cerim
patreon
Chapter 532 - In the middle of the ocean
🕑 Added 2025-01-06 09:29:09 +0000 UTC“I have a skill called [Empyrean Lance]. Do you know something about it?” I ask Kyralon while sitting on the ground with my legs crossed.
On my lap, Fracture is in its cracked sheath, and that dangerous energy is partially leaking through. It’s wrapped in my mana to somewhat slow it down, but without proper materials, I don’t think I can fix it much.
Plus, my right arm doesn’t help. Sure, as it happened plenty of times before, I can surround it with weaved mana and move it easily, but it still requires a bit of effort, and it’s annoying how slowly it heals. It’s not caused by my passive alone; the wounds inflicted by Fracture are always like that.
“Fascinating. Skills with ‘Empyrean’ in the name should be nearly impossible to gain naturally. You must have acquired it either by combining powerful skills or maybe through a Primary class upgrade.”
“Primary class upgrade.”
“That means your class must be something special. As for the exact skill you mentioned, I have never heard of it. I can’t tell you about other skills or their owners, as silence binds me in the same way it does with your answers.”
“What can you tell me?”
“Anything with ‘Empyrean’ in its name is very old, from times even before any of the current Rulers were alive.”
“Old doesn’t mean strong or useful.”
“I disagree here, and I will tell you why. The system itself also gradually changes as time passes. It shifts in reaction to how people use it—to avoid abuse and to better fit its role. Empyrean skills originate from an era when the system functioned differently, meaning the system and anything connected to it may react in ways that differ from modern skills.”
“Answer and then more questions, right?”
“That’s how it goes.” The huge velnar smiles at me. “Even though its function might appear limited by its name and not as versatile, you should never underestimate a specialized skill like that, especially with ‘Empyrean’ in the name. I know my answer might be lacking because of the vows I’ve made, so I will expand on it. I’ve met people who had such skills which seemed limited by their meaning. For example, there was a man with a skill simply called [Sword]. He was one of the most terrifying individuals I’ve ever encountered.”
“Absolute Kyralon.”
“Yes?”
“I honestly love and hate the way you answer my questions, and I know you do it on purpose.”
He seems surprised for a moment, but then only nods, his smile becoming a bit more genuine instead of just his facial muscles twisting into a grin.
“I do enjoy it,” he confirms.
***
Another hundred questions later, I ask again.
“What is the maximal skill level?”
Kyralon pauses from where he stands, near the black wood shelves full of mana stones, and scratches his beard. For a moment, his black eyes—lacking pupils, yet filled with stars—turn toward me.
Without pupils, it’s hard to say exactly where he’s looking.
“I think I can answer this one. It’s rumored to be level 100, with only a few Rulers having level 99 skills, and the remaining ones at least level 98. Absolutes usually have skills around level 90. Champions start around level 80. After level 50, it becomes difficult to level them further. After level 60, it’s even harder, and it continues in that manner.”
“I had someone telling me to never level my skill to 99.”
“On the first floor, or during Beyond trials?”
“Ehm, yes.”
“Then it must have been the Ruler of Envy. He likes to do that.”
“But why? If level 99 is the level of Rulers, why would he say that? The chance of any newcomer reaching that is pretty low.”
“That’s just how he is, but don’t underestimate the impact of words spoken by someone truly powerful to someone new to the system. Even if you don’t notice it, they often leave a lasting effect. A scene like that tends to stay with you, subconsciously making you hold back. Even the slightest hesitation could be enough to stop you from breaking through from level 98 to 99, simply because advancing is that difficult.”
“That’s stupid.”
“So, you don’t believe me?”
“I don’t think you’re lying or anything. I just can’t see it working.”
“That’s not all he does—he builds on these moments. Whether you see him as pathetic or weak doesn’t matter. Never underestimate someone with the title of Ruler. Anyone who has reached that level has survived countless dangers and stands among the most powerful beings in the system. Now, show me that sword.”
That request catches me off guard a bit, but I don’t hesitate long and hand him Fracture. He takes it into his massive hands. To him, my short sword looks almost like a dagger, which is kind of comical. Kyralon examines it, and the longer he does so, the wider his smile grows. A few times, he even shakes his head, and I hear him snort.
After that, he returns it to me, and I inspect it.
Nothing has changed.
“What was that about? You didn’t do anything to it,” I remark.
“I did not. I wanted to confirm something.”
“I swear everyone with some power likes to act so fucking mysterious all the time.”
He doesn’t reply again and only nods.
***
We stop mid-answers, and I leave to go to my usual spot outside of the tower on the stairs—well, slightly lower now—so I have access to my mana. Only then do I appear in my mind space.
This time, we’re in the middle of the ocean, not a single island or patch of land in sight. The sky is clear, but the waves are dark and rocking the boat we’re on. Instead of just a single boat, there are a dozen aircraft carriers. One of those huge aircraft carriers that requires six thousand people to operate stands under my feet. Its deck, from where jets typically take off, is empty on this one, and Whitey is standing right in the middle wearing that simple greenish camouflage uniform and heavy black boots.
“You really are enjoying it,” I note, stopping in front of him.
I’m also wearing clothes similar to his, and it must be quite a combination: me with my mana crown floating over my head and Whitey with his white hair, red eyes, and horns.
“I got stuck in a shitty human’s mind, so this is the best I can do to entertain myself,” he says, his smile and tone slightly different from the day before. The mood around him feels more threatening.
It’s not hard for me to understand why. By now, it’s safe to say I might know Whitey better than he knows himself, and he knows me in a similar way. Other than certain memories we keep private, we can peek into almost everything.
I take a few steps back, remove the heavy black shoes, and kick them away, standing there barefoot. I roll up my shirt sleeves.
Whitey does something similar, tearing one of his sleeves and using it to tie his long white hair. There’s something deliberate about the way he does it.
A breeze sweeps across the empty deck, carrying the scent of salt and steel. Beneath my feet, the aircraft carrier shifts slightly with the waves, but all I feel is the steady rhythm of Whitey’s heartbeat, a low, pulsing vibration through the metal.
I shift my weight, testing my footing on the deck. Whitey tightens the knot in his hair.
Then it starts.
Unlike before, I don’t reach for my kinetic energy. No, this time I allow mana to flow through my body. I ensure all of my passives are active and slightly change the setting on my Mana Regulator. Mana Wavelength Iris activates right away.
Whitey vanishes, and I use Wraith Dance to shift out of the way as the air itself trembles under his attack.
A Barrier forms around me, one I’m sure can stop Needle Point.
I’m wrong.
Needle Point pierces it, this time as thin as an actual needle, stabbing through my chest, followed by a dozen more attacks, before I can move away with that unpredictable movement he taught me.
[Ley Line] stretches away, then more threads appear. Mana weaves around me, forming armor, with a few Ley Lines added to the mix.
Whitey reappears in front of me, his face nearly touching mine. His red eyes look big, unblinking, and wide open, and his mouth forms a wild smile.
He punches me in the chest. The armor absorbs some of the blow, [Redistribution] handles more, and my passive also reduces the impact. Even so, a wisp of kinetic energy reaches my heart, causing a tear in it.
My mana radiates from my body, pushing Whitey away.
[Empyrean Lance] weaves into existence, a prismatic light trailing it as it moves with incredible speed, stabbing past Whitey’s side. His attempt to hold it in place with kinetic energy fails.
The array I was testing deploys, and my armor expands, growing until I’m three times my height, towering over the white-haired demon. All that mana floods through my body and the armor, making it more dense, the threads weaving together. Part of my mind takes over as the world turns black and white, with only mana retaining its color.
I stomp toward Whitey, but he sidesteps, missing him by a hair’s breadth. Standing near my leg, he chuckles and punches it, channeling an insane amount of kinetic energy into the blow. It deals no damage, so I grab that energy, redirect it, and stomp again, releasing everything. The surface of the aircraft carrier’s deck explodes.
Chunks of the runway freeze in midair as Whitey deploys his field, jumping up, locating my body, and punching the armor directly above it.
I feel my body shake, and he punches again, shifting how he uses his kinetic energy.
Using a huge amount of my mana, I boost my [Redistribution], and his body halts in midair.
My armor bursts open, transforming into dozens of limbs that I manipulate with [Mana Domain]. All of them reach toward him while I create another [Empyrean Lance].
Even though he doesn’t stop completely, he slows my mana-arms, just like during our previous fights.
I move quickly as Needle Point’s attack trails after me, piercing needle-thin holes into the carrier’s surface.
Whitey breaks through my hold and moves again, dodging all those arms in a way that would dizzy anyone else. He lands on the surface and charges, each burst of his speed expertly conserving kinetic energy.
We both switch to Breaker Style. Our palms meet, and an explosion of kinetic force hurls us apart. The aircraft carrier cracks and starts rocking in the sea more violently than the waves alone would cause.
As I pull my mana back to me, Whitey leaps into the air and then boosts himself, running across the surface of the sea. The area around him becomes as calm as a windless lake, with that immense kinetic energy coursing through him instead of the waves.
I fly into the air, weaving dozens of mana javelins and boosting them with kinetic energy. Each one thunders with a sonic boom as I launch them, tracking him and piercing the water around him. Then I compress them, turning the javelins tricolored, and fire them the same way. Now they explode, unleashing shockwaves, heat, and pressure, tearing apart the calm surface.
Yet he manages to boost himself each time, moving so quickly it’s almost like teleportation. Whitey lands on the surface of another aircraft carrier that begins to shake as my tricolored javelins continue to rip it apart.
I fire off the [Empyrean Lance] I’ve been compressing, sending it ahead even faster than the javelins. It pierces the ship in front of him, slicing through the entire length of the carrier as if it were nothing, leaving torn metal behind. Beneath the carrier, it explodes, and the flickering field it releases seeps into the air, the explosion alone rocks the aircraft carrier and sends a huge ripple through the sea.
Another javelin streaks past, trailing [Ley Line] behind it. The moment it strikes the ship, I manipulate the javelin and force the [Ley Line] to materialize. A shimmering, pale-blue thread drops toward the water, cutting through the ship like a hot knife through butter, splitting the carrier in two.
Both halves of the vessel tilt and sink beneath the sea, sending a towering geyser of water into the air. The water halts midair, and I sense a shockwave rippling from there.
My armor surrounds me once more, just in time for Whitey to reach me. Three consecutive strikes destroy my barrier and armor. I barely block the last hit. I open my hand and let a destabilized orb drop. It explodes immediately, and I teleport away, appearing on the deck of one of the remaining ships.
A white blur rushes out of the explosion, and Whitey lands near me without creating a single shockwave. There are only a few burns on his clothes, and his tied-up hair is slightly messy. His heart is pounding excitedly, and he doesn’t bother hiding it.
Whitey’s grin widens as he takes slow, confident steps toward me, kinetic energy swirling around him in a clear challenge.
A short laugh escapes me. Fine—if he wants to see more, I won’t hold back.
The half-ruined deck beneath my feet groans in protest as I brace myself, mana crackling through my veins.
***
Comments
Ansordia
Whenever I remember this fact I laugh at the fact I believe I was close when I had 60 something woodcutting as a 11 year old... the good times...
Jayden Martinez
So envy was just being petty trying to make sure no one reaches the same level of power as him. That fits
TBONEMAN
The skill levels remind me of runescape. At level 92 you have reached the half way point in exp to get to level 99 skills.
Krzychu0304
Let me disagree, in my opinion Lissandra's depression was not because she was stuck at some "low" level (remember she became complacent), but because the world was not able to provide her with worthy opponents/challenges. +I have the impression that Lissandra's rampage was not a grind or a desperate attempt to break through, but rather a challenge to the entire system, as befits a proper Pride adept who is convinced that she stands on top of the world. In fact, one ruler did not want to agree to co-create the floor, but it was not specified for what reason. We basically suspected Pride, because of Liss's reaction as a Pride adept and treating the creation of a clone as a terrible slander. Which I will emphasize, refers to the fact that Pride was too proud to allow his clone to be created, but in no way does it follow that he was more powerful than other rulers.
RingoSeto
Fantastic chapter with a hopeful end to whitey
Max
Tftc!!
TBONEMAN
He should ask how to turn mana manipulation into manipulation
Rubeno
I feel like Liss rather was so depressed because she couldn't break through 100lvl skill wall and with Ruler of Pride being potentially the most powerful out of all Rulers (also, I remember one Ruler being so powerful that the Greed couldn't convince them to share one Floor out of their past like other Rulers did) meaning Liss couldn't progress further. After destruction of her home planet she got on last rampage to breakthrough yet failed due to recklessness. This time though she reacquired determination and progressess methodically with further Tutorial blessings.
Sloth
But she probably did have stage 3 mana potency. If she never advanced after fighting and beating multiple rulers, I’d be immensely surprised
Krzychu0304
These were the words of a clone, trying to explain the existence of her copy on the tutorial floor. Given the context and new information; My guess is that Lissandra stood on top of her world and reached such a level of power that she stomped on everything, without any problems, especially the absolutes from the last few pairings. And the lack of challenge and clear goal made Liss grow weary, unambitious and complacent... After the fall of Telwadore, she became like a rabid dog. It's hard to say whether she was looking for more challenges, power, worthy opponents or a glorious death... But we know that she eventually bit off more than she could chew, but before that happened, she butchered a significant chunk of the system. And personally, I like the option (although I have no evidence for it) of an epic battle between Lissandra and a team of rulers, supported by a host of absolutes and champions.
Trex
Heckin epic. I really liked the part where Nat used Ley Line to slicey-dicey
Larry L
Original Liss lost her ambition and grew complacent iirc, that would probably be why she failed in that fight. Not sure though.
Poutine Au Syrop d'érable
Well, If the system didn't have any major change from year 0 to year T. And Liddandra time was before T, then all absolute before her were in the same conditions. Shared knowledge can also be usefull. It's possible she was born in the perfect time. A min maxing of the mentality of the time and the accessible knowledge. And she went full on with that mentality.
Poutine Au Syrop d'érable
Yeah so people who said Luna and the other girl with her (Mind blank) have lvl 80 mana manipulation, I call BS.
blaw
She died fighting the ruler of pride. So i would assume it was at least a somewhat open and fair fight. But what would be wrong of dropping a black hole in a worthy enemy if this is something you are able to do?
Krzychu0304
I don't see much reason to believe Lissandra had a different system, but she could have actually hailed from the end of the Empyrean era (which we only know ended before Ruby was born).
Andrew
Thank you!
Kirin
Thanks for the chappie! I love finally getting information abour several system related things.
Borbino the great
Oh damn I haven’t thought of this I kinda hope not but it would be a great ending for his character unless he can do more system fuckery and give him a mimics body or something so he can get a new one
Borbino the great
Was it confirmed that Lissandra had the system??
Borbino the great
Nah she died to some cowardly trick 100% like someone dropped a black hole on her forehead or something
Borbino the great
Holy fuck
Lestrat Shadow
Thanks for the chapter
Funny guy
Danks fur da chappie! Great fight :D
Krzychu0304
We have some circumstantial evidence that the system is changing in a way that makes users increasingly reliant on it, which is why users these days are becoming increasingly weak. While this doesn't necessarily apply to Lissandra. Of course, even older, older monsters would be more independent and less dependent on the system than Liss, but Lissandra may have been honing in on the system's sweet spot between gaining power on her own and supporting the system, making her more powerful than both older and newer generations. BTW, her rampage could have been a sort of mini-apocalypse, setting the system on its current course.
Rubeno
From Lissandras complaining how modern Champions and Absolutes started to overly on "system gifts" (tatoos, emblems, inscriptions etc) rather than on true mastery.
Krzychu0304
I have a few conclusions; -the system is constantly evolving, making users more and more dependent on itself and making them weaker and weaker (we have confirmation of why Lisandra was disappointed with the quality of today's champions and absolutes). -I wonder what Liss's mana manipulation skill level was, I wouldn't be surprised if it was 100 or even more, after all, she did such destruction being only at stage 2 of mana potency. -I wonder about the marking of skill levels, it seems intuitive that level 0 means no mastery of the skill, while level 100 means full mastery of the skill, while the progression threshold is on a non-linear scale such as logarithmic (e.g. dB). But we know that skill level is not equal to skill level, Nat lost and regained the mana manipulation skill several times, each time losing a few level points, but never losing actual abilities. Which simply means that Nat's current mana manipulation ability, being at level 61, is equivalent to a level 70 or higher ability, if he had never intentionally dropped it and then picked it up. PS I was also wondering about Lissandra's death, of course it could have been a fair duel on the beaten ground... Or rather Liss fighting her way through hordes of enemies desperately trying to stop her and slowly succumbing to accumulating wounds (vide Whitebeard).
Ivaon
nice fight
mathulu
I think you're onto something there with Primordial, if its pre system nerf energy.... with an Empyrean named skill it sounds dangerous.
Tsorov
Imagine Natt nlt getting Mana Manipulation anymore after fusing it with something else, but just getting the Skill [Mana]. Then he would have talent as well as hard work, which as we all know, produced something like Lissandra, and that would be OP
Tsorov
Where did you get it from that all absolutes after Lissandra became weaker than her because they came after her? We know that they still think of her as one of the strongest absolutes, but that was because of her talent, not because she somehow had an advantage since she was from an older generation. At least that is how I understand it.
Rubeno
Mana builds like MC one really have initiative advantage. Whitey is definitely a specialized genius but he seems to be using rooster of the same moves over and over again relying simply on being good with them to defeat his foes. Yet what if he encounters enemy against whom current moves are not enough? MC at least can improvise.
Rubeno
If current Absolutes became weaker in comparison to Lissandra doesn't that mean the same about her? Powerhouses from even older times being better than Eladore's Absolute.
Sailesh Kumar Kumar
TFTC
Erebus
Thanks for the chapter 🙂
XPDev
tftc, can't wait to see what nat will do with the lance and ley line
Dual.
Tftc
zoarian
Looking forward to the [Empyrean Lance] powered by Black Mana if Nat can manage it. If it's Primordial Mana, and Empyrean Lance is an ancient skill, they'd be extra compatible. Kaboom 2 Electric Boogaloo? Did Kyralon confirm Nat's got Black Mana since it was used in Fracture? I can't think of anything else, maybe a technique Nat used or something.
Sir Supports Alot
Yes! And just moments ago I was thinking that the level 99 skill thing was still not explained, shower thoughts go crazy
Sail
Wonder if the next chapter is the last that we'll see of Whitey
D.J. Hunte
I want to let the the chapters build up to read a bunch at once.. but everytime a new one drops I come running
Venno
Yeeeeeiiiiisssss this is awesome
Iron
Also thanks for the chapter
Belmont Igneul
It would appear that everyone is having fun :)
Iron
So it's as previously speculated, simpler title are just that more powerful. In a sense it almost feel as if the skill merges are 'bad' as they 'complicate' the skill eg 2 skill : dark sword and sword mastery could evolve into 'dark sword mastery' aka less 'simple' aka lower celling. I wonder if a 'skill simplification token' exist... Maybe it's the role of the skill upgrade but it didn't feel that way.
Thunderhoof
Bruh another cliff
