“These were probably done by my sister.” Mize observed in a clinical fashion. “Liza doesn’t handle stress well. I have no idea if he offended her or if she was just that nervous. Those kinds of weak actions only prove that she has no right to compete with me.”
Mize’s tail was motionless, and her tone was dull. Not because she felt upset, but because she was very bored. Liza had already lost two of her slaves, and it was impossible for her to win this game. Earlier, Mize might have been excited to observe proof of Liza’s weakness. Now, she felt it didn’t concern her anymore.
“Why!?” Jayce shouted hoarsely. “Why the hell would she do that!?”
“I’m not going to repeat myself. Calm your mind so that I can bring you into my storage device. If you’re acting like this, you’ll only be a liability when I bring you out to fight.”
“Just order me. I don’t care.”
“That’s inefficient.” Mize sighed in annoyance. “Forget it. I won’t be moving any time soon, so just stay there. If you need time for your mental state and recover, this is the best opportunity.”
Mize sat with her back propped against one wall while Jayce was curled up against another. The corpse had been stored away. Though, Mize didn’t know that Jayce had put it in a separate compartment so that he could bury it later.
Half an hour passed in silence until Jayce opened his mouth.
“Hey…”
Mize lifted her head and looked at Jayce. “What?”
“Since we’re taking a break. Can you answer some of my questions?”
Mize’s tail flicked testily, but she nodded. After fighting seriously against her sister and giving Jayce a not insignificant amount of blood, Mize was genuinely exhausted for the first time since she’d entered this dungeon. She had slept recently and wasn’t willing to do so again, but she had lost her enthusiasm for talking.
“I don’t understand you.” Jayce admitted. “I don’t understand your culture at all. How can you not have a shred of sympathy for other living beings?”
“You’re talking about slaves?” Mize waved her hand dismissively. “You live and die by my orders. Even if you have intelligence, you, a tool, are not alive in the same way that I am. I have no reason to treat you like an equal, nor do I benefit from sympathizing with you.”
Jayce paused for a moment, as that answer sounded like something out of a textbook, albeit a very horrifying one. Still…
“That’s not what I meant.”
Mize raised one eyebrow, prompting Jayce to follow up.
“You’re fighting to kill your own siblings. You just ruined your sister’s chance to survive and yet you’re completely calm. Bored even.”
“Oh, it was like that.” Mize chuckled.
Jayce glared at her, but Mize was completely unfazed.
“Like you said, it’s our culture. My siblings and I are fighting to receive a special class, but that’s only my family’s personal reason. All black salamander families have their own ways of culling children within a clutch. It’s considered a disgrace for noble families to leave more than one child per clutch alive after they come of age. Commoners will leave more alive, sometimes three or four, depending on their family’s situation. Our race is exceptionally powerful, and my clan is famous within the Upper Bound. We keep ourselves powerful by only selecting the best among us.”
Jayce’s narrowed eyes widened. He stared at Mize like he was looking at something completely alien. This was different than siblings fighting in a royal family. A culture like that…Even if might have existed on Earth during some backwards period of history, it couldn’t possibly thrive.
“And you’re ok with that?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Mize’s tail curled as she cocked her head.
“They’re your siblings…”
“I’m not sure how human families work, but those ‘siblings’ are strangers to me. We technically grew up together, but we don’t live in the same building. I only see them during designated times and we’re rarely allowed to talk with each other. I wouldn’t know anything about their personalities if they weren’t my enemies.”
Jayce shook his head. “I still can’t understand it. Families killing their own children is just…”
“What’s wrong with killing?”
That innocent question sent a chill down Jayce’s spine. He looked at Mize, baffled.
“For example, gods are the greatest beings in this world. How many sentient lifeforms do you think they had to kill to become gods? This isn’t my race’s culture, it’s just how people live in the Upper Bound. There’s a popular saying from the first supreme being in recorded history that sums this up perfectly. Mortal life is fuel, melted down to forge immortals.”
Jayce was silent for a long time after that. Eventually, his tired sigh drifted through the corridor. “It would be better to not have gods in the first place.”
“And yet, they exist.”
Glancing at Mize, Jayce saw that she still had that childish expression of boredom resting on her face. He couldn’t tell if her expression was faked or not, but that wasn't the response he’d been expecting.
A pair of golden eyes met his scrutinizing glare. Mize smiled at him and for a moment, the heavy feelings that had been clouding his mind faded away.
“Since they exist, I’ll kill my siblings and become my family’s successor. I’ll strive to be more than just fuel.”
When Jayce heard that, he felt an invisible burden lift from his shoulders. He didn’t really understand why at that time. Standing up, Jayce walked over to where his fellow human had died. Lying there, covered in dried blood, were two short and fat pistols. Earlier, Jayce had ignored them in his grief. As for Mize, she had no use for them.
“I’ll be taking these.”
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“Good. I didn’t give you a close-range weapon because I felt it would give you a high chance of dying in the dungeon. Now, I think those guns might suit you.”
“I…can’t disagree with that.”
‘That masked guy must have been a soldier or something. These guns are more suited for stimulating my Bloodrager class, but I understand why Mize chose Seeker instead. It would be dangerous for an amateur to fight monsters with these.’
Tiny Hammer (Polished)
Energy Requirement: Below First Gate
A shotgun pistol from the ‘Hammer’ series. Fires six compressed mana shells with every shot. Trades accuracy for extreme power at close range.
“You can send me into storage. If you decide to fall asleep, remember to bring a guard out.”
“I don’t need your advice.” Mize rolled her eyes.
As Jayce drifted off to sleep, a thought stuck in his mind.
‘I don’t want to become fuel either. But my first step is freeing myself from you, Mize. If I ever find an opportunity to do so, I won’t let anyone get in my way.’
---
Three revolutions after Mize’s fight with Liza.
Marksman has reached level 10.
You have gained an ability: Marksman – Acceleration Tag.
Acceleration Tag
Cost: Mana
Condense your mana into a tag that can be applied to objects. When detonated, the tag will accelerate the object in whatever direction it is moving. The tag’s potency will increase based on the mana you pay and your class level. You can only maintain one tag at a time, plus one extra per ten class levels.
The next time they stopped to rest, Jayce picked up a small piece of stone that had broken off from the wall. With his other hand, he raised one finger and concentrated. A tiny circle made out of dim blue light materialized on top of his finger. Inside that flat circle, a vortex was spinning at a mild speed. Jayce placed the tag on the rock and tossed it lightly towards the opposite wall. When the stone started to drop, Jayce activated the tag. The rock suddenly jolted forward and smashed into the wall, breaking apart on impact.
Mize turned away from the wall and looked at Jayce.
“Hmm, I read that Acceleration Tag is a somewhat rare ability. Apparently, most people who become Marksmen don’t have an affinity for it.”
Jayce scratched his head. “I’m not surprised. This ability doesn’t make my shots more accurate and it isn’t a straight power increase either. Frankly, I don’t understand how I’m supposed to use this with a gun.”
“Most guns take in your body’s mana and compress it into a physical force. Then, that force is fired from the barrel. Try placing your tag over the gun’s barrel.”
Condensing another tag, Jayce placed it over Seeker’s barrel like it was a sticker. He aimed at the end of the corridor and fired. The mana bullet hit the tag on its way out and detonated it, increasing its speed dramatically. There was an impressive cracking sound as the stone bricks around the point of impact were crushed.
“Not bad, but there’s a better way for us to use this ability.” Mize said, chuckling mischievously.
Jayce glanced back at Mize and saw a terrifying expression on her face. She was grinning like a child who was about to pull a prank, but there was a dangerous vibe coming off her that felt much more serious.
A few minutes later, the wall that Jayce had shot earlier exploded. Dust, dirt, and shattered stone flew everywhere, even reaching Jayce and Mize who were standing at the other end of the corridor. Jayce swallowed a mouthful of saliva while Mize chuckled.
“Haha, that was even better than I thought it would be. Unfortunately, now that you’ve reached level 10, I need to make a decision. If I hesitate any longer, I might lose this ‘game’ the instant we enter the death matches.”
Jayce’s expression turned serious. He had no advice to offer, and Mize wouldn’t listen even if he did. He could only wait for her to make her choice.
Mize swiped her hand and opened three profile boxes. One was a dull blue, one a breezy light blue and the third was a deep red. Jayce’s showed that his Bloodrager class had reached level 11 while his Marksman class was level 10. The feathered dragon was level 12 and 11 in its two classes, Bloodrager and Trickster. Mize had told him that Tricksters focused on controlling the enemy’s attention and preempting their actions. Their abilities synergized well with the dragon’s feathers, and it was a good fit for a beast whose physical abilities were relatively unimpressive. The centipede was a level 16 Bloodrager and a level 14 Warrior. According to Mize, Warrior was the most common class in the Upper Bound. It was stimulated through close combat and had several abilities that boosted physical strength. Later, it could be promoted into staple classes like Swordsman and Spear Bearer.
Nearly one cycle had passed since they entered the Fragmented Ruins. In Earth time, they were approximately ten days into their two-week trip. At their current leveling speed, it would be impossible for Mize to carry out her plan to have her A-Ranker reach level 20 and open the first gate.
Despite Mize ordering the centipede to do most of the fighting, it wasn’t enough. The mana cores that she fed it to increase the stimulation it received couldn’t turn things around either. After reaching level 16, its Bloodrager class hadn’t leveled in two days. The centipede was simply too strong for this world fragment. The only monsters that could give it enough stimulation were the bosses in those large rooms, but they were too tedious to find.
If they wanted to speed things up, they needed to leave their current fragment. The level of the monsters in each world fragment was fixed. Every time someone entered the flame gate, they would be sent to a fragment that matched their—or their team’s average—level.
‘Without worthy opponents, it’s difficult to stimulate our classes.’ Jayce thought, frowning. ‘But the problem is the flame gate. Every night, there’s that weird clanging sound. Something’s obviously wrong with this dungeon.’
A few hours later, another revolution ended, and the two flames appeared like clockwork. One was pure white and beckoned travelers with promises of safety. The other was bright red and showed dozens of scenes flickering by like a broken mirror. The red flame was wavering in an unstable manner and that haunting clanging sound returned, filling Jayce’s heart with unease.
Balling her small fists, Mize stepped forward.
“Compared to staying here and regretting it, I’d rather go inside and regret it.” Mize glanced backwards. “Any problems with that?”
Jayce bowed in an exaggerated manner. “I live to follow your will, master.”
“…I was talking to Erilin.”
“I told you before, it’s your decision to make.” Erilin’s disembodied voice answered. “I’ve been scrutinizing this gate every time it appears, but I have failed to learn anything about this phenomenon.”
“Then we’re going.”
Jayce and the other two slaves were pulled into Mize’s storage device. Mize lifted her wrist and glanced at the bracelet before taking a deep breath. She stepped forward, entering the flickering red flame.
When Jayce was let out, the first thing he noticed was the sweltering air. The environment in this new world fragment was like a furnace. It was also extremely humid to the point where Jayce could see clouds of vapor crawling through the air. Looking around, Jayce saw that they were in a tunnel made from uneven, rust red stone. This tunnel was at least five times wider than the narrow corridors Jayce had become accustomed to. There was only one way forward and the tunnel curved sharply, preventing them from seeing more than twenty meters ahead.
The four of them fell into their standard combat formation. Mize was at the center, since she wouldn’t fight unless there was an emergency, while her slaves formed a triangle. Jayce strained his senses and found that, aside from themselves, this tunnel was devoid of life. Mize seemed to share his opinion because she didn’t wait very long before ordering them to move forward.
Several sets of footsteps and that mysterious, rhythmic clanging sound were the only noises in the tunnel.
“There’s something very wrong with this place.”
An hour into their journey, Mize finally broke the silence. Sweat dripped down Jayce’s forehead as he nodded. The tunnel was a new kind of maze that snaked in all directions. Sometimes they would travel on a sharp incline, other times it was a steep slope. More tunnels opened up as they continued, and Mize could only pick randomly at every junction. When possible, she tried to follow that clanging sound to its source, but it wasn’t easy.
What unnerved Mize and Jayce was that during the past hour, they hadn’t seen a single monster.
The next two hours were just as quiet as the first. As were the two hours after that. And the hours after that…
Eventually, Mize stopped walking. She bit her lower lip and briefly showed Jayce an entirely new expression of hers. Covering her mouth as she cupped her chin, Mize masked her worry with a clinical glare.
“If I’m not wrong, a full revolution has passed since we entered.”
“T-Then, the gates…” Jayce’s voice was hoarse.
“It looks like they didn’t appear. Without them, we’re trapped.”