Chapter 747 - Others you should be wary of

POV Lily Chen

When Nathaniel returns to the common area, he immediately sits down.

At first, nothing happens, he simply sits there, dealing with his body upgrade. But after a few seconds, his shoulders begin to shake. A moment later, he coughs, and a bit of his blood sprays onto the ground beneath him.

I do not step in, but I worry that he may have wounded himself too much again and is in pain. That thought disappears when I realize what is actually happening.

Nathaniel starts laughing, his shoulders rising with the effort. He laughs loudly and openly, which only causes him to cough up more blood that dirties his lips and chin. None of this stops him at all. That laugh grows louder and louder. For a while, it even seems like mana and thermal energy explode around him in sync.

He is laughing just like a child who pulled off a trick he is very proud of.

The entire time he laughs, he curses at the System, at himself, at the tournament, at some random cowardly thylarin with a bow, at Savant, and for some reason, at the Ruler of Diligence because of something that happened in the armory and in the end he even wishes for Elydor to be resurrected, just so he can kill him again.

When his crashout stops, he turns to look at me with that bright smile still on his face. None of his complaints has taken even a speck of happiness out of it. Even as he is now, every second and lost concentration away from death, he looks more lively than ever before.

Seeing that I look at him in surprise, his smile only widens.

Any words I would have said get stuck in my throat as I watch that smile. As it slowly disappears, and he returns to his usual expression, I feel a great loss.

Just how it all could have been if his childhood had not been the way it was.

***

POV Nathaniel

The rest of the second event continues even without me, and both sides fight over control of the bridge. Yet, it becomes super easy for Earth to win. There is no building up defenses or anything else, they just rush over the bridge while dealing with deadly green lashes, toxic mist, and the bridge’s mana disrupting material. Then they clash against the thylarin, who are missing a good chunk of their number because an unexpected explosion went off in their midst.

Christoph does not participate in the event at all and just sits it out, which allows the rest of the Hell difficulty groups to do their stuff.

I honestly think Earth would stomp that thylarin planet called Nythis even without me or Christoph. Earth’s talent pool is something incredible, even with the advantages some more “powerful” races should have. Earth has no things like Demon hearts for demons, Wyvern bloodlines for vyssari, inborn mana storage for lumorans, high strength and durability for velnar, or the flying ability of feylith, and the talent for mental skills they possess.

Yes, humans keep chugging along, and through sheer spite, contest all these races. Like cockroaches that do not have these advantages and instead have to come up with all these fucked up ways to stay in the race.

If you think about it, was it not like that for humans pre-tutorial as well? Every child in school, every adult at work, every greedy CEO, and everyone tries to come up with a way to game the system and to make things easier for themselves or gain an advantage.

I love that cockroach-like spirit. Go, humans, go.

Oh damn, my good mood is showing, isn't it? Though it lasted only a minute or so, I was able to function almost normally for that time, leaving a nice gift to these “blueies.”

Of course, I now suffer for it, but it is worth it. That short burst gained me 1st spot in the second event, and I already moved my rewards towards the end of the tournament.

Too bad for the assholes who counted me out or the people in the common area spreading that I am washed or fell off, or whatever Dennis said they say. Also, fuck Samuel, who once again seems like he would rather lock me somewhere and have Biscuit eat the key.

“Lily, participate in the 3rd event,” I tell her.

She is sitting far enough away not to be constantly damaged and where her durable body can endure these effects, but close enough to keep an eye on me.

“Are you sure?” she asks.

I confirm, “Yes, I already made modifications and developed a few specialized subminds to help me. I also have a new plan.”

“Sophie would be scared of anything called 'new plan' when it comes from you.”

“Yes, but it is better this way and requires only a few modifications. I got a little inspired by our First Beyonder. If you think about it, am I not the best thief? I am starting to lose count of how many of my best ideas come from watching you guys or some monsters or people I fight along the way. Anyway, please do not tell Sophie.”

“I will not.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem, Nat.”

“No, Lily, I mean it. Really, thank you. Like a true thank you, not just a word you throw in to be polite. Thank. You.”

“Sure,” she smiles at me. “I guess you should say at least that much for what I have done if you are not entirely shameless. If you think of it, I gave up on two events and probably very good rewards. While you get your improved upgrade, new plan, whatever that is, and even participate in the events.”

“If you put it like that, I feel sorry for you.”

“You should.”

“Okay, so what do you want? You know me, I will not come up with anything good by myself.”

“You are full of shit, you know very well what I want, but it would be pathetic to force it this way. I remind you I can be very patient, and I was able to make even Grumpy like me. But... for now, I will keep that thankfulness to myself and use it later.”

I squint my eyes and ignore goosebumps. “I am not a cat, I have to remind you, but okay, I guess,” I say in the end.

“Okay,” she says as well, ending the conversation.

***

Unfortunately, it seems like Tent Creep will not be returning this tournament. I am sure people will miss him and his great items as well. Yet, I cannot find myself to be too disappointed. I do not think I would make that many shards, and even if I did not have my body upgrade to deal with, I do not think it would be the best use of my free time.

Another thing I might miss out on is meeting some people. Damn, I almost sound like an extroverted lunatic here. But here I mean it a little, there are some things I want people to pass to Channeler outside, messages, items, and such. Then there is also, for example, Miwa, who could show me some blacksmithing. Now, with improved knowledge, I would like to check her left arm again, that pink robotic one made by Champion Keiron.

I am sure I will be able to modify my subminds enough to handle the body upgrade to the point where I get a few minutes of free time. Even if the difficulty keeps increasing, I am cocky enough to think I can improve faster. I will use these minutes to make weapons out of my Manabloc. At this point, they should be able to last over ten years if I focus on it and be extremely durable and sharp, shields, projectiles, and simpler armors. I can make a lot of that.

Then there is Manatex, clothes I can make out of woven mana threads. The same as the weapons, they can be made to stay stable for years, and the thread is more durable than some upper-rare armors I have examined.

As of late, I have even started making multiple threads, experimenting with stitching, and all that to make Manatex better. So it feels softer, stretches a little, is not as bulky, and is lighter or lets air through. All that kind of stuff.

The disadvantage is the color. All Manatex is pale blue, sometimes darker blue if the threads are more dense. One day, I might even make them out of Ley Lines, but not anytime soon. Though tricolored Manatex would be nice.

Not long ago, Maya asked me to make chainmail out of Manatex mixed with Manabloc, where the outer layer was rings made of Manabloc, and underneath, connected to it, were softer threads of Manatex.

It took me a long time, with her looking over my shoulder the entire time, but the result was really cool. If I get items like these to Channeler, it will help him a lot, and I truly trust the guy, he knows what he is doing.

I know the others do similar things, especially Lily, with disintegration orbs trapped in a box made out of her bones, weapons made out of her bones, or armor grown out of her bones.

There is a clear line of thought to follow here.

What excites others the most are the healing marks she decided to place on some people. She started working on transferable ones, or a way they would work without being modified for a certain person. Maybe they could be tied to an item, a piece of her bone, if we follow her line of thought.

Though there is always a risk with these marks and the way they heal. The ones I get are probably the most advanced ones because she created them by experimenting on me, and we went through a lot of variations.

Once the barrier flickers, it brings me back to the present, and I watch the flickering red light around Christoph die off as he walks closer to stop near Lily.

He apologizes to her for sending her away before and then asks if she could leave to let us two speak.

Lily looks at me, to which I nod, and she leaves the two of us alone. Once she is gone, that red barrier surrounds us, and Christoph looks at me with a question.

I shrug, which causes him to smile, and two red arms reach out from him to touch my shoulders, after which the mana raging inside me calms down to the point it feels like closing a window and cutting off the sound of a blizzard outside entirely.

“I want to congratulate you on your performance during the second event. I expected something like that, but it was great to watch anyway. I would like to offer you advice, or I would love to take you as a disciple, but I know how you would feel about any of that,” he says.

He says it even though he knows the emotions it will make me feel, and does it only to watch my reaction with amusement. I do not feel cruelty or being looked down upon, just like how he said before... someone older and more experienced making fun of the younger generation and the mistakes they make.

In a way, I suspect he does it all very purposefully, even showing me parts of him he knows I will dislike. It is like he wants to be honest with me and show me as much of the real him as he thinks will work in his favor. The same as me, he knows no one is perfect, and he likely knows I prefer it anyway.

He just needs to look at Group 4. There are many things I dislike about most of the members, and the same goes from them to me, yet... it works out somehow.

However, this kind of behavior from him irks me, but he knows that as well.

“Thanks for the congratulations, and you are right. So what do you want this time?” I ask.

Christoph seems to give it a thought before he says, “When you return to the Beyond, try asking your Handler, Lady Greed, who was Lioren’s Handler back then. Also, ask her how long she has known about me and who it was that connected me with the Warden of the Parallax Eyes, so I could gain The Chronometric Formula of Planetary System Awakening.”

He offers a weak smile. “You may realize that even if you do not trust me, there are others you should be wary of, just like me.”

“You seem to have had a lot of help. Are you sure you used to be a powerful Absolute?” I ask instead, watching if my words will have the effect I want.

They do not. Christoph only smiles wider, looking at me in a way that makes it obvious he knows exactly what I am trying.

“You know,” he says, “I have heard from my Handler about your 'master' and what she has done so far, as well as where she is currently. It is obvious you are comparing me to her. It is even expected of you to look down on me. In the end, in your eyes and your feelings, I have given up, did I not? I chose the easy way to start over, blaming all my failures on early me rather than my lack of skill or effort. And now, three years into the tutorial, I finally kill a Champion with all the advantages I had, while her imitation already defeated the Ruler of Envy. With all that in mind, I am nothing, am I not? Just a failure.”

“But?”

“But, ask your Handler. She will tell you more. You might understand my abilities a bit more then,” his head looks towards the sky, even a very specific spot of it. “She will not break any rules or agreements by sharing that information if I allow it, but please, Lady Greed, do not share too much. I deserve some privacy as well.”

No matter how long I look at that same place, I do not see anything at all.