Things were coming to a head rapidly. Just two more days and then they’d have the all-important meeting with the Wild Tides.
Maya was a brilliant negotiator, it turned out. Not only had she convinced the Wild Tides commander to return her husband and son in exchange for Ray’s head, but she had also convinced Derrick Orden himself to attend the handover of her Insurge Faction.
It made sense. They were one of the biggest opposition to the Wild Tides aim of controlling the entire First Floor. They deserved Derrick’s personal attention.
Though, they weren’t the only opposition.
Ray couldn’t help but appreciate just how well Maya was handling the whole issue even while having the threat of her family’s death hanging over her head. She had the presence of mind to send out search parties for other people and Factions all over the Floor. There were a lot more people than any of them had thought.
It gave Ray a bit of hope. The Insurge Faction had grown to over two hundred members now with all their active recruiting. Maya had secretly confided that she was afraid the Base would soon reach its capacity at this rate.
In other words, the Insurge Faction would need to think of expanding their holdings. There weren’t other structures as suitable for occupation anywhere close by like the keep.
But that was fine. She had also said she wasn’t against building up the structures they would need to expand. With more and more people coming in, the Faction had a greater array of skills they could pull from. There were actual builders, carpenters, smiths, and the like among them. Few in number, sure, but enough to guide others who were less experienced in the matter.
What truly gave Ray hope was that his original estimates could be wrong. He had thought that the vast majority of the population who had been forcefully pulled into the Tower of Forging were long dead.
That might not necessarily be true. Of course, most of the people hadn’t survived beyond their tutorial, and even more had died within the main Floor itself.
But the percentage of survivors he had originally believed still remained could be incorrect. At least, going by what some of the scouts Maya had sent out said. There were more people in far out Sectors they hadn’t yet reached. People who didn’t even know about the Wild Tides yet, much less having met them.
Sometimes, Ray forgot just how huge the Tower of Forging was.
Ray didn’t spend the days waiting at the Insurge Faction base doing nothing, of course. He led three excursions, joining up with a bunch of others to gather more Essence to level up with.
He wasn’t terribly fond of the idea of being in a party. It reduced the Essence gain too much. Something he warned to everybody who accompanied him too.
A quick little workaround was to separate once they reached the general vicinity of their target area. There, they could break off as individuals or in pairs at most, and then tackle the various monsters in the locale. That ought to give them a good amount of Essence at a rapid pace, especially since they had exercised to use their powers as effectively as possible.
Ray stood at the edge of a murky lake, executing a similar idea of effectiveness. He sent out pulses of Chaos Chymify into the water, making the surface boil.
Moments later, a sea serpent of the kind Gritty had killed emerged. Its flesh bubbled and one of its eyes was already melting out of its head. Ray had discovered that a True Mana enhanced Chaos Chymify dissolved in water, spreading the chaotic energy much farther than it did in air.
Monsters hit by it were all determined to escape their liquid prison. Thus, the Scarserpent had emerged, desperate to get away from the chaotic energy.
Ray killed it with a few quick Shatterclaws while it was distracted by the pain.
[Enemy Defeated—Scarserpent]
Tier 4 Monster: Scarserpent [Level 11] x5
Essence: +2,200
Knowledge: +12
Mana Restored: +550
Essence to Level 17: 2,600/14,200
Knowledge to next Threshold: 289/300
In that manner, Ray roamed all around the base, ranging out to nearby Sectors to see if there were more monsters to kill. He had to gather more Essence fast.
There were some among them who baulked at the frankly wanton massacring going on. Ray could see their point, in all honesty. At this moment in time, he wasn’t simply fighting off monsters that wanted to kill him. He wasn’t fighting for survival. Not directly, at least.
No. Now, he was the aggressor. The monster who was ranging out and hunting down other creatures who had no idea he existed, much less have any malicious designs regarding him.
He was, more or less, killing innocent creatures.
Ray understood it and accepted it. Unfortunately, this new world of theirs didn’t have the same luxuries that allowed more moral decisions with which to live life by. This world was one of strength. Of power. There was something inherently flawed in such an existence, but Ray wasn’t in any position to change it. Neither was anyone else.
If one refused to participate under the new rules, one was liable to be wiped out of existence.
Control, he reminded himself. Ultimately, this was all about gaining control.
By the end of the second-to-last day before the big meeting, Ray had gained a bunch more Essence from killing Spider Monkeys in Sector 49.
[Enemy Defeated—Spider Monkey]
Tier 3 Monster: Spider Monkey [Level 7] x14
Essence: +2,940
Knowledge: +42
Mana Restored: +980
Essence to Level 17: 5,540/14,200
[Reputation Threshold Crossed]
For reaching the 300-point threshold, your Knowledge has raised your Intellect by 35.
Knowledge to next Threshold: 331/400
Then, on the last day before returning to the Base, he ended up defeating a bunch of Lopers too. The leaping deer were still annoying to kill, but every little bit of Essence added up.
[Enemy Defeated—Loper]
Tier 2 Monster: Loper [Level 4] x18
Essence: +1,440
Knowledge: +54
Mana Restored: +720
Essence to Level 17: 6,980/14,200
Knowledge to next Threshold: 385/400
Still not even halfway to the next level, but ah well. Ray had tried. It was time to attend to more important matters.
Time to get himself killed.
----------------------------------------
Their plan to fool the Wild Tides members involved murder. Maya had been opposed to it at the beginning. Taking the life of monsters was one thing, but killing their fellow humans in cold blood was a step too far.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
Unfortunately, their choices were limited. Together, Ray and Gritty were able to convince Maya that drastic though it seemed, it was what they needed for the Faction’s benefit.
They had discussed the whole thing beforehand, ironing out the details and making sure all contingencies had been set up. It was nice to brainstorm potential issues with others. They saw things that Ray wouldn’t on his own.
One of those issues was Ray’s own capabilities.
“Were you able to figure out the issue?” Maya had asked on the second-to-last-day before the meeting.
The plan needed Ray to be able to reconstruct the head of his next kill. Unfortunately, because they wanted the head to look exactly like his, he needed a level of granularity with Lifeblood Construct he hadn’t obtained yet. He wasn’t sure it was even obtainable. “No, not yet. I don’t know if I can actually solve it, at least not in such a short time.”
“Then why don’t we see if there’s anyone else who can help?”
“We shouldn’t be revealing the plan to anyone else, though.”
Of course, they had to keep things secret. Besides Ray himself, only Maya and Gritty were aware of the whole plan. Revealing it too many people raised the chances of it being revealed to the last people who should know—the infiltrators from the Wild Tides.
Although, things were convoluted. The infiltrators actually needed to know the plan too. Just not the real idea that Ray and co were following.
What the hidden members of the Wild Tides Faction were told was the opposite.
They would think that Maya would betray Ray and kill him on the day they were to have the meeting with the Wild Tides. Once that was done, the trio of infiltrators could carry Ray’s head to their leader and present it on a silver platter. Mission accomplished. Insurge Faction subjugated.
But Ray had other plans.
“We don’t have to inform anyone about the whole thing,” Maya had said. “We don’t even need to say anything about why we need a specific skill. All we need to do is some sort of disguising ability, right? I think we can manage that.”
“Alright, if you say so. Also, Kredevel confirmed that the Sylvans might be in attendance at a distance, but they’re very unlikely to interfere.”
“That’s a relief. Even with all the plans and all the help, we can’t take both these Wild Tides and the Sylvans on.”
“Even with the Imps on our side too.”
“Oh right. I need to make sure no one on our side, especially the new people, get freaked out by your pet monsters.”
Ray had wanted to correct her, but there was no time to do so. They were all so busy.
----------------------------------------
The day of the meeting had arrived in no time at all. With merely twenty minutes to go, Ray enacted his part of the plan.
He killed one of the infiltrators.
It was a simple thing. Too easy, almost. Maya had led one of the three infiltrators, the man who was closest to Ray’s build and appearance, to a small room. Her pretence was that she had finally betrayed the saviour of her Faction. Now, his corpse lay ready for the infiltrator’s perusal.
Except, as soon as they had entered the room, Ray had stabbed the man in the neck with a knife.
There was a little nook in the room where he had been able to hide himself. As soon as the duo had passed ahead, Ray had silently stepped in behind and struck. Spluttering and choking on his own blood, the man had fallen to the ground. Ray blasted him with Chaos Chymify to the face for good measure. Then he was dead.
[Enemy Defeated—Human]
Spy [Tier 1] Human: [Level 6] x1
Essence: +300
Mana Restored: +60
Knowledge: +3
Essence to Level 17: 7,580/14,200
Knowledge to next Threshold: 391/400
[New Personal Achievement—Assassin!]
You’ve orchestrated and carried out the killing of your first Denizen methodically. Your planning and your killing skills go hand in hand.
Reward
* Reputation: +20 Ruthlessness, +15 Cunning
* Skill Upgraded: Killer Instinct [Tier 2]
Huh. So rewards from achievements could automatically upgrade certain skills. Ray wondered how that worked. No doubt the kind of achievement he attained affected the kind of ability that was upgraded. It wasn’t like killing was going to improve a healing skill.
But now wasn’t the time to think about that.
“Too easy,” Ray said, looking down at the bleeding body. Hopefully, he had been fast enough to prevent the infiltrator from sending any messages to the rest of his group or the Wild Tides in general. They were lucky that the infiltrator hadn’t possessed any perception abilities anywhere close to Presence of the Primordial. Maya had done well to sus out the right target.
Ray turned his head. She was petrified to her spot, a riot of emotions running across her face.
“I’ll take care of this.” Ray pointed behind him. “Then I’ll meet up with the other two.”
Gathering herself, Maya nodded tightly before leaving. “See you, then.”
Ray got to work. The first part was simply getting the Soul Aspect of the man’s head. There were some other intriguing skills in the man’s repertoire, according to the options for Lifeblood Crucible. Ray didn’t pay them any mind. He was laser-focused on what he had to accomplish here. There was no time to waste on idle fancies.
With that done, Ray first used Lifeblood Construct to summon the head. Just the head. Nothing else. It was eerie to see the exact head of the man he had just killed appeared from a bloom of chaotic black-red energy.
The head opened its eyes. It blinked at Ray. This was going to take some getting used to.
Ray observed it quickly. His commands were simple keep the eyes closed. As the head wasn’t attached to any lungs, it wasn’t drawing any breath. Since Ray was supposed to have been killed very recently, it wasn’t too much of a problem that the head looked relatively fresh instead of corpselike.
But the bottom was a problem. Where the neck ended, there was a flap of skin covering where the neck would have been attached to a body.
A problem he could take care of later. First, he needed a careful touch.
Ray quickly took the head to the flesh manipulating mage he had first met that day they had all come to him for lessons and advice. The man had a look of curiosity in his eyes, but he didn’t ask any questions to Ray. Maya had taken care of it.
“So it’s got to look like you?” he asked.
Ray nodded. “As near as you can make it.”
“The beard too?”
“Yeah. I know a perfect match is probably not possible, but do your best, please.”
The man got to work. It didn’t take too long, thankfully. Ray could tell the meeting was about to begin. He had seen people moving into position, all tense and expectant. Maya had drilled everyone to prepare for the worst.
“How does this look?” the man asked, drawing back and wiping some sweat off his forehead.
Ray wondered how much Mana he’d had to expend. He raised the head and looked at it critically. It wasn’t quite the match for Ray. Anyone who had known him for any decent amount of time would be able to tell that it wasn’t him.
But the similarities were good enough. The same complexion, the same general shape of the jaw and cheekbones, the same hair. There was even the same short, scruffy beard thanks to the man basically gluing short, brown hair to the head’s jowls. A rendition good enough to pass off as Ray—a dead Ray—to those who weren’t familiar with him.
“Thanks,” Ray said. “This should work. Hopefully.”
The man nodded. Bidding his farewell, Ray hurried. Now for the last stage of the plan.
----------------------------------------
Ray’s heart hammered as he walked to the meeting spot, the head that resembled his own in his hand. He had changed his clothes so that he was now wearing the garb that the dead infiltrator had worn. Last but likely most important, he had also used Primal Summons to call up the man’s head on Ray’s head.
Thanks to Mana Imbuing and his Mana Core, the transformation had been basically seamless. The summoned head had replaced his original one.
Unlike the head he carried, the one he had summoned was a perfect replica.
There was so much tension in the air, Ray felt like he was walking through molasses. Throngs of people had gathered everywhere. He was passing by dozens of members of Insurge Faction, most of them looking ahead to their guests.
But some were turning to face him, noting the head he was carrying. And they were all reacting appropriately.
Ray kept his grin internal. The shock and anger on their faces were absolutely genuine. None of them knew about the plan. It would only help sell it better to the Wild Tides.
It also made his heart—already pumping too fast—do a little jumping-jack to realize that people were enraged on his behalf. So many of them actually cared that it looked like he had died. Even if most of them didn’t know him, they knew what he had done, had likely been direct beneficiaries of his actions. They felt for him.
It would have been heartwarming if Ray hadn’t been about to pull an evil trick after killing a man in cold blood.
Ahead of him was where the main contingent had gathered. Maya was accompanied by Tyler, along with a small contingent of some of the strongest members of her entire Faction. Randall was there, and Ray felt a spike of pride to note there were a couple of the mages he had helped train as well.
Just beyond them, the main members of the Wild Tides had gathered close too. Their leader was at the head, with a fierce-looking man just behind him. A dozen more men and women, all wearing the same armband of red cloth ringed them.
Even farther behind, more and more members of the Wild Tides ranged out. So many of them.
Ray smiled. It was genuine. This was going to be a wild clash.
“There you are, Blake,” the leader of the Wild Tides said. His beard shifted as he smiled. “We were waiting for you.”
Derrick Orden was a tall, powerfully built man wearing a long, dark coat. His hair was carefully brushed back, like he had visited a salon not long ago. There was no sign of any weapons on him.
But more than his appearance, it was his very presence that struck Ray the most. It was almost as though there was some sort of aura around him.
A feeling of complete authority that compelled anyone in his vicinity to obey his every command.
“Sorry,” Ray said. All the practice on how best to modulate his voice to resemble the infiltrator’s had helped a lot. He looked down at the head he was carrying. “Had to be a little careful to not… reveal the surprise.”
Around them, the members of the Insurge Faction were beginning to react. Several expressed shock and dismay, almost all of them looking at Ray like he had transformed into some kind of monster.
“Is that…?” Even Tyler seemed to be at a loss for words.
Some of them were slowly beginning to get angry enough to think of attacking him outright. That wouldn’t do.
To speed things up a bit, Ray stepped forward, letting the shocked horror of everyone else around him roll off his shoulders. He threw the head to let it thump to the ground before him. “There. It’s done.”
Maya’s turn. She stepped forward as well. “I’ve kept my end of the deal.” Her eyes were fixed to a point past Derrick. Could she see her family? Ray couldn’t spot anything of the sort. “It’s your turn, Derrick Orden.”
“What deal you talking about, Maya?” Tyler asked.
“Yeah.” Randall’s voice shook, trembling with disbelief. “What deal? What’s going on?”
Maya ignored them. She was only waiting for Derrick’s response.
Ray’s heart began thudding even faster in his chest. He was really tempted to use Presence of the Primordial just then, but he held himself back. Not yet.
“You kept your end of the deal, is it?” Derrick was looking down at the head with mild distaste. “Hmm, I suppose you did.” He smiled backup at her, showing his teeth. “Now, let me keep my end of the deal.”
Maya waited for a second, then her eyes began to widen. “Wait, what are you—”
“Bring them,” Derrick said, raising his hand. “In pieces.”
“No!”
Maya started forward before halting herself as the man just behind Derrick stepped forward, two scimitars materializing in his hand. Behind her, the rest of the Insurge Faction members all bristled, ready to start fighting at a moment’s notice.
Ray’s heart felt like it wanted to eject itself out of his chest.
“You really thought I’d be fooled by such a simple trick?” Derrick asked. “Well, now you’re going to learn what happens when—”
One of the Wild Tides members rushed over and hissed something urgently into Derrick’s ear.
Behind Ray, the others were starting to whisper among themselves too. They were clearly confused. But one thing was clear. Their fear that Maya had sold Ray out—had sold them out—was starting to look like a fake out.
“What?” Derrick shouted.
The man who had come to deliver the message quicky backed off, turning pale in fright. Ray frowned. Did he recognize that guy from somewhere?
Oh, right. That was the amusing fellow who had called Ray an Oz cosplayer.
A moment later, the signal Ray and Maya had been waiting for appeared. A burst of blood shooting high into the air before gleaming a red so bright that it looked like an ascending star.
Gritty had succeeded. Just to prove it, her shout echoed over the area. “I’ve got them!”
Everyone jumped at her raised voice coming from somewhere behind. Ray only smiled. It was time. Maya recognized it too. She stepped back, her arm falling to her sword and shield.
“Insurge Faction!” she shouted. “To battle!”
Ray grinned at Derrick’s face. Then he finally got to use Presence of the Primordial. But at the same time, a warning materialized. A very surprising one.
[Warning!]
You are now in the presence of a Tower Node.