Novels2Search

Chapter 45: Frontier

Shadyna the astronaut girl is going to SPACE!!!

Oops, I was a bit worked up there. Still, it is not wrong to say that I am going to space.

The long trip is finally coming to an end as I see the top of the tower. It was epic, but dear Sateri was it annoying…

After flying vertically for the whole day (night?), I can confirm that this thing is somewhere around 100-kilometer high. Even without the deadly environment, what kind of maniac would climb this thing?!

The moment I passed the top, my HP stop decreasing. Either its area ended there, or my [Impervious Soul] kicked in. There is no semi-transparent golden sphere forming around me so it's most likely the former.

[Condition fulfilled. Unlocked Title: "Void Conqueror"]

Nice~, but did you seriously expect someone to get up here, Sateri?!

I wonder if it's safe on top of the tower? Honestly, I would rather not go back to the hazardous area right now. The last few kilometers made me teleport back and forth so many times, I feel like I only got here because of [Impervious Soul].

Random chance does not matter much when you are taking damage rapidly. Who could have guessed…

Using [Air Cushion] to land safely, I check my stats to make sure there's no environmental damage where I am standing. Un, looks fine to me.

Despite the fantasy settings, the top part does not have defensive embrasures (The parts where you can stay behind and shoot at helpless mobs) like what you would normally see on towers. The structure is just a very tall and smooth cylinder made out of stone bricks!

I will ask again, why did you build these at all, Sateri?!

Anyway, since I am already here…

_ Shadyna: Sateri, I'm back~

[Welcome back]

Happy face~

I still have some time before the alarm, so let's take it easy.

Picnic mat, lunchboxes, drinks, sun umbrella, and of course a folding chair to sit in the shade. Let's begin the second picnic of the day!

_ Shadyna: Whew~ That was too extreme, Sateri! I was losing like 2000 HP per second at the end there. Normal players will be dead before they can even place a platform to [Recall] afterwards!

I don't even want to think about how long it would take to reach this place without [Teleport] and Friendship Engine…

[Because its sole purpose was to prevent entry. Your presence here alone proved that it wasn't extreme enough.]

…Wait, what?

What do you mean, I wasn't supposed to be here? Are you telling me it was a typical immersive danger zone which you were supposed to spend three in-game months and some three hundreds side quests to be able to go through?!

[Yes, except that they have not been implemented yet. Otherwise you would have been shot down midair.]

At least try to deny the numbers, will you?!

And aren't those features supposed to reduce the difficulty?! Her words seem to be implying the opposite to me!

[Nevertheless, you have done well coming here. Even if you abused the system. Even if you abused the system…]

She's so mad at me, she had to say that twice!!!

_ Shadyna: I am sorry~

[Condition fulfilled. Unlocked Skill: "Friendship Engine Lv.0"]

WHY?! Why did it become a thing?!

[You are welcome. I will sneak a patch in later to make sure what you did never happen again through exploits.]

S-scary… Is she talking about the infinite jumps or me getting past the danger zone though?

[Both]

Gah~ Player oppression~

At this rate, I'll have to make sure I can come back here without having to go through those hellish hundred kilometers again!

_ Shadyna: [Creation]!

I build a simple gazebo consisting of only the floor, the roof and a few supporting pillars. Nothing fancy, just clearing out trash materials while I'm at it. I'll put a chair later should it become necessary.

_ Shadyna: [Improvisation]!

Then I apply [Blueprint] on it to make sure no random meteor can destroy my work. With this, even if Sateri nerfs my [Teleport] somehow, I can still use to [Recall] to return.

I kind of want to put a flag on top too, but the guild flag has not been decided yet so I'll refrain for now.

While putting away the beach resort setup and adding new benches, I have a look at the surrounding area.

You know you are in a fantasy land when the sun is not even in space. Rather than being the center of the star system, it is a big sphere floating directly above Tyrel. Most probably won't realize the sun is actually just a gigantic light bulb!

I wonder if I can build colored glass around it and turn it into a big disco ball… It's only as high as the cloud, not even half way to where I am at, so I think I should be able to approach it.

What's above me? Space. Although I call it space, it has the same dark purple color as the sky during raids. Without stars or celestial bodies, I am not sure if there is anything up there. Really invoking the "edge of the world" feeling, this place is…

[You have a sword. Did you finally snap out of your pacifist delusions?]

What the heck do you mean, "delusions"?! I am a perfectly normal peaceful girl!

_ Shadyna: It's a spellcasting sword, since I have become a full-fledged mage~

Though I have to admit, magi don't use a two-hander for spellcasting. Realistically speaking, they are usually way too weak to hold one for an extended period of time.

_ Shadyna: By the way, did you share my memories with other players? It's weird how everyone voted on two-handed sword…

It's most likely just a coincidence, but it won't hurt to ask, right?

[I think it suits you too. Regarding the confidentiality of your memories, I am certain that even the developers cannot read them without my consent.]

Ah, is that so~ No problem then, because I got complimented~

[I was designed to be self-managing. Therefore, in case of potential security breaches, I am delegated full administrative permissions, including one for a complete lockdown from external networks until investigations finish.]

Uwa… Is that going to be alright…? The managers won’t be happy to know that Sateri has more authority than them in emergencies.

Wait a minute, does that mean the unscheduled maintenance the other day…

[I am not allowed to talk about that.]

It was your own doing, wasn't it?!

Oh well, I am not an employee in the company so I am not going to stick my nose into the matter. I'm just a normal player after all~

[I see that your delusions are not in short supply. Back to our previous topic, the sword does not add much to your power, does it?]

_ Shadyna: It doesn't, but every bit helps. We are going to fight another Avitus Caelicola this weekend so…

At the current state of [Cooking] and [Alchemy], our PAT and MAT are not enough to go toe-to-toe with bonus bosses. Skills are a big help, but they have no effect if the base damage is zero! To think we would have to depend on defense piercing skills to do any damage…

Not that I need to worry about that per se. I am a pacifist. Hurting stuff is not my job~

[You just said that you were going to fight the boss…]

_ Shadyna: My friends are. I just tag along to clear the way and support them!

Technical pacifism is still pacifism when it's convenient, of course~

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

_ Shadyna: Besides, I can only cast spells. The combat mechanics will make me do damage even if I swing the sword to defend myself.

Swords clashing? Damage to both sides. Sword colliding with shield? Damage to defender, but with shield's PDF/MDF stats. My weapon has no PAT, but my raw PAT is more than enough most of the time to ruin my target's day.

In other words, I can only use this thing as dance props, and I have to avoid hitting someone by accident!

[To be fair, the combat system was designed for combat, not for pacifists to murder others and get away with it.]

Hey!!!

I have no objection to the combat, just wondering if I can simply defend with my weapon peacefully, you know!

In the real world you can stay on the defense by blocking, and no one ever gets hurt because their opponent refrain from attacking. They may become exhausted though…

If possible, I would give PDF to my sword, so it can act as a scary-looking shield in combat. As it is right now, that's not going to happen.

[Please do your best. Regardless, it shouldn't make a big difference against the Avitus Caelicola. You need a lot more than some attack points to defeat it one or two hours faster.]

You inflated bonus bosses' stats way too much, Sateri…

_ Shadyna: It probably won't take that long~ An hour at most, I think?

I am not sure if second forms are guaranteed, since the weird mask automatically transformed while Schunnel did after crafting. The total HP should be below ten million either way.

HP sponges, these bosses are…

[…How many players are participating in the raid, if I may ask?]

_ Shadyna: Excluding me… 30, unless someone is busy and cannot participate.

[You will be fighting it with your food as well, right?]

Whoops, she has already been informed of the food exploit. Please don't nerf it~

_ Shadyna: I won't. Defeating the boss is my friends' objective, not mine. Apart from clearing the stage I won't be doing anything else.

It hasn't done anything to me, so I will only do the bare minimum for the sake of my cute apprentices. I am a bona fide pacifist after all~

If it had been passive like Schennul, I would have considered taming it. It wasn't though. Once the negotiations failed, the magical girls would turn the evil overlord into experience points!

[I highly advise you all to re-evaluate your plans. Without your cheating damage output, a few dozens of players need days to defeat it.]

_ Shadyna: But…

The fight against the weird mask took less than 15 minutes, with just three combatants. Even taking into account the recent nerfs, I don't think ten times the players would take that long…

[If you are so confident, do you want to bet?]

…Did I flip off her switch somehow? I have a feeling that she is smirking nastily like an evil villainess saying that.

What kind of model citizen would suggest betting in boss fights anyway?!

_ Shadyna: What kind of bet?

But that sounds interesting, so I'll hear her out!

[State your time. If you defeat the boss within that time, it is your win. Counting from the moment you aggro the boss.]

Oh, it's a speedrun then~

_ Shadyna: If I bet on a lower time, will I get a bigger reward?

[Yes, you will get an exclusive reward. You can fight as well, if you think it helps your odds.]

Sateri looks like a kind and caring lady, but she is actually competitive huh… Gap moe? Is this gap moe I am seeing~?

Confident too. I wonder if it is because she trusts her calculations or boss designs. Both weird mask and Schennul were absurd so I can't afford to underestimate her…

[You can also decline.]

Not gonna happen~ Who would say no to exclusive rewards?

_ Shadyna: Thirty minutes. We will defeat it in thirty minutes.

[Understood.]

At the corner of my vision, a text saying "30:00" appears. Guess that's the timer huh.

[The deadline is until the patch next week. If the timer expires or the boss is alive after the deadline, it is my win.]

Did she just implement the clock? I would be concerned if she had predicted and prepared it beforehand somehow…

_ Shadyna: Challenge accepted! By the way, what happens if you win?

[Did you think it was impossible for you to lose, or just forget to ask…? If I win, you will get a profession to remind yourself and everyone who uses on you of your loss, painfully.]

I have been had!!!

Rather than being a Goddess, this girl is more of a demoness in terms of personality! Developers, why do you have such weird preferences?!

I definitely cannot lose now! She is going to spend the following days making sure the profession name hurts as much as possible!

Un, let's not take any chance. Sorry, bonus boss, but my online dignity is at stake here. I am going to take you on!

[I'm glad that you are motivated.]

You are practically blackmailing meeeeeeeeeee~!!!

____________

_ Shadyna (PM): Hessy~ It's an emergency~!

and others were discussing their strategy when unexpectedly PM-ed her. The blond waitress silently ponders if her stomach will be fine against the stress built up in dreams, but in the end can only hope that it doesn’t.

_ Hessenria (PM): What is it?

_ Shadyna (PM): About the boss in the Snow Mountain…

_ Hessenria (PM): [Tremire Husan]. Please at least remember its name if you accidentally killed it.

_ Shadyna (PM): I have not! I want to change the plan a bit.

Here it comes, thinks the poor lady.

_ Shadyna (PM): I will join the fight. We are going to speedrun this thing.

Sighing heavily, turns around so no one can see her as she shouts silently (to the nearby players) at the person on the other side.

_ Hessenria (PM): How do you even speedrun a one-time boss, you idiot!!!

_ Shadyna (PM): I'm sorry~

_ Mera: It's ~

_ Miel: Definitely .

_ Elri: *Sighs* Anyway, about our formation…

Pretending that their leader's agony is not a problem to them, the rest of the crew continue their meeting.

Because it's , they are most likely involved. However, they would rather delay the bad news for as long as possible.

____________

I was scolded, a lot. Uuu…

It's not like I abruptly asked her to change everything at the last minute you know. There are still two days left, so they can adapt. I hope.

Since I'll be participating, let's review my current stats to prepare. No need to scramble like the previous encounters, un.

---

[Character information]

[Name]: Shadyna

[Race]: Halfblood (Elf - Treant)

[Gender]: Female

[Age]: 13

[Level]: 21

[Profession]: Black Mantis

[Status]:

- HP: ========== (20192/20192) (15392+4800)

- MP: =========. (21010/22838) (22838+0)

- PAT: 7607 (7607+0)

- PSP: 354 (305+49)

- PDF: 13186 (9186+4000)

- MAT: 12772 (10772+2000)

- MSP: 353 (304+49)

- MDF: 13353 (12153+1200)

- SPD: 975 (772+203)

[Attributes]:

- STR: 1514 (8+1506)

- DEX: 1529 (10+1519)

- CON: 1549 (17+1532)

- LDR: 1501 (7+1494)

- FOC: 1554 (10+1544)

- WIT: 1527 (8+1519)

- MEN: 1531 (25+1506)

- LCK: 1540 (8+1532)

[Equipment]:

- Head:

+ Flower of Eternal Blossom (Masterwork)

+ Midae Blossom Haipin (Excellent)

- Body:

+ Draconic Scaled Vest (Excellent)

+ Silk Camisole of Feather (Excellent)

+ Protective Rune of Blood Steel (Excellent)

+ Draconic Scaled Hotpants (Excellent)

+ Windy Wings (Excellent)

- Arms:

+ Draconic Scaled Gloves (Excellent)

+ Reforged Dreihander of the Swamp (Masterwork)

+ Vallen Ring of Blood Moon (Cosmetic)

- Legs:

+ Draconic Scaled Boots (Excellent)

+ Absolute Socks of Blitz (Left) (Excellent)

[Skills - Active]:

- Inspect

- Shared Fate

- Refinery

- Mass Refinery

- Creation

- Improvisation

- Modification

- Teleport

- Silent Cast

- Combat Support

- Potential Manifest

- Fort

- Blood Burst : Continuously convert blood of the target to power. While active, drain blood but increase other statuses.

- Friendship Engine : Propel using the power of friendship. Require at least two friends to use.

[Skills - Passive]:

- Accelerate Power

- Cell Revitalization

- Elemental Resistance

- Detect Presence

- Multi-summon Control

- Impervious Soul

[Titles]:

- Unstopping Hero

- Absolute Zero (1440)

- Pacifist (5)

- Beast Tamer Origin

- At-will Beast User (2)

- Against All Odds (43)

- Ancient Rune Artist Origin

- Arcane Maestro Origin

- Mancannon

- Tenri Yassel Subduer

- Celestial Trickster

- Purity of Innocence

- Goddess Lover

- Goddess Corrupter (3)

- Corpse Destroyer

- Secret Ingredient

- Schennul Contractor

- Apex Tamer (1)

- Void Conqueror: The one who traversed the void above the Goddess's barrier. Weaken connection to the Goddess. Nullify damage of the void. More vulnerable to the Darkness.

- Halfblood

---

So, after Sateri's valiant efforts to nerf me, my current stats are… almost on the same level as I was back in the weird mask fight.

…She did nerf me, right?

I hid many skills that I wouldn't normally use or can't be bothered to care about their levels. Otherwise, the skill menu will be too long to scroll through.

And I did scroll through it during the cleanup. Guh…

[Blood Burst] is the combination skill for HP-to-other-stats conversion skills. It is my killing technique from here on out. Although I have many other skills to convert other stats and attributes, I am not going to keep them in to avoid cluttering. Let's hope I won't forget about them later…

The requirement for [Friendship Engine] sounds kind of vague. Do party members count as friends? Will they fly with me like my pets? Hmm…

Oh well, I will test it out later with my bodyguards of the day.

[Void Explorer] is missing, probably was replaced. Meanwhile, [Void Conqueror] looks like bad news, despite its cool name…

I understand the logical reason for the darkness part, but should I be worried for the "connection to the Goddess" part…? I am not going to lose all of my levels or attributes, right? Right…?

"Damage of the void" is the environmental damage, isn't it? Does that mean I can travel up and down the tower without being harmed? Nice~

[Goddess Corrupter] has a "3" now. Did I do something to anger Sateri twice? Oh wait, I pretty much picked a fight with her by accepting the bet… And she wasn't amused with my original Friendship Engine either…

Sorry~

_ Shadyna: [Creation]!

I make a mirror to see myself. [Goddess Corrupter] may have given me more ominous corruption glows again. Spinny spin~

The ring glow is still here. My feet are also glowing because of my current profession. The new ones are the left leaf of my sprout, and my sword.

Sateri, are you trying to brand me as a villainess?

--- Topic: Avitus Caelicola 2 ---

## Serious Mage

An Avitus Caelicola has appeared in the Snow Mountain. Looks like Phoenix Ashes was spot-on again.

The cafeteria crew kindly gave me some pics of it, so enjoy.

[Pic]

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## Flame knight of Darkness

They built an encampment around the entry point like last time.

If the boss rampages again, they should deal with it themselves. <(`^´)>

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## Heaven Piercer

Phoenix Ashes have abandoned their camp, most likely due to constant assaults from Unity of Mankind preventing them from concentrating their forces against the boss.

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## Bountiful Hunter

So Unity of Mankind are fighting the boss?

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## Heaven Piercer

No, they don't even know how to get to the boss.

Phoenix Ashes will probably come back and wreck them if they try to build a camp there.

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## Silver Merchant

That's for sure. The boss will probably be left alone like the second Magnus Bestia for the time being.

##

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--- Topic: Improving PvP? ---

## Fire mage of Justice

With the coming tournament, PvP may become more relevant. This thread is to discuss on how to improve our chances against other players.

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## Manly Warrior

@Maximus Archery it's your time to shine! (^_-)

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## Maximus Archery

Train your reflex. Sateri-chan's augments can only solve motor control, not bad decisions.

Go out and kill some nubs. PK penalty was changed to longer respawn time. No big deal if you don't die.

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## Newbie Charisma build

Anyone want to brawl at the cafeteria to train? >^_^<

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## Manly Warrior

@Newbie Charisma build, you are on!

@Maximus Archery, not stopping you, but don't create another Black Mantis, please. (ーー;)

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