Chapter 510 - Reanimated Remnants

Duncan starts ordering some natives around and threatening them not to steal anything. He promises them bonuses paid in shards or materials, all drawn from his 10%, which will also cover various fees along the way.

It all seems too easy. He smiles, he curses at them, he threatens and offers bonuses—all while quickly reacting to anything the natives have to say. He even uses the presence of our group to his advantage.

I think these guys might be scared of Lily, who is already digging into the body of that demon. Even so, extroverts sure have it easy. I think it was Tess who long ago said people like that gain energy while communicating with others instead of losing it.

I can see it, I can understand the theory, but I don't get it.

"Does Hadwin in the Beyond community mean trouble?" Gareth moves closer, scratching his nice beard while watching the natives move.

"Yup. But I'm also sure the First Beyonder is a lot of trouble, so what's more to the addition?"

"I meant for us. For Earth."

This is something I have already thought about for a while, yet even now I'm not sure. What if that crazy cockroach really does it and gets out of the tutorial? What if she ends up on Earth?

"She is someone who won't go out of her way just to kill weak people but won't mind them dying if something happens. It's difficult."

"I understand, but at this point, won't each of us be capable of something similar? We saw what the Champions and Absolutes can do."

"I guess. But she might be a more special case—the kind of person you scare Absolutes with and some weaker Rulers with after she regains her powers."

"Haaa," Gareth lets out a noise somewhere between a sigh and a loud breath. "We better work hard not to be left behind. It's our planet, so it's up to us to defend it, right, my friend?"

My answer is somewhere between a nod and shaking my head—maybe.

***

POV Myrra

The tunnels are enormous and continue to head down for long enough for me to start getting bored.

"Little kitten, your orbs."

Quickly, I focus my attention on them to keep those terrifying things from exploding and hurting me. From previous experience, I know how rarely she gives warnings. Just how close I was to a dangerous situation. Were they about to blow me apart?

I feel cold sweat running down my back.

"I'm not so old that I don't understand you younglings strive for exciting things—to discover something new, to fight, to have fun. But such loss of focus is inexcusable."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. Do better. I promised you I will declare you a Champion candidate—a true one, not some pathetic excuse of the candidate. And, little kitten, never in my life was I wrong when I declared someone. You lynthari like to mess around, so you have to show me dedication before I decide to declare you."

Knowing she will only get annoyed if I apologize again, I just nod and get back to my training.

Monsters here don't even attack us, or maybe they do and Lady Lissandra just kills them before I even notice. But after a long time, we finally reach the bottom of the tunnel, and the area changes.

We stop in front of a very long bridge, and she steps onto it, walking.

I feel my heart beating; I can hear whispers, movement below us. I can feel vibrations on the hair of my ears and tail.

Am I scared just because of some height? A bit of darkness?

All my emotions feel amplified, memories feel stronger: sadness, anger, fear.

I accept them all, I feel them, but I don't let them control me. They are mine, and that means I have control over them. Soon after, I even enjoy them—the taste of my fear, the desperation I felt after the matriarch died and I knew my world would never be the same, the beautiful expression of happiness on Nathaniel's face when we fought, the feeling of being left alone on my dying world until this human woman came.

The bridge ends sooner than expected, and she looks at me and nods in acknowledgment. Then she reaches into the air, grabbing pure darkness near her.

For a moment, something screeches, and then there is silence.

A pulse of mana erupts from her, scattering the material darkness that once resembled smoke, now lifeless and hollow.

Without a word, she continues through another bridge until we reach a platform. In the middle of that platform is a hole, and at the bottom of that hole is a thylarin man—blue skin, missing five of his six arms.

He is kneeling on both of his knees, his head lowered, and only very slowly he lifts it up.

"It is an honor to be in the presence of such power as yours."

To my instinct, he feels so very dangerous. I can see it in his eyes; all my senses warn me of him. Even imprisoned here he is a threat.

As always, Lady Lissandra dismisses his attempt at pleasantries with a wave of her hand. After a moment, she opens her palm over the hole, letting a small handful of white sand drift down.

“No!” the thylarin screams, leaping to his feet and pressing against the wall.

The sand descends slowly, almost floating, as Lady Lissandra channels mana downward. A portion charges the white sand, while another reaches the thylarin. He seizes it, using it against the sand, activating a field instantly.

It’s a breathtaking display of skill. With such a small amount of mana, he crafts something remarkable. His field holds the sand back momentarily, frequencies shifting at a speed beyond my comprehension. His arm moves frantically as he begins drawing symbols in the air and on the wall of his prison.

For a moment, it seems he might succeed. But then, a single grain pierces through his field—and his body.

The thylarin Champion ignores the wound, his efforts intensifying as sweat beads on his forehead. Another grain passes through, then another, and more. The sand begins to swirl wildly, tearing into his body with relentless precision, driving him to his knees.

Gradually, the symbols he’s drawn weaken, their glow fading until they vanish entirely. When he collapses, the light in his eyes fades as well, leaving nothing behind.

I tense, bracing for the entire desert to come alive and rush toward us, just as that man in Last Rest had warned. But the silence stretches on.

“So disappointing,” Lady Lissandra mutters, turning to leave. “And don’t be foolish, little kitten. Obviously, I removed the function from these grains that would trigger the desert’s protocols.”

“I’m sorry! Are we leaving?” I ask, hurrying to catch up to her.

"Yes."

"I... I understand! Where are we heading now?"

"Central region. There are a few places I want to visit. And one thing, little kitten."

"Yes?"

"Lately, you have too much free time to talk and let your thoughts wander. I will be increasing the difficulty of your training."

"Lady Lissandra."

"Yes?"

"I understand why Nathaniel called you 'cockroach' and all those names."

For the first time in a few weeks, the corners of her lips lift into a tiny smile. "The difficulty increased even more. Was it worth it?"

Already dealing with the orb, I have barely enough spare energy to just nod. It might be just a play of shadows, but she might have smiled even more at that.

***

POV Nathaniel

After most of the fish-cutting is done, Tess takes over, helping Duncan deal with some people from Lake City—' city' being an exaggeration. Apparently, natives supported by some top 50 guilds live there and take over the fish business, mainly during the season but even now. They can help with selling; support of that guild means there shouldn't be any funny business.

For a cut.

Of course.

Truly, authentic Beyond experience.

Part of me wonders how I would deal with it and how much energy I would need to spend. Part of me trains, and another part notices Lucien watching me. Little Spacewolf is suspicious, more so than CarrotCake, who is a clear meathead—seemingly someone who just cannot hide his intentions and feelings.

Ever since he mentioned it, I wonder what skill he has for LissLiss to show interest in him. Even though she ditched him, unlike me, there has to be something.

He even rejected an upper epic item made by the famous Tent Creep for an answer.

Annoyed, I turn to Luna, who stands nearby. "You said there is a mark on me, scent-based or something. Not long ago, two Champions said they also feel a different mark on me, but they didn't seem to sense the one you do."

"What's the problem, greedy human?"

"I'm not greedy; I deserve all the shards for the fish. So, I tried and I couldn't sense these marks myself."

"Give me more than just a small part of 50% of shards; I fought hard. And how do you even hope to see through something Champions only can see?"

"No. And it's a mark made on me; I should sense it. I'm not some marking pole. You didn't answer my question."

"I will answer for five thousand shards."

"Thievery."

"Leticia is terrible with shards, so I'm the one taking care of finances."

"I can believe that."

"Yes."

***

We leave the safe zone not long after, heading into an area that slowly changes.

There is less damage to the surroundings, and it opens up more, with fewer ruins around. The land is mostly grassy flatland with hills once in a while and tall forests in between. The rock covering the ceiling changes as well, becoming lighter in color with enormous crystals giving gentle, pleasant light.

Once in a while, there are enormous stone pillars connecting the ground and ceiling and likely supporting it as well. These vary from being football stadium-wide to much wider. Apparently, they often have caves and, rarely, precious materials.

Tess flies up in the air, trying to map our surroundings and compare it with the simple map we got.

As in any other place in Beyond, even here the gravity is stronger than, let's say, on the 7th floor. There is also that constant pull on my mana, pulling it downwards towards somewhere in the bottom of the First Dungeon. Sometimes I curiously let it happen, watching how that mana is pulled away, studying the effect that causes it. I compare it to skills I've seen capable of absorbing mana and to my black mana as well.

The black mana wins currently. That insane thing started nomming on mana on a semi-Champion eye, so obviously it would. But what about the lower floors of the dungeon?

From the rankings, it looks like only that guy Adrien got onto the 6th floor in the past thousand or so years—since the last reset. I have seen some of Whitey's memories of that guy, but only short flashes as the demon refuses to show me more of them. Just that little makes me very curious.

It doesn't take us too long to meet our first enemies: skeletons of monsters that used to live here and that millennia and millennia ago the first attendees—maybe even Rulers themselves—killed, and since then they are reanimating.

[Reanimated Beast - lvl 326]

[Reanimated Remnant - lvl 311]

[Reanimated Remnant - lvl 320]

[Reanimated Beast - lvl 310]

[Reanimated Beast - lvl 291]

Both built from skeletons that clearly didn’t belong to something friendly even in life. They move with unnerving ease, bones grinding and shifting as if alive—but they’re not. Whatever force animates them gives them strength far beyond what those brittle bones should handle. They charge with brutal efficiency, no hesitation, no fear—just pure, mechanical intent to kill.

The beasts' jaws snap with a sound that could crush metal, but it’s not just raw power. Their movements are precise, almost too precise for something that’s supposed to be dead. I can’t help but wonder—how much of the original monster remains in there?

Remnants are different. They aren’t whole monsters, not even close. Pieces of skeletons, patched together like some child’s nightmare of a puzzle. Each step they take is jerky, almost clumsy, but there’s a disturbing unpredictability to them. A spine from one beast fused to the ribs of another, claws that don’t match their limbs—it’s like they were thrown together in a hurry, and yet, they work.

Knowing about them long before they get close, we are ready—Gareth and Jean heading front, Sophie, Leticia, and Luna dealing with defenses while Lucien hides near Tess. Lily and I are to do whatever we see fit, and Tacita... is somewhere else once again.

As the highest-level beast out of the group attacks, it tears through Jean's body, his organs spilling out and a piece of his leg cut off before Gareth bashes against the monster.

Jean heals incredibly quickly thanks to Lucien, but on his skin, dark-red scars remain that seem wet, and the wound keeps opening after Lucien heals it.

As Gareth is thrown away with a leg missing and Sophie halts the monster, Lily moves incredibly quickly, crashing against the one that tries to surround us, and Tess bombs each monster with amazing timing. Stones are torn from the ground around her, each thrown at incredible speed at the monsters.

Jean laughs happily and rushes into an attack again, muscles bulging under his skin.

***

The fight takes much longer than expected, but after what feels like ten minutes, all the reanimated monsters are dead. Our small group is licking its wounds which refuse to close, the attacks of our opponents leaving behind red scars even if healed.

Even though unexpected, the bonk strategy seems to work, and Jean finished the Reanimated Beast at level 326 on his own without any other help than the healing he got at the start. I also went hard and helped to kill the remaining monsters.

I can even happily say that without me it's highly possible somebody would have died. It's also recognized in a thank-you Leticia gives me and a happy tap on my back from Gareth as well.

It feels awkward so I ignore it and they leave me alone.

Another day passes, marked by countless clashes with the monsters. I push myself to kill as many as possible on my own, testing the limits of my mana and my new skill.

There are a few things that give me an edge against them, but these creatures are formidable. They're incredibly durable, with razor-sharp attacks capable of piercing barriers, some kind of anti-healing effect, and even scouts to track us.

Still, after the first few battles, it becomes slightly easier. We start adapting to their fighting patterns. Losing a limb or two feels like a small price to pay for that progress.

During that something inside me wonders if Jean is level 300, but I think he is not. But it was also me who not long ago said the level doesn't matter that much.

Well, I might have lied a bit because currently, I care about that level.

The reason is simple.

[Lvl 299 > Lvl 300]

Well done! You have successfully reached level 300. You can now select one of the Primary Classes. The classes and their rarity are based on your actions and performance up until now within the Tutorial.

That system message and the five options I got.

Let's see what the system has for me.

***

Next Chapter

***

Author's Note: 

With this chapter, it’s time to go on hiatu… to upgrade Patreon memberships! Yes, you heard that right! Tier 3 will now include 45 chapters ahead instead of 40.

I’ll begin editing these chapters and posting them immediately. Each chapter will take around 30 minutes to edit, possibly longer if I find areas that need changes. So, expect 5 more chapters coming in the next few hours!

Consider this a Christmas gift and a heartfelt thank you. Your support has allowed me to pursue full-time writing, and it’s all thanks to you, my readers - be it here on Patreon or on Amazon.

So, once again, a big thank you!