Minkalla Chronicles Floor 7 (Patreon)

Minkalla Chronicles Floor 7

Sergio dodged an arc of green blades that tried to slam into him as he fought off a rival team from the Sects before returning their attack with a [Mana Slash] of his own.

His blade was physically useless, which was annoying, but he had spent five hundred years honing his skills for this moment, and Mind Over Matter was a floor they trained and prepared for.

His squad leader Cody called out just as he was forcing the Sect fighter back. “Empire team incoming! Prepare to protect them!”

Sergio resisted the urge to curse.

He had joined the military cadets and proven himself for over a hundred years before getting this opportunity.

Instead of Tiering up to Tier 15 and joining the military, like everyone else in his cohort, he had been offered the opportunity to pause at Tier 14 and instead enter Minkalla. He would be given the best training, skills, and items the Forge would allow, but the corresponding price was to protect the Empire Pathers and other Elites on the final floors, while also trying to kill any of the enemy Pathers he could. Or, whatever they were called; they were all Pathers to him.

He had almost declined, but eventually decided to do it when he realized that participating in a Minkalla run was the fastest way to enter the special forces of the army.

The Tier 15 Ghost Sturgeons were the premiere special forces unit at Tier 15, and specialized in the lowest rungs of the wars, accomplishing the high risk objectives that couldn’t be left to any other unit. Their prestigious reputation meant they were equally as hard to get into, it was generally by offer only, and you needed to serve in the regular army for at least a thousand years before you were even a blip on their radar. And all the while, you couldn’t advance past Tier 15, or you would be stronger than they allowed.

Minkalla runs were the sole exception.

Anyone who went in and performed well was almost guaranteed an invitation to join their ranks, and that was Sergio’s greatest dream.

His grandfather had been a squad leader in the Ghost Sturgeons, and those stories were some of his greatest memories growing up. At the same time, he didn’t want his grandfather's legacy overshadowing his application. Even if it would help, which it wouldn’t, that would mean he wasn't good enough on his own.

And Sergio was anything but average.

He had fought a dozen other Tier 14s for this opportunity. He was even offered a captain position if he wanted to wait another dozen cycles, but he was too impatient for an otherwise empty title.

Protecting the Tier 12 Elites was half of their job description for a Minkalla run. The other half was killing enemy Elites, but the defensive was to be prioritized over the offensive. That didn’t change the fact that they were already in a disadvantageous fight, and needed to kill their opponents before they could easily help the newcomers.

Except, as it turned out, the approaching team wasn’t a group of run of the mill fighters. From the way they obliterated the Tier 14 who tried to attack them, he knew they were some of the best in their generation.

Even with all of his military-provided training and equipment, he wasn’t sure he could kill a fellow Tier 14 as quickly. No one here was pedestrian; safe to assume that no one would have an overwhelming advantage.

No one except the Tier 12 Elites.

Two Tiers weaker than him, but with higher combat prowess.

This delve into Minkalla was the first time he had really interacted with Pathers, and it was only now that he understood his instructors' warnings and stories. He thought a degree of the mystique was propaganda and exaggeration, but those thoughts were washed away after seeing the Pathers in person.

Most were just slightly better than he was at Tier 12, but a few were monsters in the truest sense.

As the buffing spells washed over his team, they were able to easily finish off their Sect counterparts, and Sergio was thanking his lucky stars that they had made it through unscathed.

The fourth floor Courtly Warfare had created a worst-case scenario, bunching everyone up, and this final floor was more populated than their instructors had prepared them for.

In this scenario, the manual suggested holding up and gathering more reinforcements before approaching a floor boss, and he was already searching for a defensible position when he got an order from one of the women. ”We're pushing to the exit.”

Sergio felt his stomach drop to his boots, even as Cody responded in the positive along with Janet, who readied up for her team.

Kay, their healer, asked in their joint teams channel, “Is this a good idea? Should we persuade them to hold back?”

Johnathan, the strategist from Janet's team, chimed in with his agreement. “This is going to make us public enemy number one. I recom—”

He stopped his warning as it was already apparent what would happen. Every non-Empire team within the three nearest ruins stopped their fights and turned towards them and the team of four.

Sergio cursed and accepted that he was going to die.

He just wished they hadn’t gotten this floor. Mind Over Matter was not ideal for a melee fighter like himself.

Not that it was bad, as it helped him create a manifestation of his short sword, but he was missing his recently-bonded shield and needed to rely on spells, which wasn't his preferred style.

As they retreated, he came to realize that this team of fighters fit into the description of… well, monsters.

The shadow woman with a greatsword cut through enemies like they were training dummies rather than ravening demons seeking bloodshed, and the woman who wielded a spear controlled flames with more finesse than even the best mages he’d seen in training.

But all of that paled in comparison to the armored figure that unleashed spell after spell. Through his spiritual perception, he was able to watch Janet’s team, who held the rear with the only man of the group, and what he guessed was a small wolf.

From the sword the man wielded and the magical armor he wore like a second skin, Sergio learned what it was to be a true blade mage. Spells came to the man as naturally as breathing, and while he had no proof, he suspected the man was just as good with his blade.

As he and his team fought through the waves of rhinos, he started to believe that he would live through this, and when the armored man suggested they split off, he was glad to hear it.

Their mission was to help Elites like this, but ideally, they would be able to help more than one team. Their final merits would depend on how many people they helped, and the points he earned for this mission would see him set for at least a decade.

As Sergio held up the rear, blocking a few spells that were thrown their way, he nearly dropped his sword when more mana than he had ever felt in one place before gathered up at once. It was like a storm that set the metaphorical hairs on the back of his spiritual neck on end, and it unleashed what could only be described as a cataclysm.

It was pitch-black and glimmered with the colors of an aurora, yet the storm cast an icy blue light over its surroundings for a full two miles as it seemingly materialized in a single instant, fading away to an icy wonderland in the moments thereafter. The horde of monsters that had previously been an obstacle were completely gone, replaced by an extensive garden of ice sculptures. Even the boss, at the far end of the attack, seemed wounded.

There was so much Genesis Energy flowing into the man, it was visible as a golden hue, like the sunset on an ice planet between the glimmering bodies of the monsters and the frozen over ruin. The talisman array seemed so strong, Sergio saw the very ground start converting into ice like a creeping poison seeping into the planet itself.

Even without a body, he felt his mouth go dry at the sight.

“What the fuck?!?” Janet’s exclamation through the open chat woke them up, and they retreated further from the fight while keeping the exit within their spiritual perceptions.

Once they were far enough away, Kay asked, “How are they going to kill the boss? Another array?”

Travis shook his head. “No way. They're too close for another one of those.”

As Cynthia countered that they had an ice mage and could be fine, they got their answer.

The armored man raced ahead of the rest of the team and used a channel beam spell to punch a hole into the rhino, before following the hole to tear the monster apart from the inside out.

Cody rubbed his hand across his face at that and gestured with his staff. “I wish he could have done that earlier... Would’ve saved us a lot of effort.”

That piqued everyone's interest, and the two team leaders looked to each other at the realization.

If they moved in now, they could clean up the attacking teams when the living armor man came out of the monster.

“Move forward to engage.” Cody spoke first, but Janet's team was already keeping pace with the rest of them.

Cody turned out to be right. At least, partially. When the man came out of the monster's body, he swept his beam across the teams who had chased them, injuring all of them and outright killing a few of the ones with worse defensive spells, though not without taking a few final blows.

As the Empire team vanished, Sergio and his squad engaged with the survivors. Two of the teams were in good enough shape to retreat, but the eight of them were able to kill twelve others and gather their loot.

They didn’t linger, though. Tier 12 teams who had seen a boss defeated and one team leave started rushing forward to take down some of the remaining bosses before they were all killed.

The final floor was small, and there was only so much Genesis Energy available to those who didn’t want to kill the other teams.

Cody and Janet quickly found a group of their cohorts assisting a Guild team who were trying to stop a Clans cultivator from exiting, and they moved to assist them. Their job wasn’t done yet, and they needed to stick around for as long as possible, but Sergio was now far more confident in their chances. With each team that they took out, they tilted the odds into their favor.

It also earned him more contribution points, and looked better for his applications to the Ghost Sturgeons.

***

Long Zhiyuan breathed out as he stepped into the distortion that would take him to the final level of this floor.

Armed with his six new abilities stemming from his First Revelation, he felt like a new man.

Fighting his copy, while proving that he was finally learning how this trial world worked, hadn’t been an easy task. But he persevered with only a few injuries that were no longer a concern now that he had reached this floor.

Flexing his hands, or rather his claws, he smiled.

One last hunt.

He appeared in a ruin that seemed to be a winter forest, but he didn't worry, as he felt the teams around him.

Once he identified the nearest teams, he moved.

This would have been easier with his cloak, but he could do without its concealment.

Gliding over the snow, he came up to a team of Tier 14s from the Monster Collective that were fighting a team of Tier 12s from the Federation, and he didn’t hesitate to rip out the Monster Collective healer’s throat.

Instead of fighting with his claws, he started casting techniques. [Grasp of the Storm-Tiger] paired exceptionally well with [Claw From the Beyond], which sent fingers of lightning out to strike at both opposing teams.

His follow up attack surprised the Federation team and burnt a hole through a ghostly looking man.

He cast [Tribulation of the First Heaven] and danced inside the falling flames while his lightning took out the others with flashes of his claws.

After picking up their loot and looking for the rings that stored Genesis Energy, Long Zhiyuan moved to find another few teams to kill for the final bits necessary for the exit challenge, when he saw a message go out through the Sects' [Spiritual Self].

A call for assistance by Young Mistress Meteor Fall to any and all Sect cultivators on this floor.

Long Zhiyuan had no intentions to help the arrogant Young Mistress, but he knew an opportunity when he saw one. Holding back and not responding to the summons, he waited and watched as she made a dash for a ruin’s boss.

Instead of fighting for a position with her, he joined her protectors, wielding a staff and pretending to be an average mage from a low Tier Sect. While they fought their way through a blockade of the other Great Powers, he focused on blending into the background as much as possible.

With most of his Genesis Energy in his ring, he was just a faceless lackey among the dozens she had gathered.

As he pretended to help, he put all of his clones into a last minute fight against the Young Mistress, while his [Heavenly All Seeing Eye] watched and picked up as much information as he could from her battle.

Being so close, he was able to gather a lot of information about her that he had otherwise missed, and even deduced a few possible finishing moves she might have used based on what he knew of her Sects techniques and her current fighting styles.

The closer they got, the more resistance they encountered until Young Mistress Meteor Fall cast her Sect's signature technique, summoning a rain of fire and earth onto her enemies.

That broke them, and most that survived the initial bombardment retreated, but Young Mistress Meteor Fall simply ordered her lackeys forward to finish killing the monsters and boss of the ruin.

She pretended to be out of mana, but [Heavenly All Seeing Eye] noticed the potion she was drinking was nothing more than colored water. It had no essence.

A sneaky trap, but someone still fell for it and tried to ambush her from the rear.

A summoner seemed to appear in the distance for a moment, inside one of his monsters. He materialized just long enough for a hidden monster to slash out at the Young Mistress. It might have worked, but she had a white-hot ball of fire ready for such an occurrence, and obliterated the ambushers' summons before quickly sending a flurry of thumb-sized fireballs at the man's last known position.

Keeping up his act, Long Zhiyuan joined with everyone else who attacked the same area, but there was no rush of Genesis Energy, signifying the ambusher wasn’t dead yet.

[Heavenly All Seeing Eye] hadn’t gotten much time to analyze the man, but Long Zhiyuan believed that the summoner wouldn't stick around. He understood ambush predators better than anyone, and they rarely tried twice when there was easier prey around.

At least, he wouldn’t stick around.

Young Mistress Meteor Fall must not have believed he would try again either, as she ordered the lackeys to push forward, and Long Zhiyuan kept up his [Heavenly All Seeing Eye] and his ruse.

Right when the giant darkness crow boss was about to die, Young Mistress Meteor Fall stepped in and finished it off, taking the Genesis Energy for herself.

While that was her right as a Young Mistress, it angered the others, who murmured in distress. Meteor Fall had more than enough Genesis Energy, and it would have been the political play to share the final boss's reward.

At least, it would have been if she intended to let any of them live, which she did not.

As she once more cast her Sect's inheritance technique, Long Zhiyuan fell and pretended to die along with everyone else.

He knew Young Masters and Mistresses enough to know few would share glory during such a moment so he was prepared for the possibility. As some subtle shifts in her mana indicated her betrayal slightly ahead of time he positioned himself next to a larger woman who he had been able to use as cover from the bombardment.

Using [The Healing Stream Which Washes Wounds Away] with just a trickle of mana to stop his heart from pumping any blood in his false mind-body, he camouflaged himself among the other bodies, waiting for his opportunity .

Using a skill was a risk, but he suspected Young Mistress Meteor Fall had her own copy of [Heavenly All Seeing Eye], and it might notice any irregularities in his mental body.

When she came over to start gathering their items, Long Zhiyuan struck one devastating blow.

As his claw reached out, he was already casting [Flames And Wind Of The Dancing Stars] to speed himself up, and he sacrificed his left hand to grab her fist as it began to glow white with flames.

She tried to summon something out of her spiritual ring, but with a flex of his First Revelation, he demanded the world stay as it was, preventing her from opening the connection to the pocket space.

Young Mistress Meteor Fall didn’t seem surprised, and from her mouth, another ball of flames appeared and grew, but Long Zhiyuan was already moving.

His right hand, which he had feinted towards her more vulnerable neck, slammed into her jaw. As the technique went off, her head vanished in an explosion of heat and colors.

Genesis Energy rushed into Long Zhiyuan, and he only paused to claim treasures from Young Mistress Meteor Fall and all the cultivators she had killed, but not yet looted.

Stepping into the final distortion, Long Zhiyuan smiled.

A successful Minkalla run.

He had been forged anew.

The Long Zhiyuan who had entered would be nothing but a bug to be stepped on to his current self.

And he had even managed to kill Young Mistress Meteor Fall, taking all the riches of a Heaven’s chosen. Even just a brief glimpse showed her spatial ring was packed with natural treasures, potions, talismans, technique shards, technique manuals from dozens of Sects, and finally, beautifully crafted weapons and armor.

He just needed to leverage these new gains into power, but he had no question in his ability to do so.

His First Revelation abounded with new power, and whatever reward this final floor may be, he would master it just as surely as all else he had claimed within this place. It would take time to consolidate his might, but his clones would aid him immensely in that matter.

As he started the final test, his mind was on his future.

There were so many things he needed to do.

***

Claude slunk through the shadows of this floor to the best of his abilities.

Mind Over Matter was weird at the best of times, but the body he manifested was especially odd.

He had six arms, and his entire body was covered with eyes.

Not that they did anything, but it looked eerie when he opened them. They certainly were an odd representation of his Talent, for that was the only thing it could be. It sure wasn’t from his life of seeing with his eyes.

But this floor wasn’t one he was looking for a fight on.

He had found a challenge room hidden at the top of a waterfall on the second level of this floor, and subsequently had all the Genesis Energy he needed to exit Minkalla with the innate skill slot and to accept the floor challenge.

‘Know Yourself’ wasn't a fun challenge, but self reflection had never been a difficulty for Claude.

While he could fight his way through this floor, he would rather avoid the fights and sneak his way through an empty ruin. From everything he saw, there were two ruins that had already been cleared, but in front of each one, there was a collection of teams from each Great Power that insisted on defending them.

He didn’t need to take those paths, so he instead floated at his best speed to a ruin with an Empire and Guild team.

A quick message to them got them to hold off the others long enough for him to slip through. Those two teams quickly were chased off, and a Sect team along with a Federation team tried to chase him down, but he was already ahead of them. A few quick uses of his Talent ensured that they got in each other's way more than his own.

It was almost anticlimactic as he passed into the ruin's distortion and began his final challenge.

He had expected something to go wrong, or someone to ambush him at the last minute.

Claude just took it as proof that good deeds were repaid in kind by the realm.

***

Carlos followed his team as they inspected the icy ground where they found what remained of Delta team. Or, what they believed was Delta team. The nine bodies were gone, eaten by the planet, but they had found some telltale signs of Diana's Talent in the twisted foliage that littered the ground in the prodding ruins.

Breaking the ice was not easy. It seemed like it had turned into a part of the planet itself, and they only did so to see if anything was left of their companions, but they found nothing.

No one said anything while they worked by mutual unspoken agreement.

Charlie was in an awful mood, and had almost come to blows with Brett in the last safe room, only being held back by Alexi.

They were all angry at having to kill Cecil, and Carlos wondered if the others felt the same way he did.

Mother had warned them of the dangers of the False Truths challenge, where Minkalla would seek to sway them from their course with lies and slander. But some portion of what he had experienced within the lives rang true, though distorted. In the wake of Cecil’s death, Carlos had reflected upon a faint nagging feeling he had become aware of sometime during this trial. Thoughts which had never occurred to him before came just a bit too freely, though it certainly had not felt akin to an external force attempting to poison his mind.

It was more like a stiff breeze was stirring up dust and debris, returning long-forgotten and neglected thoughts to swirl around his mind. Little actions which their Loving Mother had taken, that at the time had seemed so loving, now were less clear. He had a life within the Conglomerate of Guilds, and had possessed loving parents who acted in no way akin to Mother. They were softer, more present, and his mind had felt clear and free in a way he wasn’t used to, but he did recognize it as similar to what he felt within the depths of this metal monstrosity.

Lies.

The word echoed through his mind. There was a lie somewhere, he knew. There was some falsehood existing within him, but he couldn’t simply ask Mother what the truth was. Life was simple, it was enjoyable when he could simply ask and receive Truth. But Mother had told them that Minkalla hated them, that it would try to rip them from her, that it was a tool of the Evil Empire meant to ruin them and their own citizens, simply because they hated everyone. But Minkalla seemed so indifferent. Why would it grant them such gifts if it hated them?

It seemed more indifferent than malicious, and why would it lie?

And if Minkalla was not lying, there was only one other option.

But why would Mother lie?

He did not know the answer to that. Mother had told them that they couldn’t trust what Minkalla said because it would lie, and she would know. She knew everything. He would need to ask her, once they had left. She certainly had not lied, and if she had lied, then there was a good reason for it. Some truth that they weren’t ready to hear yet.

Mother was safe… Mother could be trusted.

The entire Realm sought to rip them from her grasp, just like she had warned, but she would always be there for them. So then, why did Charlie act to rip one of Mother’s children from her?

Was it truly so awful to doubt?

Seeing what happened to Cecil, he had his answer.

Yes, yes it was.

Doubt was how lies seeped in. Lies could poison them all, if they had infiltrated their hearts. And that was deadly.

But his heart was full of doubt, especially doubt in Mother. That wasn’t natural; it had to be some kind of poison… but he didn’t want to die. Or perhaps, it would be for the best?

To die in faith was better than to live in doubt, but what if he died in doubt? Why had Charlie consigned Cecil to death, to die in doubt? They should have brought him out to be treated by Mother, instead of silencing him before anyone else could hear about his questions. But given the effects his few words were having on Carlos, perhaps that was for the best?

Carlos could not voice his doubt, because to do so would be suicide, and death while in doubt was the worst way to die. Worse, it might cause some of his brothers and sisters to doubt, and consign them to the same, terrible fate he would suffer. Could he truly stand before Mother with such doubt in his heart, and watch her face fall as she saw him shrouded in such darkness?

But! If he settled his doubt before he saw Mother again, then she would welcome him once more.

That was what allowed his traitorous mind to wander into dangerous territory. All he needed to do was to investigate his doubt, learn of its falsehood, then his faith would be strong once more. Mother may be disappointed to learn that he needed to see the truth with his own eyes, but she would understand.

She was Mother.

She was reliable.

She was safe.

When he returned to her, she would welcome him once again. Minkalla had shown him a paradise in the Guilds, and once he saw the lies that the planet carried for himself, he could be firm in his heart once again.

He had not wanted to doubt, but the life he had seen had forced him to.

From the false life, Carlos now knew there were no Castes that one would be sorted into upon Awakening within the Guilds, but Mother’s teaching always described it as awful and purposelessly chaotic.

He believed that before the alternate life, but now… He was not so sure. From what he had seen, it was a place for True Heroes to rise, to literally soar above the streets as an example for all, paragons of virtue and hope that defended the common man from those Villains who would prey upon them.

To be a Hero or a Villain was the prerogative of the individual, which made no sense, and a small part of him wished to see it for himself. Even after living through it, he was not sure if he understood how it worked. With no assortment upon Awakening, surely the individual’s Talent would go to waste?

None of it made any sense.

A Talent was the truest expression of the self, surely life would be chaotic beyond all belief without a place in which to utilize it, certainly beyond the form of the beautiful, self-woven tapestry Minkalla had soothingly whispered to him. He would see it for himself, then find some way to return to the Federation’s loving order, or he would die.

His siblings would never understand, though. If they heard that he wished to see the Guilds, they would see it as a firmer betrayal than anything Cecil had done, and he had no wish to die in doubt.

If he died upon seeing the truth, and knowing with certainty that Mother was right, he would rest easy. If he was killed within seconds of appearing within the Guilds, he would die in peace, he would die in faith, and that was better than dying in doubt.

So he said nothing, as they tore their way through the final floor.

Carlos fought as hard as he could as they beat their way through one of the final ruins that still had a boss with the other teams.

As the three teams entered the safe room, Carlos felt his heart racing. He would likely die here, but at least it would be in faith upon confirming Mother’s wisdom, and to serve Mother, he would happily die. She would be sad that she lost another child, and that she would never know the true depths of his devotion. Would she weep, that doubt in him had led to his demise? Or would she hold it within her heart and be strong for his siblings? His mental finger shook, not because of the pain of his runes or his chosen skill settling deep within his spirit, but because he still wished that he did not have to die.

His decision settled itself as his mental finger fell seemingly on its own accord.

Better death than doubt, to look Mother in the eye with so much as a shred of disbelief in his heart.

As he appeared on a street of the Guild moon, he awaited death.

It felt like an eternity, but was less than a heartbeat before he vanished from the street and into an office.

A woman in blue and white armor and matching cape that contrasted with her dark skin sat across from him, and gazed at him with piercing golden eyes that sat behind a small mask shaped like two diamonds stuck together.

He… he knew her.

That shouldn’t be possible with Minkalla’s lies of other lives.

But maybe Minkalla had not lied?

He knew her.

Madam Skyfist. Her Guild, the Pillars, were a Tier 35 guild with the motto, “We will hold up the sky” because of their dedication to the Guilds and their protection of the citizens under them… if Minkalla had been telling the truth.

“Why are you here, little Feddy? Did your finger slip?” She spoke in the Guild's language, but he understood most of it, despite the life only being a reflection.

“I… I wish to see the truth. Mother told me of the evils of the Realm, but in a moment of weakness, I doubted her. I do not wish to die with doubt in my heart, so all that I ask of you is that before you kill me, I may see the truth. Let me see your lies.”

He expected to be denied, and that he would fail, having his doubt remain even as he was snuffed out, but instead Madam Skyfist’s face softened.

“What is your name, child?”

“Carlos. I, I—” Before he could finish what he was about to say, Madam Skyfist interrupted him.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Carlos. I am Skyfist, and I will show you the truth you so crave. You are not the first to have come from the Federation, nor do I expect you to be the last. I will warn you, you will be kept under surveillance, but you will see whatever you wish to see. We have some of your former compatriots here on this moon who defected in previous cycles, they will be happy to answer every question you have so that you may indeed learn the truth. We’ll even return you to the Federation if you so desire, within reason. We don’t permit spies, but we do believe in choice.”

Carlos felt confused. This was… this was exactly how he would have expected her to act from Minkalla’s lies. Were… were they not lies?

A spasm of pain shot through him, and he collapsed to the ground. Madam Skyfist seemed to teleport to his side, and laid her hand on his shoulder. She frowned, but for the first time Carlos could remember, his bones stopped hurting.

“Well now,” she mused. “This is interesting.”

Carlos’ breath caught in his throat. Was she about to kill him? Was she going to—

“Child. We need to get you to a hospital.”

***

Jullian entered the final level of the final floor and strolled through the destroyed landscapes, taking it all in.

While others had fought desperately, he had a clean path ready to walk.

As he floated through the passages, he contemplated that idea.

Merchants weren’t meant to fight directly, but they could benefit from war. At least, if they were still alive to take advantage of the situation, and hadn't been robbed of all their possessions by someone with a stronger fist.

He had traded goods for Genesis Energy on each floor's safe area on his journey to the seventh floor, and he had a new appreciation of what the fighters went through to make it this far.

Jullian knew he couldn't have fought his way through these monster infested halls. His battlefields were clean, well-lit rooms, large offices, and meetings full of fake smiles.

When he entered the final distortion, he once more denied the planet in its prompt to take its challenge and walked straight to the central pillar.

Touching its smooth surface, he felt the planet ask him which exit reward he wanted, and without hesitating, he chose the seventh floor reward and had his AI moved into his newly opened skill slot. It hurt beyond words, but he only screamed for a little while, and had composed himself when he chose to exit onto the Corporations' moon. The auctions were another place he could make a killing, and he still needed to check in on all the Tier 14s he had helped on the proceeding floors.

Each would need a personal message congratulating them for their successful reaching of Tier 15, which would serve as a reminder they needed to start paying him.

So much work to do, and so little time.