Chapter 447 - Do you wish to kill me? (Patreon)

As Izzy said, everyone’s emotions are amplified and it's fascinating to watch the changes.

Sophie becomes more protective of Izzy and much more aggressive towards anyone who tries to put her sister even into a little bit of danger.

Min-Jae is more prickly and defensive every time he's put into a situation where he feels underneath a person.

Aaron and Dennis distance themselves from the others, the two of them constantly exchanging messages.

Izzy quietly endures it all while constantly glancing at me as if confirming if she can still rely on me. Sophie also doesn't seem to like it and her behavior towards me becomes colder.

Lily looks like a puppy left in the rain. Moving from person to person searching for some warmth and then becoming quieter and her face darker as she crashes onto group members who don't behave like themselves.

Other than me, Maya seems to handle it better. She just seems a bit lost and throws around even more awkward jokes, but I think the [Focus] we share allows us to endure what's happening a bit more. Famir is also an example of that. The empty expression is on his face the entire time as the man leads his group while listening to Tess's orders.

As for the last members of group 4, Biscuit becomes quieter, almost not talking and instead looking around with a dark purple glow in his eyes. He even growls a few times when someone tries to pet him. The cute corgi seems to keep a distance away from us, as if to help himself endure it and to not put us in danger.

A truly merciful future animal overlord.

Noodle is a bit opposite of that. He behaves similarly to Izzy and becomes extremely protective of her. His smart green eyes watching anyone that nears her.

And so we do what Tess wants us to do. We head onto the platform, avoiding the hole with the Champion and entering one of two pathways.

[You have defeated Grymlok Spider - lvl 241]

[You have defeated Grymlok Spider - lvl 281]

[You have defeated Grymlok Spider - lvl 263]

[You have defeated Grymlok Spider - lvl 231]

…

Every time I see a monster over level 200 I try to kill it, my senses quite good currently at locating them. Sometimes I do it quietly so they don't blame me for kill stealing.

The twins fight on the front line with Maya and one of them gets their hand cut off by the thread Izzy should’ve burned earlier.

There is some shouting as the twins blame the little girl and Sophie defends her in exchange.

A situation that rarely happened before, everyone seemingly on edge.

Sophie shouts something at Tess even, who calmly lets her do it all. Tess then gently touches Sophie’s arm and apologizes, taking all the blame on herself as the leader.

Tess then checks on the twin’s arm and asks Lily to restore it. Even Lily, affected by whatever the Champion does, hesitates, for a moment checking on me as if she doesn't want to waste her resources. In the end even she gives in and restores the arm.

Aaron and Dennis, noticing her hesitation, quietly leave, a feel of conversation constantly going on between them.

More curious than before I watch that all happen. A fascination of seeing people I’ve known for a year and some longer act that way. Just a few days ago the relationships were so different. 

Everyone knows about the amplified emotions and that seems to hold them back a little. They know what they feel now isn't something they would feel to that extent.

But these emotions aren't fake, they are just amplified. Their true feelings taken to the surface for the others to see.

“This won’t end well,” Famir pauses near me for a moment. His face bearing a similar expression of calm that I see in the mirror.

“It will be fine,” I answer.

He examines me for a while longer, “You are also affected, but you have a concentration type of skill, why don't you use it?”

I ignore his question, “For now listen to Tess.”

“Even if it means I will die?”

“I'm not asking that of you. While I'm here no one will die. I will cover for Tess.”

His eyes unblinking as he looks for a truth in my words and in the end, he nods, “I will continue to do so.”

With that, he leaves to his group and we push deeper.

In that huge hallway, there are no bridges but many more monsters. Scarabs, spiders, little poisonous snakes, something akin to wasps.

And we fight, often getting surrounded by them now, low mana reserves depleting even further even as everyone tries to fight with as little mana as possible.

With that, I watch the improvements, each and every member pushed and forced to fight. Even their amplified emotions not taking their abilities from them nor blinding them enough to reduce their capability.

What I find interesting is that not a single monster attacks Biscuit, they even seem to be avoiding him and the unusually quiet corgi doesn't bother hunting them down.

This tunnel other than more monsters also has an underground lake with its surface so impossibly still it makes it look like glass. That calm surface of the lake gets pierced by pitch black tentacles, each of the length that is probably as long as a football field. The monster's ugly octopus-like head with red eyes pokes from under the water, lit only by our lights floating around.

[Inkmire Lurker - lvl ???]

In the dim light, the fight starts and as before I observe it from a distance.

Biscuit makes purple tentacles of his own, they grow to the size nearly matching that of the monster's and start pulling it out of the lake while the corgi growls with a purple shine in his eyes.

Tess's javelins and the spear I made surrounded by lightning stab into the monster only to be pulled back and attack again.

Everyone other than me attacks and the monster takes more and more damage. The ink it shoots is blocked by barriers Sophie makes or often targets an illusion the twins make.

Then the second one appears.

[Inkmire Lurker - lvl ???]

And the third.

[Inkmire Lurker - lvl ???]

Maya crashes against the wall, thrown there by one of the attacks and covered in black ink that sizzles, dissolving her armor. Tess gets in front of her, blocking the other attack, lightning around her burning the flesh of the pitch black tentacles.

One of the monsters freezes its movement, stopped by Sophie, and Min-Jae bombards it with a barrage of stalactytes from the ceiling that crash against it with immense speed.

Another one of the monsters fights against the golem Sophie made with the item I gave her, Famir with a calm expression running on one of the tentacles towards its head.

Everyone, even the thylarin brothers are fighting.

With a loud thump, Lily crashes against the wall next to me, her neck twisted and leg bent. She falls to her knees and with a few cracks her neck turns back to its original position and she gets back on her feet. She notices me and looks at me, confused.

When I wave at her she shakes her head and shoots an arrow-like projectile made of [Disintegration] against the tentacle that was about to grab one of the twins.

“It was Aaron's illusion,” I note as that tentacle gets devoured by that gray mana of hers.

As I say that the illusion of Aaron disappears.

“Would be fucking nice if they stopped being on their private connection and talked to us,” Lily groans and her leg restores as well and she charges back into the fight.

As I watch the most effort is being put in by Tess. She defends, she attacks, she directs. She also gets hurt often. Her and everyone else.

The monsters cooperate together nicely and are tough, even with some regeneration that replaces the tentacles. Poisonous ink that melts mana and skin that is very durable. Sometimes they manipulate water, turning it into pressured streams they use to attack or defend.

Meanwhile, I shoot the smaller monsters that sneakily try to get closer and attack the unsuspecting fighters down there. Some sneaky spiders, leeches sticking to the walls, piranha-like fishes below the surface of the lake.

Hundreds and hundreds of them, all over level 200 monsters.

And the group below wins in the end, the last Inkmire Lurker finished by one of Tess's javelins.

While they rest I watch our group, especially Tess who seems to be satisfied with the result while the others lick their wounds. 

I can say that one or two fights like that and most will be without any mana. Yet Tess doesn't seem to be satisfied, there is that glint in her eyes as she talks to people, sharing feedback, getting feedback. Planning what to do next. 

Partially I see Tess in that behavior, but it's not the Tess I know. Her emotions are amplified to the point where she feels more like a caricature of herself. Unlike the others, she also doesn't seem to realize that to the same extent, most likely because of her contact with the Champion. That time when she broke the rule she set.

She then sits on the side and takes care of herself. The others have their satisfaction of winning the fight and celebrate a bit, their dark emotions temporarily pushed to the side.

I think I know Tess well enough to be able to know what she wants and what she hopes for. Not thanks to the time from before the tutorial, but mostly from the year here. So I decide to let it be. 

Tess even in the state she is inprobably at least partially realizes what's going on with her emotions and for some twisted reason keeps it up while relying on me to take care of the things this time. 

And I will do that, but in my own way.

(Sophie,) I open the private channel with the green-eyed young woman. (It was Tess who got the guide killed and got us stuck here.)

After that I leave the tunnel and quickly head back onto the platform where the Champion is, I move quickly and when I reach the edge of the hole he is already looking up to me.

[Grimshaper - lvl ????]

“Hello.”

“Hello Nathaniel, it's nice to see you again,” the thylarin smiles as he says with his gentle voice.

“So what is the intention behind all this?” I ask, ignoring the fact he knows my name. 

“There are quite a few.”

“But you won't tell me?”

“I apologize.”

“You won't stop?”

“Let me ask you, Nathaniel. How many people do you think came here to talk with me other than your friend with [Lightning Crown]?”

“None.”

He smiles ever so gently, “Three. Tell me, do you wish to kill me, Nathaniel?”

“Isn't that much obvious?”

“For touching your group?”

“For touching my group,” I confirm.

With one smooth movement, he stands up and takes a few steps, an echo bouncing off the edges of the circular hole he is in.

“I have to say I never fully understood any Adepts or Masters of Pride I met. These feelings they have are so distant to me. Please, don't get insulted but from some point I consider them very foolish.”

“You weren't imprisoned here alone, right?” I ask instead of reacting to his monologue.

As if a teacher satisfied with the smart question from a student he pauses and nods, “They placed me here alongside my… well, you could call her my bond. Over these 100 years, I've put in tremendous effort to free her from containment. It’s not fully done, but she’s partially unleashed.”

“So, do you want to explain your master plan to me?”

“Not yet. I always found desperate people the most cooperative,” he says it as if he tasting that last word on his tongue. “You will notice your emotions cannot be trusted and you will notice your sense of time cannot be trusted either.”

The Champion takes a few more steps and gently slides his finger across the surface of his prison. The touch is almost loving. “You cannot sleep, you cannot trust the others, more monsters will appear, resources will dwindle and that's when people will turn against each other. They always do. Tell, me Nathaniel, how would you react to seeing your friends killing each other in the spur of the moment?”

I think of the question and then answer, “I don't know.”

“The people before you weren't very… resistant. My bond likes to play and sometimes she takes it too far. Will your little expedition be different?”

The darkness in the holes breached by a few bridges seems to be getting even deeper, as if reacting to his words. I can't sense anything, no movement, no mana, no heat. Yet at the same time, it feels like a thick blanket around me, a touch that is here but cannot be sensed.

“So what are you in here for?”

The question seems to surprise him for a moment and that weird feeling around me is gone.

“For a pursuit of knowledge,” he answers simply. “Now go, Nathaniel. My bond will see you off.”

With that, the conversation is over and I stand up. As he said, I have the feeling that something is watching me, and even the darkness under the bridge seems more “alive” than before.

When I reach the group they still sit down and rest, but I notice Tess having a big blue bruise around her eye. As if someone punched her.

***

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