Chapter 311 - Do you think he is alive? (Patreon)

Back in our bunker, the Clonthaniel immediately takes some of the inscribed mana stones and starts examining them. Unlike the bunker we left, the pressure here is much lower, and it feels like a ton of weight was lifted off us; only now do I realize how taxing it was.

I check the anchor I left behind there, and it seems to be fine, with the only difference being that it is dissolving quicker than usual anchors. Even then, we have plenty of time before it disappears.

"We have around three days before Vega returns; after that, it will be more difficult to go there," I say to my duplicate.

"Speak for yourself. I like Vega and all, but I have currently more urgent stuff to do and will continue to explore the place. You can babysit our cute minion."

"Too bad you won't get that deep without both of us working together. You won't get even to that enchanting facility."

That makes him pause. "I will inscribe some mana stones to help me with that."

"Sure."

"Fuck. Okay, we have three days, so let's hurry. We don't have to sleep for a few days, and it should be plenty of time to explore the place. We can also send plenty of useful stuff here and continue."

"Sounds good." I then open the Beyond community while examining one of the mysterious metal ingots.

Noname - Gareth, you wanted to talk with me.

It takes only around thirty minutes, and he notices my message. Like most of the people from Hell difficulty, he is now also used to checking it for one second at a time as often as possible.

Gareth - Thanks for finding time for me, my friend. I should have a few minutes before my disciple runs into some danger again. You probably heard already about two of our members dying.

Noname - Yes. Did you change your mind about how you go about things?

Gareth - I know you and I are of different minds when it comes to this, but I respect your and even Savant's opinion. And no, I didn't change my mind, and neither did anyone from WhiteWing. What happened was unfortunate, but every one of us did our best.

Noname - So what did you want to talk about?

This time it takes a minute for him to answer.

Gareth - You probably prefer it, so I will be direct.  I hope for your cooperation during the tournament. I tried to say more, but the system blocked the messages.

Noname - can't promise anything without knowing more.

Gareth - I understand that, my friend. I just want you to think about it. In the end, it's not only the tutorial we have to deal with but what comes after it, and some things are better to start working on as soon as possible.

Noname - I usually let Sset deal with such stuff, Gareth; I'm bad at this. In exchange, she can point me at the enemy. I trust her decisions.

Nice try, evil man pretending to be a paragon of justice. Trying to get me to deal with people more than absolutely necessary? Not today.

Grumpy - Noname! My disciple loves being called a minion. ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

Noname - Hello Grumpy, I told you! But be careful. Minions might be cute, but they are tricky creatures.

Grumpy - Will do so! By the way, why does the number 1 in the Beyond never talk? >_<

Noname - Probably going for the mysterious stranger kind of look. Anyway, I'm going to check other Communities, so later.

I disconnect and then check on my duplicate. As before, he sits nearby and continues to examine the mana stones in the robe. I also notice that he pokes some of the corpses with a sword made of mana, probably trying to find out how powerful their bodies are.

"How is it?" I ask, also curious, and stand up.

He looks at me and then back down at the man with a perfectly conserved body. "This guy is something else. I can barely pierce his skin, and the sword gets stuck in his muscles."

I watch as Duplicaniel uses [Resonance] and sends it to strengthen the blade of the sword made of mana. Then, using a lot of force, he stabs it into the leg of the corpse. The blade only pierces the skin and then stops as if he hit a rock with a normal sword.

Oh my, isn't this interesting?

"I don't think the guy was a champion, so maybe something similar to a danger noodle? Level 300-400?"

"That's what I would like to know. It could be someone with lever around 300, but a lot of stats in constitution or defensive traits," he answers, trying to stab again.

"Tried voidsteel?"

"Same result," he says. "How the hell did someone like that die?"

"Food allergy?"

"Or he bit his tongue. Unfortunately, the dude doesn't have anything that would help identify him. No mana stones, no keys similar to the one we found. Even the items are all broken and hard to say what they were. Yet his body isn't wounded at all."

"I don't think someone like that would die from mana pressure down there."

"I agree. It just pisses me off not knowing."

The duplicate complains, and I know it's the same reason as it annoys me. I'm just that curious. Who was the man, what level he was, what happened to him? All these questions I find fascinating.

I let my uglier self play and open the Community once more.

Noname (Hell, group 4) - Channeler?

FoodFood (Hell, group 4) - Asshole!

Noname (Hell, group 4) - Hello to you, buddy!

FoodFood (Hell, group 4) - Asshole!

Noname (Hell, group 4) - Sorry, I miss you too!

FoodFood (Hell, group 4) - Food food food!

Noname (Hell, group 4) - Oh, you mean the Sanctuary? Yeah, I hope you didn't eat anything.

FoodFood (Hell, group 4) - Asshole!

Noname (Hell, group 4) - Good boy! I got some deer jerky and will share it with you when we meet!

FoodFood (Hell, group 4) - Food.

Channeler (Easy, Steakhouse) - The hell, Noname, what are you doing to our chat and how can you understand what Biscuit says?

Maria (Easy, AFK) - I don't mind! Biscuit is cute! I totally want to see him during the tournament. I just hope others will go easy on him. I don't want him to get hurt.

I remember the purple mana bomb I saw Biscuit creating during the fight with the Fallen hero.

Sure, let's worry about our future Absolute.

Noname (Hell, group 4) - How is your mana, Channeler?

Out of the Easy difficulty, he seems to be the only reasonable one.

Channeler (Easy, Steakhouse) - It's difficult! The practices you told me about are way too hard, Noname!

Noname (Hell, group 4) - Just keep trying.

Channeler (Easy, Steakhouse) - I will, but what the hell is wrong with you? It's impossible to keep it up all the time.

Sami (Easy, AFK) - You don't have to listen to that guy. I bet he lies most of the time to look stronger. He said most of his skills are over level 30, but that's impossible. He must be bullshitting.

I check my skills.

Active skills:

Focus - Lvl 46

Mana Manipulation - Lvl 46

Perception - Lvl 41

Redistribution - Lvl 43

Resonance - Lvl 43

Mana Domain - Lvl 34

Tether - Lvl 30

Regalia - Lvl 19

Infusion - Lvl 25

I just make sure to remember the guy's name. I think he said some similar stuff a few more times before. Then, after giving a few pieces of advice to my guinea pig… Channeler, I close the window.

My duplicate is looking at the corpse of the man we were unable to damage.

He seems to be thinking the same thing as me, "Do you think he is alive or can be brought back?" he asks.

That suspicion grew in me ever since we brought him here, and while I was chatting with others. Is it possible for someone of such level to be capable of that? Turning off his heart and relying on his extremely strong body to keep him alive without rotting away? There also could be something else.

I think it is, and that's what worries me.

"Let's send him away," I recommend.

My duplicate is already heading towards the body and puts his hand on the man. I can feel him activating [Tether].

The body doesn't move.

"Well fuck," the duplicate uses more mana, and when I reach him, I resonate with his skill and supply it with more power.

The body doesn't move.

"Well fuck," I say, and a barely noticeable heartbeat sounds from the man, the natural barrier of his body restoring and making it surprisingly difficult to teleport him.

Both of us get the same idea and quickly get null collars. The one I got from the man under the Sanctuary and the one my duplicate found in the Bastion.

"Just in case?" I ask.

The duplicate nods, and we put both of the collars around the man's neck.

His heart beats again, and I see inscriptions power up, the effect of the collar activates. Then a text flickers into existence over his head.

[Forged Fury - lvl ???]

The small wounds we caused while trying to damage him close in a blink, and through kinetic energy, I can feel the powerful beats of his heart.

Two silver collars around his neck light up even more, allowing him to keep constitution only while lowering other attributes, and then the man opens his eyes.

He moves his brown hair off his face, and his strikingly blue eyes calmly look at me and then at my duplicate, and then he turns back to me. Immediately I know he somehow identified that my duplicate is… well, a duplicate.

Without saying a word, he stands up in a single smooth movement and dusts off his eyes. The collars around his neck shine even more, but the man doesn't seem to be bothered at all.

He stretches slightly and calmly looks around, ignoring me and my duplicate holding our weapons, our mana ready.

"Take it off," he points at the collars and asks simply. His voice sounds like he doesn't even consider the option of us refusing to exist.

Is he bluffing? Seeing his level, he should be between 300 to 450, so not a Champion and far from Absolute. The collars are only of epic rating, so I would be surprised if they would hold him much longer than a few hours.

If he is level 300, it could be possible for me to fight him if I surprise him, hell, maybe even a bit higher if I work with my duplicate.

But then there is that thought in the back of my mind. The man is wearing clothes different from the luxurious robes of other people we found. His clothes are made of durable materials but are simple, and more focused on functionality. Craftsman's clothes. There were no weapons among the damaged equipment he did hold.

And then there is his class name.

Without further hesitation, I take a step and, touching the Null Collars, I unlock them one after another. The entire time the slightly taller man stares at me with his pale blue eyes.

When the collars are gone, his fist moves, and he punches my face. Even though I'm expecting an attack, I'm incapable of dodging it. The hit seems to be weakened, and I only take a half step back.

"That's for the collars," the man says. "The next time…"

Mana rushes through my body, entirely used to strengthen it, and then I punch the man as well.

He also staggers backward, a flash of surprise appearing on his confident face.

As he opens his mouth to say something, I punch him again, and he staggers a half step back.

My mana radiates from my body, and I'm ready to fight or disappear at any moment, yet the man doesn't seem threatening. Our eyes meet, and he just nods shortly. Then he turns around, passes by my duplicate, and heads deeper into the bunker. Me and Clonthaniel exchange glances and follow the man.

He walks confidently even without light and without hesitation finds the control room where he reaches the central panel.

As I did many times before, he sends a bit of his mana into it and examines it for a moment. To my surprise, he does something, and from the floor next to his leg, a pillar as thick as my arm slides out. On top of that pillar is a perfectly round mana crystal.

The man with the Forged Fury class touches it and sends just a bit of mana into it before it slides back into the floor, and he returns to the control panel.

Right after, the room lights up in a way me and my duplicate were unable to do no matter how much mana we sent to the core. Well, before the duplicate stole it or something.

Nearby one of the walls cracks, a crack forming a perfect door shape. The cracked piece of stone falls down, most likely weighing a ton or more.

As if owning the place, the man heads inside.

***

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