Weapons of Mass Destruction

Duncan starts ordering some natives around and threatening them not to steal anything. He promises them bonuses paid in shards or materials, all drawn from his 10%, which will also cover various fees along the way.

It all seems too easy. He smiles, he curses at them, he threatens and offers bonuses—all while quickly reacting to anything the natives have to say. He even uses the presence of our group to his advantage.

I think they might be scared of Lily, who is already digging into the body of that demon. Even so, extroverts sure have it easy. I think it was Tess who told me that some people actually gain energy from interacting with others rather than being drained by the experience.

I can see it, I can understand the theory, but I don't get it.

"Does Hadwin’s presence in the Beyond community mean trouble?" Gareth asks, moving in closer, scratching his well kempt beard as we watch the natives move.

"Yup. But I'm also sure the First Beyonder is a lot of trouble, so what's one more on the pile?"

"I meant for us. For Earth."

This is something I have already thought about for a while, yet even now I'm not sure. What if that crazy cockroach really does get out of the tutorial? What if she ends up on Earth?

"I don’t think she’d go out of her way to kill the weak, but she probably wouldn’t lose any sleep over it if something were to happen. It's difficult to say."

"I understand, but aren’t we all on track to reach the same level of power? We’ve all seen what Champions and Absolutes can do."

"I guess. But she might be a bit of a special case. She’s the kind of person you tell stories about to scare Absolutes and some of the weaker Rulers, that’s what we’ll be dealing with once she regains her powers."

"Haaa," Gareth exclaims, letting out a noise somewhere between a sigh and a huff. "We better work hard to keep up with the others. It's our planet, so it's up to us to defend it, right, my friend?"

My answer is somewhere between a nod and shaking my head.

POV Myrra

The tunnels are enormous and continue their downward path just long enough for me to start getting bored.

"Little kitten, your orbs."

Quickly, I refocus my attention in a rush to keep the terrifying things from exploding in my face. From previous experience, I know how rarely she gives warnings. And just how close I must have been to putting myself in a dangerous situation. Were they about to blow me apart?

I feel cold sweat running down my neck.

"I'm not so old that I don't understand the youths’ desire for excitement—to discover something new, to fight, and to have fun. But such a loss of focus is inexcusable."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. Do better. I promised that I would declare you a Champion candidate. A true candidate, not like the pathetic imitation you were before. And, little kitten, never in my life was I wrong when I made the declaration. You lynthari like to mess around, so you have to demonstrate the proper dedication before I give my approval."

Knowing she will only get annoyed if I apologize again, I simply nod and return to my training.

The monsters here aren’t even bothering to attack us, or maybe they are and Lady Lissandra is just killing them before I can notice. But after what seems like days, we finally reach the bottom of the tunnel, and the area around us changes.

We stop in front of a very long bridge, and she steps onto it, walking with confidence.

I feel my heart beating; I can hear whispers and movement below us. I can feel vibrations rumbling through the hair of my ears and tail.

Am I scared just because of some height? A bit of darkness?

All of my emotions feel amplified, and my memory of them feels stronger, especially sadness, anger, and fear.

I accept them all, I feel them, but I don't let them control me. They are mine, and that means I have to control them. Eventually, I even begin to enjoy them. The taste of my fear, and that sense of desperation I felt when the matriarch died, and I knew my world would never be the same, or the beautiful expression of happiness on Nathaniel's face when we fought juxtaposed with the despair of being left alone on my dying world until this human woman came along and saved me.

The bridge comes to an end sooner than I expect, and she looks back at me and nods in acknowledgment. Then she reaches into the air and grabs a patch of pure darkness hanging in the space beside her.

For a moment, something screeches, and then there is silence.

A pulse of mana erupts from her, scattering the material darkness that once resembled smoke, leaving it lifeless and hollow.

Without a word, she continues through another bridge until we reach a platform framing a deep hole at its center and find a blue skinned thylarin man, missing five of his arms, at the bottom.

We find him down on his knees, head lowered, and he seems almost hesitant as he rises from his bow.

"It is an honor to be in the presence of such power as yours."

Even in this state, my instincts are screaming that he’s still oh so very dangerous. I can see it in his eyes; all my senses are warning me to stay away from him. Even imprisoned as he is, he’s still a threat.

As always, Lady Lissandra dismisses his attempts at flattery with a wave of her hand, and after a moment, she opens her palm, letting a small handful of white sand drift down into the hole.

“No!” the thylarin screams, leaping to his feet and pressing back against the wall.

The sand descends slowly, almost seeming to float, as Lady Lissandra channels mana downward. A portion of which charges the white sand, while another continues on towards the thylarin. He seizes it, using it to hold off the sand, activating a shifting field of mana in an instant.

It’s a breathtaking display of skill. With such a small amount of mana, he crafts something so remarkable. His field even manages to hold the sand back for a moment, frequencies shifting at a speed far beyond my comprehension. His arm moves frantically as he begins drawing symbols in the air and on the walls of his prison.

For a moment, it almost seems like he might succeed. But then, a single grain pierces his field—and his body.

The thylarin Champion ignores the wound, ramping up his efforts as sweat beads on his forehead. Another grain passes through, then another, and another. The sand begins to swirl wildly, tearing into his body with relentless precision, driving him to his knees.

Gradually, the symbols he’s drawn start to weaken, their glow fading until they vanish entirely. When he collapses, the light in his eyes fades as well, leaving nothing behind.

I tense, bracing for the entire desert to come alive and rush toward us, just as that man in Last Rest had warned. But the silence stretches on.

“So disappointing,” Lady Lissandra mutters, turning to leave. “And don’t be foolish, little kitten. Obviously, I stripped these grains of the function that would trigger the desert’s protocols.”

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“I’m sorry! Are we leaving?” I ask, hurrying to catch up to her.

"Yes."

"I... I understand! Where are we heading this time?"

"The central region. There are a few places I want to visit. And one more thing, little kitten."

"Yes?"

"Lately, you’ve had too much free time to talk and let your thoughts wander. I’ll be increasing the difficulty of your training."

"Lady Lissandra."

"Yes?"

"I understand why Nathaniel kept calling you a 'cockroach' and all those names."

For the first time in weeks, the corners of her lips lift into a tiny smile. "The difficulty has increased again. Was it worth it?"

Already stuck dealing with the orb, I barely muster the energy to nod. It might be just a play of the shadows, but she might have smiled even more at that.

POV Nathaniel

Once we’ve completed the bulk of the work of breaking down the fish, Tess takes it upon herself to help Duncan deal with the people of Lake City, though I still feel like calling it a city' is an exaggeration. Apparently, the natives who do live here do so with the support of one of the top 50 guilds, and they handle the fish business mainly during the season, but a few remain even now. And they’re perfectly willing to lend a hand with any trade in the resulting materials, and the guild’s support generally means there shouldn't be any funny business.

Though they do take a cut.

Of course.

Truly an authentic Beyond experience.

Part of me wonders how I would’ve dealt with it on my own and how much energy I would need to spend. Part of me trains, and another part notices Lucien watching as I do. Little Spacewolf is suspicious, certainly more so than CarrotCake, who is a clear meathead but who seems to be the kind of person who just can’t hide his intentions and feelings.

But ever since Spacewolf mentioned it, I’ve had to wonder what kind of skill he has for LissLiss to take an interest in him. Even though she ditched him, unlike me, there has to be something.

Would he answer in exchange for an upper epic item made by the famous Tent Creep?

Annoyed, I turn to Luna, standing nearby. "You said there was a mark on me, scent-based or something. Not long ago, two Champions said they felt a different mark on me, but they didn't seem to sense the one you do."

"What's the problem, greedy human?"

"I'm not greedy; I deserve all the shards for the fish. So, I tried and I couldn't sense these marks myself."

"Give me a bigger share of the shards; I fought hard. And how could you even hope to see something only Champions can see?"

"No. And it's a mark someone left on me; I should be able to sense it. I'm not some kind of marking pole. You didn't answer my question."

"I’ll tell you for five thousand shards."

"Thievery."

"Leticia is terrible with shards, so I'm the one taking care of finances."

"I can believe that."

"Yes."

Not long after that, we leave the safe zone, making our way through the slowly changing scenery.

There is less damage to the surroundings, and it opens up more, with fewer ruins around. The land is mostly grassy flatland with hills once in a while and tall forests in between. The rock covering the ceiling changes as well, becoming lighter in color with enormous crystals giving gentle, pleasant light.

Once in a while we encounter enormous stone pillars connecting the ground and ceiling which seem to provide support as well. The sizes range from the width of a football stadium at the smallest to truly incomprehensible monstrosities. Apparently, they often have caves and, rarely, veins of precious materials.

Tess flies up in the air, trying to map our surroundings and compare it with our simple map.

Like any other place in Beyond, the gravity here tends to be stronger than it is on, let's say, the 7th floor. I also feel a constant pull on my mana, dragging it downwards towards something at the bottom of the First Dungeon. Sometimes my curiosity takes over, and I let it happen, watching the way my mana gets pulled away and study the effect that causes it. I compare it to other skills I've seen that were capable of absorbing mana and to the effects of my black mana.

The black mana wins for the time being. That insane thing actually managed to nom on the mana of a quarter-Champion eye, so obviously it would. But how will it compare as we reach the lower floors of the dungeon?

Looking at the rankings, it would seem that the only person to reach the 6th floor in the past millennia or so was that guy Adrien—at least since the last reset. I have seen some of the memories Whitey had of the guy, but they only come in short flashes as the demon refuses to show me more of them. And even that much makes me very curious.

It doesn't take us too long to meet our first enemies: skeletons of monsters that used to live here and that millennia and millennia ago the first attendees—maybe even Rulers themselves—killed, and since then they are reanimating.

[Reanimated Beast - lvl 326]

[Reanimated Remnant - lvl 311]

[Reanimated Remnant - lvl 320]

[Reanimated Beast - lvl 310]

[Reanimated Beast - lvl 291]

They’re all built from skeletons that clearly can’t have belonged to anything friendly, even in life, and they move with unnerving ease, their bones grinding and shifting as if they still bore some semblance of intellect—but they don’t. Whatever force animates them is giving them a strength far beyond anything those brittle bones could handle on their own. They charge with brutal efficiency, no hesitation, no fear—just pure, mechanical intent to kill.

The beasts' jaws snap closed with a terrible sound and enough force to crush metal, but it’s not just raw power. Their movements are precise, almost too precise for something so clearly dead. I can’t help but wonder—how much of the original monster remains?

Remnants are different. They aren’t whole monsters, not even close. Each one is a unique patchwork of skeletons, cobbled together like some child’s nightmare of a puzzle. Each step they take is jerky, almost clumsy, but there’s a disturbing unpredictability to them. A spine from one beast fused to the ribs of another, claws that don’t match the attached limbs. It’s like something threw them together in a hurry and still made them work.

Fortunately, we learn about them long before they get close, so we’re ready when they do. Gareth and Jean taking the front, while Sophie, Leticia, and Luna handle the defenses, and Lucien cowers behind Tess. That leaves Lily and I to do whatever we see fit, and Tacita... manages to be somewhere else once again.

As the highest-level beast in the approaching group attacks, it tears through Jean's body, freeing his organs and taking a piece of his leg with it before Gareth bashes into the monster.

Jean heals incredibly quickly thanks to Lucien, but dark-red scars trace paths across his skin, gleaming wetly as the wounds reopen despite Lucien’s efforts.

As Gareth finds himself tossed aside, Sophie steps in to halt the monster in its tracks while Lily moves in with an incredible burst of speed, intercepting one of the beasts trying to outflank us, and Tess bombs each monster in turn. Stones are torn from the ground around her, each thrown at incredible speed at the monsters.

Jean, having finally recovered, lets out a hearty laugh and rushes back into the fray with glee, muscles bulging dangerously under his skin.

The fight takes much longer than expected, but after what feels like an eternity, the reanimated monsters finally lie dead, leaving our small group to lick its wounds which still refuse to close, the attacks of our opponents leaving behind red scars even with healing.

Despite expectations, the bonk strategy seems to work, and Jean finished the level 326 Reanimated Beast all on his own without outside help aside from the healing he got at the start. I also went hard and helped to kill the remaining monsters.

I can even happily say that without me it's highly possible that somebody would have died. I even get recognition in the form of a word of thanks from Leticia and a happy tap on the back from Gareth.

It feels awkward so I ignore it and they leave me alone.

Another day passes, marked by countless clashes with the monsters. I push myself to kill as many as possible on my own, testing the limits of my mana and my new skill.

There are a few things that give me an edge, but these creatures are formidable nonetheless. They're incredibly durable, and their razor-sharp attacks easily pierce through barriers, plus, they have some kind of anti-healing effect and even employ their own scouts to track us.

Still, after the first few battles, things do get slightly easier. We start adapting to their fighting patterns, and losing a limb or two feels like a small price to pay for such excellent progress.

Though at some point, something inside me starts to wonder if Jean might be level 300, but I don’t quite think he is. But it wasn’t so long ago that I was saying level didn’t matter much.

Well, I might have lied a bit, because right now, I care a lot.

For one simple reason.

[Lvl 299 > Lvl 300]

Well done! You have successfully reached level 300. You may now select a new Primary Class. Available classes and their rarity are based on your actions and performance up until now within the Tutorial.

Specifically this system message and the five options it’s currently presenting.

Let's see what the system has for me.

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