Chapter 643 - Coldie

I know nothing is ever free, but the way everyone asks for shards in exchange for sharing some information is as annoying as it is funny in some twisted way. The worst is that I am getting used to it.

Sooner or later, the places will swap, and it will be me scamming people for shards.

In some way, it makes sense. For example, the information guild has to function, and they need salaries and such, so of course they would ask for shards. But there are situations where people just exploit careless or impatient attendees.

Spending some shards can speed up everything here. You can gather information on clearing the floors, ask about the guilds so you don’t pick the wrong one, get help with your training, or buy customized items of a kind you might not find in the system shop.

I also know that the system shop won’t be available after the tutorial. That much is more or less confirmed. So, seeing as even locals ask for shards, it is likely they have access to the system shop as well, and spend their shards there. Or maybe there is a different way they spend them. Who knows. Maybe I should ask. I'm sure they would answer. For shards.

So, will something else replace the shop after the tutorial is over, or is it only something temporarily available to the First Generation for the duration of their tutorial?

I also know I could learn more information much cheaper or for free on my own, but this time I do not mind spending shards.

That’s how I learn about the ways to get to the third floor. By asking and paying, of course. As before, there are multiple ways to get to the third floor, and I pay to learn about three that are considered the most common.

One of them is similar to one of the options on the first floor. Some call it the Key Fragment Hunt, and it is as it sounds. You kill monsters that have a chance of having a bone that is blue in color. Gathering enough of them and setting them up in a special formation, or almost like a ritual, that you, of course, have to buy information on, allows you to create an entrance for one person.

That also reminds me how different the requirements are here from the tutorial, which has its own proper quests. Is this difference between the tutorial made by the system, which is overseen by the Rulers, and the Beyond that was built by the Rulers over the place called the First Dungeon? Was the First Dungeon made by the system? Or, possibly, does First Dungeon predate the system in a similar way Primordial energies and Fragments do?

There is a question that comes to mind. Why did the Rulers do it? And what is the First Dungeon when it seems like the Rulers don’t have the level of control over it compared to the tutorial? Does the First Dungeon really date from before the system, or is it somewhat new and the Rulers didn’t have time to learn about it as much as the tutorial, or can they simply not influence it to the same level?

Either way, I won’t complain. Not having a quest that would require me to spend a month or two on this floor is better for me. But it just makes me wonder if all floors can be so easy to “clear” if you have enough shards.

The second way to get to the third floor that I heard about is called the Ritual. There are multiple ritual circles placed all over the floor where you can sacrifice something to gain entrance to the next floor. That sacrifice can be items, memories, stats, and I have even heard rumors about sacrificing people.

This one is extremely interesting to me, especially because of how much it clashes with the system itself. Even during the Challenges, it is extremely difficult to set these things as wagers from what I have heard, yet here they can be sacrificed?

Any other day, I would love to study it, and there will be a time when I will.

The last option I learned about is probably the simplest, but also possibly the most difficult one in some ways. In the third city, there is a permanent portal to the third floor. That city, like the second and the first one, has its King, the powerful Local who oversees it and the surrounding area.

If the king likes you, he will let you pass. There is also the possibility of joining big guilds that are able to trade with the King and have a limited number of passes each year that they can give out. Even though I don’t think they use it that often, such big guilds surely can buy all available blue bones and give them to an attendee together with the instructions.

As I walk through the city, I glance at the back of my hand where I let a bit of my mana seep and activate the identification emblem that shows the same Ivory White C, even after the fight with the Harvester.

Does that mean it should be possible for most B ranks to do what I did back then?

I slow down and allow the presence I sense behind to reach me while I sit on the bench under a tree nearby.

“Sir attendee!” The lynthari boy greets me with a big smile and slightly out of breath as he stops running. I would be surprised if he didn’t smile. He made a lot of shards off me.

“The thief,” I greet Lochi back.

“I didn’t steal anything! I merely facilitated the flow of information at a competitive rate,” he says quickly, grinning wider.

I raise an eyebrow but don’t correct him.

He plops down beside me, uninvited, like we’re old buddies. “Is the ascent to the third floor your next course, or are you still weighing the matter?” he asks, eyes flicking around, possibly looking for another prey in the crowd.

“Maybe,” I answer. “Why do you talk like that today?”

“Sir, I assure you, this manner of speech is my natural cadence when I find myself in the presence of greatness...” He gives a wink, half self-mocking, half calculating.

I sigh. He continues anyway.

“Besides,” he adds, folding his hands neatly in his lap and straightening his back, “one must distinguish oneself. In a city full of plebians, elegance becomes its own form of currency.”

“100 shards if you tell me why.”

“My father read me a book where people talked that way, and I thought it was fun!”

I glance at him sideways. “Your father, who died?”

“He got better! Anyway,” he shifts topics smoothly, “you want to go out on a hunt? I can connect you with some hunter groups or merchants who look for materials from specific monsters. Or I could connect you with a trading guild that needs people to protect their caravans, or people searching for bodyguards. Attendees usually start with these jobs.”

"Not really. How many shards did you make off me?"

"You mean from the fruits of my labor?"

"Sure."

"I asked for the final percentage after the items are sold. Sure, it will take years, and it might not be that much, but I trust Sir Merchant to work hard to make as much as possible!"

I watch as his two tails swing from side to side in excitement. Even his fangs show a little, smaller than Myrra’s, but similar.

"Why do you have two tails? And please, don’t say because of genetic inheritance from some lynthari ancestor."

"That exactly!" Lochi grins.

I sigh and stay silent, not reacting.

"So what are you waiting for, sir attendee? It seems like you are either waiting or thinking!"

"Perceptive, aren’t you?"

"I gotta be if I wanna work with people," he says, nodding all serious. "Coldies are really hard to figure out just by looking at their faces, but if you watch what they do, it tells you way more than with normal people. People who don’t use concentration skills are kinda all over the place, and it’s hard to tell what they’re feeling. Like, if they’re trying to hide it, you’ve got no idea what’s going on in their heads. They could be scared or mad or something, and you won’t even notice until they do something really weird. But Coldies aren’t like that. They’re way better at hiding what they feel, but also, they don’t let their feelings boss them around. They don’t go nuts just ‘cause they’re mad or scared. So if you watch closely and think about it, you can figure them out. They don’t do random stuff like normal people. They do things ‘cause they thought about it, not just ‘cause they felt like it. You gotta look at what they do, not their face."

"I guess that makes sense." I look away from him and into the distance at the ethereal-looking plains. "It could be said that I’m indecisive. I know what I want to do, but at the same time, I don’t know if I should do it."

"Is it something scary?"

"It doesn’t scare me, but the question is if I should be patient and do it later when I’m absolutely sure it will go my way, or if I should be impatient and risk it now."

"What would you do without your concentration skill?"

"I would be on my way to the third floor long ago."

"Why don’t you partially weaken your skill to see how things go? Not fully?" Lochi asks innocently.

In some way, he reminds me of Vega, and as always, that childish curiosity and innocence feel so relaxing. Before I know it, I’m reaching out, my hand brushing the top of his head as a smile spreads across my face.

His little heart speeds up, and his golden eyes open wide as he stares at me in shock.

"Sorry." I quickly pull my hand back.

"Sir attendee, please don’t smile like that in front of my mom. This time she would leave Dad for real!"

"I won’t."

"Good! And how can you smile that way with a concentration skill? You are weird for a Coldie."

"I’m doing some testing. Instead of suppressing all emotions, I’m trying to be more selective. I could do that before, but now I’m trying to improve on it. Partial suppression, entire suppression. I’m also testing if I can suppress pain entirely or maybe even make myself temporarily forget some memories. I’m practicing storing, arrays, and frequencies in layers so I can pull them up instantly without thinking. I’m practicing compressing information so I can remember more with less space. Also, my mind is currently split in two, and one of them has all emotions suppressed, while the other one, only anger and similar ones, and I keep switching between them. I’m locking away memories and seeing if I can stop myself from finding them. "

"Are you maybe really strong, sir attendee?"

"My name is Nathaniel."

"Oh! Are you maybe really strong, sir Nathaniel?"

"Just Nathaniel."

"Are you maybe really strong, sir Just Nathaniel?"

"Wanna be tied by your leg to that lamp nearby?"

"Hehe." He smiles and stands up in that energetic manner only kids have. "I have to go, but don’t forget me when you become much stronger! And you should go. I think you’d be unhappy if you stayed a Coldie forever!”

Before leaving, he smiles deviously and takes a quick step closer.

It would be easy to avoid or react. I even increase my processing speed and watch in slightly slowed motion as he reaches toward me, but I don’t do anything to stop him.

His small hand taps the top of my head a few times in a similar way I did to his.

Then I return my processing back to normal and watch as, now at normal speed, he runs to the other kids and shouts something, his two tails swaying behind him.

"Damn man, I thought he would never leave. But it felt weird to interrupt, so I waited." A man’s voice sounds from my side.

"Yes, I noticed. Thank you for that," I answer and turn toward him.

There, a short man with a shaved head stands, wearing clothes that are a mix of white and pale blue.

Upon seeing my face, he smiles brightly. "Well, you finally showed your face on the second floor."

***

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