MM - Chapter 175 - PLATINUM FOR YOUR THOUGHTS

As the kilometers stretched on, plains spotted with forests gave way to yet more forested plains. Raine set a relentless pace, refusing to slow. Lyale would have no issues catching up to them, and Selena’s begging to wait for him was nothing more than another attempt at manipulation. Raine spent over twenty years being led around by the nose by Vaneese. There was no room in this second chance for more of the same. Whatever Selena’s end goal was with her wiles didn’t matter; she would not succeed.

With the toe of a boot, Raine tapped a softly glowing orb that contained a whole silver and a few copper pieces. His other boot was planted on the Plummus Dog’s spine, allowing him to pull his sword free from the slaughtered beast. Shaggy, golden-brown fur gave the four-legged pests an advantage when it came to blending in with the soft prairie grass, but not enough to escape his notice. This was at least the hundredth he’d killed in the last two hours. Usually, their numbers weren’t so elevated.

Hope we run into their alpha. Should be a noble. Would love to get another page of Bhima out of the way.

Behind him, Selena wore an exaggerated pout. Raine cut her off before she could complain again. “It wouldn't have given you much Superiority. Stop whining.”

Selena’s gasp was as fake as they come. “I was going to say no such thing! This time…” She mumbled the last, eyes downcast as she kicked a stone free from its home in the hard dirt. As usual, Raine ignored her to check his spoils.

[Obtained 166,400 Superiority (550% bonus for defeating a monster 5 levels above you)]

[Obtained 32.5% Attunement (550% bonus for defeating a monster 5 levels above you)]

The Attunement didn’t go into Raine’s pool; instead, it was sucked into his sword mastery, which was perfectly fine. The adept attunements provided excellent bonuses that outshone the previous tiers, making them one of his top priorities. Besides, his spendable pool of attunement was still excessively deep after his recent purchases, sitting at over fifty thousand.

[Fists - Adept 2,331/25,000%]

[Mace - Adept 2,160/25,000%]

[Knives - Adept 2,489/25,000%]

[Shield - Adept 2,307/25,000%]

[Axes - Adept 1,988/25,000%]

[Staff - Adept 2,712/25,000%]

[Wands - Adept 2,222/25,000%]

[Spear - Adept 1,907/25,000%]

[Swords - Adept 3,000/25,000%]

A series of welcome notifications were tucked beneath the first, bringing a smile to Raine’s lips. The moment he accessed them, a tingling wave swept through his body, empowering every facet of his being. Additionally, the soul flame pulsed within his chest, its warmth spreading through his limbs, doubling the base increases in attributes he received from reaching level 31.

[Level up!]

[+20 free attributes points]

[Potency: +6]

[Finesse: +6]

[Acuity: +6]

[Physique: +6]

[Connection: +6]

[Soul Flame of Amanesh: (Chaotic Gold - Soulbound - LVL 31) A named soul flame that has begun to find a home within its new host. Significant tempering of the soul is required to unleash its full potential (Soul Resistance +40) (All attributes +93)]

[Innate skill 1 - Sacrifice: Douse your soul in flames to further boost your resistance to soul damaging effects and gain mastery over the Soul Flame of Amanesh (Current Mastery: 2/10) (Cooldown: 7 days)]

[Innate skill 2 - Purge: In a burst of intense heat, eradicate toxins, poisons, and paralytics from the body. Note: causes some discomfort (Cooldown: 30 seconds)]

[Innate passive 1 - Sharing is Caring: Wield your inner flame against your enemies dealing 62 soul damage per second (Damage = Mastery x Level) (no cooldown) (no cost)]

[Innate passive 2 - Wisdom of Amanesh: Concentrate your inner flame in various areas of the body for a wide variety of effects (Currently available: Hands / Arms) (Further mastery will unlock additional areas) (no cooldown) (no cost)]

The cooldown on Sacrifice is up. Makes me too vulnerable to use anywhere but Silverlight.

Raine’s nerves ached at the thought of using the skill again. It was impossible to forget how immensely painful increasing his mastery over the soul flame had been. The vivid memory of it didn’t dissuade him from wanting to do it again. Beyond gaining the ability to encase his arms in protective flame gauntlets, the fiery pulses had altered his outside body, triggering his mental ability in a way that changed his cells on a fundamental level—a process the system called Tempering.

Raine wasn’t sure if it was the same Tempering that Jedidiah mentioned. However, if his suspicions were correct, it was this Tempering that allowed him to more rapidly absorb the vital nutrients he’d consumed. The two servings of Qi Ock Gri should have lasted two months, yet they were already absorbed. That wasn’t something ReGen was supposed to do, and considering he was hungry immediately after using Sacrifice, it was the most viable explanation.

Wait. What would happen if I used Sacrifice again without any existing vital nutrients in my system? Would those pulses chew me up in search of nutrients that aren't there? How much damage would that do to my already broken body? Shit. Okay, finish growing plants first, recover from the duel, then I can try burning myself at the stake again.

“Platinum for your thoughts?” Selena’s face appeared too close as she circled around him with a coy smile.

Raine had yet to answer any of her questions, and she was definitely growing tired of his stony silence. When he simply stared back at her without speaking, she released an indignant snort, hands planted on hips, “It’s an expression. I’ve no intention of paying to hear whatever nonsensical ruminations could cause you to whimsically gaze at the sunset for a finger.”

Raine was struck by a bout of nostalgia hearing the old method of time tracking the Vaaterrans used. “Fingers and hands,” he mumbled, chuckling as a rhyme he hadn’t heard in years spilled out. “Ten for a day, ten for a night, two hands to a fortnight.” Gooseflesh sprinkled across his arms and back as he realized all over again that he was back in that antiquated time, before Travelers, with their superior math, popularized a more accurate system of tracking time.

We never should have polluted their world with our ways. Fingers and hands are so much better. Better enjoy it while I can.

Selena was looking at him like he’d lost his mind, which only made Raine chuckle harder. Instead of crawling down the rabbit hole of explaining, he replied to what she said about paying him. “How is that an expression? Platinum for your thoughts? What lunatic would pay a thousand gold to hear someone’s thoughts? Besides, you don’t have a copper to your name.” Selena’s eyes widened. The embarrassment coloring her complexion confirmed Raine’s theory. He shrugged as if it were obvious, “Don’t need coins where we’re going, and if you don’t come back, well, waste not, want not.”

“Waste not, want not? Oh, I see. Hmm. That phrase pleases me. I shall nick it from you, oh favored one.”

Raine rolled his shoulders and swung his arm while bending at the waist, smoothly adjusting to his increased attributes. “Do whatever you want, so long as it involves running.” He took off, feet leaving the ground as he jettisoned from the top of a knoll.

“Wait!” Selena shouted, but he was already gone, unthinned air howling loudly in his ears.

Being strong enough to push through ambient air pressure while dashing at superhuman speeds was indescribably satisfying. With senses on high alert for the Plummus Alpha, Raine fed Discipline to eager muscles, accelerating away at breakneck speeds. A few mental commands allocated enough free attributes to bring Finesse above the 250 threshold.

Raine’s overall running speed was barely affected. However, the scope of his Discipline boosting significantly expanded. Instead of empowering his muscles and bones, the energy wormed its way into the nerves, transforming his nervous system from a highway for electrical signals into a bullet train for electrical signals. The time it took for action potentials from his brain to reach the rest of his body was drastically reduced. While that had no effect on his sprinting speed, it altered how quickly his body responded to each mental command, enhancing his fluidity of motion and minute body control.

Finally! Goodbye forever, forklift. One step closer to where I was for so long. This time, I won't stall out at the third-tier evolution. Just like plowing through this wind, I'll break through and become a fourth-tier powerhouse, and beyond. Bhima and the soul flame have the answers I need to do the same in the outside world. Everything's coming together. I just have to keep stepping forward, one foot in front of the other.

To think this life is so much better than the last. It's all thanks to ZionLine. Whatever happened to bring me back is definitely connected with the launch; the timing of it all is too suspicious to ignore… 

No. I don't think I actually came back in time. There are too many little differences. It's more like I'm in an alternate timeline, dimension, or whatever. Maybe ZL passed along the memories of another me. Did that other me find an item that transcended realities? Is that even possible? Doesn’t matter. Knowing the truth doesn’t change what I have to do.

Raine cast aside the pointless thoughts, deeply inhaling the crisp afternoon breeze while his limbs toyed with the air pressure. In several ways, he already felt entirely superior to his old self. There had always been an unfortunate lag when his brain received signals from his boosted nervous system. That feeling was gone. Thanks to ReGen and reaching Genesis, his senses were as sharp as a naked blade. If a beast jumped out of stealth from a meter away, his reaction would be near-instant.

Brain transmission speed (BTS) for the average human was highly variable, but averaged near 100 milliseconds, or approximately 0.10 seconds. After fully unlocking the potential of their brains, class four martial experts averaged a BTS of .08 seconds. Enhancing the nerves with Discipline cut that down further to a staggering .06. Unfortunately, that fast of a reaction time without the unlocked potential of Genesis led to jerky, uncoordinated movements. 

Raine spent decades adjusting to it as best he could, all while overhearing his peers talk about how the difference was like night and day. He finally understood. If a martial could respond to their opponents even a fiftieth of a second faster, they would eventually come out of any duel on top. He was no longer a sliver behind the competition. In the deadly battles that ZionLine doled out regularly, the sliver of time he'd gained would be the difference between life and death, stagnation and advancement.

The rest of Raine’s free attributes were slotted into Physique. The next attribute threshold wasn’t until 1,250. It was actually beneficial to reach them one at a time, so there was no longer a need to evenly spread attributes. Finally, after weeks, it was time to leave generalization behind and personalize a build to fit his many advantages.

Desperately sprinting after Raine, Selena cupped her hands and yelled. “Curse you, Alaric! You're going the wrong way!”

Entirely swept away in the moment, Raine laughed over his shoulder, “I've got another one for you. Stop and smell the roses! In this case, the roses are a Plummus Alpha. And don't even think about stealing my Superiority.”

Selena’s eyes widened like an owl, metaphorical hackles rising as she and her mount ducked into Stealth. Raine could no longer see them, but he was positive her head was on a swivel, looking for the dangerous beast. Backtracking, he planted a boot on the beast’s hide and pushed hard enough to deactivate their stealth.

“Have you gone mad?!” She hissed, “I knew it. The Acuity’s gone to your head! No one hunts alphas alone! W-what if it's an aberration?”

Raine typically tried to maintain an outwardly stoic expression. This time, it was impossible to keep the shock from his features. “An aberration? And you’re calling me crazy? Someone's been spending too much time in the library. Do you have any idea how rare those are? This isn’t some epic fantasy that will have the bards singing for generations. It's a regular-old alpha.” Raine shook his head at her disbelieving expression. “C’mon. I’ll show you the tracks. If it were an aberration, there would be extra paws or digits, and the indents would be a lot deeper, larger too.”

Selena blinked at him, the slight coloration of her cheeks possibly the first honest emotion he’d seen her display. She coughed into a hand, standing straight with the posture expected of a royal. “Right. Right, of course. I knew that… Fine. I’ll inspect these tracks for myself, and if they are even the slightest touch odd, then I’ll be permitting no such hunt! Even if it will give Lyale a chance to catch up.” Selena followed behind, brows growing closer together with each passing second. “Alaric… How do you know so much about everything? Isn’t your world vastly different from ours? Do your people possess some magic that allows you to learn at an accelerated pace? If so, I will purchase it upon our return. Anything to get out of another of Professor Rhanata’s lessons.”

Raine shrugged, eagerly anticipating her explosive reaction. “It's a Traveler thing.”