Chapter 563 - Five Beasts

Another notification appears as we get outside. More placements. Another 1st place and a lot of shards. And my body is healed by the system in that incredible way as if it made missing parts appear out of nowhere. As before, I move the reward to strengthen the final reward for the tournament.

The next event is Beast Hunt, and as before, we now have a 24‑hour break before it starts, and in 12 hours we will get more information.

Someone tugs on my clothes and I look to the side where Lily stands.

“What?” I ask.

“They focused on you directly. Why?”

“I have an idea or two, but don't worry about it. Did you have fun during the event?”

“A little,” she says as she walks by my side while I head toward my workshop, “You and Victoria took the Kings, but there were still some quite strong Beyonders and Hell difficulty guys left. The problem was Tacita was hunting them down, and some led the attack on our fortress, so I had to be quick to get some.”

I notice Samuel moving close to talk to me, so I put my hand on Lily's shoulder and she lowers her defenses so I can teleport both of us far enough away.

Lily continues to talk as if nothing happened, “Sometimes it's scary how defenseless Easy and Normal difficulty are when there are no Hell or Beyonders to defend them.”

She swings her hand in a mimicking slashing gesture, “Just like that and they are dead. There is no resistance, Nat. I could kill any of them by mistake and even if thousands of them were to pile up against me, it would be all for nothing. Only the Hard difficulty would put up some resistance if they fought together against me.”

“Is this what people call a humble brag?” I ask.

“It’s not!” she shouts, then quickly lowers her voice. “It just scares me sometimes. Will I even be able to be around normal people? Will I get to the point where I won't want to touch them, so as not to hurt them?”

I shrug, “You overthink that too much. To me it's simple. If you want to do that, find a way to limit your stats or strength to a much lower level, and that's it. But that would probably make you vulnerable, so be careful.”

My answer seems to make her pause and think for a moment, and as we stop in front of the workshop she laughs briefly.

“It’s just like in those stories.”

“What kind?” I ask.

“The ones where gods have to turn mortal to be able to stay among humans.”

With that last sentence, she waves me off and leaves, likely to train.

***

Ten hours later, I leave the workshop with another wave of items in the auction, and Miwa on her way back. My plan of cooperating with another crafter is picking up steam. Soon, she’ll reach a level where people will ask her for items instead of me, hopefully, so I won’t have to deal with projects other than my own. It’s all coming together.

Sensing a familiar signature in our living room, I teleport there- finding Victoria sitting in the armchair and Lily opposite her. They are alone and Lily looks as if she is being interrogated.

As Victoria turns her attention to me, Lily uses the opportunity to escape after saying a quick goodbye.

"Don't bully my group, Vic," I complain as I push her so I can fit into the same armchair she is sitting in.

She looks at me questioningly, “I would not do that, Natty. But never mind that, did things go well for you during the conclusion of the event?”

I confirm, “Yes. I mean, that person didn't come to complain, so that's a good sign.”

“Do you want me to talk to her?”

“Please don't,” I answer right away. I instantly worry about what would happen if their personalities clashed. I can already imagine what Vic would do.

“As you wish.”

“How was your fight against Jean?”

“That man? He is likely the strongest out of the Kings we have met so far. It took a while to deal with him, but it was nothing I could not handle.”

"I just thought of something, but can you duplicate items?"

"Yes, but only those of common rarity. I should be able to duplicate more powerful ones if I try, but I have decided not to spend time training it and instead, I am focusing on other priorities for now."

“It would be interesting if you could do it, Vic, but you are doing it right. Items can be taken away, but your power will stay with you.”

"That is true. Use them, but do not rely on them, and be ready to throw them away."

“Is that why you have no armor and no items, just these common clothes?”

Victoria nods, “Yes. After a while, I got vexed that some people were staring at me, so I learned to duplicate my clothes at least.”

“Vic.”

“Yes, Natty?”

“Don't tell me you have fought naked.”

“Obviously I did because I had to. At lower levels, my skill would not allow me to duplicate even common clothes, and what is there to be shy about when it comes to a death or life situation?”

“Who saw?”

“Most of the opponents who forced me to use my skill before I improved it are already dead.”

“Name the remaining ones, Vic. Tell me right now, I will beat them all.”

To that, she smacks the back of my head.

***

As expected, a few hours later the notification comes.

The 2nd event, Beast Hunt will start in 12 hours!

Everyone will be transferred to a randomly selected map; all difficulties will participate together. The terrain will be picked from those within the system's database. You will be facing the environment and the beasts.

The 2nd event will take place over the course of 10 hours, and the placement will be decided according to the points collected.

You will gain points for hunting and killing beasts. The more powerful the beast, the more points you will be rewarded.

Note: A hefty penalty will be incurred for killing another participant.

Note: All points are given to the one delivering the killing blow.

Across the map, five special grade beasts will be placed, each within their own territory. Each of them worth a huge number of points when hunted down.

These five beasts are:

Stormscale Basilisk: A serpentine predator covered in shimmering, conductive scales that generate lightning with each movement. It can release explosive electric bursts and paralyze prey with its gaze.

Emberhorn Behemoth: A towering, bovine creature with obsidian horns that channel magma. Its hooves ignite the ground and it can unleash devastating lava eruptions.

Nightshade Stalker: A feline predator shrouded in shifting shadows, capable of blending into the dark and attacking from multiple directions simultaneously. Its venomous claws induce hallucinations.

Onyxscale Hydra: A multi‑headed serpent that regenerates instantly unless its heads are destroyed in a specific sequence. Each head controls a different element, launching devastating combination attacks.

Witherclaw: A lanky, fragile creature with thin, splintered claws that break on impact. However, every failed strike and every wound forces it to regenerate, sharpening its claws and making its body stronger, harder, and deadlier with each battle and the passage of time.

The notification disappears, and one more pops up.

It is now possible to visit the common areas of all the rounds.

***

Later standing in the middle of the room, I patiently wait as Victoria fixes the collar of my shirt and my hair as well.

She takes a step back and nods, satisfied, “You always were handsome, Nathaniel. You can pull off just about any outfit.”

Before answering, I take a moment to calm down after another death. Victoria notices so she waits patiently.

"I don't want to go there," I tell her.

“And you think I do not know that?”

“See? You don't even need me there.”

”First impressions are important. How many times do I have to tell you that? If not for yourself, can you do it for me?”

I sigh, “Of course.”

“Good,” she says, ruffling my hair and starts fixing it again after realizing what she has done.

At this point, the rest of group 4 are giving me looks that I will need to punish them for later. I still have plenty of conversations I have listened in on and little secrets I can throw around to cause them trouble.

“You do not have to worry about anything. I will take care of all the talking. But the two of us going there together will send a powerful message and make things easier in the future.”

“Yes, I know,” I deflate, “but as you said, Vic, only 30 minutes and I will fuck off, even if I have to beat the shit out of all of them.”

“Mind your language. Those who can not control their words or actions are no better than animals, and I would be very disappointed if my only brother stooped that low.”

“You know why I'm in such...”

“No excuses.”

“I… okay.”

“Good. Shall we go?”

This time I do not even check the expressions of group 4 and follow behind Victoria, who is also dressed slightly more formally. Nothing too excessive. Where previously both of us wore the kind of clothes you would wear while rolling at home or taking out the trash, we now wear clothes you might put on when going to the city. Well, a medieval age‑ish version of that.

Both of us wear white button‑up shirts and black pants. Not all that dissimilar from the ones I usually wear, but these clothes are made of visibly better material that looks nicer and more expensive, yet they're just as comfortable.

Victoria also has her hair brushed and pulled into a simple ponytail, and where her sleeves are down, I roll mine up to the elbow when she is not watching. Well, I'm sure she has noticed but decided to let it go.

Neither of us carries any weapon as I activate [Ley Line] toward the 8th round's mountain and teleport us there among the trees. After a minute of walking, we enter a common area that isn't too dissimilar to ours. There are probably even more people from the 8th round than usual hanging around, all watching the people entering their “territory.”

There are cars as well, some modern tents. And is that a fucking tank and helicopter on the edge of the clearing? I also notice multiple drones flying high in the air.

Both of us walk along the clear path set out for us, and closer to the edge of the common area we find a huge white tent. I observe the inscriptions around it and identify them as those meant to block sound, wind, and something to clean the air? I quickly locate the item they are connected to: some bottle with liquid inside.

I activate my eyes and look at it more deeply. The inscriptions seem to be meant to dissolve whatever liquid is inside. Some poison? Hallucinogen?

We enter, and the first thing I notice is a nice, scent of lemons and freshly cut grass.

Oh.

It’s a goddamn scent dispenser.

In the middle of the tent, there is a single circular table, quite a big one too. Around it, ten chairs are placed. There are already a few people sitting there, and they look up from the table toward me and Vic as we come in. There is Derick, Baek, as well as Jean, and the redhead woman from the 2nd round.

Each spot at the table has a number from 1 to 10, arranged in a counterclockwise manner. I sit down near my number, and Vic sits as well, by my left side.

Derick smiles at Vic and looks toward me, “I'm glad you two decided to come.”

“No problem. I have decided to give you a hand.”

It takes him a second or two to catch on and I make sure to remember the expression he makes afterward.

That's what you get.

***

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