Razmund wasn't rightfully happy. This wasn't a decision that was up to him, but it revolved around him like a curse. This place forced this to him. No killings meant a rule. A law set in place against him.
In essence, it was an explicit aspect of this Gate that he had to consider. Gate 1 hadn't got this change, but Razmund knew that many people had a variety of changes that forced some specific rules into creation.
It was an added mark into the flow of this Gate, which meant all Islands of Greatness changed from the norm. Razmund didn't like it when something known changed to something else. Questioning it wasn't a problem. Following it was way out of his league, as he was a killer.
There would be a special kind of punishment for him if he didn't follow this rule.
And sometimes, it wasn't worth endangering the status quo of those who made such rules.
Alas, Razmund had never heard of this sort of rule in this temple, which was why he shouted like a madman out of nowhere. This wasn't a fine rule to hear when this place was always known to be a killer of any surface Challenger. One always pursued life in this place. Be it sustaining one's life, or working hard to destroy others.
The enemies were always doing the same thing, so why should he bother with such a rule? Even Extremes were following the same rule, going against nasty and powerful members of this place.
So what about him and this time?
Something about him was clearly an issue, or this temple decided on this rule because of some questionable or hidden reasons. Those could be anything as far as Razmund knew, as many interests or excuses could be mentioned and made into rules. It was a decision against him on a fundamental level. Thinking of it as a "gift" chain that Will of the Battleworld gave to Murai wasn't that wrong.
However, Razmund had no idea what Murai's side was, or what rules he was going through. He had no idea that he was subject to the lack of Boosts, which was essentially the harshest change one would see. Although, this place got rid of it.
After further thinking, it seemed this could be also part of his Hell Party, which shouldn't be taken that lightly. For the change in rules to form, it should be by Mindarch's authority alone.
Will of the Battleworld accepted it, or Mindarch was much firmed in the decisions to chain him with this chaining rule. This made sense, considering this was Mindarch's backyard and Razmund was messing things up.
Shaking his head before tossing Destiny Dice high in the air, Razmund begrudgingly accepted the rules of this temple, but he knew better than that. He didn't have to take these rules as chains wrapping his heart. It was more of a reminder. A reminder to not try his luck.
Dice bounced around the floor, but because it had no walls to smash at, it bounced around the air instead, finding the threads of fate. That went for a couple dozen seconds until it jolted on the spot, arriving back at the portal, and pointing toward the paths around the rocky mountains. Why he even tossed that Dice, Lint wondered. Starting Island was always a single choice that widened to dozens.
“Oh, it seems to want to go there. There we go.” Razmund resumed his journey, but when he tried to grab the Dice back to his left hand, it jolted forward instead. It wanted to continue going, so he ignored Lint who cursed the Dice in his head.
Lint didn't like this one bit. I swear higher-ups fucked this up more than usual. Are they sure to make this mistake while doing just... the bare minimum? What in the Haven is even going back down? I would rather be there than here.
Sighing to himself, Lint had no choice but to follow Razmund on his journey across the Islands of Greatness. There were quite a few actions around this temple that followed various consequences.
One could even jump into the water, swim against the water, and fish to reach further Islands. Getting to these Islands against the norm was possible, but 100 foes were still a rule.
Someone capable could even fly away if they could, adding a unique flavor to this Gate that Mindarch loved.
But Razmund had his path to follow, and his Destiny Dice didn't point to his foe, but toward the path had had to follow. If he won't, the Dice won't like it.
It wasn't something Razmund could afford, which Lint accepted. He didn't have to consider anything too complicated because he was contractually obligated to continue unless he wanted to regret it to the bitter End.
*****
Meanwhile, as the source of Murai's troubles arrived at the same Gate as him, wandering less than 3 kilometers away amongst the Islands of Greatness, Murai conquered his 67th opponent with an excellent kill that quenched some of his annoyances. It was something that Razmund wouldn't have. His leveling and battle experiences ensured that his time was different in this Gate, as his actions spoke and described some consequences.
Hours passed, and Murai was reaching his limits. 67 Islands in less than a day was quite a number, thanks to the words of encouragement that came out of Lisa and Lorry. But for some reason, Murai felt dissatisfied. It wasn't because he arrived at this point in one go without any rest.
This journey wasn't enough for him.
67 foes behind him had various levels of difficulties. Below the 50th Island, there weren't many changes. After that point a few hours ago, things got slightly different, but not much. 50th Island was not much different from 66th when it came to his actions, even though some foes had some uniqueness about them.
It was because he grew and learned much more out of this last day than the last week combined together. That was the strength of continuous battles where there were no limits. It was a simple act of going in and killing the foe. There was no running around and waste of time. But nothing too extraordinary came against him that needed some special attention.
It was good ol' brawling against the expected foes, ranging from more undead or beasts of various species and styles. Training was passable thanks to them which had been the same since the starting Island.
No foe was above Level 38 so far.
But it wasn't the same story everywhere. The further he went, the fewer foes were scared to go for his neck. That meant the quality of foes was there, but Murai was improving more than the difficulty of this Gate. That was at least one of the benefits of going further since all the foes were above Grade B by now. Few were even Grade A, describing few dropped Middle-Grade 7 essences.
Murai liked those, as around 5 of them dropped after reaching the middle of the Islands. One came from a large wolf, a few impressive Undead Knights, and some demonic opponents that were hard to describe. Demons were like beasts, but crazier, often with mana of chaotic properties that corrupted the bodies to ridiculous proportions.
Nothing about their intelligence spoke more than some instincts, unfortunately. Murai hoped for gold but always found the mud in terms of intelligence.
These Islands drove his endless irritation out of him, worsening his mood, because he hadn't met a soul to talk to.
Occasional snack after killing some living foes was at least an addition that lessened this irritation. If there was a reason for increasingly good mood and stamina, it was these times and loot. He got a bunch of armor and weapons meant for humans, followed by a couple of Spatial Pouches that would never hurt him.
Eating allowed him to continue walking on, regardless of the true challenge of stairs and many bridges. This half of the Islands had been going for approximately 5 hours.
Nothing much moved like a wall against him, unlike Gate 1 where there were difficulties requiring strategies and some care. In this case, Gate 1 was kind of difficult, while this Gate wasn't really that problematic, forgetting the bridges and number of rights one had to endure.
So it was perhaps balanced, one might say.
Against simple duels, he had no misgivings to think about.
It was a bit suspicious for Lisa, who viewed this Gate in her usual silence. She had no clue how Murai fought that well, which added to her slight confusion and annoyance to know more. She always found the aftermath of every duel, and because of time and his quick journey above 50th Island, she figured out a few things.
Murai was much stronger with Mindarch's additional touches than she had expected, requirements for this Gate weren't as difficult, and Will of the Battlwrold wasn't included in this picture. She could always ask for his memory fragments, viewing the fights she wanted, but she hadn't mentioned that to him yet.
Another thing was Murai's thirst for essences and loot, and while the food was expected, the strong sense of training was something she had never seen in him.
He was almost terrifying in the learning processes of his magic and newly acquired abilities. She had seen just a nook into this notion in Acaman Tower, but here? She was daring to think she was looking at the tip of an iceberg.
During these 67 Islands, Murai achieved tremendous changes to many parts of his current, albeit limited powers. Familiarity with the Beak's Blitz was the largest benefit had had ever encountered, blowing the Peak to bits. It was second only to the Mana Sonar, which ended up being much easier to get used to than he thought. It overshadowed even improvements to his spells, Mana Shaping included.
Sonar was an incredibly useful helping tool when Shaping since its wave included his own mana and his range of perception. He felt his Shaping much better because of it, and his accuracy over his Proper Mana Blades, or Mana Arrows all improved in power and range. Of course, the power didn't become unbearable, as this was like gaining better control of a large beast.
For more power, he needed to properly take care of other things: Beast Core, Mana Flow, Mana Shaping, and the spells themselves, which had levels that indicated their power. Everything was kind of connected, increasing the strength of most things.
Murai felt more powerful after going through blood, bones, and 5 hours. There was no Will of the Battleworld that told him a thing, but he surely felt like he got powerful on his own accord like he wanted. Mindarch talked and mentioned the Islands as he said, but he wasn't as talkative as usual. He was providing essential information about every foe before and aftermath after the Space Cage lifted. In those cases, Lisa and Lorry always heard it.
No Boosts will come out of these Islands as he expected, but the training was outside of the Boosts, which were often viewed as gifts and blessings by many people.
Murai had his own benefits and training to accommodate for his own improvements, so some world can screw off with its limits. It was always how it was done in other worlds, making his views and ideas come in clutch. Such ideas weren't small.
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If the Will of the Battleworld was stealing the source of the world itself like he thought it did, creating these Boosts, Blessed figures were just foolish fools that ate cheap prizes, but in higher qualities or reputation. Boosts were for anybody. That was the truth.
Murai never liked such things, albeit these blessings in terms of numbers were excellent and kind of addictive.
So, yeah. He didn't mind being left alone, or being full of those cheap prizes. He was flexible when he needed to be, and his objectives and own findings would be met with some accomplishment, Boosts, and readings after finishing these Islands anyway. That was what Mindarch promised.
“Huh... The last 8 opponents were a bit lacking, don't you think?” Murai asked Lisa after enduring this Island that was quite rarer than usual. It wasn't some devilish stair bridge that went for many steps, but a difficult foe to kill instead. Wheezing at Lorry and Lisa who appeared behind the corner, he wasn't feeling that well. The Island had the appearance of a tall stone maze made of many tall walls and many corners.
All of this was visible even through the Space Cage, which didn't care much for the appearances of the platforms. It was there because of something else. The diameter was a few dozen meters wide, with circling simple patterns all around this circular island.
For him, this was a disaster. He ran in circles, hoping to catch and kill his foe that ran away until he succeeded in catching it. That went on for almost a dozen minutes. Running in circles wasn't fun.
The foe was beside him in pieces. It was resembling a destroyed rocky substance filled with flesh, blood, and grey stones around them. Those were the remains of Level 38 Menthir of Grade A difficulty. It was a rather peculiar monster that was by no means a beast or a demon. It wasn't carnivorous like its appearance suggested, but it had a personality to kill.
It was a known magical creature across some of his lives, living in forests or mountains. Some cultures thought of them as stone spirits, as they were made of stones on the outside, but flesh on the inside.
Unfortunately, it was here to kill Murai, so he killed it first. It was as simple as that when it came to this Gate.
Menthir was a rocky monster, capable of wielding mana and earth properties. In a sense, it resembled a golem in nature, because Menthir was one of many ideas to make up a golem. It was a rather thick-looking stone, with thick arms coming from its top, and extremely tall legs coming from the bottom. It had no necks or heads, and its torse was either slim or round like a boulder, giving it around 3 to 6 meters in height.
Its main powers were natural and earth elements, which made their bodies glow in many special rocks, densely clustered over the flesh that looked thick like magma in green colors. It had a long lifespan because it ate the worldly aura the best, making them creatures that lived all thanks to mana. It was what created them, some believed.
Murai took well over 10 minutes to kill it, since its defenses were quite good, and its slippery body moved past the rocky walls of the platform, mending into them. When he caught it, he didn't even put a dent in it with his Blade alone, so he had to use his Peak and barrage of Blitz when he felt the right chance. Menthir wasn't the fastest opponent he had met, so he did so with relative success, albeit with being hit numerous times by its earthy spell or slaps of its wide hands.
Rather slowly, he did finish his hunt with every chip of stone cracking away. Surprisingly, the aftermath that Mindarch told was Satisfactory, which wasn't that surprising. He was far from a Flawless victory, which he accepted. Out of 67 foes so far, only 30 ended up Flawless. Rest was either Satisfactory, with few rare Fair Enough Tiers.
All in all, it wasn't that bad because Murai started to meet craftier opponents after finishing Islands in the upper half of this Gate.
“What do you mean, Murai Hisagi?” Lisa floated towards his face as he wheezed and complained in his usual quacks. “You are already doing much better than I expected. Here I thought you would be a lazy duck, but you are crawling your way into the 70th Island very soon. So much should be steady and tough, and you've already gone through more than you think. Consider myself impressed.” She puffed her chest in a self-important matter.
Murai glanced at her, silent and rather numb to hear her words that didn't give him anything new.
It was a gaze of doubts, which Lisa did see coming. “What? I mean what I've said. No lies. You do well.”
“Think whatever you want... I am getting tired. Mentally that is.” Murai scolded and lied, and instead of jumping into the air like he wanted, he collapsed on the floor.
Belly up, he appeared like a dying duck, with his legs going high in the air, and neck resting sideway, painting him a sorry figure. Well, for his height and tiredness, this picture was no different from sleeping humans or dogs. And he wasn't really sure how ducks were even supposed to sleep.
Wanting to voice another series of words, Lorry made his move before Lisa smeared Murai's face with her voice. “Let this be, Lisa. Murai is right. Murai needs some rest. There is no penalty over any waiting, as Murai has no special rules. Murai may as well get some rest since the rest of the Islands may not be the easiest.
“You think I don't know that?” She said to him coldly.
“Murai already did well to achieve the 67th Island in great time and accomplishment. Hell! Murai is close to having over half of the Islands in Flawless results. That is already worth more than anything in Gate 1. Those are great results capable of holding some speedrunning bonuses, albeit it isn't up to Murai's status.” Lorry argued, leaving Lisa blankly looking at the skull in front of her face.
She placed her hands on his cheekbones, grabbing them tight in her charged physicality before pushing him aside. “Got the picture more than twice you want. Leaves me itchy to see the rest too, so...”
“Let's just rest and think of the current time. Let's get over the things so far. What does Murai think about it?” Lorry offered, looking at Murai on the ground.
Unfortunately for his wondering question, Murai could no longer agree with anything. He was gone, napping on his back with closed eyes, while absolutely spent.
“See? Lisa has no choice but to wait.” Lorry laughed at her, regretting his current body because it had no arms. He would love to get a physical touch on his words. His forehead won't do.
“Ugh...” Lisa retraced her hands, sighting in the process. “Fine. This is excellent timing because I want to talk to you about something meaningful. I am curious about the current state and efforts around this temple, Levandis herself, or her Hell Haven. Did some things change from 50 years ago or longer?”
Her words and tone drastically changed to more confidence and some arrogance. There were also some hints about something, appearing as if one worry was exchanged with another one. Lorry heard and sensed the change immediately, thinking that Lisa was really a good player.
“Interesting. Lisa wants to talk about it in front of the sleeping Murai? Lisa isn't fearing Murai will hear us. Lisa was always like that... Careful and cunning like a fox.”
“He is indeed sleeping like a camel who found an oasis, thick and deep as if he fell to the void. I can feel it with my connection over his Soul Space like the back of my hand. His soul is always undulating power like a menace, but now, it is resting like his body does, which is... rather unsurprising, considering the amount of stuff that happened in the last day or so.” Lisa said, sounding quite sincere and a bit different from when Murai was sleeping.
Lorry also changed a little, but not much. “As a Life Companion, Lisa is surely understanding of what Lisa could do and know. Lorry can see it from far away, or close, but that doesn't mean Lorry can answer or talk about such things willy-nilly. Does Lisa think her current standing means something else than it does? Even when we consider Lisa's past?”
“I don't expect a thing from you, skull and bones,” she scoffed at him and pushed herself a bit closer to him. She watched him closely. “You can speak normally by the way, so why even consider my past? Do you think I fear a thing, or you? That's why I am asking what I wanna know. Seen Thar, you see. Met him above, like the guarding dog he is now. Asking usually provides something, but considering our... relation and the past, I was reluctant to even try it in front of this mess.” She gave Murai a small poke with her hand.
“Murai wouldn't do a thing. Murai is shackled like a fool, more so than Lisa would ever be.”
“Even me? Right now?” Lisa didn't believe this statement one bit.
“Well, it's a different... idea. Lorry doesn't know it all. At all!” Lorry said rather reluctantly.
“No star you don't. You don't have to go into specific ways to appease your rules or the voice of Mindarch. And you!” Lisa shouted to the ceiling. “I wouldn't mind you do something else than usual, you bastard...” She grunted, knowing that Mindarch wouldn't deal with her.
He didn't, which left her dissatisfied and Lorry happy.
Grabbing his temple, she held him tightly and he didn't resist. “I am still curious about the status of the demonic factions amongst Hell Havens. That much is fine to answer, don't you think?”
“I... Lorry... It may be generic.” Lorry sighed, his skull trembled as she shook him. “You don't make this one bit easy for me, huh?” He said resolutely and in a firm voice. At least Lisa didn't dare to use her Memory Extract on him. It wouldn't end well. “In all senses and purposes, not much can change in the 50 years since you've been gone to hell knows where. In the bigger picture, you matter like an End to the Death Valley.”
“You don't say.” She said coldly.
“A lot of changes occurred in a lot of medium to smaller factions under almost all Overlords of every Hell Haven. It makes sense. Generals or Wicked grows everywhere, and let's not forget about the challenging orders of the Sky that touch the Surface and want to get rid of the Depths. There were quite a bit skirmishes against Rank 2 Gods who wanted to reach some rewards from those above them. Each led to some nasty, or understandable results. Overall, it's the same standstill that has been in this world for many centuries, where both sides suffer some minor losses, but nothing earthshaking. Dungeons all stand as they've always been, while the pivotal Gods all live the same.”
“Oh? I thought, considering what happened as I've died, a lot of things would've changed.”
“I suppose... or suggest, that you think too much of yourself.” Lorry surprisingly talked with utter confidence and honesty, leaving Lisa speechless as she looked at him within her grasp. She had no doubts he was mocking her a little.
“Do you mean what I've heard and how we talked before?” She asked, oblivious to the rightful answer.
“Partially, it doesn't mean shit, or too much for either of us. Hard to tell, to be honest. That duck...” Lorry pointed his Soul Flames to Murai. “...is a problem to all of us, I suppose. Blessing to few, also. I am aware of quite a lot of things since we saw each other before, but your former status before your End is also known as a variable that isn't under my coverage. But Lorry knows it was a big deal at some heights and lows. In the end, Levandis didn't care.” Lorry was slowly turning to his previous tones as if fearing that the inevitable hit from Mindarch was soon coming to his soul.
It wasn't.
Mindarch was letting him talk.
“She didn't, huh?” Sighing, Lisa looked around this maze as if remembering the past. Her eyes were kind of lost cause, and this Gate didn't matter to her. She was under the influence of her past, similar to the present, but her last End was kind of a thing that ate her from the inside. The same thing as the one before that. She got another chance, albeit it wasn't an easy decision. On some fronts, she regretted it immensely.
She had to come to terms with the future if she wanted to eat up the past and come to terms with the present future.
“Well, at least you've answered something, but it is still less than good, so I assume no Overlord or Hell Gods are interested in talking with me?”
“Why would they? You've died in the Sky. No one cares for such a thing as personal choices. Rules still stand and Hell Havens bear heavy responsibilities. You were just a small piece in the massive engine no longer in the picture. Not until your standing will return to its former, or partially former glory. I presume Lisa understands what Lorry means. Handle this duck like a gem, or handle it like an arrow into your heart.”
“You jest... Of course, I know that much!” Lisa shouted and slammed Lorry to the wall. The skull kind of enjoyed it, sounding from his thin moan. “You speak as always with excuse. Fine. Let this be. What about Murai? What do you think of him and the current situation? We talked about it. I can only help him with what I can, but thanks to this insane stubbornness of his proportions, I am only able to do so much.”
“Ha!” Lorry snorted. “That's what happens when a pair of extremely lofty, arrogant, and equally stubborn fools meet. It's kind of funny if Lorry has to say so himself.”
“Oh, really... Wanna have another feel of my Sona in your Soul Flames? I fear I heard some sizzling, but you don't fear my current body as you should.”
“Fearing a little kitten that barely holds her physicality doesn't seem like much,” Lorry said smugly. “So yeah. Not one bit. Yet...”
“I won't deny what is the truth, but I deny and question what Mindarch and Sky want from this! And Depths too... I got it all involved by my actions, so hearing that no one is getting involved sounds confusing and weird to me. Villan did, but... what was that about? Armies? Invitation? Which moron thought of that?” She asked, reluctantly looking at the sleeping Murai from the side of her vision.
“Oh? That is a rare problem indeed. All in all, Lorry must say that these problematic statuses aren't really that much of a problem right now. It isn't even that much boring. Lorry suppose a lot of others will sooner or later get involved more, or as we speak, they think about it. It all depends on what Murai will even do at all, and how the Sky and current Encounter proceed. It is an interesting and ongoing effort in this temple. Lorry would tell you more, but Lorry can't. Certain things are prohibited to tell...”
“...because of morons, rules, and your stupid head.” Lisa wished to crawl her fingers into him but it wasn't a solution for anything. “The knowledge that Gods decide by themselves is one maddening variable. They wait in their asses... but... who wouldn't?”
“Good question.” Lorry agreed.
“I got that much already. Some things don't change at all. One has to solve it oneself.”
“That's just how things go. Lisa should be patient with this brief start. Murai is young. Too young, yet problematic too. Perhaps revealing or talking to him a bit more from your side would do you justice. Honesty can work on someone like Murai, Lorry suggests. If the luck and opportunity will move alongside it, that's what Lorry thinks is acceptable.”
Lisa chuckled as she let him go. “I will think about it.”