Chapter 397 - Clash with the locals (Patreon)

Veil Ignition Station called Cinder, is a pyramid made of metal. Up close it doesn't have a perfectly smooth surface as it looked from a distance, probably due to its sheer size.

The pyramid is made of a combination of silver and gray metals, and an orange-ish vein of different material passes through its surface.

There are huge entrances all over it, and the external surface has some terraces. Each of them is massive, and higher up, I can see some wooden or stone houses built on top of the metal, with human figures moving around.

“We will split; you two go on together. I will rejoin you later.” With that, Lissandra heads inside the pyramid, to a long tunnel that leads to something akin to an elevator shaft.

“Want to go up from outside?” I ask Myrra.

"I don't mind it," she answers, and we start scaling the pyramid.

Even though she says that I can see her tail swaying from side to side. Myrra is a curious creature, and it's showing even now.

Well, it's not like I'm not curious either. The only problem could be if the natives are strong. Both Myrra and I have inscriptions on our bodies, and they are activated to some level. It's not terrible, but it's powerful enough to force me to use kinetic energy constantly just to be able to walk.

Plus, lately, Lissandra judged it too easy, and there is a disrupting effect added that messes with my mana. It's similar to the imps back then from the tunnels where she threw me. Most of my focus and attention is used just to be able to walk and to not have my mana ruin my body.

I might seem easygoing about it, but to be honest, it takes a lot out of me to keep it up. Even more so than before, I catch myself wanting to sleep or just to take a rest for a bit.

It's a lot. And Myrra isn't so different.

She must have guessed what I'm thinking about because she jokes, “If we get our asses kicked by some level 100 guy, I will be sacrificing you and running away.”

“I don't know, sometimes I feel like level 50 would be enough to kick my ass.” I use just a bit of kinetic energy and boost myself up onto one of the terraces, which are just segments of the pyramid.

“That's pathetic, feral one. Not even I feel that way. To get me, they would need someone at level 51 at least.”

“The way you move your mana is pathetic. I never saw anything like that. I swear…”

“…I swear I saw some pets noble ladies used to have with a better talent for mana than you,” Myrra finishes, clearly strongly annoyed to be reminded of that comparison. Her canines even show.

We jump a few more times, slowly moving towards where some people are. As we go, I examine the pyramid more.

As I thought before, the metal surface is nearly perfect. Even after who knows how many years, there is no big damage, only some scratches. Well, on the opposite side from where the skeletal remains of the giant snake are. I'm sure that part is damaged.

Another interesting thing is that as the day turns into night, the pyramid is getting warmer while the surrounding area is getting colder. It's not to the point where the pyramid is uncomfortably hot; it's more akin to cozy warmth that increases bit by bit.

I identify that the pyramid is absorbing some heat from the surrounding area. It doesn't seem to be done yet, and I'm curious about what temperatures it will get to.

Before we reach the platform with more humans, a few of them head towards us, each with weapons out and skills about to be activated. Men and women in pieces of multiple armors put together, a weird mix of weapons and somewhat wild expressions. They are all around level 100.

What surprises me is the way they try to estimate my power. The way they do it is something I haven't seen in a long time. It's quite terrible, akin to slapping me with wet spaghetti across my body multiple times.

“We will need you to pay a toll to enter,” the woman with the highest level steps ahead, “The ax and the blade should do.”

What she gestures at is my Flamebearer and voidsteel blade that I rarely use yet still carry with me.

“Just kill them. I bet they have nicer stuff.” One of the others smirks, already holding his weapon.

“Maybe we shouldn't; they must be a bit strong if they were able to get here.”

“Oh, shut up, Veril. Everyone can do it. There are barely any monsters around, and look at them, they seem like they are about to fall apart. They even keep bleeding.”

That bleeding is caused by the inscriptions left on us and our occasional lack of control. But it's not like I'm willing to explain that. Instead, I listen to their conversation. The situation is quite interesting. Like low-grade thugs stopping the protagonist from reaching a certain area.

It's fun until one of them attacks from behind, using the others as a distraction. The way he moves is clear he goes for a kill, his blade pointed at Myrra's neck.

Before he even reaches her, he staggers, and the dagger falls from his hands, a deep cut across his neck, and Aurora glass shimmering in the air.

Three more jump at me, one using my shadow to try to hold me, another’s skill trying to disrupt my mana, and the third man rushing at me with mana armor sprouting around his body.

All three of them stop mid-attack and I place three anchors. Three bursts of kinetic energy are sent through, and three headless bodies fall to the ground.

A scream sounds from somewhere, and a few projectiles crash against Myrra's barrier made of Aurora glass. I shoot my projectile towards the attacker and a notification about the kill rings.

Myrra boosts herself towards two attackers, throwing one from the pyramid far into the distance, where he flails his arms before crashing against the ground and not moving anymore. Either dead or acting like it. The second attacker dies as Myrra caves his chest in with a single punch, probably destroying his heart.

When the last one tries to escape, I teleport through the anchor I placed near him and grab his hand, pulling him towards me and dislocating it. He’s the one who noted that we might be a little bit strong.

He keeps screaming either out of fear, hoping for help, or from pain. If it's from pain, I'm disappointed; the wound is barely worth mentioning.

For a moment, I glance up where a hundred or so more people stand, looking down. They are all separated into multiple groups, probably gangs. Some are laughing, some are pale in the face. I also notice a few of them rushing up the pyramid, probably to pass some sort of message.

“If you don't stop crying and screaming, you will die.”

It takes just a few seconds, but he shuts up, his teeth clenched, and I notice tears in his eyes. He is fairly young, barely twenty years old, and most of his items are barely uncommon.

[Shadow Whisperer - lvl 78]

Myrra also steps closer, towering over the young man whose heart starts beating even wilder.

“What are we asking him?” Myrra turns to me.

“Good question. What does Lissandra want to do here?”

“Something from the pyramid? Remains of the Champion? More information? Not like she will tell us.”

“That's true.” I shake the young man, “Highest level people in this place? Who is the boss here?”

“Champion Zey and his five disciples! They l-live at the top!” he gets out, and I notice that he is swaying. It's just a dislocated arm! Why is he so terrible about it?

“Someone pretending to be a Champion?” I ask Myrra.

“For sure.”

“He is not! It's him who beat the Arch Serpent and saved us all those years ago! It's him who controls all and gives us warmth so we can survive the night. It's him who defends us against all the monst…”

With a sigh, I let him go and, with a weak burst of kinetic energy, send him to the ground, where he smartly stays lying without any movement.

Then I use another one to jump on another platform and then two more, Myrra following behind.

So someone probably can control some functions of the Veil Ignition Station, most likely someone from before the war. Champion Zey, he calls himself and uses it to grasp power here. Maybe even to the point of creating a pseudo-religion.

It's a different style from the Sanctuary, the Workshop, or the Bastion, but nothing too surprising.

Of course, there is a tiny chance he might be a real Champion, but I have a feeling Lissandra would let us know in such a case.

Reaching the platform where the buildings are, I give them a glance. They are made of wood and some out of stone and some weird glue-like material, probably to keep it all together. All of these buildings sharply contrast with the smooth metal of the pyramid.

As we saw from the lower platform, it's all ratty and not that well put together. People walking around in old, tattered clothes. There are some shop-like buildings, even some workshops, but it's all of poor quality.

I guess the higher on the pyramid, the more powerful people and the nicer buildings we will see.

“Fuck, these inscriptions will kill me, feral one,” Myrra reaches me and complains.

“They are fine.”

“Why do you look like you are about to fall and your mana is leaking and you keep bleeding?”

“Isn't this much normal while training?”

I do not get an answer, and the expression she makes is a mix of amusement, pity, worry, and annoyance. Her fluffy tail confirms it as it moves around, confused.

That's also when an item falls between me and Myrra. I sense it heading towards us, but I let it reach us out of curiosity.

It's an orb as big as my fist, and within it, heat is concentrated, a decent amount, and the container seems interesting as well. The orb is made of thin glass-like material with simple inscriptions. The rarity would be uncommon? Maybe a step towards rare, but for sure not higher.

It starts cracking on the surface as I kneel down and poke it.

The cracks become wider, and one set of inscriptions shines a bit more, the one serving to release the heat contained in a single burst.

To be honest, they are quite clumsy, nearly to the point I'm surprised they are working.

More heat passes through the crack, and it expands, the inscriptions finally fully activating as I pick up the orb and lean closer with my face to examine it.

All of the heat contained inside is released at once, rushing to melt off my face and a small area around me. It all is a bit amateurish, as the blast isn't that concentrated, and it's released in a simple way that weakens it.

I absorb the heat of the explosion and make it spin around my head, then absorb it into my body, where I use it to fuel my passive to fight against the wounds caused by my control slipping.

Lissandra's inscriptions are truly evil. I will have to learn how to make them and improve on them maybe.

Looking back up, I catch a glimpse of Myrra, who reaches the attacker and, avoiding the explosion of another orb, breaks his neck and throws him far into the distance.

It must be nice to have such high natural physical stats.

“Want to catch some and ask more questions?” she asks when she nimbly lands near me.

Even though she complains about the inscriptions nonstop, she also seems to be doing well. Well, she has to if Lissandra decided to teach her as well. I'm sure that cockroach wouldn't do that if Myrra weren't talented.

“Let's just climb higher. If they attack, we will kill them. If not, we just pass by. There isn't much we can learn here, so we need to head higher where we will ask again. Catching that fake Champion or his “disciples” would be optimal.”

“Sounds like a plan, feral one. Let us head higher then. This place makes me curious about what we will find inside and at the top.”

***

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