cerim
patreon
Chapter 459 - On the schedule
🕑 Added 2024-10-02 08:34:43 +0000 UTCFor two to three days, I hunt around the camp and try to do side quests that could gain me some stay tokens.
With the twins, we experiment a bit and came up with a way to make some items to sell for extra shards, gaining me around 15 thousand more and some for the twins as well as I make multiple versions of each item. It takes plenty of attempts and failures, but the boys are eager to make some shards, already spending their share to buy themselves some stuff.
Lily and Biscuit seem to be saving their shards, and so far I don’t have anything I would want them to buy for my promised 50%. I mean, there are plans, but no time or space.
After I get back from Beyond, I will try to finally get myself a non-damaged arcane item, even if it means I will destroy some of the damaged ones I have.
I have plenty of materials and ideas, so I should be able to.
“Are you sure it will work?” Dennis asks me curiously.
He and his brother are watching me from behind the border, behind which mana can be restored. I, meanwhile, stand in the mana desert, directing my flames at the molds in the ground.
“Who knows?”
“Nat, tell me, did you use to take things apart just to see how they were working?”
“How did you know?”
“Just a guess.”
“Got it. And get back to your training, the orb will disappear.”
“There’s no way. I have it under contro...” He doesn’t have time to finish, and the evil orb near him bursts open, “…under control.”
His brother laughs. “Told you he would start changing them without letting us know! Nat, did I do well?”
“Better than Dennis,” I agree as I watch him handle the sudden spike in his orb, a new way I found to tortu... train the brothers.
Weakening the flame I turn my attention back to the mold and send kinetic energy towards the partially melted sand in the form. I modify the output a bit so it’s more akin to deep vibration, shaking the bubbles out of the form at high frequency.
Then I continue to heat it up. I do it slower than before, watching the surface and the color. Once in a while, I use kinetic energy to help the process, especially to release trapped bubbles.
The form is the shape of a simple dagger, a good form for testing as we’ve found over a few days.
“What are you going to add in today? Do you want another of my finger bones?” Lily asks, curiously.
She sits to the side, holding the mana stone with body modification info.
“We could try to add Biscuit’s whisker,” Dennis recommends.
(Asshole!)
“You know I didn’t mean it seriously, Biscuit! Nat, what did he say?”
“He called you an asshole.”
“Oh…” His brother laughs at him while Dennis deflates.
“We tried adding your thermal orbs, some random bones, and metals, but we are kind of restricted by being unable to add mana,” Aaron sighs.
“We did?”
“You did, but we supported you from a distance.”
“Sounds about right. I think this time I won’t add anything. Someone else might be able to get more out of this sand, but I currently can’t.”
It annoys me. I can’t inscribe it, I can’t add my mana to the mix. I can’t even use mana while making it.
And in the end, as the dagger cools down, the blade is still ugly. Somewhat.
The surface is nice and smooth, white-ish glass-like. Probably the best I’ve made so far. Just the description is the same as before and with its upper epic rarity and inability for me to sell it.
I pocket it as I’ve done with a few items from before.
“Won’t you make items for the others? The same way you did for us?” Dennis asks as he watches me put away the dagger.
“We won’t be meeting them that soon. Do you want to carry a few hundred items for a few months?”
“I guess we can come back later. But damn, even if we’re taking 50%, you still have a lot of shards saved in us.”
“Yes. I will use them to buy materials for crafting, testing, and stuff. Did you already use the detachment token on [Connection]?”
“Both me and Aaron did, but damn, Nat, it’s not a nice feeling removing a skill upgrade. We also didn’t use any skill upgrade for [Mana Manipulation].”
“It’s worth it in the end, and don’t worry, I’ll push others to do it as well.”
Somewhat sleepy-looking Lily yawns, “I used them even before this floor, when you first mentioned it, Nat.”
That makes me turn to the twins. “Why aren’t you guys a bit more like Lily?”
“We don’t have the Handy Backpack she has.”
“It’s a Chop Sack,” Aaron disagrees with his brother.
“No, it’s an Armory Bag.”
“Disarmory.”
Catching Lily’s gaze, I shrug and she copies me, adding another yawn. “I’ll go and sleep for a few hours. I also think the 11th variation of the healing mark is the best so far.”
“So no more veins growing on the surface of the skin?”
“Yup, I fixed that. Night, boys,” she waves and heads to rest.
Something nudges my feet, and I look down. It’s Biscuit.
(I require sustenance.) He uses words I haven’t heard him use in a long time.
Knowing what it means, I head to my backpack and from a secret compartment, I pick a sealed box from which I take a single piece of Archdeer jerky. Something that is becoming more and more precious.
Biscuit patiently waits, but I can see him tippy-tapping with his front legs, even jumping on them slightly.
“Paw,” I say as I squat in front of him.
He immediately lifts his right front leg, and I grab it, shaking it and then touching the soft beans at the bottom.
Feeling refreshed, I hand the jerky to him, which he gently takes into his mouth, then turns around, heading to his usual resting spot where he starts nibbling on it.
“Did you ever have a pet on Earth, Nat?” Unlike himself, it’s Aaron who asks first this time.
I shake my head. “Never. But I remember when I was younger, there was that boy who got a puppy for Christmas, and for a year or two, his mom often brought it with her when she went to pick that boy up from school.”
That memory flashes in my mind.
“The dog was always so happy, seeing that boy, and the boy as well. No matter if he got a bad grade, if someone bullied him, or if a teacher chewed him out. Every time he saw that dog, he would smile brightly.”
“That sounds nice.”
“Yup.” I stretch and activate burden enhancement inscriptions, forcing myself to move kinetic energy throughout my body. “It’s time for light sparring. Your goal is to keep up the evil orb while we fight.”
“I wish he wouldn’t use such names for these things. It makes me feel lame that I have so much trouble with it.” Dennis sighs, fixing his clothes and mana flowing through his body.
“We should have known what we were getting ourselves into when he named our group: group 4.”
The spar starts, and they don’t have the luxury of talking more.
***
Just two days remain until my Beyond expedition, and my training is in full progress. I cut down on some sleep with plans to take a bigger rest before I go to Beyond.
Be it day or night, all of us train, my companions also deciding to stay up for a few days.
As before, there is no hunting, only killing monsters when they attack us. This close to the Mana Desert, it rarely happens, and the place where we stay is unusually quiet.
Here on the 6th floor days are hot, with a sky that makes it impossible to see where the light comes from, as if it’s constantly stormy or the sky is covered in sand or something.
Day is also the time when monsters attack the most, the nights being cold but quiet. And these nights I like a lot, even as hostile as they are. It’s all because of the view that I still can’t get enough of.
It just looks like I can reach my hand and touch the stars. Myriads of them in the sky, mixing with purple nebulae that cover a huge part of the sky as well.
Sometimes I just like to sit there for a few minutes and watch it, thinking how real it is. How far does the tutorial reach? Did it remake only the moon, this Astral Prison, and anything beyond the borders of the planet is just even bigger fake? A projection thrown there? A TV screen? Illusion? Graphics loading only when we look at them?
Or does the system remake more? Back on the 2nd floor, old Liss said she couldn’t leave the planet, so it’s possible that it ends there. But there is also a chance it doesn’t.
On some of the other floors without aerial defenses, I will test it out. I’m curious if I could fly up to outer space and survive there.
***
A few minutes remain, and I fix the backpack I have, carrying my most important stuff. I have Flamebearer, I have Echo Gauntlet, I have a few weapons made from white sand, and plenty more stuff.
There are also a dozen or so healing marks all over my body, but most of them on my left arm. The current 12th variation is made so it can send a detection through my body to find the wound and send healing there.
The only problem could be if someone cuts off my left arm—not impossible—so there are a few more marks on other body parts, even though it’s more difficult for Lily to work there.
I endure the second long hug from Lily, having a suspicion she is milking the situation and might try it again.
“So, three to five days?” Aaron asks.
“Yup,” I confirm. “I will use one day only at first, and then use more according to how it goes.”
“Take care, Nat,” Lily uses the opportunity to give me a third hug, and I look over her head at the smirking twins.
Then I push that baby koala away from me and lift Biscuit, letting him lick my face a few times.
With a final wish of luck, I take a few steps and touch a nearby pile of boxes. Each one is made from melted white sand, sealed airtight, and impossible to open without breaking. Inside, there's nothing but a hollow space filled with unmelted white sand.
Yup, I’m using white sand to store white sand. There are a dozen boxes like that, each as big as my head.
“Later,” I wave and use one Beyond stay token, the environment around me changing.
And there she is, my beloved Lady handler, within this endless space, sitting behind that old wooden table.
I follow her eyes to the boxes with mana sand and can’t help but feel proud. It took a lot of testing to get it right and a lot of effort to create them and store the white sand within.
“You can’t bring it to the Entrance floor or to the dungeon,” she says resolutely.
Yeah, I never liked this old hag of an asshole lazy handler.
***
Comments
Yshua
I loved “Disarmory” just too much. That was hilarious.
Memelord Steambath
Imagine a whole lot of charged sand going crazy on the new beyonders is just unfair....even for beyond difficulty
Ronnel
TFTC!!!
Mark Bullock
I got the impression he was messing with every1
Mark Bullock
Im hookD
Zaim İpek
Biscuit speaks mana. Nat also speaks mana, not as well, but pretty good. Biscuit speaks slower so Nat can understand him. When he was talking to his minion, he spoke much quicker, and Nat couldn't follow the conversation. But I think Nat is becoming more fluent as his familiarity and proficiency with mana increases.
Zaim İpek
I wonder if she will take a bribe? 🤔
Poutine Au Syrop d'érable
On what is it applied. Did they do it on a skill they already merged with a token, or trying to unmerge a base skill they had from the start.
Jsar
Removes skill bonuses to its base form. Nat believes it's stronger if your learn the enhancement yourself.
Jsar
He left a notice to try and gather others from Earth at this time.
Borbino the great
Special boy😂
Kushim (Paul Rickhouse)
Biscuit send emotions and senses/images across a telepathic link. Just a few chapters ago during the campfire I think it was noted that the doggo was sending vague images to nat.
Daniel is ŁØNE
I mean don't discount Nat, She is obviously broken but Nat is just as much of a special boy as everyone else and he has a teacher that vastly outclasses everything we have seen up to this point. Hell Lissandra was playing ring around the rosy with one of the rulers despite being that much weaker.
Poutine Au Syrop d'érable
Btw, on a serious note. This might be an actual criticism. How can Nat understand Biscuit (I am groot/Chewie Speak). It's all fun and games. And it's funny he does. But we'll eventually need a reason. Hopefully, you already have one yourself. If not, you should start thinking of one now. (And double check/reread your books) before it's implemented in however many chapters. Plenty of time. After all, the story probably won't end by the tutorials end, which is 12/13 floors. And then there's gonna be the planet stuff.
Poutine Au Syrop d'érable
Oh, what was combined already? Or did they combine it themselves before?
Sauce Master
Decombine skills, he's gonna make them combine mana manipulation with connection
CptJimmy42
Inter dimensional TSA rules apply, sorry Nat.
Poutine Au Syrop d'érable
How come there's a timer for when he goes to beyound? Meeting?
Poutine Au Syrop d'érable
Whats a detachement token
nixytrixy
If the twins get kicked out, will the pov switch to hard mode characters?
Zaim İpek
This handler lady is such a cock block. She needs to learn to just turn away and pretend she didn't see anything. If she wasn't willing to hand out some juicy information, this would be grounds to fire her and look for a more agreeable handler who might overlook a tiny bit of illegal smuggling.
Dreyday
I wonder if eventually there will be a community chat where they will be able to speak with people back on earth?
Dreyday
What kind of wall are we breaking here?
Dreyday
What if we are the community chat?
Dreyday
Imagine if the twins are stealing jokes from the community chat… how shameless.
Dreyday
The DisArmory bag!
Dual.
Lol tftc
Andrew
Thank you!
Nimps
Probably too dangerous, it would kill too many people
TBONEMAN
I just came to a realization. I think we are the source of the jokes for the twins. Last chapter someone made an armory joke about the backpack.
TBONEMAN
He should've built a sand launcher. That would probably count as acceptable storage for the sand
Borbino the great
Yeah I mentioned that in the previous comment but doesn’t mean a man can’t dream!
itisaparty
It’s been directly stated in the tournament arc that he would refuse to fight back
Borbino the great
You think so?? Like yeah she’s obviously a monster from what we saw of her in the tournament but Nat has a few crazy broken things going on too obviously they wouldn’t fight from what they’ve both shared but still cool to think that both siblings are complete monsters
Alexander Colton
Her, every time with one hand behind her back.
Borbino the great
I’m so hoping he meets up with his sister now! That would be so cool I wonder who would win between the two of them
Chopper
Either it will destroy everyone or she just wants to take it and sell it herself.
Iron
Lmao, nat's reaction.
Sial28
The last four paragraph: lol.
Rodmin
I love it how nat trains the others and helps everyone in group 4 to get stronger.
Gio
Cant bring it xD, probably because it will bring too much attention :p
Augustus
Sustenance!
Konrad Pagacz
Nicely done. You are getting better at dialogue!
