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Chapter 527 - Four options
🕑 Added 2024-12-30 09:30:58 +0000 UTCI open my mouth to try to talk to them, to make them stop, to wait, or to explain, but a single glance at the lumorans’ faces tells me enough. And I know the rules.
There is no talking the moment someone is identified as a mimic.
The attacks get pulled and pulled to the crown, none reaching me at all, so with eerie efficiency they switch—melee attackers rushing toward me.
Some of that absorbed mana channels through me, powering [Redistribution] and halting the movement of them, just the second I need to break through.
The scout leader, whose name I didn’t even remember, lets his hold slip. He blocks my way out of the camp, switching from his bow to two daggers, mana seeping from his crystalline features. And he attacks to kill.
Fracture devours the mana I hold in my body. It resonates as it always does, all the forces it contains about to break free. [Eclipse] holds it down, but it’s more difficult than ever before.
The sword has sensed the Mana Crown, and it either doesn’t like it or likes it too much.
Fracture and the scout leader’s weapons clash, my sword slashing through with ease. Destroying mana, material, and connection. All his barriers, defenses, body strengthenings are for nothing as the sword cuts through his chest where the heart is.
[You have defeated Bowbound Seeker – lvl 376]
[Lvl 301 > Lvl 302]
[Lvl 302 > Lvl 303]
Wraith Dance takes me over his corpse into the snowstorm, leaving the black crown behind that starts devouring the defensive arrays of the camp to force them split the forces and hopefully slow down Serabeth.
Over and over again, I channel kinetic energy and mana through my body to take myself as far as I can.
I cut through every tracking attempt or mark they try to tie to me with Fracture. The sword remains unsheathed, its bone-and-molten-white-sand blade fracturing further as black and gray smoke swirl wildly within.
My arm holding it barely has barely any flesh on it, and there are holes eaten into the bone. The healing marks I activate do hardly anything to it, and my mana is unable to hold it back. But left with no other choice, I run, I fly, I use the sword against attempts to slow me down.
I regulate my heart signature. I stop any movement vibrations from passing beyond my body. I regulate my mana and keep it inside.
Hour after hour, I’m tracked by lumorans and mercenaries trying to locate me in the storm and catch up. Each is capable of facing me alone, and multiple attacking at once would easily be enough to kill me.
When barely anything of my arm remains, I put Fracture in its scabbard which also cracks immediately. Even though maintenance done not that long ago there are signs of it being worn show off, as well as the damage on the sword’s handle.
I slide against a tree and make snow fall from it, hiding me entirely. More than before, I calm my mana and beating heart, and only with my eyes I watch the movement of mana. Even though the ever-present movement of the snow and wind is there, I try to use my kinetic senses as well.
As I do so, I open the Community. Ignoring the wall of messages from Group 4 I write mine.
Noname (Hell, Group 4) – I'm fine, and don't be dumb. Just keep checking the number of people in Beyond before you declare me dead.
Some of the messages I see are a bit… emotional. Especially from Lily and, surprisingly, even from some others. After a while, they calm down, likely Tess telling them the same thing I wrote.
Noname (Hell, Group 4) – gonna hide. If it becomes dangerous I will go to Beyond.
With that, I close the community to not get distracted by the messages and check my tokens.
Tokens:
Beyond 3 day stay token
Beyond 1 day stay token
Beyond 1 day stay token
Communication with your disciple for 10 minutes
All good.
Another check I do is to my arm, which is the most damaged I’ve seen so far by Fracture. From previous experience, I know it will likely take a week or three for it to fully regenerate, even with Lily’s healing.
Still better than dying. Much better.
Before I continue that train of thought, I teleport myself through the [Ley Line] I set before. The area where I was implodes, and immediately I feel myself pulled to the ground. My insides twist, and before I myself implode, I teleport again and shoot another line far in front of me.
That feeling grabs on my insides again, a feeling of pull as my flesh, bones, and organs start being sucked toward a single spot to implode on themselves. It disappears with the teleport, and I shoot multiple lines and change the defensive field against me, strengthening it with my [Mana Domain] and [Eclipse]. This time, that feeling slides by me, the area behind me imploding into itself, a loud pop released as the air rushes to fill the empty space.
Again and again, dozens of these attacks follow me, also attempting to slow down my movement or change the gravity affecting me so I fall in a different direction.
Serabeth herself hunts me. Someone who I have no way to surprise as I did the scout leader from before.
Finally, her skill—likely higher level than anything I have—takes a grab of me, and I crash into the ground. It then grasps my [Ley Line], and even though I’m sure it cost her either a lot of mana or effort, she implodes the line of mana.
And she is a mile away. A distance that won’t take more than a moment for her to pass, as I observe her mana signature and sense the increasing strength of her hold on me and more attempts to implode my entire body.
The world loses its colors, and my thought speed increases as black mana powers my [Focus]. Dozens of thoughts go through my mind at incredible speed.
Should I fight her? Do I have a chance? Is it worth it even if I win? There are likely multiple people behind her.
The way she uses her skill is interesting, and I try to observe it. Min-Jae could find it useful, so a part of me uses it to create feedback for him.
And one more.
Who is the impostor in the camp who messed up the Signature Isolation Framework?
“Use Beyond 1 day stay token.”
With that, the area around me changes. The bone-chilling cold is gone, the attempts to squash me stopped, all replaced by that never-ending space with a dark sky full of stars and my handler sitting behind her old wooden table.
“Hello,” she greets.
“Hello,” I answer back, and with a groan push myself back on my feet, only to find one of them missing.
Huh, I didn’t notice it. Well played, Serabeth.
I recreate it with mana I weave together with the Mana Waving technique I work with lately. I do the same for missing parts of my right arm that is nearly only bones. Then I allow myself to use Lily’s healing marks to restore the parts that are not damaged by Fracture, which also gives me my feet back and makes me stumble as my mana prosthesis I just made gets replaced.
“What do I thank for meeting you here again? I thought summons to you when entering Beyond are rare, and often it is only when leaving Beyond.”
“That’s true,” she confirms, but unlike before she doesn’t seem that playful. “There is information I want to give you, and I think I can because of some guy… doing stuff. But it will cost me a bit, and for a while, I won’t be able to share that much.”
“Do I want to hear it?”
“I think you do.”
“Tell me.”
“If you return to the 7th Floor after one day, it’s very likely you or some other member of your group will die.”
“Why.”
“This is the third time you abuse the mechanic of stay tokens to avoid danger. The system doesn’t look at this kind of thing kindly.”
I form a chair of mana and sit on it while facing my handler. She is very powerful, so it’s possible she could try to hide her intentions and manipulate me into something. Hell, her next advice, offer, or words will likely try to poke me in the way she wants. But at the same time, I don’t think she is lying.
“What are my options.”
“There are two of them. The first one is to use all of your stay tokens and extend your stay here for as long as possible. Then when you return, there will be backlash, but not as severe, and even though dangerous, you should be able to survive it.”
I let my mind race as I imagine all the consequences of that. I should be fine, but Group 4 will have to take care of themselves for a while. After I was wrongly identified as a mimic, with a likely saboteur or hidden mimic in the camp, everything spiraled further. There’s the mystery of what the Champion wants there, what the Ardenyx pilot obtained, Exoria, Praxion, and more.
It feels annoying to leave such an enticing mystery behind.
“The second option?” I ask.
“I told you about it before, but all 10 of Earth’s rounds of the tutorial are now synchronized, which allows you to take a Beyond quest. As your handler, it’s up to me to use my influence and resources to pick from the available Beyond quests for you—obviously according to requirements and your current rank—and that’s what I did. Leaving the tutorial for a few days and going on a Beyond quest, then returning to the 7th Floor will work even better than using stay tokens to extend your duration.”
“You really want me to pick the second option, right?”
Crossing her arms on her chest, she leans back in her chair, that smile of hers crawling on her lips. “Please, don’t insult my intelligence. We both know which option interests you more.”
“And that option somewhat fits into your plans.”
“What plans? I’m just a handler.” Her eyes meet mine in a challenging expression, asking me to say something.
“Sure,” I just wave my hand. “So what are the options?”
She stops leaning and picks four papers off the table and taps on the first one. “Planet of Cairnthal went through the pairing a hundred years ago. Fairly peaceful currently. Its Absolute created a court where the four strongest families, each led by a Champion, fight to become ‘the strongest,’ all while the Absolute watches with amusement. This info is extra from me. So the quest comes from a powerful Champion who is looking for an attendee with a high-grade mana-based trait.”
“Huh, so my eyes or physique? What do they want? Experimenting?”
“Nope.” My handler shakes her head and lifts her hands. The left one uses the thumb and pointing finger to create a circle and the finger of the other one moves to…
“Okay, okay, got it. Where the hell did you pick that gesture from? And no,” I refuse.
She laughs. “Are you sure? The pay is really…”
“No,” I repeat.
With the same big smile, she continues. “The second one is a Champion looking for a teacher for his son who awakened kinetic energy.”
“Wouldn’t a few days be too short for it?”
“Yup. He can create some sort of mind space to drastically increase your thought speed. This gives the illusion of more time passing. It’s probably only three to ten times faster, but with enough preparation, he can maintain it for a long time. Without your mid-arcane passive, it would probably melt your brain, but you should be able to keep up.”
“It’s the best one so far. Why are they picking attendees instead of searching for people from their planets?”
“Often it is easier than searching for the right people, and the system allows them to be sure of what they are getting. Maybe they don’t have such a person on their planet, maybe they are not in a coalition, or don’t have coordinates of other planets. It could be they can’t travel to different planets too. The system also likes it because it allows you to gain experience with the system outside of the tutorial, so it also takes care of some part of the payment.”
“Oh. Got it. So it’s cheaper for them.”
“Often yes. It also allows for building connections. Everyone capable of going to Beyond quests is often someone capable of becoming a Champion in the future.”
“I see. The third?”
"The third one is looking for someone with a highly mana-conductive body for experimentation. It could help you learn more about body modification, but the risk of death is... well, significant. The pay’s terrible, but I doubt you’d care about that anyway."
With a sigh, I stand up and let my chair disappear. “So what is the last one you wanted me to take the entire time?”
“You will like it.”
She then tells me, and I really do.
Trusting my instincts, I decide to go with the fourth option.
We don’t wait anymore to send me to Beyond, and instead, I follow my handler, not even being able to send a message to my group. She waves her hand, a door extending from the floor. They look like a normal door; there are no inscriptions or anything crazy to them.
After observing them for a while I take the knob and open them up, the view opening up into a long, dark hallway.
Even though this place is out of the tutorial, there is no crazy burst of mana or eerie feeling. I just step through and am out of the tutorial, in a different place.
Just the sheer fact of it being so easy is incredibly scary, especially as I know more about the powers of beings in the tutorial.
I hear the door closing and when I turn around, they are gone.
***
Comments
BJ
"My arm holding it barely has barely any flesh on it, and there are holes eaten into the bone. " Changing one of the Barelys to Hardly might make this sentence flow better.
Nimble (Hell, NoGroup)
thx god he refuses the first one no one knows what type of abyss monstrosity they are breeding in this seemingly peaceful planet
Val the mysterious Jedi
Bet option1 would have been death by snusnu
Gristle Tock
:D Ever since I heard of Beyond quests I’ve been highly anticipating them! Still, I didn’t expect them for a gooood long while yet. Happy days. The the first made me laugh, the second one was the one I was hoping he’d take before I saw there was a fourth more enticing option because Nat with kids is usually very nice to read- plus potential new disciple and connection with Champion-, while the third… I honestly thought might have been the pick before, again, hearing of the fourth because of how wild it seemed. On a side note, I wonder what someone would have to got through to decide to take the third….. and if the 2nd option might still be there in the future for the taking. Or something similar. That’s be nice. TFTC!
Chopper
Why did you call the door at the end they and not it. They refers to a person It refers to an object.
Ronnel
TFTC!!
Madje Tobi Marc'Avent Tchona
Wasn’t redistribution also affecting like thermal energy somewhere in the past? How does that work with this framework ? Kind of a confusing skill, I think.
Yshua
> She waves her hand, a door extending from the floor. They look like a normal door; there are no inscriptions or anything crazy to them. > After observing them for a while I take the knob and open them up, the view opening up into a long, dark hallway. Shouldn’t they/them be replaced by “it”?
Mister Cakers
I hope he picked something to do with thermal energy. That’d be a pretty nice reward if he was able to learn more about it.
Vladimir Khorikov
In the previous chapter, Ruby basically said that the original Lissandra is dead. My guess is she tried to become a ruler and failed and then Ruby avenged her and took the position for herself.
Cnote
🥲 ooo I like that thought
Zaim İpek
I doubt there is such a simple exit. That kind of thing would be well known. We would have heard about it. Being undetectable is not a means of escape. The prison doesn't trap people via observing them.
Igor Ekotov
I think people would freak out. Nat is going on the quest outside of tutorial, I bet the system would mark his disappearance, which would mean death in the eyes of the others.
Thomas Dey
I’m pretty sure the system intended for people to pass to the eighth floor if they were attacked by a Champion. It’s upset that he’s abusing Beyond tokens to get better rewards.
Kenny
But we already know the ruler from the second floor was Greed
Kirin
Thank you for the chappie!
Moon Winchester
Could be, could be the system doing a small bit of retaliation for the beyond get a aways, could be envy make it not work, making it detect whitey, Hell it could even be that Nat purposefully let a mimic try to parasite him thinking that with his new body, constructs, and whitey they could instead take it over. So they could give whitey a new body. Then again we don’t know how the mimics work. Do they have to eat a person, do they take over a person from the inside, do they latch onto you and do a take over of your body that way. We don’t know.
Krzychu0304
The clone said that the original wouldn't survive such an insult and that the fact that it exists as a clone should mean that the original is dead. + In the previous chapter, greed mentioned that people like Nat, Vega, and Lisandra live a life of bliss, shining brighter than anyone else, and that they rarely see the end. On the other hand, Lissandra is the only reasonable candidate for ruler of the pride so far. And honestly, I'd be disappointed if that Chekhov's gun sat unused on the wall.
Dual.
Tftc!
Dual.
I mean maybe? But the handler kinda alluded to envy fucking with things, so I personally think it's just envy being a spiteful ass
Le Frog
Redistribution surrounds something in mana and holds it still, think of it as though someone was you wore a skin tight suit made of metal that immobilised you. Kinetic overdflow absorbs all kinetic movement in an area, meaning nothing can generate kinetic energy without overpowering you and so everything is frozen, but nowyou get a ton of kinetic energy that if you do not control will probably blow you up. That’s what I think though, maybe I’m wrong
Sailesh Kumar Kumar
TFTC
Edmund Dillon
The tease of the fourth option.😂 You got me good cerim, tftc can't wait for the next🤙🏿
Andrew
Thank you!
XPDev
Because of the betrayal plot I totally forgot that is also happening, can't wait for more. I wonder if he'll be able to learn more about the tutorial, because he isn't in the tutorial currently.
ShockedCorgi
Not as bad as last chapter, this one is a soft ending into a newly beginning arc.
ShockedCorgi
I think that was because it registered 'Hadwin' as being late/his first time on the 6th. And because the group had already caused great disburstances and then left, the system probably just reset that floor.
ShockedCorgi
From what I remember Redistribution evolved from Kinetic Redistribution, so that means Redistribution works on everything (mana stuff) not just things and objects being propelled by kinetic energy.
Phoenix Ride
2. The real Lissandra is dead, no?
Phoenix Ride
1. He’s kind of on a job. Idk if the boss playing him for the contract could cancel it, or if the system would recognize that he isn’t doing it.
hachetnif
Yeah, I could see her having trouble on a moon size prison with the Spatial lock. But she specializes in not being seen. I'm absolutely certain She would eventually get out.
Moon Winchester
I'm curious, what if it was not mimic sabotage. What if Whitey's progression on mental domination was picked up by the formation. Allowing it to see that yes this is Nathan but also no that is not Nathan. We don't know how that formation works but obviously it would have a mental scanning component and if it picked up the fact that the original consciousness of Nathan now has a more overwhelming secondary consciousness which is actively taking over. It though the secondary consciousness was in fact a mimic's.
im_among_you
Lissandra separated her tutorial instance from Nathaniel's so she probably would get a separate instance of the 7th floor as well.
Madje Tobi Marc'Avent Tchona
What’s the difference between Redistribution vs just the kinetic overflow thing that whitey loves to use that stops everything in motion? Is redistribution powered by mana instead of kinetic energy? What’s the implication of that? Why does Nat favor using Redistribution more? Isn’t there a redundancy? Wouldn’t it be better to get rid of Redistribution to make space for another active skill?
Arnon Parenti
Can he cast a leyline to the real lissandra with his coordinates? I feel like setting Nathaniel loose on an unsuspecting universe with his teleport abilities is unwise and unsafe.
J W
Well at least we know who the future animal overlord will eat first
11335577
They need to hold out on Floor 7 until Lissandra arrives at all cost. The rewards increase with the difficulty and with Liss there they can survive everything but the absolut monster. Their rewards will be insane.
Tanean
If a group of native is ever able to escape by their own, Tacita can just ride along while being sneaky. Now the only question is: is there a native group able to do that and is Tacita able to find them before everything turn to shit. The system likes to put you in an insane situation, but it's still fair that the floor will have a solution here or there. Even if that mean your floor is different from other group (I seems to remember someone from group 4 being surprise another group didn't have X or Y on their floor or something)
Rocotrap
In inclined to think she'd just go ahead and release everyone and just kill whomever isn't good enough and then sneak out when others try to tp out
Tsorov
We only know about one way to complete that floor, there could still be others. Maybe there is a teleporter that is protected by a strong enemy, and she could just sneak through.
Moonfrost
Likely to be Envy. A possible hint is the handler mentioning that she could disclose the information this chapter because of "some guy doing stuff"
Rubeno
Biscuit is lame. He's just annoying, corny sidekick like Puck in Berserk or Happy in Fairy Tail. We also get blasted with the same stale joke "animal overlord" on repeat. Either Minion or Luna are much more enjoyable and cute to have around. btw. Also, whole cloak and dagger with mimics is fun. Mimics are terrifying.
Zaim İpek
Biscuit is definitely #1 in my heart, but the main character is decided by screentime. The character that gets the most words written about them and most words written from their perspective is the MC. We don't get nearly enough Biscuit in this story. He didn't even appear in this chapter.
Crème Renversée
All lumorans betraying nat seems to be the most plausible. They were behaving strangely, as if they knew what was about to happen, especially the team’s captain.
Zaim İpek
In thinking about the floors, I don't see Tacita getting past floor 6. I just don't think she has the skill-set. She can definitely learn a lot and grow very strong, but escaping the prison seems very technical, and she's not really the type. Tacita is a killer, and I don't think the puzzle of the 6th floor can be solved via stabbing. Savant can solve the 6th floor somehow. It won't be easy, but he can figure it out with enough time. He is more of a thinker and schemer. But it would surprise me if Tacita ever makes it to floor 7.
Tsorov
1. Probable 2. Maybe 3. Unprobable, but maybe 4. Extremly unlikely, especially since they know he can go to beyond/the next floor 5. Could be, but how would that test him? Test him how good he can escape? It is nor really her MO. I would think she would tell him to his face you can't do X, and he has to prove her wrong
itisaparty
New? What do you mean? Biscuit has been here since the start.
zoarian
Handler's first Beyond mission making Nat to be a prostitute is exactly the joke Ruby made on 2nd floor, when he had to pay her back... Add in the red fringe and the golden eyes and the evidence is stacking up that she's Ruby's relative/contact. Looking forward to seeing the world outside of the tutorial. What kind of missions would Nat enjoy? Something mana related, some sort of mystery/expedition/exploration thing, or crafting.
Gio
Possibilities of what happened: 1. One lumoran/mercenary betrayed nat 2. All lumorans betrayed nat 3. Mimics sabotage 4. Someone in group 4 betrayed nat 5. Lissandra is secretly already on floor 7 and is testing nat 6. envy did something
Funny guy
Danks fur da chappie! The cliffhanger (-̩̩̩-̩̩̩-̩̩̩-̩̩̩-̩̩̩___-̩̩̩-̩̩̩-̩̩̩-̩̩̩-̩̩̩)
Claro reyes
Tftc
William Clark
Come on Nat you don't want to pass on your genes?
Nerø
OoooOooh authentic outside-tutorial experience? How about yes?!
Subliminary
Some foreshadowing a few chapters ago where you mentioned the System hates being abused. At the same time I think what happened to him is Envy (?) being a douche and Nat shouldn’t be punished for it. Who in any tutorial is supposed to fend off a Champion on floor 7? Whack
Some bloke
We have to wait to learn what the fourth option is... NOOOO!
CJ Tamberella
Thank you!
Zaim İpek
This is disappointing. I thought Nat was dead, and we were about to get a new MC. . . But this at least distracts us with Nat going to some different world somewhere. That's kind of nice. A change of scenery from nothing but snow and tents is good.
Venno
Snap!! Great chapter
Themo Grulld
10 th thanks for the chapter
Eric Lashchuk
1rst
