Chapter 516 - A mercenary group called Angry Kittens

The setup of the 7th floor is fairly interesting, especially the fact we can leave any time. Taking into consideration there are two ??? rewards in the floor quest it surely means these rewards can end up being 1 shard, knowing the system.

After a week since we returned from the Beyond expedition, we have more information and should be able to move and do stuff without a high chance of Champion rank monster popping up and killing us all in a single attack.

The event here isn’t Pairing, instead, it’s a powerful Absolute grade monster who moved to this planet without the planet´s Absolute noticing. I would like to trash talk that guy, but this planet seems to be fairly new in the system and even the Absolute is not that old. With the monster being more powerful than him, all he can do is to protect the territory not taken by monsters and stop the monster Absolute from wiping it all clean.

There are more things to it and questions I have, but nothing available to lowly chumps like us.

Around 20-30% of the planet is taken by the monsters, so that’s where we come in. Mercenaries hired from surrounding planets to help against this. This planet seems to be a member of a coalition, so something like that is possible.

There are limits to it likely and the question comes to mind, why won’t Absolute from a different planet get here and just fuck up that monster’s—2 absolutes vs one? Would such a fight threaten to destroy the planet? But wouldn’t that also make it easy for two to suppress the monster Absolute? Is there a rule that doesn’t allow it and the system makes sure it’s not broken? Is it not worth for any Absolute to move for such a thing?

Damn it, I want to know.

One day I will find some friendly Champion or Absolute and pull from them all the information I can. The kind of guy who would randomly spoil the end of the book mid conversation without even noticing. Then I pull out of them all the information the system will allow.

After that, I will be angry at myself for spoiling myself.

Yup, that’s how we roll here.

Anyway, we have registered a mercenary group. Angry Kittens it is called.

I don’t have the energy to fight back anymore and sometimes I notice myself thinking of us as such. There were jokes made during the 4th Floor when we created a guild with such a name that Angry Kittens will rule over the Earth, but the more floors we pass the less unrealistic it seems.

Part of me considers it very funny, but obviously, I don’t let it show. There is an image I have to upkeep.

Lately, I have also been in a good mood. The satisfying fight against Jean, my new class, breakthroughs I made, new active skill, new passive skill, and even now there is a small part of the reward for me to pick. There are four amazing options waiting for me. This time, I won’t rush. Instead, I’ll take a moment to think it through and choose the one that makes my build as optimal as possible.

The 4 options from which I have to pick one instead of 2nd Active skill - something I have to thank to my “unique” in the class that allows me to personalize my growth a bit more.

It also makes me wonder how the system will deal with the others when they reach level 300 but won’t get offered a unique class. Will it offer something else? Will it pick on its own - an option based on the performance of the attendee?

I know that even now a lot of people don’t have 10 active skills. The average for someone around level 250 seems to be around 6-8 active skills. That statistic includes group 4 as well, which appears to be abnormal compared to some of the other Hell difficulty groups.

Is it just me who is collecting active skills like that? Are you supposed to be more careful what you train to not get unwanted skills and fill your slot? Are other generations than 1st who have no idea what they are doing following a more focused way of gaining skills to reach certain builds?

At this point, I’m sure of it. Every generation other than the 1st will have the advantage of having information from us.

We are the most talented and handpicked by the system to be future leaders, teachers, and protectors. Future possible Champions and Absolutes. With that comes advantages - system shop, more options to decide our way. But there are also disadvantages like lacking information and the chance of making mistakes that cannot be turned back. Filling slots with useless active skills, choosing unfitting traits, or opting for classes that don't suit you.

There is a big reliance on our talent to push us through all of that, but overall I would say I prefer this over having information and a way ahead. It’s exciting, it’s more fun, and there is that great feeling of exploration and adventure. Some of us even have access to Beyond to meet other people we will share the system with, options to form future alliances, beyond quests to visit places out of the tutorial to collect these bits of information.

This setup is in my opinion done very well, focused on growth, but damn, it’s been close to 2 years here, with 2nd tournament a few months away and I’m still thinking of this stuff. The clear answers are just that rare.

Glancing at my lap I pet Biscuit who still pretends to sleep anytime I’m nearby. Only when I’m outside doing my training he moves around, thinking I don’t know.

I have no idea why he still does that but I won’t complain.

Reaching down I boop his small nose and pull gently on his whisker. I grab one of the ears and flop it around and then lean closer to blow into it weakly. Through kinetic energy I sense him twitching his hind leg in annoyance, so I repeat it and poke his belly afterward. The skin there is very soft, so it feels nice.

As I bully him, I can sense more and more signs of annoyance through kinetic senses.

Just when I have a feeling he will stop pretending and bark at me, I stop.

Refreshed, I close my eyes and appear in my mind space and back on that desert planet. Whitey already sits in the dune and looks down at the oasis below.

There a young crippled demon is getting beaten by a girl a head shorter than him. She moves incredibly well for someone so young, attacking an older demon who has his hands full trying to keep his broken heart under control and using kinetic energy to move his damaged body. Over and over again he gets beaten, the girl not holding back and causing bleeding wounds.

It takes five minutes, but she gets bored and leaves him there on the ground, unable to move, and painful wounds covering his figure.

“You know what?” Whitey starts out of nowhere, “I always thought Jaen was much more talented than me. I considered her strong as fuck and even if it’s pathetic now, I looked a bit up to that tiny girl.”

“Back then you should ask her to take you as a disciple.”

“Oh, you think you’re so funny, you dickhead.” Whitey smirks at me and I know I will pay for it during spar.

Looking where Jaen went he continues, “Seeing her now this way I do realize how dumb I was.”

“Let me guess, she sucks at using kinetic energy.”

“Exactly. Some of it is forgiven by her being so young, but it’s irritating when one uses the same two moves over and over and both of them wrongly. When our tutorial started she ended in Hard difficulty and died in her 1st year. I have never learned how.”

"Does it sadden you?"

"No. The weak die and the strong survive." Whitey stands, brushing off some of the sand before settling into a stance.

I know this will be a tough fight. Whitey has been more fired up lately after witnessing my fight with Jean through my memories.

Quickly sliding into stance I face him.

***

As it has become a habit for Group 4, we find ourselves in our small, living-room-like area. It’s a bit too filled to my taste with the twins and Min-Jae sitting near me in the couch-like furniture and me in my manablock chair. The others sit around and there is a bunch of mana stones with some information on the table.

“So, every mercenary group was paid in some way even before arriving on this planet - something to prod them into coming here,” Tess begins.

“Let me guess,” I ask, “We won’t be getting any of that because of the setting of the system.”

“Exactly.”

“Knew it.”

“We all did, Nat. That’s just how the system works. So starting then it’s up to mercenary groups to make themselves useful. Each gets registration and 1 year long entrance pass, with the possibility to leave once a month during scheduled interplanetary teleportations.”

“I have a question.”

“Yes, Min-Jae?”

“Can we move to one of these planets? Stay there while ‘waves’ go on and get all the rewards?”

“There are a few options I could think of,” Tess answers, “1st, the setup of this floor won’t allow us to leave that way. 2nd we can leave but we won’t be able to return back here and possibly end up on a peaceful planet where we won’t be able to grow and be forced to leave to the 8th floor.”

“What if we could learn more there? Gain some knowledge and that kind of thing?”

“It’s possible, but I personally would prefer following the setting the tutorial has. So far it allowed us to progress in multiple ways on each floor. But if some of you will want to try we can talk about that again and decide, what do you think?”

“Sounds reasonable!”

“Thank you, Min-Jae. So as I said, it’s up to us to make ourselves useful. We can go to one of the fronts, we can move on our own into the monster territory and hunt them and get paid for each kill, we can stay in outposts and do things here like trading, crafting, training, and similar things.”

She reaches and picks one of the mana stones, “There are 6 fronts. 1st and 2nd are not recommended, Champion grade monsters appear there often. 5th also isn’t, a monster of that or similar rank was spotted nearby. 3rd front is doable but one of the most dangerous and near the place where this planet’s Absolute and the Absolute monster crashed for the 1st time. 4th front is having a lot of fights against a myriad of weaker monsters. As for the 6th, it’s the newest one so there is not that much information about them.”

Looking through the stone for a while longer, she puts it back on the table, “Healers are very valuable here, so we could become Lily´s bodyguards and move in between fronts, getting paid for her healing. We could do something similar with Nat and have him make items to sell. Or we could combine both of these.”

“It sounds good, but I’m worried that Nat didn’t say anything. He didn’t even recommend us to go to 1st front to check out the Absolute monster or something.” Dennis complains while pointing at me.

“I’m currently training and improving my skills, I can level up on the front later when the floor’s difficulty increases and things go to shit.”

“Yeah, that sounds more like him,” Dennis turns to Tess, “You seem to have a plan.”

Tess smiles. “I do. There’s a rumor that Champion Feroy is coming to this outpost on his way to explore the newly opened 6th front. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind having a skilled healer as powerful as Lily and someone capable of crafting mid-arcane items.”

Oh my, that’s more daring than I thought.

Sophie seems to be of the same opinion, “Staying near Champion, like these we just escaped from on the 6th floor? You know, assholes capable of destroying entire continents given enough time?”

“Yes, Sophie, exactly - someone that powerful, with plenty of knowledge and resources to spare,” Tess says, tapping on the table. “Apparently, he has a specialized team dedicated to maintaining his war armor. It’s called Exoria, and on one of the battlefields, some of the technicians responsible for it died. The remaining ones now need assistants for smaller tasks. Getting that information and a contact for one of the technicians cost me materials worth ten thousand shards, but I think it was well worth it.”

The interest Tess had been carefully and deliberately stirring within me reaches its peak, and I sit up straighter in my chair. “Tell me more about this Exoria.”

I know she has me right where she wants me, but I don’t care. This is far too interesting.

***

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