Chapter 97 - Mine, Give, Take

Despite the tingling foresight, greed flashed in Jiran’s eyes as he leaped into the air.

Sorry Mayalyn, this is too perfect an opportunity to pass up.

Hydrogen and oxygen blasted from his feet while his aura condensed around the flames to propel him toward the closest shamblers. He arrived in a handful of seconds, his channel thrumming with condensed elemental power. Twenty percent of his mana was devoured to feed the raging True Origin of Fire boiling through his body.

Deadly particles of super-heated flame leaped from his palm. They traveled faster than his senses could track as they washed over the tightly packed shamblers in a steady stream. Wherever the beam of energy touched, only melted slag remained as fire consumed all. Still air turned to a howling gale as gases rushed to fill the void. Of the two dozen shamblers that spawned mere moments ago, only seven remained after his first deadly attack. Half-liquified, they were trapped between regeneration and annihilation. Those unlucky survivors could only thrash and attempt to scream as they slowly melted into nothing.

Jiran was long gone before they died, headed toward the next group in the distance. Dual Minds worked overtime, allowing him a few random thoughts while his channels charged for the next slaughter.

Twenty-five percent for thirty kills in five seconds. Yeah, I’ll take that trade. I don’t know if I’ll make it before one of them evolves, but I should have at least a few minutes. If I hurry, I might just finish charging Sanctuary after all. I wonder who was considerate enough to design this second stage, I’ll have to thank them before I send them to hell.

His thoughts fully turned toward his task. He became consumed with the desire for more speed. The second group burned the same as the first, then the third group followed. The orbs of authority chased him unerringly and he devoured them as quickly as they came. Ignited gases threatened to consume him as he pushed the limits of his mana. His mad dash across the second phase's hills continued, he killed as quickly as he could, counting down the seconds before one of the beasts became too powerful for him to stop.

A fleeting thought of counting how much authority he had absorbed began to form in his mind but was ignored. He knew that even a single second of hesitation could lead to a distant group spawning what would be his certain death. He didn’t bother to make sure each and every beast was dead before moving to the next. It would take a single victor, having killed two dozen or more, to force an ascension. He dedicated every ounce of his will toward thinning their numbers and nothing more.

For fifteen minutes, a blue comet circled around the mountain. It flew low over grassy hills, leaving behind a ring of lava and puffs of pink mist. As he progressed, the number of shamblers in each group grew fewer and fewer. Hulking monstrosities began to emerge, far faster and more powerful than the smaller, base versions. They quickly consumed more of their kin, growing ever more powerful. With the most recent group dead, he had enough authority to charge Sanctuary and leave himself with nearly full mana. It was time to go. But indecision tore at him as he looked into the distance.

He saw where he had mutilated that very first group, letting him know he had come full circle already. Only two more groups were between him and where he began. Of those two, there were a mere five beasts remaining. The sight of them turned his blood to ice as his skin burned with nervous sweat.

[Mature Shambler: (Tier 5) (11.4k) -ERROR- Corrupted entity detected. Extreme caution advised.

Jiran eyed the shimmering wall of light skeptically.

If one of these things actually ascends… will this thin little wall be able to stop it? Is trying to fight those five worth the risk or should I just move on and pray this thing can hold them back? Because if it can’t and one mega-shambler ascends and breaks through, I’m so fucked.

For three eternally long seconds, Jiran watched the remaining shamblers tear into each other with wild abandon. Their movements were far beyond what he could track. He tried to watch one attack, its arm didn’t even blur, it simply vanished before a thunderous shockwave tore through the ground and air with equal ease. One of the monsters was sent flying, only for it to reappear right back in the melee a moment later.

Nope, no way. I’m out. Those are way stronger than the alphas were. That puts them well above a tier six already. Even if I managed to hit one of those, there’s no way I could kill it. This wall better hold!

For the first time since he began, he glanced at the authority counter in his status and his jaw dropped at the number. His mana wasn’t full, and with only seconds to make a decision, he dropped all but twenty-seven of them into his Sanctuary. Two went into his mana, bringing it up to eighty percent. He blasted toward the shimmering wall and smashed into it, not bothering to waste time slowing down.

The moment his hand touched, frantic roars echoed through the hills. The ground—strong enough to hold his considerable weight—trembled and heaved as heavy footfalls pummeled their way closer. The beasts were so fast, it sounded more like rushing rapids than individual, thumping steps. Jiran tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for the expected notifications to appear.

C’mon-c’mon-c’mon! It’s time to go!

Challenger detected

Finally, hurry-hurry-hurry!

Authority needed to progress 25/25

Phase two complete prepare to progress

Jiran banged his other hand on the wall as the messages that once seemed instant, now felt like a year passed between each one. His heart was hammering, yet the rapid pulse echoing in his ears was nothing compared to the pounding of clawed feet coming his way. He could feel them breathing down his neck, their grasping hands inches away from turning his body to mush. He dared not look over his shoulder. There was no way he would be able to dodge anyway, the door was his only escape. A new message began to appear, its text appearing far too slowly and sending his panicked pulse racing even faster.

Warning: All unused authority will be discarded

No kidding! Open the damn door!

The crack in the wall formed and began to grow. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement around the curvature of the wall. It was the ground being torn apart as an invisible missile of pure destruction flew toward him. Blazing red eyes stretched like lasers in fog as the creature crossed an entire kilometer in less than a second.

The hole in the wall opened a few more centimeters and Jiran’s arm was already through, he struggled against the ever-widening gap, putting all his attributes to work as he forced his body forward one agonizing centimeter at a time. For the first time since his tiering, he cursed his larger, stronger body. Finally, he was through and immediately, arms of aura pushed against the wall, finally finding something they could brace against to propel him forward.

A thunderous explosion sounded behind him and a wave of force blasted into his back, sending him tumbling forward. He rolled and came up in a crouch facing the wall. The shambler was there, its bulk so large that only two of its fingers managed to squeeze through behind him. When the door shut a moment later, they were chopped off at the knuckle and shook the ground as they thudded into the prickly grass.

The beast pummeled the wall with both hands, splatters of blood obscuring Jiran’s view of its hideous form. Ripples ran the visible length of the shimmering barrier with each strike. After several seconds of the beast failing to break through, Jiran took his first breath in what felt like an eternity. His shoulders sagged and he fell to his knees. The two fingers, each larger than his body, twitched on the ground nearby, spurting rank blood that washed across the inside of the curtain of light.

I thought I would have a few minutes after a victor emerged before it ascended. How could I possibly have known they would end up stronger than a tier six long before ascending? Note to self: These arena’s are fucking deadly regardless of how powerful I am before entering.

Jiran shivered, dreading the thought of ever running into another beast like the shamblers.

If there were beasts like these running around outside of the arena, would there even be an empire? Doubtful, these things are way too powerful. Is that why it’s considered a corrupted entity? Because it’s far stronger than it should be at its tier? If I could identify myself, would I show up as corrupt as well?

He turned away from the infuriated monster, the sight of its blood spreading across the wall distracted him too much to think clearly. He carefully observed the mountain looming before him. The ground had transitioned to stone and dirt. The air, as usual for this arena, was devoid of density. Looking in every direction save behind him, Jiran saw no obvious means of starting the next challenge. While he searched, he reviewed a blinking notification in the corner of his interface.

[Sanctuary expansion underway. Time until completion: 23:58:17]

Have to wait a day, huh? That's not so bad. I was hoping to be able to rely on it for whatever’s next though. Hmm, no obvious wall of light to spawn the next challenge. Maybe the beasts are already spawning on the other side of the mountain. I better check pronto before they get out of control. Lost a lot of aura flying in the last area. Oh well, what’s the point of having it if I’m not going to use it?

Jiran once more took to the air. He flew twice around the mountain but found no beasts, no platforms, and no pedestals. He checked the peak and found it to be perfectly ordinary for a small mountain. As he spun in a circle atop it, a suspiciously large shadow halfway to the base of the mountain caught his attention. With the pervasive light coming from everywhere and nowhere, the shadow stood out like a sore thumb. Upon approaching, a cave was revealed. He landed at its mouth, a glowing palm of Light Manipulation pushed back the darkness, unveiling a perfectly straight tunnel.

This feels like the finale. No screwing around. Whatever is waiting for me, I’m not going to hold back.

Jiran moved ahead steadily while trying to stay alert. At first, he was fine, but soon he realized the tunnel went on much further than the space within the mountain should have allowed. Shadows seemed to dance around him, or perhaps it was his mind playing tricks on him as he had been fighting constantly for nearly twenty-four hours. His body ached and he was weary to his bones—drained from an overabundance of adrenaline pushing him beyond his limits.

Thoughts of reaching Niya in time pushed his feet forward and when minutes seemed to turn to hours, Jiran refused to relent. His cautious steps faltered as the weight of exhaustion mounted, so he jogged. When weariness tripped his feet, he sprinted. His ragged journey through the tunnel turned into a marathon where he raced only himself, and the inexorable passage of time.

What felt like an eternity of thudding steps later, the tunnel walls transitioned from polished rock to the machine-precisioned smoothness of metal. Ancient grandeur radiated from the ceiling, pressing down on him with the weight of the entire mountain. Over time, the pressure increased until it felt like the eyes of the gods themselves were bearing down on his shoulders. They threw their power at him, attempting to crush him into insignificance. Jiran grit his teeth, panting and delirious, he pressed on, one foot before the other. The weight became so immense that he forgot who he was or even how to breathe.

On and on he went, in a haze of mind-numbing movement. Ever forward, never relenting. A vision played in his mind as he stared at someone’s feet, feet which for some reason he couldn’t fathom, refused to stop moving. He saw a boy dragging himself across the floor of his parent’s hut. Each movement tore the boy’s shattered body. He was bloody, broken, on the verge of death and yet full of determination to survive no matter what the world threw at him. Jiran couldn’t remember who that boy was, but he wanted to be just like him. So he stepped, and stepped, and stepped.

His foot landed on a dark, paneled floor. It was different from the floor which had consumed his entire being for who knows how long. Suddenly, the weight on his shoulders and the cloud of fog obscuring his thoughts lifted as if it had never been. He inhaled a ragged breath, looking up to find himself before a circular arena.

Where… am I? What happened?

Before his thoughts could grasp all the changes around him, a section in the center of the vast stadium slid open and a beast rose from beneath. It was similar to the shamblers in shape and size. The primary difference was its pure white fur that danced in the air despite there being no wind. Instead of charging, the beast blinked intelligent eyes in his direction. Its mouth opened slightly and its body shook lightly as it released a huffing chuckle.

[Restless Devourer: (Tier 5 - Mutated - Evolved - Sapient) (7320/7320) ???]

Identify: + 2

Mutated, evolved, and sapient?! No time to consider the implications of all that, I need to attack before it does!

Two hundred meters separated them when the devourer opened its mouth to scream. When no sound came out, Jiran’s brows furrowed in confusion. A moment later, he was hit with a blinding headache that stole the thoughts from his mind and immediately destabilized the mana he had been preparing. Muscle memory covered his body in a Coating, which drastically lessened the pain, though could not negate it completely.

Restoration!

The damage to his brain healed only to immediately be damaged anew as the strange beast continued to silently scream. When it noticed Jiran’s eyes clearing, it changed tactics. This time, its roar was an audible scream that caused the air to quake and Jiran’s coating to buckle. A pressure built in his skull and alien impressions of sights, sounds, smells, and images invaded his consciousness. There were no words, yet the combination left no doubt as to what was being communicated. This was no benign conversation between foes, but a demand for surrender.

“Mine mine mine mine mine mine mine.”

Jiran’s mind turned blank as the mental assault reverberated inside his skull. Seeing his empty, listless stare, hunched shoulders, and drooping arms, the devourer grinned evilly and took a step forward.

“Give give give give give give give give.”

Time became meaningless as the beast took another step, then another. Jiran screamed, his hands clutching his skull. His fingernails drew lines of blood down his skin as he tore at his face.

“Take take take take take take take take.”

The beast continued to close the distance between them as its invasion into his mind proceeded unabated. Not once did it stop screaming. Nostrils along its back constantly sucked in oxygen which was then pumped out its throat in a neverending cry. When it was only a hundred meters away, Jiran dropped his act and stared into the beast's eyes with cold disdain.

“Mine mine mine mine mine mine mine.”

Good luck dodging from this distance, asshole.

The creature cocked its head to the side, then a second later, its eyes widened in fear as it realized its mental attack wasn’t nearly as effective as it thought. One of Jiran’s dual minds had been hard at work since the mental attack began, the other taking the entire brunt of its offense. Suffused with Oneness of body, aura, and mana, there was no thought. There was nothing to attack, nothing to latch onto, just like when absorbing the challenger density, Oneness left no room for some half-assed domination of the mind. After its first escalation, Jiran hadn’t wanted to show the beast he could resist it in case it pulled out another even more powerful attack.

Time seemed to stand still as man and beast moved at an agonizingly slow pace. Jiran’s hands dropped from his head, his arms no longer needing to hide the energies swirling in his chest. Two concentric circles glowed within him, radiating incredible menace as Jiran’s palms pointed toward the devourer. Two completed channels—one swirling with True Origin of Fire—the other fully infused with a dazzling light.

The new channel was different from the original in two ways. The circle was larger and ringed the original. It also did not waste any space on papules for each element. Every single papule was dedicated to a single element. Light Manipulation flooded through the channel and out his palm. The beam of highly condensed mana punched through the space between them and left a meter-wide hole in the devourer’s chest before it realized it was under attack, [-6824]. Fire bloomed from Jiran’s other hand. It tore into the gaping wound, incinerating the beast from the inside out, [-4722].

With little fanfare, the devourer was consumed by fire and died without ever having a chance to unleash another, possibly much more powerful mental attack. Jiran massaged his temples as he poured Restoration through his body and brain. Despite the pain abating, his mind was still reeling from the walk down the tunnel that led directly into a renewed mental assault.

That freaking sucked and could have gone so much worse. It was only in my head for a few seconds. Any longer and I might have actually been in trouble. Forming that second channel was a life saver and focusing on only one element boosted the damage by nearly fifty percent! I wonder how that fight would have gone if I only had the original channel… Yeah, I don’t want to think about it.

Challenger quest complete

Calculating score…

A minute later, a glowing golden scoreboard appeared in the air above the arena. Jiran didn’t know whether to be proud or disheartened by his results.

TIER THREE CHALLENGER RATINGS:

Jiran of Feylon: 99/100

Kaine of Madra: 97/100

Soarra of Madra: 81/100

Shavea of Retala: 72/100

Lorapa of Meroot: 44/100

Felaax of Sharmala: 37/100

Calculating rewards…

With nothing better to do while he waited, and overwhelmed with morbid curiosity, Jiran scrolled through the long list. There were thousands of names, far more than the previous tier’s arena. He assumed it was because most people stalled out at tier three—when they had to actually kill things in order to progress—which left a vast majority of the population at that tier.

He was impressed to find that over forty people had actually cleared the challenge, far more than the three from the previous tier. After that last survivor, who had a measly score of 1, every name beyond was 0/100. Eventually, his sharp eyes—boosted by significant mental attributes—noticed a name that made his heart skip a beat.

Koyada Aloyhee: 0/100

No, no way. I have to confirm with her first. She never said his first name so it could just be a coincidence. If that really is Mayalyn’s Great-grandfather, does that mean the vanished people come here? Madra brings them to an arena… to die?

Jiran wanted to puke at the thought. He was so sickened that he didn't notice the flashing notifications in his status that came just before the metal floor reached up to grab his legs. He was pulled down into darkness, cocooned and safe as his ascension was forced upon him by a murderous planet. Jiran settled into her dark embrace as his body was sundered and remade anew.

What other choice did he have?

Rewards calculated

Prepare for reward distribution and ascension