordan. While he wouldn''t exactly call himself the best in the world at it, he was willing to be a patient man when he needed to be. It also helped that even when waiting, there was at least one form of satisfaction that had started to roll in.
Experience Earned!
+75 EXP
Yet at the same time, a slightly worrying thought did come to mind. When Jordan thought about the Crabs, he wondered just where exactly the first one he met had come from. Has that Crab truly been a loner who simply got unlucky, or were there still more somewhere in the area? His drones had yet to spot anything since then, of course, but he still couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit concerned.
Especially as he wondered if, by now, the other Crabs of the world had noticed that one of their Kingdoms had disappeared from the leaderboard.
¡°Ah-choo!¡± Jordan sneezed from what felt like out of nowhere. He wiped his nose, hoping that he wasn¡¯t catching a cold or something after spending quite a bit of time in the freezing mountain range. Even with his seemingly superhuman Stats, the last thing he wanted would be to get sick due to germs unique to this planet also getting higher Levels in order to still overwhelm his Stats.
In fact, he just really hoped that high Level bacteria or viruses weren¡¯t a thing¡
Experience Earned!
+75 EXP
Well, if nothing else, he looked forward to seeing each message appear as they ticked another small step closer to D Grade.
***
Across the other side of the world, a certain conversation was currently taking place. Three Crabs were together in a room. One sat on a throne handcrafted to accommodate his shape, extra long legs, and large overall size. The second was standing before the throne while respectfully bowing with its bent legs, and the third remained by a wall off to the side.
¡°Has there been any word on the Kingdom being held by Florence?¡± Wilfred Wilbur Wyndham III, more commonly referred to as the Golden Prince, asked. It was only a short while ago that he had noticed two things at around the same time. The first was that an unknown Kingdom by the name of Industry had been the first to increase its Rank and climb to the top of the leaderboard, and that one of his indirectly owned Kingdoms had gone missing.
¡°Not yet, your majesty. We sent our fastest units to investigate the matter, but considering the estimated distance, it will be at least several more days until they arrive. However, Florence did report the spotting of another Lord-type in the area, and the current theory is that it may have attacked them in a similar manner to how the one near us has continued to prove¡ troublesome,¡± the Crab answered with a bit of hesitation toward the end.
The Golden Prince just sighed. It was true that approximately seven miles or so away from his personal Kingdom was the lair of a mighty creature with Lord in its name. It was a Sea Leviathan Lord with a form so large, that it reportedly made even their Species of giant Crabs feel small in comparison. It was enough of a size difference that it could consume a Crab whole in just one bite, which was unfortunately something that had already happened enough to be a problem.
But while the huge beast did live quite a difference away, it still actively hunted a far enough area around its territory that the Crabs were having some difficulty avoiding the Leviathan as they tried to move to and from their Kingdom. And considering its high Level, not even the Golden Prince felt comfortable fighting it. At least not yet, as he did believe that it wouldn¡¯t be long until his carefully chosen and evolved Skills would fully click together in how they optimally synergized as almost one whole.
Yet that time wouldn¡¯t be now. Perhaps soon in just a couple of days, but would still mean that nothing could be done about it until then. As far as his current chances against the Leviathan, just based on reports from scouts, he believed that it was currently around 50-50 that he¡¯d win on his own. Almost definitely even higher if the Golden Prince used the one-time effects of the Advancement Crystals he owned in concert with his own Skills, and broke many of them at once to combine their effects for an ultimate attack. But he¡¯d chosen not to do so.
While the beast was a nuisance, he preferred to simply wait until victory became an absolute certainty without the use of a precious resource. This was simply par for the course for anyone who understood the Golden Prince¡¯s mentality. One that was to hold back and simply keep building up, no matter the cost in the meantime, and then only move after he¡¯d made sure that nothing had been left up to chance.
Yet the reason for the other Crab¡¯s hesitation was one that came from an inherently conflicted mindset of their own. The Golden Prince had already admitted to his people that he would need some time to deal with the Leviathan Lord and prepare. To his subjects, this caused a bit of distress.
For on the one hand, the Golden Prince was an absolute being that should easily able to triumph over any foe with his godly might. But on the other hand, his word was absolute law and any strategy decided by him must be the best. For them to fully accept the strategy now meant that they also had to accept that their beloved leader was currently weaker than some beast. It was an impossible conundrum that their minds simply could not wrap around. And yet¡This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
¡°Tell me, Harry, do you have any suggestions or ideas for how we should proceed forward?¡± The Golden Prince asked. He tapped his claw against his throne. Despite being the one who chose to ask the question anyway, he was already cerain of what the answer would be.
¡°This lowly servant could not possibly think of anything that you haven¡¯t already considered, your highness. Surely, the strategy you have already decided on and shared before must-¡±
¡°Very well,¡± the Golden Prince interjected with a wave of his claw. ¡°In that case, give me an update on what we know of the gateways that populate this world. How safely can my people travel through them as a means of quickly moving across this planet?¡±
The other Crab simply bowed more deeply. ¡°Of course, your majesty. According to our growing information network, it seems to be true that the System placed a gateway next to each of the Kingdoms that were initially claimed as part of the Quest. These gateways seem to average two destinations, though it is my greatest shame to admit to his highness that our sample size remains small. As for other gateways¡ there is an issue.
¡°More often than not, any gateway not placed near a Kingdom has been guarded as part of the territory of powerful native wildlife. We have yet to spot anymore Lord-type monsters in these instances, but many believe it to simply be a matter of time. We are still unsure of the exact pattern, but the System does seem to place a certain value on portals and has assigned them varying guards based on that. At least this is our leading theory, as the gateways that are not guarded have only led to a single destination of seemingly low value in magical treasures, low Level of monsters to hunt, or simply a fewer amount to find. Ah, and in addition, if one side of a gateway is guarded or safe, it seems to apply to each of its destinations as well.¡±
¡°Hmm, I see.¡± For the next several passing seconds, the Golden Prince remained quiet and in deep thought. The other Crab naturally also remained silent, patiently waiting for his ruler to take as much time as he needed. Though when he soon spoke again, it was due to having a question regarding something he wanted to have clarified before making any decisions.
¡°Tell me, do you have an estimate on the rate of unguarded gateways? In general terms, without taking any other factor into account? Ah, but of course, don¡¯t count those claimed during the Quest.¡±
¡°Yes, your majesty. From currently discovered gateways, it is about one in six for those that are completely unguarded,¡± the Crab directly answered.
The Golden Prince just nodded, and dismissed the servant. The other Crab just wordless gave another quick bow, and then promptly exited the chamber to leave him alone with his most loyal guard and butler. If there was anyone whose competence he trusted, it was Sebastian. And this was largely due to one major reason.
Out of his entire Species, Sebastian was the only one who didn¡¯t see the Golden Prince as some supreme, deity-like being. He was still incredibly loyal, of course, but it wasn¡¯t loyalty born of religious fervor like everyone else. Yet for some reason, the Prince¡¯s most trusted confident was the only one who could look at him without the bearing the eyes of a zealot. The Golden Prince had naturally wondered the reason why, as even from the youngest age he could remember, this contrast had existed between the butler and every other Crab.
¡°Tell me your honest thoughts, Sebastian. We have been surpassed by the Kingdom of Industry, and despite the boons it gained in making my own Level the highest, demanding such sacrifice has made my shell feel heavy. And even despite the System rewarding every achievement made so far for those who strive to be the first or garner the most in something, it has yet to reward us as a Species for claiming the greatest number of Kingdoms. Was the initial approach I chose the wrong one to make? For this Industry has clearly either achieved something that we have not, or its Lord was bold enough to sacrifice a great amount of Experience. I cannot help but ask myself if this Lord did so foolishly, or knew something we do not.¡±
The Golden Prince had sunk into his throne while speaking, feeling exhausted by the past few days. Due to the religiously beloved status he¡¯d held across their Species, their world had attained unprecedented levels of peace even during just his early rule. And as someone who was seemingly naturally gifted in every task he put his mind to, he had also managed to easily navigate through any other problems that had appeared across his planet-sized domain.
Yet when the System had appeared to transport them all to this new planet, it felt like nothing he¡¯d done was enough. That even with how quickly the scattered population of Crabs had established contact with one another, it always seemed as there was always more information that he didn¡¯t know, than that he did. It was only when either totally alone or with Sebastian that he could give these doubts a voice. As even if he were to order his other subjects to question him and poke flaws in his plans, all that always led to was a mental breakdown that provided nothing good.
¡°I would not say it was the wrong choice, given how little we knew on the first day and still know so little now,¡± Sebastian Ironclaw eventually said while moving away from the wall. Even though he could speak freely and have been given permission to be honest, he¡¯d still taken a few moments to choose his words carefully.
¡°But despite only a few days having passed since the Merging, it may be time to adjust our methods. We have sacrificed the many to increase the Levels of myself and your highness and advance your Skills. Yet instead of waiting further, the first step might be to consolidate the Kingdoms now? It may take some time since I believe each person holding ownership will need a while to find the safe gateways that eventually lead to them at least being close to here. Yet if the System does not reward the achievement of our Species holding the most Kingdoms, it may be worth it to instead bring them all under your name, officially,¡± Sebastian finished.
The Golden Prince considered the suggestion for a bit, but then slowly nodded. Perhaps his loyal butler was correct. Even just losing the lead on the Mightiest Kingdom leaderboard felt unacceptable as it was. While he¡¯d already gathered quite the good Titles regarding every other leaderboard, the Golden Prince only accepted total and utter victory. It was with this thought that he gave Sebastian an order that would then be spread far and wide.
No longer would they focus on capturing these Humans or on sacrificing themselves. No longer would they explore for more Mandates to claim in ¡°only¡± his name. Instead, all the scattered Crabs who¡¯d at least been looped into the information network would receive the same command.
It was time for all their Kingdoms to become officially his by him taking the lives of their Lords, and with those being the final Crabs he killed, their Species would then mobilize together as one.
Chapter 64: Lonesome Haje
While still technically on the same part of the planet as the Golden Prince and his personal Kingdom, another being was still quite the distance away from the Crabs. Far enough that while the journey was doable just by walking under Crab standards, the four Humans Jordan saved would have died from exhaustion long before they reached it. Thought it was due to this fact that even after a little while had passed since Jordan had taken over the beach Kingdom, Haje still enjoyed the freedom of remaining alone in the area before more Crabs showed up.
Compared to the time it¡¯d taken the small group to flee from the area with the Elemental Lord, Haje had been a practical speed demon for getting there. Which only made sense for someone whose top speed was like a car zooming down the freeway with a fully pressed-down gas pedal. And compared to aimlessly wandering around, it certainly didn¡¯t hurt to already know the direction he could just run straight toward.
As soon as Jordan had first left after telling Haje about the Elemental Lord, he¡¯d been heading east without allowing any distractions. Even when he passed by a lake with what appeared to be giant crocodiles made from sand, who more importantly averaged Level 8, Haje simply ignored them. They just couldn¡¯t compare to the much more appealing prey that his mind had already squarely focused on.
By the present time, Haje had already carved something of a trail of destruction, however. While he didn¡¯t go out of his way to hunt down anything he saw in the distance, the same couldn¡¯t be said for anything that got in his way. Or, as foolish of a decision those monsters would soon learn to regret, anything that tried to attack him.
Haje personally did find it interesting that the creatures of this world were so different from those of his home planet. Back there, basically everything tried to attack his kind for the shared reason of consuming the powerful cores at the center of their large stone bodies. Yet none of these beasts had that instinct. As far as Haje could tell, the ones that did strike him was only because their Descriptions described them as being the highly aggressive types who would also do so for anything they came across.
But none of these living obstacles really served to slow down Haje. He didn¡¯t even really get the chance to get a good look at the attacking creatures, more than half of the time. This was due to how when one jumped at him from the side as he ran, Haje just reflexively swung and killed it with a single blow. The Experience Points gained so far had steadily gotten some pretty good progress for him, however.
When Haje and Jordan parted ways, Haje had done so at a true Level of 5, and then an effective Level of 20 due to his Skill. While the former would still look the same to anyone who used Appraise on him now, the latter had already gone up by another Level. That was just due to the technicalities in how his Skill actually functioned.
Finally, he crossed what was just another one of the borders between different biomes. It was only soon after doing so, that he spotted something. When Haje used Appraise, it confirmed that he had indeed reached the area where his current target was waiting.
Species: Earth Elemental
Level: 11
Description: An uncommon elemental found within areas of Vervina-C with high concentrations of earth-attuned energy. They have beings of limited intelligence who primarily rely on their magically infused stone-like bodies to shrug off any attacks. Unless provoked, these elementals are known for their generally neutral nature toward others.
If Haje had a mouth, he would have grinned. Of the various creatures native to this planet, this was already the highest Level one he¡¯d encountered so far. Before him was just the single Earth Elemental, at least that he could currently see. As unlike Humans or other creatures with some form of eyesight, Haje¡¯s kind actually ¡°saw¡± the world around them with their core. It still allowed him senses like sight, smell, and allowed him to feel pain from his stone despite the lack of anything resembling nerves.
How exactly it worked was something that remained unknown to him, as at the very least, none of those in his clan had ever cared too deeply about even trying to find out. But all it fundamentally meant was that they way he did perceive the environment was different from Jordan or other Humans in general. For example, the gateway which just had a fair amount of purple glow to Jordan was practically blinding to look at for Haje. Yet it also allowed to less ¡°see¡± and more sense the Earth Elemental from afar, likely due to its own nature being a far more magical existence.
Haje charged the elemental. With two arms already pulled back, he threw a double punch just as it turned around. With how the System had gone out of its way to highlight its toughness, Haje imagined that-
Experience Earned!
As he glanced over at the pop-up that also included the adjusted gain of Experience Points due to his Skill, Haje slumped a bit. That hadn¡¯t even been him giving his all. As not only had Haje not used half his arms, but he also hadn¡¯t put all his force behind that strike just now. He truly hadn¡¯t expected that the Level 11 foe would so easily perish from just that single attack. Perhaps it just made sense due to the disparity there was between them, when compared to his effective Level, but even so¡
It didn¡¯t matter. Despite its Level, a foe that died so easily couldn¡¯t even really be called a foe. It was just another obstacle to go straight through in order to reach his true target. The fact that it¡¯d slowed him down by even just several seconds was due to Haje¡¯s own choice to pause, and not anything it¡¯d directly done. But just like anything else that was too weak, it was quickly expunged from his memory as he moved on.
Yet while he found them far too easy to find interesting, Haje wasn¡¯t foolish to simply ignore the other Earth Elementals. Whenever he saw one, he continued to make a point to kill it. This was partially for the hope that if he killed enough of its kin, it might make his hunt for the Lord easier by drawing its attention.
But the main reason was for the continued gain of Experience Points. Something that was only expedited by the discovery that the first elemental was just on the weaker side, as he found some that were Level 12, and a few that were Level 13. After his Skill was then taken into account for the Experience gain, it didn¡¯t take that many slain elementals for Haje to see further growth in his effective Level. And not by just a little, either.
Level Up!
Level 5 to Level 6
For while his true Level had just gone up by one, his effective Level now sat at 24. And just to make his gains even more fruitful, during this killing of elementals, he¡¯d already gained another Skill evolution even before reaching this point. In the back of his mind, Haje believed that his new friend would likely be interested to learn that the next increment was at Level 21.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
It seemed that without counting Level 1, the Skill advancements had steadily come as increments of five. So starting from Level 6, then 11, 16, and now 21. With 11 also marking the much more important step of one¡¯s Grade increasing. Yet didn¡¯t count as being a ¡°true¡± D Grade until one had a Skill reach Grade E5, to then be taken up to D1. When that happened for Haje, it felt like a wealth of hidden potential had been unlocked, and had simply been waiting until his Skill Grade met the prerequisite.
Had Jordan not given him any Advancement Crystals, it would have only been upon reaching an effective Level of 21 that he would have reached this point on his own. When the two of them had spoken about it earlier, they¡¯d both been quick to reach the same conclusion. For literally anyone who wasn¡¯t Haje, that kind of delay would be deemed as unsustainable for many. Jordan himself would have a hard time imagining how long it would take him to reach Level 21, especially since limited growth in Skill would likely just make it all the harder to get to higher Levels in the first place.
It meant that while not technically mandatory, the use of Advancement Crystals was just the only thing that made sense. For just a single Skill to reach true D1 at least, one would need to use at least 11 of these gems to make up for the difference in evolutions. And it didn¡¯t take a genius to understand the implications of this.
Killing others wasn¡¯t just an incentive, it was almost required if one wanted to stand any chance against those who were willing to do so. When they¡¯d spoken to each other, Jordan had clearly been suffering complicated emotions about how heavyhanded the System had been to force this result as their reality. While Haje understood why he would feel that way, he himself didn¡¯t really mind so much.
If that was how things needed to be for them to remain the hunters and not the hunted, then so be it. Haje simply hoped that his new friend and Lord would also make his peace with this fact. For even if other members of Haje¡¯s own kind were to target him, then he would simply turn their own deaths into fuel to empower his continued life. If such was the way of things, then adapting in whatever way was needed to thrive was the only option that made sense.
Speaking of Jordan, Haje then recalled something he¡¯d been asked to do. Coming to a sudden stop, he also had a chance to actually take a proper look at the area he was currently in. Though it was nothing remarkable at first glance, just a dirt field filled with stones and boulders of various shapes and sizes. But when Haje focused on a rock that was near him, one smaller than his hand, he noticed something. There was a certain¡ power, hidden inside it.
Before Haje investigated further, he took a moment to take a look into the shared pocket space for their Guild. He¡¯d been asked to regularly check it, but had only just now figured to do so for the first time since he and Jordan parted ways.
Normally, Haje might not have checked it for days, if not weeks. But it was only just now that he suddenly realized that he and his Human friend might have very different ideas for what ¡°regularly¡± meant, and assumed it was sooner, based on how the fleshy beings of his homeworld had always seemed to generally work under shorter timespans than his Species.
Inside the pocket space were two pieces of paper. Haje tried to take one out, but immediately sensed that he couldn¡¯t. He then tried to remove the other, and did so with ease. Haje simply nodded in acknowledgement, already knowing that this was an intentional function by Jordan as the Guild leader to ensure that messages went to their intended recipients.
After taking it out, he then read the text written on the piece of paper that was so relatively tiny in his hands. It was just fortunate that due to the particular way Haje saw the world, the size of the text itself didn¡¯t actually make an impact on his ability to easily read it.
A few moments later, Haje simply made a small tear in the paper and then put it back. For him, that was easier than writing down an actual reply. And in any case, it would serve the same purpose anyway of basic confirmation that the message had been read. As for what the message itself said? It¡¯d been worded as a request for if he had the time, but by already acknowledging his new friend as his Lord as well, Haje took it as simply a polite command.
Since Haje had always just relied on the elders of his clan to plan their moves as a group, he was fine with this dynamic, even if he was far ahead of Jordan in terms of actual combat prowess. If pure brawn was the only thing that mattered for deciding leadership, then his own clan would have likely fallen apart like before they¡¯d come to this world and¡
In any case, the instructions were rather simple. After Haje defeated the Earth Elemental Lord, he was to check for the corpses of Humans. Jordan did not know their exact location, only that there would be a couple near each other in one spot, and many more in another.
If Haje managed to find the corpses, then he was to turn them into Advancement Crystals. Though Jordan did add that if he couldn¡¯t find them, that was okay and he would have his summons search for them later. Or that if Haje didn¡¯t wish to touch the bodies due to whatever condition they were currently in, that was find too, and all he still needed to do was report back their approximate location.
However, there was one final note at the end. If Haje did turn them into gems, he was not to add them to the pocket space for the Guild. Instead, Jordan heavily stressed that it was much better that they were delivered in person and away from the other Humans instead. This section had even been separated from the rest with a line, which only highlighted it further.
When Haje had read that part, his only reaction was a shrug. He wasn¡¯t the type to question the reasoning for such a focus on a discrete delivery. If that was what he preferred, then that was what he would do. But with that taken care of as something to do after he defeated the Lord of the Earth Elementals, Haje turned his attention back to the strange rock and picked it up. He sensed that the power emanating from it was definitely coming from deeper inside it, so he naturally proceeded to break it in half with a carefully measured strike from one of his fists.
Inside it was a brown crystal, one that had not been broken into two pieces. Instead, like an outer shell, the rock around it was simply the only thing to be damaged. Now that it was fully exposed, Haje felt a deep sense of power from this crystal, something that felt like he was starting into a conduit for the power of rock and soil itself. Curious, he attempted to use Appraise on it.
Name: Crystal of Earth
Grade: E5
Description: This rare but naturally occurring crystal has potent energies associated with the concept of earth. So long as the crystal remains connected to its concept, the energy within it will continue to slowly increase. If left alone, this built-up energy will lead to the occasional spawning of an Earth Elemental.
Haje considered the item for a moment, specifically its Grade. Even now as he held it in his hand, he indeed sensed that the power within it had already started to wane. Though the current rate of energy loss was slow, to the point where it was barely even noticeable. For the time being, he went ahead and simply stored it in the Guild¡¯s pocket space for Jordan to find whenever he next checked it.
But just before Haje then moved on, he sensed something that was both much more powerful than the crystal and quickly moving his way. Before it¡¯d even gotten close enough to enter his field of vision, he felt its presence. Turning toward the direction the feeling was coming from, Haje already felt excitement beginning to pool up inside of him. There was no need to continue a search for the Earth Elemental Lord.
It had clearly just found him, and would reach Haje any minute now.
Chapter 65: Haje’s Inner Battle
Roughly one minute ago, the Earth Elemental Lord reached Haje, and the two met in battle. Like Haje, the elemental did have four arms, though no hands or fingers at the end. Something that relevant due to how about 50 seconds ago, Haje had torn one of them off with little resistance. 45 seconds ago, the Lord countered with just a basic strike of using its earthen limbs like oversized clubs. When Haje then blocked the attack with ease, the first flickers of a certain emotion entered his core.
By half a minute ago, the Lord was down to its last arm. Something that was also effectively its last limb, as the bottom section of its body didn¡¯t have legs, but almost seemed partially merged with the ground. When it reached this point, a sound like a deep rumbling vibrated through the air and earth alike. Not knowing what to expect from this, Haje created a bit of distance and chose to stay on his guard.
Now in the present time, the emotional flickers Haje had felt earlier had now solidified. Surrounding him were the torn apart and destroyed bodies of regular Earth Elementals. That rumbling earlier hadn¡¯t been the warning of some powerful attack, but instead a call for the Lord¡¯s lesser kin to arrive from all directions and come to its aid. Something which just served as a sudden boost of Experience Points for Haje, and nothing more.
As Haje looked down at the basically already beaten and half-broken Lord, he felt only disappointment.
When Jordan had told him about it, his thoughts had naturally gone to the Lord of the Mountain back home. And perhaps, even if done subconsciously, that might have been a mistake. In Haje¡¯s mind, the Lord of the Mountain was and still remained an indomitable force that was closer to a natural disaster than just another living creature. So as soon as he¡¯d heard about the beaten Lord now before him, his expectations had quickly been built up.
Yet the truth of the matter couldn¡¯t be more clear now. Even if Haje hadn¡¯t touched a single monster on his way here, his effective Level had already been just a bit higher than the Lord¡¯s. But since he had gotten stronger, that disparity had only grown by the time he encountered it. And since the Lord had been desperate enough to throw the other Earth Elementals as a gathered group at him, that had only resulted in a couple more Levels for Haje to become comparatively even more powerful.
Perhaps if Haje had come here when his effective Level had still been at 15, this might have been an actual fight. But instead, it was just as one-sided of a beatdown as it could really get. With a foregone conclusion, all that was left for him to do was deliver the finishing blow and get it over with.
And yet¡rather than do that, staring at the Earth Elemental Lord as it struggled to even rise back up caused a new emotion to well up within him. One that was being fed by his earlier disappointment and converted it into a different feeling.
¡°Do you have nothing else to show me?!¡± Haje¡¯s voice boomed with anger. ¡°Are you just a dumb beast- no, less than a beast- who only knows how to swing your arms?! Is your name as a Lord only because you¡¯re a coward that can only call your kin to be killed first?!¡±
Haje clenched his four fists, before he stomped over to the elemental. When at its full height, it¡¯d loomed over Haje as something roughly twice his size. Yet with most of its limbs broken off and part of its main body destroyed as it lay on the ground, even that difference between them had been forcibly removed.
His four arms reached for the Earth Elemental Lord and tightly gripped its main body. Squeezing with enough force to partially crush that which he gripped, he pulled up the elemental from the ground. The Lord weakly tried to swing at him with its one remaining limb. Though the attempt at retaliation was so utterly pathetic, that Haje didn¡¯t even react as it it uselessly bounced off him.
¡°Well?! Do you have still have something that you haven¡¯t used yet?! Even when faced with death, is just swinging your own still all you know how to do?!¡± Haje angrily asked as he let go with one arm, and raised it as a tight fist above the elemental. He waited a moment, hoping that just the threat of the impending blow to end its existence would cause it do¡ anything, really.
But again and again, the so-called Lord just weakly tried to make use of its remaining limb. Disgusted, Haje just let go and allowed it to drop back down with a loud thud that shook the ground. To tell the truth, not even Haje was quite sure why he was reacting with so much passion. For anything else, he would have still felt disappointed, yes, but then be quick to kill it and move on. But now he was just delaying, even hoping that it might suddenly prove him wrong and at least surprise him with something exciting.
Yet perhaps somewhere deepdown, Haje could relate to the being before him. Jabelites were their own Species, but there were obvious comparison that could be drawn between them and Earth Elementals. Both had a heavy association with rock and earth, and were less born and were instead more supernaturally created from arcane sources. Maybe it was due this comparison that Haje¡¯s expectations had also been influenced by the extra factor of using his own kind as a basis.
Are you truly so pathetic? Or was I wrong to expect more? Haje asked himself as his anger subsided and slowly turned into a sense of regret. With a heavy sigh, he brought down his fist to finally just get it over with.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
***
Far above in a space station hidden in its own sub-dimension, a certain couple of individuals were watching with great interest. Out of everything else currently happening on the planet, Haje was currently the center of their attention. It only made sense, once one knew that the situation currently happening was¡ unprecedented, to say the least.
While past details on previous Mergings were known, they became more sparse the further back one researched. Such was the natural erosion of knowledge over time, as even immortal beings either forgot things, died through means other than old age, or the records themselves were destroyed for one reason or another. But for what was known, a conclusion could be safely drawn that while each Merging was different, the System still implemented similar general patterns and procedures.
But for the multiverse as a whole, Haje as being was what many could only call an anomaly. A Class and Skill like his simply didn¡¯t exist, at least until now, of course. Which brought up another point about new Mergings. While the same general patterns repeated themselves, they were also used by the System for what could be considered as experiments. Where it would introduce Traits, Classes, Skill, Titles, and other features that simply had never existed before.
Yet it was always during this first generation of Mergings that the System chose to stir the pot, one way or another. And for the 42nd Merging, Haje¡¯s Class was a ladle that had indeed was stirring the metaphorical pot by a frankly ridiculously degree. To the point where his Class just felt utterly broken that even the pair of observers couldn¡¯t believe the System had actually chosen to introduce it.
While the first generation of Mergings always progressed at an abnormally fast pace than normal denizens of the multiverse, there were usually limits. For example, when going by information known from the past dozen Mergings before the 42nd, it generally took at least a month before someone could solo kill Level 19 foes. And even, it would often be a struggle that was usually overcome by a mix of luck and finding a favorable match-up.
This was partially due to just how inherently strong such high Level beings were from their natural Stats alone. But also because of how Mergings typically worked. A case that had already been observed to also seem true for the 42nd Merging as well.
The Earth Elemental Lord simply hadn¡¯t been ready for someone as strong or stronger than itself to challenge it. Something that would also be true for every other Lord-type creature spread across the planet, in fact. At the same moment that the Merging truly started after everyone had affirmed their Classes, randomly selected creatures all across the planet had been evolved into Lords. Well, random at first glance, but the System had its patterns and own ways that made sense, even if only just to itself.
But over the last few days, these new Lords had slowly grown in strength. Not due to gaining Levels, the Level 19 Earth Elemental Lord had been at that Level from the very start. Instead, it was simply a matter of them growing into their newfound power. Something that generally speaking would take about two weeks as a steady process. Had Haje just hypothetically waited that long to battle it, he would have likely gotten a much better fight as the elemental would have learned and mastered earth magic.
And in addition to discovering more of their powers and getting used to then, the newly ascended Lords would have also grown more cunning and intelligent with time as well. Perhaps not quite to the point of being truly sapient, but smart enough to form whatever tactics and strategies befit their Species. Yet for at least this elemental, that was one being whose built-in potential would now never be realized.
Poor Haje, of course, obviously had no way of knowing any of this now. And by the time he did, his mind would havel already long since moved on to the next challenge.
Speaking of a potential next challenge, just like how the record claiming of a Mandate led to the a Quest, the two observers expected the same now. They were absolutely certain once the Earth Elemental Lord was dead, something would be triggered by the System. Especially as the time taken for its demise was so ridiculous when compared to the usual standards and expectations set by past Mergings. As they watched the screen that featured Haje, however, one question entered their minds.
Why had he just stopped himself from killing it?
***
Haje had brought his fist down, but then stopped just an inch from the elemental¡¯s body. Just a fraction of a second ago, an idea had suddenly popped into mind. Did he even to be the one to actually kill it?
As far as good day¡¯s went in terms of Levels and Experience Points gained, Haje almost definitely had been enjoying the best good day on the planet already. A large portion of which had been facilitated by Jordan¡¯s aid to evolve his Skill, and then point him toward what¡¯d ended up being a very, very good time for Experience farming.
Despite his disappointment with it as a fighter, it was just a fact that this Lord would provide a ton of Experience Points. But rather than take it all for himself, why not offer it as what could be called tribute to his own Lord? Perhaps it wouldn¡¯t make sense for many, to give something so great away to someone he¡¯d only met during what was still that very same day.
Yet to Haje and his clan, the idea of time impacting the value of a friendship would be a baffling one. To them, the declaration of one as your friend or foe was all that mattered. He could know Jordan for a day or a decade, and it truly wouldn¡¯t make much of a difference to him. What did make a difference, however, were the Advancement Crystals given to him.
For the Jabelites, weapons and armor was a large part of their culture, where Haje had been a bit odd for relying so heavily on just his own stone body. But even so, he still accepted gifts relating to battle. Because their world was a harsh one, where creatures always needed to be hunted down. For them, giving away a tool that could potentially be part of their own arsenal held a great meaning.
In Haje¡¯s mind, the Advancement Crystals given to him fell into that same category. And while he could pay that back by just getting the gems Jordan had asked to get, it was just strange to give back the same type of item that you¡¯d just been gifted. Which was why he decided that the Earth Elemental Lord, or rather the Experience Points it gave, would be his gift in return. But that did beg just one final question.
Would he try to get Jordan out here, or just break off a bit more of the elemental and carry it back?
Chapter 66: Lord Slayer
Jordan inspected the item he now held. A lump of unrefined metal that was a dull orange with streaks of red spread across its surface. It was a bit bigger than his whole hand with his fingers outstretched, and felt incredibly warm to the touch. In fact, he had a feeling that if his Endurance had still been its base value, this object would definitely be burning him. And naturally, he had already used Appraise on it.
Name: Lesser Infernum
Grade: E1
Description: This common metal has potent energies associated with the concept of fire and heat. So long as the metal remains connected to its concept, the energy within it will continue to slowly increase.
Now Jordan would be the first one to admit something. While Infernum might be a bit on the nose for a metal infused with fire magic, he couldn¡¯t really judge as the guy who picked Industry as a name his Kingdom and Guild would forever be known as. But also, he had to admit another thing. Was there anything cooler than fire metal? And the answer was¡ probably, he just hadn¡¯t found it yet.
But all in all, the waiting for it to get spit into the chest hadn¡¯t been that bad. It¡¯d taken exactly nine minutes and 18 seconds, at least by his temporarily reset watch¡¯s count. As the top option on the list from before, that did mean that everything else below it would take longer, of course. So as evidenced by the chest as werll, the Industrial Miner didn¡¯t seem to be meant to be the kind of thing he was meant to just babysit. Rather, it¡¯d just be going on in the background and Jordan would just come over as often as he could to collect what it had gathered and then start it up again.
Now, in the spirit of that, can I have you do multiple expedition jobs at the same time? Or at least get them into a queue so I can just walk away for a long while and not worry about it. Jordan placed his hand on the machine and¡ no.
From the lack of response to his command and intent, it couldn¡¯t do either of those things. But rather than let it get to him too much, he assumed that perhaps that kind of thing would be an upgrade for the future. That the System had intentionally decided to leave some room for improvement, and all that.
Putting away the Lesser Infernum into his pocket space, Jordan wondered if Haje had checked the Guild¡¯s inventory yet. While waiting, Jordan had decided to send a message for the stone giant¡¯s taking only. It was also after a little playing around with the feature that Jordan discovered he could also prevent himself from taking out certain items.
While he doubted he¡¯d ever have a good reason to actually do this, he supposed it was good to know. In any case, Jordan made use of that feature to only give Haje access to the message, and hoped that kind of thing would be a good system for people always knowing which of potentially many future messages were intended for them.
I don¡¯t think those four will exactly love the fact that I asked Haje to turn the people they came here with into Advancement Crystals. Especially since it sounded like Sammy was close to one person who died. So better to just have it done¡ discretely, and just never acknowledge what happened if any of them ever go back and find out the bodies are gone. It¡¯ll be better that way, Jordan thought to himself, still internally justifying his decision.
While it did feel a bit wrong on some level, he knew that practices like burial or any sort of treating the dead with respect had basically gone out the window. If not now, then soon. To do anything other then turn the corpses into gems was basically just a waste that would only serve to handicap yourself. And if he hadn¡¯t asked Haje to do so now, then it¡¯d only be a matter of time until someone else stumbled upon them and did it themselves.
That discretion was also why Jordan had asked Haje for a private delivery of the Advancement Crystals. As far as Jordan could tell by testing the details of the Guild¡¯s shared inventory, he couldn¡¯t fully hide the things placed within it. It did allow him to prevent people from seeing the details or use Appraise on the item even while they were inside the pocket space, something that he only then learned was even possible because he had discovered that setting. But as far as at least knowing the basic detail that a few dozen gems were in there, he couldn¡¯t hide that.
Maybe that was another one of those functions that would unlock as his Guild grew, or maybe not. Either way, using the communal pocket space meant the others would at least have a chance to know that a number of gems equalling to the number of dead members of their group would be in there, which was a potential conversation he would rather just avoid.
Jordan sighed. Not even a couple of hours since he¡¯d recruited the small group of fellow Humans, and he was already doing something behind their backs to keep as a secret. At the very least, he had a good feeling that Haje wasn¡¯t the type to just randomly spill the beans. And as long as the collected Advancement Crystals remained within Jordan¡¯s own pocket space, nobody would ever know he had them, and once he had enough for another Skill evolution, they would be consumed without a trace.
Aside from that, the only way they could be exposed would be if Jordan died and everything was then expelled from his deleted pocket space. And if there was any advantage to already being dead, it was not really having to care about what the living thought of you. Unless it turned out that the Merging did also include an actual afterlife for them to go to, or it turned out that becoming ghosts was a thing. It was almost a funny thought, where even with the arrival of a System that granted everyone superpowers, what was likely the greatest fear and hope of humanity still remained a mystery.
Checking the Guild inventory to see if Haje had replied yet, Jordan noticed two new additions. The first being some kind of crystal, which when he used Appraise on it¡
E5?! Damn Haje, where¡¯d you even find this? Jordan asked himself with wide eyes as he¡¯d read about the Crytal of Earth. Just the Grade alone meant it was leaps and bounds past the mere E1 metal the Miner had just collected for him. He could only assume it must have been near the Earth Elemental Lord, maybe as some kind of treasure that the monster had been guarding?
But then there was another item inside the shared pocket space. Some kind of¡ rock? Appraise didn¡¯t even work on it, which he assumed meant it really was just a normal rock? Now very curious, Jordan pulled out a stone that was truthfully closer to a boulder in size, and also in weight as he almost immediately struggled.
¡°Holy!¡± With a huff, Jordan chose to just drop it. He had no idea how much it actually weighed, only that if it¡¯d been too much for his Strength to for him to hold for more than a few seconds, it¡¯d must of been very. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
He was even pretty sure that with how big it was, such a large object wasn¡¯t even considered valid for his normal pocket space. Did the Guild¡¯s just operate under different rules, then? Or was it because a certain someone who was comparatively larger had been the one to put it in there?
The boulder was pretty flat in terms of shape, while still being several inches thick. Jagged and not at all smooth, but a pretty neat rock, all things considered. But question was, why exactly had Haje saw fit to send it to him? Appraise hadn¡¯t worked on it, and while he had touched it, it hadn¡¯t felt like anything special in terms of supernatural properties.
So, two possibilities. Haje is actually really into collecting rocks, and liked this one so much, he decided we should all get to know about it and bask in its glory. Which fair enough, more power to him if that¡¯s the case. Otherwise, this is meant to be something important, but what?
After staring down at it for a few moments and still not seeing anything, Jordan decided on a whim to flip over the large rock. It took a bit of effort, but the good thing about flipping heavy things over is that gravity switched from enemy to friend at the halfway point. Well, friend-ish, if you still wanted to control the descent and not just let it drop down with its full weight.
¡°Huh, what do we have here?¡± Jordan asked aloud as he looked at what was on the other side. Scratched into the surface was what could objectively be called chaotic scribbles.
However, through what could only be called System translation shenanigans, he could somehow read it as something actually eligible. Which was extra weird, considering how Haje¡¯s people didn¡¯t even have a writing system to begin with. But if Haje could read what Jordan had written, he guess the other way around had to also be possible? Was it just the intent put into the ¡°written¡± text? He¡¯d have to ask Haje about it to know for sure.
Jordan¡¯s eyes flickered as he read the message inscribed on the stone. At first his eyes narrows with confusion, but then he felt the click of understanding.
He wants me to finish off the Earth Elemental Lord, and wanted to bring it back here. But he doesn¡¯t know where this Kingdom is, so asks if I can send one of my summons to where we first met, huh? Damn, not sure how he plans on bringing the Lord all the way there while keeping it alive, but sure. If he¡¯s offering, I¡¯d just be an idiot to say no to taking all that Experience for myself. With a mental command, he ordered one of his land drones to immediately stop what it was doing and head over there.
***
After realizing that he dind¡¯t know where Jordan¡¯s main Kingdom actually was, and choosing not to bother figuring out, Haje had opted for the simpler solution of effectively meeting halfway. After sending what he hoped counted as a message by the System, which he¡¯d made by simply focusing rather hard on the intent behind the writing, and even attempted to make a picture of where they¡¯d first met.
Once that was done, Haje had broken off some more pieces of the elemental, including its final arm. Carrying it back over to and through the portal, the humiliated Lord still struggled and squirmed, but it was a futile effort at best.
Luckily, nothing even tried to bother Haje as he went through the gateway and climbed the mountain range. He did look up at the sky and saw a Wyvern in the distance, looking back at him. But rather than attack, it chose to fly away until it was out of sight.
Maybe it wasn¡¯t in the mood for fighting, or maybe it was just smart enough to recognize that Haje was far beyond it now. The Wyvern he¡¯d fought had seemed a bit more intelligent than other beasts that immediately accked, instead only becoming aggressive because he had approached what appeared to be a nest of ice near the peak of a mountain.
When Haje reached the hole in the ground, he simply let gravity take him as he fell in and landed inside. Some more snow had fell into the underground space since the last time he¡¯d been here, but it made no difference to him. Placing the desperately wiggling form of the Earth Elemental Lord on the ground, he simply sat down and began to wait.
A little while later, Haje heard it. The snow being crunched by one the metal summons that moved across the earth, rather than the other type that flew through the air. He heard that it paused, right outside the underground chamber. After waiting a few seconds and noticing that it didn¡¯t choose to fall in, Haje just shrugged before grabbing the Lord and jumping back out.
And once he was back on the surface, the summon instantly reacted as it positioned itself to fire at the thing held held between his hands. With the Lord already so weak and near death, Haje knew that this part wouldn¡¯t take long even with Jordan being a lower Level.
***
Since sending away all his drones, Jordan had already gotten a couple of kill notifications. Enough that it¡¯d put him at 3557/5625 Experience Points. Or at least, that¡¯d been the case until a new screen popped into his vision.
Experience Earned!
+7923 EXP
Level Up!
Level 6 to Level 7
Jordan¡¯s eyes were already wide when he saw that metric fuck ton of Experience given. But before he even had time to think about it, more pop-ups only made his expression twist further with surprise. To the point where if anyone saw him by the end, one might have thought he was actively dying and needed emergency medical attention.
¡°This¡ what?!¡± Jordan barely managed to mutter through his utter bewilderment.
New Title Acquired:
Title: Truly Prodigal Lord Slayer
Description: Be the very first to slay a native Lord of Vervina-C, and do so while still remaining in E Grade. For doing so, you already have a place to stand tall amongst the peak of the world. May this pinnacle achievement be forever remembered as a major step forward in your path to the very top, High Lord.
Benefits: +5 Levels, +10000 Kingdom EXP, +15 to all Stats, +15% to all Stats.
Level Up!
Level 7 to Level 8
Level Up!
Level 8 to Level 9
Level Up!
Level 9 to Level 10
Level Up!
Level 10 to Level 11
Level Up!
Level 11 to Level 12
Congratulations!
Level Requirements for evolution to D Grade have been met!
This evolution includes the chance to select a Subclass.
Evolving now¡
With that final pop-up, Jordan¡¯s body slumped forward. Unlike Haje who skilled getting a Subclass due to his Class restriction, the System temporarily rendered him unconscious for this part. This was to allow him to potentially have hours to select in a similar state as to when they initially arrived on this planet, while only a second passed in the real world.
***
Yet in that very same second, a notification had already been sent out. One that Jordan would soon see as well, but only after he finished his evolution. But unlike when the first Mandate was claimed, this was not a Temporary Quest.
It was a warning. Due to the record breaking achievement of a Lord-type monster being slain, the System was now taking off the training wheels.
In just six days, every creature and monster on the planet would experience a jump in Levels. In just six days, the total population of these beasts would see a sudden expansion. In just six days, all the Lord-types would experience an even greater boost in both Levels and be given a sudden comprehension of how to best utilize it. And in just six days¡
The High Lord monstrosities would be introduced as a limited number of major threats that nobody, not even the very peak of the 42nd Merging, would be able to handle on their own.
Chapter 67: Traits, The Sequel (Start of Book 2)
A man in his early 20s looked back at those he¡¯d been leading for the last day. Though they were less following him as an actual leader, and more due to him being the thing currently standing between them and certain death. One of his System-given recipes as an Alchemist was a concoction that could repel many forms of creatures and beasts.
And right now, it was the batch of said concoctions that he had managed to craft beforehand that was keeping them alive. It was a large group of exactly 42 people that had all come here together. Each of them had been stuck on the highway due to traffic, and thus resulted in there being plenty of people in their cars who had been in relatively close proximity to one another.
At first, they had tried to just get their bearing. Then, after sleeping through the first night, they¡¯d chosen to head toward a Kingdom whose Mandate they¡¯d been pulled toward during the Temporary Quest. That had unfortunately been a dud, however, as the group who owned said Kingdom had basically threatened them to leave that whole area immediately or he would attack.
And so they had been lost for the most part, just foraging while trying to find a good spot to settle down. During this time, they did come across all sorts of herbs, which a certain Alchemist had picked and began to craft with while they took breaks from traveling.
At least until yesterday, when they came across the wrong area, and an absolute monster had caught their scent. A Level 18 beast Lord that¡¯d attacked, but fortunately didn¡¯t manage to take any lives before the quick-thinking Alchemist used the pre-prepared beast repellent. It scared off the creature, but only for as long as the repellent remained in effect, which was sadly a quite limited duration.
Down to the last one, the Alchemist thought to himself while staring down at the container made from dirt. The System had warned him through inherent intuition that such a material would hamper the effectiveness of his alchemical creations. But dirt was unfortunately the only option, as they didn¡¯t even have any trees or vegetation around to use an alternative to make things with.
The ground was muddy and swamp-like, which made it all the slower to go through. Yet he believed that even with just the last repellent, that might be enough time to get out. In the distance, he could already see a change in the environment that would hopefully be somewhere that the beast Lord wouldn¡¯t bother to follow them.
Just then, however, a notification suddenly popped into view. One that would expedite the plan and force them to pick up the pace. For even if it gave them a few days, that was only a few days to prepare for what was to come.
Adam just hoped they would be able to find shelter somewhere in the forest of giant trees ahead.
***
Jordan found himself frozen in place, time seemingly stuck for everything but his mind. It was the same as the time he and many others had been in when they came to this world. A detail Haje hadn¡¯t mentioned earlier, but perhaps the stone giant just hadn¡¯t thought of it as something notable.
He had multiple notifications in front of him, but there was one he looked for now that had gotten buried right before the System suddenly pulled him into this weird state of adjusted time flow.
Skill advancement earned!
Please select one of the following:
Gain new Skill.
Or
Evolve current Skill.
It almost went without saying that Jordan picked Summon Land Drone. The reason for this was mostly out of curiosity. Haje had fully evolved his Skill to E5 after his evolution to D Grade. While the evolution process for the latter had obviously started already, Jordan wanted to see if anything different would happen by capping out Summon Land Drone first, and then finishing his main evolution.
Selected Skill for evolution: Summon Land Drone
New Skill evolutions available!
Pick from one of the following:
Evolution: Size
Description: Significantly increases the size and weight of the drone. Additionally results in a high increase to the drone¡¯s overall durability.
Evolution: Speed
Description: Significantly increases the maximum speed of the drone. Additionally results in a high increase in its general mobility.
Evolution: Strength
Description: Significantly increases the maximum strength of the drone¡¯s weapons. Additionally results in a high increase in its firing rate.
Note:
As the final evolution to reach Grade E5, no penalties are associated with the chosen evolution. In addition, no matter what option is selected, this Skill will also receive a high increase to its maximum range.
Huh. I was kind of expecting something big and unique, like the Fundamental Evolution. But I won¡¯t say no to a straight upgrade with no downsides. Let¡¯s see¡ I should probably just go for improving the guns, right? Jordan asked himself.
The reason for such would be twofold. The first was that if there were no downsides, then higher firepower was a very good choice on its own. Jordan had to admit that while a part of him still liked the fantasy of giant tanks, he would soon be able to build his own through excess material. Speaking of which, that was the second and honestly main reason.
By taking the drones apart after the evolution, he would be able to learn about any differences in the guns that were caused by it. And by educating himself on that, he could then apply that knowledge to his Subclass. There actually was a third reason why Jordan believed this would be relevant to his Subclass. One that he had kind of spoiled himself on by already peeking at the screen while looking for the evolution. But one thing at a time.
As soon as the prompt came, Jordan affirmed his choice in evolution. And then¡ nothing.
Damn, not Title for capping out a Class Skill? Or is it because I did so after hitting the Level requirement for D Grade, even though I haven¡¯t finished that process yet? The System did automatically start it, so I guess if that Title is a thing, I guess it¡¯d be dumb to assume I can trick it like that. Well¡ speaking of Titles, I really don¡¯t have any standing to complain, huh? You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Title: Truly Prodigal Lord Slayer
Description: Be the very first to slay a native Lord of Vervina-C, and do so while still remaining in E Grade. For doing so, you already have a place to stand tall amongst the peak of the world. May this pinnacle achievement be forever remembered as a major step forward in your path to the very top, High Lord.
Benefits: +5 Levels, +10000 Kingdom EXP, +15 to all Stats, +15% to all Stats.
Taking a moment now to look at it again properly, the Title frankly was truly ridiculous. The Stats alone made it as peak-tier as it really got, to the point where Jordan wasn¡¯t sure if a better one even existed for anyone in E Grade. Especially due to the Level, as the first reward from the System to give those directly.
Thanks to the Experience he¡¯d gotten before hand to reach Level 7 from the Earth Elemental Lord, it had even pushed him a full Level above what was necessary for hitting D Grade. Which currently made Jordan Level 12, which was¡ an increment of six. A number that really did just want to keep rearing its head.
If Jordan could move, he would have shaken his head. At a certain point, it just became so ridiculous that he wasn¡¯t even sure how to react properly anymore. So once he got over it, Jordan mentally moved on to the next subject on hand by looking at the following screen that¡¯d been awaiting his attention. Again, it was something that was entirely unexpected based on what had happened to Haje. Although perhaps he should have expected it, as the System had technically informed him this would happen way back. And now, it did so again as a reminder.
Traits are the foundation for one¡¯s path to the top. A new Trait may only be selected once per Grade, starting from the first at E. While one¡¯s available Traits are usually dependent on their heritage and personal experiences until then, the user¡¯s Title has greatly expanded the available list beyond these typical parameters.
In addition, all Titles gained by the user while in E Grade have now expanded the list of available Traits. This includes the addition of new Traits, as well as the replacement of previous Traits with higher quality options wherever applicable.
The user should take the time to carefully select from the following list of potential Traits. As their selection will have a significant influence on their available Subclasses, and cannot be reversed upon being finalized.
Would you like to begin selecting a Trait?
Jordan had honestly gotten so focused on the idea of his Subclass, that he¡¯d completely forgotten about gaining a new Trait as well. Though thinking about it, perhaps it was the same restriction preventing Haje from gaining a Subclass that also had an impact here. It really might not be a case of the stone giant not telling him about it, but that a new Trait simply hadn¡¯t been an option as part of his Class restriction.
Another thing of note was about the second section of the text. That hadn¡¯t been there the first time around. Curious to see just how much such a previously long list could have been expanded, Jordan affirmed the start of the selection process and-
Woah¡ expanded is a damn understatement and a half, Jordan mentally commented as a new screen took up what was basically his entire field of view. Even with a scrollbar like before, the System had definitely felt the need to make it even bigger. In fact, looking closer, it was more accurate to call it multiple screens. In the sense that it was basically like different windows on a computer monitor being opened side by side.
He needed a few moments just to take it all in. Each window came with its own scroll bar, filters, and sort-by settings. It was like the first Trait selection, but when Jordan actually took a moment to begin sorting through the list, he understood why the System had deigned to give him multiple sections of an extra-large screen. If it hadn¡¯t, so many options might have honestly been hard for him to keep track of when it came to his selection.
There were hundreds before, but now there¡¯s¡ thousands? No, tens of thousands, even? How the Hell is one person even meant to actually pick just one choice out of so many options? Alright, alright, let¡¯s take this one step at a time. Step one: use the filter to remove all the ones I obviously shouldn¡¯t even consider.
These were naturally the ones that gave Stats that Jordan wouldn¡¯t want. While one could look at it from the angle of padding out his Endurance or something, the issue was that Trait itself would always be associated with the Stat or Stats it gave.
For example, Jordan already saw one near the top of the list called Mountain Puncher, which when he opened it in a secondary window, would give him a bonus of 30 to Strength. And what did the Trait itself provide? Well, as the name implied, it was a Trait that described how it would provide his unarmed strikes a massive increase in effectiveness for their impact power.
So yeah, Jordan basically just eliminated every option that would give him any Stat other than Intelligence or Wisdom. Naturally, taking off most of his Stats led to most of the available Traits being removed. That still left him with what felt like at least a couple thousand choices, but it made for a sizable start.
As for what came next? Another purge, of course. Perhaps a way of filtering that he really could have just done in the first place, but oh well. Before, selecting the technology affinity had cut him down to just three Traits to pick from. But when he did so again, now, he was pleasantly surprised to see just how much there were.
Damn, I was expecting maybe a couple dozen or something. But I won¡¯t complain about 117 picks that are all somehow related to tech. At least that¡¯s a much more reasonable number for me to actually take my time and go through them all without getting overwhelmed, he thought to himself as he began with the one at the top.
Each option was truthfully quite interesting in its own right. As Jordan hadn¡¯t chosen to sort them by any particular order, it seemed like the System had done so by random as the default. The first on the list, for example, had been a Trait that would specifically enhance his understanding and ability to work with energy-based weaponry. Meanwhile, the one right after it was about signals that sounded like it could be the basis for him reestablishing a wireless communication network.
Without really knowing what to expect beforehand, Jordan had started his search with no particular plan in mind. Some Traits caught his eye, like one that would be a major contender if he wanted to go all in on drone making, as that was the subject it improved. Although there were plenty of others, like a Trait that also had the arcane affinity.
Trait: Magitech Specialist
Description: Greatly improves the intuitive understanding of machinery that combines both regular technology and magical effects. Has a moderately better effect on improved crafting of magitech types whose associated Skills are already known. Also gives access to a minor pool of Minor Points, to be taken from the user¡¯s existing pool of Tech Points.
Benefits: +15 bonus to Wisdom and Intelligence.
Oh, and just because it had to be mentioned. There was even a Trait that would apparently let him get an expert understanding of the nuclear side of things. As in actual nuclear engineering, like the kind that would give him at least the potential ability to build a nuclear power plant or even the atomic bomb if he so chose. So yeah, that was the kind of variety that Jordan currently had to look through and consider.
Luckily, time being frozen at that moment meant that he could take as much time as he wanted. And Jordan certainly did so, as he didn¡¯t commit himself to anything until he had finished reading through all 117 options. With a mental deep breath, he considered them all, making use of the other windows to basically pin the ones that had interested him the most. And after considering them all, he eventually settled on the one that he believed would be the best.
Trait: Drone Savant
Description: Greatly improves the intuitive understanding of machinery within the System recognized field of drones. Has a moderately better effect on improved crafting of drone types whose associated Skills are already known.
Benefits: +15 bonus to Wisdom and Intelligence.
Jordan¡¯s reasoning here was pretty simple. He had a good thing going with his drones so far, so leaning into that would likely be the path of least resistance. With all that he¡¯d learned so far just by taking apart his land drones, that knowledge would likely only make it all the easier for him to put in the work to create a true swarm of drones, and then just kick back and relax.
Now then, it was time for him to get a Sublass and finalize his evolution.
Chapter 68: Advanced Subclass
Oh, Subclass, sweet Subclass. How from the moment he¡¯d seriously thought about his near and long-term plans, Jordan had revolved his thoughts on getting it first. Perhaps for some, depending on exactly how the System made it work, a Subclass might be a waste of time. After all, it wasn¡¯t hard to imagine a world where at least some people would consider crafting Skills as just a downtime activity at best, when they had nothing else better to do.
But not Jordan. For him, there was simply too much untapped potential there in terms of the synergy between Skills that he could form. Of how his current Skills could feed into his future ones, and depending on how gaining new Subclass Skills worked, there might even be room for a feedback loop of sorts if those future gained Skills allowed it.
Granted, it wasn¡¯t like Jordan was some grand genius in this regard. He could only imagine that as people reached D Grade, they would also seriously think about synergy and what Subclass would best pair with their current Class. Most curious were the cases of those who¡¯d gone for a Trade Class primarily, like Kelley, and would be forced to pick something combat-focused as their Subclass instead.
In any case, Jordan was rather eager to move on. While his expectations were based on the Artificer Class he¡¯d been offered way back; he wouldn¡¯t say no to at least checking out any new options that presented themselves. It¡¯d be foolish to just immediately pick what he already knew was there, after all, when something potentially better could be available now.
The next screen to appear was initially the same list as before. The difference was that unlike before, when he¡¯d been given the option to see if he wanted to look at Battle Classes or Trades, it just skipped him straight to seeing the latter. And for that, the starting options were still there as a Blacksmith, Mason, Alchemist, and Enchanter. Which now that Jordan thought about it, a Mason sounded like a pretty good person to have around for the construction of non-System-provided buildings for his Kingdom.
Huh, what do we have here? Jordan asked himself as he looked at the last Trade available. The System hadn¡¯t offered him any new ones. But compared to what he confidently recalled, the final option was¡ different.
Subclass: Advanced Drone Artificer
Description: To some, technology is the greatest and most fulfilling of crafts precisely because of its added complexity. This Subclass focuses on using the foundation of knowledge already built and aspiring to reach an even higher level of technical skill needed to create all kinds of technology, with a a heavy specialization on drones. They are able to utilize their engineering prowess to create recreational devices, but can also effectively build the very machines that are used in wars.
Benefits: +2 bonus to Wisdom and Intelligence per Level.
Note:
The Benefit to the user¡¯s bonus Stats per Level from any chosen Subclass will be applied retroactively.
So, a couple of things to address. Starting from the last screen, the retroactive application of bonus Stats was most certainly welcome. That alone would increase his Wisdom and Intelligence by 24 whole Points each.
When considering his multipliers, that was basically guaranteed to lead to at least two more permanent drones to raise the cap for Summon Land Drone. Something that should also decrease the reserved TP cost used per drone as well. And of course, speaking of his Tech Points, it¡¯d be a great jump to both his regeneration and total pool. All in all, not something any sane person would ever complain about receiving.
However, the Subclass itself had definitely changed from when Jordan had first been offered it. Overall, there were three things of note. The name was no longer just Artificer, but now Advanced Drone Artificer. And in two spots, the Description had been updated to reflect both an even greater specialization toward drone building, and that just overall deemed him an expert rather than a beginner.
Perhaps it was the deconstruction of his land drones that had paid off to learn how they ticked, or maybe it was solely a result of the recently picked Trait. Either way, it was nice of the System to recognize this as enough to upgrade the Subclass itself.
However, the last thing to address was the Skill it offered. And yes, that was Skill, as in singular.
Active:
Skill: Build Advanced Drone
Grade: E5
Scaling: Wisdom, Intelligence
Description: Craft a type of drone from a set of advanced starter recipes for various kinds of tasks. The type and resources required depend on the model and quality of the chosen recipe.
Base Cost: Varies
On the one hand, like the Subclass itself, it¡¯d also been upgraded from its prior version. All the way to Grade E5, even. Which brought up the question of whether it would also automatically evolve to D1 after finishing his overall evolution, or if he would have to pick between it and Summon Land Drone. On the other hand, either way, it seemed to be just a fact that he would get only one Skill this time. Unlike before, where he would have gotten four, same as any other option¡¯s Class Skills.
I guess that¡¯s why it¡¯s called a Subclass, and not a secondary Class or something. The real question becomes how it impacts gaining new Skills from here on out, then. Because the only two paths are that it either overlaps with my main Class, and I have to pick between them every time, or it has its own separate progression. The easiest way to find out quickly would be to use an Advancement Crystal and see if I only need one to gain a new Subclass Skill.
With that thought, Jordan received the pop-up asking if he wanted to affirm his decision. While he was pretty certain, he still gave himself just a minute to think about the other Subclasses. When it came to a permanent decision that would follow him for the rest of his days, and he literally had all the time in the world to choose, there was no reason not to wait until it was 100% sure.
A minute later, he mentally nodded to himself, and confidently finalized his selection. At this point, Jordan believed that his evolution itself would be done. He assumed that the only thing left would be to see about getting either one or both of his Class Skills to D1, while also seeing what would happen to Appraise as an E5 General Skill.
However, yet another screen appeared. One that was relevant to his Skills, just not quite in the way he had expected or would have guessed to even be an option.
Within the System, many finalized choices are truly final. However, some opportunities remain available for the chance for the user¡¯s mind to change. Limited to one chance per Grade, the user may swap out one Class Skill for another previously offered. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
Note!
If the user does not have previously seen and unchosen Class Skills, new options will be added by the System so that three are available. In addition, the available Class Skills that may be swapped out include those that came by default for the user¡¯s Class. Furthermore, the chosen Skill will be automatically evolved to be of equal Grade of the removed Skill as needed.
Would the user wish to swap out a Class Skill for another?
Hmm. This is¡ huh. Should I just go ahead and swap out Zap for something else, then? Jordan asked himself. Overall, he had to admit that this was rather kind of the System. As while it was highly limited, it was still a chance for what would basically be build optimization.
The reasoning for getting rid of Zap was pretty straightforward. It was the ugly duckling of his Skills that had yet to ever really get used. When an electric attack basically just got utilized as a firestarter for kindling, that demonstrated how badly unused it went. Just for the sake of it, Jordan went ahead and pulled up the screen for the Skill in question.
Skill: Zap
Grade: E1
Scaling: Intelligence
Description: Conjure a small bolt of electricity to shock an enemy.
Base Cost: 2 TP per cast.
Yeah, there¡¯s really nothing this does that helps me. Maybe if I¡¯m pinned down without my Energy Pistol, and can¡¯t summon any drones, it¡¯ll actually be useful. But if that kind of thing happens, I¡¯m basically dead already unless whoever I¡¯m fighting happens to be critically weak to electricity damage. The only way it¡¯d be helpful is if I invested in evolving it, and one of the options would be to greatly increase its range. But with two TP per use as the cost, I still might as well wait until I have enough TP for a drone. At the same time¡ there has to be a good reason why the System would include it as part of the kit for the Class, right?
Yet even asking himself that, Jordan wasn¡¯t so sure. The wording of its Description made it pretty clear that the intended usage was for attacking a foe. Aside from that, the only case he could see in the Skill¡¯s favor was that a self-reliant ability to generate electricity could be helpful for drone building. However, even that was questionable. From what he knew from how the other Trade Classes operated in their Skill Descriptions, they each relied on their respective Resource for creating.
After all, while the Base Cost of Build Advanced Drone would vary, the pattern remained strong that it would use Tech Points. Jordan even had further proof that this would be the case, in the form of his looking into how his current land drones functioned. The core converted TP into electricity, and then also did the reverse as needed for its functions. As long as his personally built drones did the same thing, he would only ever require one or the other.
And to tell the truth, if all one needed was a little bit, generating electricity wasn¡¯t exactly the hardest thing in the world. There was a reason why that kind of thing was often part of a middle school science lesson. So even if he lost Zap to easily do so from his own body for ¡°free,¡± it was by no means the end of the world. Especially compared to the potentially more valuable advantages of the Skill that could take its place.
In the end, it didn¡¯t take much to convince himself about this current course of action. Not when Jordan already had an inkling for which Skill would take Zap¡¯s place. After saying yes, and then confirming that Zap was the Skill he wanted to swap out, yet another screen appeared before him.
On this screen was a list of four Skills, as they were all the ones that he¡¯d previously been given the chance to pick, but had passed over. There was Field Workbench and Basic Technomancy, as the alternatives in the selection that ended up with him choosing Summon Land Drone. Then there were the other two that were part of Mental Blueprints¡¯s selection. Even now, they weren¡¯t really worth going over. And that was for one primary reason.
Skill: Basic Technomancy
Grade: E1
Scaling: Intelligence, Wisdom
Description: Increases the user¡¯s ability to fuse the capabilities of magic and machines into the hybrid known as magitech.
He was already certain that between all the old options, this was the one that would be most valuable to him now. Between his Subclass and potential insights from Kelley from an Enchanter¡¯s perspective, he could see a lot of room for growth. And that was even before taking the Lesser Infernum his Industrial Miner had extracted just earlier, as a seemingly arcane metal infused with what was basically fire magic.
After taking everything into account, the choice was almost obvious. So after still giving himself the customary minute to be extra sure of what he truly wanted, Jordan finalized his selection.
Choices have been finalized.
The user¡¯s updated Status is now ready, as the evolution to D Grade has finished.
At that moment, Jordan finally blinked as a wave of vertigo quickly came and went. As it turned out, having your brain remain active while your body was frozen in time was not the most pleasant of experiences. But shaking his head, he quickly got over the dizzy spell.
Taking a deep breath, Jordan turned his attention to the newest screen that now demanded it. Another one also had appeared, but he would look at it afterward.
Skill evolution to D1 automatically earned!
Please select one of the following:
Summon Land Drone
Build Advanced Drone
He sighed. Jordan had expected this possibility, but had still hoped that he¡¯d just get both for free. Luckily for him, this was back in the real flow of physical time, where could move again. And from the look of things, this was another instance where the System wasn¡¯t forcing him to make an immediate choice or otherwise indicated a time limit.
For now, he would do the smart thing and wait. There was a chance that Build Advanced Drone might seriously impress him, to the point where it may even get priority for further progression. But he wouldn¡¯t know for sure until he actually tested the Skill for real, and received the inherent knowledge that using it at least once would come with.
Now would this mean delaying his complete evolution into becoming a ¡°true¡± D Grade? Yes, since Haje had only attained that status upon evolving his Skill to D1. Something which had been automatic, since he only had the one Skill to begin with. But for the sake of knowing for sure which path would be the best for him to take, that delay and the benefits it might bring was a temporary sacrifice he was willing to make.
Jordan dismissed the screen, putting it off for later. When he did so, he turned his attention to the second screen. The text of this one, however, made his eyes widen with surprise¡ and worry.
Warning!
Achievement: An Initial Merger has succeeded in the slaying of-
Reading the rest of it, his stomach began to sink as it seemed to fill with more and more lead. As he read through it, he knew exactly who had caused this to happen. And as Jordan looked at the final sections of text, he already knew that the responsibility of triggering what happened next would fall on his shoulders.
After the listed amount of time has passed, prior restrictions on native fauna and flora of Vervina-C shall be lifted. This shall result in a varying Level increase to all native lifeforms, including a more significant increase for all Lords. For these Lords, they will also gain an instant understanding of their powers and achieve complete mastery of their abilities. In addition, the previously limited population of native fauna shall be greatly increased, along with the withheld uplifting of certain Lords into High Lords.
But be warned, for while only six of these High Lords will walk the planet and will be spread out to their own territories, their individual might shall be only appropriate for their elite status.
Time remaining: 6 days
What have I done?
Chapter 69: Thinking About Consequences
A deep silence filled the underground room of Industry¡¯s main base. With the Industrial Miner currently not active, the only sound was the quiet breathing of one man. Seconds passed as cogs turned into his mind, still trying to fully process everything that he had just read.
When Haje had sent him that message, Jordan hadn¡¯t put that much thought into what would come next. If anything, he¡¯d only felt grateful toward the stone giant, in the back of his mind. He believed that as someone who¡¯d gotten a Title for being the first D Grade, Haje must have been fully aware that the first to slay a Lord-type monster would likely be a major achievement. And yet, for something as incomparably small as being gifted a few Advancement Crystals, he had practically reserved that achievement for Jordan instead.
Of course, why wouldn¡¯t he have been thankful for such a thing? Between the Experience Points gained and the subsequent Title and its bonuses, Jordan had received a massive advantage. In just raw Stats alone, Haje and his objectively lopsided Class would likely make him the only one on the whole planet with a greater Stat advantage relative to one¡¯s Level.
In the very back of his head, a stray thought had come up about if the System would do something in response. Yet even then, he hadn¡¯t thought it would be a bad thing. When a Mandate had been claimed during the very first day, the System had practically celebrated that achievement by giving everyone else a Temporary Quest with the chance to claim 24 more Mandates to start their own Kingdoms. For the achievement of just one person, others had been rewarded. So, with that as an established precedent, he¡¯d believed it wasn¡¯t wrong to assume that other special events would trigger similar things.
However, reality turned out to be a rather harsh mistress. Rather than a reward for everyone, it felt like a punishment instead. Compared to how long he¡¯d been on this planet, six days was almost double that amount of time. From that perspective, it seemed like quite a while for people to train up and get some Levels under their belts. Yet, at the same time, Jordan knew that a crucible was coming.
It was impossible to know exactly to what degree the System would spawn new creatures and increase their Levels. That lack of knowledge would lead many, himself included, to assume the worst. To survive the upcoming spike in difficulty, basically everyone would need to fully dedicate themselves to hunting for Experience Points wherever they could find them. But just that alone would lead to a higher rate of lives lost, as taking the risks required to hunt more would inevitably lead to some rolling poorly on the cosmic dice.
Shit¡ and it¡¯s not like I¡¯ll be able to hide it from those four. Even if they¡¯re asleep right now, they¡¯ll see the warning whenever they wake up. All it¡¯ll take is one look at the leaderboard to see that my Level just skyrocketed to the top, Jordan thought as he opened said screen for himself.
Mightiest Individual:
1: Jordan Joyner (Level 12)
2: Wilfred Wilbur Wyndham III (Level 8)
3: Carl Rowe (Level 7)
4: Sebastion Ironclaw (Level 7)
5: Zorliay Qorath¡¯zyrunch (Level 6)
¡
Aside from himself, the only notable shift was the man named Carl. From how Jordan understood the leaderboard to work, it also factored in the difference in Experience when Levels were tied. So now this person was closer to Level 8 than Sebastian, although both would likely hit it soon if the warning also inspired them to redouble their efforts.
When Jordan had filtered the leaderboard by humans only, he also had it go straight to the bottom to see the total number of humans that had at least reached Level 2. But now, he was curious to find out what the top of the list would be like when that same filter was applied. Communicating his intent to the System, it only took a moment before the text shifted.
Mightiest Individual:
1: Jordan Joyner (Level 12)
2: Carl Rowe (Level 7)
3: Tammy Young (Level 6)
4: Leo Price (Level 5)
5: Hannah Garcia (Level 5)
¡
Jordan¡¯s stomach only felt heavier upon seeing the fourth name on the updated leaderboard. He still didn¡¯t know if this Leo, or any of the other few Leos he¡¯d seen on the list before, were actually his friend. There was every chance that his friend had been one of those whose insides had basically exploded after getting teleported to this world, and had basically been dead from the start of the Merging. But even if that wasn¡¯t the case, and the person on the screen before him was really him, it still made something twist inside Jordan¡¯s body.
The idea of potentially dooming millions upon millions of people was one that quickly became¡ hard to comprehend. The sort of thing where when the numbers and scale become too big, one simply cannot truly wrap their head around it. However, it was far easier to fully imagine a much smaller scale that only counted one¡¯s actual friends and family, rather than countless strangers.
Even if he couldn¡¯t have truly known the consequences, the responsibility for what happened next would still be on his shoulders. If that Leo on the leaderboard were to disappear after six days, it would be his fault. If Adam was also alive and simply hadn¡¯t gained any Levels for some unknowable reason yet, or the same for his parents, it would also be his fault if they died in the coming days. Speaking of which, however, Jordan took a moment and asked the system to check for their names while still maintaining the humans-only filter.
¡
12,201,570: Chad Joyner (Level 3)
¡
35,201,570: Adam Wright (Level 2)
Jordan¡¯s eyes widened a bit, as he genuinely hadn¡¯t expected the results. His mother hadn¡¯t come up, sadly. But just the fact that his father and Adam¡¯s names had now popped up was hopeful news. The same logic for Leo could be applied, that it might just be different people that shared the same first and last names, yes. But even so, having at least something to attach his hopes to was always infinitely better than nothing.
He wasn¡¯t quite sure about Adam¡¯s, but Jordan knew from a cursory search a couple of years ago that his own last name was pretty uncommon. At least in the United States, the total number of people with it as a surname totaled only in the tens of thousands. Which was already a pretty small figure on its own, even if he wasn¡¯t sure about how prevalent it was for the rest of Earth. But either way, the number of people with it would now definitely be much, much smaller after the Merging.
Yet with that hope came an impending sense of dread. Their names on the list now were also those that could just as quickly disappear in the next several days. In his mind¡¯s eye, Jordan saw a mental image of his father trying to defend his mother. Maybe despite being an older man with medical issues on Earth, he¡¯d invested in physical Stats while hitting Level 3 to alleviate those issues, like his bad leg.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
Jordan wasn¡¯t quite sure if that was actually how physical Stats worked. Even after gaining enough points in Strength to make him pretty sure that he was pushing well past the peak of regular humanity, he¡¯d never felt stronger. And when he¡¯d been bathing in the river earlier and had plenty of time to inspect his own body, it also hadn¡¯t looked any different. Rather than suddenly looking like he practically lived in a gym to pump iron daily, his build appeared the same as always.
But there was no question about the fact that he was stronger now. So there was every chance that an increased Vitality or Endurance would have a positive impact on someone who was considered to be in a less-than-optimal condition. Was the point in having high enough Stats to survive falling from dozens of feet or to heal unnaturally quickly from the damage such a fall incurred, only to not heal from a pre-System injury as well?
From the kind of man his father was, Jordan could see him going far if he was healthy. To the point where even just that jumpstart of improving his condition would put him a step ahead. At the very least, just the initial Title and Trait as a start to lead to the first Level gained would be enough to get the ball rolling, and it easier for him to hunt creatures to keep getting stronger. Just the fact that he hadn¡¯t been on the leaderboard at all a few hours ago but was now Level 3 was pretty good proof of that idea being true.
However, it may still not be enough. Jordan couldn¡¯t help but imagine that after six days had passed, a pack of Level 10 or even stronger creatures descended on whichever spot his parents used as a shelter. That his parents were even alone somewhere in the wilderness, with nobody around to help. And when such an overwhelming force came down upon them while his father would most likely try to hold them off to give his mother a chance to escape¡
A chill ran up his spine at the thought. Sometimes, it wasn¡¯t so nice to have a vivid imagination. But it wasn¡¯t even just about him and his loved ones. The people sleeping above would still have their friends and relatives somewhere out there as well, since he doubted that all of them happened to be loners with at least one person to worry about. What would they think of Jordan when they inevitably connected the System¡¯s warning to him?
Would they blame him in the same way that he had already started to preemptively blame himself?
Several minutes passed in nearly total silence as Jordan just stared at the machine in front of him, but wasn¡¯t actually looking at the Miner as his thought still rolled around in his head. During this time, various emotions swirled around his mind, though the prominent ones remained blaming himself for the deaths that would happen, and self-justifying himself with his inability to have known what the System would do.
After a short while, Jordan let out a heavy sigh. ¡°What¡¯s done is done. If people find out and blame me, I can¡¯t deny them that. The only way thing to do now is to take responsibility and use how far ahead I am now to make up for it¡ somehow.¡±
He wasn¡¯t quite sure how to actually go about that. But at least in terms of humanity¡¯s chances, there was a silver lining. When Jordan had checked the total number of humans who¡¯d reached Level 2 shortly after meeting Haje, that figure had sat at a bit over 40 million. Now, just a couple of hours later, it was already at 46 million.
And of those, the majority were past the bare minimum of Level 2 for getting on the leaderboard. When Jordan checked through the list, he saw that the lowest person at Level 3 was currently sitting at around the 31st million spot. And then when he asked the System to go up farther for the lowest person at Level 4, their placement was at 10 million. Something which also indicated that his father was ahead of many of those at his Level in Experience Points, and would likely hit Level 4 soon.
He must have fought off a whole pack of monsters, or did something equally drastic to get almost three whole Levels in such a relatively short amount of time. Please, Dad, just¡ stay safe and alive. Jordan clenched his fists as he dismissed the leaderboard, as that worried thought had made him no longer interested in seeing how many humans were at Level 5.
Once again, Jordan sighed. He¡¯d already told himself that what happened had happened. While he could keep wallowing about the unintended consequences of his actions, a large part of him already knew that it wouldn¡¯t do any good. The only thing left to do now was make the best of it, and at least put his gains to the best usage possible.
With that thought, he pulled up his full Status for what would be the first time in a good bit. Yet even before he actually opened the screen, Jordan already knew what to expect in terms of the huge difference of numbers that his eyes were about to read through.
General Info:
Name: Jordan Joyner
Species: Human (Earth)
Guild: Industry
System Info:
Class: Combat Engineer
Subclass: Advanced Drone Artificer
Traits: Tech Savvy, Drone Savant
Titles: Initial Merger, Adept of Advancement, High Lord of the 42nd, Truly Ambitious Expansionist, Truly Prodigal Lord Slayer
Level: 12
EXP: 3557/27225
Grade: D
Resources:
Tech Points: 10/10 (58)
Tech Points Regen: 25.92/Min
Stats:
Strength: 62
Dexterity: 66
Vitality: 69
Endurance: 65
Intelligence: 153
Wisdom: 178
Will: 63
Free Points: 25
General Skills:
Active: Appraise-E5
Class Skills:
Active: Summon Land Drone-E5
Active: Summon Air Drone-E1
Active: Overcharge-E1
Passive: Mental Blueprint-E2
Passive: Tinker-E1
Passive: Basic Technomancy-E1
Subclass Skills:
Active: Build Advanced Drone-E5
First things first, Jordan knew exactly what do to with all 25 of those Free Points. And when he did so, he took a good look at the immediate changes that investment led to.
Wisdom: 215
Resources:
Tech Points: 10/10 (62)
Tech Points Regen: 29.62/Min
A regeneration of nearly 30 TP per minute. Had the System adjusted it to say it¡¯d be just under 0.5 per second instead, he would not have been surprised. Right now it would be enough for him to maintain four air drones with a bit of regen to spare, and just a smidge more would get that figure to a solid five drones. When combined with his land drones and what would be an updated Scaling for their cap and reserved cost, he was well on his way to what could genuinely be called a swarm of drones.
Though just like before, the current reserved cost for his Tech Points was effectively out of date. Jordan would first need to cut the TP connection to all his current land drones, wait ten minutes, and then summon a new batch with the updated Scaling. But since he would be happy to miss out on just a bit of farming now for much more efficient Experience farming afterward, he went ahead and pulled the trigger to cut off the connection to all his current land drones.
From there, the first part of those ten minutes pretty quickly came and went as Jordan remained sitting in the underground room of his base. It was mostly time just spent thinking some more and reflecting on what would happen in six days. He remained sat in place, eyes closed as his thoughts were allowed to sort themselves out.
If I have the chance to get the Communicator or something like that as my next Boon, I¡¯ll take it. As far as I can imagine, that¡¯d be the only way for me to at least somewhat make things up for what the rest of humanity¡¯s about to deal with. That way I¡¯ll be able to potentially contact some people, and work with them to at least secure this forest when the System ramps things up. Speaking of which¡
His newest Title had also given his Kingdom enough Experience to increase its Rank again, so perhaps it was about time he headed upstairs to check that out next.
Chapter 70: Exploring a Change
When Jordan reappeared on the ground floor, he first took a look around. At first glance, he didn¡¯t see much of a difference. He then placed a hand on the Transmuter and opened the screen to confirm something.
Name: Industrial Transmuter
Charge: 49.0%
EXP: 0/10000
Rank: 3
Description: The First Boon and centerpiece of Industry¡¯s future potential as a Kingdom. It acts as both its own device, and the central power source of the Kingdom¡¯s first building. This System-created machine is one of a kind, as it allows for the recycling of any object into another of the same materials and mass. The only limitations are the size of the item transmuted and the user¡¯s imagination.
Right, so Kingdom Rank did go up, and the Experience needed for the next one is still at ten thousand. The question is, what did hitting Rank 3 actually do for me? Jordan asked himself. As far as he could tell, there wasn¡¯t another spot for a room to be built or an obvious new Boon that needed to be claimed.
Now curious to find out what kind of upgrade his Kingdom had received, he stepped outside. Luckily for Jordan, he didn¡¯t have to worry about the concrete door waking up those sleeping upstairs as it was swung open and closed. The System had provided a minor quality of life feature in the form of having it move almost soundlessly, save for the air it pushed as it quickly moved.
From the outside, he still couldn¡¯t see any difference in the exterior of his base. Jordan knew that something must have changed with the increase to Kingdom Rank, or else it¡¯d just be incredibly disappointing. But if he couldn¡¯t find a Boon to add, nor see any other visible changes, then that only really left the size of his territory as a difference.
After his latest series of negative thoughts, Jordan¡¯s brain was happy to latch onto a distraction to focus on. In front of him, since he already had 10 TP still unreserved, a land drone appeared at the newest reservation cost. And hoo boy, the most recent and dramatic increase to his Stats was a true game-changer on that front. Because while he¡¯d previously just focused on upping his Wisdom, the Scaling of Summon Land Drone didn¡¯t just benefit from that.
Scaling: Intelligence (Gain one additional summon for every 25 Stat points.)
Scaling: Wisdom (Gain one additional summon for every 25 Stat points.)
With the default one land drone separate from the dual Scaling, it added up really quickly. And what was the new cap after applying his current Stats to the Scaling?
15 land drones.
At 1/15th each for his TP, one land drone would only reserve a bit more than four points. Though Jordan knew from before that the System was going to do some rounding. But since it only cost 3 TP for the base cost of his air drones, Jordan¡¯s quick estimate led him to believe that stacking to 14 land drones wouldn¡¯t pose a problem.
So all in all, he would soon have air and land drones that totaled a swarm of 18 summons strong. Speaking of which, he went ahead and summoned three more air drones to send out. The TP taken from the land drone just now meant he couldn¡¯t do all three all at once, but it was still done more than quickly enough thanks to his fast regeneration.
Jordan drove through the woods. Out of every direction, he¡¯d chosen to head toward the portal. Just because it made for both a good frame of reference for distance, and the fact that it was the only thing of real note near his base. Soon enough, he had driven one mile away from the center of his Kingdom. And as he¡¯d half-expected, Jordan still sensed that he was still within his territory even after crossing this point away from it.
He crossed what he estimated to be two miles, and then reached the gateway for what was now two and a half. Even at this distance, Jordan sensed that he was still within his Kingdom¡¯s territory. Though since it only took a few minutes for his land drone to drive this far, it would be a couple of minutes longer until the other land drones disappeared and he could have the entire new batch be summoned with the updated TP reservation cost. In the meantime, Jordan decided to keep driving past the portal to go even further into the woods. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Bet Haje might have made it back to the beach by now to get those Advancement Crystals. I should order a drone to meet him and lead him back to my actual base. Will do that as soon as I get the next group of land drones summoned, Jordan thought as he crossed five miles away from his Kingdom¡¯s center. And since measuring from the center meant it was just the radius, this already meant that his territory had an actual length of at least ten miles.
Jordan crossed ten miles from the center, and still hadn¡¯t found the edge. Slightly surprised it¡¯d gotten this far, he now summoned his full fleet of land drones with their updated costs. One was ordered to lead Haje back as he intended, while the others just followed his earlier hunting plans. When he then checked his TP after summoning the 14th land drone, he confirmed that it¡¯d left him at 4 TP. So just enough that he could still pay the base cost for at least one new air drone at a time, as needed.
Now then¡ just how much farther am I going to be able to go before I hit the border?
***
In a station that sat within its hidden subspace above the planet known as Vervina-C, an uproar was taking place. Information about past Megings was something that only grew more scarce the farther back one looked, yet for what was known, the current event was entirely unprecedented. For when the Initial Mergers on the planet below had gotten a notification for what was to come in six days, the A Grades observing from within the station had also received a System message of their own.
Aside from a couple of exceptions who had been watching from the start, the common sentiment had been to wait for the first full year to pass. Perhaps as months passed, a slow and steady number of people would take an interest and begin to watch even before the initial Quests were done. However, even then, it would have mostly been because they belonged to smaller factions and didn¡¯t have as much political pull when it came to making alliances, trade deals, and other negotiations. And as such would be the soonest to have nothing else to do but start more closely watching the ongoing events of the Merging anyway.
Nishandra read through the text and looked across the various other screens she¡¯d kept open. As her deep red eyes flickered between the screens, she couldn¡¯t stop herself from mindlessly fidgeting with her white hair. She glanced over at her fully robotic companion, Kirus. Even he, as one who could choose to not display any emotions or give any indication of what he was thinking on his screen, had a certain rigidness to his posture.
Then her gaze saw it. ¡°Kirus! Go to the far right of the sponsorship screen and scroll to the bottom tab! Am I crazy, or is it actually what I think it is?¡±
¡°It is,¡± Kirus responded with a digitized voice. ¡°In the 40th Merging, the System did a similar mechanic of interference through a sponsorship store, though the records show that it was highly limited. I recall that it was determined by slots that were limited in number and what effects could be given, but they were free to give. It seems that this is a point-based store. I am already in communication with others who are present, and it appears that the number of points we start with varies by the relative prominence of our associated Guilds.¡±
¡°But this bottom tab¡ do you see any limits? There¡¯s no way that by custom, the System actually means that we can just put in whatever we want? I know that it uses the first part of each Merging to experiment with new features it¡¯d normally never allow, but isn¡¯t this just a bit much?¡±
Kirus shook his head. ¡°I am currently in communication with three others present as they have already begun to experiment with the custom option. One of them already confirmed that it does not accept Levels or Experience Points as an input. But aside from that as a hard limitation, there do not seem to be any other restrictions for what can be granted. However, do note that the System stated that anything done now will be done at an extra cost. It would be wise to wait for the costs to go down for at least several days and see what the reduction rate appears to be.¡±
For a few moments, nothing more was said. They both just silently explored everything that could possibly be given to the Initial Mergers on the planet. Aside from the custom tab, there were pages for premade armor, weapons, automatically built structures, and more. But then there were also things like crafting materials or special formula books for crafting recipes. Other types of items were present as well, of which one option stood out from the rest.
Advancement Crystals.