Chapter 336: Start of the 1st event |
Flashback Savant - 1st Floor
“We will throw that cripple to the goblins!”
“You can't do that! Are you even human!?”
“Shut up if you don’t want to find yourself being thrown to them instead. There is no way he will survive the remaining duration of the Floor quest, so he can at least help us this way.”
“We shouldn’t…”
“Just close your goddamn eyes if you don’t want to see it! And you remaining dickheads better keep quiet or I will fuck you up!”
I watch as the rest of our group does just that and no one else tries to voice a different opinion. When he turns to me, he isn’t even smiling. He is scared. No, he is terrified, even more than he lets show.
“Hear that, cripple? In the next attack, you will hold the monsters back so we can run.” He looks briefly at the stick I’m using to walk after I lost my prosthetic leg in one of the previous attacks.
My classmates, my professors, everyone avoids my gaze when I look at them.
I feel [Restriction] envelop me and it's a disgusting feeling. My stats are lowered and my skills are as well. There is that feeling of resistance when I try to access skills I didn’t have on the 4th Floor. The resistance feels like it would be easy enough to push through, but that would mean breaking [Restriction] and I don’t want that.
My level has only been reduced by 20, but a good number of my skills have been reduced to a much lower level and my base mana is at 782 instead of over 1000. It's still good enough to deal with anyone who chooses to attack me.
Most importantly, my Thermokinetic Mana Heart has been downgraded. Vortex Core is also gone and with it, the improvements to my Mantle. The Cognitive Fortress and Mana Overload Absorption are gone too, and my healing passive is capped at its rare version.
Annoying, but very doable.
But one thing amuses me. It looks like this event is better for people who went for Amplification instead of Regeneration. Regenerating mana or stamina seems to be impossible here so the builds that rely on a small mana pool with quick regeneration are at a disadvantage.
Amplification is indeed superior as I knew so long ago. Small pewpew builds can only shake in fear.
I look around and find myself standing in the middle of a big plain. There are mountains in one direction, and in another is a black wall of clouds with lightning flashing inside that seems to be moving fairly quickly, passing through areas and devouring anything inside. In another direction, the white towers of a small city dominate the sky, and in the last direction is a forest with trees that seem to reach the clouds.
A warning from [Perception], a flash of lightning, and I push my body away with kinetic energy to dodge the attacks. It happens again, and I continue running, strengthening my body as efficiently as possible.
Watching the direction the attacks come from, I start to predict their trajectory which doesn’t seem to change once they leave the caster and I avoid them without wasting mana.
Of course, I can’t see the attacker, but that white and red lightning is unmistakable.
Tess's barrage of attacks is aggressive, she’s infused the rocks she’s shooting at me with her primordial lightning, damaging the area around me. However, they’re only intended to confuse me and make me let my guard down. A real attack will follow the moment I do.
I expand my domain and focus on using [Perception] while I jump behind the huge rock nearby.
More than sure that Tess is capable of piercing it, I keep my attention up aware of the possibility of her trying to reposition. At long-range, Tess has always had an advantage over me, especially now when I can’t afford to waste my mana in some ill-advised attempt to catch her. I’m also not sure what kind of [Restriction] she’s put on herself, if any.
My senses sharpen, looking for any sense of danger, and I feel my heartbeat quicken even when I’m not using it to generate any energy.
It’s exciting. It’s thrilling.
Looking to the side, I watch the black wall of lightning move closer and closer to my position, the thunder roaring and the lightning tearing anything it reaches. There is also a new notification window, and I check it for a moment.
FoodFood (Hell, 6th) ⟶ LightAbove (Normal, 6th)
Is this the kill feed? And damn, Biscuit, did that guy try to kidnap you because he thought you were cute, and give you the opportunity to kill him mercilessly?
Good boy!
I watch as more notifications appear and the number of people inside seems to decrease quickly, barely a few minutes in.
2210 / 2357
Finally, the storm reaches the place somewhere between me and Tess, and I move from the rock and run toward the city I can see in the distance.
A terrifying piercing noise reaches me and I rush mana through my body, creating a barrier around my forearm while launching myself away.
Yet still, the thrown shield boosted by [Psychokinesis] and covered in Primordial lightning strikes the barrier, sending me spinning, and following it a stone crashes into my chest, the sheer force sending me rolling over the ground.
Damn it, Tess! That’s not how you use a shield! How the hell did you find an item so quickly?
The attack stops, and I hear a small explosion from Tess’s direction, either someone’s attacking her or the storm’s forced her to move.
I use more kinetic energy, moving towards the city. A bruise is already forming on my chest and I’m sure at least one rib is cracked. Between trying to conserve mana and being surprised by [Restriction], I wasn’t able to strengthen my body quickly enough.
While on my way, I grab the shield she attacked me with. It's already crumpled, useless, just a common grade item, so I throw it away.
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Reaching the gate, a pathetic excuse for a fireball comes right at me, and I don’t even bother absorbing its heat and disrupt it with a little bit of mana.
Quickly detecting its origin, I shoot an orb toward the attacker.
Noname (Hell, 4th) ⟶ Potato (Easy, 5th)
The name sounds familiar, but I don’t know why. But 5th in the name probably indicates the level of their [Restriction].
Pushing myself up, I check the body that is already turning into particles, but I don’t find any items and head deeper inside the city.
Down on the street, three men are fighting each other, ice-based attacks crashing against hastily constructed barriers, and projectiles made out of stone erupt like they were launched from a shotgun.
I create three small mana orbs and spin them around my body. To save mana, I make them move faster before slinging them.
Noname (Hell, 4th) ⟶ George (Easy, 7th)
Noname (Hell, 4th) ⟶ IsThisHell (Normal, 5th)
Noname (Hell, 4th) ⟶ Cheesus (Normal, 6th)
This is getting fun!
Curious, I say, “Leaderboard.”
A new window pops out.
1st (40 pts) - Grumpy
2nd (26 pts) - Savant
3rd (22 pts) - Sset
4th (18 pts) - FoodFood
5th(15 pts) - Brainiac
6th (12 pts) - BenDover
7th (11 pts) - GoodBoy
8th (9 pts) - Tacita
9th (6 pts) - Noname
Okay, first, what the fuck, Lily. Second, I really like it; it's almost like a game.
So, I "killed" 4 people, 2 from Easy and 2 from Normal. The points are probably different for each difficulty, so does it mean Easy is 1 point, Normal is 2 points? That would fit.
But the requirement for winning this event is to survive for 5 hours and be as close as possible to the center of the Survival Domain, and I know where that center is. It's marked by a tall pillar of bright white light that reaches and pierces the sky. I can also see the barrier far, off in the distance. It's hard to say if it's shrinking, but it’s either started the process or it will in time.
Detecting another presence, I move, and see another man sneaking into the city. He is sending detection waves into the surroundings, and I look at the text over his head.
ManaShallPrevail (Normal, 6th)
Damn, I like the name, but I'm sorry, buddy.
Once again, I shoot a dense mana projectile, and it reaches his head, about to pierce it.
I curiously watch as the orb disappears just a millimeter before killing the man, and his body immediately turns into particles, teleporting him outside.
So that's how the system deals with that kind of wound. The attacks that just hurt will most likely pass and cause damage that won't be healed by the system during events, and any attacks that would kill are negated, and the target is disqualified.
A few more presences appear on the edge of my detection, and I start hiding my mana, using Mana Cycling as I move over the roofs.
With just a few more jumps and careful boosts, I move behind one of the chimneys of a medieval style city. A few roofs down, a group of 5 men have gathered, two of them from Hard difficulty and three from Normal, discussing something energetically.
The leader is holding a bow that seems to be around rare grade and keeps watch. He stands in the center sending waves of mana outward to scan the area.
They are a bit secretive, but to me, he may as well be shouting in my ear.
How the heck is he even from Hard difficulty with scans like that?
I get ready for combat and reach past them, placing a [Tether] in the middle of their group, expecting them to react before I send an attack through.
They do not try to disrupt it. Even when the man's scans washes over the anchor, he doesn't seem to notice it.
They don't sense anything even as I send a strong pulse of thermal energy through, causing it to explode in the middle of their group, killing them all and destroying a chunk of the building.
Noname (Hell, 4th) ⟶ GigaChad (Hard, 6th)
Noname (Hell, 4th) ⟶ Toastmaster (Hard, 5th)
Noname (Hell, 4th) ⟶ MidnightM (Normal, 6th)
Noname (Hell, 4th) ⟶ Bobby (Normal, 5th)
Noname (Hell, 4th) ⟶ Ellie (Normal, 6th)
My points increase to 22.
So, Easy for 1, Normal for 2, and Hard for 5. And I still can't see rewards for positions, so maybe they’re just personalized according to performance? that seems likely.
I take the damaged bow out from under the debris, and it is in fact rare quality. Useless to me, so I just place it in the middle of the clearing to make it seem like a drop, and then I place an anchor near it, all while making everything as covert as possible.
For the following thirty minutes, I watch a constant stream of people moving into and through the city. A large number of them detect the bow and head straight for it after scanning the area. And I'm almost disappointed by how terrible their scans are.
After killing the 3rd group trying to take the bow and hunting two more groups passing through the city, I decide to change location.
People here seem to be from Easy and Normal mostly, and there’s rarely anyone higher, and I’m tired of that.
With a pulse, I destroy the bow and head out of the city, entering the grassy land where I limit my output even more while sending my scans out even further.
1st (84 pts) - Sset
2nd (68 pts) - Savant
3rd (61 pts) - Grumpy
The top three are being led by Tess; it's obvious that she would have a nice advantage here because of her skills. I, meanwhile, am 5th with 49 points.
I check the total again, to find that it’s been reduced significantly since the last time I checked.
1819 / 2357
As I approach the field, I detect a presence that feels different from any other I’ve felt until now.
Hiding my mana and carefully placing anchors, I move closer, and on the edge of the forest, I watch two women passing by, both of them holding items and both from Hard difficulty. But there is someone else who interests me more.
A man crouching at the top of a small tree the women are passing under. He has a shortsword barely as long as his forearm but he holds it more like a dagger.
One of the women seems to notice something and quickly looks up but before her eyes meet the man, the air around him flickers, and, like a chameleon, he camouflages with the area. Even his presence disappears, in a manner resembling Tacita’s, though it’s significantly inferior.
The woman, confused, squints her eyes, but then pokes her friend, and both of them rush away.
Most likely saving mana, the man, who seems like he’s about 30 years old, cancels his skill and appears again, this time with a cruel smile on his face.
BenDover (Hell, 5th) reads the text over his head.
My very good friend from the Community. One of the people I’ve most wanted to meet. I still remember the numerous insults he directed at my family and then at me. I also recall how he mocked Eris and Myrra later, boasting gleefully about helping to kill them both.
The blade of the shortsword he’s holding is coated in a sickly yellow substance, something that feels like a combination of poison and disruption, and he becomes invisible again. At this point, I'm willing to bet his class has Phantom in the name.
It's like the asshole is actively trying to make me hate him even more.
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