Weapons of Mass Destruction

With the acquisition of the new skill, my preparations for the primary class upgrade are complete.

I have acquired as many powerful passives as I can, I have strengthened my traits, and I have plenty of powerful skills, all at high levels—not to mention the body modifications Lily and I have been making. Then there are all the feats I’ve accomplished that should factor in, like killing—with a significant amount of help—a Champion.

This upgrade better be good.

As always, the system offers no description for the active skill, so I conduct my tests, checking whether the effects of previous skills are missing or have changed.

“Hey, Maya, create some weapons with [Armament] for me.”

She gives me a confused look and creates a dagger, and at my signal, she throws it at me.

My skill activates and my eyes do as well, scanning for the information I need. I use [Eclipse] and take over as I would with [Resonance].

The effect is mostly the same, and yet somehow it feels different. Instead of altering and modifying my mana to connect with it, it feels as though I’ve simply taken control. There’s a stronger sense of ownership.

Looking at the dagger now, it doesn't seem all that impressive or useful to take it over.

With a sigh, she uses her skill again and starts forming weapons, which take their places floating over her shoulders. Using the new skill, I connect to them, resonate with them, and take over, while Maya finds herself cut off.

I stare at that. Once again, not very useful.

“Barrier?”

“Nat, I fucking swear if...”

“Please.”

“Damn it,” she curses but brings a spherical barrier into being around her body.

My skill activates again, and I push my hand through her barrier with ease, adapting to its frequency.

I keep trying to grasp that feeling. The best way to describe it is that my control seems to overshadow hers as I infuse myself into the skill, resonating deeply with its inner workings.

I still have a sense that I could disrupt her control over mana just like I did before. Even at this low level, it feels almost strong enough to rival the previous version. However, there’s something different about it now, and I’m finding it difficult to fully grasp.

I’m sure the skill will truly shine in combat. However that also means more testing, and I feel that familiar rush of excitement I get whenever I get a new toy… or, in this case, a new ability. I’ve thought about it a lot recently, mulling over the difference between using upgrade tokens on my skills and acquiring new ones with combination tokens, and I’ve come to a conclusion—there is a difference.

Upgrading a skill feels almost like cheating, taking the easy way out. But combining skills to create a new one is different. Sure, at first, I let the system guide me and show me how to use it, but I always strive to master the skill on my own and push it to its limits. With more powerful skills, this approach can only grow more valuable over time.

As for [Eclipse], its name feels odd—almost like Savant’s [Dawn] or the [Regalia] I had before. It’s enough to make me wonder about the naming of skills and how their names are decided.

Thanking Maya, I move back to my corner and increase the output of my Restrictive Training Emblem for now, putting off my testing of [Eclipse] for the time being.

It only takes me a few hours to finish the mana stone I’ve been working on and now it’s fully inscribed, containing all the training regiments for the seven stances I got from Whitey, starting with basics while keeping the more advanced stuff locked behind mana locks that will require a certain degree of mastery over mana to get through.

That should ensure that my minion doesn't jump head first into the dangerous stuff without working on her basics first. And prevent her from forgetting her mana training.

My Mana Wavelength Iris activates again, and I stare at the stone in the palm of my hand. I watch it very closely, observing the mana wavelengths around it and their movements, while [Perception] works at full force to supplement my efforts.

Only then do I say, “Send this to my disciple using the token meant for that.”

I don't even have time to blink before the mana stone vanishes. It disappears in that crazy scary way the system likes to make them disappear. The way where I can't sense anything at all.

But I will get there.

Then, while RTE continues to crush my body, I grab my mana and start moving it using Mana Cycling.

It's the hour of our Beyond expedition, and everyone’s gathered in the room. On purpose, I have not examined this floor too much, knowing that it would only make me curious the entire time I found myself in Beyond.

So that's where I rely on Tess and others to make sure it’s safe for us to keep going for the next few days. And I’m especially sure that Sophie made every possible effort to ensure that her sister would be safe.

I wait for the others to say their goodbyes and return the ones I get.

With that, I use my token and the others as well, all of us moving to our handlers.

POV Maya Jones

The moment they disappear, Biscuit opens his eyes and yawns. He turns to Izzy, who carefully sets him on the ground so that he can stretch as he yawns once more.

“W-what?” Kim stammers, his tone echoing my own state of confusion.

“It's fine! Biscuit was just pretending to be asleep. He woke up just after we came to this floor!” Izzy says, hints of joy leaking into her voice, as she kneels down to let Biscuit sniff her hand. “Isn't he cute?”

“You knew, but why would he...” Kim doesn't have time to finish his words before Biscuit looks at him and floats into the air, coming to a stop in front of the boy.

Biscuit moves through the air much quicker than before, and honestly, seeing a two-month old pup float through the air like that is just way too cute. His fuzzy tail trails behind him and his legs hang down.

Biscuit starts sniffing curiously, but we don’t get the typical message we’ve come to expect.

Izzy explains, “He just likes it when Nat carries him around, pets him, and takes care of him. That's why he was pretending to be asleep! Though he’s been having some trouble getting used to some of his abilities and can't talk at the moment.”

I want to shake my head, say something, but I can't.

What Izzy said right now makes a lot of sense, and I find myself thinking that it just about fits with the rest of this crazy situation.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

POV Nathaniel

Once again I meet my handler sitting in her wooden chair, behind the same wooden table.

This time I move closer and shamelessly take one of the papers laid out across its surface, curious about its contents.

The paper is blank.

When I put it back on the table, the text appears.

So I lift it again to look at it, and it disappears again.

I put it back on the table and then lean closer until I can just about make out words, only for it to go blank once more.

I step back, and even though using mana like this isn't my specialty, I strengthen my sight and stare at it, only for the paper to grow indistinct as the text vanishes yet again.

“Annoying, isn't it?” my handler watches it all with curiosity.

Instead of answering, I reach to grab one of the mana stones but find myself unable to lift the table no matter how much I try. Even as I try to peek in, it seems empty.

Disappointed, I create a manabloc chair and sit down, “Any news?”

“It seems like you’ve already been warned about the guest in your mind. Other than that? The Enforcer’s Guild came looking after you over that contract you signed but they stopped after a few months—mostly because it didn't seem like you were the one who broke it, and the people who died weren't really all that important, and it wasn’t a very high tier contract to begin with.”

“That's good.”

“They’re just leeches, so if they start to get on your nerves feel free to fuck them up. As long as you haven't signed an A or S tier contract with one of the top guilds, they won't even bother sending anyone all that powerful. Currently, they have two or three such people, but they won't move for such low end contracts.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. I probably can't ask much, right? About Beyond?”

“It would get censored, though I’ll still tell you all the important bits and leave the rest up to you. The rest of the information allocation I'm saving for the big ones like that little tidbit I gave you before. You liked it, right?” She interlocks her fingers and rests her chin against them, a bright smile on her face. “Do you have any theories as to who the Rulers could be?”

“Well, for the First, Cinderbear, for third, I wouldn't be surprised if it was one of those damned sparrows, otherwise Edwal, or the King even though they seem unlikely, getting stuck at the same city over millennia, so maybe the Saint somewhat?”

I look at her, trying to read something of her expression. I even use kinetic energy to track her movement, but she notices it well. She doesn't block my probing, but there is absolutely nothing I could track.

Her smile widens, so I continue, “Fifth, I don't know. Gaiathra? Niall? Some other Champion I may have missed? And as for the Sixth, there are too many possible candidates to guess.”

"No guess for the second floor?" she asks.

"There is no need, am I right?"

“I see, I see,” she nods with a smile, “In exchange for satisfying my curiosity, allow me to tell you about something exciting to watch out for...”

“So being polite pays off?”

“Rarely,” she responds, shaking her head in amusement, as I feel myself begin to fade.

This person really seems to like to time our conversations that way.

She waits a second longer, “Starting now you can take Beyond quests, I’ll tell you more next time we meet.”

“Sounds cool?”

My handler shakes her head, her red tinged black hair flowing around her, as she watches for my reaction, the information must have really been juicy for her to even bother.

“Beyond quests will allow you to leave the tutorial for a certain time, usually a few days, to work on a quest commissioned by someone on the outside. I’ve even gone through some of them; there are a few you might like, all with really nice rewards. The higher the rank you reach in Beyond, the better the quests you'll gain access to—and trust me, some of them are truly fascinating. These could include anything from quests that no Beyond attendee has completed in a hundred years, thousand-year-old challenges, and many more.”

Well, she got me again.

She seems to notice it as well as I watch her smile brighten, just in time for me to disappear, finding myself back on the entrance floor.

The price to use the teleportation array to different Entrance Floor's outposts is 10,000 shards. After you do it, that entrance floor becomes your “starting” floor the next time.

That's why it sucks to be Lily and Tess, both of them having to use their shards. Lily at least, should have plenty because of the item selling spree we went on back in the mana desert, but it must have set Tess back quite a bit.

It would seem that even if you do happen to be from the same group you may not appear in the same outpost and instead find yourselves split in between god knows how many others. I thank Duncan for this information, along with the Coordinates or address you might say, for our current outpost—never mind that he charged me 1,000 shards.

I guess the grind just never stops for that man.

After meeting up with Sophie at the smithy, where I told her to wait if she arrived first, we make our way over to the teleportation array.

When Lily and Tess rejoin us, I’m already there to cheer them up again.

This time they get to pay for their own identification tokens.

Truly the authentic Beyond experience. A first impression is important, so they must realize how this place is.

I teach them how to activate their identification marks, and when they do, my ivory white C rank contrasts nicely with their obsidian black D rank. Not wanting to show off for too long, we head to the spot where our Earth expedition formed the first time around while ignoring the others around us. And we find a group of people already waiting there for us.

The winner of the 1st round's 1st tournament, CarrotCake aka Jean. The big bulky mountain of muscles with that annoying little jerk sitting next to him, aka Lucien, though I still have no idea how he passed through Beyond’s trials, being a healer without any obvious fighting capabilities.

The mountain of muscles seems to be training or something as we watch his skin stretch over his body and tear while a focused expression continues to dominate his face. And I can still feel that immense sense of danger radiating off him.

My respect towards the guy grows seeing the damage he causes to his body.

Meanwhile, Leticia jumps to her feet with a happy smile, “Noname! I thought you would make it! Luna, you owe me 5 thousand shards!”

Leticia stops in front of us, the golden retriever following behind her while complaining, “First impressions are important, Leticia, please tone it down and don't embarrass me.”

The golden retriever takes a quick step and grows till her head sets at the height of Leticia's chest and shoves her to the side while coming to a stop in front of Tess. “I apologize for my companion. You three must be Noname's friends, so allow me to introduce myself. My name is Luna, and that silly woman over there is Leticia. She may get like this sometimes, but she’s generally more reliable when things get dangerous, I promise.”

With a laugh, Leticia jumps on Luna's back and wraps her arms around her neck, forcing Luna to grow even bigger.

“Four people out of the same group in Beyond is crazy,” Leticia says, nodding seriously.

“That’s just how it worked out. I'm Sset, it's nice to meet you Leticia, and Luna as well. This is Grumpy and Soph.”

As they focus on introducing themselves, I notice Jean bringing his training to a close and placing the whole of his attention on Sophie.

There are no extra senses involved, no perception, or anything of the sort. If I had to compare it to anything It's more like the instincts of a wild animal. The longer he looks at her, the more his expression contorts.

I let kinetic energy and mana collect in my body. An amount that leaves my capacity before I acquired my new mid-arcane passive. My mind handles it all with ease, even as the roaring forces threaten to destroy my weak body, only held at bay by my own self control.

Jean moves at the same time I do, and before he can reach Sophie, I’m there, standing in front of him, absorbing the incredible power of his attack with Counter Flow and the effects of my unique passive, adding a huge chunk of mana to my Mana Reservoir.

He moves his hand and grabs me in an attempt to throw me out of the way, but I bury my feet into the ground, move my body, and strike his chest with my palm, putting the force of the kinetic energy I absorbed into the attack while adding a bit of my own.

A short shockwave reverberates in the air, as the man staggers back.

Unfazed, he shakes it off, the sense of danger rolling off him increasing as he does so, and his face grows darker, “You know about her abilities.”

“Yes.”

“People like her need to die.”

“That's your problem. She’s part of my group.” I emphasize the word 'my', making sure he understands.

Jean observes me for a moment as if confirming my words and then nods in acknowledgment.

I raise my energy at the same time he does as we both prepare for battle. Sophie, Tess, and Lily are getting ready as well, while Lucien channels his healing to Jean.

But before any of us can move, Jean and I both freeze. My eyes shift at the same moment as his, landing on the figure that has suddenly appeared to his left.

A young woman with messy brown hair, a thin frame, ragged clothes, and a small backpack slung over her shoulder.

She holds a dagger in her hand, its tip gently piercing Jean's chest, just above his heart. The young woman is much shorter than the man, so she has to lift her arm to do so, yet she’s still smiling.

None of us sensed her appear. Not even Luna. Not even Sophie. Not even me with my improved sense of movement.

Tacita smiles brightly and waves at us.