Chapter 50 - I Am Not Alone

Jiran’s trip through the red sea lasted mere moments after he lost sight of Lenton. Another hole in reality opened and sucked him through to deposit him into an empty room with white paneled walls. They were perfectly smooth and appeared to be made of some kind of metal. Jiran was barely able to focus on his surroundings as the challenger density still raged within his body, bringing with it a plethora of changes.

The euphoric increase in growth lasted far longer than ever before, leaving him a drooling mess, unable to stand or think. He existed outside of time, drowning in sensation, experiencing himself as sensation. His humanity, in that moment, was gone, and he simply was the unremitting ecstacy of red density. When the bliss finally ended, he was left with a vast emptiness that morphed to a ravening hunger which sought to devour his will.

Jiran’s stalwart defenses of love, joy, and happiness—which had always protected him before—fell away before the onslaught of insatiable desire for more. More death, more density. He tried to move, to give voice to his desires, only to accidentally throw himself across the room. He did not try moving again.

It was the density itself that brought him back from the brink. Pain, unimaginable agony. His skin was molten fire and his muscles turned to magma. His bones were replaced by rods of the purest ice that reacted violently with the heat infusing his flesh.

The torment was so visceral, he couldn’t even scream. Jiran had no concept of time as he slowly adapted. Eventually, he realized that his mana was drained completely and each breath was filling him with more density than normal. He felt it then, as his attention focused. The air in the room was packed with density and he greedily claimed it. With mana, came an end to the pain as the soothing energies spread through him, repairing whatever damage the influx of challenger density had done to him.

He took a quick look around the room without moving, finding it as vacant as his first impressions. Just white panels in every direction. He lay on his back, allowing his eyes to close as he reviewed his notifications.

Strength + 18.2

Agility + 18.2

Endurance + 18.2

Durability + 18.2

Wisdom + 18.2

Intelligence + 18.2

Challenger timer disabled

Ascension locked until challenge completed

NAME: Jiran of Feylon

RACE: Human

AGE: 8

WEIGHT: 120.83 kg > 221.70 kg

STATUS: Active Dual Mind / Awoken Manabody

TIMER: N/A

TIER: 2

GROWTH: 200%

MANA: 2.5 > 3

CONCENTRATION: 2.5 > 3

STRENGTH: 41.8 > 60

AGILITY: 41.8 > 60

ENDURANCE: 41.8 > 60

DURABILITY: 41.8 > 60

WISDOM: 41.8 > 60

INTELLIGENCE: 41.8 > 60

SKILLS:

Molding - Mana Expansion: 73

Shaping: 47 > 49

TECHNIQUES:

Forcing: 36

Coating - Adaptive Elemental Aegis: 50

Revelation: 1

True Origin of Fire: 17

True Origin of Lightning: 21 > 23

True Origin of Ice: 18

True Origin of Water: 3 > 5

True Origin of Wind: 3 > 7

Gas Manipulation: 12 > 13

Acid Manipulation: 1

Metal Manipulation: 6

Light Manipulation: 12

Restoration: 15

Mana Siphon: 16

OTHER:

UNIQUE - Foresight

Two hundred percent growth. No wonder it hurt so much. I’m pretty sure a tier two body isn’t designed to handle this much power. I feel like I could accidentally rip my own leg off with my bare hands. This strength… It's incredible. The additional half point of concentration is making it so much worse, too.

Jiran flexed his fingers, not daring to move more than that for fear of hurting himself. His skin and muscles were rock hard yet they flexed with such ease. Elastic yet trembling with unrestrainable energy. He ached to jump to his feet and test himself but knew the motion would certainly end with his face planted in the floor. Slow, steady breaths while laying on the cool metal floor eventually gave way to a semblance of normality.

‘Ascension locked until challenge completed.’ I can’t tier until I do some challenge? I guess that’s fine, depending on what it is. I’m just happy that god awful timer is gone. Was its purpose just to bring me here faster? Why? Maybe if I poke around in here I’ll figure it out. Wherever here is.

I hope Lenton is okay. Knowing him, he’s probably regrown those fingers already and is grumbling about how foolish I am while sipping some tea. Yeah, I’m sure he’s fine.

Jiran slowly pushed himself upright and gasped as the strength flowing through him was far greater than he first thought. He softly jabbed the air, staring with wide eyes at the feeling of pushback from the air pressure.

I’m near breaking the sound barrier with my punches and I’m not even trying?!

A jump with only a portion of his strength brought his head to the ceiling nine meters above him. He smashed his hand into his chest, feeling his durability easily absorb the blow which would have left him reeling and gasping for breath just that morning.

The increase in his wisdom showed through when he called upon his mana and it leaped to his call with an alacrity faster than thought. He created a string of mana inside his chest and wound it into a complex shape, marveling at how easy it was to control.

Enough playing around. There’s no food or water in here, I’m on a timer even if there isn’t one in my status.

Jiran’s eyes grew hard as he threw his body around the room faster and faster until his movements became a blur. He flipped off the walls and ceiling, pushing his strength and agility to their limits. His boosted intellect helped him keep track of time and he estimated two hours passed before he felt confident his new strength was under control. He then approached the single standout feature of the room. A flat paneled screen a few centimeters wide and tall, directly in the middle of one of the walls. It rested there at chest height, barely visible in the stark white space.

He pressed his finger to the panel and a tiny jolt of electricity passed up his arm. It tingled its way through his body before zipping back out of him and into the panel. A soft chime sounded from the panel before several cracks appeared in the smooth metal wall next to him. The cracks widened as a portion of the wall slid to the side to reveal a door.

Beyond was a dimly lit space that was far too vast for his mind to comprehend. Jiran stepped out of the white room and looked around. The wall behind him stretched up and to both sides further than he could perceive. The dim lighting seemed to go on forever but trying to pierce its vastness was as useful as staring directly into a black cave. Before him, slightly brighter light poured from the floor, lighting a path forward.

An oppressive, ancient grandeur, emanated from the surroundings and an eerie lack of sound took on a distinct buzz in his ears. He decided to look around before taking the obvious path, not wanting to be dragged along by the nose. For another hour he tread into the dimness following the wall but found nothing that looked even slightly different. Giving up, he retraced his steps and followed the lit pathway to a ramp leading into a deceptively large crater large enough to fit half of Feylon.

Those fight to the death coliseum vibes are coming back strong.

Challenger detected spawning combatants

Rewards for survival will vary based on performance

Uhm, What? Rewards? Do I get to choose? Because I think I’ll go with being left the hell alone so I can play with magic undisturbed for a change!

A small spot in the floor began to ripple like waves on a pond. The moving metal pulled itself up and away from the floor before forming into a beast covered in moving metal armor.

Liquid metal drool dripped from its wide mouth onto the floor where it was reabsorbed. Dozens of sharp teeth vibrated in its mouth, sounding like chainsaws in the distance. Red, mechanical eyes gleamed with malice as they scanned the room for the challenger's blood.

Jiran observed the beast move, judging it to be well within the fourth tier based on its speed and presence.

Doesn’t look too tough, especially after the boost I just got. Still I should be careful and take a minute to figure out its weakness and the way it fights. Something tells me this beast is just the start.

After calling upon his mana and packing it into his arms, Jiran jumped into the arena. Before his feet hit the floor, the beast charged. It screeched a sound of Metal dragging across stone that sent the hairs all across Jiran’s arms standing at attention.

This is the first time a tier four didn’t move in a blur. My perception increased so much! I bet I could easily block those bandits' attacks now. Still, it’s way stronger than me. I can’t let it get even one good hit in or it will probably rip me in half.

Jiran grinned, his eyes burning with the desire to test himself. When the beast was twenty meters away, it crouched awkwardly on its four misshapen limbs before leaping through the air with its front claws extended.

The smallest amount of mana Jiran could control activated True Origin of Water. Liquid gushed out of Jiran’s left hand in a torrent that crashed into the beast. The spray of pressure sent the monster careening off course. It crashed to the floor and slid with a horrendous screech that pierced the oppressive silence. The beast’s clawed paws scrabbled for purchase against the wet floor as it screamed in fury. Jiran didn't allow it the time to collect itself. His right hand released a pulse of frigid cold.

True Origin of Ice!

He felt the mana as it left his skin and instinctively knew he could do more with it than ever before. He forced it to his will, controlling the angle and speed as it swept across the wet floor, freezing the water solid. Trapped, the beast struggled against the ice adhering it to the floor. Jiran closed the distance between them with a leap of his own. He landed two meters away and blasted more ice from his hand. It was so cold that it froze the moisture in the air, completely encasing the beast.

Only two percent so far? Crazy. This would have easily drained twenty percent back in the plains. Increased Concentration is no joke.

Jiran waited several seconds as the monster’s struggles lessened. When the light in its eyes began to dim, he covered his fist with a Coating and punched as hard as he could. The ice shattered along with most of the beast’s brittle metal body. He stepped back with raised brows as the entire corpse was liquified and congealed back into the floor, along with his water and ice.

How is that possible? Are these beasts just pure mana given a form? Is this entire place made of mana?

A short distance away, four ripples in the floor materialized into four exact replicas of the same beast.

Sure, that first fight was easy but isn’t this difficulty ramp a bit steep? What’s next, sixteen of them? Then sixty-four? That’s ridiculous! How could I deal with that if it takes two percent of my mana to kill each one?

Determined to find a more efficient method of dealing with them, Jiran charged. Two of the beasts leaped at him while the other two circled to the sides in a coordinated attack pattern that set alarm bells ringing in Jiran’s skull.

Using less than a single percent of his mana, Jiran threw a compressed Coating full of hydrogen and oxygen to the side of one of the airborne beasts. The ensuing explosion blasted it into its companion and the two skittered across the floor with a screech. The blast wave swept across the arena knocking the other two over. Jiran grabbed his arm with Forcing and pulled himself, riding the wave of pressure, right toward one of the downed beasts. While airborne, he formed the most condensed Coating he could imagine over his hand. He gave it sharp edges and extended the blade from the tips of his fingers by twenty centimeters—the maximum distance from his body he could control.

The katar-shaped mana-blade slid into the beast's metallic flesh. To Jiran’s enhanced strength, there was almost no resistance as he jerked his hand down, cutting a huge laceration all the way down its torso. For that split second his mana was inside the beast, he received overwhelming sensations of poison, rust, metal, and rot.

His manabody saw the attack coming first. A spike of metal suddenly shot out of the beast's body right toward his heart. Jiran barely twisted his torso in time and the spike only speared through a portion of his chest where it bounced off one of his ribs before ripping free.

He leaped back, putting distance between them and releasing a spray of blood. He quickly sealed the wicked gash with Coating, trapping the blood. The pain was easily ignored as it was far less intense than the torment he had experienced just hours before.

The two closest beasts had regained their footing and were charging with mechanical screams. Jiran leaped into the air as high as he could and blasted blue flames from his feet pushing him higher. All four monsters crouched and jumped, closing in on him at a speed only a true tier four could match. With only a few precious seconds to prepare, Jiran formed his next test.

He reformed the blade of Coating on his hand into a solid disk of spinning mana then threw it with all his might—and a hefty dose of True Origin of Wind. The rotating disk whined like a massive insect as it shot through the air and pierced one of the beasts. The moment the blade stopped moving, the gases trapped within exploded with a dull pop that split the monster's torso wide open.

That’s the ticket! Less than one percent.

Jiran’s mana moved through his body with lightning alacrity, forming three more spinning bombs. They zipped from his hands in less than a second, each piercing another of the metal golems and ripping it open. By the time he landed, all four of them had been reabsorbed into the ground.

True to his expectations, sixteen more beasts began to form from the ground, causing Jiran to shake his head with a grimace. Sixteen more blades of compressed hydrogen and oxygen filled the air, and before the monsters even finished forming, they were blown apart.

“C’mon, isn’t that good enough?! Now leave me the hell alone!”

A single gurgling pool of liquid metal formed into a humanoid beast. Its skin wriggled constantly, changing from blades to spikes and back again. Its hands and fingers moved independently from each other in writhing patterns that filled Jiran with a sense of unease. Or maybe it was his foresight going haywire, he couldn’t tell.

Round two? Fine. Bring it on!

Jiran opened with a blast of lightning that the beast took directly to the chest. Blue arcs of incredible current cracked like whips as they wrapped around its body before being absorbed into the ground and vanishing.

He clicked his tongue and tried again. Three blades of whirling mana shot through the air so fast they were nearly imperceptible to his eyes. The beast finished forming and dodged the first by crouching so quickly it formed an afterimage. The other two spinning discs burrowed into the monster’s shoulders causing it to scream in a metalic, warbling cry somewhere between a velociraptor and a falling tree.

An explosion shook the air as two huge holes were blasted out of its body. Even disfigured from having its torso blown open, the red eyes of the metal monster shone with a dangerous glint that promised retribution. Suddenly, the beast’s body flashed to liquid and reformed, leaving it perfectly unmarred.

Uhh, That’s bad.

The monster was on him in less than a second, having crossed thirty meters in a sprint that left Jiran dizzy. It slammed face first into the wall of water he summoned. With a scream of his own, Jiran’s other hand slapped the meter-thick-wall of water and froze it solid, but not before the beast reached through and grabbed him by the neck, sinking one of its blades deep into his skin. Suddenly choking on his own blood, he jerked back, immediately using five percent of his mana to stem the flow.

Restoration!

For the first time since entering this place, the fear of death swept through him. Sweat broke out all over his skin and his guts twisted into knots. Jiran took a faltering step back, unable to breath through the blood clogging his throat.

A loud crack broke the temporary silence, shocking Jiran out of his daze. He shook off any vestiges of lingering fear, determination to survive suffusing his entire being. The beast was not dead, far from it. It was vibrating at incredible speeds, slowly cracking the ice around it.

Is this thing indestructible? Fuck! It’s probably going to keep reforming so long as it has—

Instinct demanded movement and Jiran found himself moving before he completed the thought. His eyes dilated as his focus peaked, Dual Minds assisting him to push has mana where it needed to be faster than ever before. He dove forward, reaching the metal monstrosity just before it could fully break free. A spike of Coating shot from his hand and slammed through what little ice remained. The spike tore into the beast’s chest, even as the blades all over its body exploded outward, skewering Jiran multiple times.

Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Jiran choked out the words that sealed the beast's fate.

“Mana Siphon!”

For a fraction of a moment, he connected with something vast beyond comprehension that fed the beast an infinite torrent of mana. The moment it was detected, the entity withdrew, taking all of its mana with it. With its power source severed, the beast crumbled into dust.

Jiran warily watched the floor for more ripples as his lifeblood pumped out with each beat of his heart. He held onto the last of his mana, determined to keep fighting to the bitter end if more appeared. For ten long seconds, he waited while his vision shrank.

I think that’s it. Restoration!

Seven holes and tears across his chest, left arm, and legs sealed in seconds, replaced with healthy flesh. Though it cost him every last drop of his mana, leaving him bone dry and aching.

Challenger quest complete

Calculating score…

Couldn't have said something a few seconds earlier?! Thank the Fathers it’s over. How could the system ever expect a normal person to kill so many beasts two tiers above them? Rewards? Challenge? What a joke. This place is nothing but a death trap. That thing feeding it mana… it wouldn't have stopped if I didn’t catch it. How is anyone supposed to stop that?

A glowing gold scoreboard flickered to life in the sky above the arena and Jiran’s heart sank when he saw the top results.

TIER TWO CHALLENGER RATINGS

Jiran of Feylon 94/100

Kaine of Madra 85/100

Soarra of Madra 83/100

Michael of Korandor 0/100

Lodana of Serathal 0/100

Jason of Hillsmark 0/100

Calculating rewards…

There are hundreds of names! And only three of us scored? Does that mean everyone else died? This whole thing was rigged from the start. I was never supposed to pass. None of us were. Humans aren’t even considered ready to start fighting until tier three because we don’t have all of our basic combat Skills until then. How does it make sense to pit us against this at tier two?

All these people managed to kill a tier four while only at the second tier, either by luck or skill. Then, they were sent here and had no way to kill so many more. All except me and two others. I wonder if those two are like me with memories of Earth giving them a huge advantage. Maybe all the names on this list are like me, but they just didn’t get as lucky.

Jiran’s thoughts were interrupted by a flashing notification in his status.

Prepare for reward distribution and ascension

A creeping sensation ran up his spine. It wasn’t foresight’s warning of danger. It was a completely ordinary human feeling of having the eyes of an absolute ruler gazing into your soul and casting judgment upon all that you are. It was exactly the way he felt when Emperor Dominus was looking at him.

Congratulations Jiran of Feylon

Madra gazes upon you

The metal floor wrapped around his legs before he could react and pulled him into its cold embrace. Jiran tried to fight it but the metal was far, far stronger than him. Wrapped inside a cocoon of metal, he felt the pressure from his abundance of density finally release in a wave that tore his body apart, remaking it anew as a third tier ascender.