A quiet laugh sounds from the brooch. "So, you've realized it," she says.
I stay quiet. It's obvious that she would want me to carry the brooch closer to the regenerative aura of the Saint.
"Won't you change your mind? I could be a valuable help if I get back my body, even if I still won't have my mana. I believe I would be able to restore even my mana heart, given enough time."
The offer she gives me sounds tempting, but I don't have to think about it.
"No," my answer is short and final. I then throw the uncommon mana stone Sophie found, and I took it from her. It nearly lands on her, close enough for her to inscribe coordinates. "You can put the coordinates there."
"Aren't you too careful, little pup? Your behavior hurts me." Yet, I still feel her mana reach out and touch the stone. It takes just a moment, but then it pulls back to the brooch.
I create an arm made of mana to grab the stone. I then take five hours to examine it.
When I stop, my head hurts, but I'm quite happy with the result. There's no way I can use the coordinates now; I can't even understand them. But I transcribe them into my mind. I create something like a pocket for them and surround this pocket with the Mantle, which doesn't allow it to affect anything outside of it.
I need to do it this way, as I'm not sure if the system won't wipe the stone or if I won't lose it in the future.
Then I send kinetic energy through the mana hand holding the stone and smash it to pieces. I burn them as well and smash them again. [Resonance] fires up multiple times, and only then do I stop.
"That's too much," Lissandra laughs, and I feel her collect her last remaining mana. The tiny amount I wouldn't be able to use for anything. The amount is so small I wouldn't even be able to light a fire with it. Yet when she moves it, it feels exceedingly dangerous.
"I've noticed that you've sent others away. Is there a reason for that?" Her voice is calm and quiet, and the mana swirls around her. "Also, I consider it quite cheating that you came to me with so much kinetic energy already collected."
"I will make sure to deliver the message," I say, and I mean it. She gave me something I've missed for a long time – a basic knowledge that I can rely on when I get lost. A knowledge I can use to make decisions faster and become stronger in my own way. And for that, I'm thankful.
But that's where our deal ends. I can't trust her not to try to take over my mind even though the system doesn't allow that, and I'm sure she would try to do that at any moment the opportunity would arise. She said that herself.
I transfer all the kinetic energy I collected while talking to her into thermal energy and make it denser, and more concentrated. Flames around me appear yellow but soon turn into golden ones.
"I know you will." She attacks me at the same moment my flames shoot at her. A short pulse of minuscule amount of mana, and the flames reach her, doing no damage at all. The brooch only moves slightly, as if in the weak wind.
Another pulse, and my flames disappear as if they never existed.
Three javelins I throw at her freeze in the air and just straight up refuse to move, making it look as if time itself stopped.
A wave of my kinetic energy destroys the huge area around her, tearing the ground apart, pulling the trees from the ground, and turning stones into dust. Yet, none of this touches her at all.
"This is how you do it, little pup," the brooch pulsates one last time, and a wave of mana hits me, destroying the armor around my body, ignoring my attempts to disrupt it, and pushes me back by one step. It doesn't even feel like an attack, more like a slap on the back of the head that a teacher would give to an inattentive student.
Then the brooch stops moving, becomes paler, and even its movement which seemed like breathing slows down.
All the mana the brooch had is depleted.
With no need for more words, my flames activate again and hit Lissandra, immediately burning her to dust. I continue to channel more and more energy through them and give them a few minutes.
When I stop, the brooch is gone.
AnotherOneHere (Hell, TheGuild) - Hm? Yes, there was a guy in our group who upgraded his mana attribute with an upgrade token he got on level 75. The poor guy literally exploded.
Brainiac (Hell, WhiteWing) - I'm still saving my upgrade token! I need to get a bit stronger, and then I will most likely upgrade my attribute. I just need to be careful; our group also had a guy like that. Do you remember him, Lootenant?
Lootenant (Hell, WhiteWing) - Sure, I do. He upgraded his strength, and then his body tore apart every time he tried to move. The guy wanted to go with a low constitution and high strength.
Bard (Hell, IDK) - Yeah, I'm also saving mine. We heard about it a bit on the second floor. People there usually upgraded attributes much later, closer to level 150 and after careful thinking.
Brainiac (Hell, WhiteWing) - Noname, I bet you've already used yours on mana. How is it?
Should I tell them? They are people I might have to fight with in the future after we get back to Earth or here during the tournament. They seem friendly here, but who knows if it's just a front they put on? They also got into Hell difficulty, so they can't be normal people.
Noname (Hell, Group 4) - I recommend a high constitution or at least a (rare) passive that will help you deal with the upgraded attribute. That's all I will say.
Lootenant (Hell, WhiteWing) - Thanks, Noname. I appreciate it.
Brainiac (Hell, WhiteWing) - Thank you, bro! It's better to be careful when even this maniac recommends it, lol.
AnotherOneHere (Hell, TheGuild) - It's a shame that the system barely gives us (rare) passives.
Bard (Hell, IDK) - Yeah, I've only seen two of them and...
Attention, a milestone has been reached. Entry into Irreversible Narrative Progression has been detected for all groups. In accordance, the Community Interface will now be deactivated for all groups within Hell Difficulty of the 5th round of the Tutorial.
The notification cancels, closing the community, and I close the window. Then I stop walking and look at the giant blue wall that towers high into the air, just a few houses away from us.
It looks like the third floor is slowly coming to an end.
"The same as before?" Hadwin asks as all of us stand under the wall, looking up at it.
Tess is near me, Kim is with the twins, Lily is near Biscuit, and Sophie is standing a bit to the side with Isabella. The only one staying behind will be the last remaining member of Hard Difficulty, the icy guy. I'm not surprised that he doesn't want to go with us, but I'm surprised that Sophie is letting him go.
(Food!) Biscuit shouts, and everyone turns to me as if waiting for something.
"What?" I ask, "Don't look at me like that; it creeps me out."
"Are you not going to translate what Biscuit meant by that?" Tess pokes at me.
The heck.
"He wanted to call Hadwin an asshole," I say.
(Asshole!) Silly doggo immediately repeats.
To that, Lily giggles, and even the boys seem to be smirking. Only Hadwin doesn't seem to be too amused.
"We won't need a platform this time," Kim interrupts and all heads turn to him. "I've improved a bit, so if you let me, I can make you all float to the top."
It takes only a bit, and everyone agrees. Then, when Kim's mana reaches me, I let it affect me while observing the entire process and the way he moves it.
Soon, all of us are lifted into the air after he makes us lighter with [Gravity Well] and then gently pulls us up with [Telekinesis].
As we're getting higher and higher, some people start to get nervous, but I'm enjoying the process. This is how I imagine astronauts in orbit around the Earth feel. It's a quite relaxing feeling, and it takes a few more minutes until we reach the top. Kim decides to do it slowly because of the scaredy-cats.
At the top, he pushes us towards the wall and slowly cancels the skill, letting us land gently.
Then the view of what lies behind the wall appears, along with us triggering some detection trap the moment we touch the top of the wall. For a moment, I track the pulse of the mana that is sent towards somewhere in the middle of the city from the place where we landed.
What lies behind the blue wall is the most beautiful city I've ever seen. Pearl-white walls of the buildings are adorned with delicate ornaments of blue or golden color. Hundreds, thousands of trees with vibrant green leaves. Fountains spewing pale blue water.
Even the inner side of the blue wall is totally covered by beautiful paintings depicting mountains, and green hills full of grass and flowers. All the buildings are in perfect condition, not a single one of them cracked or destroyed, and the roads and streets are lined with trees that would offer nice shade on a hot day. There are even gardens all over the place.
And then, there in the middle of the city, a simple tower stands. The tower is as tall as the highest skyscrapers on Earth, and its surface is without any ornament, just a polished white stone with lots of massive windows and giant balconies that oversee the city.
The top of the tower ends with a roof that seems to be made out of pure gold, and something reminding me of mana circuits adorns it. Even from this distance, I can feel the strong mana emanating from the tower.
I lift up my left hand, and resonating mana coats my right pointing finger. I make a cut into my left arm and then watch as it heals in front of my eyes. The speed of healing is equal to Lily using her healing to the fullest.
Just a few seconds after we landed on top of the wall, I feel a massive burst of mana from someone in the middle of the city. Through the air, a figure flies towards us in a blur, trailed by golden lightning.
It takes only a moment for that figure to reach us, and soon the man stands at the top of the wall.
He smiles at us warmly. He has blonde hair and blue eyes, a face that ten out of ten people would call handsome. The golden lightning lazily crackles around the man as he takes a step towards us and then stops. He is wearing shiny silver armor that is delicately adorned with blue ornaments of flowers. The armor is beautiful yet masterfully done. Slim, strong, delicate, and comfortable-looking, it moves together with the man, not hindering his movements at all.
Then, the blonde man looks at us, he touches his chest with his right hand and gives us a short bow before straightening up.
"My name is Edwal. I'm one of the three warriors of the last king and one of the protectors of the last bastion of humanity," The confidence he exudes makes him stand out even more, and he continues to smile gently at us, "Who do I have the pleasure of meeting?"
[Tempest Tyrant - lvl ??]
A quiet laugh sounds from the brooch. "So, you've realized it," she says.
I stay quiet. It's obvious that she would want me to carry the brooch closer to the regenerative aura of the Saint.
"Won't you change your mind? I could be a valuable help if I get back my body, even if I still won't have my mana. I believe I would be able to restore even my mana heart, given enough time."
The offer she gives me sounds tempting, but I don't have to think about it.
"No," my answer is short and final. I then throw the uncommon mana stone Sophie found, and I took it from her. It nearly lands on her, close enough for her to inscribe coordinates. "You can put the coordinates there."
"Aren't you too careful, little pup? Your behavior hurts me." Yet, I still feel her mana reach out and touch the stone. It takes just a moment, but then it pulls back to the brooch.
I create an arm made of mana to grab the stone. I then take five hours to examine it.
When I stop, my head hurts, but I'm quite happy with the result. There's no way I can use the coordinates now; I can't even understand them. But I transcribe them into my mind. I create something like a pocket for them and surround this pocket with the Mantle, which doesn't allow it to affect anything outside of it.
I need to do it this way, as I'm not sure if the system won't wipe the stone or if I won't lose it in the future.
Then I send kinetic energy through the mana hand holding the stone and smash it to pieces. I burn them as well and smash them again. [Resonance] fires up multiple times, and only then do I stop.
"That's too much," Lissandra laughs, and I feel her collect her last remaining mana. The tiny amount I wouldn't be able to use for anything. The amount is so small I wouldn't even be able to light a fire with it. Yet when she moves it, it feels exceedingly dangerous.
"I've noticed that you've sent others away. Is there a reason for that?" Her voice is calm and quiet, and the mana swirls around her. "Also, I consider it quite cheating that you came to me with so much kinetic energy already collected."
"I will make sure to deliver the message," I say, and I mean it. She gave me something I've missed for a long time – a basic knowledge that I can rely on when I get lost. A knowledge I can use to make decisions faster and become stronger in my own way. And for that, I'm thankful.
But that's where our deal ends. I can't trust her not to try to take over my mind even though the system doesn't allow that, and I'm sure she would try to do that at any moment the opportunity would arise. She said that herself.
I transfer all the kinetic energy I collected while talking to her into thermal energy and make it denser, and more concentrated. Flames around me appear yellow but soon turn into golden ones.
"I know you will." She attacks me at the same moment my flames shoot at her. A short pulse of minuscule amount of mana, and the flames reach her, doing no damage at all. The brooch only moves slightly, as if in the weak wind.
Another pulse, and my flames disappear as if they never existed.
Three javelins I throw at her freeze in the air and just straight up refuse to move, making it look as if time itself stopped.
A wave of my kinetic energy destroys the huge area around her, tearing the ground apart, pulling the trees from the ground, and turning stones into dust. Yet, none of this touches her at all.
"This is how you do it, little pup," the brooch pulsates one last time, and a wave of mana hits me, destroying the armor around my body, ignoring my attempts to disrupt it, and pushes me back by one step. It doesn't even feel like an attack, more like a slap on the back of the head that a teacher would give to an inattentive student.
Then the brooch stops moving, becomes paler, and even its movement which seemed like breathing slows down.
All the mana the brooch had is depleted.
With no need for more words, my flames activate again and hit Lissandra, immediately burning her to dust. I continue to channel more and more energy through them and give them a few minutes.
When I stop, the brooch is gone.
AnotherOneHere (Hell, TheGuild) - Hm? Yes, there was a guy in our group who upgraded his mana attribute with an upgrade token he got on level 75. The poor guy literally exploded.
Brainiac (Hell, WhiteWing) - I'm still saving my upgrade token! I need to get a bit stronger, and then I will most likely upgrade my attribute. I just need to be careful; our group also had a guy like that. Do you remember him, Lootenant?
Lootenant (Hell, WhiteWing) - Sure, I do. He upgraded his strength, and then his body tore apart every time he tried to move. The guy wanted to go with a low constitution and high strength.
Bard (Hell, IDK) - Yeah, I'm also saving mine. We heard about it a bit on the second floor. People there usually upgraded attributes much later, closer to level 150 and after careful thinking.
Brainiac (Hell, WhiteWing) - Noname, I bet you've already used yours on mana. How is it?
Should I tell them? They are people I might have to fight with in the future after we get back to Earth or here during the tournament. They seem friendly here, but who knows if it's just a front they put on? They also got into Hell difficulty, so they can't be normal people.
Noname (Hell, Group 4) - I recommend a high constitution or at least a (rare) passive that will help you deal with the upgraded attribute. That's all I will say.
Lootenant (Hell, WhiteWing) - Thanks, Noname. I appreciate it.
Brainiac (Hell, WhiteWing) - Thank you, bro! It's better to be careful when even this maniac recommends it, lol.
AnotherOneHere (Hell, TheGuild) - It's a shame that the system barely gives us (rare) passives.
Bard (Hell, IDK) - Yeah, I've only seen two of them and...
Attention, a milestone has been reached. Entry into Irreversible Narrative Progression has been detected for all groups. In accordance, the Community Interface will now be deactivated for all groups within Hell Difficulty of the 5th round of the Tutorial.
The notification cancels, closing the community, and I close the window. Then I stop walking and look at the giant blue wall that towers high into the air, just a few houses away from us.
It looks like the third floor is slowly coming to an end.
"The same as before?" Hadwin asks as all of us stand under the wall, looking up at it.
Tess is near me, Kim is with the twins, Lily is near Biscuit, and Sophie is standing a bit to the side with Isabella. The only one staying behind will be the last remaining member of Hard Difficulty, the icy guy. I'm not surprised that he doesn't want to go with us, but I'm surprised that Sophie is letting him go.
(Food!) Biscuit shouts, and everyone turns to me as if waiting for something.
"What?" I ask, "Don't look at me like that; it creeps me out."
"Are you not going to translate what Biscuit meant by that?" Tess pokes at me.
The heck.
"He wanted to call Hadwin an asshole," I say.
(Asshole!) Silly doggo immediately repeats.
To that, Lily giggles, and even the boys seem to be smirking. Only Hadwin doesn't seem to be too amused.
"We won't need a platform this time," Kim interrupts and all heads turn to him. "I've improved a bit, so if you let me, I can make you all float to the top."
It takes only a bit, and everyone agrees. Then, when Kim's mana reaches me, I let it affect me while observing the entire process and the way he moves it.
Soon, all of us are lifted into the air after he makes us lighter with [Gravity Well] and then gently pulls us up with [Telekinesis].
As we're getting higher and higher, some people start to get nervous, but I'm enjoying the process. This is how I imagine astronauts in orbit around the Earth feel. It's a quite relaxing feeling, and it takes a few more minutes until we reach the top. Kim decides to do it slowly because of the scaredy-cats.
At the top, he pushes us towards the wall and slowly cancels the skill, letting us land gently.
Then the view of what lies behind the wall appears, along with us triggering some detection trap the moment we touch the top of the wall. For a moment, I track the pulse of the mana that is sent towards somewhere in the middle of the city from the place where we landed.
What lies behind the blue wall is the most beautiful city I've ever seen. Pearl-white walls of the buildings are adorned with delicate ornaments of blue or golden color. Hundreds, thousands of trees with vibrant green leaves. Fountains spewing pale blue water.
Even the inner side of the blue wall is totally covered by beautiful paintings depicting mountains, and green hills full of grass and flowers. All the buildings are in perfect condition, not a single one of them cracked or destroyed, and the roads and streets are lined with trees that would offer nice shade on a hot day. There are even gardens all over the place.
And then, there in the middle of the city, a simple tower stands. The tower is as tall as the highest skyscrapers on Earth, and its surface is without any ornament, just a polished white stone with lots of massive windows and giant balconies that oversee the city.
The top of the tower ends with a roof that seems to be made out of pure gold, and something reminding me of mana circuits adorns it. Even from this distance, I can feel the strong mana emanating from the tower.
I lift up my left hand, and resonating mana coats my right pointing finger. I make a cut into my left arm and then watch as it heals in front of my eyes. The speed of healing is equal to Lily using her healing to the fullest.
Just a few seconds after we landed on top of the wall, I feel a massive burst of mana from someone in the middle of the city. Through the air, a figure flies towards us in a blur, trailed by golden lightning.
It takes only a moment for that figure to reach us, and soon the man stands at the top of the wall.
He smiles at us warmly. He has blonde hair and blue eyes, a face that ten out of ten people would call handsome. The golden lightning lazily crackles around the man as he takes a step towards us and then stops. He is wearing shiny silver armor that is delicately adorned with blue ornaments of flowers. The armor is beautiful yet masterfully done. Slim, strong, delicate, and comfortable-looking, it moves together with the man, not hindering his movements at all.
Then, the blonde man looks at us, he touches his chest with his right hand and gives us a short bow before straightening up.
"My name is Edwal. I'm one of the three warriors of the last king and one of the protectors of the last bastion of humanity," The confidence he exudes makes him stand out even more, and he continues to smile gently at us, "Who do I have the pleasure of meeting?"
[Tempest Tyrant - lvl ??]
