Growth was quite important in all regards of power and progression. It was always gradual. The feeling and worth Murai got out of these last Islands were exactly the primal traits he felt with comfort and familiarity. It was what always followed him from behind, looming and changing his head. It was his living.
Memories and new knowledge echoed deep into him, forming knots, and decreasing nausea or unfamiliar feelings. Getting them sorted out was one of the many things that he had to consider. It was a good idea to change his mind, follow the suit of the past, and the start of this Gate was perfect for that.
Changing some ideas, reforming memories, or coming to a sudden realization that he was wrong weren't bad things. Once he had some power going under his hands, living got easier.
And now, he was following that desire to keep going and grow to change something. Anything. It wasn't because of the life of a duck. It was more primal, deeply integrated into his soul that wanted to resolve his life.
So he shouldn't fear a thing. Others should, as he wasn't fearing any pain, or the End itself.
He felt it way too much at the start of all of this. He feared that nothing would change and this loop would never end. Now, he grew indifferent to the constant strain and flow that would shatter any normal soul.
15th Island was behind him like a toy he had broken. It went by an indifferent kill and training he preferred. Blitz proved its worth, but there was something greater about it than he thought. But the disappointment after this monkey fled with its tail folded between its legs was still in his mind. It was a pitiful sight, which was why he killed it with little thought.
He didn't like foes who fled without fighting him. He finished it less like a true Challenger, and more like a jenitor. Murai wasn't locked in this Island with it. Wild Tusk Monkey was locked here with him. Hence, he was more into learning what he could do than thinking of this as a place that wanted his neck. It wasn't yet a time to fear for that, but that monkey did want his meal until it changed its mind.
So if others weren't following this premise of his serious training, he took it personally. Blitz took its time to grow into some familiarity and clarity, but it could be better as he saw. It needed time to shine, accumulation to bear, and proper foes to endure its effects. He was closing on something great, he felt.
The Islands before the 15th gave him some barebone notion of its worth because there weren't tough foes. It was almost surprising, as there were foes stronger or the same as in Gate 1. So when he struggled before, now he shinned just because of a few additions to his arsenal. Blitz was all it took to get stronger, while Sonar was supporting it from behind.
Mana was also up there in his upgrades, of course. His Proper Mana Blade was passable in its structure and Sharpness, but that was about it. It was enough for now, as he barely needed more than a couple of moves to kill his foes.
Starting to see some struggle was thus, very enjoyable for him. Wild Tusk Monkey took more of his Blitz than others before, while his Blade chopped its head just because he aimed at the back of the head. It was quick and easy, simply because the monkey was clinching onto the pillar.
But those dozens of clashes and taking that tough and wild tail to his neck and beak was proving him wrong. Without some tough foes, growth was hard. He won't grow when foes disappear with a simple swipe of his Blade. He needed to get personal to get the results done. So against an enemy that challenged his body and beak alike, he thrived.
Murai learned Blitz's intricacies in steady steps, but no matter how, he still felt he lacked the proper boundaries. He needed something better than some monkey. Someone massive or savage will do; not a coward. There was much more to discover about ability evolutions, he felt.
Murai didn't voice anything about his issues, or unkept ideas he harbored and hoped for. He gestured for Lorry to turn this monkey into the Mana Essence without him eating part of its flesh. He figured eating them sufficed for him, but not for the essence-gathering constructions. If he won't eat them, essences shined better. A Low-Grade 7 essence appeared from the mass of glow that went from the monkey on the ground.
It was expected results, but Murai was hoping to start seeing Middle-Grade 7s.
Essence drop rates were still confusing. The might of this monkey truly felt more powerful than any foe before, but Murai was also stronger than before. Though, it still fled like a coward.
“How to think of those... foes and essences?” Murai wondered.
“What? Is essence wrong?” Lorry asked, noticing how Murai seemed somewhat disappointed. And he could see the unreasonableness in this belief as well. The Grade 7 essences were what he got in large quantities at the end of the last Gate. With the 100 foes going forth, Grade 7s won't be rare any longer. Murai breached the limit of his power, which meant further potential to gain some hefty useful prizes.
Now, it was the start of his true essence hunting, as Grade 8s were no longer pending to the foes that he shall meet in his duels.
It was an issue pertaining to this temple, as the drop rate wasn't clear, nor the foes were. Were Graded foes also part of that? Or their levels?
So Murai asked about it since Lorry glared at him in curiosity. “I am curious about the drop rate of these essences. How do they exactly work?” He could no longer regard his own findings as enough. He needed a clear and steady picture.
Lorry cleared his throat, which was less than normal, conspiring he had no need for that. “Actually, Lorry is perfect for explaining this. Mindarch also acknowledged the truth of this claim. Murai is worthy to get this choice, or so Mindarch told.”
“Oh, so?” He quacked coldly.
“Drop rate for essences follows regular to the irregular procedure, as Lorry said in Gate 1. Murai must've made rightful guesses already about them, but lacks the whole picture.” Lorry stated, flowing down to face him. “Grade 9s appear from level 10, all the way to level 19. Low, Middle, and High Grades follow the simple processes that depend on the quality of the foes.”
“But some 20s dropped some Grade 9 essences!” Murai argued.
“Hold on a breath. Lorry gets how Murai thinks. That is right. But undead dropped essences at various thresholds, like anything else. Essences in this temple are all about accumulated power, time, and the quality of the denizens. What bodies endured. The drop rate depends on limits varying to talent and bodies, making level and grade matters. Some won't drop the essence within the rightful means, while others will go much higher than the norm. Why, Murai wonders?”
“I... already realized that long ago. You don't have to repeat that for me like a dumbass. I am not stupid. Just answer it.”
Lorry pretended not to hear that. “But Level 10s and 20s pose almost no threat to Murai right now, right? Their worth may also be... questionable as their quality is low and Murai has no storage. Such essences are simply too poor. Sad even.” Lorry said without hiding his disappointment, sighting and thinking how poor they were. “So what about Grade 7s which Murai is currently prone to with this amassing threshold?”
“Will I get them more often?”
“Undoubtedly. Grade 7s are already pretty good, right?” Lorry winked at Lisa who ignored him. His Soul Flame just flickered, making it kind of unnoticeable. “Overall, Grade 7s should be prone to drop at level 30 and up, but some foes won't drop it for various reasons and qualities. Chances go higher with stronger foes. Crowhell Bat had a very potent body with the potential to grow Grade 7 of Middle or High-Grade. Low or Middle Grades go around the starting limits of level 30, depending on your luck. High-Grade 7s to Low-Grade 6s drop at the end of the 30s and at the start of the level 40s. But there are exceptions to everything. Lorry is sure Murai will get a chance to seek those exceptions. Murai should know them too.”
“Talent and body, huh? What a weird and systematic approach to this mess. Is this common?”
“Lorry is sure this act within the means of the Surface. It if works, why change it?”
Murai couldn't disagree with this kind of logic. He got the picture steady with this little confirmation. All he had to do was to continue fighting as best as he possibly could.
Devouring the single essence like usual, he put it to its usual benefit.
Which was nothing more than pushing it to his Artificial Core. By this point, Murai had yet to use his purchased essences from the Vault, nor did he work with the Heavenly Shaping Manual. He was in no mood for it. It wasn't as if those essences could upgrade his Artifical Core way too much, and if they would, what would it change?
He didn't have plans for his Artifical Core right now. He just wanted it to grow, and since the stored essences in his pouch wouldn't even dissipate, why use them? What good would he even do with them, when his Artificial Core acted as storage for future fusion?
He was far from that point anyway. It needed time, so he decided on a simple rule. He won't absorb them to Artifical Core unless he had to. That meant taking the essences of these fools from these Islands was all he had to consider.
There were no starting doubts about the purchased essences, so keeping them in his spatial pouch as long as he wanted didn't sound wrong.
Essences of the fallen foes were enough to stir his Artifical Core anyway. They will be enough for his starting toches of stabilization and working around the mana space. It was a steady revolving sphere by now, closely observable beside his Beast Core, but neither was close to the other. Murai was sure they wouldn't pose any threat, but what if his mana became unstable or in an overdraft?
By his calculations, the essences added to quite a few Low-Grade 7s. It wasn't half bad, considering the significance of his Core Defying Fusion Technique. Adding the factor of the purchased essences that waited for their time, making the fusion into a few Middle-Grade 7s was guaranteed.
But anything more than that wasn't. Murai wanted at least a bunch of High-Grade 5s; if possible. Alas, Grade 5 still sounded like a dull mistake under his expectations and knowledge of the drop rates and foes. He would have to fight foes above level 40 like Dragon hunting the chicken.
It wasn't something Murai deserved right now, so he changed his mind and ground up his expectations. The explosive strength of quality that Grade 4s possessed was massive, but would it work for his current circumstances?
Murai worried about all kinds of problems and calculations. Figuring them out by folding his knowledge and experience over his current body made it even stranger.
It was about Anatidaes. He wasn't familiar with his species, their issues, mana, and internal structure. His work around the mana space, where Beast Core and flow of mana were, held questions he wasn't sure of.
As the past researcher into the Core Defying Fusion Technique, he was prone to knowing valuable facts that drove mana to new heights, or lows.
His current body was something he had never researched before for this technique or Shaping in general.
Since the qualitative change over the Grade 4 essence was extremely big, it would lead to a fundamental change in the density. Grade 5s wouldn't possess extreme problems. Fusion would put a massive surge of qualitative mana into the flesh, bones, and the whole body.
Everything was about the fusion results. Nothing else mattered more than the success. Every step before it was useless if he failed in the end.
Murai was sure of it from his past lives that moved along this sort of fusing direction. Once he comprehended the fundamentals of the Core Defying Fusion Technique, he began to use it everywhere he could. Sometimes, it created problems and even failures. Other times, he got killed because of it in a variety of ways. Sometimes, not directly.
In this life, it was more of a gamble, and using it wasn't a no-go territory.
Since he already had a target on his head, he would use every shred of power and wit under his soul.
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He wasn't so sure about the validity of his past successes because of Beast Core's involvement. It was new to him, unlike many things before. There were already conscious and notable differences over the usual style of human Mana Cores that he was used to. Mainly, Beast Core was more chaotic and the flow was much more savage, guiding mana to be prone to instabilities and turbulent flow.
Because of this, there were other worries. For example, this world and its Boosts possessed the power to shape and handle mana. Any upgrade to his Mana Flow was an absolutely splendid gift that completely shook his core, and it wasn't because of his handling or training. The Battleworld gifted and made it happen.
It always stormed into his core, challenging the flow of mana and turning his mana space into a storm. It never became an issue, which either spoke of his achievement in Shaping, or his body and soul were getting used to this flow.
Murai wasn't all that aware of how it all worked. It was like having an unfamiliar weapon, which he glanced at from the distance. He knew what it was about and how it looked. How to use it was different; and so was its worth. When he got his mind on it, Shaping was slowly getting better like gaining experience with an unfamiliar weapon.
Conjuring still had some issues because of the flow of mana out of his core. Afterward, not so much.
Another issue was the sheer power that this Core sometimes provided because of its savagery. The output of mana was a strong point of his body, species, or Core alone.
The last issue was... simple. The amount of mana in his Beast Core was utterly humongous and way out of the norm.
These were some of the most suspicious things he figured in recent days.
So add to that together, it was all part of him being an Anatidae. Murai had no way to confirm how this species was working with magic and what their qualities and effectiveness worked alongside the rules of magic. He guessed it must be plenty powerful because of some Bloodline or some latent potential, considering he ended up as one.
Unfortunately, even Lisa wasn't as knowledgeable about this topic. And she was aware of his thought processes and what he was trying to get out of his research. It needed proper analysis, which wasn't something that many had. Anatidaes were way out of the line. Few at the Battleworld were truly aware of the intricate details, methods, aspects, traits, and powerful ways they held. Their Bloodline was deep after all. Very potent.
Anyone familiar with them would at least confirm that kind of thing. Even Lisa would, but she remained silent as she watched him eat this single essence.
Murai was inclined to ask about Anatidaes around this temple, as he wasn't the first of his kind that appeared here. Lorry was the prime target to question, right behind Mindarch, but he wasn't that sold on asking them out loud. The former Anatidae Challengers were an interesting topic.
In the view of his own species, there should be some knowledge about them in this place. Be it from the denizens or some foes, but mainly, it was Mindarch or Guides that should know about them.
Since Lorry already said that he wasn't the first Anatidae visiting this temple, there must have been some people who had met them before. In that case, he may discover some aspects of his species, giving him better ideas and understanding.
Though, that will probably wait for a good while. The road toward more intelligent opponents looked to be surprisingly long. From undead to a monkey, he wondered if he would even face a human within the first 50 Islands. His time wasn't looking that great.
100 Island was a big number to go through. It meant almost 100 stair bridges, or... Murai didn't think of this from any sensible point.
He focused on the journey ahead, fearing any bridge that was around every corner.
Any Challenger prone to this type of Gate wasn't predisposed to any time limitations, making the journey take days, or in some cases, weeks. Murai didn't have that much time to waste walking and quacking around, but he sure had full intentions to go through the Islands how he wanted. Finishing this Gate was just a secondary issue to him.
Island by Island, he moved past the obstacles in all kinds of shapes. Mainly... those were the travels between them, while the fighting happened briefly, or it took some time because he wanted it that way. There were no humans at all, making him guess that intelligent foes must be part of the later difficulties or further Islands.
At Island 35, he had yet to encounter something so strong that he couldn't overcome it with his Blitz, magic, or brute strength. Barely any strategies went into these hours of travels and fights, while his training and comprehension all improved by leaps and bounds.
The level of enemies was still in the 30s, while the Grade didn't go above B. Most foes were beasts, with few undead foes here and there. Some Demons also poised as an interesting change of pace, but their appearance wasn't that much different from some beasts. They were often more sporadic and crazy, with various physical features and strengths.
It was never an issue to overcome them. Murai rather viewed them as foes and sparring partners that he could kill.
Which seemed to be an average way to get stronger at best.
Murai complained in his mind over the balancing and stretching power of his foes for the past 10 Islands. He never got an essence better than Middle-Grade 7s. Which was already lucky enough according to Lorry's constantly shifting perception and cheering of how good was Murai doing.
It was getting on his nerves. The skull never shut up about it.
At least the fighting went outside of this picture. Murai had all the time in the world to focus on fighting on the platforms. No Lisa whispered to his ears. But she could've done so by going back to his Soul Space. She always argued how she didn't want to go there for some reason, saying that she would rather stay behind.
So far, the journey wasn't all that steep or tough. It wasn't terrible or even that great. Sometimes, it was even a bit boring to him because he expected the Islands to be more exciting than fighting a single enemy at a time.
Levels of foes went slightly upward every 10th Island. Their average was about 34 right now, with occasional 31s or 35s. Murai didn't complain about it. His own power went along with it, so his improved style over his Blitz was better than ever.
Occasional use of mana gave him some rough ideas about the latest Boosts as well, but Blizt and Sonar overshadowed them like mountains.
It definitely gave him enough ideas and incentive to focus on his less powerful abilities. Weak abilities can improve. That was proved, as they can change and evolve like Fury and Detection.
It was an interesting subject of power that he fully recognized as a potent way to get stronger. It was perhaps even more important than his species' evolution. but he wasn't sold on that idea yet.
Murai was greedy for something great for sure. Though, he was careful with his wishes, since the Blessings of this temple were always flowing onto him, giving him a much wilder and crazier Mana Flow. It was still within the few dozen percentages of improvements, so he wondered what the treasure deep in this temple was. According to his calculations, that was it. A calculation, a guess he couldn't fully trust unless he saw or heard it from Mindarch himself.
And that spirit of some sort wasn't willing to talk for nothing. He kept the last hours professional, albeit he sounded like an aloof idiot from time to time.
So far, Murai hadn't met with any kind of message from the Will of the Battleworld, nor had anything extremely strange happened. Fighting was secluded, while Lisa and Lorry were observers, who weren't even aware of what went behind the folded space.
More hours later, Murai moved past the 50th Island, marking half point to this journey. But it wasn't time for celebrations. The tougher ordeals were always the later half according to Lisa's knowledge that she kept in her head.
It was at this point, that this section of Levandis Temple had a new guest.
Razmund walked from the shimmering portal, clutching his claymore's handle that protruded from one of his pouches. Looking around the location that he hadn't entered because he wanted to, he never visited the Islands of Greatness. He knew this location was very potent as a source of crisis and his current poor mood.
He wanted to cry right now. He heard other Challengers describe this Gate to him many times throughout his research into the Levandis Temple. Stories and legends over this temple were kind of a big deal to anyone in the Somalis continent who wanted to get stronger. Dungeons were one of the strongest forms to accomplish that, albeit few regarded this place as that.
It was more homemade, following the premise of Levandi's creation, rather than following ancient history like most dungeons were.
Old and past challengers, who escaped or successfully proved themselves in the temple, provided enough motivation, stories, and information to anyone outside the loop.
Presently, the Centralis Kingdom was in possession of a large amount of interest in this place. Razmund knew most of it, which shouldn't come as a surprise. He always wanted to come back here and finish the past failures. Like him, many others were taking this place as a simple proving ground and getting stronger.
Long before the start of this Encounter or handling Murai's fate, he gathered information about every possible secret of Levandis Temple. That amounted to looking for past Challengers to purchase knowledge from them or taking quests or resources from Somalis Kingdom.
Not everything was easy for the Centralis Kingdom, which was posseing heavy hand over the temple. It was quite a challenge in itself to handle the pressure of Hell Haven itself.
Thankfully, a lot of people have a sense of adventure in the Battleworld, leaving a steady flow of Challengers entering the temple for many millennia. Hence, there was always a steady flow of information and treasures that Hell Haven would never dislike. Most of the information came from the Challengers sent by the kingdom. Razmund was one of them in the past, so he knew what this place was all about.
Be it in the form of information for the rookies, or information about Gates that were previously unknown, everything had some value and worth.
Knowledge was power.
And power can be a massive advantage.
Razmund knew this truth like the back of his palm, so he glanced from the large cliff at Islands of Greatness.
“Oh? It really looks as they say. Islands...” Razmund said out loud. His voice calmed him down significantly. “How utterly boring and shameful name. Looks nothing like that. But it means a terrible and long stretch of traveling. Huh... Why the fuck did they chose the most time-consuming Gate? Well, it's probably the most useful for them if they want to stop me from catching them.” He sighed and felt a headache coming.
“But it depends on if they know I am here. This is still the slowest of the gates for me. The time to get to them is... Yeah. I figured that good things come in no such times.” Razmund caressed the Dice in his left hand as he noticed how Lint flew from the portal.
The bony torso had a wide open jaw, revealing a perplexed look on his otherwise unchanging face. There seemed to be some question in his mind over the choices and manners of travels that Razmund had chosen. The rewards were an annoyance, as well as the continuation of the challenges.
Unsurprisingly, Razmund wasn't as excited over the prospect of the Vaults. He spent the majority of his points on the most valuable materials and refilled some of his main potions. That wasn't cheap at all, but he achieved more than 7,000 points, leading to quite a haul for his slacking needs.
Lint was a bit dejected over the boring shopping. Razmund had no need for Mana Tomes or any weapons. He spent less than a minute in the Vault in total, and that was the reason he wore his current face.
As for the portal itself and Razmund's choices, it was the good old toss of his Destiny Dice, which helped him figure out the color of the thread. Even when fighting Zao, he never once dropped this Divine Artifact that he didn't fear. He kept it in his hands throughout the whole duel. It wasn't that big of a dice, so it didn't pose much discomfort when he secured it with a bunch of threads around his left palm.
However, it would be a lie if it was comfortable when he was holding the claymore with both hands, and Dice were tightly secured to his palm.
Razmund tossed it each time he had to choose his path, and the portal was no different. The Dice showed him the way, so Razmund followed it.
“Well, Lint.“ Razmund turned his face to the perplexed half-skeleton. “For once, explain this type of Gate to me, and what my current position holds over it. I know the gist of this Gate, but every Challenger has it slightly different. ”
“Oh? Oh! You have never been here before. Right. I forgot about this style... Right Right. This Gate is simple...” Lint quickly went over the information, leaving nothing behind. However, there was one thing in particular that he forgot to consider.
Razmund had his path in hand. Destiny Dice will show him the path of his Islands and bridges to go through, leaving the path of the Island cut in stone.
“So... That's it? Just go and fight to the bone?”
“The rewards aren't anything strange, nor unfamiliar to you, I presume. Upon getting to the starting Island, there will be a brief overview of the enemies hiding behind the Space Cage. Mindarch or the Guide should mention everything beforehand, or later in the platforms. As your Guide, I prefer a steady path, but that's useless because of your dice, which leaves me quite dejected by how useless I am...” Lint said without hiding a speck of his depression.
He had enough! “No! This is totally unacceptable! What a preposterous situation this is for this temple! I hate that Dice in your hand! Toss it over the cliff! I dare you!” Lint snapped at him, pointing his bony hand straight to his face and then to the water.
Razmund wore an unbothered, almost bored expression. He couldn't even bother to reply to his taunt.
Seeing Lint's anger almost made him smile, but his current problems were more than apparent. He was here for the first time, and 100 fights depicted 100 challenging times for the status of his 3rd visit. The 1st timers had far milder difficulties and easier time.
His enemies will be too tough.
It was at this moment that the Will of the Battleworld put forth a message to his soul.
“Hm?” Razmund raised his brows, frowning upon hearing the message that spoke no good news as he expected.
Mindarch wasn't interested in him, it seemed. “The course of my status and level is indeed a bit high. 100 foes around my level mean 100 powerful demons, monsters, or whatever temple even has to offer. It seems there will be some trouble with providing such numbers of enemies for me, Lint.” he said, snickering in his direction.
“No Mindarch, huh?” Lint said in wonder. “If your status is like that, then they already talked about it. All is good. In fact, I know about it already, but I wanted to wait until it's official. It's just... The high-level stage of this particular Gate is indeed not so good at too high heights. 100 fights is a lot to take. Most timers wouldn't be happy for this gate at all, in fear of too many tough fights that may endanger their lives. You probably understand why, don't you?”
“Because I am not a clueless child. Other Gates are better regarding their prose. This one provides the most combat experiences one could ask for. It is for the battle freaks, who want to achieve a quick rise in combat level. Feelings over the techniques by fighting back to back hundred of times do that sort of thing.” Razmund said it as simple as he could.
Lint nodded, feeling that this challenger was truly not stupid.
“That is the biggest reward that isn't even provided by Voice or Mindarch.” Razmund continued. “Well, ignoring the basic premise of having this chance to battle the enemies, that is about it?”
“That is right. Other than that, the rewards are extremely limited and loot is kind of... good or poor depending if you are here for the first time or the third. Points may be average, compared to the rest of the choices, but the limited loot within these Islands isn't right. There are no hidden chambers, secrets to find, or anything else that you don't know. Variant Islands, Keys, or Marks are there instead. That's why many high-level Challengers want this Gate, but quit it because it is tough and improper. Heard your Voice?” Lint asked.
“I did hear what I could.” Razmund nodded and tensed up in slowly building anger that twisted his face. Veins popped on his forehead, hand clutched his claymore tighter, and he continued talking coldly. “There will be a special case of battles for me. Mindarch or the higher-ups of the Battleoword will combine some interests. Seems they came with a mutual agreement that I shan't kill the opponents...”
Then he snapped his mind, grinning at the nasty sight of his anger. “Not kill?! What a fucked up way to put it. How improper for the Battleworld. I am disappointed... Disappointed!” Razmund shouted at the ceiling.