MM - Chapter 43 - A REVISIT LONG OVERDUE

Raine’s battle with the Elite Ancient Armsman dragged on for hours. He first drew it away from its building so they wouldn't be disturbed. After the first few exchanges, Raine was able to reduce the use of Discipline to keep up with the much larger foe. While faster and stronger, it had much more mass to move, allowing him to barely keep up.

They fought until his Discipline ran low and he was forced to focus solely on avoiding its varied attacks. Once recharged, the frenetic combat began anew. Over and over this repeated without him ever truly gaining the upper hand. Usually, low level enemies followed certain patterns and timings. But the skeleton fought like a seasoned warrior, mixing up strategies, feinting, and heavily utilizing basic martial techniques.

Luckily, it didn’t actually learn from their clashes, continuing to repeat the same hundred or so moves in random sequences. If not, he would have quickly been overwhelmed. As far as sparring partners went, he couldn’t have found a better one no matter how much he begged or paid. 

Its whirlwind skill—Guillotine Slash—created the most dangerous moments, keeping him on edge the entire time since he never knew when it was coming. The constant danger, like a blade held against his neck, was exactly what he needed to push his focus to the limits.

Raine repeatedly tested his new techniques against the skeleton, gradually coming closer to mastery without damaging his body as he would with internal force. Sadly, after hours of failure, he gave up on copying the creature’s shuffling step. Without muscles to observe, the movements were simply too fast for him to grasp. He had plenty of video footage though, and was confident he could figure it out after a closer, slowed down observation.

Once he could perform SolemnRiver’s triple spin without fail, he was ready to end the fight. He held his axe in a wide two-handed grip like a staff and pressed in close to the armsman. Its longer reach worked against it, allowing him to easily evade while repeatedly chipping away at its HP with half-strength attacks.

Its final Guillotine Slash spelled doom for the boss. It shuffled backward, arms raised high and axe glowing. Raine tripped it, the movement significantly more refined after hours of practice. He started to spin, the movement combined with another foot technique to take him beyond its head and far from the dual vortexes that sucked at his skin.

Three times his axe bit deep into its prone form. The first activated Rupture at point blank range, and the second carried a Discipline-powered Slash. The final hit was the end, crumpling its skull and causing the rest of its body to fall apart. [-1,414, -260, -199]

[Obtained 39,000 SP bonus 550% Superiority for defeating an elite boss 5 levels above you]

[Obtained 81.25% AT bonus 550% Attunement for defeating an elite boss 5 levels above you]

Raine collapsed in the sand next to his partner. His fingers twitched against the coarse and sturdy shaft of his axe. The weapon felt comfortable now, alive in his hands in a way that only came with repeated use.

How long did that take? At least the time wasn’t wasted; I can probably deal with two or three of them at once now so I should still manage to finish in time.

Raine checked his quest log, blinking in confusion.

[You have entered an unstable realm. Time until spatial collapse: 1 day 12 hours 34 minutes]

That’s not possible. How has it only been an hour and a half since I got here? Did I imagine it? No. My Discipline bottomed out too many times, and it's simply not feasible to become proficient in a complex footwork technique so quickly. I would bet everything I own that fight lasted half a day or longer.

Raine watched the timer tick down, seeing nothing abnormal about the passage of time.

It must have something to do with the destabilized space. Time is flowing normally right now… don’t tell me.

Still mentally exhausted, but with a burst of desire to know if he was right, Raine leaped to his feet. He rushed back to the nearest building and tossed a few pebbles until another armsman came rushing out. It wielded a two handed mace and jumped into the air before Lunging like the first skeleton he’d fought.

Raine held his Parry, barely throwing himself out of the way with Discipline. The large weapon crashed into the ground, releasing a spray of sand five meters tall. Raine’s roulette chose the spear, his recent use of the weapon making him instantly feel at home as its weight settled into his palms. 

The desert once more came alive with vivid hues as his brain kicked into overdrive. He flexed his torso and shifted his shoulders like he’d seen in one of the VRVods. A Pierce shot forward then his spear jerked back like a snake, allowing him to retreat out of the skeleton’s follow-up swing.

It’s mace glowed, the brightness quickly ramping to uncomfortable levels. Raine was forced to close his eyes lest he be blinded. He heard the mace whistling through the air and activated Parry. The clang of their weapons was so loud it hurt his ears. The skeleton’s higher Potency worked against it and he heard it crash into the sand a short distance away.

When the brightness flooding his eyelids lessened, he cracked them open and chased it down. It was rising to its feet and he met it with a leap. His spearpoint connected with solid air in a Rupture that crushed its defenses and sent it stumbling back half a step. His spear jabbed forward, punching through armor to land small knicks on its bones that healed every few seconds.

Raine didn’t let up his assault, his weapon slithering through its formidable defenses time and again. It used a martial technique that turned a simple sidestep into a movement so fast its body stretched, almost appearing in two places at once. If not for that, the fight would have been over in seconds, instead, it took almost five minutes.

Raine counted every second, but didn’t dare open his interface to confirm with how fast the boss was. A second, and then third Rupture overcame its regeneration and it shattered to pieces. He quickly opened his interface, and sure enough, only five seconds had passed since the fight began.

Five seconds for five minutes?! That’s a sixty times dilation! On top of the triple from the regular game, that means I’m experiencing one hundred and eighty times normal dilation… No way. The human brain can’t handle that. I’d be dead in seconds. Something else is happening.

Checking his system time was impossible, as it stopped the minute one entered a mystic realm. He wouldn’t be able to call anyone either, as communications were always disabled. That only left logging out, and honestly he wasn’t concerned enough about the why or how to bother. All that mattered was that this mystic realm had gone from a perfect chance to practice his new techniques, to a bonafide holy realm that could catapult him to new heights of martial prowess.

Sorry brother. If time really is flowing normally outside, then I’ll likely be in here for quite a while. You’ve got a slim chance to make it out alive. Can’t wait to see if they manage it. Taking chances and reaping the rewards, or suffering the consequences of failure, are at the core of every ZL experience. No matter what happens, they’ll grow significantly from being trapped in the middle of that war.

I can go another hour before I need a break. Wait! Isn’t this the perfect place?

Eyes radiating excitement, Raine withdrew an item from his inventory and crushed it in his palm. A cool blue light surrounded him, sinking into his skin.

[Momentous Acceleration Token activated. All AT gains doubled for 24 hours]

With a devilish grin, he tracked down the next armsman and took his sweet timing pulling it apart bone by bone.

***

Buried beneath thousands of lines of hashgraph encrypted data, two streams of communication shot back and forth across vast distances. A male voice, both domineering, and youthful, queried its partner, “Status on subject 2A41 Zeta?”

A feminine voice, oozing sexuality, responded in a purr, “All brainwave bandwidths are functioning at peak performance.”

The man ignored her quirky way of speaking, continuing in a business-like tone, “Time under duress?”

“Sixteen hours, twenty-seven minutes,” she responded so quickly it was obvious she anticipated the question.

“Impressive. Has there been a reaction?”

A few seconds ticked past as she examined her data. He heard her lips press together and separate, the light pops loud through her sensitive microphone, “None that our current hardware can detect. What’s the timeline on the new interface device?”

“Several weeks for the earliest prototypes. Mass production is still months out.”

She sighed loudly, “Weeks? That’s highly disappointing. From his personality assessment, the subject is unlikely to be compliant. And the others’ performances are… inadequate.”

The man’s voice turned soft in an attempt to soothe her, “Don’t worry, my love. An opportunity will soon present itself. He will be lulled by the pretty lie, as people are wont to do. You will have your data the moment the new device is deemed safe.”

“I see. I’ll leave the machinations and skullduggery to your judgment. You know I abhor such considerations.”

He nodded, not that she was looking at the monitor to see, “Indeed. We must utilize our personal strengths to their fullest if we are to have any chance of success.”

Her voice grew bored of the conversation, no doubt distracted by her data, “As you say, my love. I trust you.”

Not wanting to push her patience, he moved to end the communication, “Proceed as planned. Alert us immediately if there is a reaction so we can make adjustments to the new device.”

She tutted her tongue, “I know. Now shoo. I’ve more work to do than I can possibly manage.” With that, she ended the call.

***

Raine sat atop a squat stone building, the sun blazing down on him as he took a moment to meditate on his gains. He killed another forty skeletons while working his way deeper into the ruined city. He was through the outskirts and into streets packed with buildings, each containing two or three of the boss monsters. Several hours ago, he grew comfortable enough to sacrifice HP, changing weapons mid-fight to focus on specific techniques. The wand, due to its overwhelming power, was quickly abandoned whenever it came up on the roulette.

It was a little frustrating that they didn't drop any sellable loot or gold, and even after thoroughly poking through every building, he didn’t find a single treasure chest. As if their eyeless, smiling bones were laughing at him, the skeletons occasionally left their skulls behind. Always, the empty sockets radiated a crimson glow. Raine figured that if it got dark when night eventually came, he could use them for a nifty source of light. They didn't have any description when he picked them up, but they stacked in his inventory so he brought them along. 

He was level twelve now, along with both growth weapons. He couldn't level them up beyond himself, or he wouldn't be able to equip them. He was almost positive that would invalidate their place in the roulette, likely leading to an ‘excruciating’ death. Otherwise, he would have stayed at ten for the bonus experience. Regardless, his leveling speed could be considered blazing fast.

Reasoning that he was keeping up with the armsmen by moving more efficiently, and his damage was sufficient to kill them quickly when needed, he pumped all ten of his free attribute points into Acuity. The large bump massively boosted his critical rate—which was calculated on a sliding scale based on level. Additionally, with more accurate sight, and quicker reaction processing speed, he was able to gain insights into their techniques and began to copy them.

NAME: Alaric

CURRENCY: 803-G 98-S 72-C

CLASS: none

TITLE: Rock Crusher

ASPECT: Greater Aspect of the Werewolf

LEVEL: 10 > 12

SUPERIORITY: 19,100 / 250,000

ATTUNEMENT: 424.15% > 5,088.75%

Usually hard to get over one and a half thousand AT before hitting level fifteen. Between the growth weapons slowing me down, and the token, I’ll be able to buy several basic skills from whichever two classes I pick.

HEALTH POINTS: 420

ATTACK POWER: 85 > 87 (Raw Damage Dealt)

DEFENSE: 96 > 103 (Deducted From Damage Received)

RESISTANCE: 64 > 68 (Deducted From Elemental/Celestial/Demonic Damage Received)

CRITICAL RATE: 19% > 26%

ELEMENTAL POWER: 64 > 68 (Raw Elemental Damage Dealt)

DISCIPLINE: 76 (Energy Source For Physical Abilities)

ATTACK SPEED: 2.0 > 2.3 (Attacks Per Second)

MOVE SPEED: 5 > 5.3 (Movement In Meters Per Second)

Now that his base attributes were getting closer to the fifty benchmark, he adjusted their display so the values, (with bonuses from armor) were in parentheses.

ATTRIBUTES:

POTENCY: 31 (42) (Measures Physical Power, Heft, And Force)

FINESSE: 31 (40) (Measures Speed, Hand Eye Coordination, And Balance)

ACUITY: 31 > 43 (45) (Measures Speed Of Thought, Width Of Vision, and Dynamic Vision)

PHYSIQUE: 31 (42) (Measures Physical Durability And Resisting Negative Status Effects)

CONNECTION: 34 (34) (Measures The Brain’s Connectivity With ZionLine)

Acuity first so I can keep up with these bosses, then shift to Connection to increase my maximum Discipline, which will boost my damage by an equal amount. I won’t have as much force behind my attacks, but Connection will open the door for several techniques that I can't quite do yet.

Raine’s gaze landed on the central temple two blocks away. Three armsman stood guard on its wide front steps, too close together to pull individually. He was almost ready to challenge them, but there was something he needed to figure out first.

In the past, Raine was taught a principle that he lived by almost religiously. As a CronGate employee, he never took fights against more powerful enemies without sufficient numbers or tactics to bring them down. This kept him alive, and the guild assets he was equipped with out of enemy hands. It was smart, but also limited his exposure to the danger he now realized he craved. 

On two occasions during his many battles against the stronger and faster skeletons, he came a hair's breadth from death. The first time, he thought it was simply bad luck. On the second, it became obvious there was something wrong. After that, he paid closer attention and was shocked to notice a disturbing theme in his foundation. 

Several times each fight, when resetting his stance after certain movements, he was momentarily left open to being countered. The fact the armsmen only took advantage of the weakness twice in all his fights was a testament to how hard the flaws were to spot. And due to always fighting in a group, and their carefully taught coordination that covered each other's weaknesses, he never had a chance to notice it before.

The only thing he could figure was that he had purposefully been trained with holes in his defenses that would later be filled with supplementary teachings, if he proved loyal enough. If not, he could easily be dispatched by exploiting these holes

Raine blew his lips upon seeing only an hour had passed. He had yet to take a break, and still didn’t need to pee. The Temporal Disorientation was the worst he’d ever experienced, and he hadn’t even logged out yet. The sensation was highly unsettling and triggered a deep sense of paranoia. It felt like someone was watching him make the same mistake repeatedly and not bothering to tell him about it, so he just kept right on making it over and over.

Shaking his head, he stood and dusted himself off. He knew two of the weaknesses in his foundation, and how to fix them, but he wasn’t going to make any actual progress by sitting on his butt. He needed to rebuild his muscle memory from the ground up which would take thousands of repetitions. The more stress he was under at the time, the better. Luckily, he was in the perfect place to do just that.