Chapter 402 - Follow through (Patreon)

As I stop to endure another heatwave and wait for Heatseekers to pop out, I think.

The heatwaves keep coming with a certain frequency. Three times in the span of 5 minutes, five-minute pause, another heatwave, thirty-minute pause, another heatwave, 15 minutes, heatwave, 10 minutes, heatwave, one minute, heatwave, thirty minutes again, and 3 heatwaves in the span of 5 minutes.

This is what I grasped so far and I'm currently in the process of confirming it and getting more exact timing with the help of a countdown timer in my status. It's something that I already plan to use to my advantage.

Finally, Heatseekers appear bringing more heat with them. This time there are five of them.

I let a bit of thermal energy flood into the Flamebearer and take a step towards them.

I wonder how I should deal with them this time.

***

A day passes and my level goes up once.

Other than Heatseekers, weaker monsters are abundant here. These ones move in bigger groups, but nothing I would be unable to deal with.

[Redistribution] went up to level 49 thanks to my constant use of thermal energy. Overall, it's not bad.

Well, the only problem is that the closer I'm getting to the center of the pyramid the slower my healing becomes.

My passive uses heat and to better efficiency thermal energy to heal my body. That seems to be blocked by something. It even gets through my mantle without me noticing and no matter how hard I try I fail to identify the source of that. My theory is that it is connected to the Champion who died here.

It's at this point I'm sure that man, whose head Lissandra got, used to possess primordial thermal energy.

Lissandra said it before but his body, well, what remains of it should be down there. I have a few theories but I will be able to confirm them only after I get there.

Overall the slowed heat-based healing adds to the difficulty and makes me once more annoyed at my inability to learn to heal any other way.

As a result, I have only 1 evil orb over my shoulders and am forced to be more careful during the fights. It also takes a lot of effort to deal with all the heat that is increasing even now. It's something that annoys me.

The current tired me prefers to take on some weaker hits in exchange for dealing much more damage. It's tiring to be constantly avoiding them, and to be honest my mind isn't as fresh as it could be.

Still, I force myself to be a bit more careful and the result of that is only a few small wounds. Well, they could be lethal if I had lower stats but it's totally fine.

I pause again and the heatwave hits. Right away I check the time and make a mental note.

Heatseekers like to come exactly 11 seconds after the heatwave starts. Lately, there at least are five of them. The first attack is from three of them and two more come seven seconds later. Usually one of them uses the ceiling and two use the side walls.

Ahead of time, I place a few anchors at the places I expect them to use and prepare five thermal orbs. The amount of energy in them is calculated precisely.

On time the three Heatseekers appear. This time two on the ceiling and one on the side wall.

Cheeky things, they felt fancy and changed the strategy a bit?

I send two orbs through the anchor at the ceiling and one to the wall. The orbs explode in golden flames the moment the monsters reach them.

[You have defeated Heatseeker - lvl 299]

[You have defeated Heatseeker - lvl 299]

[You have defeated Heatseeker - lvl 299]

Then seven seconds later three more appear instead of the usual two.

Two of them die to my orbs sent through anchors.

[You have defeated Heatseeker - lvl 299]

[You have defeated Heatseeker - lvl 299]

The third one stops at the spot. The human-like head he has is looking towards my anchor and the monster is hesitating.

Tired of waiting for the reaction I boost my body with kinetic energy and throw Flamebearer at him, the weapon is filled with thermal energy and it lodges itself deep into the wall, the metal around it melting under golden flames.

The Heatseeker, after nimbly avoiding it, rushes at me, its dozens of legs turning into a blur and the heat around him increasing.

I look towards the axe and then at the monster. I step a bit to the right. Then changing my mind I step just a tiny bit to the left.

As the Heatseeker opens its mouth I activate the anchor I left on the ax and use [Tether] to pull it towards me.

The ax dislodges from the wall and flies in a straight line, piercing through the monster that I use kinetic energy on so its body doesn't fall on me.

[Tether - lvl 36 > Tether - lvl 37]

[You have defeated Heatseeker - lvl 299]

For a very short moment I'm happy with the result but then the returning ax hits my shoulder with the handle and makes me stagger back. Before I'm able to catch it it falls to the ground.

Five out of ten points for the cool factor, I judge as I pick it from the ground. But my poor man’s telekinesis isn't that bad.

***

I sit down and take a sip of water from the bottle on me. Those bottles are something I constantly keep in mind to protect from heat. It's really nice to be able to drink something cool. For that, I use [Redistribution].

Still, the water tastes terrible and is the best water I ever drank at the same time.

While sitting there I think why I'm not using black mana or [Focus] for my emotions. I have already decided to clash against Lissandra so is there a need for that?

Also, I know I did have a good reason why I didn't stay with her and continue with her lessons, but currently, it's harder to remember.

Partially I don't even care about the reason anymore. I just know I made a decision after thinking about it and now I just continue to follow through.

It could be said I trust past Nathaniel.

I yawn and blink a few times, rubbing my eyes. Damn, I really want to sleep.

Another heatwave comes and I take note of the timing. It seems like I was wrong and the timing is even more chaotic than expected. But there is a rhythm and I will use it to my advantage. That and the crown and thermal orb near me. After days these things are scarily filled with their respective energies.

The funny thing is that the crown is still of light blue color, meaning it's nowhere close to its limit. Yet the amount is easily more than my body and Mana Reservoir combined. The skill might be scarier than I thought.

***

The passage of time is hard to estimate currently. Well, it shouldn't be, I just need to check the timer, but I'm too lazy to do so.

It's annoying to calculate the passage of time by checking the countdown to our forced return back to Earth.

After a long time, I also think. It's called forced return. Does it mean it's possible to return earlier? Or it's meant that some people might want to stay here after 5 years and that thing is meant to send them back?

I mean, it wouldn't be that bad to forever climb the floors of the tutorial.

It's a shitty place, yes, and sometimes the difficulty is really hellish, other times it feels too easy. It might be a strategy of the tutorial itself to lure us into a feeling of safety and then throw bullshit at us.

Anyway, I think a few days have passed but I'm too lazy to calculate it. I just know I still have enough time. And I trust myself.

I know I won't fail.

***

Another break and I sit to think again. It lets my legs rest and makes it easier to deal with my growing collection of wounds that are healing so slowly. There is a lot of heat so shouldn't my passive overcome that debuff-like thing?

What does the cockroach need the Champion's head for? The man did have orange eyes so maybe some trait? Could she steal his trait with just his head? Dig some information out of it? Could she learn his skills?

I bet I would learn that if I stayed with her but I already made my decision, I just have to follow… I pause.

Didn't I already think of that not that long ago?

Well, who cares? Past Nathaniel made the decision and I will follow through.

I stand up and add another evil orb to the one floating over my shoulders.

Huh. Since when are there two of them?

Whatever, I add the third one there and head to the hallway leading to the center of the pyramid.

***

As I work on the last set of inscriptions the heatwave hits me and I take note of it.

With it, my theory is confirmed and the timing of heatwaves is deciphered. Another one will come in thirty minutes and this time seven Heatseekers should appear.

Without even pausing my work I place anchors and attack to kill all the monsters the moment they appear. I miss a few times and some attacks land dangerously close, but I continue with my strategy until they are dead. After the fight, I feel a wound on my body but ignore it. What is one more added to the mix at this point?

My level doesn't change but at this point, I'm sure I'm missing just a tiny bit.

Then I check the timer.

One day and a bit remain until I return back to the 6th floor, my two weeks here coming to their conclusion. The past few days have turned into a blur as I fight, train, and intentionally move slower to reach the center so I can level up.

Cockroach is weirdly fair at times so she will wait until the last hour to go after me so I still have plenty of time. All is planned out and I just need one more level and four skills to level 50.

For a moment I pause my work on the inscriptions and check the doors. Only now do I notice how huge they are, tall like a multiple floor building and probably as wide. The metal they are made of is slightly different and they flaunt plenty of decorative ornaments.

Things like these are something I started to ignore lately as they do not matter that much, but the same as this place they are pleasing. I bet I would appreciate it a bit more after some sleep.

With a sigh, I reach for my bottles and stop.

Where is my left arm?

Checking closer I notice a clean, healed cut close to my shoulder.

Voidsteel blade on my waist is also nearly gone, just a piece as long as a dagger remaining of it. All the water and food are gone too. Just Flamebearer is reliable as always, by my side, with no damage at all.

I have plenty of shards, should I buy an arcane weapon instead of saving for a passive?

Shaking my head I make an arm of mana instead of my missing one. Concentrating a bit further I make it better. A lot of improvements I make thanks to examining Miwa's arm back during the tournament and other bits of information I have learned.

I even assign part of my [Focus] to keep it up.

[Mana Manipulation - lvl 50 > Mana Manipulation - lvl 51]

[Focus - lvl 49 > Focus - lvl 50]

The arm then flickers and annoyedly I check what takes so much of my mental capacity.

I identify the source right away, four evil mana orbs floating over me. Each of them is changing its frequency in an unpredictable manner, forcing my mind to work in overdrive. They also constantly change the amount of mana required to keep them up which adds to it.

What kind of dumbass kept up so many of these things.

Shaking my head I deactivate all of them and for a short moment, I feel like losing consciousness as that feeling hits me. It's as if an immense pressure was lifted from me, the constant annoying buzz in the back of my mind gone.

The arm made of mana instantly solidifies more, turning dark blue with streaks of light blue, moving just like my normal arm would. I lift my mana arm to compare it to the right one and stop in surprise.

A second passes as I just stare at my arms.

The right arm is also made out of dark blue mana, this one cut off a bit over the elbow.

I giggle, my laugh sounding weird even to me as I let it out from my parched throat.

Not wasting my time on useless stuff I then turn back to the door and continue with my work.

***

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