MM - Chapter 177 - MAKING CONNECTIONS

Raine only had to wait a few seconds before a shower of loot bubbles exploded from the alpha’s rapidly decaying corpse. He scooped them up without delay, a glance to the side confirming Selena was staying put. Unsurprisingly, the noble’s drops were several steps above standard. For any normal group of level 49s, meeting that monster would have resulted in an immediate wipe. Risk and reward demanded that the gear be exceptional.

[Switch Claws (Fist Weapons): (Marvelous Gold - LVL 50) (Attack Power +255) (Attack Speed +1.5) (PTC +58) (FNS +68) (ACU +68) (Durability 220/220) (Innate skill - Static Discharge: When in a combat state, wielder’s movement contributes to a building static charge which can be unleashed at will, dealing 200% Physical Damage as Lightning Damage. Static charges beyond 100% capacity will link to additional targets with a chance to strike the wielder]

Raine clicked his tongue. The damage output of the wickedly serrated claws was no joke. If he equipped the weapons, 200% of his physical damage would be over seven thousand damage. Taking a hit that hard from your own weapons was less than ideal. Worse still, several details were not covered by the lengthy description. First, Raine understood better than anyone how much movement was required when fighting with fist weapons; the static charge would build quickly, very quickly. All it would take to get himself killed was being forced away from a boss when the charge was nearly capped. The chances of being included in the link weren’t as slim as the claws made it sound. If it was one-on-one or if several of his allies were teaming up to take down a boss, friendly fire was guaranteed. The last unmentioned detail was that if he chose not to unleash the charge for fear of killing himself or an ally, the claws would explode, likely at around 500% charge, which was normal for these types of weapons.

Regardless, he wasn’t anywhere near being able to use the weapon.

[Brazen Blink Boots (Medium - Feet): (Lustrous Blue - LVL 50) (HP +175) (DEF +45) (Movement Speed +5.5) (Discipline +170) (FIN +70) (ACU +70) (Durability 175/175) Innate Skill: Thunderous Translocation: Teleports the wearer up to 100 meters within line of sight, releasing a clap of thunder at both ends (Cooldown: 1 hour)]

Can’t say it's a great idea to announce where you’ve fled to, but they’d make for a hell of an ambush. Nothing like starting a fight with your enemies bleeding from the ears.

[Plains Cape: (Lustrous Blue - LVL 50) (HP +190) (Discipline +220) (FNS +165) (Durability 200/200)]

Fitting name… That boost to only Finesse is intense for a level 50 item. Without the right equipment to balance it out, could screw a build. Will have to be careful who I give it to.

[Plummus Alpha Reverse Claw: (Lustrous Blue) A sufficiently skilled weaponsmith can find a variety of uses for this masterfully sharpened claw. Boosts Attack Power when integrated with any slashing or piercing weapon. Further boosts to Durability regardless of weapon type]

[Plummus Ear: (Lustrous Blue) Affix to any headpiece post-hardening to increase auditory fidelity regardless of design type or material. Further boosts Acuity based on quality of the final product]

Raine sighed deeply and gave himself a shake, casting off the adrenaline from the intense encounter. The Plummus Alpha had been above his pay grade in both speed and power. Yet he fought it anyway, even daring to experiment with his new abilities. If not for getting a lucky draw that made it unable to use a majority of its skills, the beast easily could have come out on top. Raine took a few brief seconds to acknowledge his mistakes, then mentally replayed the fight with an adjusted strategy that didn’t result in a near death.

Chasing after a challenge before I’ve fully adapted to my new fighting style and skills was sloppy. I need to focus on solidifying my foundation. While doing that, I’ll gain a few levels so I can use the better equipment I already have. Looks like I’ll be leaving my growth weapons behind again. A bit of lost Superiority isn’t nearly as important as upgrading the weapons that are now half of my level.

With business out of the way, it was time for pleasure. With eager fingers, Raine opened the Tome of seventy-seven praises to Bhima, flipping to the newly revealed passage. He ate up each line, more and more certain that he was reading the words of the Old Monster Ziegfried.

“The second lesson in the series of the mind: stress… is good for you. What is stress? It is both a measure of the magnitude of pressure on an object or person and also the burden on emotional well-being created by the myriad demands of life. For this lesson, we will focus on the results of stress affecting the body.

The body naturally responds to ordeals with multifarious symptoms, their culmination is casually referred to as stress. Do not be deceived. These ‘symptoms’ are not nefarious; they are the brain’s way of preparing the body for the challenges ahead. Whether it be a fight, an encounter with a figure of authority, a heated argument, public speaking, it matters not. The stress will come, taking the form of elevated blood flow that supplies additional oxygen to the muscles and brain, heat, loosening the muscles, heightened twitch reactions for boosted speed, sensitivity to danger through a sharpened mental state, and the list goes on. How, then, can one misconstrue such good things as adverse? Embrace the stress that comes before the battle. Let it cleanse and prepare you. Only a negative outlook can create the type of stress that is harmful. Do not bottle it up, accept and experience it fully, for it is empowering you. Then, take the next step.”

Potency: +1

Raine nodded, momentarily lost in thought. How a particular subject was viewed often had a dramatic impact on whether it was perceived as harmful or helpful. The underlying message in Ziegfried’s words was to embrace things that might not be readily comfortable or enjoyable. Deciding to turn stress into something positive would fundamentally alter the chemicals produced by the brain, and controlling the brain was the whole point of the lessons of the mind.

Well, that proves it. To earn each new passage, I need to fight enemies with mental abilities.

Glancing at the distant Selena, Raine recalled her thrown dagger. He’d acted on honed instinct, slowing it just enough with Connection that he barely eked out a dodge. Until recently, such an attempt would have failed as his Connection lacked the raw output to slow such a powerful, one-use item.

Excited to regain another lost technique, Raine jumped into the air without the use of any skills. Connection solidified the air enough for his unnaturally heavy body to run at Selena. Lunge only required the slightest resistance against the body to activate, something even a low-level could achieve with the proper training. Raine’s current weight was well above a normal humans to endure the stresses caused by high attributes, showcasing just how much force his Connection could now exert on the world.

Selena went from wide-mouthed astonishment to a fit of giggles when Raine’s foot burst through a solidified section of air, almost sending him crashing to the ground. His hands grasped at invisible anchors to recover. After that, he jogged, growing more accustomed to his attributes’ capabilities with each step. He caught the princess and dropped to the ground with a hefty thud.

By the time he arrived, Selena’s gaze had turned hard, complex currents of concern swirling beneath the surface, “You know that nearly everything you just did should be impo… Nevermind. Forget I said anything.” She spun north, brows drawn down in deep thought.

“Wait.” The warning in Raine’s tone had the desired effect. Selena crouched, sword springing to existence in her grasp. “Use this.” She caught the vial of alchemical powder with a frown that quickly turned to anger.

[Ensconcing Powder: (Common Grey) Masks the prints of any footwear it is sprinkled upon (Uses: 5/5) (Duration: 2 hours)]

Raine tapped out a dose of the same powder on the sole of each of his boots. “If he were going to catch up, he would have done so already. The only thing that could stop him out here is horrible luck, or a group of elites from the Empire.”

Selena’s eyes flew wide, and she couldn’t help but scan the horizon. The Silvergate Kingdom and Dantinian Empire had been at war for generations. Nobles going missing, only to end up as a chip on the other side’s bargaining table, were unfortunately common. While they weren’t heading in the direction of the Empire, it would be negligent to rule out their interference. Raine had hoped to not burden the princess with another stress when it was clear she was barely holding it together. That time had passed.

With a pained cringe, Selena doused both her boots as well. The usually talkative girl remained unspeaking as their journey resumed. Her consistent glances and the worrying of her lower lip revealed how troubled she was by his fight against the alpha. Challenging an elite monster solo wasn’t normal, and defeating a Noble with less than a full raid even less so. Vaaterrans were superior to the average Traveler in almost all regards. Yet, they never fought Noble beasts with less than a ten-to-one numerical advantage.

It wasn’t Raine’s personal power that frightened her; it was the prospect that all Travelers might eventually become just as dangerous. Silvergate's outward threats were bad enough, and now they had hundreds of thousands of powerful, potentially uncontrollable individuals stuffing their towns and cities.

Raine felt no need to reassure her. The threat to her way of life was very real, and the more seriously she took it, the greater his odds of being hired as a special consultant to the throne. He left her clouded by dark thoughts. Now wasn’t the time to push a clever girl like her. His efforts would only backfire into further suspicion. While she ruminated on her kingdom being overrun by Travelers, Raine dedicated himself to exploring the second Connection threshold.

Unlike the other attributes, Connection was multifaceted, complicated in the extreme, confusing, and far from intuitive. In the past, Raine lacked the True Connection required to take full advantage of the second and third thresholds.

In simple terms, Connection bridged the gap between worlds, allowing the human brain to interact with a reality—a living, breathing universe that was not its own. The first threshold strengthened that link, granting the brain a basic ability to exert physical pressure on the world. That ability only grew more potent as the Connection attribute increased. Still, it would never be as strong as what one could achieve with the other attributes. For instance, Raine could affect the air much more fiercely with a punch than he ever would with Connection.

Yet that was only the first threshold. The second was something else entirely. There were more forces at play in Vaateaire than the physical. Celestial, Demonic, and Elemental Power, to name a few. With the second Connection threshold came the ability to interact with and manipulate these metaphysical forces. As with all things, doing so was the hard part.

Before it became possible to manipulate, the brain had to be rewired to feel and understand. Elemental Power didn't exist on Earth, therefore, the human brain wasn't wired to see, feel, or interact with it in any meaningful way. It was a similar concept to how some animals could see colors outside the human spectrum. Even if a human were implanted with artificial eyes capable of seeing those colors, their brain wouldn’t have any idea how to decode the information, so the colors would remain invisible.

Detecting Elemental Power required a whole new set of neural pathways, and those had to be built through trial and error, along with a great deal of effort. That was where True Connection came into play. Only a True Connection could detect feedback from the metaphysical forces of Vaateaire. With years of practice, feedback evolved into understanding, and understanding led to manipulation, which in turn granted unrivaled power.

Raine had seen what casters could do with mastery over the second Connection threshold, and no regular old skill could compare. A single Blast could be manipulated at will, split into a hundred copies capable of complex flight patterns while homing onto their targets, each packed with many times the power of the base skill. Oceans of fire birthed from a palm, glaciers the size of islands dropped from the stratosphere, living lightning that could zip from target to target, feeding itself with each life taken until armies were wiped from existence, the list went on and on.

Well before that point, what casters could do stopped being called skills and adopted a new moniker: Spells.

For those rare and gifted spellcasters of the past, imagination and resource pools were the only limitations. Raine had no delusions that he would ever stand beside those legendary masters; his specialties lay elsewhere. However, there was a great deal more utility and power he could get out of his existing skills if he could gain just a fraction of their competence.

As minutes stretched into hours, Raine bounced between flexing his Connection in an attempt to further sense it and messaging Mel. Celeste was overwhelmed enough with her current responsibilities and didn’t need him breathing down her neck. Mel kept him up to date on the recruits and the difficulties Astra was facing. 

Despite the many deaths, they were faring better than expected. In Raine’s opinion, CronGate was doing him a favor by being the hammer to ZionLine’s anvil. His people were being sharpened from civilians into blooded warriors one death at a time. Meanwhile, his officers were gaining invaluable experience in command. When he returned, they would be perfectly primed to appreciate the knowledge he planned to share with them. Until then, suffering would be their tutor.

Raine fully briefed Mel on the spies making their lives so much more difficult, and also firmly instructed her to do nothing about them. Mel was sweet, thoughtful, and caring to a fault. Watching her people die when she could help was the perfect opportunity to rein in those impulses lest they remain a weakness. It would be a particularly excruciating lesson for her, but Raine was confident she could handle it. With everyone else trying so hard, how could Mel give any less?

Day turned to night, and their journey continued, interrupted only by the occasional break to the outside world to relieve himself. Selena’s previous demeanor failed to return. The absence of Lyale was heavy on her shoulders, compounded by Raine continuing to butcher every beast they came across nearly as effortlessly as her guardsman had.

The darkness of a cloudy, rain-filled night gradually turned to a gray and dreary morning. Selena’s only muttered words were direct yes or no responses to Raine’s requests. Their pace slowed, the princess attempting to reconcile a distant memory with the current landscape to locate the Mystic Land’s entrance. Eventually, she paused within a narrow valley of calf-length, golden grass. 

“This is it. I’m sure of it.” With a drowsy yawn, Selena sat and closed her eyes, almost instantly falling into slumber. Having no need for the same, Raine remained on guard, never straying far from his charge as the day once more shifted to night.

Raine practiced utilizing and sensing the feedback from both Connection and bloodlust while clearing out the local beast population. Once he was unable to find more prey, he sat quietly beside Selena, senses sharp as he reviewed his gains from their brisk journey.

NAME: Alaric

CLASS: Armsman

PROFESSION: Adept Engineer

MASTERY: 46/150

TITLE: Spearhead of Orthrus / Sky Catcher / One Man Army / Big Game Executioner

ASPECT: Greater Aspect of the Werewolf

LEVEL: 31 > 33

SUPERIORITY: 14M / 90M

ATTUNEMENT: 54,032%

GENERAL SKILL POINTS: 0

HEALTH POINTS: 2,500 > 3,010 (8,416)

ATTACK POWER: 495 > 530 (1,281)

DEFENSE: 250 > 301 (1,105)

RESISTANCE: 375 > 393 (616)

CRITICAL RATE: 50.73% (51.58%)

ELEMENTAL POWER: 500 > 524 (821)

CELESTIAL POWER: 500 > 524 (821)

DEMONIC POWER: 500 > 524 (1,196)

DISCIPLINE: 500 > 563 (1,834)

ATTACK SPEED: 3.6 (4.4)

MOVE SPEED: 24.5 > 28.1 (70.97)

POTENCY: 250 > 263 (700)

FINESSE: 239 > 261 (606)

ACUITY: 250 > 272 (458)

PHYSIQUE: 250 > 301 (675)

CONNECTION: 250 > 262 (415)

WEAPON ATTUNEMENTS:

[Fists - Adept 3,331/25,000%]

[Mace - Adept 3,160/25,000%]

[Knives - Adept 3,489/25,000%]

[Shield - Adept 3,307/25,000%]

[Axes - Adept 2,988/25,000%]

[Staff - Adept 3,712/25,000%]

[Wands - Adept 3,222/25,000%]

[Spear - Adept 2,907/25,000%]

[Swords - Adept 4,000/25,000%]

The only warning that something was coming was a slight shift in the ambient air pressure. At first, Raine thought it a figment of his imagination, birthed from focusing intently on his Connection for too long. That only lasted until the heavy cloud cover was blasted apart by a massive monument falling from the heavens.

Selena was torn from her rest as the towering construct slammed into the distant ground in an eruption of soil. When the dust settled, they beheld a tombstone-shaped slab of dark metal. Its center swirled with an ominous crimson energy—the gateway to another realm. Stones rose from the ground, forming a path that led forward, toward the unknown. They locked eyes, and the princess gave a nervous nod, signaling that she was ready to face whatever destiny had in store for her.