Chapter 509 - Pale blue

I hope I’ll never be as easy to provoke as this guy. Now, with the strongest of them dead, this should be doable without anyone on our side dying.

Wraith Dance brings me to the side, into the path of the demon who still holds the corpse of the first one. I switch to Breaker Style and release the kinetic energy I was collecting.

He, in defense, thrusts the body he holds into the way of the attack, and with its lowered natural defenses it explodes into flesh and bones but blocks most of the force.

The demon grabs a thigh bone and a rib bone into his hands, oscillating mana coating them in addition as he uses kinetic energy to move towards me.

My crown releases a pulse, disrupting all his mana, and before he can reactivate it again [Eclipse] cancels it out. The bones he holds crash against daggers I weave boosted by his kinetic energy only.

On my back, two arms of mana form, reaching towards him, but he moves incredibly quickly, avoiding them and attacking me again.

I dodge with Pulser Style, and he uses that to run toward the group still fighting the fish.

I teleport through one of the Ley Lines and then use Wraith Dance, reaching him and absorbing the kinetic energy of his movement. The field around him modifies, and he pushes through that, attacking me again after throwing one of the bones at Lily, who raises her axe and deflects it as I send her a warning through the link.

I grab the demon's wrist, kinetic energy roaring through my body as I pull him to me, and my knee crashes against the arm he lifts in defense.

His fist becomes coated with violently oscillating mana, but [Eclipse] disrupts it again, just as it does with every other skill he tries to activate.

Over and over, I forgo efficiency, disrupting his skills before they can fully form, my reserves showing no sign of strain.

He hisses, and something pierces the hand I use to hold his wrist. There are sharp bones growing from underneath his skin, stabbing into my arm.

I hold on tightly and pull closer, driving my knee into the arm he uses to block the attack.

His skin ripples, sharp bones growing from his forearms, knees, even on his chest and shoulders. He strikes again, using the bones as weapons, even managing to stab through the hand I’m using to hold him.

I slam my head against his nose, breaking it and drawing blood.

That makes him only smile more as he licks the blood from his upper lip and spits it towards my eyes, making me dodge it.

His attempts to activate skills feel desperate, as he tries to unleash something powerful based on the way he manipulates the structure and flow of his mana. But I don't let him; I push through his natural defenses even, destroying them, obliterating them with the amount of mana I use.

And his kinetic energy? It's nothing I can't match. He doesn't even come close to the white-haired demon I spar with regularly.

Gradually, armor starts forming around my body, woven from dense mana threads that his bone attacks can't pierce.

His arms, pierced with extremely sharp and durable bones, keep slamming against me, breaking and healing, each attack showing incredible physical stats, regeneration, and bursts of kinetic energy.

And I still hold his arm and grab his other one. With a strong push, I grab it and tear it off. His desperate attempts to activate that strong skill intensify, even in this state. He cycles through all the options, trying any skill in his possession.

Yet he can't.

[Eclipse - lvl 12 > Eclipse - lvl 13]

His mana can't compare to mine, and I'm using it like it's bottomless with no efficiency in mind, just to disrupt even the earliest signs of the skill.

I pull off his other arm, and he staggers back.

Even now he doesn't show hesitation and laughs even in this situation. Instead of regrowing arms of flesh and bone, he skips the flesh and something akin to a web of bone emerges from his stumps.

He doesn’t run; instead, he attacks me again with the same result. Before his arms can regenerate, I pierce a hole through his chest with kinetic energy, his own unable to counter it.

Even dying, he doesn't lose that maniacal look in his eyes. "Beautiful use of kinetic energy..." he coughs up blood, "For a human."

As his eyes glaze over and he falls, his final glance is toward the remains of the demon Tacita killed, sinking into the lake. Fixating on that sight, he takes his last breath.

[You have defeated Bone Reaver - lvl 315]

[Lvl 298 > Lvl 299]

I support his body with my mana so it doesn't sink and look towards the group. The last demon stands back with the group of C and D-ranks. Even though he used his skills, he didn't attack unlike the demon I just killed, and instead moved back to the group.

He now shamelessly smiles at me. "I didn't like that guy, and he and Myrril were always tight, so it was sure he would attack you, human."

"Your behavior is unexpected from a demon."

"So what? With Myrril dead so quickly, if we attack you, we might be able to wipe out your entire group. However, I’d likely die in the process since you’d target me, leaving these assholes behind me to get all the loot. Miss me with that shit."

I can't deny that logic.

[You have defeated Fish - lvl 368]

With that, part of my group moves closer, Lily joining me by my side, the axe threateningly in her hand. There are some parts of it that are damaged, but looking at it, it's from[Disintegration]. She might have tried to channel through the axe rather than the fish.

I don't even have to check; Tess likely kept an eye on me the entire time, and Sophie probably moves somewhere in the distance.

Jean is doing his best to stop the body of the fish from sinking under the water with the help of Gareth and Leticia, who makes some mana chains the men can use.

Luna joins my side soon after, the biggest size I've seen on her yet. Long legs, elongated face with sets of sharp teeth, and maw covered in blood.

Once again, I observe the group against us. A B-rank demon that likely saw what I did and the way I fight, and eight more C and D-ranks.

I don't think we would lose; I'm even fairly confident I could take on this demon, maybe even easily and on my own if my skills counter his in a similar way to the demon before

"Human, don't think of it." Janryc brings my attention back to him. "I won't fight you or that girl, no, I will avoid you both, and trust me, one or two of your team members will die, and what for?"

His words once again make sense, even though I still think he underestimates us.

But what for? He didn't attack us, and neither did the other people behind him.

Not saying anything, I just turn around and head back to the others. He also doesn't say anything; I sense his group leaving, back to the fish they pulled to the bank of the lake.

Meanwhile, I send the body of the demon I fought to the house we are staying at.

Even while Gareth is helping Jean to pull the fish towards the bank, I notice him releasing that wide-area AoE healing, speeding up our regeneration. Jean is already fully healed, thanks to Lucien, who doesn't heal anyone else, so Lily now quickly moves, checking on them and healing even the smallest wounds.

"Human, you might not be as crazy as I thought," Luna says by my side. "I expected you to attack them."

"Well, we'd better leave here quickly in case they come back with additional forces. I guess this kind of fish should come out during the season only."

"It's our fish, human; we will defend it as it was our prey," Luna growls with a dangerous glint in her eyes.

Cute. The doggo likes her fishie.

I reach out and pet the side of her neck as she is still huge.

She then rushes towards the others and grabs some of the chain into her teeth and starts pulling as well, her tail swinging excitedly, almost as if she is playing pull.

***

For an hour we try skinning the fish and looking for interesting things, but it's all very messy, all of us clearly lacking experience. That's why I go to the outpost, bringing back Duncan and a few natives. All of them pull out some specialized tools and make us help, as our skills can make sharper tools and we are stronger.

First, they dig through the chest and head for the main innards, and soon they pull it out.

Pale Blue Core (Arcane) - A spherical core within the fish's body that pulses with mana. This core serves as the source of its power, capable of amplifying mana fields or fueling high-tier constructs.

Some of them shout in excitement, and older ones start fighting over how long it was since they saw such a big Pale Blue Core.

Apparently, there are even bigger ones, but of different colors. For example, Pale Purple Core, Pale Golden Core, and Pale White Core, which seems to be the rarest.

This one is still extremely valuable, with Pale Blue Cores going for around 200-500 thousand shards according to size, age, and some other parameters.

Not bad at all.

There are also some upper epic materials—mostly flesh, tendons, some scales, bones, and more—but among them, there are more valuable ones as well.

Pristine Mana Stones (Arcane) - Naturally formed gemstones within the fish's stomach, refined by its mana-eating processes. They are highly sought after for their purity and potency.

Reflection Membrane (Epic) - A layer of semi-transparent tissue near the fish's torso that reflects physical and mana-based attacks. Ideal for crafting shields or defensive barriers.

Energy-Hardened Skeleton (Epic) - The durable skeleton of the fish, laced with absorbed mana. Its fragments can be used to craft high-tier weapons or mana conductors.

Overall, our fish is estimated to have a value somewhere between 300-700 thousand shards at most. A value of 3-7 low arcane weapons or 1-3 mid arcane.

For a fish.

Sure, it took ten of us to take it down, but I'm sure fewer people would be fine, and if you catch a few of them in a row, you will have a nice amount of shards.

What I also learn is that the powerful B-ranks and A-ranks are able to kill that fish on their own easily and without damaging it much.

I want to see it. I want to fight these guys. I want to try to hunt the fish on my own.

And now we stand around that loot, some parts split among us considering they might be useful. Out of it, I have some Pristine mana stones, a few pieces of membrane, and Lily got some bone again, as always. She also got the body of the demon I killed, along with a few small pieces from the other demon’s body.

That makes me wonder if, when we take it out of Beyond, a lurker will grow from small pieces left behind in a year or two. Is there some limit of material that needs to stay so it happens? Or does it happen automatically the moment someone dies? Somewhat I don't think it's the second case—that would likely be the authority of the system, so whatever is in the middle of this floor likely needs to have some pieces left to rebuild body from it.

As always, the questions. So many of them.

Jean juggles the Pale Blue Core in his hand, it being as big as a basketball, and tapping on it with the tip of his finger. "So how do we sell it? I did my part, so I better be paid."

Leticia takes it from him and holds it, surprised by its weight. "If it sells for around 400 thousand, Noname will get 200, and each of us will get around 20 thousand. In combination with other items, it should climb to around 30-40 thousand each while Noname gets around 300-400."

"He didn't even fight that much against the fish; he just floated there and attacked a bit! I saw him watching us," Lucien complains.

I'm almost amazed by such shamelessness; this little shit barely did anything and just healed Jean closer to the end.

Gareth steps forward. "We made a deal, and it would be dishonest to change it now. Think of it as extra shards you didn’t even expect to receive. As for Noname, without him, we wouldn’t have even attempted this. He even held these guys off while we fought."

To that, Lucien just snorts but doesn't complain anymore.

So this time it's me who grabs the core and puts it into Duncan's hands, but it falls to the ground as the native is too weak to even hold it.

He giggles nervously and quickly rolls it closer to him while checking the damage. "It's nice."

After that, he attempts to roll it to me, but I stop it with my leg. "You sell it and other items. For that, you can take five percent."

For a moment, a surprise flashes across his face, but then he smiles. "Ten percent, or you do it on your own."

***

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