Chapter 684 - Get them!

I tap on Biscuit to shrink so I can focus on the others. He seems to misunderstand, and instead of shrinking his body, expands even more, forcing me to strengthen my manabloc chair before it can crack. He snuggles against me playfully, and I can hear his breathing close to my ear while his wet nose pokes my ear.

My body is barely visible under him, and I peek to the side so I can look at Tess. “Where do we know it from?” I ask.

Instead of her, Sophie answers, “It’s something I learned not that long ago from Luan.”

I push against Biscuit and move him slightly. He thinks I am playing and pushes back with excitement, rubbing his head against mine. I peek from the other side this time, bringing Sophie into view.

As if she had been waiting for that, she meets my eyes. “Luan didn’t tell me much about that man, not even his name or maybe what guild he could be in. He only mentioned it as a warning. I tried to learn more, but Frontier still refuses to explain. Maybe I will get a bit more once I reach the 4th floor.”

“If Frontier knows, wouldn’t the Primordial Knights know something too?” Tess asks, looking at me.

I give up peeking and mumble from under Biscuit, and answer without looking at her, “I never asked them, to be honest. I could try, maybe Weslin knows a thing or two. But isn’t Luan bullshitting? It’s a strange thing for them to know, and for him to share with you so casually.”

I cannot see Sophie, but I imagine her shaking her head. “Luan is… difficult. He follows that odd sense of honor he has.”

“Does that honor include attacking a bunch of Beyond newbies?” I ask.

“Apparently, yes. He was ordered to guard Faora, so he did just that. He is the same with me. If I decided to kill people, he would guard me while I did it.”

“He didn’t do a very good job guarding her.”

“I think that was deliberate, probably under orders from Frontier. I saw him fight more than once, Nat. Luan is insanely strong. If he had truly done his best to protect her, it would have ended very differently.”

“So they wanted you instead of Faora, and you fell for it by offering yourself?” I ask.

“I think it was more that they already had a replacement for Faora in mind. I just offered myself before they could bring that replacement in, and Luan decided to accept me. Frontier seemed to agree. If I am not enough, I will probably end up the same way that feylith bitch did.”

“Dead.”

“Yes, they will probably kill me off.”

“Izzy, what do you say to that crap?” I call toward where I think she’s sitting, leaning against Giga Noodle.

“If Sophie dies, I think I will die too. I am too weak to survive alone,” our empath says simply.

“Is that emotional blackmail?” I ask, not expecting such words from her.

“Maybe. Who knows. Sophie certainly doesn’t. I can feel it, even when she tries to hide it. She can’t hide anything from me. So yes, it’s very possible that if my dear sister Sophie, whom I love more than anything, dies, I will die too.”

Daaaaamn.

Silence fills the room. No one knows how to respond to Izzy. After we pushed her to rely on her emotions instead of always trying to please us, she sometimes acts out like this—just a feisty teenager, using her powers now and then to get her way.

I don’t think for a second that it is ill intention or meant to hurt any of us. Even someone like me can see that. It is simply Izzy trying to find her place instead of following only our feelings, even if it sometimes makes her behave this way.

Honestly, it makes me a bit happy. It feels better, and just somewhat right, even if it makes some things more difficult.

Biscuit expands even more and then bites at me, taking my entire head into his mouth. I can smell his breath and see his tongue and teeth. He grabs me gently, playfully shaking my head before letting go and licking me with a tongue bigger than my torso.

“Eww,” Dennis blurts out, making a mistake.

“Biscuit, get him,” I say.

The giga corgi gets off me, breaks some furniture, and rushes at the poor twin, who lifts his hands in front of his face. He might even try to teleport away, and I might even disrupt that teleport.

Lily stands by my side. Looking up, I see her offering me a towel. With a nod of thanks, I take it and wipe off my head, while Lily sits in the armchair next to me.

Tess is already speaking again. “So far, it seems right to estimate that the First Beyonder is stronger than anyone from Earth’s tutorial, judging by the way the others treat him. The top guilds seem to know more about him than we do, yet they still act like this.”

“So, S rank then?” Lily asks from beside me.

Tess shakes her head. “I don’t think that’s it. While yes, he could be S rank, that alone wouldn’t earn him so much attention. From Nat, we know more Rulers meddle as Handlers, so it is possible they told their attendees more about this man. It seems less about his current strength and more about his potential.”

“Every S rank is considered a future Absolute, so are you saying the First Beyonder is seen as a Ruler candidate?” Min-Jae asks.

Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Sophie sneaking nervous glances at Izzy, who is sitting on the floor against Noodle. Izzy meets her sister’s gaze with a wide smile, which only makes Sophie more uneasy.

“It’s hard to say. Lyraen, Nyssa, and Solae are all considered powerful future Absolutes, but no one calls them ruler candidates. No one calls our First Beyonder that either, yet at the same time, it feels like some people give him too much respect,” Tess says.

“What even is he? A mass murderer with insane talent for mana? Some hermit who meditated for decades in the mountains and awakened mana before the tutorial? Another monstrous corgi, maybe Biscuit’s family just to make it dramatic?” Maya waves her hand.

Biscuit, hearing his name, stops and turns toward her, away from Dennis, who is still covering his face from Biscuit’s giga form. Maya realizes her mistake, but it is too late. With a squeak, she lifts her arms, trying to shield herself from the attack of a horse-sized corgi.

Everyone else ignores her, and only Dennis gives her a quick salute, silently thanking her for her sacrifice.

“He would have had to survive the Beyond surface as a level 0 if he started there like us. Even now, people say the surface is often more dangerous than the fifth floor, and even an S rank can die there,” Lily says.

“Wouldn’t he have to go through three trials?” Min-Jae wonders. “All of you did, right?”

“Well, we can ask him. If he really does join the tournament.” I lower my voice, not wanting to draw the attention of the beast now pressing its huge nose against Maya’s face while she giggles and pushes him away. “Sophie, did you find out what they need you for already?”

“It’s the same as with you. While Nyssa hopes you’ll help her to the sixth floor, Frontier hopes my mind magic will do the same for them, though in a different way than the Primordial Lunatics. Apparently, Bloodline started stirring things up as well and got Crimson Forge to join them. My Handler said it’s been a long time since he saw people racing so hard for the 6th. He also mentioned a rumor that something big happened on the lower floors.” Sophie shrugs after glancing away from Izzy.

“Yeah, the Cockroach is there. Also, really? Primordial Lunatics?”

“Everyone calls you guys that. And I think your master being trapped there isn’t the only thing. Something else happened on the lower floors.”

“That’s for others to trouble themselves with. Do you want more explosive cubes or temporary tattoos?”

“Not really, but I will take a few more of your mana woven clothes. The shirt you gave me is insane. A guy offered me a lot of shards for it.”

“He was likely interested in industrial espionage, trying to obtain the design or replicate my patented process. And Sophie, it is not mana woven, it’s manatex.”

“Screw off. I’ll give you the design and work with you on it.”

“I’m hurt.” I turn to my right. “Do you see this, Lily? This is what I have to deal with. Will at least you defend me?”

“No,” she says with a bright smile. “Your designs are terrible.”

“First floor, Lily would defend me.”

“First floor, Lily would be blushing and secretly staring at you,” she says with the same smile.

“Typical lust subclass girls,” Dennis sighs.

“Biscuit, get him!” Lily says right away while pointing at the twin.

From on top of Maya, Biscuit lifts his head and tilts it, ears flopping. A smile-like expression spreads across his face as he stands up and charges at Lily, who squeaks and falls to the floor.

The brutality of the attack is too much to watch, so I turn away and look at Tess. “How is your Beyond party?”

"It is going quite well. We have Leticia and Luna joining us. Jean, Lucien too, and..."

"Lucien?"

She sighs. "Spacepup."

"Oh, I see, that little shit."

"Then we got a few more Leticia’s and Jean’s beyonders. For a bit, we worked with Baek, if you can call it that."

"No sight of Vic?"

"None at all. I bought some bits of information from the guilds. She was seen on the 2nd floor a long time ago, so I suspect she might be on the 3rd already or maybe even the 4th."

"I tried looking too, but just got scraps about her. Did you know there is an option to pay information guilds not to share your info? I mean, people still sell it if someone offers enough, so it ends up a matter of who pays more, you to make them shut up or the other party to buy your details."

“Yes, I know that. On another note, Lily and I should be able to reach the third floor soon.”

"If some guild doesn’t kidnap me and try to force me to join them," Lily calls from under Biscuit, who does not even move, just lies on her with a proud expression.

"Any serious trouble?" I ask her.

"There is always some trouble. Most of the time, the guilds are super nice and generous, only if I reject them do they get annoyed and try some shit," Lily mutters.

I glance at Tess, who shrugs. "We long since knew Lily is a highly sought after healer. But I’m keeping an eye on her and the others in my party as well. Plus, it helps that even if they get through us, they get to face Lily."

"The Bulldozer," Aaron whispers with a dark face.

"The Terminator of Lust," Dennis adds in the same tone.

"Biscuit, get them!" Lily calls from underneath.

Unfortunately for her, the corgi only expands in size more, totally hiding her beneath. He yawns and settles in more comfortably.

***

After an hour or two, everyone calms down, and the conversation continues more smoothly. I share some of my information.

With Min-Jae, we go over his library. He recommends a few mana stones that I take right away for study. In exchange, I tell him some things I learned from the Doc, like how to get the most out of the Gravitation Wavelength Eye he has, and how to make it fully integrate with his body.

There is also something like an improved version of what Min-Jae does with gravitational energy to train his body. I got it from one of the demons from Primordial Knights. I bought it cheap, too, I just had to beat up the guy five times until he almost died.

It has been a long time since I saw anyone as happy, so I think maybe I got scammed. Somehow.

After getting a design from Sophie, which she sometimes comes to check on as I work, I start weaving a shirt from manatex. It is something I began out of boredom, clothes made with a base of Ley Lines. So far, I cannot make them entirely from Ley Lines, so I have to thread them together with Mana Weaving, similar to the way I used to apply [Knitting].

I switch between these three techniques. So far, I am not that good at it, but I want to learn where to use Ley Lines, where to use more flexible knitted lines, and where I should weave durable threads. All for maximum comfort and defense. I even had Maya tell me a bit about tailoring, since she knew some of it from before the tutorial. That learning session ended with us coming up with ways it could be applied to our armors.

It is weirdly calming. Stretching threads of mana, compressing them, using [Manifestation] in certain spots. I am still not sure how long they will last, but a few months at the minimum for sure. Each of these pieces has durability on the level of mid to upper epic armor, just without any added effects. For now.

As I do this, I let my mind wander. Part of me listens to the low murmur of conversation, part of me observes Biscuit resting against my leg, and another part opens my status, which I stare at while I work and plan my next progress.

Name: Nathaniel Gwyn
Title: Champion Candidate
Difficulty: Hell
Rank: A, Shimmering Silver
Guild: Primordial Knights
Floor: 9 - The Pit
Time left until forced return: 2y 84d 19h 59m 6s
Traits (2/3): Mana Wavelength Iris 2/3, Mana Physique 2/3

Lvl 346
Strength: 291
Dexterity: 272
Constitution: 476
Mana (Stage 1/3 - Vast Mana): 1744 + 1744

Primary Class: Mana Weaver (Unique Arcane)
Sub-class: [Adept of Pride]

Active skills (9/10):
Focus - Lvl 70
Perception - Lvl 68
Redistribution - Lvl 70
Mana Manipulation - Lvl 70
Ley Line - Lvl 65
Eclipse (Pride) - Lvl 49
Empyrean Lance - Lvl 31
Manifestation - Lvl 16
Accumulation - Lvl 19

Constructs:
Reinforcement
Mana Regulator
Mana Sovereignty Mantle
Kinetic Mana Heart
Sealed Ignition Heart (Partially Sealed, 2/3)
Mental Frame
Thought Maze Circuit
Thermal Flux Regulator

Passive skills (4/5):
Mana Kinetic Conversion Reservoir (Unique Epic)
Mana Wavelength Tyrant (Mid Arcane)
Subdermal Combustion Weave (Mid Arcane)
Mana Wave Predation (Unique Arcane)

Tokens:
Send a single item to your disciple (up to epic rarity)
Passive skill combination token (low arcane)
Beyond visitor token - 1 year (unlocked after tutorial)
Beyond 4th Floor High end residence permit
Beyond 7 day stay token
Beyond 14 day stay token
Beyond 14 day stay token

Shards: 6,686,111

***

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