MM - Chapter 217 - A TEMPER TO DIE FOR

Raine casually rested on Connection-solidified air. With the recent lopsided boost to his attributes, doing so was easier than ever. He met the accusatory glowers of the city guards below. The rank-and-file soldiers were ignored, his attention fixed solely on the group of 3rd-tier elites. Each was above level 100 and way out of his league; however, there was little they could do to harm him. 

The elites wouldn't attack. Their fury was held in check by the certainty that any exchange of force would inflict devastating damage upon the town they were sworn to protect. They were, however, royally pissed, and under normal circumstances, would have already arrested him.

The circumstances were anything but normal. 

Raine’s ability to freely move through the air meant that only a 4th-tier powerhouse could easily apprehend him. After the expansion, every Vaaterran town now employed such a guardian. Yet, Raine knew full well that Marshal Venerus was not coming. As with every powerhouse, the man was currently overwhelmed with an out-of-control beast population. Low-level beasts weren’t the only threat; even the most powerful monsters had multiplied. These creatures were intensely territorial, and their expansionist clashes placed every settlement across all of Vaateaire in escalating danger. 

This, combined with Raine’s high reputation and Queen's Favor, left the guards with no recourse but to shout impotently from the ground. A vein throbbed in their leader’s temple. He wore the insignia of a centurion—an officer who often controlled the destinies of several thousand soldiers. His voice was a furious bellow that echoed across the empty graveyard. “Get down here this instant, criminal!”

Raine canted his head in mock consideration. “Criminal? That's a bit harsh, don't you think? I am extinguishing the enemies of the crown. By what definition does that make me a criminal?”

The centurion’s face flushed, confusion warring with rage. “What enemies? These are Her Majesty's subjects you’ve slaughtered!”

Raine threw his head back and laughed. None joined in his humorous outburst. “Outsiders are subjects now? Is that so? Considering the sheer volume of outsiders I found here, I would argue there is significant leeway for interpretation in your claim. Tell me, Centurion, are you planning to charge every person who killed a Traveler today?”

That brought the man up short, but he recovered quickly, finger jabbing toward the sky. “No! However, your… your butchery is taking place within walls protected by Her Majesty! This is a clear violation of the Accords of Territorial Sovereignty, even for a noble!”

Raine’s pointer finger bobbing right back at the man below. “Right you are, which is why I fully intend to pay the associated fine for my actions.”

The centurion threw his hands up in exasperation. “Then come down here and pay it!”

Raine’s lips curled into a smirk. “No, thank you. I prefer this vantage; it's a rather lovely view. Crimson, so kind of you to join us. Collect our spoils, would you, my dear?”

Celeste froze, her gaze darting from the sea of glittering loot to the impenetrable ring of high-level guards. She couldn't believe he expected her to physically push through them.

The centurion’s roar confirmed her fears, simultaneously laying bare the guards’ true objective. “You can’t! By royal decree, those items are forfeit! They belong to Her Majesty!”

Raine was glad to finally arrive at the heart of the matter. “What nonsense are you spewing now? By both the Edict of Spoils and the Visitors Integration Mandate, those items belong to the victor of the engagement, which is to say, Astra Infernum. Any associated taxes are, of course, another matter entirely. Oh, and doesn't the Mandate also place the collection of outsider-related taxes beyond your jurisdiction… Centurion?”

Raine knew damn well he was correct. The centurion and his entourage did not have the authority to countermand established law, a fact that was dawning on them with painful slowness.

Just then, a new group of unfortunates materialized within the graveyard. Raine didn’t bother registering if they were associated with a guild or solo. A torrent of golden flames erupted from his outstretched hand, washing over the newcomers and incinerating them where they stood. Collateral damage was, after all, an unfortunate consequence of war. These early, brutal examples would serve as a lesson to any who considered living near or doing business with the enemies of Astra Infernum.

Soul damage had the particularly nasty side effect of prolonging respawn timers. Where it typically took four or five consecutive deaths to force a player into a multi-hour timeout, two by soul damage was more than sufficient. Each person to appear beneath him had already died once to get where they were. With Raine’s ‘help,’ the law of five was triggered, ensuring they would spend most of the day locked in darkness.

The centurion’s jaw worked, his voice strained. “Cease your murdering at once! Do you expect us to believe you're going to pay a gold fine for each of these deaths?!”

Raine chuckled darkly, a grin spreading across his face that rivaled the horizon. “Why would I do that? This is an isolated incident, affecting only Travelers. It's not as if I'm dashing through the streets killing indiscriminately. I’ll pay one gold for this entire debacle, and one gold only. Now that I’m thinking about it, the law states that murder will be penalized, but am I really murdering them? These outsiders are barely inconvenienced. They'll be back in no time. Hmm, perhaps I'll use my favor to request that Her Majesty amends that troublesome law to exclude outsiders altogether…”

The centurion’s face went pale. “You can't! There would be chaos! We have to work with the Travelers! We can't simply kill them on sight! And neither can you!”

Raine held up his hands in a placating gesture, having achieved his goal. The first rule of negotiation was to overreach, then graciously settle for what you wanted all along. “Fine, fine. I see your point. It doesn’t change the present situation, however. I am going to continue eliminating my guild's enemies until I am satisfied. Afterward, I will pay whatever fine Marshal Venerus deems appropriate.”

The centurion drew himself up even as his authority crumbled around him. “That is outrageous! I am the acting Judictant of this town!”

“As you wish.” Raine flicked a solitary golden coin from his perch. It spun end over end, a glittering insult that landed squarely in the centurion’s palm. He gave the man a shit-eating grin. “Pleasure doing business with you. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have some cleanup to do.”

The centurion’s second-in-command stepped forward, hand on the hilt of her sword. “We aren’t going anywhere!”

Raine’s smile vanished, replaced by chilling seriousness. “Of course not. Because guards as outstanding as yourselves surely have nothing better to do than stand here while the beast populations run amok just beyond your walls.”

The centurion conferred with his colleagues in furious whispers, desperately searching for a legal loophole that might grant them access to the queen’s ransom at their feet. They came up empty-handed. Defeated, they eventually dispersed, though the centurion’s second remained behind, a silent, glowering sentinel tasked with ensuring Raine’s violence remained confined to the graveyard. With the path cleared, Raine motioned for Celeste to collect the spoils.

Her mind reeled with the implications of what she had witnessed. Guards in ZionLine were notoriously headstrong and overpowered; a single misstep usually landed you behind bars before even understanding that you’d done something wrong. She knew Raine was a noble, but that didn’t feel like a sufficient explanation. Something else was at play here, and she internally congratulated herself for recording everything.

Over the next hour, Raine systematically executed anyone foolish enough to respawn. Most had logged out, realizing the futility of returning anytime soon. By the time their donations began to dry up, nearly thirty thousand pieces of gear had been collected by Celeste, enough to supply Astra for some time. The relief oozing from her was palpable. While not enough to fully make up for her mistake, a great deal of the burden had evaporated.

With the graveyard silent, Raine descended gracefully, his demonic armor vanishing, replaced by basic leathers. He nodded, approval flickering across his features. “That should keep our recruits armed and dangerous for a few days. Not to mention letting CronGate know they’re on the clock to strike a devastating blow before their war funds completely dry up.”

Her brows furrowed in concern. "If they're pressured to deal with us sooner, won't that escalate the attacks on Belehorn?"

"If they're smart, which some of them are, it will do the opposite. I've just painfully demonstrated how much income there is to lose, and make, in ZL. Why kill us on Earth before stripping us bare here? They'd be throwing away a fortune."

Celeste gasped, then her lips squeezed together as a surge of pride wormed its way up from her chest. To so thoroughly hamstring an enemy's momentum, while robbing them blind, and make it all look easy, was something only Raine could get away with. Heat washed up her neck, and she changed the topic lest her discomfort grow worse. “The way you handled those guards... I didn’t know that was possible.”

Raine waved a dismissive hand, his other occupied by a Return Stone. “At the moment, knowledge is our only viable weapon against the Vaaterrans. Wielding it is common sense. Head back to Mirror Lake and prepare to distribute that gear when I let you know it's safe for the recruits to log in.”

Celeste hesitated, the toe of her boot twisting against the cobblestones. “Wait! Let me come with you. I want to see how you're going to make it safe for the recruits.”

Raine’s eyes narrowed in mild amusement before he snorted. Letting her witness what he planned next wasn’t a terrible idea, considering his long-term plans for her. “Sure. Meet me at the crafters' hall in Silverlight.”

Raine disappeared first, arriving on a street teeming with now-wary Travelers. The gleaming spires of the Silvergate Palace and the reward waiting within beckoned, but it wasn’t quite time yet. They met at a prominent hall dominating the center of the Commoners’ District, where he rented a beginner crafting room. The space was well-stocked with multiple smelting stations, furnaces, and all the tools needed to utilize them. Its bare stone walls were etched with faint runes, and a well-lit workbench was winged by shelves lined with scrolls and books. 

The door locked behind them, ensuring no interruptions. First, from his inventory, he retrieved the Tome of Seventy-Seven Praises to Bhima. The ancient book materialized in his hand with a soft thud that drew Celeste’s attention. Raine flipped to the passage earned from his triumph over the patriarch of the Primal Realm.

“This early lesson on the nuances of Genesis is for those of you with an ounce of talent or luck, lest you ruin what could be a promising start. Genesis culminates in a belief crystallizing to the point of altering reality. Be very judicious with your choice of beliefs, for once affirmed, they must never be altered. It is better to abandon a weak belief and wait for the next opportunity than consign yourself to a lifetime of inadequacy. As for which beliefs are superior or inferior, well, that is a topic that will be argued until the end of time. All I can say is to trust your gut and ensure there are no fallacies in your beliefs, no chinks in the armor of your conviction. When it comes to mental abilities, a single hole in reasoning is all it takes to unwind decades of effort.”

Raine frowned, both agreeing and not understanding.

That confirms my theory that mental abilities are ideals. But what does he mean by altering it? Didn’t I do that in the Primal Realm to turn bloodlust to mist? I could tell what I was trying was dangerous. It felt like that tiger would really kill me if it wanted to… There’s so much I don’t know. How many other close calls have I had because of pure ignorance? Scary.

He shook away the thoughts, jaw clenching as he steeled himself for the ordeal ahead. Turning to Celeste, his voice dropped with gravitas. "Crimson. Don’t ever try to alter the fundamental ideal behind your mental ability, okay?"

Celeste blinked rapidly before her posture straightened, and she nodded. “I'm not sure what that means, but I understand. I won't.”

Raine found himself enjoying her new, agreeable attitude more and more. His harsh expression softened. “Good. You, Mel, and I will have a serious training session soon. I’ll answer your questions then.”

Celeste's face lit up, and her nod turned vigorous, committing the promise to memory. Raine sat and centered his breathing while sending messages to both Mel and Morty, who were waiting on standby. Then, he activated the Soul Flame of Amanesh’s Sacrifice.

Raine’s existence dissolved into a storm of sensation. The tempering process seized control of bloodlust, and familiar ripples cascaded through his body. The waves were stronger this time, scorching his flesh with terrifying swiftness. There was no time to lose. Diving deep into the nuances, he grasped at understanding. As the ripples permeated his chest and worked through his limbs, a realization occurred. The purpose of the waves was to violently agitate his cells with raw friction, tossing them against their neighbors in a chaotic frenzy that generated an internal inferno. The heat built and built, rapidly reaching a crescendo of excruciating pain.

On Earth, the same process was ravaging his physical body. Mel stood vigil, face tight with worry. Morty’s drones hovered nearby, tracking the alarming rise in Raine’s temperature. Before starting, he issued a single, stark warning: only intervene if his temperature exceeded the thermal signature of a grandmaster. That limit was breached with shocking speed.

Morty's voice cracked with urgency. “Now!”

Mel heaved up on the head of her bed, her own strength a surprise. Raine slid into the tub of freezing water at its foot and was summarily submerged. Immediately, he began convulsing. The shock was immense, steam hissing violently as superheated skin met an icy embrace. Caught between elements and worlds, a chilling epiphany pierced the fog of his agony.

Death was the whole point. Only at the brink of death can true growth be grasped.

Raine understood now that his cells needed to die—or be brought to the absolute brink of death. Tempering wasn’t about strengthening cells; it relied on reaching the verge of oblivion to fundamentally remake them into something beyond human. Through a monumental effort of will, Raine forced his eyes open in ZionLine. Boiling blood gushed from them, staining his cheeks. Celeste gasped sharply, hands flying to her mouth as she was torn between panic and heartbreak, but he couldn't see it. All his focus was on transmitting a single, frantic message to Morty.

“Get me out! I have to die!”

Morty reiterated the command, drones moving to comply. Mel mirrored Celeste’s reaction, her knuckles whitening as she gripped the tub's edge. What he was asking was insane, a clear path to self-destruction. For the first time since signing it, Mel cursed the contract binding her to obey. She had no choice. With tears blurring her vision, she grasped Raine’s burning skin and hauled his steaming body from the boiling water. Rivulets fell and sizzled on the floor.

The heat instantly redoubled, climbing past known limits of human endurance, searing Raine’s flesh and boiling his blood. Veins bulged like molten rivers under his skin; muscles spasmed in futile rebellion. For a fraction of a second, Raine’s heart stuttered to a stop. He was dead.

Then, metamorphosis ignited. A tidal wave of raw energy surged through him, eating at the vast reserves of vital nutrients he had consumed throughout the night. With each shuddering pulse of bloodlust, his cells were reforged. However, the damage was done. His body was a ruined mess, barely holding itself together. Knowing what needed to be done next, he took the reins, pushing and pulling vital nutrients through his bloodstream with each feeble beat of his heart. He forced the nutrients to activate, rapidly repairing the damage.

Agony warped into ecstasy as fire became life. Before he could celebrate, the tempering began anew, obliterating his meager evolution. Again and again the cycle repeated, each building on what came before, culminating in a profound transmutation of all that he was. Raine lost all sense of time amid the endless loops of death and renewal. At last, he gasped, awareness flooding back as blessed air rushed into his lungs. His eyes snapped wide, revealing a host of shimmering system alerts.

[Soul tempering critical success!]

[Soul Flame of Amanesh: (Chaotic Gold - Soulbound - LVL 44) A named soul flame that has found a satisfactory home in its host’s flesh. Additional tempering of the soul is required to unleash its full potential (Soul Resistance 40 > 80) (All attributes +132)]

[Innate skill 1 - Sacrifice: Douse your soul in flames to further boost your resistance to soul-damaging effects and gain mastery over the Soul Flame of Amanesh (Current Mastery: 5/10) (Cooldown: 6 days, 16 hours, 21 minutes)]

More Soul Resistance? Fuck yeah. Wait, I jumped two extra levels of mastery? How? Why? I wasn’t doing anything special, was I? The cooldown on Sacrifice should be a full week. I lost eight hours? Shit, felt like fifteen minutes. How many times did I die?

Not actually wanting to know, Raine moved on.

[Innate skill 2 - Purge: In a burst of intense heat, eradicate toxins, poisons, and paralytics from the body. Note: causes some discomfort (Cooldown: 30 > 20 seconds)]

[Innate passive 1 - Sharing is Caring: Wield your inner flame against your enemies, dealing 50 > 220 soul damage per second (Damage = Mastery x Level) (no cooldown) (no cost)]

[Innate passive 2 - Wisdom of Amanesh: Concentrate your inner flame in two areas of the body simultaneously for a wide variety of effects (Currently available: Hands / Arms / Eyes / Legs / Back) (Further mastery will unlock additional areas) (no cooldown) (no cost)]

220 DPS is no joke. The average Traveler won’t have over 2,000 health until level 30. If they can’t kill me within 10 seconds, they’re dead. I can use wisdom in two areas at a time now? Hell yeah! Eyes, legs, and back are new. Can’t wait to take those for a test flight.

[Nascent attributes adjusted to reflect Earth fitness]

[Potency: 8% > 9% (22 > 25)]

[Finesse: 9% (25)]

[Acuity: 8% > 9% (23 > 25)]

[Physique: 9% (28)]

[Connection: 25 > ERROR! (65)]

[Congratulations: Your fitness is ranked in the top 1% of Travelers!]

Two nascent increases in one go? How is that possible? Each point represents years of fitness training! What the hell did I do? More importantly, how much closer am I to Jedidiah now?

Raine lifted a fist, squeezing it as tightly as he could. The feedback wasn’t what he wanted. His outside body had changed much more than his avatar; he needed to log out and feel the differences for himself. He pushed upright, a faint tremor in his limbs the only remnant of the ordeal. 

Celeste, having fought with all her mental might not to react to his thoughts, spun at the sound of him moving. Her chair clattered to the floor as she dropped the scroll she had been reading. She didn't say a word before diving at him and wrapping her arms around him in a crushing hug. “I hate you so much!” The words were squeezed from lungs constricted by emotion. Tremors wracked her form—so small and soft—as fresh tears from their pressed cheeks tickled his skin. She clung tight, refusing to let go.

[Why did I say that? I’m such a liar. Watching you bleed to death for hours on end was the worst thing I’ve ever had to sit through. No, it wasn’t a lie. I do hate you. I hate you for making me feel like this! I hate you for making my heart hurt every time I look at you! I hate you for how good it feels to just hug you. Fuck!]

Raine gently patted her head, basking in the strong scent of her hair and skin. He would have been perfectly fine staying exactly where he was for an hour, but now wasn’t the time; there was far too much to do and he’d lost hours already. “So worked up over the second time? That was only the beginning. I know the secret now; the path to peak master, and beyond.”

Celeste’s head jerked back, staring up at him with huge, wet eyes that were too close to see anything else. Her lips parted, but no words escaped. What was one to say when coming face to face with the most important secret kept from the whole world—the ultimate truth—zealously guarded by those in power, their only means to maintain that power?

The truth was delivered in a gentle whisper. “They say grandmasters can live forever, but it was never about survival. Tempering is transcendence—a forced revolution of the cells. Death and rebirth, destruction leading to a more perfect form of life. To grow, you must first destroy. Remember that when your turn comes. And it will, sooner than you think.”