[System Decay] Chapter 38: On the Way to Leveling the Fuck Up

Moving from dungeon to dungeon was easier said than done. All three of them had some form of stealth skill, but they knew they would be contending with silver tracking skills. Azure and Caiyeri had had the presence of mind to at least take themselves out of the party of their elf group, hoping that it would indicate that they were dead.

None of the three expected that to last long, but they needed to use every tiny advantage they had.

The life elves would kill Caiyeri and Azure on sight. Will had floated the thought of having them try to disguise themselves as the other group, but there were apparently some small differences in their magic and racial features that would instantly out them to any competent life elf.

“Also, I’ve spent the entirety of my life in a corrupted hellhole,” Caiyeri commented. “That changes things. Like you.”

She poked him.

Right. Will remembered class selection. That had implied that he could swap his race if he’d been in a normal situation, but even after just a week of fighting in the corrupted cave system, his body had been messed up enough that it had been stripped away from him.

“You’re not going to have options other than running away,” Azure had told him. “Anyone who recognizes the effect of a sigil will see you coming from half a mile away.”

As they located their next dungeon, Will kept that information in mind. The life elves seemed to be less actively confrontational than the abyss nation, which was actively hunting them, so he felt it was okay to get closer to their territory.

The issue with life elf territory, of course, was that they had gone ahead and populated the entire place with monsters. Most of them were bronze-rank or even unformed, but Will tried to avoid fighting them as much as he could. The unformed abominations gave him so little experience that it was barely worth his time to slaughter them, and the bronzes took him long enough to finish off that he didn’t want to leave himself open to tracking skills.

All three of them followed a scattered path, using teleportation, speed, and stealth skills to get from weak dungeon to weak dungeon. The quantity of active portal-types in the area was steadily decreasing just by sheer virtue of how many clears had been done, both by humans and elves. None of them went the same direction, though they stayed within a few minutes’ range of each other.

Traveling through what had once been a Midwestern state and was now a densely-populated hellhole of thick foliage and dangerous monsters could’ve been a lot worse if not for Will’s various skills. Wind Walker, Escape Artist, and Wraith Cloak all helped him skulk his way through the difficult terrain at speed. About half an hour into their frantic dungeon-hopping escape, the grey clouds above them darkened, pouring rain down upon them.

[Power]

- Bound to [Storm]: Once a storm begins, it will not stop. Your stamina depletes at a greatly decreased rate while you are above a walking pace. Difficult terrain caused by water or wind does not impede your movement.

Will’s storm attribute did a lot to keep him going. The rain didn’t impede him, and by continuing at his greatly enhanced pace, he was set to continue on for a while.

The game was definitely up with the abyssal elves. There was no way they hadn’t tried to page Caiyeri and Azure by now, which meant it was that group that the three of them in Will’s party needed to avoid them as much as they could.

Will: Hey, just a heads up—if you see wandeirng elves with black/silver/greyish armor, those are probably abyss elves. Don’t engage with them. Steer very clear. The weakest one of them is silver, and they’re out for blood. They shouldn’t pursue you if you run, but they’re looking for me.

Lev: Appreciate the heads-up. We’re trying to leave the area anyway. Thanks to you, we’re strong enough to make our own path, but we’d really like to get to a place where we won’t be torn apart for material.

Will: Understandable. Good luck.

At least the life elves were easy to avoid. Their tree mazes were easy to spot, some of them littered with blood from the combats that the abyss elves had engaged in there, and the settlements that stretched out from the city were easy to identify visually. They also didn’t chase Will when he got near them, though on the one occasion he had the misfortune of getting close enough to a life elf to tip him off to the existence of the sigil, he’d been forced to kill him and keep running.

Though it seemed stupid, entering life elf territory proved to be a massive boon for them. While they were keeping a very low profile, the same couldn’t be said for the abyssal elves, who moved in packs. After more than a week of precision strikes at their research bases, the life elves were ready for large groups of their enemies to come in and attack them.

Will, Caiyeri, and Azure ducked the issue by being apparently isolated Users, but the rest of the abyss elves didn’t. Though Will couldn’t see it, he could hear the sounds of sirens and clashing magic off in the distance behind him as they ran.

They ended up finding their way to the target they’d identified earlier in about an hour.

Twelve miles north and about a mile west of the life elf city of Verdantwood, there was a lake—Lake Monroe. Said lake had been one of a few notable spots highlighted on his map from even this distance. Will remembered making a trip to it with his friends back in his sophomore year. It was a dull, uninteresting body of water, but with the world successfully ended, Will doubted it would be as boring now.

What currently made it stand out was that it had been converted into a dungeon. A silver-rank dungeon, in fact, which was what made it visible even from miles beyond on the map.

Now, there was an argument to be made that a highly visible dungeon was a bad place to hide in, but Will had different ideas.

When discussing their next steps, he’d taken a look at their capabilities. Each of them was capable of soloing a bronze-rank dungeon, depending on the boss, and they’d just proven that Will and Caiyeri together could kill a competent silver. Dungeon monsters tended to be less sapient and much less able to use strategy than the other living beings Will had dealt with, so a silver rank one was the perfect opportunity for them to advance.

And importantly, nobody was going to look for bronzes in a silver dungeon. Using it as a hiding spot would practically be suicide.

Not that Will planned on simply hiding, of course. He knew that this was going to be an undertaking unlike the dungeons he’d gone through so far, but that was fine with him.

Lake Monroe. Difficulty: silver. Size: massive.

Formerly home to many freshwater fish, Lake Monroe has become a significantly more lethal location after the addition of approximately 0.4 Chernobyls of mana alongside colliding with ancient Arcadian ruins that were further damaged by not one but two separate world-ending events.

If you can’t prove your planet worthy, they might have to make it through a third.

This dungeon spans the entirety of the lake and the space immediately under it. Tracking effects of silver rank and lower from outside the dungeon will fail on those within the dungeon.

It wasn’t a portal-type, but the effect to hide them would serve the same purpose.

“That’s a big dungeon,” Caiyeri said. “You think you’ll survive more than a day in it?”

“Oh, shut it,” Will said. “You’re only a single level higher than me now.”

Caiyeri made a dismayed sound. In the week he’d been gone, Will had caught up quickly. Neither of them used monster cores, so their progression was naturally slower, but Will’s Marked for Death title had gave him a huge boost to his levels when he’d killed other Users.

Once again, Will could see himself bringing his Reaper class to fruition, scything down other Users like rotting wheat. It would be the most practical way to level up.

That was monstrous, though, and Will felt bad for even thinking it. He was fighting for himself, now, but he didn’t want to be a serial killer.

Also, he had an inkling that the Dread Executors and other similarly high-ranked beings wouldn’t take too kindly to a psycho murderer.

“There are entrances all over the lake,” Will said, checking his minimap. “They should be marked for you.”

“I see them,” Azure confirmed. “Shall we go, then?”

“You first,” Will said. “You’re the silver, after all.”

He gauged the elf for reactions, still unsure how to feel about him. Azure hadn’t sold them out to the abyssal elves and hadn’t tried to steal from either of them, but neither Will and Caiyeri knew much about the elf beyond what the basics of his Demolitions Specialist class.

Azure nodded. “Reasonable, though I’ll warn you that I’m not good in an all-out brawl.”

“We’ll see about that.”

Moderately suspicious elf leading the way, the trio made their way to one of the marked entrances.

Sure enough, the lake had been modified. With Will’s improving aura sense, he could feel the sheer force emanating off the water. If he squinted, he could see scintillating rainbows shimmering in the water and, for a brief instant, the dark figure of an animal definitely too large to naturally live in a lake brushing up high enough to catch the rays of the sun.

Their entrance was underwater, which presented a mild problem. Will’s Storm element let him walk through some water uninhibited, though he knew from experience that he would still experience some side effects like his wet clothing slowing him down.

The options were either enter the water or wait for the abyssal elves to track them and kill them, and between the two, their choice was obvious.

All three of them waded into the water cautiously. To Will’s surprise, nothing immediately went wrong. They trudged further in until the water was up to their chests.

“We’re on top of the mark,” Will said. “Where—“

The sand beneath their feet collapsed, and the whirlpool that formed in its wake sucked them in down beneath the water.

#

“Goddamn it,” Lily muttered. “How fast can one person run?”

Lily Teneli, currently ranked second on the regional leaderboard, had a bit of a conundrum.

Basically, the prey she’d been chasing was extraordinarily fast.

“It must have been a speed potion,” she theorized. “There’s no way anyone could run that fast otherwise.”

The corpse before her did not care to comment on that.

Fueled by the incredible amounts of overwhelming violence she’d inflicted upon monsters and humans alike, her Hunter class gave her the ability to find traces of any target.

Based on the sensation that she was pretty sure was associated with the sigil she was looking for, they’d been less than half a mile from her just a few hours ago. But now, after dodging her way through elf encampments and battles—shanking one or two here and there where she thought she could get away with it—she was somehow way further behind.

Skill: [Eye of the Hunt]

- Passive (body, perception).

- Cost: low stamina and mana.

- Cooldown: none.

Bronze

You can see footsteps and other physical indicators that are up to 24 hours old. This effect grows stronger the more recent the effect being tracked is. While following a trail, your speed is amplified.

You can now also select a target based on their trail, showing you the direction to them at all times, unless they are hidden by an anti-tracking effect. This costs a high amount of mana to activate and low mana per second to maintain.

She’d been using that to follow her target, who she now knew was named William Li-Brown. That definitely was a name she ever so slightly remembered, but whatever. She didn’t care. So long as it wasn’t someone she actually cared about, he was basically a bag of XP for her.

The issue was that the trail kept getting colder. That wasn’t supposed to happen. Lily ran like the fucking wind when she had Eye of the Hunt going, and somehow her target was getting faster. Every now and again, he would even disappear from her compass briefly, which she assumed was from him entering dungeons.

He had a sigil she wanted, and he was a way easier target than anyone else who might have a sigil.

As she bobbed and weaved through the elf kingdom, though, she had to give the person some credit. Even alone, operating as quickly and stealthily as she could, it was a damn challenge for Lily to avoid all of the silver-rank elves. Even when she did stay away from them, there was a never-ending stream of animals that had the most fucked-up monsters within.

Not that Lily was going to turn down the chance to grind. Every monster death gave her a monster core, and some of the abominations that the elves had created dropped two. Consuming the bronze-rank ones were starting to give diminishing returns, but she was almost to Bronze 9 already. Sweeping her way through this rank was going to be a cinch.

As she made her way through the forest, Lily’s attention dropped from the task before her to the reward waiting for her at the end of it.

A sigil. Her tutorial had mentioned that at one point. People who got them could participate in the Trial of the Champion, though if they didn’t, they could find an alternate buy-in. A tournament like that sounded heavenly. An opportunity to rise through the ranks even faster than she already was? Golden.

Well, hopefully not just golden. She planned on riding this all the way to godhood and beyond.

Lily’s lack of attention came due when she stumbled into a clearing that she really should have checked for elves. Or monsters, for that matter.

There was a person there.

Check the minimap.

“Aw, shit,” she swore. She was way too close to life elf territory.

This guy also seemed familiar. Lily scrutinized her memory…

Oh! There it was. Andrew Andrews. He’d been third for a while, but had eventually been overtaken by Jackson Grove, who wasn’t part of the Iron Boys and was presumably somewhere else in the state.

“Hold on,” she said. “Aren’t you supposed to still be on the leaderboard? Waiiiiiit a second…”

There was no indicator next to him indicating his position anymore.

Andrew grimaced, holding his hands to his head. “Agh… you’re… hunting the sigil-holder.”

“So what if I am?” Lily asked. “Are you going to get in my way?”

“I… also look for him,” Andrew grunted.

Lily peered closer. He looked like a wreck, but there was magic pulsing through his skin. She could feel it.

“What is wrong with you?” she whispered excitedly.

Andrew Andrews. Level: Silver 0.

This is a squad boss.

There is a saying in the elven regions of Arcadia: you should not let the life ones find your corpse, but NEVER let yourself be taken alive.

This poor guy got taken alive.

New quest: Monster Hunter IV

You are a hunter of great prey, mighty monsters that defy what you should be able to handle.

Kill the one before you.

- Kill the life elf construct formerly known as Andrew Andrews. [0/1]

Reward: Tablet of the Abomination. Power gems.

“Ohoho, now there’s a reward,” Lily whistled. “But I don’t think I’ll claim it just yet.”

Her interests boiled down to “me, myself, and I,” but even she knew that using people could be beneficial. Especially if the person in question was apparently no longer human. With the potential rewards from this quest, she could have her cake and eat it too.

“We can work together,” she lied. “Join me? We’ve got a dude who’s in way over his head to kill.”

“Join… nnf,” Andrew hissed. He paused, started to scream, and cut himself off abruptly half a second into the motion. “Yes. I will… join.”

“Good. Great! C’mon, let’s get going.”

Lily frowned. Did this mean she was on the side of the life elves now?

#

Nymlera monitored her kingdom with dissatisfaction.

The constructs were working, but her people had grown stagnant in her absence. No other leader had been elevated in her place, no ambitious young one pushing themselves to a true and proper gold.

She sensed the presence of the Hunger marring her lands, and yet the elves themselves had not come after the holder. Only their creations.

“Send word,” she told the Brooksouls. “We have waited for far too long. The abyss has made their patterns clear. They seek the Hunger, and so we too shall find them and crush them both.”

“My Lady,” Thalia replied. That girl had always been a sweet one. “Should I abandon my post and give chase?”

“Yours is a well-defended location already,” Nymlera said. “It will do you some good to be separate from the Sacred Roots. Find your own path, Thalia.”

“My Lady,” came the reply. Acceptance, not questioning.

Nymlera closed her eyes, feeling.

There were many sigils in play this cycle. It had been a long time since her own mother had died in the Trial of the Champion, leaving a sigil for her daughter, but now… now, she could finally put paid to the century-long grudge with the Hunger.

Elves lived a long time, and they did not forget.

#

“He throws himself at silvers,” Kadael the Hunger said. “He will perish.”

“I wouldn’t get your hopes up,” Sadareth the Mother replied. “He has the hunger to improve that you desire, and in doing so may defy even Hunger itself.”

“Blasphemy.”

“Is it blasphemy when I am your peer?”

“If not blasphemy, then disrespect.”

Sadareth chuckled. “You know Peace is going to make a move on your divinity this cycle if you do not select a champion. If not her, then War, and neither is one you want at your door.”

“I know,” Kadael said. “But events are converging. Your elves seek him. Humans chase after him for power and my sigil. There is time yet.”

“Not only those,” Sadareth countered. “The Trial is earlier than ever. The Dread Executors… something is changing. The cycle is not what it should be. Tread lightly.”

“I will not submit to a human,” Kadael hissed, eyes blazing with immortal fury.

Sadareth took his cheeks in her hands. “Tell me you will make the decision to live if it is required of you.”

Kadael stared at her angrily for a moment longer, then sighed. “Yes. Only if he survives to the night before the tournament.”

Just like that, Sadareth knew the god had already lost.

#

Ayla blinked.

She was not on the moon anymore. She wasn’t back home, either, nor was she on the planet she’d been on when she’d been taken in.

She was… floating?

Far below her, she could see Earth.

Dread Executor Ramiel: This is the most I can manage. You are one of the ones with a link to the Beyond.

The system. She wasn’t supposed to have access to it here, not with the suppression engraved into her soul—and indeed, her skills hadn’t been returned.

Yet she could use the chat without a physical interface. She was suspended millions of miles from a planet, and she was alive.

Ayla Dreamer: Yes. Where am I? Why am I here?

Ramiel: You are here because you accepted. You are in a dead zone, hidden from the organization’s—

Ayla: I know what a dead zone is. I assume I can’t return at this stage.

Ramiel: Correct. What you can do is observe. One of your project is about to bear fruit or die on the vine.

Ayla: This is a test. You’re talking about the corruption-bound one.

Ramiel: Also correct. Should he fail to form his own link with the Beyond or perish, I will return you to your quarters and allow you to continue your trials. The tutorial structure was under orbital assault when I left. Your temporary absence will go unnoticed.

Ayla: He’ll win.

Ramiel: I have heard that many times before. I sincerely hope this works, Void Dreamer. I must take my leave. There are other planets and other worlds that require my attention.

Ayla: As you were, Dread Executor.

Then it was silent once more. There was nobody else to chat with, only a small window that displayed a very familiar man.

Will. Bronze-rank, well on his way to building the foundation for the ascent to silver.

Despite the lack of oxygen, Ayla wanted to laugh, delirium rising in her mind.

Almost a century of work, and my path relies on one man that barely survived his tutorial, she thought.

And somehow, she’d never been so certain that she’d chosen correctly.