‘So it clips there…’
Custom equipment was really custom equipment, with the help of the notice Rune quickly found how “custom” they were, and was impressed by the ingenuity behind it.
First was the securing belt, the one made to hold the ether pocket dimension ball that contained… Everything. No more was it tied around his hips as a much more secure spot was created after the transformation: The rib cage.
Originally made to protect the important organs, it was designed to protect what was inside, so its use had been obvious for the people charged with innovating custom equipment.
With an elaborate web of shape memory metal, or so the notice said, the “belt” had been transformed and now had clips to tie in different places of the rib cage such as multiple ribs, the sternum, even the spine had several ties dedicated to it.
‘Ah, it’s awkward…’
With tens of clips, he had to follow the notice very precisely, and by precisely, it meant he had to touch and “manipulate” his own bones, which was amazingly creepy.
‘This one goes there, this one is clipped here, and that one…’
With his perception, he didn’t need a mirror, but it only made the resulting picture even more awkward. Seeing a human skeleton contort and reach inside his rib cage with its skeletal hands was something he only ever saw in horror movies, and even then it was for sickos only, not for someone like him.
Struggling for 5 minutes, he finally tied everything and put his personal ether pocket and another “very important and primordial tool” inside.
‘Nope, I’m not making the comparison with where my heart should be. And let’s rename my speaker skull project to the speaker belt project too!’
Next, he took a few other things from the packages, including the primary reason why the custom equipment was so important.
‘The replacement for the connected lenses. I think they stole the idea of my “speaker skull project”! I see no other possibilities to explain why it also goes inside my skull and it can also play music!’
A completely black, 5 centimeters by 5 centimeters, very thin and flexible plate.
That’s the form the replacement for the connected lenses took. The notice said it had to be patched inside the skull, where it would take the most optimized form.
So Rune did just that, he slipped the “connected screen” through one of his empty orbits, and used a small energy ball to activate it.
Following 30 seconds of using his energy to find the place that beeped green according to whatever criteria the screen wanted, he applied a lot of pressure on it, fixing and sealing its place at the back of his skull.
The connected screen was ready, and it showed it by suddenly turning on.
‘Well, now I only have to get used to using my energy to interact with something so small, I hope the larynx construct is easy to make…’
With all the set-up finished, what remained in his package was a few pieces of clothing in case he felt too exposed being a nude skeleton, but he wasn’t even nude to begin with, as well as 2 connected screens replacements in case the one he used was lost.
And Rune didn’t want to think about what was necessary to lose something contained inside his skull so he only swept everything inside his pocket dimension and forgot about it.
The package’s volume had mostly been used by the “belt”, and honestly, he couldn’t think about anything more important than it, so it seemed legit.
Finished with equipping himself, he turned on the connected screen and started to go through the settings, then through the apps, and finally, he opened the universal writing app he used to write his diary and note document on his connected lenses.
Synchronizing his account, he was back to using login information as nothing could be used to easily confirm he was really “Rune Tudor” like a retina scan or even a voice lock. From there, he created a new document entitled “I’m Mute” and started to practice writing with his energy.
‘Writing directly with my energy is also an option… And I could even use intent to communicate universally with this method. Hum, do intent writers exist? Another thing to add to my…’
As soon as he started, however, his imagination was already making itself known again and gave him more things to do later when he had time, and as he became used to it, he switched from his training practice document and went to his “To Do” one, writing what he just thought about.
Arik had stopped flexing his ability to speak and Astryde had done a similar set-up as Rune’s one, now they were each ignoring the others and going about what they thought was the best course of action.
Before they even realized, 20 minutes had passed, and an energy-infused loud clap gathered the attention of all the first-timers still marveling at their bone transformation.
“The crash course starts now! Pay attention, take notes if you want, register my voice if you want and if you can, share it if you want, it doesn't matter,” with no regard to what happened before him, the officer that also became nothing but bones started to speak uninterruptedly.
“First! You can expect to arrive at the front base in 13 hours. You can do the maths yourself for the distance traveled during that time.”
“Second! Let me talk without interrupting me about where we will be arriving, what peculiarities we know and discovered about the bone region, and what you’ll all be doing there.”
As soon as it began, Rune switched to a new note document, Arik turned his camera towards the officer, and Astryde stopped experimenting with creating a larynx energy construct.
‘It’s as he said before: We have nothing else to do. So why not listen to all this free intel? Though only the first 2 categories interest me.’
“The front base is located 200 kilometers above the ceiling of what really counts as the ‘Bone Region’, and it's the only way for everyone to go back to the surface easily, that’s why if monsters are attacking it, you are all asked to help defend it.”
“Now, don’t think we’ll really need you. There are assigned patrollers to defend it, but it has already happened multiple times that a legion of a few thousand monsters attacked at the same time, because unfortunately for us…”
A purposed heavy silence was left here, he wasn’t assigned to the first-timers for nothing it seemed. A crash course wasn’t a hastily built course, it was even more intensely prepared than normal courses due to its primary objective being teaching in a very small period what should have needed a more extensive time.
“The tunnel leads directly to above the heartland of the tier 4 ether density zone! It’s not even confirmed yet if there is a tier 3 border somewhere, so just consider the bone region as a true tier 4 region, period.”
‘Sigh… Well, it sounds like my endless adaptation will find a use sooner than I expected.
Tier 4.
Tier 4 was the start of… Everything.
Monsters that defied the understanding of how reality worked. Monsters that miraculously countered you completely and would never let you escape. Monsters that exhibited tricky behavior that should only be found in devious sapients…
An environment that could at any moment decide that it didn’t want to be stable anymore, unleashing nature’s wrath or ether’s wrath upon a whole region in an instant…
Tier 4 ether density, past the transition zone with the tier 3 ether density was the moment the ether truly appeared to get powers, like the ether could do anything.
“That’s why: Be extra careful. You’ll directly enter the heartland of a tier 4 zone upon landing. It means that peak tier 4 monsters will not be unique existences, that the environment may want to send you to the Afterlife, and I can tell you it has already shown itself to be that insidious once and it was even filmed, you can ask for the record at the front base.”
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Arousing their interest while reminding them that it wasn’t a joke, the officer successfully did that and slowly started to switch to a more calm and relaxed way of speaking.
“Now that you know where you’ll be landing, the environment itself is the next important point, not that you can’t learn more about the explored map directly on the net after receiving your special accounts, that’s the easiest way. What I’m talking about is the real environment, the one all of you will be experiencing.”
“Starting with the most important: The monsters. As you can guess, all the monsters fall under the registers of inorganic entities, the majority will be like you and me, simple bone structures with all their inherent advantages and weaknesses.”
“However, as it’s the tier 4 heartland we are talking about, you’ll sometimes find very peculiar monsters such as energy entities, or hybrid bone-energy entities. It’s simply impossible for me to start detailing what energy entities imply, so read the corresponding guide’s category about energy entities.”
“In regards to the environment, the topography is steep, to say the least, but it isn't universally steep, plain-like topographies have already been found, and a few reality-bending ones such as gigantic pillars going from the ground to the ceiling also exist.”
“No monster nests have been found so far, and 3 months ago a repopulation took place, suggesting that the monster aggressivity is high, the monster density is also high, and no definite monster territories can be found, so if I had to summarize it all: Everything is moving and fighting.”
Minutes passed, and the officer continued to expand on each point, giving more food for thought as he gave a few points that seemed not that relevant, but knowing the effect of cohesion on bone density and resistance was something Rune still noted down for later.
‘I never know. I’ll just read diagonally.’
“That will be all for this part. If you remembered and understood everything I talked about, then your foundation is enough to start expanding for the next few months with peace of mind,” the second part was over, and now it was time for the patroller part.
‘Well, I’m still going to listen. Maybe he’ll say some important things?’
Deciding to keep listening to the patroller part, he adopted a slightly different approach as he didn’t need to take notes. It was like going to a seminar, he was only here to listen and think.
“You’ve all been deployed here due to requesting for high-risk high-return positions, so sorry if I’m wrong, but I think this place is a pretty close fit to what you desired, right? More precisely… Know that the front base offers clear and precise conditions that need to be fulfilled to be elevated to the rank of patroller prospect!”
Not interested in registering what the officer was saying, Rune focused more on the hundreds of patrollers, they were the target after all.
And what he saw moved him a bit, he saw some clench their fist, some straightened their back, some others stopped moving and looked straight at the officer, nearly asking if that was true.
“You’ll be able to see the condition in more detail once we arrive at our destination, but let me tell you that having such an easy and safe access to a tier 4 zone heartland has allowed us to experiment with new strategies and what followed immediately after was a demand for new specializations!”
“Again! Just check the special network and find one of the new specializations if you want less stringent conditions to join the rank of the prospects, or go at it your own way and satisfy all the requirements with your hard work and your talent!”
What he was saying was probably exactly what the patrollers wanted to hear, and he knew that as he kept adding layers and layers of motivating sentences and true reason explaining why they could do it.
As for Rune, he started to somewhat understand who those hundreds of patrollers were while hearing this speech.
‘Looks like they want to be survivors too. Hehe, how can I not understand them when we have the exact same opinion on that point? They don’t want the safe, slow, and steady way…’
Tier 5 entities were called powerhouses onboard, but wasn’t reaching tier 5 easy?
You could go at it the safe, slow, and steady way, the legendary 1 year per level. But doing that only accomplished one thing: Sealing your fate as someone not belonging to those who survived, those who put to practice the millions of years of knowledge of their predecessors.
Reaching beyond wasn’t the most important thing, even without having a single concept reaching beyond, those who survived and reached tier 5 or even tier 6 the true way, the defiant way, were accepted as fundamental powerhouses.
That’s what the different forums available on the board transmitted to Rune.
But yet again, why were tier 5 entities called powerhouses when the saying “1 year per level” existed?
It didn't have anything to do with their character, their accomplishments, or their background.
It was a much more defined and precise reason: Statistics.
Because neither reaching the beyond nor leading an army of guards personally could help anyone reach tier 5 or tier 6. It could only help in increasing your luck at staying alive when you reached the heartland, nothing more.
All in all, reaching tier 5 was generally something that could only be achieved by one’s lonesome, even the most prestigious academy boasted not at having a percentage of their students reach tier 5, but at having the lowest percentage of death among those who tried.
And… It all started at tier 4, where the true Endless showed itself, where the true ether showed itself, and where anything could lead to death.
“If you’re not sure about your talent, if you’re not sure about your chances, I can confidently say that you still have one last resort: Contribution. The bone region offers archeological sites of extreme importance to the IGS, and protecting the investigators has become the first and foremost mission for us patrollers,” by the time Rune stopped dreaming, the officer had started talking about something interesting.
‘So Astryde will not need us to protect her personally? Maybe she'll even be able to make a deal to use her time watching to earn some things. I’ll just ask her later.’
“You can also join an expedition party, there, you’ll find more monsters to kill than you could have ever imagined, and each kill gets you that much closer to becoming a prospect! Contribution can be earned as long as-”
From that point onward, Rune started to drop out.
Losing interest suddenly wasn’t something new to him, and he had adapted to this part of himself with time.
The most direct way to remedy it was instinctual as he changed focus and went on to do something that only required time and effort on his part: Understanding the larynx energy construct.
Astryde and Arik had stopped listening before Rune did, it meant they had been back to doing their own things and he was the last to join.
He didn’t know what Arik was doing, but obviously, Astryde had the same objective he did and was already at the “trying things out to understand faster” stage.
The initial flexings Arik did completely stopped a few minutes after it started and he didn’t boast about his achievement anymore, that was how Arik worked. It was very similar to Rune on this point. He even stopped using the construct and just left it alone, letting them study it as much as they wanted.
Half an hour later the patroller part ended and the officer concluded the crash course without any surprise additions, it was really only a crash course to facilitate their integration into the vastly different bone region.
Out of the expected 13 hours of travel time, 3 hours had elapsed, so everyone had 10 hours to either work on furthering the foundation they were just given. Or alternatively, they could simply enjoy those hours in the way they wanted.
For the 3 Undecided nonetheless, this choice didn’t need careful consideration.
They had all the fun they wanted during their tours of the surface and deep bases, they would even have more fun when they reached the front base, so they worked on preparing themselves better for the bone region.
That’s how for the next 10 hours, Astryde and Rune only focused on imitating Arik’s larynx energy construct.
…
“Ha, euh, hic, ho, uh, rah, roh! I’m healfy! Norody equalz me! Whay is iz zo hart?!”
“You failed the exit part again. The mouth imitation is so much easier to do, how did you fail it?” Arik understood Rune and answered him.
“Oh!”
10 hours had been enough to get the gist of the structure, and while it wouldn’t be easy to learn how to use it perfectly in a short time, they had Arik to expedite the process as much as possible.
But it was the last try he did, after all the signs that they were nearing the front base were pretty obvious.
‘Well, I’ll just practice with Astryde while Arik gathers information. Having an excuse to push it onto Arik is the best!’
Already, the gigantic colored circles that were also present at the surface and deep bases had changed to yellow, and the next instant they became red.
The elevator slowed down, the black circle appeared, the elevator slowed further down, the gravity reversed, and then the front base started to appear in Rune’s perception sphere.
‘Now that I think about it… 5 hours plus 13 hours, that’s not even a day. I really got scammed doing it manually!’
The front base was much more expansive than the deep base from his first sweep, the elevator was still going down and around them, the wall of the tunnel had all been replaced by concrete walls. Behind those walls, corridors and massive open spaces occupied by thousands of people were present.
A few seconds later, they arrived at… The end?
‘What? Oh. Yeah, no, they just blocked it.’
A concrete platform welcomed the whole elevator platform, and with his perception, Rune could see that after a few hundred meters of massive concrete, the tunnel continued further below.
‘How much freaking concrete did they bring down?!’
Although it wasn’t an unreasonable volume when compared to the amount consumed in the capital, the bone region still found its origin in a tunnel present in the tier 4 zone!
‘Oh, right. Freaking energy builders! My common sense hasn’t adapted yet, my endless adaptation doesn’t work on my common sense, unfortunately. Or fortunately?’
When the elevator platform was completely secured, same as the deep base, lots of people stepped on it to bring the thousands of crates somewhere.
As for the group of 3, they knew that now they were free.
Their identities had already been verified again and again at the surface base, then reconfirmed by sight at the deep base.
So that was it.
They were officially at their destination.