Chapter 366 - A bit weird (Patreon)

If I tell her it’s me, Miwa won’t reveal the identity of Tent... the top-ranked person in the crafter rankings, right?

But damn, she looks creepy. Is she about to drool at the thought of meeting the 1st ranked crafter of this tournament? Is she a stalker and that's why she bought so many of the items I sold? Was she driving the prices up?

Miwa, noticing I'm looking at the ugly items, smiles, her face different from before.

She takes a step closer to them, “I bought as many as I could! I even made a few members of my group buy some. I owe them, but it was worth it!” 

Miwa takes two items: one is a dagger I made, and the other is made by someone else, probably Miwa herself.

She confirms it soon, “This is a dagger made by me. The system rates it as mid-rare.”

The dagger she is showing me is beautiful, and even though it's pretty, it doesn't feel weak. The inscriptions are somewhat clumsy, but she did really well with shaping the metal, compressing it, and making the result pleasant to look at while not sacrificing any performance.

Next to her dagger is one of mine, and as they both lay there, the difference is stark. My dagger is much rougher, a chunk of metal shaped like a dagger. There are imperfections; it's ugly, and even the inscriptions feel less delicate.

Miwa picks up both of them and sends her mana through the blades. Then she swings them against each other.

With a clang, her blade gets cut in two, and my dagger doesn’t sustain any damage other than a tiny chink in the blade.

“This dagger,” she lifts up the surviving one with a smile, “is barely mid-rare rated, or even low-rare.” Her voice has more emotion in it, and she talks quicker.

Like someone who gets to talk about their hobbies or things they like.

“So I want to meet him or her. I will let you examine the arm if you promise not to damage it. Sset said you bought items from them and can contact them.”

She takes another step closer to me, and I put my hand in front of me to stop her. “Okay, okay, let’s calm down, yes?”

Finally realizing, Miwa blushes and quickly takes a step back, an apologetic smile on her face.

She bows quickly, “I apologize for my behavior!”

“It’s fine, just let me think about it, yes? And give me a moment.”

I quickly teleport to the anchor in my room and take the dagger she wants and a nicely sized chunk of voidsteel. Then I teleport back to the anchor I left near her.

“For now, take this for your help with the pizza. I will talk to Fuc… to that person, and will let you know soon.”

“Please do so and thank you!” Miwa takes the epic dagger and piece of metal and carefully puts them away. “Should I start preparing it?”

“Maybe in an hour or two?” Then I get an idea, “Actually, I will come to you in close to one day, and we can prepare it together. Would that be fine?”

“I don’t mind, but I can’t promise the result if multiple people will be preparing it.”

I wave my hand, “That is fine. So tomorrow around this time?”

After she nods, I quickly teleport away. Dealing with drooling fanboys is something future me will have to do. Damned weirdo.

Appearing on the roof of our house, I scan the area first.

As expected, there are hundreds of presences not that far beyond our land. It’s no surprise people from other difficulties are intrigued, and the giant black wolf can be seen even from afar. Detecting one presence, I place my anchor a few times and reach it, finding Channeler there.

“Hey.”

He stumbles, walks back, and almost falls from sheer surprise. I forgot some people aren’t that good at detection or surprises.

“You can’t keep doing that to me,” he complains as I help him get on his feet.

“Aren’t you used to it already?”

“Give it a few dozen more tries,” he jokes weakly and nods towards the wolf that can be seen even from far here. “Your new pet?”

“Biscuit’s.”

Seeing that I’m not joking, Channeler only laughs, “Yup, makes sense.”

“There is no need to worry; he won’t do anything. And even if he did, we can’t die here, so it’s fine.”

“You could defeat him?”

For a moment, I think of it, remembering the sheer weight of the wolf, the feel of his mana, and his childish yet dangerous eyes. The wolf isn’t weak, no, even though the mood around him is light, he is dangerous and very much so.

“Yup, I could,” I answer.

“How strong is he in comparison to what you meet on your floors?” Channeler asks.

“Honestly? I’m not sure about our current floor, but I met stronger beings on the floors before and fought some of them. Make sure to look at him properly. Monsters as big as this wolf probably won’t be anything rare not that long after our tutorial ends.”

“Pairing,” he says, looking in the direction of the black wolf.

“Yes.”

“And you are already fighting beings as strong as that wolf.”

“Hell difficulty feels easier lately as we get stronger, but there are always surprises and fuck-ups. So yeah, it’s not that rare. Why do you think only 38 out of 250 people who started in Hell difficulty are alive?”

“Noname,” Channeler says carefully, “you are always so easygoing about it. It never really felt like you are struggling or it’s too dangerous to you guys.”

“It’s not that bad.”

That blonde and uselessly handsome man just smiles and shakes his head. What is he, posing for photos?

“I’ve noticed something as of late.” He says.

While he thinks of the right words, I die once. Black mana tearing my heart apart when I move it too close. Still, I am able to act normal and slightly modify my attempts. As before, too much mana close to my mana heart doesn’t seem to be a good idea. I will need to make some changes.

“You, Savant, Tacita, Sset. Actually, everyone from Hell. You guys seem…”

“A bit weird?” I offer. It's something I noticed as well.

“Something like that. At times, this something shines through that makes it obvious why it’s you who ended up with Hell, and I do not mean it to insult you or anything. I just think people like you are the ones able to endure it all, and none of the Hell difficulty attendees seem like they would be happy on Earth with their normal lives.”

“Can you give me an example?” I gesture, curious where he is going with it and at the same time I continue to move my mana through my body.

“I have a friend who is a professional psychologist, and he said Tacita seems to show signs of someone deeply emotionally hurt. He can't be sure but said that she might be from a psychiatric hospital or a victim of terrible domestic abuse, maybe even sexual trafficking. Savant and Gareth both seem to be sociopaths, and probably even you—well, that or something called Asperger's syndrome. It's hard to say confidently, so these are only guesses. Then I heard Kim talking about his family, and he seems to be happier here than back home. Dennis and Aaron also seem to have gone through domestic abuse and are often changing schools as their parents died and their family just moves them around.”

“You know their real names.”

“Yes, they told me and Tess as well. So my point is that I have talked with others. Brainiac, Lootenant, Adam, AnotherOneHere, and in that one thing, you are all similar - they like this world. As if you all missed something back on Earth.”

“That could be it.”

“So how is it for you, Noname? Are you also like that?”

“Maybe. What else does your psychologist friend think of me?”

“He thinks you might have had a messed-up childhood, probably because of your parents. That seems to be the most common cause. He sees something that suggests deep emotional scars.”

“Interesting. He seems to know a lot.”

“Yes, he is a bit weird and has an eidetic memory and keeps watching people.” Channeler nods.

“Anyway, it's not something I want to talk about. Can you get me a few people who are willing to fight? Easy, Normal difficulty and maybe one or two from Hard.” I change the subject.

“I could try. What do you want them to do?”

“Just light sparring with someone. No worries, that person is not from Hell difficulty.”

“Shouldn’t be a problem. You won’t need to offer any rewards. Plenty of people just want to get closer to you guys, so I can use that and remember that person for the future.”

Damn, is this what a high-level extrovert is capable of? It seems so easy when he talks about it.

Then I remember something and hunt a small mana stone from my pocket, “I have prepared this for you. It should help you practice mana. I modified it so it should be perfect for you.”

Channeler takes the stone, and as expected, he ignores me for a moment, examining his new toy first. I don’t even mind; it’s nice to see someone with similar interests to mine.

“Don’t ask,” I warn him, “try to examine it on your own and come to your own conclusions. It will help you a lot if you do. Before the end of the tournament, I will give you a few more if you do a good job with this one.”

“In that case, I will be shameless and just accept this gift.”

“Yes, no problem. Will see you later.”

After I teleport, I think for a moment. Should I wait for his answer? Is there any set of customs and rules as to when you can teleport or where you can teleport without it being considered rude?

Lately, I really got used to this kind of transport, but I will have to ask Min-Jae to help me train within an increased gravity field so I don’t get too lazy. It’s been a long time since I stretched my body with proper exercise.

What welcomes me is an unusual sight. Tacita standing opposite my disciple and staring at her. Tess and Lily are both nearby, and I can almost feel their skills on a short trigger and mana hum under their skin. Both of the girls are at a similar distance from Vega that Tacita is, but they do realize how terrifyingly fast the girl with messy brown hair can be.

Tacita must have appeared there out of nowhere, surprising them and reaching Vega.

(It’s fine,) I send to Tess through the connection we have set up. If they do something stupid it might trigger Tacita.

“She is my disciple,” I say to Tacita, who glances at me and then back at Vega.

Even as quirky as she is, she is strangely smart at times, so just that single sentence tells her a lot - the meaning of Vega to me and what will happen if Tacita tries to hurt her. Yet, at the same time that sentence, it feels empty. Tacita is faster than me, and she is closer. If she decided to do anything, I most likely wouldn’t be able to stop her in time.

And the same as me, Tacita realizes that Vega might not be included in the “can’t die during the tournament” part of the message. Something I stupidly didn’t think of.

I don’t act worriedly, but as calmly as I can, I take a few steps closer, yet I feel my heart thump wildly. 

A few more steps, and I’m almost within reach. A black mana orb forms deep inside my body, ready to be absorbed and to strengthen my body to the fullest. The anchor I left on Vega is ready to be activated at any moment.

Then Tacita moves her hand, and it almost makes me attack her. But her movement is careful, and I hold myself back with clenched teeth. She looks non-threateningly, and slowly and gently, she reaches her hand towards Vega.

She looks at me, her hand stopping mid-air, and when I do not react, she continues and gently touches Vega’s pointy horn with the tip of her finger.

Tacita then smiles brightly and looks at me, and I feel myself calming down. There is no ill intention in her eyes.

Then my minion kicks her shin.

***

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