I still don't know how to clear the first floor - the information regarding that is apparently a valued commodity, despite being the kind of thing one could easily learn on their own.
However, I don’t really need to worry about that at the moment. My only goal right now is to experience the floor, just to see how it compares to Hell difficulty. I’m also eager to see the other attendees in action. These people should be at least as strong as Tess, Savant, Lily, Tacita, and Gareth. There is a lot I could learn from them too.
I fully intend to compare myself to them as well. How do I stack up? Against those who’ve been here a while and those on the higher floors of Hell? That's why I’m keeping such close tabs on the other 4 members of my unit. Our entire 20-man group is being led by a single man after being split into 4 smaller units, with a squad leader for each.
Each of these squad leaders is a member of the core 7 who arranged our little expedition.
So to make things easier, we find ourselves seated around a table in a nearby inn, owned by one of the locals. The leader of our small group is a woman called Eugan. Then there are Shayna, Roculus, and Rat.
Eugan is on the quieter side and has a sort of confident aura around her. She is a mage and seems to have a decent pool of Mana. She specializes in barriers and wide-range attacks. Out of all of us here, she has the most experience.
Of course, she doesn't share her level, subclass, or the floor she’s on. The identification emblem could be used that way, but without trust or a good reason, no one will do that.
The next member of our group is Shayna, and she isn't human. Her hair and eyes change color in sync with each other, and I'm currently in the process of discerning what color is for what emotion. However I suspect that she can hide and manipulate it to her advantage, so I'm trying to be careful about making assumptions.
There are small wings on her back too, and her race seems to match the description of Lily’s disciple, whose name I’ve already forgotten.
Shayna can use a mental variation of a stun attack, and even that gets her a few surprised looks when she reveals it. Mental abilities seem to be rare in much the same way as healers.
I wonder how these people would look at Sophie.
Other than that, the winged woman is good at single-target disruption and doesn't volunteer anything further.
Roculus is a close-range fighter. He wears no armor and relies on his natural durability and regeneration. I even suspect that he might be putting less than 10% of his stats into mana.
That makes me wonder how much it would show. Would he still be able to use skills? Are there skills that only need mana for the activation process, drawing on the body’s reserves of energy to maintain their effects? There must be something to it, seeing how far the man had gotten.
His preferred weapon is a combination of dagger and mace, both weapons upper epic if I had to guess. Dagger, some kind of poison effect? I couldn't examine them much after he started giving me annoyed looks. Asshole.
Anyway, the last one is Rat. Just Rat. He is an older man who hasn't said a word other than to introduce himself, and apparently, he’s going to be our scout. He isn't human either; both of his arms are too long, and his skin color is grayish. I bet his figure cuts an intimidating image in a dark alley.
Rat can create… well, rats out of some weird substance he produces. They’re extremely quick, and he can use them to scout.
I suspect he can do much more, but much like everyone else here, he doesn't reveal much.
And lastly, there is me, Noname. A kinetic energy bearer, which does get me a few curious looks, but nothing more. Primordial energies seem to be rare, but not on the same level as a healer or a mind mage. It should garner just enough attention to make me interesting without inviting more pointed questions.
How’s that for a secret identity arc? Future Nathaniel is going to have a blast with the setup I'm making here. Screw that weirdo too.
So yeah, kinetic energy, a decent weapon as a cover should I need to use a bit of fire here and there, and a reliance on kinetic energy to strengthen my body. And just to seal the deal I pretend to have most of my points invested in my physical stats instead of revealing the degree to which I use kinetic energy for strengthening.
And that's all, I have no more information to offer this squad of mine.
No one seems to want to talk much, though Eugan tries to learn a bit more about our abilities and create a more cooperative atmosphere.
“Shayna, I really must insist that you only use your mental attacks on weaker opponents. It's not worth using on anything on the stronger end of the scale. If we do end up in a situation like that, just go for single-target disruption,” Eugan pleads, gesturing impatiently at the stubborn woman.
Shayna smiles and her eyes and hair change color to orange, then white and blue. “I'm sure I know more about my abilities than you.”
She’s totally playing with us by changing the color of her eyes and hair. She’d have to be crazy for her mood to swing so quickly.
Of course, it could be a bit of both.
“You know what we’re up against, and trust me, mental attacks are nearly useless until you’re way over-leveled. So tell me, can you control them or make them attack each other?”
“As if I would have such a disgusting ability.”
“They seem rather useful, I would like a few myself,” Roculus says, smiling brightly as he sips on his third glass of some weird alcohol he’s bought. Though I suppose It could just be poison. It sure smells bad enough.
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“I don't know how it is for you humans, but I despise abilities like that.” Shayna answers.
“Did someone give you a bit of?” Roculus asks, seeming curious.
“On the second floor, one of us had a skill that caught the interest of the mind mage emperor. We had to kill them after we got to the third floor, and he took a few of us with him when he died,” Her hair and eyes change color again, flashing red before staying that way. This time I don't think she is pretending.
“To your friends, may they rest in peace,” Roculus toasts, lifting his glass and knocking back the rest of his drink.
Shayna smiles wryly in response and her hair settles, shifting to a pale yellow.
“And you, Roculus, have you had any trouble?” she asks.
“A bit, but such is life,” he smirks, a hint of cruelty revealing itself in his expression.
I wonder if he was the cause.
“Are any of you Champion candidates? Eugan? Roculus? Rat? What about you, Noname you said?” Shayna asks, looking around.
“You can become a Candidate in the tutorial?” I ask.
“Maaaan,” Roculus laughs loudly.
Shayna frowns, “If you’re talented enough and recognized by a Champion. You’ve heard of Champions, right?” she teases.
“Who didn't, but I would have thought you’d need a real Champion, not someone from the tutorial, to make the declaration,” I say, laying back and taking a sip of my drink while returning their gaze.
“Apparently, you don't. It's rare, but you can be declared one. Hey Eugan, you’ve been here the longest, how many of the attendees in Beyond are Candidates as well?” Shayna asks, her eyes and hair turning pink.
Roculus and Rat also turn towards our leader.
She seems to think for a bit before answering, “Here in the starting outposts I would say 5-10%, the further you get the bigger that percentage is.”
“I heard you need level 400 to become a Champion,” I lie.
“Bullshit,” Shayna shouts, erupting in a fit of giggles and shaking her head, “It's probably closer to 450 or 500. You’re not very well informed.”
I shrug, “My group leader usually takes care of those things, I just fight. He also said you get a Primary class upgrade at level 250.”
This time Roculus joins with an even louder laugh, “He’s bullshitting you, man, listen, and this is for free. Body upgrade at 250 and I heard from an older Beyonder that you get a Primary class upgrade at 300.”
I nod and make a thankful gesture, “Yeah, my leader could be lying. Not like I like him very much anyway. His name is Savant so if you meet him here in Beyond avoid him. He’s a notorious coward too and tends to run away when things get even slightly dangerous.”
Satisfied with the conversation thus far, I take another sip.
Indeed, the best way to make people talk is to say something stupid and watch as they jump at the opportunity to correct you.
“So should we take that to mean you’re all brawn and no brain, Noname?” Eugan asks, nodding at my ax, “Flamebearer, kinetic energy, some kind of regeneration trait or passive more likely than not, looking at how nicely your legs are coming in, and what seems like a decent mastery of mana.”
Hmm, maybe I did show too much?
“I find internal manipulation of abilities easiest, so strengthening it is. Are we sharing our abilities now? Can I ask you to tell us more about yours, Eugan?” I reply, staring her down.
Roculus, Shayna, and even Rat turn to her, curious, at which point the woman smiles and lifts her hands in a placating gesture.
“I just got curious. Of course, you don't have to answer if you don't want to.”
“Got it.” I nod and let them get into the conversation again. The same as me, Rat sits there and observes the others. And unlike me, he hasn’t said a single word, he’s just sitting there watching, unblinking, and sniffing at the air.
What a creepy guy.
----------------------------------------
An hour later and everyone goes their own way, our next meeting being scheduled a few hours before the expedition itself. And as I leave they also give me a pamphlet with some useful information.
The location of the entrance to the 1st floor of the dungeon, our meeting time, and a list of recommended supplies.
Interestingly, one of those recommendations is an item to preserve food and water against the influence of the floor itself. The items in question apparently come in a range of forms, a bag, assorted packing materials, and more besides.
Apparently, the floor has an aura that makes food spoil faster while fouling any poorly stored water, rendering both toxic, even for superhumans like us.
Of course, these protective items have to be bought.
I also get a contract, a piece of paper with a stamp that glows in a pale blue color to check before signing.
Contracts, apparently, can be written on nearly any material, while stamps can be bought from a specialized institution for the purpose of confirming said contract.
Once applied, the stamp ensures that the contract is recognized by Beyond's system. That means if one side decides to violate the contract, there will be consequences. And it seems like there’s a group of Enforcers for the sole purpose of doling out said consequences.
There are also different tiers of stamps and the highest one ensures that the contract is upheld by the System itself or its Handlers, who are the top dogs here. Most of the Handlers themselves are located in outposts deep within the dungeon.
Each new piece of information makes my cold heart beat with excitement.
My handler mentioned something about adventure and fun, and I agree with her. When I think about it, I realize, this place isn't really all that different from the floors, but there is one huge difference.
Everyone here is real.
It's a new kind of fun for me, and it helps that I can actually enjoy it without walling off my emotions. But I also prepare in the back of my mind. As far as I can tell currently, we newcomers might well find ourselves as pawns to be sacrificed in an effort to preserve the core group.
Eugan did strike me as the type, and I did notice her putting some sort of mark on each of us with an item when she thought we weren’t looking.
So far, I haven’t removed it, opting instead to examine it. It seems to have three functions: something like a locator, a single use pulse of disruption directed at me, and a single use pulse of mana into my surroundings. Probably a means of drawing attention to me while they run.
It doesn’t contain much mana, so each function is restricted to a single use and only one of them can be activated without reapplying. It's amusing, but I’m disappointed that the others didn't seem to notice.
Or maybe they did and decided to stay quiet.
Well, in the end, even if they are real, it doesn't matter. I will treat them the same way they treat me, and if they decide to betray me or use me, I might add some extra.