Chapter 506 - Lake City

Even though I don't have time for a full lesson, I make sure to visit the guest in my mind space.

This time, Whitey sits in the well-kept garden, surrounded by towering, elegant bonsai-like trees. Nearby, cherry trees scatter their pink petals. In the distance, the bamboo thing collects the water and makes that typical noise when water empties and hits the stone.

There are even cicadas rounding up the extremely cliché environment.

Additionally, Whitey is dressed in a white and black kimono. As always, even these clothes fit him very well.

"Do you have fun going through my memories?" I ask, sitting next to him, curious what anime, movie or show he got it from.

"The same as you have fun going through mine. By the way, that human girl, I like her."

"Tacita?"

"Yes. She moves very well, and even though the technique is lacking, her instincts balance it out favorably. Back then you would have lost against her with kinetic energy only, you know."

"Bullshit. So why don't you point out what I did wrong."

Whitey, always excited to put down my abilities and make fun of me, reaches into his pocket, pulling out a smartphone, and on it, a video from my point of view appears.

"First, she is using some sort of 'field' as you like to call it, but until she deploys it in the big area, there still should be signs of her movement. Look here and..."

***

A few minutes later, I open my eyes and nod at Lily, who was keeping a watch over me, and she nods back, unable to say anything with her mouth stuffed with some sort of dried fruit.

"Noname, I was asking others, but how many Stay Tokens do you have?" Leticia notices me with eyes open and immediately asks.

"I could stay longer than the others if I wanted, but I will see. We just started the 7th floor, so I'm curious. So probably 3-5 days, the same as them, and I hope we can reach the second safe zone."

"Seventh floor is pretty good! Luna, I, and our group are still on the 6th! I think Jean and Lucien are also on 6th."

The mentioned CarrotCake doesn't seem to be disappointed. "There are a lot of fun opponents to fight. Plus there is nothing I can do about the Floor Quest, so the others have to deal with it."

Lucien, the annoying twerp, also talks. "Jean just likes to punch people. That won't help him to get out of the Astral Prison."

"That's true," Jean doesn't have a problem acknowledging that and grabs the back of Lucien's neck, shaking him. "That's why I have you and the others, right?"

"Fucking brute, let me go!"

That causes Jean to shake him even more.

Leticia turns to Gareth. "And you?"

"We are on the 6th but might be able to clear it soon. I would love to tell you more, Leticia, but I worry the system would only censor it."

I don't say it out loud but I bet Gary here is busy doing human sacrifices to free the eye and to escape the floor or something. He might even join the Mind Mages willingly or is bringing deathtraps full of people into the Mana Desert for them to die to the thylarin Champion and his bond.

"Noname." Out of nowhere, Lucien calls out to me after Jean lets go of him.

"What?"

"Did you meet Lissandra Hawthorne on the 2nd floor?"

The disinterest I had until now vanishes, and I give that boy my full attention.

That seems to be exactly what he wanted, as a smirk tugs at his lips. "I've met her too, and I had a feeling you had as well. The way you move your mana feels distantly similar to hers."

His voice dies off a bit and his hand trembles for a moment. Something near impossible to notice, but I can sense it.His left eyelid twitches, and inside his boot, his toe shifts nervously.

"You don't look like someone very interested in mana," I note.

He shakes his head but stays silent, clearly trying to get under my skin. "I’m curious - how did you manage to draw her out? Until now, I haven’t met a single person who’s encountered her face to face."

"Was she some rare native?" Leticia asks curiously, sliding closer to the boy and poking him to answer.

"Apparently," Jean waves it off. "She liked one of Lucien's skills and made him do some tests for a day or two before throwing him away."

"You dumb brute. Do you not know when to keep your mouth shut!" Lucien moves away from Leticia and starts hitting Jean's shoulder, who doesn't even seem to notice.

I squint my eyes and observe the boy with more attention. For Cockroach to take interest in his skill, it must be something else. Like really something else. It might be a reason why he passed Beyond trials? Is there anything else?

Also, for him to recognize hers and my way of using mana as similar even at this distance is weird. There is barely any connection.

Lucien notices me looking at him and his frustrated expression disappears, and he smirks again, probably knowing what goes through my head and the frustration I feel for not knowing the answer.

"You will fail, you know, Noname?" he leans back, arms crossed on his chest. "You will never be able to become the way she is, no matter if you use similar techniques. You will never become as strong as her."

That confuses me but I stay quiet, and while we all stand up, preparing to move again, I think.

Why would I do this all only to become as strong as she was?

***

Before we finally reach the safe zone I have an opportunity to watch Sophie use Golem Heart, a damaged arcane item I left with her long ago.

She’s already done some modifications to it, and even though she didn’t use the grains of white sand I left for her on the 7th floor, it’s still stronger than before.

To improve her control she is able to infuse her bond into the creation, so when the earth rises up her shadow connects to it, and then the golem becomes faster and more reactive while Sophie keeps the frame of the golem strong, changing it according to the situation.

It can be humanoid, it can crumble down, and from within that mass, a smaller wolf-like figure runs in a way that makes it seem alive. But most of all she uses it to protect herself while she does her stuff. There are even still two lurkers she controls fighting in her stead.

There are weaknesses I'm sure she knows about but there are strengths as well.

As far as I know, she still didn't fully test the limit of her ability. Just how many lurkers she would be able to control and imprint with her [Geas]?

What also interests me is Gareth and his silver crown. I have seen it during the tournament that was months and months ago, yet I still have no idea what crown it is and what is that damned silver light around him. But his abilities are undeniable, I know he doesn't have to "tank" and can move much faster, yet he doesn't do it.

So we fight one more time and reach the safe zone.

Simple as that.

There are no more crazy strong lurkers standing in our way just a few steps away from the safe zone.

There is no random guild of thugs sniffing around to get our equipment.

Just like that, we reach the place, and I have to wonder if I had an authentic experience in my previous expeditions or we just were lucky or just too strong this time.

The safe zone we enter is simple.

An island on an enormous lake with dark water where you can't see under the surface. Inside of that lake something swims, and when Sophie makes her lurkers move closer, the surface ripples, and that something pulls the lurkers below.

We heard about it from Leticia, as she and the others were already in this safe zone, so it should be safe - but still, let them move in first. They also mentioned something about fish or fishing, but I’m not sure how that connects.

Leticia takes a step onto the surface of the dark, nearly black lake, and she stands on the water, ripples of blue light sent from below her feet. Jean takes a step as well and confidently continues to walk, his ripples much bigger, reflecting his weight.

It’s not them using an ability that makes it possible, but rather one of the lake’s properties.

Out of the corner of my eye, I catch movement - a slim figure darting across the surface like one of those crazy lizards from Earth that can run on water. The lake is massive, the island far in the distance, yet Tacita crosses it swiftly. Something in me wonders if she could do it just as easily even without the strange effect that allows walking on water.

I let my eyes activate and take a step, watching ripples of water and mana and moving mana signatures under the surface. No monster attacks us, and even though we walk for a few minutes, no lurker moves close. The difference from the situation from just a few minutes before is striking. Only very slowly we are getting used to not constantly feeling lurkers moving around.

"As there are a lot of attendees and the first floor is huge there are also a lot of safe zones. This one is called Lake City," Leticia starts explaining.

"That's very original. It also seems too small to be called a city."

"I know, Sset," Leticia flashes her a smile. "There are fewer people inside than you might expect, probably only a few dozen. Sometimes a bit over a hundred. It changes according to 'season,' and more natives and attendees come to this safe zone when it's time to 'fish.'"

Tess asks, "How do natives get there and what would they fish?"

"Once or twice a year they pay a lot of shards to some of the top 100 guilds who send them a few B or A ranks who help them fish and to get here safely. They even share part of their catch."

"Are you going to tease me longer?"

"Hehe, it's fun, Sset." Leticia ignores Luna who bumps her leg. "They hunt for the fish that eats mana. These fish often eat weapons and items from the lurkers who get pulled into the lake, but more importantly, by eating mana it crystallizes inside of that fish's belly and makes mana stones big guilds like!"

"Is that fish tasty?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know, Jean."

"I understand."

"By the way, Sset, do you guys plan to join the guilds? Me and Luna are still not sure, but we got a few offers, but we might wait a bit longer for a better one. Apparently, better guilds often don't bother with newbies until they come to the second floor. Only rarely do they show interest in someone from the first."

"We will also wait and see. Is there a reason to join one? Noname told me about some, but he did have only one source so I want to confirm it from different ones. Things about longer stay tokens, better prices, and salary."

"Well, that's mostly it," Leticia giggles. "Top 10 guilds can double the duration of your stay tokens and top 3 probably triple it? But don't quote me on that. Then there is salary, you can join Beyond events as a guild member, better prices in certain shops, you can find members and get information on the floors which can help you a lot, and they usually keep it to guild members only. Bonuses, salary, items. Rarely there are expeditions to the surface as well."

"Thank you for telling me, Leticia."

"No problem, Sset! I think you would do the same for me. And no matter how grumpy Luna can get, she would share it as well, right?"

Luna stays quiet, glancing away without denying it. She then lets out a bark as Leticia tugs her tail, which only makes the young woman smile even more.

***

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