A bit later Hadwin asks to talk with me and I agree.
His first question is, “She went easy on us?”
“Yes, I think she just wanted to punch me a few times. Don't ask me why; I always treated her nicely,” I shrug my shoulders. “She most likely wanted to keep us on the third floor. Maybe to do some experiments. Maybe to get one of our Mana Hearts. Who knows.”
“She sounded different from the brooch, and her form didn't look like her on the second floor,” Hadwin says carefully. He keeps asking a lot of questions since the end of the floor. I think this was something like a wake-up call for him, and he decided to take this much more seriously.
So he is starting with collecting information to understand it better. Well, I'm still in a decently good mood, so I will answer some of his questions, but when he starts being too bothersome, I will send him to Tess.
“The brooch was slightly affected by my personality because her imprint was imperfect, and she was made from my hand. She also knew that and knew that I would destroy her. She realized it even before me, as she probably felt the healing field even earlier than Lily,” I yawn and scratch the top of my head.
It's already morning, and the days and nights seem to be a similar length to Earth. It's still cold, and the wind continues to blow loudly, yet we still decided to stay here for a few more days, maybe a bit longer. Just until Lily fully heals.
“The imprint she left on you was much better, and she even separated my influence from it,” quite a monster, that woman. “Then she just waited until we got closer to the Saint, connected to its healing aura, and regrew her body from your arm,” before he says anything, I lift my hand, and that makes him stop. “Lissandra isn't someone who makes the same mistake twice. I don't think she is influenced by you or anything. But Haddy, do you know what's fun? She didn't have any mana or at least none I could feel. She kicked our asses only with the strength of her body.”
I believe mana is still the best stat, but maybe the other ones aren't that inferior. “As she regrew her body, she influenced the process and made it as strong as possible,” Again, what a monster.
“Logically, she is still from within the tutorial, so she should have disappeared after we left the floor, right? Together with it,” the older man braces against the wind while looking at me.
“It's just a theory, but I think she confuses the system a bit. The imprint already passed through one floor, and that confused the system. She then remade it, and that confused the system again. Also, she was first made from my hand and then from your arm instead of trying to get the Saint´s body. I think that was done on purpose. The tutorial treats the bodies of humans from Earth differently. Heck, I would be surprised if all this stuff didn't mess up the system a little bit.”
“So there is a chance she will become like us? With quests, rewards, and leveling within the tutorial? She also looked different from before.”
“I wouldn't be surprised if she were able to do so. As for her looks, I think it was how she looked thousands of years ago, or she just made it look the way she wanted. Either way, it doesn't matter that much.”
Lissandra being a beautiful young woman might confuse our three teenage boys, but not me. I totally won't hesitate to punch her face.
“How many more questions can I ask?” Hadwin looks at me.
Oh? Isn't that quite nice of him to take my personality and growing annoyance into consideration? Good reaction, Haddy! Plus two questions.
“Five more questions, and then you can ask Tess; she knows most of what I do.”
“Thanks, Nathaniel, I appreciate that,” he nods, and I feel some honesty in his voice. In his own way, he also seems to be trying to find a way to me.
“Not five but six more questions,” I say.
To that, he laughs a bit and asks what he wants to know.
Last night, after Lily and some others fell asleep, the sky cleared. It became almost cloudless, and during that, those of us who were awake saw something surprising high in the sky.
Not exactly high in the sky, but probably in orbit of the planet. Thousands, and maybe tens of thousands, of giant pieces of what can be debris of some old construction orbiting the planet. The white stone-like material reflects the silver light of the moon similar to Earth's.
I think it's debris because plenty of those things have sharp angles and are too non-naturally shaped. They just can't be rocks that are orbiting the planet like they do around Saturn.
The current theory we are running on is that it's probably some old construction that they built in orbit. Dennis likes the theory that it used to be a massive city that someone teleported from Earth to orbit to kill all the people.
Well, I'm sure we will find out.
Also, my other theory was proven right as we got a new side quest:
Side quest: Reach level 150
Reward: Primary class upgrade/change
Tess didn't seem as impressed as I thought she would be, but that might be because I did the "I told you so" thingy.
Well, I can't have everything. The world is trying to hold us smart people down.
I'm also thinking of selling four low-value epic items I got. Tess was also able to take Edwal's chest armor with her, and now it sits inside the cave. It's not fitting her that well, but she says it's really great for the conductivity of her lightning, so she keeps it in hopes she will be able to change it. In the worst case, she can sell it to the system shop.
As for me, I've already picked the crown, the least useful item from the bunch, and started experimenting with it. I'm doing it in a similar way to how I did with Hadwin's shield before, or with common weapons I kept picking up from side quests and tying mana stones to them.
This epic crown is without any effect now, but it's extremely durable and cool-looking, not that it helps. When Lily heals up, I plan to give her one piece and maybe she can do something with it. My theory is that she might be able to connect the item to her healing in a similar way to what the Saint did, and that would allow her to heal us over greater distances.
I'm quite happy with it, and even if I somehow destroy one of the items, it will be worth it if I learn to create something that I see as a construct, but on the item instead of inside my body.
So that's how I spend my "free time," holding the crown in my hands and consolidating my [Focus] to examine it, at first trying to find out how exactly it works as I follow the circuits that are ever-present there.
The crown is also set up to not take any energy from the user; instead, it has something like a receiver that is used to accept the Saint's healing mana and transfer it to the user. So the first goal is to change it. To make it so the crown can receive my mana instead of only the Saint's healing one. Then I will try to see if it can turn my mana into healing and heal me.
I think this won't work and I will totally render the current circuits useless if I try to do so, so I'm already preparing to make new ones.
It's a good plan, and it's fun to tinker with it. Sure, I'm destroying the item even further, but who cares; It's just an item. It can disappear or be taken at any time. The knowledge I will get from it will stay with me forever.
I feel a presence moving closer to me and don't react, and soon Biscuit boops my leg with his nose.
(Sustenance.)
"Oh, are you bored, Biscuit?" I stop focusing on the item in my hand and jokingly put it on Biscuit's head. He lets me do it while his eyes are patient, as if I'm a small kid he has to deal with.
Not going to lie, Biscuit with a crown that's too big for him on his head is quite cute. I totally should get something more fitting for him.
But there's one more interesting thing: "Why are you wearing clothes, Biscuit?"
The cutest corgi on the fourth floor is wearing something that could be a warm-looking jacket made for a small child or baby. It's clearly not meant for a burrito-like doggo, but someone did cut it a bit and fixed some places so it's more fitting for Biscuit.
So now he stands here, big crown on his head and a dark orange jacket on him. The jacket even has small sleeves that his short legs are stuck into.
This might be the first time I actually regret not having my phone anymore. Maybe there's a camera in the shop?
(Sustenance!) Biscuit brings me back to reality, and I look down at the patient doggo and pet him.
"That's Isabella's work; I saw her forcing Sophie to help her with that even inside the mansion, and they collected everything they needed," Maya steps closer and explains while squatting and extending her hand toward Biscuit.
The best dog sniffs it and then offers her his head, which she pets.
"That's surprisingly calming," Maya says after a while and then picks out a small piece of jerky from a pouch and gives it to Biscuit.
It almost looks like a transaction between them because Biscuit just takes it and moves closer to me, putting his head on my leg and holding the piece of meat with his front legs while slowly eating it.
For a moment he pauses and looks at me. (Food!) sounds in my head.
"One more and you can pet him a bit later," I say to Maya, at which Biscuit turns to her and woofs shortly.
The woman laughs and puts two more pieces in front of him, at which point I feel him sending a message even to her before turning back to his food.
"I did talk with Lily a bit, and she made me realize something," Maya starts carefully but then sighs. "I won't just walk around it; I'll be honest with you. I still remember you beating me on the first floor, probably so you could learn [Armament], and I still want to get back at you for that. You know, punch your face at least once."
"That's quite reasonable," I agree with her, to her surprise. "What, do you think I didn't realize that? I know I'm an asshole and the things I do sometimes aren't exactly nice."
"And you still have no problem with that? Throwing Ethan to the bear, beating me up and Hadwin. Acting as if you are ready to just leave everyone behind?" Maya doesn't seem to blame me, she just asks curiously.
"I long since got used to the fact that I'm not exactly normal. You could say that I do not hesitate to act on my decisions and I can set my priorities straight," this time I pause and look for the right words. "At the start of the first floor, I did act quite harsh at times, and if there is a need for that, I would do it again. If there is not, I won´t. It's as simple as that."
"If I were younger and more naive, I would maybe get more angry and ask you how can you talk like that. I'm still young," Maya puts emphasis on the word young before continuing, "but not that young. I have a bit more experience than most of the others here so I understand. But I still want to get back at you at least once."
"You are free to try anytime," I tell her.
"I didn't expect anything else," her face is serious, and before she leaves she says one more thing. "Still, Lily made me realize a few things, and one of them is that most likely most of us wouldn't be alive if it weren't for you. I don't like that fact, but I'm not hardheaded enough to not accept it. So thank you, I guess, and also thank you for helping me improve. I know you most likely only do it because Tess asked you to, but I still wanted to say that."
Maya leaves without saying anything else.
Wow, isn't Lily a sneaky one? What is she trying to do after our conversation from last time? Is she working on boosting my public image?
I turn my attention back to Biscuit, "What do you think?" I ask him, and he also turns to me while chewing.
(Asshole.)
Dang it, Biscuit.
cerim
I keep forgetting to ask, but if you enjoy the story so far, maybe leave a rating or review - if you feel especially bored or generous.
And as always, thanks for the comments and reading!
A bit later Hadwin asks to talk with me and I agree.
His first question is, “She went easy on us?”
“Yes, I think she just wanted to punch me a few times. Don't ask me why; I always treated her nicely,” I shrug my shoulders. “She most likely wanted to keep us on the third floor. Maybe to do some experiments. Maybe to get one of our Mana Hearts. Who knows.”
“She sounded different from the brooch, and her form didn't look like her on the second floor,” Hadwin says carefully. He keeps asking a lot of questions since the end of the floor. I think this was something like a wake-up call for him, and he decided to take this much more seriously.
So he is starting with collecting information to understand it better. Well, I'm still in a decently good mood, so I will answer some of his questions, but when he starts being too bothersome, I will send him to Tess.
“The brooch was slightly affected by my personality because her imprint was imperfect, and she was made from my hand. She also knew that and knew that I would destroy her. She realized it even before me, as she probably felt the healing field even earlier than Lily,” I yawn and scratch the top of my head.
It's already morning, and the days and nights seem to be a similar length to Earth. It's still cold, and the wind continues to blow loudly, yet we still decided to stay here for a few more days, maybe a bit longer. Just until Lily fully heals.
“The imprint she left on you was much better, and she even separated my influence from it,” quite a monster, that woman. “Then she just waited until we got closer to the Saint, connected to its healing aura, and regrew her body from your arm,” before he says anything, I lift my hand, and that makes him stop. “Lissandra isn't someone who makes the same mistake twice. I don't think she is influenced by you or anything. But Haddy, do you know what's fun? She didn't have any mana or at least none I could feel. She kicked our asses only with the strength of her body.”
I believe mana is still the best stat, but maybe the other ones aren't that inferior. “As she regrew her body, she influenced the process and made it as strong as possible,” Again, what a monster.
“Logically, she is still from within the tutorial, so she should have disappeared after we left the floor, right? Together with it,” the older man braces against the wind while looking at me.
“It's just a theory, but I think she confuses the system a bit. The imprint already passed through one floor, and that confused the system. She then remade it, and that confused the system again. Also, she was first made from my hand and then from your arm instead of trying to get the Saint´s body. I think that was done on purpose. The tutorial treats the bodies of humans from Earth differently. Heck, I would be surprised if all this stuff didn't mess up the system a little bit.”
“So there is a chance she will become like us? With quests, rewards, and leveling within the tutorial? She also looked different from before.”
“I wouldn't be surprised if she were able to do so. As for her looks, I think it was how she looked thousands of years ago, or she just made it look the way she wanted. Either way, it doesn't matter that much.”
Lissandra being a beautiful young woman might confuse our three teenage boys, but not me. I totally won't hesitate to punch her face.
“How many more questions can I ask?” Hadwin looks at me.
Oh? Isn't that quite nice of him to take my personality and growing annoyance into consideration? Good reaction, Haddy! Plus two questions.
“Five more questions, and then you can ask Tess; she knows most of what I do.”
“Thanks, Nathaniel, I appreciate that,” he nods, and I feel some honesty in his voice. In his own way, he also seems to be trying to find a way to me.
“Not five but six more questions,” I say.
To that, he laughs a bit and asks what he wants to know.
Last night, after Lily and some others fell asleep, the sky cleared. It became almost cloudless, and during that, those of us who were awake saw something surprising high in the sky.
Not exactly high in the sky, but probably in orbit of the planet. Thousands, and maybe tens of thousands, of giant pieces of what can be debris of some old construction orbiting the planet. The white stone-like material reflects the silver light of the moon similar to Earth's.
I think it's debris because plenty of those things have sharp angles and are too non-naturally shaped. They just can't be rocks that are orbiting the planet like they do around Saturn.
The current theory we are running on is that it's probably some old construction that they built in orbit. Dennis likes the theory that it used to be a massive city that someone teleported from Earth to orbit to kill all the people.
Well, I'm sure we will find out.
Also, my other theory was proven right as we got a new side quest:
Side quest: Reach level 150
Reward: Primary class upgrade/change
Tess didn't seem as impressed as I thought she would be, but that might be because I did the "I told you so" thingy.
Well, I can't have everything. The world is trying to hold us smart people down.
I'm also thinking of selling four low-value epic items I got. Tess was also able to take Edwal's chest armor with her, and now it sits inside the cave. It's not fitting her that well, but she says it's really great for the conductivity of her lightning, so she keeps it in hopes she will be able to change it. In the worst case, she can sell it to the system shop.
As for me, I've already picked the crown, the least useful item from the bunch, and started experimenting with it. I'm doing it in a similar way to how I did with Hadwin's shield before, or with common weapons I kept picking up from side quests and tying mana stones to them.
This epic crown is without any effect now, but it's extremely durable and cool-looking, not that it helps. When Lily heals up, I plan to give her one piece and maybe she can do something with it. My theory is that she might be able to connect the item to her healing in a similar way to what the Saint did, and that would allow her to heal us over greater distances.
I'm quite happy with it, and even if I somehow destroy one of the items, it will be worth it if I learn to create something that I see as a construct, but on the item instead of inside my body.
So that's how I spend my "free time," holding the crown in my hands and consolidating my [Focus] to examine it, at first trying to find out how exactly it works as I follow the circuits that are ever-present there.
The crown is also set up to not take any energy from the user; instead, it has something like a receiver that is used to accept the Saint's healing mana and transfer it to the user. So the first goal is to change it. To make it so the crown can receive my mana instead of only the Saint's healing one. Then I will try to see if it can turn my mana into healing and heal me.
I think this won't work and I will totally render the current circuits useless if I try to do so, so I'm already preparing to make new ones.
It's a good plan, and it's fun to tinker with it. Sure, I'm destroying the item even further, but who cares; It's just an item. It can disappear or be taken at any time. The knowledge I will get from it will stay with me forever.
I feel a presence moving closer to me and don't react, and soon Biscuit boops my leg with his nose.
(Sustenance.)
"Oh, are you bored, Biscuit?" I stop focusing on the item in my hand and jokingly put it on Biscuit's head. He lets me do it while his eyes are patient, as if I'm a small kid he has to deal with.
Not going to lie, Biscuit with a crown that's too big for him on his head is quite cute. I totally should get something more fitting for him.
But there's one more interesting thing: "Why are you wearing clothes, Biscuit?"
The cutest corgi on the fourth floor is wearing something that could be a warm-looking jacket made for a small child or baby. It's clearly not meant for a burrito-like doggo, but someone did cut it a bit and fixed some places so it's more fitting for Biscuit.
So now he stands here, big crown on his head and a dark orange jacket on him. The jacket even has small sleeves that his short legs are stuck into.
This might be the first time I actually regret not having my phone anymore. Maybe there's a camera in the shop?
(Sustenance!) Biscuit brings me back to reality, and I look down at the patient doggo and pet him.
"That's Isabella's work; I saw her forcing Sophie to help her with that even inside the mansion, and they collected everything they needed," Maya steps closer and explains while squatting and extending her hand toward Biscuit.
The best dog sniffs it and then offers her his head, which she pets.
"That's surprisingly calming," Maya says after a while and then picks out a small piece of jerky from a pouch and gives it to Biscuit.
It almost looks like a transaction between them because Biscuit just takes it and moves closer to me, putting his head on my leg and holding the piece of meat with his front legs while slowly eating it.
For a moment he pauses and looks at me. (Food!) sounds in my head.
"One more and you can pet him a bit later," I say to Maya, at which Biscuit turns to her and woofs shortly.
The woman laughs and puts two more pieces in front of him, at which point I feel him sending a message even to her before turning back to his food.
"I did talk with Lily a bit, and she made me realize something," Maya starts carefully but then sighs. "I won't just walk around it; I'll be honest with you. I still remember you beating me on the first floor, probably so you could learn [Armament], and I still want to get back at you for that. You know, punch your face at least once."
"That's quite reasonable," I agree with her, to her surprise. "What, do you think I didn't realize that? I know I'm an asshole and the things I do sometimes aren't exactly nice."
"And you still have no problem with that? Throwing Ethan to the bear, beating me up and Hadwin. Acting as if you are ready to just leave everyone behind?" Maya doesn't seem to blame me, she just asks curiously.
"I long since got used to the fact that I'm not exactly normal. You could say that I do not hesitate to act on my decisions and I can set my priorities straight," this time I pause and look for the right words. "At the start of the first floor, I did act quite harsh at times, and if there is a need for that, I would do it again. If there is not, I won´t. It's as simple as that."
"If I were younger and more naive, I would maybe get more angry and ask you how can you talk like that. I'm still young," Maya puts emphasis on the word young before continuing, "but not that young. I have a bit more experience than most of the others here so I understand. But I still want to get back at you at least once."
"You are free to try anytime," I tell her.
"I didn't expect anything else," her face is serious, and before she leaves she says one more thing. "Still, Lily made me realize a few things, and one of them is that most likely most of us wouldn't be alive if it weren't for you. I don't like that fact, but I'm not hardheaded enough to not accept it. So thank you, I guess, and also thank you for helping me improve. I know you most likely only do it because Tess asked you to, but I still wanted to say that."
Maya leaves without saying anything else.
Wow, isn't Lily a sneaky one? What is she trying to do after our conversation from last time? Is she working on boosting my public image?
I turn my attention back to Biscuit, "What do you think?" I ask him, and he also turns to me while chewing.
(Asshole.)
Dang it, Biscuit.
cerim
I keep forgetting to ask, but if you enjoy the story so far, maybe leave a rating or review - if you feel especially bored or generous.
And as always, thanks for the comments and reading!
