MM - Chapter 109 - BEWARE THE DEVIL’S DEAL

Talerra’s eyes narrowed. She looked up at Raine, backlit by the midnight moon masked in soft clouds. Behind him, she caught sight of BrickRoll tumbling through the air. He snapped out a hand and grabbed a lower portion of the stairs, narrowly avoiding a fall all the way to the ground. Her gaze tracked back to Raine, “What kind of deal?”

Seeing the suspicion painted on her features, Raine backpedaled, knowing a better time to stretch her over a barrel was coming, “Never mind. We’ll talk about it later. Five drifters, two hundred and fifty gold.”

Talerra twisted her lips in confusion, unable to fathom why he changed his mind. Knowing the drifters would be a priceless addition to her guild’s arsenal, she readily agreed and sent him the gold via her interface. Accepting his hand, she pulled herself to her feet.

Releasing her, Raine looked up at the few pairs of legs protruding from the very top of the tower. Deciding it was time to check the progress of the main group, he left Talerra behind to start his own trek to the top. It would have been simple to Lunge all the way up, but doing it that way wouldn't count as a successful clear. After ascending ten towers, he would reach the second stage of the achievement and gain another general skill point, so there was no reason to avoid going about it the fun way.

He took the stairs six at a time, rapidly passing the laggards. At the first sign of traps, he slowed and closed his eyes. With a flex of his brain, Raine imagined an invisible forcefield of energy pushing outward from his body. His Connection responded to the plea, exerting a subtle force against the tower wall and stairs.

In the past, Raine failed to create what was known as a true connection—both sending and receiving information through the Connection attribute. The difference between the two couldn’t be more vast. By receiving information through Connection's energy field, one could sense attacks and read the flow of resources utilized for skills. With enough study, they could use that knowledge to alter skills into something of their own making, also known as spells. Only those who progressed along the martial path enough to unlock a mental ability could achieve it. That wasn't to say a true connection was guaranteed so long as you possessed a mental ability, far from it. Less than ten percent managed it.

As with any rule, there were rare exceptions. Celeste was one of those gifted few who could intuitively achieve a true connection even before the genesis of her mental ability. They were known as savants: those so gifted they naturally aligned with the theta brainwaves ZionLine used for integration.

Not feeling the slightest feedback through his Connection’s forcefield, Raine sighed in disappointment. He’d hoped that his nascent Connection being so beyond the norm was a sign he could do it too. Not quite ready to give up, he swapped to a different fraction. The moment he decided to swap, his body was already anticipating the drastic change in power and speed. His muscles eagerly fell into the perfect state to take advantage of the alteration.

[Fraction of Elemental Might: (Elemental Power +20%) (CNC +20%) Upon command unleash Plutus’s pride, the Elemental Finger dealing 2500% elemental damage in a 15-meter tower AOE (Cost: 200 EP) (Cooldown: 5 minutes)]

Due to the change being from equipment, his baseline attribute came no closer to the second threshold. Still, the range he could affect the world increased to one hundred and sixty-five centimeters, matching his attribute total. Meanwhile, the outward force he could exude was around a quarter of that number (41.5 kg force or 91.5 lbs force.) It wasn’t enough to hover, but he was getting there.

Raine stopped breathing. He cast aside all distracting thoughts and sensations, focusing solely on pressing outward in all directions with every ounce of his willpower. The shadow of an impression, so faint it could easily have been his imagination, pressed against the outermost range of his field to the left and above.

Am I really feeling that? Or is it because I know those directions are nothing but open air?

Knowing danger was the teacher that worked best for his psyche, Raine took a step forward. He heard the trap triggering inside the wall before the stairs beneath and in front of him were sucked into the wall. A quick hop let him clear the seven-step gap. His eyes were still tightly clamped shut upon landing. There was no fluctuation in his stance. Applying pressure against every direction at once made balancing a breeze.

He turned slightly to the right and took another step, trusting that the faint impressions really were indicating open air. Continuing, he half expected every footfall to be met by gravity’s brutal embrace. When he heard the next click, Raine trusted his instincts and hopped backward four steps. A whoosh was released as the wall before him suddenly jutted out to the edge of the steps. Had he remained where he was or pressed forward, he would have been pushed off.

When he heard the wall receding back into its usual position, he dashed upward several paces. He knew the stairs would narrow soon but tried to ignore the thought. If he used his knowledge of the towers, it would defeat the purpose of his training. 

A few steps later, he made his first blunder. His foot came down, and where there should have been stone, it met open air. He teetered to the side, knees bending and arms flailing to catch his weight. More on instinct than thought, he stopped applying as much force toward the tower so the force he was applying into the air would be enough to tip his balance back to safety.

That's when it happened.

For the briefest moment, the once-faint impressions ballooned into full-blown, complete sensation, though only on the side he had weakened. They vanished before he could begin to understand them. Raine caught his balance with the help of the redirected force and arms cartwheeling madly. His back pressed against the tower wall, eyes still tightly clamped.

I did it! It was only for an instant, but I actually did it! Twenty-five years of unending struggle, grasping in the dark and never sensing a thing. Calm down Rainy, gotta repeat it before you get carried away.

Raine mentally backtracked, replaying everything that happened during that brief instant over and over, quickly coming to a few assumptions.

It worked when I lessened the force. Going full blast must dull the sensations. It only lasted a moment because I went from one hundred to zero, and I need to be somewhere in the middle for the true connection to form. If I mess with the variance, I should be able to replicate it.

With a plan formed, Raine flicked the outward pressure of his Connection off and on again in rapid succession. After only a few attempts, he concluded that holding the pressure anywhere in the middle was beyond him.

I was taught to always apply maximum force, and the strength of players and monsters demanded it. Was it another attempt by Torune to stifle my progress? Doesn't matter. I did it once. Now, it's just a matter of persistence.

Like learning to whistle, Raine repeatedly bent and contorted his Connection. Meanwhile, he opened his eyes to check the time. It was nearly midnight. He raised his voice, “Ten minutes! Richtor, get your ass up here!”

Raine kept his eyes open but challenged himself in a new way by flexing his Connection and bloodlust simultaneously. His gray matter staged a rebellion that he squashed with an imperious will. Gritting his teeth, he took the narrowed stairs three at a time, rapidly passing the others. Each time he approached one from behind, they threw themselves against the wall, shaking in terror from his raging killing intent.

The pressure was a kindness; the raid would be chocked full of killing intent and mental abilities much more debilitating than his. This was close to their last chance to get a taste in a relatively safe environment.

He passed each with a wink, happy to help them overcome their fears. They would be in the raid soon, and each of the bosses would have a much more powerful bloodlust than his. This was their last peaceful chance to get a feel for resisting it.

The stairs ended on the third loop around the tower, replaced by thick pegs a meter apart. Raine hopped them one by one, not slowing his advance until they began to occasionally spin inside their holes. He was forced to balance, waiting for the next to stop moving before continuing.

Each step became a test of timing, the margin of error growing narrower while the pegs became skinnier. They abruptly transitioned to a whole network of pegs that crisscrossed straight up the steepest and topmost section of the tower.

These pegs not only occasionally spun, they would do so in a random direction while occasionally being sucked into the wall for a few seconds at a time. Raine watched for thirty seconds, then made his move. He deftly pulled himself up from peg to peg with his hands while kicking off specific ones from below.

The entire way up so far had relied on solid footwork and balance. The abrupt need to change to handwork while fighting off the fear of falling was this tower's real challenge.

A few seconds later, Raine pulled hard on the last two pegs, hurtling up to catch the edge above. Another swift yoink, and he landed on his feet inside the tower's dome-shaped cupola. A thrilling melody played from the arched walls.

[Congratulations Explorer]

[The spirits of Mount Poeiamatoono commend your bravery]

[Map updated]

“A guest has arrived! Be welcome and feel at home, brother,” Fizgore patted the stone floor beside him.

Raine joined the man, dangling his legs off the edge and leaning forward to inspect the others. They were making slow and steady progress, using the drifters to ensure no additional near-fatalities.

Mel approached him from behind. Looking back, he briefly noted Rhino and Celeste practicing the modified Qigong he'd taught them. He locked eyes with Mel, and she shot him an embarrassed smile.

“Uhm. Sorry about before. I know you said I should be serious when we're outside.”

“It depends. When we're on a mission and dying would affect the whole team, you definitely shouldn't mess around. Outside of that, do whatever you want.”

“So you're not mad?” She asked, her countenance somehow brightening and dimming at the same time.

“The only reason I'm not is because you were diligently training. Don't expect me to reward you if it happens again.”

Mel turned crimson, nodded fiercely, then spun away to join Celeste. Fizgore lifted his brows questioningly, but Raine didn't feel like elucidating. They sat in companionable silence, watching those still climbing. Talerra made it up first, followed shortly by FierceFire and Deloralicious.

Richtor and Kevinsbakon made it up right at the stroke of midnight. They collapsed onto their backs, laughing at the ceiling and stars beyond. The rest were on the last series of pegs, taking turns and swapping strategies. 

Raine pulled out the Tome of Seventy-seven Praises to Bhima. With the dawn of a new day, he could read the next passage: Life changes from day to day, week to week, month to month. The little vicissitudes and victories along the way give perspective, allowing one the wisdom to navigate life's constant ups and downs—better known as squats.

[Potency: +1]

I love this book.

Raine closed the tome and stored it in his inventory. The rest of Talerra's team had arrived. They were clustered together, excitedly yapping about which skills to buy. Raine’s people didn't have that issue; he’d helped them design a build that suited them the night before.

Standing, Raine gave Fizgore a two-finger salute and stepped off the edge. He plummeted for several meters, zipping past TwistedReligion and Milkdud—the last two stragglers. An air Lunge brought him back to their elevation, where he gracefully landed on an open peg.

“What's the holdup?”

“H-holdup? It's nothing like that. J-just trying to get the timing right,” Milkdud lied through his teeth. He was trying so hard not to look down that the veins in his eyeballs were practically bulging out.

TwistedReligion wasn't much better off. Raine raised a brow at them, starting with the carrot, “You two aren't cowards. You stood by my side at Dawson Creek Town, facing an army of wolves a thousand strong. We escaped the clutches of DyingNight by the skin of our teeth, wading through an ocean of blood. After all we've been through, how can you hesitate now at a few sticks in a wall?”

The two laughed against their will. They were pitiful sounds devoid of genuine mirth, but they weren't the chattering of teeth. Raine nodded to each in turn, “You can do this too. Don't think, don't plan. Go. Trust your instincts. If you fail, get on your drifter and try again.” Raine's tone shifted to one so menacing he may as well be holding a blade to their throats, “Two more chances, then we do things the hard way.”

Their eyes went wide, and they craned their necks, looking up at the peeking faces of their companions; they were so close, yet so far. With a sudden warcry, Milkdud jumped as high as he could, skipping the first set of pegs. He scrambled madly, falling down three times to pegs that spun or sunk into the wall while he was holding them. One exited at the worst moment, punching him in the gut. He fell, barely grasping the offender with two fingers.

Raine was about to write the attempt off as a failure when Milkdud roared, furious. In that moment of desperation, he somehow found the mental fortitude to flood his arms with Discipline. With a mighty pull, his body flew high, skipping a row. His momentum didn't stop again until he cleared the top. Joyous cries were muffled as he rolled out of sight.

Raine and TwistedReligion locked gazes. The skinny younger man trembled like a leaf, “D-do it.”

“What now?” Raine asked.

“T-the hard way. Do it already! I can't—” His shouted demands were silenced when bloodlust washed over his body.

Raine's arm snapped to the side, and a massive, two-handed axe glistened in the moonlight. He swung it slowly, aiming right for Twisted's neck. A scream filled the air, followed by the mad scrambling of a man climbing for dear life. The crunching of sundered stones followed him up, fueling his need. He didn't stop until he was inside the cupola. 

Raine Lunged in after him, stopping on the edge and noting the trail of blood from the scrapes and cuts on Twisted’s hands. The man was breathing heavily with bloodshot eyes, his back pressed against the furthest arched column from Raine. “Great job, everyone. The martial path is a long series of little steps. Several of you took more than one today. Five-minute rest, then we’ll move on to the next stop.”

Talerra looked around, unsure where they were going next or even how climbing the tower was relevant to their mysterious task. “Next stop? Is it nearby?”

Raine wasn’t about to give away all the details for free, “Nope. It’s about three times further than we’ve already come.”

“What?! But that’ll take—” Realization struck that they would be flying there, and her jaw jutted forward angrily, “If I didn’t buy those drifters from you, how were you expecting us to follow?”

There was no need to respond that, obviously, he would have given them for free. Raine sent her a broad smile, confirming her suspicions that she’d been played again. Seeing it, FierceFire spat, “Greedy, shameless pig!” Raine frowned and tilted his head to the side in thought. Then shrugged, nodding in agreement.