With all the calls and everything done, Ray allowed himself a few hours of rest. It was difficult.
Every other minute, his mind rebelled against the idea of staying still, of ostensibly doing nothing. He had Sylvans hunting him, or would have soon enough. Then there was the giant Eternal Guardian that still hadn’t showed up for whatever reason. Maybe it felt the same way about the “music” Ray had created using the new Tower Node as he did about Gritty singing.
But he understood the importance of some reasonable rest. Had to let the mind cool down—if not the body, thanks to another Mana fruit appearing—before resuming his journey.
While he waited, he decided to see if he could call in Virko again. With everything going mad on the First Floor, Ray wouldn’t have been surprised if the Halftyr merchant had just booked it out of there entirely.
Surprisingly, about an hour after crushing the Mana crystal, Virko showed up.
“Well, if it isn’t one of my most profitable customers in the Tower,” Virko said by way of greeting, jumping down from his flying carpet with the neon lighting at the edges. He was dressed in that same rich robes with the rich belt that covered most of his short, faun-like figure. “To what illegal contraband do I owe the pleasure of this visit?”
Ray laughed shortly. “Sorry, nothing so fanciful this time. I just have a few items to sell and a few things to ask.”
“You know, you’re staring to make me consider if it would be lucrative for me to start dealing in actual information.”
“Uh, sure. Has there been anyone else buying intel off you?”
“Not particularly. Occasionally, I will share certain details if a customer asks, but they’re often one-tome, minor pieces of information. Nothing as extravagant as your tell me about everyone important on the Floor.”
“Cool. Just goes to show how smart I am.”
“You are certainly shrewd about some things.” He peered at Ray inquisitively with his large eyes. “Now, what do you have to show me, Ray?”
In answer. Ray brought forth the Wyvern Helm. He wondered if he ought to have held on to the Mantle from the Windbane dungeon instead of selling it via Maya’s Base Node. It was possible he could have wheedled out more from Virko.
“Hmm.” Virko didn’t take long to consider or even observe the Helm. Figured. He had already seen it on Ray. “Seventy Mana crystals. Don’t think I can go higher than that.”
“Just seventy? Come on, I’m sure we can go a little higher. You got me a hundred for the Golem Greaves, remember? This Helm is at least as good as that.”
“For those, I gave you fifty per boot. That I’m not offering you the same amount for one headpiece is already generous of me.”
“You’re squeezing me dry, Virko.”
The Halftyr merchant sighed exaggeratedly. “Fine, fine. I will part with eighty Mana crystals. That is it.”
“Cool. Now, you can keep it.”
He stared at Ray, his hands twitching upwards a little like he wanted to touch the horns on his head. “Allow me to guess. I get to keep the Helm and the price I would have paid for it in return for information. What is it you wanted to know?”
“I want to know about your last deal, Virko.”
“I cannot betray my customer’s confidentiality like that, Ray. You ask an impossible question.”
“Cut the crap, Virko. I’m sure you’ve already told everyone who might have wanted to know about me.”
“I would never do such a thing.”
Ray stared at him.
Virko looked shifty, before sighing. “I would never do such a thing… unless I received the right price.”
“There you go. That wasn’t so hard to admit, now was it?” Ray smiled. “Don’t worry, I don’t hold it against you. All I want is for you to be fair about it, you know? Give me the same deal.”
Virko was all businessman again, eyes calculating. “You must understand that a meagre Helm isn’t enough—”
“I know, I know. That’s why I’ve got something else I want to sell you.” Ray focused a bit. The Tower Node of the Songstress popped into existence. Virko’s eyes went wide as saucers. “Tempting?”
If the Halftyr merchant had looked scared and avaricious at the same time with the Sylvan Hear Cluster Ray had offered up a while back, now he looked positively mortified.
“You realize what you are trying to sell to me?” Virko asked in a hushed voice.
“You look more scared than surprised. Did you know I possessed Tower Nodes?”
“I had my suspicions. But that’s besides the point. I can’t purchase a Tower Node, Ray. Impossible. This is a hundred times worse than Sylvan Heart Cluster.”
Holding on to his smile, Ray willed the Tower Node to float closer in between himself and Virko. “And yet, you can’t take your eyes off it. Admit it, Virko, however impossible it might be, your brain is already trying to figure out all the ways you could sell it after you take it off my hands.”
“I am doing no such thing!”
Ray laughed. “Don’t worry. I’m not actually selling you the Tower Node itself.”
Virko looked like someone had just told him his winning lottery numbers were actually fake. “You weren’t?”
“No, not yet. I want to hold on to it, see if I can make better use of it. I’m speaking of this Tower Node specifically, by the way. I’ve got more, and I’m going to get more later too. However, the point is that I’m not averse to selling you one I don’t have a use for.” Ray did his best to approximate Virko’s merchant-y expression. “For the right price.”
The Halftyr visibly swallowed. “What kind of deal were you looking to make?”
“It’s simple. Familiar. You tell me what you sold to the Floor Lord and what he’s going to do with what you sold him. In return, before I ascend to the Second Floor, I will give you one Tower Node.”
“You sound awfully confident you will make it to the Second Floor, and that I will simply believe that you actually will give me a Tower Node at a later date.”
Ray pulled out a bunch of Mana crystals from his Bag of Holding. Quite a lot. So much that the entire area was soon littered with the little blue gems. “Here. I think that’s about two thirds of all the Mana crystals I have on me. You can keep it all as collateral.”
Virko’s eyes twitched at the display. “You’re certain you won’t need them?”
“I’m very sure I’ve got enough to last me until it’s time to climb to the next floor.”
Virko stared at the haul for a moment before finally vacuuming it all into a rich-looking Bag of Holding. “The Floor Lord wanted an old Everair device I had in my collection. I believe it’s part of whatever strange ritual he wants to perform.”
“What is the device?” Ray asked. “Like, what does it do? And what’s this ritual about?”
“The ritual I don’t know. But if I had to guess, it has something to do with Mana conversion. That is what the device enhances. It’s essentially a processor, as you might refer to it, that allows one to channel different variants of Mana quite easily.”
Mana conversion. That was intriguing. Virko confirmed that it was exactly what it said on the tin. Mana conversion was simply a method of converting one kind of Mana to another.
“And you’ve got nothing else to tell me?” Ray asked.
“No. That was the entirety of my dealing with the Floor Lord. He is one of the ones who asked me about you but suffice it to say that I told him nothing about you he didn’t know already.”
“Hmm, thanks for that.” Ray could have taken the time to ask how Virko had come across such a device, but that wasn’t really relevant. Plus, he believed the Halftyr when he said he didn’t know any further details. Not knowing incriminating details was how he succeeded in his business. “Alright, I think I have enough to be going on with.”
Virko’s eyes landed on the Tower Node, the Bag of Holding he had filled up with Ray’s Mana crystals already forgotten. “Don’t forget your end of the bargain.”
Ray tutted. “You’ve barely told me anything at all, Virko. But don’t worry, I’m a man of my word. You’ll get your Tower Node.”
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Grumbling and not very satisfied, Virko took his leave with Ray’s crystals and the Helm. Ray watched him go.
The Floor Lord was converting Mana, was he? Interesting. He wondered if Kredevel knew. No, the Sylvan would have mentioned it otherwise. But he might have some insights once Ray told him.
Also interesting that Virko hadn’t asked about the Tower Node’s details. Either he had his own way of finding that information...
Or, as was more likely, a Tower Node was highly valuable, regardless of what Paragon it belonged to. Plus, Ray had said he would sell a Tower Node. Not the specific one he had shown to the merchant.
After some more resting, Ray got a move on. It would be best if he could gather as much Essence as he could, maybe even try levelling up, before the Sylvans got moving. Besides, busying himself with other things might let the plan to deal with the Sylvans he was percolating form fully.
Mapping the route he ought to take was difficult. He didn’t have a specific aim just yet, although ideally, he would end up close to the centre of the Floor.
With that in mind, Ray maintained his distance from the Sylvan headquarters as he roamed around.
The first monsters he came across were the Spider Monkeys. There was another little forest of petrified trees. Ray rushed through the dead woodland, getting as much attention from as many of the strange monkeys as he could.
Once enough of them had gathered around him, pelting him with stones and trying to trap him with their webs, he counterattacked. Mottling Sphereguard pulled up ten orbs of chaotic black-red energy rapidly orbiting around Ray. He switched their focus completely to attacking and sent them out.
Each orb targeted a separate Spider Monkey, killing them with one hit. Huh. Their Tier wasn’t that high at just 2. It had to be his enhanced Intellect pumping out the damage.
[Enemy Defeated—Spider Monkey]
Tier 3 Monster: Spider Monkey [Level 7] x5
Tier 3 Monster: Spider Monkey [Level 8] x7
Essence: +2,730
Knowledge: +36
Mana Restored: +910
Essence to level 19: 4,990/18,900
[Reputation Threshold Crossed]
For reaching the 500-point threshold, your Knowledge has raised your Intellect by 45.
Knowledge to next Threshold: 505/600
Ha. Speak of the devil. His bonus Intellect had risen even higher. The nice thing of fighting the monkeys was that he had found some of them near a lake.
Ray remembered just what had happened the last time he had been by a lake shore. He approached the edge. Gritty, being the lunatic asylum escapee that she was, had been inside the monstrous serpent in the lake’s depths. Ray had no intention of repeating her experience, no matter how effective at killing the monster it had looked.
But that begged the question of how he was going to get the Scarserpent’s attention. Of course, he was assuming that there was the same monster inside, but it was a safe assumption. The water was quite dark, suggesting great depth. Very possible there was something lurking far underneath.
Although, the monkeys had been using it as a source to quench their thirst, despite the ugly colour of the water. That suggested they considered it safe enough to drink from here, unless the Floor’s various monsters didn’t prey on each other.
Come to think of it, had Ray actually seen one species of monster attacking a different one? He couldn’t recall.
He decided to try and lure out the sea—lake?—monster. Retrieving one of the Spider Monkey corpses that had been corrupted with his chaos attacks, he chucked the body into the water. It splashed in and immediately began to sink. Simple though the idea was, it worked. The monster arose.
Just as the bubbles started popping on the water’s surface, Ray sent out a quick Presence of the Primordial to check his new adversary.
[Presence of the Primordial]
Glidescale [Monster] [Tier 5] [Level 17]
Aquatic serpents that prefer the cold and hibernate in extreme heat. Their skin is covered in a scales that act like enhanced feathers, allowing flight when it rises above the water surface. Amphibiousness upon land and water had already been noted by the Everair for ages. What they were truly interested in was the ability to exist in air and water equally well.
Skills:
Jutting Jaws [Tier 3]: Thrust out one or more jaws with a massive bite that pierces through defences up to the skill’s Tier.
Scale Transformation [Tier 5]: Change the form of your scales to suit whatever environment you occupy. At Tier 5, enhances movement speed by 25% underwater and 10% in air.
Hibernation Healing [Tier 2]: Remain still to quickly regenerate Recovery. At Tier 2, Recovery regeneration is increased by 4 per second.
Cyclone of Blades [Tier 4]: Surge forward with compressed air forming a ripping twister around you. At Tier 4, this skill creates 16 blades around the wielder.
Sea Spray [Tier 3]: Spray Mana-imbued water in the vicinity that reduces the impact of all your foe’s Mana-based abilities. At Tier 3, all Mana-based abilities are debuffed by 9%, which lasts 60 seconds.
Ray only just finished taking a glance at everything Presence of the Primordial had revealed just as the monster burst out of the water. He did note that this was clearly not a Scarserpent. Its wet roar was close enough that his ears cringed.
[Warning!]
Presence of the Primordial indicates you are under the effects of Sea Spray [Tier 3]. Presence of the Primordial has negated the effects of Sea Spray [Tier 3].
Ah, it had been smart to exit its domain and immediately attack Ray with that debuffing ability. This monster might be more intelligent than he had thought.
As the Glidescale turned around to face him, Ray got a proper look at the creature. This was clearly quite different from the ones he and Gritty had killed before.
It looked mostly like an eel, just the size of a small train. The head was almost crocodilian, but instead of pitted, leathery scales, the Glidescale’s were shiny silver. If the monster remained still enough, Ray had a feeling he would have been able to check his own reflection against its hide.
The Glidescale screamed at him as it continued to emerge from the water. Its sleek body rose higher and higher, revealing several long fins along its length. Just how big was this thing?
And then it was out. The whole monster had risen above the water, floating above the rippling surface of the lake.
Ray frowned at it. The description had stated it could fly. Which was a good and a bad thing. If the monster remained airborne, he wouldn’t need to worry about trying to fight it underwater. But aerial mobility might make it a lot more annoying to fight than aquatic mobility. Oh well, time to find out.
Its first attack was predictable. Jutting Jaws made its huge, fang-filled mouth lunge at him. Ray dived to one side, calling on Soaring Wings at the same time with Primal Summons.
He twisted around while prepping a Chaos Chymify to chuck at the monster, but it was already moving. The spiralling bolt of chaotic energy missed. Damnit, just as he had suspected. It was going to be way too mobile in the air.
The monster roared again. Ray hoped it wasn’t drawing any unnecessary attention that would make this whole encounter way too complicated.
His opponent unleashed more attacks. Swipes of its tail, waves rocking from the lake, more uses of Jutting Jaws as well.
At one point, it even used Cyclone of Blades. That one actually surprised Ray in its effect. The description had raised his suspicion, and watching it actually come out only confirmed what he had first thought.
That was the same ability that Derrick Orden had used during the battle.
Ray dodged them all. Occultic Apparition helped a lot. At times, he managed to hit the monster with a couple of Chaos Chymifies as well, though they didn’t deal that much damage.
Presence of the Primordial had supposedly negated Sea Spray’s effects, but his spells weren’t having as much of an impact as he would have suspected. At the few spots where he had struck, the monster’s scales had rotted off and the flesh was emerging in the form of tumours and pustules. Dark blood sprayed out and hissed in the air.
Maybe Glidescales was just resistant to magical damage overall. Maybe Ray had overestimated just how strong Chaos Chymify had become, even with his boosted Intellect.
Whatever the case, Ray wasn’t going to use more of that anyway. Even now, he could see the monster acting more frantically, chaotically, like its thoughts were getting frayed. The Insanity was proccing well with every hit it took.
He remembered just what had happened the first time he had procced Insanity on the Duskshell. Having no intention of sending the monster fleeing underwater, Ray resolved to kill it with one blow.
That was why, when it used Jutting Jaws once again, he didn’t dodge. Instead, he used Lifeblood Construct to call up Impervious Shell.
Even without a boost via True Enhancement, the spell worked wonders. The Glidescale had committed to its attack. It couldn’t stop itself by the time the dark shell materialized in front of Ray. The monster crashed in and was stopped entirely, the impact forcing the floating shield of a shell back a few paces.
But more importantly, it had stunned the Glidescale in place.
Leaving it in position for Ray to attack.
With his Hallowed Reputation making his first cast of True Enhancement fully free, Ray enhanced his Shatterclaw to create his ethereal black-and-white arm. Then he dismissed Impervious Shell. Just as it began to disappear, Ray slammed his newformed fist forward with as much power as he could summon.
The hit was satisfying. His ethereal fist crashed into the Glidescale’s huge mouth and exploded with chaotic energy.
Screaming in pain and fury, the Glidescale pulled away, leaving a chunk of its mouth behind. Its lower jaw ripped free. Blood and flesh flew off its chaotically malforming head. Even the eye burst out of its obit, speared by a spiky stalk of a nerve that had hardened like bone.
Now. Ray rushed forward, his wings shooting him forward. He got in close as the monster was flailing before slamming in another True Mana variant of Shatterclaw, with its cost taken care of by the Silver True Mana Bracelet. That blow finally killed the monster.
[Enemy Defeated—Glidescale]
Tier 5 Monster: Glidescale [Level 17] x1
Essence: +850
Knowledge: +3
Mana Restored: +170
Essence to level 19: 5,840/18,900
Knowledge to next Threshold: 508/600
With the monster dead and slowly sinking back under the water’s surface, Ray got a notification about Lifeblood Crucible activating. The offerings weren’t anything he wanted to add to his current loadout.
He did note the fact that he could, apparently, gain the Glidescale’s gills.
And also Cyclone of Blades. That would be useful to remember for later.
It could help him figure out just what kind of Tower Node Derrick possessed. A Paragon that was possibly related to these Glidescales in some way.
Ray wished there were more of the giant sea serpents in the lake, but nothing else came up. A little disappointing. He had hoped to earn himself more Essence than he already had. Ah well. It was becoming pretty clear that hunting and killing a bunch of weaker monsters was more time-effective than defeating a bigger, more powerful one.
After a while, Ray moved on. With no warnings or alerts from anyone just yet, he still had some time to get himself more Essence.
But that was when Kredevel’s chat window popped into his view.
Kredevel: Ray, they are moving. The Sylvans have begun their endeavour against you.
A jolt passed through Ray. His heart began thudding a little harder. It had finally begun.
He would have liked some more time, if he was being honest. But in truth, he had already received a lot of grace in that regard.
Ray: About time. Got any details for me?
Kredevel: Yes. Listen closely.