Each of us gets another pendant. We put on the chest plates made of silvery metal streaked with copper. Nevan even threw something together for Vega, and she’s been much nicer to him since. My minion might be easily influenced by gifts and shows of goodwill.
I watch as she spins around, looking at her reflection in one of the steel panels lining the walls of the facility.
Even Nevan has a soft smile on his face, watching the little half-demon girl being happy.
At least she accepted only after asking him multiple times if it was for free and he didn’t want anything in exchange.
“I’m going outside for a moment, something destroyed one of my anchors,” the duplicate says and disappears at the same moment.
A few seconds later, he returns. “Two Veil Guardians sniffing around,” he says simply.
So that's it? Is a normal Hell difficulty person supposed to be hiding now, or should they be capable of taking on the Veil Guardians? Or were we expected to join a group like the Bastion in an effort to survive the remaining two weeks with disciples?
“We could fight them together,” I offer.
“Probably, but we’ve already prepared for a trip to the station. Wanna bet something would go wrong if we went to fight?”
“That's true. Well, let's follow the plan.” I wave at Nevan, “Ready?”
“Yes.”
“Take as much as you can; we might not be able to return.”
After taking a moment to look at me, he nods and quickly does just that.
“Vega,” I say, “you will stay by my side the entire time, and by that I mean the entire time, okay?”
“Yes, master!” the little half-demon agrees without complaint.
But just in case, I give her my pendant. Then I take a few rods and some of the other things our personal blacksmith, alloyist, whatever he is, prepared for us.
When we reappear in the station, the mana pressure immediately increases, and I observe Vega. Thankfully, she doesn't seem to notice the pressure, and can only feel the difference through her scanning. Even now, she is curiously observing it, her red eyes wide open.
Nevan, who is fully armored, even going so far as to wear a helmet, heads in first, and we quickly pass his workshop, stopping only so he can grab a few small items. I also quickly sell a few more items, getting a quick 680 shards.
The hallway stretches farther than I had expected, and it gradually becomes clear that the pressure is emanating from somewhere on the right where the core must be.
At a crossroads, Nevan turns left and leaves three rods between us and the core, alleviating the pressure somewhat.
The next stop is yet another facility. This one is in disarray, the damage is as extensive here as it was at the entrance. Deep scratches dominate the metal walls, sections of the floor have been melted, and the ceiling has partially collapsed. Mana stones have been strewn about the room. Most of them have been destroyed, though some are still whole. There are dozens, in all colors and sizes, and none of them have been inscribed.
“One of my friends used to study mana crystals here, and he was using them to make mana stones in his spare time.” Nevan enters the room and touches one of the walls, and a signal pulses out from the point of contact, and a crack appears there, revealing the entrance to a smaller room.
There, in what seems to have been a panic room, lies the unrecognizable corpse of a man. But for Nevan, just a look at his bracelet is confirmation enough.
The man’s corpse is surrounded by empty bottles, and food packaging, and seems to have created a makeshift bed in the corner.
But the most interesting part is the mana crystals littering the room, some of which have clearly been converted into mana stones. The man, unwilling or unable to exit the room, spent his final days and weeks working. He did something he enjoyed up until the end either to take his mind off his situation or maintain his grip on reality.
I look at Nevan who is still looking at the corpse.
“Oh, Orryn, I can only hope that you did not suffer.” Stepping inside, he cradles what remains of the man and lies him on the bed in the corner. He takes a few mana stones from the ground and hands them to me, “They will be more useful to you than to me.”
I examine them, noting that, like those in the previous room, they haven’t been inscribed. They are, for the most part, just beautiful mana stones ready for inscription, with the exception of the few that are epic grade. Meanwhile, the ones in the prior room were rare at best.
The duplicate also takes a share, as does Vega.
At the same time as me, the duplicate takes one and starts turning it into storage he starts filling with Primordial energies, something akin to what I did on the 4th floor to attack the Colony.
“Are you fine?” I ask Vega.
“I think I am, but I feel dizzy when examining the area around me.”
“You can stop using your senses for a while.”
She does just that, and I set one of my anchors on her skin, just in case. I [Tether] it to her body, I'm much higher level than her, so it’s not hard.
Room by room, we pass through the station. We find more corpses and more damaged facilities, and I start to wonder if Nevan doesn't have a skill like [Focus]. The man keeps recognizing colleagues or friends all over the place, yet he continues ahead with the determination of a man with nothing to lose.
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As the hallway widens, Nevan places a few more rods and throws some fist-sized iron cubes on the floor, and we enter the big circular room.
“Control room,” he says simply.
Out of every place we passed by, this one has suffered the most damage, and it’s the nature of the damage that surprises me. It’s like someone just evaporated everything in a big sphere, leaving behind smooth edges. And this repeats over and over.
The tables are gone, control panels too, and pieces of the wall as well. On the ground, we find pieces of gray bodies filled with blue veins and even pieces of voidsteel slicers.
It looks like our friends, Veil Guardians or a higher grade of them, visited this place long ago.
Vega and I both collect pieces of voidsteel either to keep for ourselves or to sell later. Even while doing so, she practices moving mana in the way I told her, and she keeps a kinetic orb floating near her.
Nevan is examining what remains, trying to get a panel to pop up from the floor and attempting to locate hidden rooms, while my duplicate goes about examining the rooms nearby.
“Do you have any idea what could’ve caused this?” I ask him.
“Some of the attacks were the work of the head guard, and I recognize a few as the work of some of the Lords that were staying here. As for the one that destroyed the panels, I have my suspicions, but I'm not sure. But either by coincidence or intent, they destroyed the controls.”
“Any backup?”
He nods, “But they’re closer to the core.”
“Let me examine the rooms around for a bit, and we can head there. Anything interesting?”
Nevan gestures, “This way, you can find the dining room; your duplicate went there. There you will find a Guard station that probably has some armor or weapons left in stock. Nearby, through a hallway, is a research center that will probably interest you the most. They were exploring methods of inscribing fabrics, creating highly conductive mana threads, and experimenting with the smallest possible mana stones for inscriptions.”
“Thanks, fifteen minutes?”
“That much shouldn’t be a problem for our equipment.”
“Minion, let's go.”
“To the dining room?”
I grab and pull her horn while she tries to kick me, and then we head towards the research center.
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POV Duplicate of Nathaniel Gwyn
I’m sitting in a chair while I wait. As I do, I prod the leg of one of the corpses with my foot.
It's a long-dead woman, some of her hair has fallen out, and her shriveled face is frozen in an expression of sheer pain. As many did, she clearly died from mana radiation that must have been even stronger 100 years ago.
While waiting, I strengthen the field around me, making sure it’s blocking all the sounds and mana other than mine. Not like I think that is required, but just to be safe. The original douchebag can be perceptive sometimes, but right now, he’s too busy, enamored by all these mysteries to check on me. Hell, I would’ve liked to do the same.
Finally, the corpse’s eyes move, they’re still lifeless and disgusting, but they turn to me nonetheless.
Even though they shouldn't be making any sounds, the mouth moves and its words fill the room, “I see you haven't forgotten me, unfortunate one.”
“Yes, yes. A week ago you told me you would tell me about a way to survive when Vega came back, so?”
“So direct. You don't have to hurry. We’ve got ourselves some time to discuss.”
Well, I wouldn't normally cooperate with an extremely suspicious being I met a few times in Beyond and once on the 4th floor when it took over Arcane Archer Bob. But it's not like I have many options.
“If you want to talk so much, tell me why would you help me.”
The mouth of the corpse moves as if to make a smile and it makes her look even more creepy.
“To pass time,” it says.
“So mysterious and cool. What is this method of survival you mentioned?”
“It's not all that difficult, unfortunate one. You just need to kill your original’s disciple. Once she dies, I can move her 'status' to you, and you will be returned to her world instead. With her status and a little bit of influence from my side, your status as a temporary duplicate will disappear.”
“I see. No.”
“Are you sure?” the voice sounds playful. “If you are worried about your conscience, you don't have to kill her. But you just don't have to help either. You left your mark on the sleeping Gaiathra, right? What if you just happened to activate it by mistake and weren’t here when the monster attacked? Accidents happen.”
When I don’t answer, the being seems even more amused, the mouth of the corpse moving into a smile much too wide for its anatomy.
The old skin of the corner of its lips tears, and the jaw moves lower in a creepy gesture.
“You might think you won't now, but are you sure you won’t change your mind when you’ve only got a day left? Don't you want to survive? What is some little girl you’ve only known for a few weeks in comparison to that?”
Even though it can't use its powers, the air in the dining room starts feeling colder.
“Just a small accident, after that you would be sent to explore her world. You can try to become its Absolute if you wish. You can fight and train as much as you want. A whole new planet for you to explore. As a bonus, your original would be punished for failing his Floor quest. Isn't that beautiful?”
“You are a really stupid motherfucker, aren't you? I said no.”
The corpse moves and as it stands up, its limbs let out a cracking noise until the long-dead woman’s head stops just in front of my face. “You already refused my help once, do not repeat that mistake. Without me, you will perish.”
“Even if I die, I won't regret it,” as I say this, I feel confident in this conviction.
The dumb original might not realize it yet, he is bad at dealing with his feelings, but he’s the same. Neither of us would be able to hurt Vega like that. Never. It would mean betraying our friend and in that moment, we would be no better than the person we hate the most in the world.
“I think the subclass of Pride really fits you. It's perfect for delusional people like you,” the being giggles, and finally, the woman's jaw falls off. At that, it only tilts its head and then steps back. “I will ask you the same question a day before you disappear. I'm already excited to hear your answer.”
So he is not the Ruler of Pride.
Well, let's try to get more info at least, “Why are you even here? There must be hundreds or thousands of tutorials going on, why this one? Because of Lissandra and her escape from the second floor?”
The corpse crumbles, but the words continue, amusement dripping from every single one, “Absolutes going rogue once in a while isn't that rare. Even though what Eladore's Absolute Lissandra is doing is extremely interesting, it is not enough to catch my interest. No, you, Absolute Lissandra, and the other attendees of this instance are only a way I amuse myself.”
The next words only sound in my head, the corpse unmoving, (What brought me to this tutorial is someone else. It's the man who started the tutorial in Beyond. The first one in thousands of years.)