Chapter 400 - Living quarters (Patreon)

While I work on the door, the heatwave hits me three times, forcing me during these few minutes to focus on defending against it. After it's gone, the “code” of the door changes, and I have to start over again.

With each attempt I make, I am getting quicker at it, so it's only a matter of time before I unlock it before the heatwave hits.

What's nice is that during the heatwave, more Heatseekers start appearing. The centipede-like creatures with human faces die to my concentrated thermal energy quite easily. I even fight some of them without it to check their skills, and it's possible for me to defeat them without thermal energy.

Voidsteel blade is cutting through them quite easily even without the support of any skill. The only disadvantage is that it's getting just a tiny bit damaged. It would probably require me to kill hundreds of Heatseekers to destroy it, but the damage is there. Not like it doesn’t make sense; these monsters are all close to 300, but none of them are over that threshold.

So I level up once during that time, and my crown gains one level.

The crown is currently up there and activated, filling with my mana. There is also an orb made of thermal energy I start filling as well.

I thought of just either filling the crown or the orb, but in the end, I decided to split my resources between the two of them. I always liked to be versatile.

When I finally unlock the door, it moves back and then rolls to the side as before. After I pass through, it closes behind me, and I watch it happen. I don’t even create an anchor outside.

Being on my own has a bad influence on me. Maybe present Nathaniel is also kind of messed up.

I will rely on you, future Nathaniel, to deal with the consequences. It's all for our Pride, and I appreciate your service.

Noname - Seems like I won’t be using Community that much. I need to focus on my things.

Reliable Tess reacts quickly; she, like most of us, constantly checks the chat, just for a split second each time.

Sset - Got it. Good luck.

Noname - Luck doesn’t have anything to do with it.

I turn off the Community and then stop and stretch. My body feels so light and warm. I even notice that I almost unconsciously keep using bits of kinetic energy to add power to my movements. However messed up Lissandra might be, her training methods do work.

As expected a few  Ashborn Phantoms attack me, and I kill them one after another. Dozens of them throw themselves at me while the heat in the room I just entered gradually increases.

Soon enough, another heatwave hits, and with it, three Heatseekers come, each of them bigger than the previous ones and all of them have three question marks but are most likely still at level 299.

Thermal energy from my Vortex Core flows through my arm, and I use [Infusion] to fill my ax with it, the damaged blade of the weapon glowing under golden flames. Kinetic energy flows through my body, giving me this comfortable feeling mana strengthening never did.

The first Heatseeker attacks me while the other two absorb the heat in the room, turning it into flames that are shot at me. Despite their strength, they do not damage the metal the pyramid is made of.

Only my thermal energy seems to be capable of that from all the sources of heat.

I miss a few attacks at Heatseeker, the monster quick and twitchy, but I use the golden orb over my shoulder, and from it, a laser-like stream of thermal energy shoots, easily cutting into the monster.

Now slowed down, I reach it, and just a single swing with the axe sends thermal energy through the monster, burning it even while we are all surrounded by this crazy heat.

[You have defeated Heatseeker - lvl 299]

I put Flamebearer in front of me, absorbing the flame attacks of the monsters, and the flames dance all around me but do not touch my body.

The sounds of them passing through the air are not dissimilar to a plane starting, and when I have a feeling it’s enough, I stop absorbing and swing the axe while adding a bit of my own thermal energy into the mix.

A huge wave of flames explodes from me and fills the room, bits of golden flames dancing within otherwise yellow ones.

That wave devours the Heatseekers, killing them in the process.

[You have defeated Heatseeker - lvl 299]

[You have defeated Heatseeker - lvl 299]

[Infusion - lvl 30 > Infusion - lvl 31]

With the monsters gone, the heatwave disappears as well, the room cooling off, the residual heat absorbed by metallic walls.

It becomes darker again, with the room being nearly pitch black. Only my thermal orb is letting out light and the walls just a tiny bit. Even though made of metal, it looks like there is a flame trapped inside it, and it lets out the faintest orange glow.

For a bit, I examine what I thought was a room, but in the end, I identify it as just another tunnel that was blocked by the door.

I’m not that disappointed and head deeper inside.

***

After two days of wandering around and killing the monsters, I have gained another level. Level 248 is where I’m currently at.

My skills leveled up a bit as well, leaving me with this:

Active skills:
Focus - Lvl 49
Perception - Lvl 48
Redistribution - Lvl 48
Resonance - Lvl 49
Mana Domain (Pride) - Lvl 43
Tether - Lvl 36
Infusion - Lvl 32
Mana Crown - Lvl 28
Mana Manipulation - Lvl 49

Oh, and I have also strengthened my domain with Pride, something I got when I reached Adept in my subclass.

Thinking of it for days, I decided to go with the option that makes the most sense instead of my most commonly used skills. From my point of view, it just seems like my domain should be most fitting for it so far.

I have started testing it, and the domain is significantly strengthened. Not its size, but its quality. It’s now easier to do what I want within it, but that’s not what I aimed for. My theory is that it will be much more difficult for anyone to take control over my mana or disrupt it with my domain activated. It just sounds like my Pride wouldn’t allow it.

Of course, it will still be possible for monsters like Lissandra and for someone much stronger than me, but as with a lot of things I do, it’s something I did with the future in mind.

I have also decided to be careful not to let it blind me and impede my growth, similar to what black mana did.

Even so, I still think it maybe could be better to use it for other skills.

[Mana Manipulation] maybe? To give it a similar effect that I would have even without having to activate the domain?

[Mana Crown] to maybe improve my control over it or some further boost?

[Redistribution] also sounds like it could work nicely with Pride.

I think I will have these thoughts for a long time, but I still think I have picked well. Even if it might not be the best option currently, it will influence my future options for the primary class or offered passives. The system always says rewards are offered according to my performance, so it knows how I use my skills and according to that, picks the rewards.

It’s something I could spend even more time theorizing, so I just put it away. There is something more interesting now.

I have found the loot.

The owner of the pyramid didn’t even try too hard to hide it. Just a few traps, one of which cut off my left arm and my feet under the ankle.

Another trap with spikes that I couldn’t detect piercing through my side.

Another one that tried to fry my brain with some mental attack. There, I still regret I destroyed it to stop the attack, making it impossible to examine it.

And a few more lost limbs and a day or something later, I have reached that beautiful place.

Living quarters.

As with everything in this goddamn pyramid, it is huge. It’s as if a skyscraper was put inside the pyramid, surrounded by all this metal, but this place is shielded, and the heat there much lower.

There are no elevators and only stairs, but I quickly locate the core. A pillar made of white crystal somewhere in the middle of the living quarters. Well, not only living quarters. There are some workshops as well, from what I saw by passing by.

So I reach the core, and using my [Resonance], [Infusion], [Mana Manipulation], even [Mana Domain], and my Mana Wavelength Iris, I easily activate it.

It takes one hour, and I blame it more on my lack of sleep rather than the amazing defenses or difficulty of the task.

Connecting to my crown, I redirect a part of my mana from there to the core, and it floods it like shiny light blue mana particles. The lights dance inside nicely, and then it takes two more hours for me to take over some controls and light up the place.

One after another, the lights in the walls start glowing and after days in the dimly lit tunnels, it feels nearly alien. Cozy but alien.

I glance at my left arm which is still missing its hand. It will regrow soon, but it’s annoying because I can’t use a mana prosthesis properly; the hand keeps growing and interfering with it. Well, it’s not like it’s something new to me.

I take a huge chunk of my mana and use [Perception] while using [Focus] to get out of it as much as possible. Like a sonar wave, my mana is sent through the living quarters, trying to locate anything interesting.

[Perception - lvl 48 > Perception - lvl 49]

Huh.

I did have to get a few of my skills to level 50, didn’t I? The cockroach threatened to kill me if I did not.

Instead of bothering with useless stuff, I create an orb over my shoulder. It’s the imitation of that evil orb Lissandra made for me before. Mine is not perfect, but it’s good enough to train.

Since I do not have to deal with Burden Enhancement Inscriptions, disrupting mana and heat, I create another evil orb and head to the lowest part of the place while training. I have sensed some nice stuff down there.

On my way there, I stop in front of the room with expensive-looking doors. They are made out of some weird wood and delicately inscribed. Some of these inscriptions are there just to make them look nicer.

With a blast of kinetic energy, I turn them into pieces of wood. Their defenses were inert, my mana in the core instead supporting the most important functions of this place.

I enter the room that seems to be really luxurious. One of the huge windows even offers a view of what probably used to be a huge garden. Now it's dried up, and the trees have turned into pieces of dry wood.

There are layers of dust everywhere, but it's otherwise nicely preserved. There isn't that much humidity in the pyramid, so I guess it makes sense.

First, I reach a small stand where drinking glasses are under a few faucets. I send a bit more mana to the core through my [Tether] I left there and then reactivate the inscriptions directly, skipping the mana stone that is broken.

A hiss sounds for the next thirty seconds, and to that, a bubbling noise sounds.

From the pipes, a stream of dirty water shoots, and it takes another thirty seconds until it clears up and starts to flow nicely. I use it to wash off one of the glasses and then fill it. Without much hesitation, I then drink the entire glass in one go.

Disgusting.

I fill another one and drink it as well. Then a few more. The longer the water flows, the better it tastes. That, or it's already killing my taste buds. Both of the options are fine.

I stop the water and then head to another room, which is entirely made out of white polished stone, and in the ceiling, there are hundreds of holes.

The clothes I'm wearing end up on the ground, and for a moment, I look at them. Then I burn them in the golden flame of my thermal energy until nothing remains.

The room I enter is the shower, as expected. At first, dirty, disgusting water covers me, as expected. It takes a minute of me standing under it before the water flows properly and is clear.

There doesn't seem to be any soap or Old Spice shower gel, so I just stand there for a few minutes until I feel cleaner. All the dirt and sweat I collected ever since the start of this little adventure with little kitten and cockroach are washed away. It all makes me feel much lighter.

After that, I spend a good ten minutes picking from the clothes in the small room I find nearby. There are dozens of articles, and most of them are in a good state. Only clothes from certain materials seem to be destroyed by the passage of time.

In the mirror I wipe clean with one of the shirts, I see my reflection.

Black shirt with rolled-up sleeves. I really like the material of it. The pants are light brown but also feel nice. The shoes do not fit me at all, so I go barefoot, something I got used to doing ever since the tutorial started. Some shoes just can't handle too much explosive movement, so it makes sense.

Maybe I could open a shoe shop for superhumans after getting back to Earth. I bet a lot of people will need them.

In the end, I also use [Resonance] and cut my hair a bit and “shave” the stubble I had grown.

I loot the place as well, taking interesting mana stones from appliances and some stones from the walls. I fill a few bottles I found with water, and I pick some replacement clothes as well.

Only then do I head to the bottom of this place.

If I'm right, it's where the armory is.

***

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