MM - Chapter 140 - ORIGINAL DETECTED!

Melani Feladay (Continued)

Raine's moaning once more prompted Mel to action. She didn't want to step away from him for a second. The cold towels were already turning warm. Soon, they would be hot enough to burst into flames. Using one of them as an impromptu mop, Mel cleaned the floor on her way to the shower. 

She replaced his remaining towel with two freshly frozen ones, then rested the back of her hand against his bare skin. He was no longer hot enough to burn her but was still well beyond any normal fever. She called out to Morty, voice no longer laced with terror, “The cold water is helping a little. It's not enough. What now? Should I call the corpus?”

“That is not an advisable course of action. Without Raine to open the front door, they would need a missile barrage to gain access. I surmise that would be an ineffective method of administering aid. While you were flopping around on the floor, I reviewed the records of his vitals 237,491 times. Prior to entering the room, he showed no indications of unusual metabolic activity. I hypothesize that his issue must stem from an external source.”

“Right. Uhm. He's logged into ZionLine. Could the game really be doing this to him? Pamalaiha! She's a doctor; she would know how to help!”

“If he is logged in, it is likely related to his condition. Ms. Shroufand left some time ago. And no, I did not observe her poisoning him.” Morty's voice was faint. Mel almost missed what he said due to Raine releasing another pained moan.

I wasn't going to ask that… Didn't even consider it. What has Raine been teaching his AI? Whatever! Not the time, Melbelle! If it really is something from ZL, I need to get in there and figure out what it is. Shucks, no headset. Celeste!

Accessing the AR display from her earrings, Mel sent a message marked urgent. The reply came quickly and wasn't at all what Mel wanted to see. “I haven't seen him. He mentioned having other things to do and never showed up at the arena. What’s wrong? Did something happen?” 

Mel quickly filled Celeste in, pressure building behind her eyes from retelling the story.

Celeste’s response was hesitant, “I don’t mean to downplay, but you do remember who you’re talking about, right? He could have easily passed the class five martial test. He’s a master in all but name. A master, Mel. He’s barely even human anymore. I bet you a million creds he’s playing with that new fire of his. Keep doing what you’re doing, but try not to worry so much. Raine is Raine; he’ll be fine in no time.”

After reading, Mel blinked away her AR display to see Raine, still moaning on the bed, “Fine in no time… fine in no time…”

How does she have such faith in him? Or is it trust after seeing him do the impossible time and again like it's easy. Keep doing what I’m doing. Okay. I can do that. After all, this is the life I signed up for. 

The reminder of her signed contract brought a burst of determination back to Mel. With a serious scowl, she marched into the bathroom for another round of towels. Then another, and another. Sometime after the tenth rotation, she lost count.

Raine’s hand suddenly bolted forward and snatched her wrist, shocking her into a terrified scream. His other hand came up to remove the headset. Dark blue eyes swept over the state of his room. Mel saw the snarky twist to his lips and knew he was about to make fun of her: she wasn’t having it. Mel threw herself into him, relieved tears gushing forth as she burrowed her face in his sweaty chest.

Once she calmed enough to hear, Raine’s voice was soft velvet in her ears, “You did good. Thanks, Mel.” He had been smoothing her damp hair for a while now, the display of affection sinking comfort into her bones.

Mel looked up, intending to tell Raine precisely how worried she’d been. Instead, their eyes met, and she froze at the raw, primal hunger she found there. Mel screamed again when she abruptly became airborne. Raine held her tight, landing smoothly on the other side of the room. He had bounded from the bed so quickly that there wasn’t time to realize what happened before it was over. Her weight seemed to have no effect on him at all. Mel could hardly believe he was strong enough to carry her like a toy.

Dream. Come. True.

Raine brought her into the shower, eyes still locked on only her, “Seems you’re due for another reward.”

Mel couldn’t speak; her brain was having a hell of a time keeping up with so many rapid shifts. He set her down as the water began to pour. Then, his hand connected with her ass, hard. The slap filled the shower with sound, and her toes instinctively curled in pure delight at the tingling that lanced through her backside. Being incredibly sore from their workout only made it better. Mel's confusion fled in a blink, replaced by hunger. Bending over with a hand braced against the wall, she looked over her shoulder, only needing one word to let him know this was exactly what she’d wanted all day, “Harder.”

Raine KongRu

- ZionLine -

Reality rippled away from Raine in a wave. Wherever the wave passed, ZionLine shimmered into existence until he was once more standing within the walls of the novice engineering room. His attention was drawn to a short message displayed in his HUD.

[Soul tempering successful]

Raine didn’t care how underwhelming the message looked. To him, it was a glorious sight. The tempering had been much more hellish than he imagined. The cooldown was listed as a week. He wasn’t sure that would be long enough to mentally recover. 

By the third restart of the pulses, every single one made him question what he was doing and why. Raine's usual determination, sufficient to face one deadly battle after another, was entirely inadequate before the storm that was soul tempering. His skills and attributes were equally useless, unable to so much as dull the pain. As his mentality and avatar failed, Raine did the only thing he could think of, and fully released bloodlust.

By releasing it of his own accord, he gained a smidgen of control over the tempering, allowing him to fight on his own terms. Focusing on combining it with the pulses, as it was doing automatically, also distracted from the agony. Mel’s attempt to help was a relief only to his skin, doing nothing to abate the sensations of both his bodies burning alive. Yet that tiny comfort amidst the inferno had been a balm to Raine's heart and soul, driving him to the finish line. 

Upon waking up, he’d felt revitalized from head to toe, cells alive and rearing for a fight. Mel had given her best, but quickly petered out. That was fortunate, since the energizing feeling didn’t last long and turned to a soul-consuming starvation. Raine had pillaged his kitchen, and all the while, his brain churned over solutions to the question of how he burned through all the vital nutrients from two servings of Qi Ock Gri so quickly.

Now, here he was, back in ZionLine and staring long and hard at that little message that was anything but small in his eyes. 

Successful, indeed. What did those pulses of mental energy do to me? Does it have something to do with the process of becoming a grandmaster? My mental energy is always active inside me, is it slowly changing me like I plan to do with those plants? Sure doesn’t feel that way… Only those pulses seemed to make a difference. I’ll have to try that again on my own. On the topic of trying things.

Raine clenched his fists, and with a flicker of desire, golden flames burst from his skin. They covered his hands, unable to hurt him; every flicker crawling across his knuckles was completely within his control. The Soul Flame of Amanesh was more a part of him now than ever before. It blazed within his chest, demanding release, and its power was awesome to behold. Raine’s eyes glowed with satisfaction as he accessed the flame’s description, eating up the small yet important changes.

[Soul Flame of Amanesh: (Chaotic Gold - Soulbound - LVL 25) A named soul flame that has begun 

to find a home in its new host’s skin. Significant tempering of the soul is required to unleash its full potential (Soul Resistance 20 > 40) (All attributes +75)]

[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: 6 days, 20 hours, 9 minutes)]

[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 25 > 50 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)]

Doubled Soul Resistance and passive damage. Then, there’s this.

Raine willed the flames into his arms and they burst higher, coating his forearms in gauntlets of writhing fire. Outwardly, they looked as immaterial as any fire, but he knew in his bones that wasn’t the case. They might not shrug off a fully discipline-empowered blow, but any lesser attack would find it difficult to pierce this new defense. With how many years he’d fought utilizing nothing more than his fists, this was a boon he knew just how to get the most out of.

No matter how much he wanted to run out of the city and start pummeling monsters into ashes, he had a job to do first. Unfortunately, the constant pings of missed messages, each marked urgent, were between him and progress. Before getting to the annoying ones, he happily sent a message to Mel like he’d promised before she fell asleep in his arms. She was still synching with the headset he brought home for Pamalaiha and wouldn’t be inside for a while longer. “I’m in. Everything is fine. I’ll be crafting for a while. Join the others at the arena until I’m done.”

With a weary sigh, Raine briefly skimmed the mayor’s repeated attempts to contact him. “Please respond, Expert KongRu! The Coalition of Masters is demanding we put a stop to your event.”

Before responding, Raine needed to know how successful his call for disciples was turning out to be. After CronGate’s threat, he wouldn’t be surprised no matter how few showed up. He asked the only person he knew who could give him a reliable answer, “Morts, based on the forum chatter, how many people should we expect this Sunday?”

Morty answered at a speed only an AI could pull off, “Between several hundred thousand and two million.”

If Raine were taking a drink right then, he would have spit it out, “You're joking… You’re definitely messing with me, right?”

“Not at all; word has spread across the entire territory. Your offer is unprecedented. There is no such thing as a chance to learn martial techniques for those not born into a clan. It is a simple matter of supply and demand. You have something everyone wants, and that none can receive. Of course the meat sacks would show up en masse.”

“Right. I knew that…” Raine cleared his throat, taking a few seconds to clear his thoughts.

There’s no way we’re canceling it just because of some crotchety old bastards who haven’t realized the changes ZL is about to unleash on the world. Astra Infernum’s reputation is on the line. Hmm. CronGate and the Coalition of Masters. Things could get a bit more dangerous than I thought.

But with danger comes opportunity.

Inspired, Raine composed his response to the mayor, “The event is happening. I’m estimating between a few hundred thousand and two million will be there. If you can’t handle it, I’ll find a mayor who can. All those people are going to need a place to stay, refreshments, meals, the works. I hope I don’t have to explain further what kind of opportunity Carter City is looking at here.” While waiting for the mayor, Raine’s eyes roved over his workspace.

I didn’t rent this room to sit in it all day and night.

Shaking his arms to dispel the flames, Raine crossed the room to the bloomery. Accessing his inventory, he withdrew fifty chunks of low-quality copper ore and dumped them inside the cauldron-esque device. The novice crafting room didn't have the equipment to process the ore into higher concentrations. What he needed it for didn't require such pure copper anyway, so he sealed the device and added the right amount of fuel to the slot beneath. He lit the logs with his soul flame. The soft wood burst to life, flames licking along the outer shell of the bloomery to heat the ore within.

Any real smith would be spitting blood at the sin he was committing by using a bloomery for copper. Lucky for them, they weren't here to see because his sacrilege was far from over.

Raine was already grinning, falling into the groove of crafting with great relish. While the bloomery heated, he started another fire in the forge which would need time to reach the optimal temperature. He then pulled up a stool at the drafting table and swapped Big Game Executioner for another title.

[Master Engineer's Disciple: (Title) (Upgradable) Thanks to the many decades of experience handed down from your master, you receive a 5% increased success chance on all engineering crafts]

Quill in hand, Raine withdrew a sheet of paper and filled the empty vial with ink. The mayor chose that moment to get back to him, “Say no more, Expert KongRu. Since you and your master are confident in dealing with the Coalition of Masters, then it is certainly not my place to stand in your way.”

My master? He still thinks I’m doing all this for someone else. Makes sense. Someone had to train me, and there's no reason they would let me go after doing it. Wait… I can use that to deal with the Coalition!

Pieces of a plan rapidly fell into place. Raine’s fingers danced to create what the mayor would need. When Raine was ready to respond, his grin was a kilometer wide, “First of all, use this link to sell tickets for as many people as we can fit inside Town Square. Make it clear that a ticket isn’t necessary to attend; they are only for front-row seats. Use a portion of the proceeds to rent the exteriors of every building in a fifteen-block radius and set up recording jammers.”

As with all skyscrapers, their outer surfaces had long ago been fitted with AR connectivity for advertisement purposes. If not for AR filters, all anyone would see when walking through a city were tens of thousands of ads reflected on every surface. However, that meant each building represented an avenue to project a live broadcast of the main event. With the addition of CronGate and the Coalition, they were bound to attract millions of views. Jamming out personal recordings was only natural, that kind of advertising revenue couldn’t be given away for free.

Rain could picture the portly mayor’s drool as he read the man’s reply, “You’re a madman: I love it! How much should we sell the tickets for?”

Raine responded instantly, a figure already in mind, “Twenty thousand.”

“What?! There won’t be anyone willing to pay such an exorbitant amount. A typical month’s salary is only five hundred credits. How about we go for one thousand?”

“Just do it. You'll see. The city can keep fifteen percent of the net proceeds. If you have any further issues, contact Celeste Luu Rahn. I’ll be busy for several hours.”

Not waiting for another reply, Raine loosely held his quill, dipping it in the ink. Ten Novice Pages and enough Novice Ink for them had averaged a little over one gold. In the past, Raine typically required over a hundred attempts for each successful new blueprint. The costs of failure could quickly grow out of one's budget. Raine began with a schematic he'd drawn hundreds of times.

[Basic Structures: (Engineering Schematic - Novice) Contains the requisite knowledge to Design and create Blueprints needed to craft basic structures]

As Raine's hand moved with exacting precision, a small house took shape. It was a structure that would eventually be in great demand amongst players. His lines were perfectly straight, the corners sharp and clean. Along each line, he listed the measurements and material requirements.

Raine was done in seconds and set the page aside like he’d done so many times. He halted his muscle memory as a short loading bar appeared above the page. Usually, he wouldn’t watch as ZionLine judged his work. When the bar filled, a soft, harmonious ding filled Raine's ears.

[Original Blueprint detected!]

[Intermediate Traveler Lodging Blueprint successfully created]

[You have learned - Intermediate Traveler Lodging: (Engineering Schematic - Novice) Contains the requisite knowledge to Design and create Blueprints needed to craft Intermediate Traveler Lodging]

[Congratulations!]

[Obtained 1 Engineering Proficiency for completing your first Basic Structure!]

[Obtained 1 Engineering Proficiency for creating a perfect Original Blueprint!]

[Obtained 1 Engineering Proficiency for completing your first Intermediate Traveler Lodging Blueprint!]

Raine chuckled darkly, twirling the quill in his fingers. With 3 Proficiency, he was already well on his way to stepping out of the novice rank. Leveling a crafting profession was different from regular leveling in several regards. Compared to Superiority, it took surprisingly few Proficiency to achieve each new rank. However, there were only six ranks, and the further one delved into crafting, the more each point of Proficiency became a cause for celebration.

The only ways to gain Proficiency were through the first-time creation of a new recipe, a critical crafting success, and the creation of entirely original designs or items. The first required copious sums of gold, as recipes were not cheap, and buying a new recipe for each first-time craft necessitated deep pockets. Critical successes relied on sheer luck and were, unfortunately, the most surefire way to grind out Proficiency. Creating entirely original products was the hardest by far. 

ZionLine was a harsh critic when it came to what passed as a viable original. If even one required resource was miscalculated, one line not perfectly drawn, or one measurement off, his blueprint would have failed. It took extreme dedication to make originals, requiring a thorough knowledge of every step of a craft, not to mention immense trial and error, wasting materials with each failure.

The benefit of such difficulties was, as usual, well rewarded. The Original Blueprint Raine just made could be sold on the market, allowing every engineer who learned it to then earn their own point of first-craft Proficiency. This sharing of success created both solidarity in crafting communities, and intense competition.

Raine wasn’t about to sell any of the hundreds of blueprints he had crammed inside his skull. They would become the cornerstone of his crafting empire. No engineer with grand designs of becoming a living legend would be able to resist joining Astra Infernum if their rapid rise in Proficiency was guaranteed.

Pleased beyond measure, Raine withdrew the next sheet, already lost in the flow of drawing crisp lines. The softly crackling fire illuminated the small room, its heat separating the ore into slag and the hideous copper matte Raine couldn't wait to get his hands on.