Chapter 330 - Start of the 1st tournament (Patreon)

POV Tess Hansen

Nat and everyone else stand around the crater his skills created. “A small accident”, he calls it.

With Kim and Lily following close behind, I notice that he seems to be a bit disappointed.

“I thought it would be a bigger explosion. Could a lot of mana be wasted? Or is it…” he mumbles under his nose.

Well, it's Nat, so I'm not even surprised as I observe the crater and remember the explosion and from how far we felt its effect.

Could I have created something similar? Probably not, I mostly focus on increasing single-target damage, that's why I picked Potency mana upgrade. Nat could probably do similar damage to a single target, but I believe that mine is stronger; it's just that his skills and their usage are… exotic.

As I watch Lily and Kim follow him like little chickens, I can't help but smile. It feels nice for the group to be together once more.

“That's a nice smile,” Maya joins my side.

“Thanks,” I smile at her as well. “It's nice to have the band all together, well, most of us.”

“Dennis and Aaron will be there soon, and then it is group 4 at full power once again. After months,” Maya sighs and also looks at Biscuit that floats around Isabella, who, with a serious expression, tells him that she could create such crater as well.

“Yes, and when they will be back, it's once again us against the world.” I say.

“Heh, so silly.”

“I know, right? So what do you think of this?” I gesture at Nat.

“The crater or the guy?”

“The guy. Things like the crater are already to be expected, and as a package that comes together with him.” As I say that, I declare the space around Maya and me as mine, and that blocks the sounds from getting in and out.

He notices it right away as I create the field, and a golden light flashes in his eyes before he turns back to Kim and continues to explain something.

“He seems a bit more approachable. Even his expression is softer when he talks to the others,” Maya says.

“So, I'm not the only one thinking that.”

“You know him better, so what do you think?”

I think of the answer for a moment, “Nat is… well, his upbringing is a bit difficult, so he likes to close off and stay on his own. I think the 5th floor and having to take care of his disciple helped him a bit and he realized some things.”

“I can imagine that with the way how the system set up our disciples. Mine was way too similar to me, Tess; it was nearly scary. As if I saw myself when I was a kid. How was yours?”

“The same. As if looking in a mirror, but I'm happy for that. It made me realize how cute I used to be and how nicely I've grown,” with a smile, I poke her side and then dodge her playful attack.

I continue, “As for our walking bomb, I'm happy to see him like this. You might laugh at me, but I think out of all of us, he might be the most normal one.”

Maya shoots a few smaller mana projectiles at me, and I evaporate them with my lightning.

Unbelieving, she lifts her eyebrow, “I know he keeps repeating that, but at least you, Tess, shouldn't fall for it. The guy is bonkers. But now then, do you still have that snack you stole from the Butler? I will trade it from you for a few rare-grade mana stones.”

***

I partially filter out Min-Jae’s and Lily’s conversation and examine the crater once more.

How is it so small!

From the way the shockwave hit us, I expected the damage to be bigger. There was also no implosion.

Did most of it get sent upward? Is the rock here more durable? Did it not create an implosion because of too much mana and that caused negative pressure not to build up?

The smaller crater could also be because it was just compressed mana without any skill used or instruction given. That could be it.

As for the crown and black mana, I already thought of it. It's highly likely that the crown should dominate mana, even the black one; it's just that the level is too low or I used too much mana to create the black orb. Both of these things seem to be similar so in the future, they could cooperate nicely together.

Crown infused with black mana absorbing all the mana from attacks thrown at me and then through the crown changing frequencies so said mana can be used by me. Later the crown maybe could be used as medium to absorb the ambient mana.

I already have a few ideas, inspired by the ethercrystal shortsword I got from that guy, Elydor. I wish I could meet him one more time… to talk.

For a while then, the combination is not allowed. Pushing black mana into the crown gave it easier access to my own mana. It absorbed mana even through the Mantle and my natural barrier, something it usually isn't capable of, or at least not at this level.

Then it absorbed even mana from Mana Reservoir and I find that highly interesting. Very, very interesting.

Damn, this shit is going to be good. Just some training and levels.

That's when Lily moves closer and pokes my side.

I don't let her know, but I carefully strengthen my body and even then I feel it. Once again, I'm reminded of the physical power of muscleheads in group 4. The heretics that didn't go full mana.

“You said you missed us, did you mean me as well?” she asks carefully.

But I can see where it is going. She knows the answer but wants to hear me say it out loud. I don't mind it that much, it's not that difficult to say it, but something in the way this petite girl looks at me makes me want to tease her.

“Oh, yes, I missed Biscuit,” I answer and turn around, heading down to the bottom of the crater.

“H-hey!” she shouts and quickly follows me, nearly immediately appearing by my side with a quick movement.

Did she use [Sacrifice] or is it the strength of her body?

“So you said you upgraded your Constitution?” I change the subject.

She pouts for a moment, but happy even for that conversation she answers, “Yes! It will make my body much tougher. But the main reason is that the stronger the body I have, the more I get from [Sacrifice] when I use it on some parts of it.”

Lily is still somewhat awkward. We didn't see each other for weeks so it will take a bit to get as comfortable around each other as before, but it's also fun to see her struggle.

Am I the bully here? Am I the asshole as future Earth's Absolute declared so long ago and my first minion confirmed?

“Any improvements to your usage of the skill or [Reconstruction]?”

Her eyes shine at the opportunity and she gestures to me to look.

She then uses her skill and slowly her face changes, her nose becomes a bit longer, her cheeks sharper and even the shape of her eyes changes. Her lips grow bigger and her chin moves too.

In the end, there is a clear resemblance to Tess.

“I can reconstruct my body and face a bit. I don't know how to change the color of my hair yet, but I will get there,” she declares proudly.

Is she using such a top-notch skill to do magical plastic surgery? Did she spend her time on the 5th floor to learn that? What the heck? If she is going to waste such a great healing skill this way, give it to me!

“Such small changes allowed me to learn to control it much better. I leveled so much!”

Oh, that makes a bit more sense.

“And look!” without any hesitation, she rolls up her sleeve, and a dagger made of gray mana forms in her hand, and she cuts off her arm at the elbow.

The gray mana in the dagger then shoots at the arm that falls to the ground, disintegrating it.

Min-Jae, staying nearby, pauses whatever he was doing and has an expression I can understand.

I watch as with visible speed, Lily’s arm regrows back. She doesn't use [Sacrifice], it's just her healing skill, and it takes just a few seconds.

The petite girl smiles cutely, “I can control [Disintegration] a bit more, and if I want, I can make it so anything the skill touches becomes much more difficult to heal or nearly impossible. Well, but it's not like I need it that much. Usually, when I hit something with [Disintegration], they die, so anti-healing isn’t needed.”

“Hehe, I see.”

“That’s cool, right?”

“Very cool, Miss Lily! And yes, I missed you as well.”

“Oh,” a slight blush appears on her face. “Nice try!” she giggles. “But I’m still slightly mad at you for leaving me alone. I can understand, Tess explained it to me, but I can't help it!”

Should I deploy the hug strat? She is weak against it. But somehow, it feels cheap, “That’s fine with me, and you have a reason for that. Let's just give it time, and we will see.”

After a short silence, she answers, “Yes, let's do that.”

It looks like the 5th floor helped her. She seems to be a bit calmer and not as clingy. That’s nice to see.

(Food!) The message sounds in our heads.

“We are coming,” I shout back and gesture to Lily and Min-Jae to follow me.

As we get out, we rejoin others that already made a small circle around Isabella’s fire orb, taking out food and water.

Tess starts talking first, “We now don't need as much food or water as when we were on Earth and can even last days without it, but let's be careful. It looks like the food here will be scarce if we don't want to eat the monsters, and most of them don't seem that tasty. As for the water, we haven’t found any yet, so let's go over our reserves.”

“Water shouldn't be a problem.” I show Tess my epic water bottle. It's filled with multiple swimming poolfuls of water that I filtered in the Sanctuary.

Hearing my explanation, she tries, “Try if you can use it. The system might have blocked use of such items.”

When I do so, it works just fine.

“Great, so the water won't be a problem, and with the food we have, we will be able to last comfortably for multiple weeks.”

(Food!)

“A week or two less if we have to feed Biscuit as well,” Min-Jae jokes, and I’m sure he gets called an asshole for that by our cute doggo. Deservedly so.

Biscuit wobbles on his short legs in front of me. His expression feels like he is asking if I believe such rude behavior, and then he climbs into my lap. There, I sneakily feed him a few small pieces of dried deer meat I made on the 5th floor.

Slowly, hours pass, and the tournament is coming closer. Everyone takes a few hours of sleep while others keep watch, and the stories are told.

We joke, we tease each other, and we fight over whose disciple is stronger or cuter. We theorize how we will find them or get the coordinates to their worlds.

Even in the cold area and lit by light from the stars only, it feels somewhat cozy.

Biscuit's small body is nicely warm and heavier than before. Lily is sneaking and moving closer to me. Maya teases Min-Jae, and Sophie refuses to leave Isabella's side. Noodle seems to be annoyed by that but doesn't show any aggression towards her. Smart small danger noodle.

But most happy of all seems to be Tess. She is quiet most of the time, but there is that smile on her lips while her golden hair seems to shine in starlight.

Camaraderie that she always wanted.

So we wait, and then a notification finally comes.

Congratulations on your 1st year in the tutorial!

The tournament preparations have been concluded.

During the duration of the tournament of the 5th round of the tutorial, all Floor quests will be put on hold.

The tournament will have a 7-day duration, and you can decide to participate or not.

More information will be given after entering the tournament floor.

Would you like to participate in the 1st tournament of the 5th round of the Earth's tutorial?

Yes/No

“Does it mean side quests can still be done?” Sophie asks. “Or maybe it will pause the floor fully, and all natives and monsters will disappear?”

“It's possible that side quests will still be available for people who decide not to enter the tournament,” Tess joins in. “That would mean that the system will either block the progression of Floor quests or remove the natives or places you need to visit for them. It should be capable of that.”

“Seven-day duration is also interesting,” I add my piece. “That probably means there will be one long event or multiple events.”

Min-Jae asks, “Do you think there will be duels or something else? What if we won't be able to meet each other and only during the duels?”

“In such a case, I want to apologize ahead of time. I won't hold back,” Tess smiles brightly.

Please decide in the following 30 seconds if you would like to wish to join the tournament.

“Someone's impatient,” Sophie sighs and then grabs Isabella's hand. “In case we get split, try to find me, okay? I will be using our signal if that happens.”

“I have Noodle; I will be safe, Soph!”

“First place is mine,” I tell Tess.

“We will see,” she returns my gaze.

The time ticks down, and with a small bag of a few important items and a damaged arcane axe in my hand, I click on yes. The rest of the things stay on this floor, buried deep underground and hidden to be taken when we come back.

I don't even feel the effect of teleportation and appear in a different place. The bright sun makes me squint my eyes.

Around me, I hear small birds sing, the sky is beautifully blue, and the gentle breeze moves the leaves of the trees all around me. The air smells like summer.

Then I sense a presence behind me.

Mana rushes through my already strengthened body, and I swing the axe in my hand, ready to redirect it if needed.

When my body tilts, a view opens on a thin girl with messy brown hair and lively eyes.

She ducks under the axe and stabs towards me with a dagger in her hand. It's a playful move, but extremely quick.

Kinetic energy explodes into the area around me, and sensing that, she cancels her attack. With an even higher speed and three nimble jumps, she moves behind just out of reach. In the process, she easily dodges a few small orbs I shoot at her.

Then there she stands, her lively eyes observing me. There is no text over her head, identifying her as most likely one of the tutorial attendees.

But just the way she hid her mana from me is scary. I couldn't feel it until she was nearly touching me. Even now, as I look at her, she is barely different from the tree near her when it comes to sensing her presence.

And that speed.

“Who are you?” I ask.

Lowering her guard, she just shrugs her shoulders. Then she lifts up one of her fingers gesturing me to wait and nimbly moves towards one of the bushes and breaks off a small thin branch.

She takes a few steps closer, not worried at all, and draws into the dirt on the ground.

(;-_-)ノ

Haaa, is no one here normal?

“Tacita?” I ask.

She nods energetically, happy for my guess, her brown hair bouncing around her head as she does so.

The tournament is of competitive base, but also an opportunity to meet your fellow tutorial attendees.

In one day the events will start, until then please reach the common area.

There are no monsters or natives, allowing other tutorial attendees to get to know each other.

On the tournament floor, death is impossible.

Enjoy your first tournament!

I look at the woman next to me who is still reading the notification. She is the first Beyonder I meet other than Tess and Lily, so I'm curious. So far she is the same as in the Community and refuses to talk. She only uses emoticons.

My theory that I'm the most normal here is getting stronger even as I meet more people.

“I'm Noname, you maybe saw me talking in the Beyond community.”

She nods a few times and does some hand signs. Sign language? Is she maybe mute?

Seeing my expression, she just smiles weakly, as if not expecting me to understand.

Well, it doesn't matter that much. The tournament has finally started and even though it's not as expected, I feel myself getting excited.

I can't wait to see people from Hell and other difficulties.

***

POV Tess Hansen

We got split again. At one point it will start getting annoying how often the tutorial does this.

“Hello friend, my name is Gareth. I'm happy to finally see someone outside of my group,” the man in front of me smiles friendly.

He is tall, muscular, and with a face that seems like the kind you see on superheroes. The man is wearing a full plate armor made of silver metal. I don't see any weapons on him, but the armor itself feels like at least mid epic grade.

“Hello Gareth, I'm Sset, we talked with each other.”

“Oh, fellow Beyond explorer!” he says excitedly. “It's nice to finally meet you. I hope we will get along!” he says energetically and with a smile.

Right away I know Nathaniel won't like the guy.

***

POV Lily Chen

The man in front of me doesn't move. Even his expression is neutral. But the way he stands makes me put my guard up.

Even though he is missing his right arm and there is an empty sleeve where it was supposed to be, he feels very dangerous. And there is a beautiful sword on his waist. The blade of that sword is broken, half of it missing, yet he still keeps it on him.

His face is calm and even pretty with a small birthmark under the left corner of his left eye. He has long black hair tied into a ponytail and very light green eyes.

“Are you a healer?” he asks.

How does he know that?

“And if I am?”

“Then I will ask you to restore my arm. If you are capable of that, I'm willing to offer a trade.” He pauses, his eyes observing me, “Are you his healer? Grumpy?”

I get ready to use [Sacrifice], “Savant?”

His expression changes and he nods.

***

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