Chapter 203 - Bad Touch (Patreon)

Upon detecting that he wasn’t cheating, the trickle of energy from the screen returned to its home and a portion of the wall split apart to reveal the expected doorway. Peeking through, Jiran found a second, identical, white-paneled room.

This is new. Two preparation rooms?

His aura flooded inside, filling the space and revealing no threats. With no other options, Jiran stepped through and the door slid shut behind him with a hiss. Seeing another screen on the far wall, he moved to cross the room. A blinking notification behind his eyelids appeared and he closed one eye to view it.

Initializing quintessence connection

Five panels around the room popped open, each dispelling a mechanical arm. Unlike the previous one with the needle, these were ghostly apparitions, glowing blue and partially transparent. Jiran’s eyes flew wide, recognizing them from when his aura was forced to integrate with the density absorber node on Mayalyn’s island. He sucked his aura into his body, activating Oneness and converting his mana into three swirling chakrams of deadly fire. The mana that permanently infused his skin protected him as the temperature inside the small room instantly rose to that of a sweltering volcano.

As quickly as they appeared, the arms stopped cold and then retreated into their holes which slid shut. More flashing notifications were ignored for several long seconds as Jiran remained on high alert. When he was satisfied they weren’t coming back, he reclaimed his mana and checked the messages.

-ERROR-

Complete quintessence connection detected

Connection stimulation aborted

Quintessence connection? Stimulation? Completed? Does that mean I already have whatever it was going to try and do to me? If that’s the case, why come out of the walls in the first place? It must have assumed I didn’t have that connection yet, but I do. Hmm, quintessence, I think that means the innate or essential core of something. Was it referring to my Manabody? Quintessence could definitely be another name for the soul and the races I’ve met so far didn’t receive their Manabody until tier five. Since this is the tier four arena, it makes sense to assume a challenger here wouldn’t have their aura yet. The fact those arms were the same kind that were able to grab my aura before also supports—

A crack in the far wall near the screen widened into an open doorway, and through it, Jiran could partially see a long paneled hallway, most of his vision was blocked by a shimmering wall of light a few meters inside. His aura poured out of him and into the new room. Once again, he found nothing outright threatening. Jiran poked his head inside, looking left and right. The complete lack of deadly beasts and terrifying challenges he associated with the arenas had begun to wear on his nerves. Seeing the wall of light, and assuming whatever monsters were waiting for him would spawn when he touched it, was almost a relief. Steeling himself, he stepped into the new space and the door sealed behind him, the expected hiss of displaced air carrying a hint of finality.

The door seamlessly vanished, integrating into the wall. The moment it did, a wave of gray energy rippled outward from where it had been. It quickly passed across the ceiling and floor, altering the panels. They gained a metallic sheen and before Jiran could investigate what had changed, he slipped and fell, his feet completely unable to find purchase on the altered panel beneath him. He caught himself with his aura and held his body a meter off the slicked surface. His heart hammered and he did his best to look in every direction at once as he waited for something else to happen. His eyes were drawn to the shimmering wall of light a few meters in front of him, beyond it, the long hallway remained empty and motionless.

He emptied his held breath with an explosive huff, then shook his shoulders to dispel his rising tension. Whatever came when he touched that wall, being nervous about it would only slow him down. He lowered himself and traced a finger across the smooth floor, feeling no drag of any kind. He tried to press his palm down and put some weight into it but it instantly slid.

Is this a frictionless surface? Unlikely, though close enough that there’s no way I could stand on it. Last arena, I couldn’t use my aura at all. The framework was devoid of density so it had nothing to grab onto and now I can’t even stand without my aura. Never know what to expect in these places. It certainly seems like an aura-based challenge this time with the whole quintessence thing and now this. Luckily, that's the skill I’m most confident in.

With rock-solid resolve, Jiran zipped through the air and placed his hand against the shimmering wall.

Third phase challenger detected

Preparing quintessence adaptation course: Level 3

Third phase? Because this is the third room, or because this is my third arena? Level three doesn't sound too bad…

The wall of light faded as whatever it was made from pulled itself apart at the seams, fully revealing the two hundred meter long hallway. It was roughly ten meters wide and tall and every centimeter of it oozed the creepy, intrusive light that permeated the arena spaces. A familiar sense of ancient sanctity billowed out of the once-sealed space, washing over him in a wave of gooseflesh.

Hundreds of small circles along the floor, walls, and ceiling of the hallway liquified. Living metal beasts pulled themselves from the puddles. They were faceless imitations of men. Powerful chest and shoulder muscles flexed as they easily planted their hands on the surfaces Jiran couldn't put any weight on without slipping. Below the waist, they were nothing but stretched, liquid-metal. They elongate varied distances from their puddles; some only coming out far enough to reveal their upper bodies, others stretching all the way into the center of the hallway. Once they were in their positions, and with perfect synchronicity, they extended their arms in random directions and then remained perfectly still to match their featureless faces.

Jiran zeroed in on the closest, chakrams of Elemental Castigation long since formed and circling in the air around him. When Identify revealed the truth of the beasts before him, his heart felt like it would drop through the floor.

[Minor Essence Guardian: (Tier 10) ???]

Identify: + 2

Jiran froze, his minds refusing to accept a reality where he died without ever having a chance to fight back. Despite being momentarily too stunned to move, his minds raced at lightning speeds.

Wait, if they wanted me dead, I would already be dead. At tier ten, I wouldn’t be able to perceive them moving if they didn’t want me to. Considering how slowly they pulled themselves from the walls, and that I’m still alive, they aren’t here to fight me directly. So what are they doing? They haven’t moved at all since extending their arms.

Jiran gingerly probed with his aura toward the nearest guardian. When he was within a meter of touching it, he stopped, feeling a subtle pressure against his Manabody like static electricity in the air.

What am I doing? Why am I about to poke a tier ten beast? Have I lost my damn mind? I need to stay focused. If there’s one thing these arenas have in common, it's that they are deadly dangerous. The system said this was an adaptation course, so I’m probably supposed to make it to the end of the hallway, and it's a safe bet that I should do it WITHOUT touching any of the monsters more than double my tier!

As if sensing he was ready to begin, a metallic panel of the wall behind him started to tremble. It made no noise as it slowly rotated in place, revealing pure blackness just beyond it. The moment the panel fully flipped, it clicked, detaching from whatever was holding it in place and falling into that dark abyss to vanish. The moment it did, each of the four panels connected to the freshly empty space began to rotate as well.

Jiran felt a pull as the nearest bit of his aura to the vanishing wall was painfully ripped free, disappearing right alongside that first of many panels. For a fraction of a second, he pictured himself being ripped apart at the seams when the entire hallway was eventually consumed by that sucking darkness. His eyes widened, realization filling him that he had a whole new kind of timer to contend with.

Having no intention of fighting, and not needing the distraction of maintaining them, he absorbed the mana used for his chakrams and blasted down the tunnel. He made sure to keep his aura well away from the nearest guardians. Unfortunately, with so many of them crowding the space, he couldn’t fly in a straight line. As he wove around the third arms-out beast, a tickle against the edges of his aura from the side alerted him. The warning came far too late as three slivers of metal shot from tiny holes in the wall at impossible to dodge speeds. They pierced through him in a spray of blood, two in his chest, the last catching him in the temple.

Jiran dropped like a rock as three of the lobes comprising his brain turned to mush. Thankfully, two remained. Each was capable of sustaining his life, and more importantly, controlling the mana that suffused his entire body. Mana Confluence raged within him, easily patching up the holes in his chest. His brain took significantly more mana due to him not fully understanding his own physiology. Nearly five percent of his total vanished between two beats of his heart. He came back to himself, his vision clearing as he caught his fall centimeters from the floor.

Foresight (a unique connection with his soul that often warned him of unseen dangers) blared bloody murder inside his aching skull. Soft clicks behind him were reminder enough that remaining where he was would be the last stupid thing he ever had the chance to do. He tore down the hallway, now extending his aura all the way to the walls and pressing gently against them so he could find the holes before they shot more needles at him. He wove his body and aura around the beasts, dodging dozens of deadly projectiles coming from random directions. Now that he knew what to look for, it wasn’t difficult to determine their trajectories before they were released.

A glance behind revealed a rapidly growing mass of hungering gloom. Since every panel that vanished triggered each one touching it to do the same, hundreds of them were now in the midst of spinning and being sucked in. Three of his minds focused on controlling his flight and watching for holes. The last two planned his path through the guardians and pulled his aura away from their outstretched hands, leaving Jiran with no focus left to keep an eye on the disturbing reality happening behind him.

Twice, he attempted to increase his speed and new holes would sprout from nowhere, launching streams of silent needles at him to slow his progress. They slid through the air, his aura, and his mana with laughable ease, regardless of how hard he tried to grip them. Giving up on stopping them outright, he focused on maintaining the maximum speed the course seemed to want him to have.

A hundred meters in, one of the guardians suddenly moved, shifting its arm to a new position faster than he could track. Luckily, Jiran had been giving them a wide berth so the rapid movement didn’t touch him or his aura. However, that first, jerky movement was merely the beginning.

The several hundred guardians between him and the end of the hallway no longer remained still. The first few only moved their arms, but soon they were shifting their entire bodies to new positions with zero notice. A group of five moved together, completely blocking his way forward with their elongated bodies and spread-wide arms. Forced to a desperate halt, Jiran dodged a fresh wave of metallic slivers and dared to sneak a peak over his shoulder. He caught himself from sighing with relief when he noticed that he had made decent progress away from the abyss.

A blink later, all five guardians flashed back to their original locations and Jiran immediately understood their motions weren’t as random as they first seemed. He dove forward, barely making it through before the five reappeared, blocking the passage behind him. Jiran plowed ahead, redirecting one of his minds to the movement patterns of the guardians in the distance. He clenched his jaws when he saw new beasts forming, likely the ones he already passed returning for another chance to impede him. He was forced to bend, twist, and stretch his aura in ever more complicated patterns to get around the thickening obstacles. Still, the Aahmra’s lessons, and his own realizations, gave him the flexibility and control he needed.

His progress was steady, though he was often forced to wait for a group to move. Each time, the lack of rushing wind in his ears inevitably revealed the clicking of panels. It was during one of these stops that disaster struck. A guardian moved into the place he knew it would go. Unfortunately, the space it had occupied a second ago had no aura in it and failed to see the dozen needle holes that appeared the moment the beast shifted.

They struck like a storm of asteroids punching holes through a flimsy spacesuit. Blood splattered the ceiling, torn from his body. A single drop landed on one of the guardians and its eyes opened, revealing gaping holes that led into the abyss that sought to consume him from the very start. As if time stopped only for Jiran, the beast whipped itself through the air and grabbed him from behind. Jiran’s mouth opened in a scream as his aura was sliced through wherever the tier ten touched it. On instinct, he pulled his Manabody inside his skin, activating Oneness, which sped his thoughts and dulled the pain from his injuries.

Mana Confluence sealed the holes across his body as the guardian spun them both around to face the encroaching darkness. The beast’s arms pinned Jiran against its chests, not tight enough to kill, though the pressure did crush his density-packed body which was a torment all its own. Held against his will, Jiran watched with mounting horror as the abyss grew closer and closer.