Chapter 621 - Number in the air

Right away, I open the status menu, select three skill combination tokens, and use them.

Congratulations, you have successfully combined [Ley Line], [Perception], and [Mana Manipulation]! A new skill has been created.

You have acquired [Mana Relay]

[Mana Relay - Level 0 > Mana Relay - Level 19]

After reading the new skill name, I move my mana to try to activate it, and another notification pops up.

Congratulations, you have acquired a new skill!

[Mana Manipulation]

[Mana Manipulation – Level 0 > Mana Manipulation – Level 61]

At this point, I should say it isn't even funny how inseparable the two of us are, but even now, I'm still laughing. Screw you, system.

It also seems that I have been discovered. I really do not believe the attempt on my life was a coincidence. I probably should be worried and cautious of whoever did it, but why? The bastard was not able to kill me. I do not mind going through that pain and trouble again, even if it ends with me imprisoned in that room again.

Ha, is that the best they can do? Must suck to suck so much.

Anyway, I missed my lesson with Ari, so instead, I will meet her on the fourth day of this loop. Until then, I will keep up my schedule while doing some wild stuff in my free time.

As I exit that starting room, Professor Elian is there again with his usual "greeting." He summons the servants to carry my stuff into the office and then leaves, radiating disappointment.

***

The first day I spend training my newest skill, which, out of all I have gained so far, seems the weakest. I guess the combination did not sync as well as I had thought. [Mana Relay] does not sound like much.

I have a suspicion it will make it possible, at least at higher levels, to share my mana. Of course, I will learn from it as much as possible, but it is not the way I wanted to go. Especially after using a three active skills combination token, which seems either near impossible or very difficult to get. I moved all event rewards to get it, and for the points I sacrificed, I could have likely gotten a lot of shards. 500 thousand? Closer to one million?

It clearly shows how good the reward is, and I think, with the exception of [Ur Line], I have not used it "correctly." Other than that first time, it seems like the skills I am getting would have been possible to create with two active skills combination token.

The system was not joking when it said it would be more difficult to find the right combination.

Please do not let this be the last loop.

Is that not quite unnerving when I think about it? Why can I not get information on the total number of the loops? Knowing there are ten or so would be better than just guessing.

Am I asking that much from the system to allow me to abuse it just a little bit more?

As before, I try to use the Beyond Stay Token and get the same notification again. It seems the inability to enter it is really caused by this Floor. Maybe it is some sort of "nerf" that balances how much this mechanic can be abused. Maybe it is the system being an asshole.

Or maybe it would be too annoying to deal with attendees getting stronger in Beyond and then not knowing whether to reset their stats to the start of the 8th floor or keep their Beyond stats. But in that case, you could probably reach the furthest day of the loop, gain stats, skills, and equipment, enter Beyond, add to it more, and then return to the loop after one day and keep it all. Then you could abuse the loop again.

Hmm. I think I would also just say screw it and block Beyond entirely. That is what the tutorial gets for trying to come up with these fancy mechanics.

I also think about what Ruler's Floor this could be. If I am right, the Candidate or possible Candidates are from the same subclass as the Ruler who decided on this setting for the 8th floor. That would make it the second floor where we know who the Ruler is.

With these thoughts, I reach the Sweatbox and quickly register for all the Challenges. The first one I try is the Target Gauntlet, and it is definitely not because Tess was ranked first in Tier 4 during the last loop.

It is a target-destroying challenge. You enter a room, and after the challenge starts, you have one minute to destroy as many targets as possible. They are initially the size of my head, but gradually shrink.

This one has much stricter rules than Breakline, where you can just act like a brute and hit barriers with your fists until they break. Here, large-scale attacks and skills like domains are not allowed.

Of course, your attacks do not have to be as narrow as the targets. You can use a stream of flames or similar attacks, but there is a limit. Honestly, the rulebook describing what exactly is and is not allowed is too long, so I do not bother reading it.

Simply put, you are expected to mostly use projectiles or similar attacks.

I do not like to admit it, but here I might actually get my ass kicked by Tess no matter how much I try.

Last time, she seemed to attempt this challenge around the third or fourth day, so I hope she sticks to that schedule. I want to get first place and move into tier 5 before she competes.

Is that cowardly?

Nah, I would say it is smart.

At the halfway point of the challenge, the targets become as small as my fist. In the last ten seconds, they are barely the size of my fingernail and pop up all over the room, sometimes appearing briefly on the opposite side.

When hit with a powerful burst of flames, they often resist long enough to disappear, and you get no points. When hit with a much weaker projectile, but in the size of an arrow, they break easily. All of it is designed to test reaction speed, accuracy, and control.

I would like to talk with the developers and recommend they use flying ducks instead of targets.

When I finish, my points are at 1200, beating the second-place score but still far from Tess's 1500 she got in the previous loop. What a monster.

I choose to delay showing my points by one hour and select my alias as Emanon before leaving the room.

That's when I stop and go still.

Nearby, Tess waits like she's expecting someone. When she sees me, she lights up and waves.

With my mood soured, I take a few steps toward her.

"You should be guarding that little asshole," I say.

"I have a few minutes. It should be good enough to break the record. I knew I would find you here, so what score did you get?"

"Exactly 1700. I think you should give up for the next 24 hours."

"Did you now? Impressive," she says, her lips curling into a playful but challenging smile.

"Evil."

"Gimme a minute," she says and disappears into the room.

She reappears after exactly a minute. Together, we head into the crowd and take a seat. Another minute goes by, likely her planned delay, before the score appears.

1st, 1701 pts - Sset

Damn. That’s even more evil than I expected. Honestly, I have to admire it.

"You are breaking your schedule," I tell her.

She nods. "I am."

"Why?"

"Is that not obvious, Nat? We are in this together, are we not? I will not allow you to put yourself in danger alone just to take attention away from us. Do not think I did not notice you breaking your schedule on purpose."

"What do you mean? I just hate following it, that is all."

With her chin propped on her folded hands, she stares at me in silence.

“Sure. That’s all,” she says with a faint smile."

"You silly, stubborn, goddamned blonde."

"I have heard worse."

"You smell like cigarettes."

"I have not smoked since the first floor."

"You cannot cook."

"Please, Nat, you can barely prepare instant ramen."

"My disciple loved the pizza we made."

"When you two were done with it, it looked like you two ate charcoal out of the fireplace."

"I remember that time you thought pasta did not need water to boil."

Tess immediately leans closer. "Oh, so we are doing this now? Do you remember when you wanted to buy a chicken and get me to keep slapping it with you until it cooked, just because you saw that meme?"

"What can I say? I have a curious mind."

"Or when you once cooked a steak at my place until it was grey and we couldn't chew it? You called it 'well-respected.'"

"You did laugh."

"I have laughed at weirder things."

"Did you not once make a cake for dessert and thought baking soda and baking powder were the same thing? That cake could have killed a man, Tess. No, I am sure if you made it here, it would be classified as an upper rare at least."

Finally, she laughs and leans back.

"Just be careful, okay? Others in our group are also close to the point where they might break the schedule just to bring some attention to themselves."

"That would be dumb. My risk is calculated, and unlike the others, I am sure I will be fine."

"Yup, it is dumb."

"Damn it."

"So?"

"I will be careful, okay? And stop smiling, it annoys me."

"Nope."

At that, I just turn away. Indeed, I remain the most normal.

***

As planned, after a few days, I finally get to talk with Ari. With the lesson for her and Kays done, I leave first and wait in one of the side hallways. There, I deploy one of the detection arrays I have been working on for days to be sure we will not be surprised or listened to.

Then, as she reaches me, I give her access to it, and after a quick examination, she nods, "Nice work for someone who melted half of the tower in the center of the Academy."

"Cooking incident."

"Professor Feran ended up in one, too? He nearly died, dragging himself to the Head Healer."

"He must have fallen on the stairs or something. I have questions."

"I'll have mine too, so I expect you to answer mine when I ask you later. Alright?"

"That much is fine. Who are the others?"

"The Candidates and the Examiners."

"How many? Who are Candidates and who are Examiners?"

"You are no fun with so many questions. At least show some fun reaction," she complains.

I twist my face into a shocked expression before returning it to normal and looking at her with a question.

Ari sighs and says, "There were ten Candidates, including me, who were put into the loop, along with an unknown number of Examiners."

"What Ruler, and what do Examiners do?"

"If you continue to interrupt me, I will take a while, you know, and I have only five or so minutes."

"It is fine, just answer."

One of her six arms caresses her hair, another two are in her pockets, and with the other three, she continues to gesture.

"We do not know which Ruler. None of the Candidates have gotten their subclass yet. As far as I know, this was all made possible by the Ruler copying the mechanism of the tutorial floors, but on a much smaller scale. They worked with the Absolute of the planet where the Academy is located and created something called a 'record.' For his help, the Absolute asked the Ruler for some twists and changes. One of these changes were the Examiners, the Absolute’s people who are sent here to hunt us down and kill us. For this, they are rewarded and also able to use the loop to their advantage. But no one knows who the Candidates are or who the Examiners are."

"What a goddamn mess."

"I agree, Assistant Professor Gwyn, but it is a fun mess, is it not?" she smiles brightly.

She does not pretend anymore, and instead her real personality seems to be showing, "Three years I have been here. Over 100 loops. I have improved so much, it is crazy. In that time, a dozen or so Examiners have died, and to my knowledge, seven out of ten Candidates. And that will continue until I become the disciple of the Ruler and their true heir."

"How come the Examiners did not wipe you all out? Aren't they stronger than you?"

"They are, but they must follow rules we Candidates do not have. If they kill someone who is not a Candidate, they will die themselves. But Assistant Professor, it is you and people like you that are more interesting," her eyes widen and she leans closer, poking me with her finger, "You are not a Candidate or an Examiner. And you have not even asked what you are. Maybe you cannot even ask. Poor little thing."

Looking at me, she fixes my tie and then taps my chest with a smile.

"There are people like you. Bugs. Proof that this place, as much as the Ruler and the Absolute have tried, is imperfect. Once in a while, new people appear out of nowhere. Forgotten Assistants, Professors, or servants that had not been loaded in the first loop. They often loop for a while before they disappear again. Examiners hate you and try their best to get you killed without breaking the rules. Some Candidates do the same."

"And you?"

"Me?" she asks as if surprised, but she smiles, and it is a dark smile. "I use them, obviously."

"You could easily end up dead," I note.

"Yet I am still here after all these loops." She covers her mouth with both hands and lets out a giggle, high and breathless, like she cannot quite hold it in. The sound is almost childlike, but underneath it, there is something sharp, something broken. "It is fun, so much fun."

But then, just as fast, she stops. The smile fades. Her arms fall to her sides, and the glint in her eyes hardens back into something cold and calculating, as if none of it had ever happened.

"I have to go, I will ask my questions later. So be careful until then, Assistant Professor Gwyn," she tells me.

As she is leaving, I call out to her. "How many Candidates did you kill, Ari?"

She halts mid-step and halfway turns to me. For a moment, that bright smile, too wide and too sharp, flashes across her face, carrying a glint of madness and something darker beneath it.

Without a word, she flicks her hand through the air, a lazy, almost playful motion. Mana trails from her fingertips, sparkling and twisting like smoke.

Then she turns away and leaves without looking back.

Hanging in the air, written in shining mana particles, is a single word.

Seven.

***

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