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Chapter 80: Ambitious goals

“Do you have the specifics for this achievement?” Lucas asked, eager to learn more about it.

After some consideration, he couldn’t help but get his hopes up. He truly believed this was an achievement he could gain—even though he was heavily relying on the assumption that the system couldn’t be so mean as to bait him with some grand achievement only to tell him he couldn’t have it.

“No one knows the specifics; we’re talking about something that is only awarded every fifty years. This isn’t an ordinary Survival Showdown; you know that, right?”

Lucas nodded, even though he didn’t know, and she could probably see that from his face because she sighed before elaborating.

“This achievement is only given every fifty years in the special Survival Showdown, where the best come to fight, and is awarded directly by the system,” she said, her eyes almost glowing at the start, before assuming a more casual look as she shrugged. “Anyway, the legend says the achievement changes according to the winner’s performance, but the actual achievement name or benefits were never disclosed by the former winners. However, one thing was true for every winner: all of them did great feats afterward, standing at the pinnacle of their generation.”

Lucas was really excited about this news and glad that he had chosen to focus on performance on this floor, but one thing kept nagging him about that whole story, and he just had to ask.

“This is going to sound weird. But how advanced is our planet, I mean… can we go to the multiverse?”

The reason Lucas asked this was simple. He wanted to know the scale of the things Flavya was telling him. Was this an achievement that was great on a multiverse scale? What about the eye that was prophesized?

She raised an eyebrow at him before replying. “That amnesia thing is pretty serious if you can’t even remember something like that,” she remarked, but seeing as Lucas had no reply, she went on.

“We are part of a federation, and as a planet that was originally colonized for manufacturing and exploitation—amongst other things—our planet is nothing but a baby on a multiverse level and is only now taking its first steps. This means we are protected by the federation from outside threats and can only ever leave once we cross a certain threshold established by them.”

Lucas nodded along. It seemed it wasn’t only the Second Chance Program planets that were sheltered from the outside, even though a Federation protection probably couldn’t compare to a system one, that meant that there were still places on the universe where powerful beings couldn’t touch.

“So that prophecy about the holder of the eye and the quality of this achievement is only true when we are talking about this planet, and not on a multiverse scale, right?”

She frowned. “Do you have any plans of leaving?”

“Well, yes, once I’m able to,” Lucas said truthfully. “I just want to understand how this achievement would fare against those from the ‘outside world’.”

“The federation still views the achievement as a big deal, but there’s no way of knowing if it can stand toe-to-toe with those of the multiverse. But I don’t think it’s that important.” She shook her head.

“What do you mean?”

“When I said that those who managed to win the Showdown and received the achievement did great feats afterwards, I didn’t mean to say it was all due to the achievement itself. The achievement only helped to boost what was already great. Their dedication, talent, and courage were already there; it was what allowed them to win the contest.”

“So, your point is…”

“If you want to leave for the multiverse, you’ll probably need more than this achievement, even though it will be a huge boost.”

Lucas considered her words, but he didn’t have to think for long. It was the same with his previous achievement—it was a huge boost indeed, but he couldn’t rely on just that. His achievement alone was already not sufficient to get through this floor, for instance.

“And the eye…?”

“Bloodlines in general don’t follow a fixed logic. They can evolve and develop into something better; it really depends on the person, even though there are limits. But something like the eye of the prophet isn’t supposed to be like any regular bloodline, or it wouldn’t have been prophesized for ten thousand years,” she shook her head. It almost seemed like she felt sorry for the loss of something so precious.

They were silent for some time, and Lucas was the one to break it a few minutes later.

“If we are going to do this, I need you to let me finish off everyone we encounter.”

He had thought about this a lot in the last couple of minutes, and now that he knew about the achievement, it seemed as important as killing Axis himself. Considering how the level of difficulty spiked from floor to floor, and taking into account how hard he was already finding it only on the fourth floor, he needed a great boost from the achievement if he wanted to go any further in the tower.

Which meant that he not only had to be the last man standing, but he also needed to have a good performance overall and kill as many people as he possibly could. So, that was without a doubt a dealbreaker—if she refused, they would go their separate ways or start fighting right then and there.

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Flavya, however, didn’t seem too concerned with his demand and replied sternly, “I’ll let you kill all the others, but Axis is mine.”

She didn’t try to hide the hate in her voice when she said those last words, and Lucas noticed she wasn’t budging on the matter. He thought about pressing the issue but ultimately decided to let it go. Even if performance was defined by the quality of the opponents he killed, he had already taken down a big fish in Halyk, and it wasn’t wise to be too greedy with the person he was trying to form a partnership with. Besides, if she refused, Lucas doubted he would be able to win the contest alone.

“All right, then, we have a deal,” Lucas extended his hand for a shake, but the girl didn’t understand the gesture, so he gave up on it. “Should we go now or wait?” Lucas asked, looking outside and realizing it was already pretty dark.

“Let’s wait. Most people will be hidden at this time anyway. We would only be putting ourselves in danger if we left now. We’ll leave when there is light,” she replied, taking a can of food from her ring, which prompted Lucas to do the same with the rings he had collected. After some looking through there they were, canned alien food. Lucas wasted no time after finding a fork to start eating and finding it was actually a pretty good meal.

They ate in silence and afterward decided to take turns watching the window while the other rested on the couch. “Rested” was the right word because there was no way he would be sleeping in that place. He didn’t trust Flavya enough for that, and he doubted she trusted him either.

Fortunately, one of the people he had killed had something akin to an energy drink but much more effective, which Flavya was kind enough to present to him, so he wouldn’t face many issues from a lack of sleep the next day.

They fixed up a small torch in such a way that they could still see their immediate surroundings and yet remain hidden from others in that dead city.

Slowly, as the night advanced, they began talking about themselves. Lucas shared what he could, saying that he was eager to explore the world and see what else the planet had to offer. He only realized the truth in his words after he had already said them.

He had barely scratched the surface of his new planet since arriving, and after this journey through the tower, which led him to very different places and made him face unique circumstances, he was curious to see what his actual planet had to offer. That was now among his many plans for after he left the tower.

In turn, Flavya told him how life was among the Witches of Gholdryc, and Lucas came to learn the reason for that name. Apparently, Flavya wasn’t a regular archer; she was more like a mage who used the bow as her tool, in the same way a mage might use a staff. Even though she didn’t state it, he guessed that what he had seen in the barn wasn’t nearly everything she could do.

She also told him that they mainly rode on horses—or something resembling horses—when they were moving from place to place in their travels all throughout the world.

“Growing up, I never had a place to call home. My home is wherever my family is,” she said with deep emotion in her voice, which Lucas could somewhat understand.

What is better: to never have a home or to have everything you know destroyed? Lucas wondered, remembering Earth and all he had left behind. He still remembered how bitter he felt when he realized the comet was bound to kill him, and that all his dreams and everything he strove for would be wasted. Despite him now having many different goals, he still felt somewhat bitter about his interrupted dream and how everything turned out.

He didn’t feel this way due to any particular esteem for the medical field, but simply due to the way things happened. He didn’t have a choice in the matter; events beyond his control made the choice for him, and he simply hated that feeling. But what he hated the most was the fact that he couldn’t even protect his mother.

What once was accepted by him due to the circumstances and the impossibility of doing anything else, now pricked his soul in provocation. But what could he have done, really? Even now, as he stood as a superhuman, he was nothing but a mere ant when facing a comet that big. But now there was no acceptance, only passion. He needed to get stronger.

The night passed swiftly as they talked. During that period, Flavya went over everything she remembered about the other contestants. Excluding those who were already dead, either by Lucas’s hands or hers, that amounted to a total of eight—five by Lucas, and three by Flavya.

While they were talking, Lucas mentioned the guy with the stamina replenishing gear he had met just before encountering her.

“That’s Tornik. Probably one of the few really honorable people who entered this contest.”

When Lucas asked what she meant, she explained that his family went by the motto: Duty and Honor. Apparently, they really stood by it and were one of the few families people could actually trust with their eyes closed.

Lucas hadn’t really interacted with the guy all that much, but that seemed to match the impression he gave—like a steady rock that wouldn’t be swayed and didn’t care for fame or glory. Even though Lucas respected that attitude, it still didn’t change what needed to be done.

“If we are going to fight Axis, and he’s as good as you said he is, then it would be wise to take Tornik’s equipment first.”

“Why?” Flavya asked inquisitively.

“… Just trust me, if we manage to get his equipment, it will increase our chances of victory massively.”

She didn’t seem to like the answer, but nodded along, likely acknowledging she was also keeping a few things to herself and had no right to demand total honesty from him. “All right. If we see him, we’ll do our best to kill him before finding Axis.”

Even though they were partners now, Lucas still wasn’t ready to reveal all his secrets to her. Besides, if the time came where he was forced to use his healing abilities, she would know anyway, so there was no point in spoiling the surprise.

The conversation died down over time, as Lucas had all the information he needed regarding the others. According to Flavya’s reports, most of the people who had entered the contest relied heavily on their special equipment, and only a few actually had some skill.

When Lucas asked if they weren’t embarrassed by that, she replied with a puzzled expression:

“Why would they?”

Apparently, a person’s equipment was a show of power from their factions, and something they took great pride in. It was actually the opposite of Lucas’s way of thinking—the ones who should be embarrassed were those who didn’t have any special equipment.

When she said that, though, she immediately apologized for her lack of manners, realizing who she was talking to—a random noble who had nothing but his glass blades as his weapons and the simplest form of equipment. Lucas took no offense, however, and even found the situation funny, as he still felt that his blades were better than anything he had seen yet from those spoiled kids.

Eventually, the sunlight came, and with it, they exited their hidden spot, ready to hunt whoever crossed their path.

I have a feeling this will be a very busy day, Lucas thought as he stepped outside.