Changing my handler? There is no fucking way.
Lady Handler is someone I will stick with until the very end, yup.
I was fed up with her? When? Who? That’s such bullshit, I would never.
Anyway, I take a few steps and rest against the cold wall, having found myself back on the Entrance floor.
It’s better than being on the 1st floor, especially since I didn’t reach the “checkpoint” though that does mean that I’ll have to start over.
I slide down to the ground, and much like my 1st visit, I find a wide range of people glancing over at me with interest, but most of them are on a time limit, so they quickly go about their business.
Who cares about a bloodied man with a shattered arm? Blood covers my entire front side from my prior evisceration and a few more minor wounds that would certainly have killed a horse and most monsters of equivalent size.
At least my mana is coming back, and the feeling is even better than I expected. That desert truly was a godforsaken place. Another reason to work on ways to counter that. I wouldn’t want to end up like that blue guy and his bond.
With one day remaining, I don’t see any point in trying to extend my stay and decide to spend the next hour collecting my mana, assessing damage, and moving my heat across my body to heal the more severe wounds.
I’m already thinking of the preparations I should make before returning to the 6th floor. There is a very high chance I will end up deep underground, buried in white sand, stone, and the remains of the prison that once held the Champion.
Sure, there is a small chance the system will teleport me to the surface, but yeah… who am I even kidding? I’ll probably end up caught in a bubble of space of the System’s making just before I get buried. Hell, I might find even more bullshit thrown my way.
Especially since the system doesn’t seem to mind people using Stay tokens as a get-out-of-jail-free card, I can’t help but find it suspicious, it’s almost too abusable. Just spend 10k to buy yourself a free escape?
There has to be a problem with that.
I might also have to worry about trouble from the enforcers here. Apparently, they’re the guild that oversees the execution of contracts, and even though the one I signed before going to the 1st floor of Beyond was one of the lower tiers, it could cause some degree of trouble. Probably nothing too serious, given that no one’s left to report me, and I can blame it on Whitey.
As I recover my mana I convert it into primordial energies and store them in my vortex core. If I’m to have any chance of surviving I need to get rid of all my mana before returning and rely on my store of primordial energies.
As I stand up and begin to walk through the crowds of people, I let a bit of mana seep into the identification emblem, and the letter D appears on the back of my left hand. The color is the usual black. How did that woman describe things before? Obsidian Black for the D rank, Ivory White for the C rank, Royal Blue for the B rank, Shimmering Silver for the A rank, and Radiant Gold for the S rank.
After looking things over a bit longer, I let it disappear and reach the area surrounding the center of the outpost. The place with the bulletin boards.
I speak to the merchant nearby and spend a few hundred shards to buy a single sheet of paper and a pen. It’s the one with the option to keep the message longer; in this case, it will take a month before the message will disappear and the paper will burn.
It cost me almost a thousand shards.
I definitely got robbed.
Nevertheless, I take a pen and start drawing. Scrawling out a picture of a bear meant to be Cinderbear from the 1st floor. Vic always said that I had no talent for drawing, but it looks just fine to me.
Just in case, I write a message below the image reading: Fuck Cinderbear.
Seriously, fuck that guy.
Then I write some keywords like Earth, a few of the Continent's names, and similar keywords. I also draw some popular memes to spice things up.
Lastly, I mention that I’m looking to meet up with anyone else from the Earth’s tutorial. I mention my intent to return to Beyond in a month for an expedition lasting a few days. I calculate when it should be and the reading on the countdown to forced return so they can time it as well. Then I use the pen to pin it to one of the bulletin boards.
Satisfied with my work, I leave.
I’m not sure if Tess and Lily will be here by then; I’ll need to ask, but in the worst case, I can come here on my own and return with them later - they shouldn’t have many stay tokens anyway, so I could certainly show them around.
Going on my way, I find the blacksmith I spoke to before, he’s probably the best smith in this outpost. As I enter his shop, he looks up from the ax he’s been tinkering with. It’s an annoyed look I know so well.
No one likes to be interrupted when they’re having fun.
His eyes slide on my torn, bloodied clothes and still visible wounds. I also do not have any equipment at all.
“You’re that crazy guy with the Flamebearer?”
“I’m the crazy guy with the Flamebearer,” I confirm.
“I almost didn’t recognize you. If you still have the ax, I’ll offer you 20 thousand shards in exchange.”
“The last time you offered 26 thousand.”
“Yes, but it looks like you need the shards more urgently now,” he says shamelessly.
I can’t be even mad.
“Not selling, but listen to this. What would you do if, let’s say, hypothetically, someone told you you would be teleported into a tiny chamber, deep underground, in a space that used to be a huge cave that is now buried under tons and tons of sand. Some time in about…” I check the time, “21 hours. Hypothetically, of course.”
Even annoyed as he is, this seems to amuse him and he immediately straightens up, scratching his beard, “What floor? Hypothetically.”
“Sixth floor, Mana Desert.”
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
His eyes shine at that, and he opens his mouth then closes it. Likely trying to figure out what he can say without triggering the system's censorship.
“I can prepare a metal sphere, it will be airtight and capable of enduring the pressure. I can offer a set of items that would allow you to filter the air, allowing you to hold out a bit longer. Either so you can make some preparations or wait for someone to save you, but with properties of that sand…”
“Hypothetically,” I remind.
“Oh, sure,” he nods quickly, “I would also hypothetically offer a lot of shards for that white sand. I’ve always wanted to try working with that material.”
“Sounds interesting. So what would be the price of that sphere within the necessary timeline?” I ask, already expecting an outrageous sum, but somehow it turns out even worse than I expected.
“Five thousand shards. Net. So it will be 6 thousand so Beyond can take its cut. I think it’s a good price, and I have high hopes for our future cooperation.”
Looks like I’m due to be robbed a second time today.
Damn it.
I swear I will do my best to use every single damn grain of white sand to make stuff to sell.
----------------------------------------
About 12 hours later, I wake up in a mild state of panic before remembering where I am and closing my eyes, as I pull my blanket over my head, and curl up.
I paid for this room with an extraordinary number of shards, so I better enjoy it for as long as possible. I did consider sleeping outside on a bench to save shards, but with all these people around and my luck, someone might have tried to kidnap my ass to use as a mana battery.
Moreover, I think I deserve a bit of rest, A bath, a freshly made bed, and some basic new clothes - all too expensive.
While I’m hiding under my new blankie, which I totally intend to steal before I leave, I open the system window and scroll through my status. It’s so pretty, and I still have a skill combination token, and I plan to make use of it before I return. Just in case, I take a moment to check the timer, but I still have around 8 hours remaining.
It takes another half hour before I truly feel awake and refreshed enough to deal with the world and push the blankets off to the side with a big yawning stretch.
I take a moment to enjoy some of the food and water bought before turning in for the day and check the scar on my belly. The wound seems to be healed, but the scars always take a while to disappear. It should be gone soon though, and that brings an interesting thought to mind.
I lift my right arm and look at the inner side of my forearm where the scar should be, the one I got even back on Earth.
It’s still there.
Lily could probably remove them with her [Plastic Surgery] skill, but they don’t bother me at all. I also need to find someone who was old before the tutorial started. I saw a few during the tournament, but I didn’t bother asking many questions at the time.
Honestly, I’m curious to hear how the system’s affected them. My scars are still here, but it seems like having a higher constitution should fix all kinds of things like organ failure, heart problems, and disease? How does the system even know the difference between things like that and more cosmetic issues?
Now that I think about it I know just what I’ll do. I’ll send a message to Channeler, and he can find an aging grandpa to ask about it.
“I want to use an active skill combination token,” I say.
You have used an active skill combination token. Please pick two skills from the following to combine.
Warning! Combining two skills will reduce the level of the acquired skill.
Warning! Combining incompatible skills may result in worse skills.
Warning! After combining these skills, it will be extremely difficult to reacquire the skills used in the resulting combination.
List of available skills to combine:
Mana Manipulation - Lvl 54
Perception - Lvl 50
Tether - Lvl 40
Infusion - Lvl 37
And here we go again, I got excited for nothing and got some cheap-ass low-tier combination token or something. Once again, some of my skills haven’t made the list. [Focus], [Redistribution], [Resonance], [Mana Domain], and [Mana Crown].
Sure, [Mana Domain] probably isn’t there because I boosted it with the subclass effect of Pride. I already got the crown I got from a prior combination, so that makes sense too, but there is no way [Focus], [Resonance], and [Redistribution] are that high-tier, right?
I might really have to start working harder on combining skills on my own or evolving them on my own. I’ve never really stopped trying, but I’ve had no success so far.
I mean, I kind of understand; I’m just a newbie here, so it may take a few years, but that won’t stop me from complaining about it.
I’ve already figured out part of what I want to do anyway. One of my options is [Tether], which I got from my Primary class at level 150. It’s one skill I want to keep, so the resulting combination should be something that accounts for that. My primary class also gives me [Mana Domain], and I’ve strengthened it with Pride, so there’s a high chance of that sticking around even after I change class at level 300. If not, I think I can get it back, unlike [Tether], which will be harder to recover.
So the question is:
[Tether] with [Perception]
[Tether] with [Infusion]
[Tether] with [Mana Manipulation]
It’s not a difficult decision.
Congratulations, you have successfully combined [Tether] and [Mana Manipulation]! A new skill has been created.
You have acquired [Ley Line]
[Ley Line - lvl 0 > Ley Line - lvl 9]
Oh my, that sounds kind of mysterious. But before we get to testing that out, let’s try something else.
I let five evil orbs form over my head, focusing on the excellent mana shaping exercise left to me by the amazing Absolute that is Lady Lissandra.
Now, let’s see how long it takes to…
Congratulations, you have acquired a new skill!
[Mana Manipulation]
[Mana Manipulation - lvl 0 > Mana Manipulation - lvl 49]
Well, that was easier than expected.
Warning, after combining these skills, it will be extremely difficult to reacquire the skills used in the resulting combination?
The system can screw off.