Chapter 73 - The Choice That Seals Fate (Patreon)

Daughter?! Daughter!

Jiran converted the preserved meat into mana as quickly as he could get it into his stomach. The second his mana was full, he activated Revelation again but it refused to function. He tried to use it manually but the two-way connection with his mana failed to form, though his mana did begin to rapidly drain as if the technique were working.

What the abyss was that? Since I can still donate mana, she’s probably fine… hopefully.

What should I do? I can either let the Aahmra back in after he ascends, which I feel is the worst option. I can go with Daughter and Mayalyn’s suggestion to find the node, or I can try to ascend to the fourth tier so I’m strong enough to deal with the alphas and the Aahmra myself. I would need to find tier fives for challenger density, which there are none of on the island. Escaping through the portal is a fifty-fifty. If the Aahmra is there, I doubt he’ll allow me to escape again. I could try my luck with a tier six alpha… Yeah, that sounds stupid even without speaking it out loud.

As much as I hate the idea of dealing with the red density again so soon, I’m even less inclined to tier up regularly and miss the benefits of a tripling in attributes, mana, and concentration. I guess I don’t have any better option than to try the node.

Jiran hopped to his feet and joined Mayalyn in the main chamber. A lamp with a glowing flower in it was placed on the table next to her, flooding the large space with a soft emerald glow.

“You are far too mysterious, Jiran of Feylon. Why did you run off so suddenly? What is this technique that you could not wait to use until after our conversation?”

“It’s a technique that lets me ask questions to Madra, sort of? I don’t always get very good answers, and this time was no different. If anything, I have more questions now than I did before.”

“Y-you can speak to Madra?! That is incredible! What does she sound like, what did she say? How does this technique work? Can you teach me?” Mayalyn leaned forward in her chair, her heels bouncing rapidly against the floor.

“I can try, sure. But not today. I’m going to the node, right now.”

“Good! I will return to Azurelight and prepare.”

“Wait, what?”

Mayalyn tilted her head at him, “Did you expect me to insist I should come as well? Do you take me for a fool? As you said before, I would only distract you and likely end up getting us both killed. You were right before, I am not strong enough to stand by your side, yet.” Mayalyn’s jaw clenched as she balled her fists. Her glare was a challenge, daring him to object.

Far from objecting, Jiran was overjoyed at her determination. “If you’re interested in getting stronger, I have a few ideas. They’ll have to wait until I get back though.”

She blinked in surprise at his suggestion before swallowing past the lump of emotions in her throat. “Yes, I would like that very much.” Then she turned away from him so fast her hair tickled his face. With determined strides, she shouldered the pack of supplies and the flower lamp before walking toward the exit. “How will you reach the node? You said it was inside Adelphoros?”

“I was thinking of either flying high enough to enter at the top, or going straight through the side,” Jiran jumped ahead of her, not wanting her to be the first one out in case the hunters decided to ambush them.

“You should not ascend to the top. The alphas will certainly kill you. They will take your invasion into their territory as an affront to their supremacy and destroy the village,” Mayalyn squeezed into the crack behind him, the space too tight for further conversation.

Once outside, Jiran confirmed the hunters were long gone before opening the map in his interface.

Suddenly, every hair on Jiran’s body stood up straight and a shiver swept through him.

What’s waiting for me inside there? Why is it so important to Madra? Will I really learn something that can help Samris? What did Daughter’s warning mean? I have so many questions! And it’s long past time I find some answers.

A thunderous roar shook the air and the rocky ground alike. Mayalyn’s obfuscation activated on instinct and Jiran was right behind her with a screen of Light Manipulation. Both their heads snapped up to see a massive flying lizard descend on a group of betas. They were so far away they looked like tiny pricks of darkness against the bright sky. The birds panicked and scattered in every direction but another roar carried a wave of force that knocked a dozen of them out of the sky.

[???] (Tier ?) ???

A dragon?! No, it's more of a wyvern. Still, that thing is no joke. I can’t even tell what tier it is.

If that beast is tier seven, its attributes are upwards of 1280. Not to mention its 64 concentration which works as a flat multiplier. Compared to my 60 attributes and 6 concentration, I have absolutely no chance of even scratching it.

Jiran whispered after forming a hard shell on his aura to block the sound waves, “Yeah, no way I’m going up there. Good call,” Mayalyn didn’t respond to him in any way as she stood perfectly still, even going so far as to hold her clothes so they wouldn’t shuffle in the nonexistent breeze.

Within a blink, the alpha gobbled up the dead betas and ascended beyond the clouds. Mayalyn was coated in sweat and hyperventilating when her obfuscation dropped a minute later. Jiran took the pack off her shoulder before gently gripping her shoulders and giving her a little shake.

“It’s gone, you’re fine. Is that the first time you’ve seen one?”

“N-no, but never outside of town, in the open. That was terrifying,” She shook herself and took a few deep breaths before returning to herself.

“Do you want me to—”

“No, I can go alone. I will be fine.”

“What about those two hunters? Leaving me a trail of blood was brilliant but I’d rather not have to go through that again,” Seeing his pained scowl, Mayalyn wrapped him in a quick hug before jumping back.

“I will stay hidden and go to Mathra the minute I have returned.” Jiran wondered who that was but didn’t have a chance to ask as she continued. “And I do not believe they will attempt to take me a second time. I felt the fear in their auras when they faced you, they do not wish to die any more than I do. Hurry back, and be safe, Jiran of Feylon,” She blended in with the rocky slope and sparse shrubs before sprinting down the base of the mountain.

Not much of one for goodbyes, is she?

“I’ll do my best. See you soon, Princess,” Jiran took a deep breath, inhaling the last wisps of her scent before his gaze hardened on the distant mountain. He leaped into the air, aura propelling him higher until he was roughly two hundred meters below the marker.

After placing his hand on the cliff face, he jammed a spike of Coating four meters into the rock at an upward slant directly toward the marker. Metal Manipulation turned a three-meter cylinder around the spike into gravel that flowed out of the hole to trickle down the side of the mountain. Not wanting to stick around to see what the noise attracted, Jiran moved to the end of the cylinder and repeated the process. Because he was digging at an angle up toward the marker, the loose rocks fell out of his way allowing him to progress quickly without wasting time or mana to dig after each use of Metal Manipulation.

He kept up his digging for hours with each use of his technique consuming a single percent of his mana. After nearly fifteen kilometers, he finally saw something through his aura that wasn’t just more rock.

Coating: + 2

Metal Manipulation: + 4

Open air, or at least a cave of some kind. Better prepare first.

Jiran sat down and ate the last of the food. With his mana topped-off, a stomach full of density, and a clear mind, he burrowed the last few meters and poked his head into a perfectly straight tunnel. There were no stalagmites or stalactites and the walls were relatively smooth for a natural cave. The air was musty and stank of heavy minerals. The high natural density he was used to on the island reached a whole new level inside the mountain, each breath restoring nearly half a percent of his mana.

A lava tube? Or maybe a density tube? Since it’s Madra, this could also be from a massive worm eating its way through the mountain. Either way, it’s headed in the right direction so I might as well take the easy route instead of going all the way back out to replenish my food.

His first step into the deafening silence was his last. Despite taking a slow, careful step, he felt the reverberations from his footfall flutter through the stale air and rock all around him. He lifted himself with his aura and sent the Fathers a silent prayer that nothing felt those vibrations.

With how much noise I must have been making while digging, if there was something hunting through vibrations, it should have found me by now. Stupid of me not to think of that earlier. This tunnel is so creepy, it’s got me on edge now.

Jiran advanced at a crawl. His eyes were wide open. All he could perceive beyond the range of his aura was pure, inky darkness but his mind still struggled every second to pierce that black shroud. He constantly stretched his aura ahead and behind him, scanning for movement.

Foresight tingled in his neck a moment before an unholy howl erupted, ripping past him and filling him with instinctual dread. The sound was so fierce, it blew his hair back and billowed his clothes while the rock all around him began to rumble in protest. Jiran was already in motion, having come up with a plan if he encountered anything within the mountain before taking that first step into the tunnel.

He threw himself against the wall, Metal Manipulation turning it soft enough that he was able to push himself in while his aura kept the mud from falling away. He then resolidified and reinforced the rock, encasing himself inside a defensive bubble that looked no different than any other part of the passage. He drew his manabody in completely, knowing that higher-tier beasts could sense the energies. He sent a silent prayer to the Fathers that whatever was coming wouldn’t be able to detect him, and if it could, that it was only tier six so he at least had a chance to flee.

Something incredibly heavy and fast rumbled its way down the tunnel so quickly he felt the entire mountain shake from its passing. He didn’t dare send out a thread of coating or his aura to discover what it was. Minutes passed as Jiran’s self-made coffin shook all around him. His thoughts were silent as he focused with all his mental capacity, ready to flee the second he was discovered. Sweat leaked from him in nerve-wracking waves, dampening the stone pressing into his skin. When the shaking finally stopped, he held his breath until his vision swam before loosening the rock and taking a deep gasp of muggy tunnel air.

His aura spread out, questing across every surface around him. But there was nothing. The rock was cool to the touch, there were no prints or tissue residue to be found. It was as if whatever had passed him by was an illusion, or a ghost. Jiran shivered at the thought of an immaterial beast capable of shaking the massive mountain.

This place sucks. I take it all back, worst vacation ever.

He floated forward a few meters before suddenly stopping in the center of the passage. Before the shaking, he had been meticulously moving his aura all along every surface around him and was intimately familiar with its unnatural smoothness and exact size. Which is why he knew in his bones that the tunnel was now a single centimeter wider than it was before.