Chapter 200: Treasure

When Mercury finally stepped outside, the area of the treasure hunt was easy to see. The floor beneath him shimmered a soft green, indicating a safe zone. Outside, there was a yellow-golden zone indicating the area for the hunt. And then there was a red zone, indicating the end of the protection from the dangers of the fae realm.

He was by far not the first to step out, and there were already fae strewn around the border of the green area, with their shells torn, laying in tatters. They had barely made it back with their treasures.

“What a miserable display,” Alice sighed. Mercury glanced at the hero.

She was certainly not going to have a good time with this. Given all the animosity the fae had shown before… Alice would be running around with a target on her back. Then again, would the target on his back be larger or smaller than that?

He sighed. “Indeed,” he said. His eyes drifted over the golden zone lazily, but he could not see much yet. The area looked blurry from where he was standing, probably some sort of magic in order to make it impossible to cheat at the game by simply looking for treasures from safety.

That was most likely not the only magic he would see. In fact, it seemed quite likely that the area was separated into different zones, arranged by the courts, each of which would have different abominations inside them. After all, the rulers loved nothing more than running with their themes.

“How much do I need to participate for it to count?”

“It’d be best if you did your best,” Arber said with a shrug. “Eyes will be on ye.”

Mercury nodded. “Right.” Before participating, he had a purchase to make, then. There was, after all, a Skill evolution he could now afford.

[ has met the necessary qualifications for evolution! Evolve? (900 Skill Points)]

[Evolution confirmed. Engaging. Please pick an option to evolve the Skill into. The price will be the same (900 Skill points), no matter which you choose.]

[1.

2.

3.

4. ]

The time to appraise Skills had come again.

[: The direct evolution of the Skill doubles down on everything that made its previous iteration special. Enhanced focus for greater durations, in addition to slightly improved control over mana and other Skills.]

This was a rather straightforward choice, and a rather boring one, too. has been a Skill doing heavy lifting in the background, but this kind of evolution seemed like he was sinking its potential into the ground. Next.

[: Giving the user a more direct way to use their mental power, this Skill allows the individual to apply pressure to another’s mind with their thoughts alone. If your mental fortitude is greater than that of your foe, they will be stunned, unable to properly connect thoughts to one another.]

Looking at the other names, this one seemed like the most directly offensive Skill in the batch. He could certainly use it, since it most likely synergized with his unique version of rather well, but it also seemed to occupy a similar niche to , which was a far more unique Skill.

[: In its nature, this Skill is simple. It allows the user to perfectly record any knowledge they acquire, and recall it whenever they need. This comes with strong resistance to memory erasure, and the possibility to store a personality imprint for special reconstitution if corruption occurs.]

Now, Mercury found himself looking at a Skill he really liked. The simple function of “perfect recall” was immensely powerful, but the fact that he could back up his own personality and memories was a rather amazing function.

It was something he wanted. The resistance was nice, too, but this was kind of a way to restore his memories. But the question was…

‘Appy, can’t you already do something similar?’ he asked.

[ comes with an inbuilt encyclopaedia function which may be triggered when gazing at objects. Additionally, any information the user knows, and that is deemed “secret”, becomes easier to access and far more difficult to destroy. This is not a full emulation of the Skill. Further functions may be added as gains levels.]

Right, then. Appy’s version may not be perfect but… it would do the trick. Also, he had only been in this world for just about two and a half ‘chapters’. So, there was a good chance he’d get more perfect recall Skills offered later. It was still very appealing, but he didn’t need it.

[: Vast no longer describes the user’s mind. Your focus lasts as long as you need it to, your will can go the distance. This Skill allows the user to dive into their own mind, allowing for the effects of time dilation or dream emulation. It removes the need for rest from the spirit; the individual’s mind is vast enough to recover while at standard processing power. Biological processes may still require sleep. Additional benefits are improvements in any Skills which make use of the individual’s mental faculties, and far greater ability to memorize, recall, sort, and comprehend information.]

Mercury picked .

[Evolution selected.]

[The individual has acquired the Skill through Skill evolution!]

The change he felt was immediate. His ystirs, all three of them, changed significantly. The ones that were currently ‘resting’ began recovering far faster. The one he kept active on himself was different, too. He felt… deeper.

Like the world was closer to his fingertips. He could immediately tell that most of his Skills would be significantly stronger now - also the rather existential ones, like , which twisted the world into giving him a path forward, or , which forced limits off of him.

But even while using that one ystir for all basic functions - such as breathing, standing, controlling all his various muscles… It was recovering. The damage it had taken from the broken throne was slowly mending itself.

Quickly, he shook both of his other ystir’s awake. One remained focussed in the present, talking with Arber and Alice. The second was on time dilation duty.

That… was a rather strange feeling. To the ystir in the present, it was as if the other one’s thoughts had sped up. To the one in time dilation, though, it was like everything else slowed down. He felt a pull on his mental resources, a small drain, but he could probably keep it up for a while.

Well, depending on perspective. In the dilated time, it would be longer. But feeling all his friends slow down was still supremely disorientating, especially when part of him was perceiving it at a perfectly normal timescale.

But it was certainly useful. Incredibly, even. In the time it took him to take a single step, he could get in way more thinking time. He didn’t bother counting the seconds, though, because he felt the dilation was flexible. He could press harder, compress a minute into a moment, but he saw no point in draining himself like that before going to the treasure hunt.

Instead, he paid attention to the third ystir, which was emulating a dream. That one felt… strange.

He could see inside his mindscape, the place where his dreams usually happened. It was messy, though. The floor was cracked, the grass wilted, the sky dim and colourless. Even the suns and the nexus seemed dull and spent.

In front of his eyes, he saw it mend, though. The fissures growing a little smaller. It would heal soon. Which told him all he really needed to know about just how bad the damage had been at the beginning.

Mercury felt his anger boil again at the sight, but quickly calmed himself with . He would get them. The broken thrones… he’d get them, for sure.

For now, he let both his other ystirs rest again, improving his healing rate vastly, keeping only one active without channelling either new ability. He still found the world quite a bit more clear to his eyes, able to take in much more of it, which was a welcome change.

Then, he focused on the treasure hunt again. “Should we move as a group?”

Asher shivered at that. “Uh, I think I’ll already be targeted enough. That seems like a great way to get my shell destroyed.”

Alice nodded along to his words. “Yeah. Unfortunately, I think it would be unwise for either of you to follow me. Sorry.”

“Fine by me,” Mercury said. “I’ll manage.”

With that decision made, he saw Alice and Asher head off. Arber did not have to participate in the hunt, since they were kind of partially hosting it. In fact, some of the treasure had been provided by them, being bits of leaves and such imbued with high amounts of healing power.

Not too long after that, he himself stepped outside.

The effect was strange. Leaving and entering the green zone did not need to happen at the same point, so he ended up being ejected somewhere rather different from a forest.

In truth, the arena wasn’t all located near arber. It was a string of fae gateways that strung together entirely different areas of the fae realm. The decaying forest was certainly one of them, but Mercury found himself in the domain of Blood.

The smell of iron hit his nose immediately, as he found himself in what could only be described as a nightmare.

Trees of grafted hands dotted the landscape. The ground was not covered in grass, but in hair. He heard howling from creatures that were grafted from body parts, chimerae that seemed well within the realm of cruelty.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

He wanted to throw up, but quickly held himself back. There were monsters out here, yes. But the real danger were other fae.

Mercury called on to manifest around him. It quickly drove away the stench of blood, and also made it so that the ground he walked on remained mostly clean. So, he set to walking through the domain of blood.

Since it was a treasure hunt, he did not need to walk long. There were a few factors that went into it.

Firstly, the areas themselves were full of “treasures”, though some of them were bizarre and horrible in ways that Mercury would well and truly rather not engage in. Additionally, the areas had magic imbued in them that led individuals down certain paths. A bit of faerie magic to make them naturally find their way towards nearby points of interest.

Of course, every person affected by the magic was also a person of interest. Which made it rather easy for fae to be attracted to Mercury.

With and though, Mercury could much more easily pick his own path. The two Skills combined made breaking through area suppressions rather easy, so finding his path was more than doable.

But he didn’t fully break the magic. That would count as not properly participating. He bent it, though, in order to find more useful things to him, using his Skills more to find the correct route, rather than what the rulers may have planned for him.

And he was sure they had planned something for him. Their route probably was going to be torturous, showing him only the most horrible treasures they could. In fact, he was not entirely certain his arrival in the domain of Blood was a coincidence; maybe he had been brought there on purpose.

Now, though? Now he’d fight back.

It only took a few dozen steps until the landscape around him shifted. The trees came closer then blurred by, and he quickly entered a forest of bone trees with arms for branches. Then those whizzed by, too, and he found himself in a clearing, with a lake of blood. There were three other fae around, each already battling the local entourage of monstrosities.

For Mercury, though? This was an opportunity.

Since his injury, about a week had passed. This was not enough for the Dream of Starvation to full repair itself, however, it had mended a bit more.

With a single thought, the dull, dark metal wove itself into existence around Mercury’s paws. There was still not enough of the liquid metal to fully streak towards his knees, but at least his claws were fully covered, even if the metal was thin and seemed strained.

Diving deep into , Mercury relied on the confusion and carnage around to walk up to the lake, entirely glossed over by both the fae and the monsters. He gently dipped his weapon into the blood.

“Drink,” he whispered.

The Dream of Starvation was a powerful item. In fact, despite its C grade, he would wager it was more valuable than some higher grade items he had seen. Not that that grade would stay the same for long, since…

[Dream of Starvation Growth aspect has reached 1000/1000.]

[Rank increasing.]

[Dream of Starvation:

Grade: Bound C - Proficiency (783/1000)

Rank: 1 - Growth (0/1000)]

As the blood vanished, the metal around Mercury’s paws writhed. It grew, gaining weight and momentum. The cracks mended themselves, the thin spots grew thick again, and a torrent of night-black steel crawled up Mercury’s forelegs. The claws on it became vicious again, and the item was mended.

And it felt hungry.

[Rank 1 Bonus: Aspect . The Dream of Starvation may change its shape at its user’s command.]

He grinned. The proficiency was also high. Still more of the blood lake drained into the weapon.

Did he feel bad about feeding the item blood? Not really, no. pinged this lake as being made from elemental blood, rather than having been specifically drained from humans. It was, biologically, identical, however no one had died for it. Which made it highly suitable for an item such as the dream.

As the lake drained, the monsters and faeries still fought one another. There was an item at its bottom, Mercury was fairly sure, but he also had the that it wasn’t very useful for him. So, rather than stay, he quickly began making his exit, leaving the remaining blood behind.

His weapon had consumed about a third of the lake. This, unfortunately, was enough to get the fae’s attention, but Mercury channelled more mana into . There would be a path for him.

Reality lurched as the Skill took hold, offsetting some fae enough that their charges to stop him interfered in each other. A member of spring clashed with one from scorch, a young one from blood stumbled over a beast. One of the courtless - no, that one didn’t bother trying to approach him, instead running in the opposite direction.

And then, the fae magic, boosted and helped along by his Skills activated, and Mercury felt the world lurch around him. He would fight, but he would not fight on the territory of Blood. Getting wounded here, having his own blood touch the floor… that seemed like a rather bad idea, given the domain of that court.

With his goal of getting to another court in mind, the world shifted. After two dozen steps, the ground had shifted. It changed from the springy texture to something more solid, earth and grass. It felt familiar, and inviting. The sky was bright and beautiful, and he could see sparkling waterfalls in the distance.

It was… alluring.

Instantly, Mercury’s guard went back up - rightly so, since soon, from the distance, he saw figures approaching. They were radiantly beautiful members of all kinds of sapient species, and absolutely not something Mercury wanted to encounter. There was a faint suspicion that the treasure here, too, was not meant for him.

Luck of the draw, that one. Mercury stepped through again.

The gorgeous landscape buzzed by his face, everything blurring into one mess of beautiful iridescence and bright colours. Mercury felt a sting take root in his heart, the desire to stay, to take it all in, to enjoy the presence-

brutally squashed that thought, bringing him back to neutral. The colours seemed less vibrant without their enchanting effect, turning the whole world dull and lifeless. A thin masquerade broken apart. What a despicable display.

Slowly, the colours drained more and more, until his world remained in greyscale, and he emerged in a rather desolate, familiar place.

Ash covered the floor. It was solid stone, with thin cracks running through it. Ash rained endlessly from the grey skies, and it felt like the whole world was cast in monochrome.

It was… just like the ashen plains.

A small shiver ran down Mercury’s spine, but he quickly suppressed it. He took a deep breath, forcing out further, driving away the ash. It took him a moment to have the emotions settle down, but he remained in control.

This was not the same place. He was not back there, and there was no need for any hopelessness to resurface. He’d crushed it once, and he would again if he needed to. But he could see the differences now.

Rather than ashen plains, it was more accurate to say these were ashen lands. There were many landmarks, after all. Taller mountains, distant spires, twisting landscapes where gravity seemed to matter less, and veils of dust cloaking gigantic objects. It was varied, and alive, and yet vast and empty.

Mercury had, in his haste to leave the area of Allure, slightly stepped outside the path of fae magic. So, this time, he let and resonate with it slightly, in the way that he would not be subject to another’s whim, while still using the paths they laid down.

Slowly, over a longer, quieter journey, Mercury was guided back on the path of the fae magic. The interspersed landscape would occasionally blur, but remain largely the same for long stretches of time.

He didn’t encounter any other fae.

As expected from Dust, their section was stunningly empty. It was vast and grey and… calm, Mercury noticed. Nothing like a frenzied struggle for survival he was used to. Dust, perhaps, was the quietest, truest symbol of decay he had seen among the courts yet. It was… almost sad.

Eventually, though, he felt the fae magic properly take hold again. immediately rang in his head, both promising a reward, and selling a warning. Mercury, without hesitation, jumped back, when the world was still barely coming into focus, and he was right to do so.

A clawed hand swept through the air where he had just been, though it came at the end of a long, slender and elegant arm. Lady Whisperblossom covered her mouth with her hands, still dressed in vibrant dresses of flowers that accented her long, stretched out silhouette.

She giggled into her hand, the long claws on her fingers slowly fading away, the lines her magic had carved into the air slowly fading. “Ufufu, I had not expected you so soon, Yr’enzel. What brings you here already? Did you not find the other surprises… pleasant?” Her grin was wide, and hungry.

“You do not seem displeased by my early visit,” Mercury hummed, slowly moving to circle her, though the fae simply turned to face him, as well.

“I find it quite pleasant, actually,” she readily admitted, her grin growing even wider. “You have proven to exceed expectations over and over again. In fact, I doubt there is a single fae without any interest in you.”

“How unpleasant.”

She giggled again. “Quite so indeed, is it not? You could always simply ally yourself with my court, couldn’t you? All your problems, suddenly gone… with all the power of the faerie queen behind you…”

Mercury smiled amicably. “I would rather not.”

“Ah, what a shame. I am supposed to hurt you significantly, then,” she said.

“I doubt you will,” he replied.

“Oh?” Lady Whisperblossom tilted her head, laying a claw against her pale chin. “And why is that, Yr’enzel?”

“Because you care none for your court,” he stated simply. “You want things from me, dozens of things. You’re desperate for novelty, and I am as novel as it gets. The fact that other fae want me, the fact that I caught Titania’s interest, only makes you more hungry.”

Her smile turned sinister, dark and foreboding. “Oho,” she hummed. “So you’ve caught me~. What will you do about it? There is nothing here to stop me from prying any secret out of you, so long as I don’t kill you.”

“And that’s why you won’t touch me,” Mercury said evenly, a calm smile on his lips. “Because you might kill me. Because you know I will give you nothing by force. Because if you touch me, I’ll take it to the grave.”

For the first time, the lady’s smile faded a little. “Perhaps you are right.”

By now, they had almost changed places from Mercury’s circling. He felt ’s gentle nudging at the back of his head. He was closer to the treasure now.

“Perhaps we can find an agreement here. There is a treasure you want. It is entirely within my power to deny it to you,” she said.

“I suppose it is, if you wish to sour relations.”

Her frown deepened, then her entire face turned neutral. Rather than the exaggerated expressions, she suddenly stared at him with a cold and calculating, almost bored look. “Do not test my patience. I will only give so much. You will not walk away alive from here with the treasure if you do not negotiate with me.”

Mercury paused. Suddenly, there were warning bells again. He was skirting close to getting killed. “I see.”

“So you do.” It was not a question.

“Yes,” Mercury answered regardless. “Ask me a question, lady Whisperblossom. Treat it as you would a game.”

“Please,” she said. “My friends call me Wispy.”

“... We are not friends.”

She grinned again. “But we are close enough, are we not? No matter. You may choose to call me that name whenever you wish. My question to you is: What is your connection to the Void?”

Mercury sighed. “Difficult to answer. I am good at seeing past where I should, which lets me see it. Then, I have learnt to see the string of reality between the void, and weave them around it, and in doing so, am familiar with manipulating the void, somewhat.”

The lady blinked. She seemed stunned for the first time. “Manipulating it?” she asked.

“We agreed to one question,” the mopaaw said with a wry smile, taking a step back.

For a moment, Mercury felt silence wrap around the world. The ash from the sky stopped falling, as though time had stopped. There was not a breeze on the wind.

Lady Whisperblossom had changed. Her eyes were no longer curious and bright and cruel, they were simply blank slates. It was like staring into the night sky, only to have all stars simultaneously wink out. Mercury shivered from the cold.

He saw her face twist. Her teeth grew longer, jagged, razor fangs, dripping with pink venom or acid. Her hands elongated, growing sharp, abhorrent claws. She gazed at him, hungrily.

“You touched the void, yet live,” she said. Somehow, despite the horrifying monster in front of him, her voice was still as sickeningly sweet as it had always been. The air smelled of rot. “You say you answered my question.”

“So I did,” Mercury said carefully, taking another step back.

“I want more.” She stated it as a simple fact. Almost like the broken throne had before. Like she would take it.

Mercury’s eyes hardened. “Bargain, or try and take it from my corpse, Blossom.”

The lady twitched. Her hands clenched into fists, the claws drawing jagged lines across her skin, which oozed yellow sap. Her fangs clenched, the clicking filling the air. Then, slowly, the tension faded.

Moments passed, and the dull rustle of falling ash filled the air again. The scent of rot faded, then disappeared. Mercury blinked, and the lady Whisperblossom looked as she usually did again.

She smiled, brightly, giving a long sigh of elation. “Haaaah. You know how to speak, Yr’enzel. I will not bargain here, nor will I break with Hospitality. Your answer is satisfactory. Take the treasure.” She lifted a slender finger, pointing to the ground behind him.

“It is pitiful compared to a secret, of course, so rest assured that I will protect you for your next station. This will go against the will of my queen Titania, of course, but…” a faint, somehow genuine smile played along her lips, “well. You know me.”

Then she winked at him and vanished.

Only once another ten seconds had passed did Mercury dare to look at the treasure this place promised. On the ground behind him laid a whirling snowglobe of ash. ‘Appy?’

[: Once, there was a glorious past. Now, there is a ruinous present. Seek back to what was, twist the horrifying passage of time, and find yourself back at the beginning. When used at the end of a day, you may restart it from the moment you awoke - Not even the gods will remember. Once used, this item will also annihilate its own existence from all of time.]

Mercury smiled. ‘How terrifying.’