The thick mist was slowly consuming the city. As an unstoppable force of nature, it was steadily moving through any obstacles, leaving nothing except the opaque gaseous wall. From time to time painful screams were heard from inside this toxic cloud, but shortly after they died out without a trace, indicating the fate of the trapped challengers. Maybe some lucky ones managed to get out of the deadly area. However, there was no safety even outside of the spell.
The whole town was filled with tens of hundreds of undead creatures, if not more. Most of them were heading directly to the city center, where the last bastion of defenders was standing. Still, not all humans managed to get there in time, losing an easy opportunity to escape. Therefore, the chaotic short battles were constantly taking place amid a grave situation. Fighting for their lives, the challengers sometimes were led by greed, making them focus not on the towering keep, but on the nearest place of interest – shops, workshops, mansions. And more often than not, such desire for valuables punished them quite soon.
One such event took place right in front of Robert when he paused near the ruined shop with a colorful sign “O’Cronnell’s Majestic Artifacts”. The shattered windows and overall mess inside were clear indicators that the place was looted. However, the pool of blood that led upstairs together with several crushed skeletons might be the sign that the robbers couldn’t get away. Only the closeness of the mist made Rob hesitate and not dive inside the building in search of something useful.
As if answering his request to help with a decision, a shrilling scream sounded from the nearest shop, which specialized in armor and protective gear. A moment later a horrible thing fell outside. Continuing screaming from the agony, it looked like a melted waxing figure that lost any trace of humanity. The mixture of blood, exposed muscles, and bones with only a bare hint of early existing skin created the appearance of a monster from the horror. The soul-piercing voice that came from the unknown begged for help, but it was too late. A wave of a cough prevented all attempts to communicate, bringing the figure to the ground. Vomiting its inner organs, the dying challenger once again tried to stretch the hand as if asking for help, only to fall an instant later.
Nope, fuck the greed!
Looking at the dead, Robert inwardly shot another glance in the direction, where he came from. The ruined tavern was already hidden from a view after few turns and a few minutes’ run. Still, the similarity of the situation was too huge not to remind himself. After the death of the ninja, his greyed-out skill returned to the normal state, but it was already too late to simply walk away from the group. Despite the absence of a wish to kill them, the blood was already spilled, leaving no other options for a peaceful solution.
That made an acquisition of “Mana Forging” and information about skill combinations feel dirty. As if he did something wrong to obtain it. There was no guilt, but more like shame and regret. And the prime cause of another bloody battle was the very same greed of a boy, who appeared to be unable to restrict his own hasty actions. Rob still could understand it as the circumstances in the Tower had pushed each of the challengers into the situation of constant choice between risk and reward. And knowing that personal power was a must to live through the trials, it was no surprise to see such an outcome. Robert just appeared to be luckier than his opponents.
So, without any hypocrisy, next time I might be that boy… And the only thing that differentiates me from him is a ratio I can agree on to risk my life.
Therefore, abandoning the idea of checking the store with artifacts, Robert sprinted away, taking some distance from the toxic mist. That led him out from the city area with multiple shops into something akin to a residential part. The buildings were starting to get more floors, raising the quality of materials and even getting some decorations. It wasn’t to the point of becoming the real mansions but clearly way above the slum’s variants. The area for the latter, as far Robert saw from his storming along the wall, was on the opposite side of the city. The same went with most workplaces of local artisans, which took place on the west edge of the settlement. The center was occupied by middle-class residents and the keep.
It almost left him with nothing interesting to inspect until Robert saw the alchemy shop. The wide-opened door led to a thought about a possible waste of time, but a short glance backward confirmed that he had some. Rob just needed to be fast… and ignore an inner finger-pointing about the greed. He was in the same boat as other challengers – he needed power to overcome the Tower’s floors. The power, couldn’t be granted but had to be taken by force and determination. He needed to use growth opportunities. The System wasn’t going to give him a free pass, so Rob had to be strong enough to survive the danger. He couldn’t afford to hesitate.
Yep, that sounded much better in my head – to overcome any obstacles, led by the sincere desire of overwhelming power… Even so dangerous as breaking into an abandoned alchemy shop. What a brave feat, Robert! Worthy a ballad in your honor. Literally a legendary achievement!
The place had met him with a mess, broken glass from the cases and bottles with handwritten labels. The colorful liquids from spilled potions were mixed together on the floor, creating an odd glowing pool with an unknown magic effect. Robert even had to create metal boots to avoid possible poisoning through the contact, despite the seemingly harmless purpose of most alchemy products. Still, Rob didn’t want to test the combination of “Male Power”, “Limb Regeneration” and “Golem’s Skin” with a few more additions.
It can easily grow me a second-stone dick altogether. Just nope.
Walking through the ruined place, he slowly started to check the survived potions on behalf of the usability. The System wasn’t generous with loot for him. Even the skill books Rob managed to find in the tavern were confiscated by it after the death of the challengers when they marked the ownership to themselves. And as always, his trophies were a single item from each enemy with disproportional favor to the weapons. He also got a sai from the ninja boy. Despite the unique form and description with mentioning the legendary smith, who forged the weapon, its only strong property was a material from the insanely rare ore with an addition of powder, made from dragon bone. In short, completely useless for Rob.
As if continuing the trend, the alchemy shop was the same. Most of the undamaged bottles had liquids for curing different illnesses, poisoning, or simple health and beauty care. The better-protected cases had something for short stat boost, like adding up to five points to Strength. However, such an increase was not only short-timed but gave a penalty to other stats, and overall didn’t look worth much in Rob’s opinion. Unfortunately, the longer he checked, the more he realized that if there was something great, it was already taken.
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The second floor appeared to be a living space for the fictional owner, while the basement was a laboratory. The latter made Robert pause for a few moments before deciding to inspect the equipment. It looked quite similar to the one on the previous floor, but this time it looked more real. And it took a single second to confirm his assumption when a notification appeared in front of his eyes. Dismissing the text, Rob gazed over the complex set of different retorts, cauldrons, and other unknown staff. They still had a clear trace of being made for a game, as each such instrument was located on a separate table as if made for a specific purpose. That led to another thought.
What is the difference between that equipment from early and this one? This one is clearly working… Then why is doing it? Could it be… runes?
Ignoring the raging toxic mist that was steadily narrowing the circle around the last bastion, Rob started to check the tables. Ripping off the wooden surface of the tables, cleaning the outer metal of cauldrons, and carefully looking at the glass containers, Robert started to find multiple hidden inscriptions. Even the short examination triggered the notification from the System and his skill “Instinctive Runes”, explaining the details about another magic word of power, created by the Tower’s lifeless admin. Most of them were completely useless, like controlling the temperature or purifying a matter.
Some had potential, like “Creating a Flame” or “Freezing the Matter”. Unfortunately, they were impossible to be learned by Robert because of affinities restrictions. There was even some kind of a disposer rune to disintegrate unused or unneeded remnants of energy and matter. The problem was with the huge mana cost of the process, indicating that it was only used at the end of the alchemical creation. Still, the careful inspection showed that almost all functions were covered by a rune or their combined usage, giving Robert plenty of options to choose from. However, his eyes stopped only on one – “Energy Catcher”.
The rune’s purpose was quite simple and self-explanatory – to catch a mixture of chaotic energies before directing it for further disposal with a corresponding magic inscription. There was a similar thing for burned remains of unused alchemical products. Overall, “Energy Catcher” wasn’t anything special. At first, Rob thought it might be a really overpowered rune. In his imagination, the existence of such a rune on the shield might lead to an ability to redirect any energy attack, be it a spell or anything else. However, careful observation of the mechanism inside the equipment crushed such a dream.
That energy just came through the tube, which was reinforced by the already-known rune, only to fall under the effect of disposal. Therefore, the hit from the fireball on the shield with “Energy Catcher” would simply focus its energy in one smaller spot, burning a hole in the steel. If there was a rune, which might help to direct the energy, the alchemical laboratory wasn’t the place to find it, unfortunately. However, it gave way to another idea of where to get it.
Say, System, how much will cost me an alter the “Meditation” rune if I want it to change it into directing the energy between space? “Meditation” is already doing it, giving me more energy from “nowhere”, but I bet this “nowhere” must be the source. So, the transportation is already happening. I just want to exchange an ability to get more energy for the ability to choose where… Wait, fuck!
Halting his thought process, Robert found a huge gap in his logic. “Meditation” was putting him in a frozen state, which would nullify any attempt to use an altered version during the fight if he wanted to react in time. Going over and over again through the idea, he soon started to formulate a new request.
“Meditation” works as an amplifier of energy flow that goes from an unknown source to me, while putting me in an immobilized state. I want to alter the effect, so the energy goes not to me, but to any other object where I put the rune while immobilizing that object. Another downgrade can be that it can be any energy, but not pure mana. Is it possible?
Proceeding with the request. The altered version of Rune is created! 5000 experience points were automatically deducted to cover the cost of creation.
“Amplifier” – a separate variation of the “Mediation” rune that doubles the amount of flowing energy, while freezing the object with the rune in space. Cannot sustain the continuation of the effect longer than half of a second before the need to be recreated again.
Nice! And even the cost isn’t big. Still, the System has tried to balance it, setting another limitation, despite that none of my runes can be strengthened by adding more mana into them. Luckily, it won’t mess with my plan.
Quickly learning “Energy Catcher” and finally filling all his seven slots, Robert focused on another recent addition to the arsenal – “Mana Forging”. A simple test showed that the cost of conjuring steel had raised at least by a third, instead granting an invisible improvement. Rob simply couldn’t tell the difference just from the visual observation. Moreover, it appeared even meaningless as after checking accessible options of the upgrade, he was glued to the text with an important term that he had heard not long ago from the conversation between the group inside the tavern – the “skills combination”.
Master of Steel [Rank 1 MAX] – a unique combination of “Mana Forging”, “Instinctive Runes”, “Rune engraving” and runes “Heavy”, “Reinforcement”, and “Link”, available due to an ability of Transcendent to conjure steel by his own, independent from the System, capabilities. Fusing the System-granted abilities together strengthens the effect of a wielder’s natural ability to conjure steel.
There were no numbers about the cost or effectiveness. Even the mentioned runes had disappeared from the Status screen without a trace, while “Mana forging” was replaced with a new skill. This time Robert saw the change instantly after confirming an upgrade. Earlier covered with runes, the steel surface had lost those painted creepy symbols and turned into a very dark green material, which appeared denser and heavier than before. The biggest change, however, was in the sensation of control. The easiness of the conjuring extended even more, making it possible to change the weight of a specific spot of the summoned object.
Creating a mace, he just willed a spiked ball on the top the weapon immediately tried to pull itself down to the floor, while there was no change in the handle. Moreover, there was no need to concentrate on the “Reinforcement” rune at all as all his steel by strengthened by default. Once again, Robert felt that this improvement in power, despite not being a direct increase, made him stronger. It was like giving a better set of tires to the racing car after working on the suspension instead of a simple addition of more horsepower to the engine. He was becoming not only more efficient with his ability, but also the versatility of the latter continued to rise.
And that’s not the end as it seems I can make another combination quite soon!
Glancing at the surroundings and not seeing anything useful in the room, Robert slowly walked out of the alchemy shop. The place, despite the reason for its existence, surprisingly gave him a lot – whole two runes, confirming that if Rob could go through the Tower like the challengers, he might have gone much higher in his strength. It was only a second floor for him. Rob had no tutorial or guide, who explained anything. He couldn't trade information, gear, or skill books. The loot drop was rigged. All he got was small clues from the rare fragments of the challenger’s conversations to find a way to increase his power.
No matter how you try, I will break your, cheating System! It seems you still need to obey the rules while trying to “balance” me. And I bet you will soon do it again. But for now, let’s get out of here.
Looking at an approaching toxic mist that was already covering the building not far from his location, Robert turned in the direction of the keep before smiling, not trying to hide his anticipation. The final battle for the floor was coming, and he was going to make enormous merit in destroying this last bastion, so the Tower wouldn’t have any choice, but to acknowledge his contribution.