[Corruption Wielder] Chapter 80: Top 16 (Patreon)

Participants from the First Trial of the Champion of Cycle [REMOVED] advancing to the Top 16 by Sigil

[Kadael, the Hunger] and [Vyx, the Crown]:

William Li-Brown

[Sadareth, the Elven Mother]:

Thalia Brooksoul

Caiyeri Seven

Caiyeri Zero

[Aladriel, the Thief of Stars]:

Hua Yang

[Fire]:

Fortress

Osiris Adebayo

[Uthra, the Maiden Huntress]:

Lily Teneli

[Distortion] and [Justice]:

Lu Jie

[Ahze, the Dark Guardian]:

Natalie Blurr

[Peace]:

Alan Truman

Neriym Rain

Jie Xie-ren

[None, qualified through Champion’s Pass]:

Casey Justin

Nitika Kapoor

[None, qualified through external means]:

Nathan

There was no chance in hell Will would have taken any of the terrible conditions that his prospective sponsors had been trying to push onto him, but neither would they let him just roam free over the tournament, especially when so many of them still had interests operating within the trial.

Though Will had pretty much run their pockets, he’d made a few concessions. None of them were willing to feel like they’d ben completely stiffed, after all.

One of those concessions was being held in the sponsor building until the rest of the top 32 rounds played out. Now, after all of it had been done, he was sitting in another one of the fancy hotel-suite like rooms, waiting to be transported back to the tournament.

It was a bit annoying, not being able to influence the result of the rounds. Will was happy to see that Natalie, Hua, and Caiyeri had all made it through, but the noticeable lack of Liam in the top 16 told him that there was only one Aussie left here.

Nathan was also advancing through the tournament, which was a mixture of amusing and frustrating, knowing that that spot could have been given to someone who actually needed a powerup.

“External means,” Will muttered. “I can’t believe there’s official text for a transportation method that amounts to ‘oops, we screwed up.’ Is there no way to disqualify him?”

That said, Nathan still being in the tournament was probably a good thing. The corruption cultists were still in the game, after all, and any powerful beings on humanity’s side to deal with their ever-evolving machinations would be greatly appreciated.

Will wondered where Nynn was. Was the former Dread Executor still working in the tournament? He sure hoped he was. That man was frighteningly powerful, even for a gold-rank.

Of the other names, he recognized Thalia Brooksoul, life elf; Caiyeri Zero, the woman who Will’s Caiyeri had been cloned from; Lu Jie, Natalie Blurr, and Osiris Adebayo, two of them the top-rankers he’d spoken to and the latter one he had yet to interact with; and of course, Lily Teneli, who had apparently acquired both a sigil and a sponsor.

“That murderhobo better hope she doesn’t end up against me.” She’d been friendly enough last time, but Will did not want to deal with her constant desire to kill and loot every sapient being in the area.

Congratulations, User [William Li-Brown]. You have placed in the top 16 of the Trial of the Champion.

Top 16 reward selected!

You have gained 2,500 silver credits.

Steelborn Gauntlets have been added to your inventory.

You are the final member of the top 16 to be granted rewards. Your next round begins in [48 hours].

That was a substantially longer period of time than any of the other cooldown periods between rounds. On a surface level, he was sure that this was because the system wanted everyone to be as ready as possible for the next round, but now that he’d gotten a peek behind the curtain, he suspected the actual answer had a little more to do with money and power changing hands amongst the sponsors and sigils who relied on their beneficiaries and champions to further their own goals.

“Not that it matters to me at the moment,” Will said happily, knowing that there was every possibility that even now, he was being observed. “Y’all are way too easy to swindle.”

He hadn’t gotten the maximum rewards from everyone, but he’d come damn close. The credits he’d just gotten meant almost nothing to him now that he had 500 diamond credits, which translated to five million silver. It was half of the initial promised reward, but it had been practically free in terms of the conditions he’d ended up forcing Ash to accept.

The item provoked more interest from him.

Item: [Steelborn Gauntlets]

Uncommon, silver (growth)

Born in steel and tempered in fire, armor of the Steelborn is a prized commodity throughout the galaxy, no matter the rank. While this may not be the most legendary of items, this steel will serve you well.

Increases your strength slightly.

[Unstoppable] (bronze) - Attacks made with these gauntlets do increased damage with each blow. This effect is reset if you hit a different target.

[Absorb Missiles] (silver) - You can attempt to absorb ranged attacks and skills with these gauntlets. The more directly you punch or catch an incoming attack, the higher the percentage of the attack or skill absorbed. The energy converted will refuel your health or mana, prioritzing the lower.

Unstoppable was the same effect that was on his slayer sword, though it was weaker here. It had been a silver addition to that weapon, while it was bronze on this one.

Still, Will’s current gauntlets, a set that he wasn’t even attuned to, was a pair of extremely simple gauntlets of strength that did nothing except for the first effect that this set did. Since these had the potential to grow further, it was a no-brainer. He inventoried his current set and tossed the gauntlets on.

They fit like a glove—which, to some extent, he supposed they were.

“Sweet. All I need is some violently pink hair, a skill to make these way bigger, and I can finally do a League of Legends cosplay.”

 Reward processing complete. You will now be returned to the Trial of the Champion.

“So long, and thanks for all the fish,” Will said. “Wait. Are there still fish on Earth? Or wherever you are? Or did the system turn them all into freaky monster things that barely resemble—“

Spatial magic wrapped around him, and he disappeared.

As he traveled through the teleporter, Will realized that once again, something was broken. It was less noticeable than it had been the first time, when a malfunction in the teleportation process from Earth to the trial had sent the entire two thousand or so competitors into the wrong starting zone.

Two thousand, Will thought. The people who’d made it into the trial had been some of Earth’s best and brightest, and here he was, having proved that he was worthy of being amongst the top of them.

Granted, some of them—like Haoyu—had been eliminated due to bullshit, but Will had to admit that it felt good knowing how far up he was.

As he caught glimpses of the Beyond through the fraying reality that he was hurled through by the teleportation, however, that sensation faded.

In the grand scheme of the universe, he was still insignificant. Sure, he’d advanced to silver quickly, but levels were coming slower now, and he had no illusion about how long it would take for him to play on the same level as those who were manipulating the tournament and the people around him.

Right now, his best tools for surviving amongst those who were so far above him that they had to drastically suppress their auras just so he could exist in their vicinity revolved around social manipulation. He was playing with fire, relying on the system’s rules, which weren’t all publicly available to him, to use and abuse his position.

Later, he thought, eyeing the patches of broken reality that had almost certainly been caused by whatever nefarious plans the cultists were enacting. I’ll play the social games as long as I need to. One day, I won’t need to.

Just like the last time there had been a reality break, it ended up taking longer for him to be transported through the teleportation than usual. Will wondered if it was just his Space affixation—and now, his connection to the Beyond as well—that let him see the strangeness in the teleportation. Nobody else had even mentioned the reality breaks, which he figured should have been a pretty big topic.

Abruptly, the teleportation came to an end, with Will’s perception suddenly blanking out as the magical process completed.

He could barely tell the difference between the suite he’d left and this one. If he didn’t know better, what with Sen’s eyes actually being able to make it past the walls of this room without being immediately forced back by the ambient magic of the building he was in.

Also, the door actually worked this time.

Will sent his familiar’s eyes out through the doors, examining the area around him.

The remaining sixteen competitors had all been placed in the same complex. Each room led to a hallway that fed into a large central atrium with automated stores, rest areas, and training areas. Sen’s eyes fed information to Will, giving him the confidence to step outside of his suite without worrying about a sudden ambush or anything like that.

He was the last person to arrive by a pretty long shot. Everyone else had already been processed, it seemed. Over half of them were resting, making use of the first genuinely long break they’d been given so far to restore their health and get some actual good sleep. Not everyone was, of course. Will saw Fortress, the fire elemental who he’d briefly been part of a squad with, boiling a tank of water as he meditated. Caiyeri, too, was in the training rings, sparring with Hua. The Aussie girl was putting up a surprisingly close fight.

Two people were shopping. Nitika Kapoor was a young Indian woman with the Paladin class who was currently Silver 5. Will had no idea how she had advanced so quickly when she hadn’t even taken a sigil, but she was a higher level than even he was. Lu Jie, of course, Will recognized.

Others were… well, Will wasn’t going to judge what other people did in their free time if it wasn’t hurting anyone, but surely one could do better than Lily Teneli as their bedfellow. He moved Sen’s eyes away from that particular suite.

Will made his way to the training area, where Caiyeri had just finished knocking Hua down.

“Oh, Will!” Hua said cheerfully, downing half a bottle of water in one gulp. “Just the bloke I wanted to see. The other option was what’s-her-face’s mom, right?”

“Thalia,” Will said. “You know her?”

“Sigil showed me,” she said by way of explanation. “Shame about Liam. He lost to that Nitika chick. She seems mighty powerful to me, plus not too unkind, but she’s not too keen on talking to other people.”

“Yeah?” Will asked. “I know a few people like that.”

He looked at Caiyeri pointedly. The elf huffed out a breath, conjuring a towel from her inventory to dry herself off.

“You didn’t lose,” she said. “Good. You had me worried.”

“Aw, you were worried about me?” Will gave her his best shit-eating grin. He’d had a lot of practice at refining it. This was a smile that had managed to piss off gods. Wielding it on the silver-rank Caiyeri was maybe a bit mean.

“In the way that you worry about the runt hatchling with a bad leg surviving the winter,” she fired back drily. “It’s a miracle you’re not dead.”

They both knew that wasn’t true, of course, but the playful insults came with ease. They were working together more effectively with every passing interaction. It was nice, to have someone he knew he could count on that wouldn’t be perpetually lagging behind him like Lev and Allie would be.

“You two get anything good?” Will asked.

“Armor that’s worse than what I’ve got already,” Hua said unhappily. “I’m going to trade it in or sell it.”

“A handaxe,” Caiyeri said, showing him by popping it out of her inventory. It gleamed a bright, bloody red. “Its effects are interesting. For a price paid in life force, I can attack a monster above my level.”

Will recalled how much spending his life force had cost him when he’d overdrawn with Ghostflame. He had barely noticed the problems at the time, but after restoring himself all the way back to full with Envoy of Mercy afterwards, he now knew just how expensive it was.

“Yeah, don’t use that if you don’t need to,” Will said. “Losing life force is nasty business and hard as shit to recover.”

“I’m not a child, Will. You don’t need to speak to me like I don’t know what a weapon does.”

“You’d be surprised. There were plenty of grown adults who could barely tell the front end of a gun from the back before the apocalypse. I’m sure there are plenty who don’t know how to use the magical shit now.”

“They’re probably dead.”

“Point.”

“So, Will,” Hua interjected. “We have about two days of rest period. What are you planning on doing with it?”

“You first.”

Hua shrugged. “Training. Deciding what new skill I want to affix. I need to grind my attributes and my skills. Wanna join?”

A glance at Caiyeri revealed that the elf had basically the same intentions.

“Yeah,” Will said. “Although I need a bit to go through my loot.”

Hua nodded understandingly. “Don’t want to give me an edge up if we get unlucky and face each other, right?”

“You know it. Plus, I have some people to talk to.”

Will would have plenty of time to speak to the people who were currently resting later, but he wanted to see what was up with the sigil-less woman who’d made it this far. Casey Justin was the other one who’d made it without a sigil, but he was sleeping right now.

He found her going through one of the stores that sold jewelry. It was all bronze and silver-rank stuff, mostly with effects that Will didn’t find helpful, but it occurred to him that he had the money to buy random shit he didn’t need now. That was a strange sensation.

“Whatever you’re selling, I don’t want it,” Nitika said sharply.

“Not selling anything,” Will said. “Trying to—“

“Determine whether or not I deserve to live or die,” she completed, meeting his gaze. Her expression was intense, though not quite hostile. “I’ve seen what you’ve done, William Li-Brown. I need no sigil to see your triumphs.”

“Sponsors?”

“Indeed. You would judge me in a matter of moments to determine whether you will end my life. I will tell you this, William: I am not a good woman, but neither am I evil. You will not unravel the complexity of my being in a short conversation.”

“Not trying to,” Will said.

“The road to hell is paved with good intentions,” Nitika quoted. “You’re well down that path, William.”

“The road to a quick death is paved with believing in redemption,” Will said. “I stand by what I’ve said. Second chances go to those who deserve them.”

“And you get to choose that? Just because the world has ended does not mean that we need to resort to tyranny, American.” Nitika sighed deeply. “Personally, I do not plan on being one of the bricks you step upon. Do leave me alone. If you do not cause me or mine harm, I will do the same.”

Will resisted the urge to say something biting back. She looked as if she was slightly ill from even standing in his presence. A quick activation of Pages of the Past revealed that one of her passive abilities allowed her to detect good and evil. Given his Marked for Death class feature and his usage of corruption, he must have emitted a painfully unpleasant aura.

No wonder she disagreed with him so much. She had a magical sense literally telling her she was untrustworthy.

“A peaceful agreement is as much as I can ask for,” he said.

He left before she could tell him to. Lu Jie was looking for him, if what he saw through Sen’s eyes was correct.

Will let the phantasm cover his body as he approached the Chinese top-ranker.

“Will.” Lu Jie inclined his head.

“Lu Jie.” Will did not mirror the action. “How’s it been going?”

After all had been said and done, the man standing before Will was still first or second ranked in the entire world. He was Silver 6 already, easily outstripping Will’s Silver 3, and his aura pressed on Will’s, expressing the gravity of his intent.

To Will, however, that gravity felt like little more than a fly landing on his shoulder. He pressed back with his own aura, easily overwhelming Lu Jie’s.

“You killed Fan Yang,” Lu Jie said neutrally. His face betrayed nothing, but his aura told Will everything.

“So I did. You saw?”

“Everyone did.” The Portal Mage shook his head. “Yet I have fought the cultists who seek to undermine this trial and our world, and I have also borne witness to your skill against them. You have done us all a great favor, but you have dealt my clan a great blow.”

Will shrugged. “He was going to do the same to me. It wasn’t personal.”

“If it was, I would have attacked you by now, and one of us would be dead. Fan Yang was a close confidant of mine, hot-headed as he was. People are not always as simple as they seem, young master.”

That took Will by surprise. He’d assumed the other man had been a sycophant, not a true friend.

“I’m sorry,” he lied so blatantly that he couldn’t even hide it with his aura. Will reconsidered. “Or, I should say, I want to be sorry. But that’s reality.”

“So it is. This, too, is reality. You have impressed me, Will, and perhaps one day you will be the one who fulfills the chaos defense contract and saves our world. I have nothing but the deepest respect for you, but we will never be friends. For your service to our world, I will allow you your victory here. Should I face you, I will surrender. When we return to Earth, however, I will be your mortal enemy.”

Will studied Lu Jie. The other man had been physically affected by hitting silver-rank, his aging features frozen and even somewhat reversed. That had done nothing to decrease how dignified he looked in this moment, hands clasped behind his back, aura pulsing out and revealing everything.

He was being completely and totally honest. Lu Jie fully planned on dedicating at least part of himself towards killing a man who he could have come to work with.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Will said, a little bitterly. “You would have made a fine ally.”

“And you a finer one. I am sorry as well. In another life, I would like to imagine we could have been teacher and student.”

“Me as the teacher, I assume.”

A ghost of a smile passed the elder’s lips. “Perhaps. Yet in this life, Little Yang cannot go unanswered. My clan will not allow it, and honor compels me to do the same.”

Will sighed. “That’s that, then. Good luck with keeping your part of China held together. I hope we don’t meet again.”

“As do I.”

They parted.

“All the little consequences piling up now, huh?” Will muttered to himself. “Fuck me. I guess I should go see if there’s anyone else I pissed off while I’ve got such a good streak going.”

That, of course, wasn’t actually the case, but it sure felt like it.

Will’s soul was recovering from trips to the Beyond faster and faster now. His continued “training” sessions had seen fit to that.

With that, the only thing blocking him from repeatedly making portals to the Beyond were monetary limits.

Which, thanks to one of the four sponsors he’d gained, was no longer a concern.

He returned to his room, locking the door.

“Nynn, you better answer the phone,” Will said.

That wasn’t the only reason he wanted to go to the Beyond again, but he kind of wanted to show off how much progress he’d made.

As he drew the ritual circle to activate Sanctuary, Will called a few hundred of Sen’s eyes to return to him to enter the Beyond alongside him. These, he planned on teleporting to his other portals. He wanted eyes everywhere, knowing the corruption cultists were still involving themselves in this entire debacle.

In addition to that, he took the gold-rank tablet of Loss he’d gained from the sponsorship from the Lord of the same name. Will wouldn’t be able to bring it into the Beyond, since it was a soul projection and he couldn’t bring items unless they were bound to his soul.

The neat thing about tablets, though, was that they could, in fact, bind to his soul. Given that no time at all passed in the real world while he was in the Beyond, Will wanted to see what the effect of affixing a new skill would do to his soul.

You have consumed [Tablet of Loss].

The tablet disintegrated into mist that exploded over his body, sinking into his skin. Before it could drag him into a vision or the godly dream-space like it usually did, Will completed the Sanctuary ritual, spending just under a thousand of his functional millions of silvers to send himself into the Beyond.

The process was similar enough to the last few forays he’d made into this weird, otherworldly plane, but there were noticeable differences. His soul felt rough, like something was digging its way into him. The skill was still in the process of absorbing, he realized, so the magic seemed foreign to him. He recorded the sensation in his memory. It was unlikely to be critically important, but Will figured that any information he could get on the esoterica of this world could come in handy some day in the far future.

His soul control was strong enough now that he was still able to hold onto his Sanctuary even through the irritation.

To his surprise, it wasn’t just Nynn that showed up. Two connections formed into his expanding Sanctuary shortly after he established himself, both of them familiar.

The ever-changing, distorted form of Ayla Dreamer joined the obsidian black Nynn as Will shaped his Sancutary into a platform large enough to support all three of them. He couldn’t do proper furniture yet, but he could raise parts of it to simulate seats.

“Very impressive,” Ayla said, body pulsing with approval. “How did you manage so much improvement so quickly? To get this far took me years.”

“Dreamer,” Nynn said warningly.

“Right. We have a problem.”

Will sighed. “Cultists, I assume?”

“Yes. Do you want the long version or the short one?”

“Short. Just get to the point.”

“As soon as a winner is selected in the tournament, every single person who attended the trial will be dead. Or, more likely, worse than dead. Shortly afterwards, your planet will be condemned.”

“What the fuck,” Will said flatly. “Okay, maybe I want the longer version.”

Author's note: I am extremely tired. Days have been getting better, at least, but I need to do something about the exhaustion. Hope you enjoyed, pls give feedback if you've got any!