Chapter 82 - Acclamation Of The Insane (Patreon)

Jiran landed in the camp he’d been sharing with Mayalyn for nearly a week. His fifth hunt of the day had gone like every one before it. He flew around the Outlands until he found a tier five, evaluated it for a weakness and then struck with a calculated attack that would overwhelm its defenses.

He had been pleasantly surprised that he gained three hours instead of two whenever the challenger timer was reset by a kill. The much longer window of rest between kills was a relief now that he had a few under his belt.

A large rock near the river was his first destination. A flicker of razor-sharp Coating on his finger allowed him to easily carve in the most recent damage numbers from his hunt. He added an abbreviated note about the beast’s name, the element he used to kill it, and the percent of mana he ran through his channels during the fight.

He compared his numbers to the last three times he fought a similar beast while rubbing his chin, which had recently started growing a small amount of stubble. He was loath to trim it, even though he knew it looked awful.

Damage is consistent only if the multiplier is a sliding scale between ten and fifteen times the percentage of mana used.

Jiran scratched the back of his head as he tried to run through the probable math involved.

This would be a lot simpler if the beasts had baseline attributes but each one is unique enough to have slightly different HP which means slightly different resistances to my attacks.

It took him two entire days of killing the same lower-tier beasts to determine that his baseline damage was a calculation of the median of wisdom and intelligence multiplied by various other factors. He knew the creature's defenses were taken into account, as well as the base skill used, the element, and where the attack struck. What he couldn’t understand was how channeling five percent mana through his channels resulted in so much less damage than ten percent.

“Does it really matter?” Mayalyn’s voice from behind disrupted his train of thought.

“Maybe? Yes, yes it most definitely matters. If I know exactly how much mana to use with each attack then I’ll have a much better chance of surviving the next arena. The last one had increasing waves of beasts, if this one is similar, I could find myself out of mana very quickly if I don’t optimize my efficiency.”

“Assuming there is another arena,” She planted her hands on her hips and a light smile played across her mouth.

Jiran ignored her obvious attempt to get a rise out of him as he turned away from the rock.

“How’s your progress?” Her muscles clenched as she asked the same question as every night since their arrival. Jiran knew that showing her would only increase her stress, but he did it anyway by willing his status to be viewable through the party system.

Molding + 2

Shaping + 4

Channeling + 12

Forcing + 3

Coating + 3

True Origin of Fire + 2

True Origin of Lightning + 1

True Origin of Ice + 4

True Origin of Water + 1

True Origin of Wind + 1

Gas Manipulation + 3

Big Bang + 1

Acid Manipulation + 8

Metal Manipulation + 2

Light Manipulation + 1

NAME   Jiran of Feylon

RACE   Human

AGE   15

WEIGHT  953.21 kg > 1821 kg

STATUS  Intermediary User Interface / Active Dual Mind / Linked Manabody / Party System

TIMER  163:27:14

TIER   3

EXP   100/100

GROWTH  15.84% > 109.67%

MANA   6

CONCENTRATION 6

STRENGTH  66.6 > 125.8

AGILITY  67.2 > 125.8

ENDURANCE  67.7 > 125.8

DURABILITY  68.1 > 125.8

WISDOM  68.6 > 125.8

INTELLIGENCE 68.8 > 125.8

Despite spending three hours every morning working on his balance and coordination, Jiran still felt awkward with his massively increased attributes. Each day he would feel like he almost had a handle on his own body, only to gain another wave of attributes and once more find himself an ungainly mess of flailing limbs.

He often lost control of his speech as well, leaving Mayalyn dizzy trying to keep up with his words.

A normal, maxed-out tier four only has one-sixty in each attribute and eight concentration. I’m nearly there. I’m already a little stronger than a fresh tier four and I’m only halfway through tier three, insanity.

Mayalyn’s eyes were closed as she scanned through the changes to his status. Several seconds later, she spoke with a timid voice.

“What do you suppose would happen if you chose to tier up now? Do you think that would stop the timer?”

“There’s no way I’m going to leave so many attributes behind and ascend now. Besides, what if I was just forced into the arena early and had to fight without as many attributes as possible? That would be suicide.”

Mayalyn sighed and nodded, unable to find any argument to convince him to stop rushing headlong toward what could be his imminent death. Seeing her lower lip being worried by sharp canines, Jiran changed the subject.

“Did you make any progress with your circulating?” His ploy was successful as her eyes opened wide and she gasped.

“Your brooding over numbers distracted me! I finally did it!” Suddenly she was jumping up and down, her feet kicking her butt with each hop while she fist-bumped the sky.

“About ti-I mean congratulations!” Jiran raised his hand for a high five that was ignored in favor of her sticking her tongue out at him.

I never should have shown her that. It’s way too cute.

“So you can claim mana now? What level is your circulating at?”

“Yes, I did it for the first time while you were out and my circulating is at forty-six!”

“Great, four more levels and you should unlock a subskill. I can’t wait to see what options you get.”

“How did you get the last few levels before your subskill? I have been trying to get them all afternoon but they are being stubborn and I want to see the options right now. I am sick of waiting!”

“They came pretty quick when I used the skill in different ways. Like forcing and coating. You don’t have techniques though, so maybe if we practice your enhancing that will do the trick.”

“Finally the great master Aajiran deigns to teach this lowly one his secrets,” She rolled her eyes so hard her head rolled as well.

“I said I would help once you could use circulating manually. No need to be so dramatic,” Jiran chuckled.

“This is one of the best days of my life, I can act however I want. Now hurry up and tell me.” Mayalyn plopped onto the ground, all hints of exuberance evaporated as a steely glint flashed in her eyes.

"How much did you learn about particles and molecules from your grandmother and the Maker's books?"

"I do not recognize either of those words," She shook her head.

"What? Really? That seems odd. I can't imagine he would leave that information out of what he passed on to his children."

"Oh, perhaps this is lost knowledge? Grandmother mentioned a few times that some books the Maker wrote with certain information would suddenly vanish.

"I asked her to tell me more, but each time her answer was the same: 'Density chooses to conceal this knowledge for a reason and we would be foolish to spread it too widely. If books can vanish, so can people,'" Mayalyn’s voice took on a cadence and lilt he didn’t recognize as she quoted the woman he never had a chance to meet.

"That's… a terrifying thought. Maybe I shouldn’t teach you this stuff then.”

All I’ve ever taught is how to activate skills manually, I’ve never actually shared any real Earth knowledge. What if the system has some kind of protections in place that destroys knowledge it doesn’t want spread around? Would it actually kill her or me? I need to know more before I teach her anything else then. Luckily, I know exactly who to ask.

"I need to use a skill for a few minutes. I'll be right back," Without waiting for a response, Jiran leaped into the air. He flew over a nearby hill before landing and feeding his mana to Daughter as he had done every day. However, for the first time since the absorber node, he called on her with a question.

Mayalyn Aloyhee

The ground shook as Jiran jumped, further proof his rapidly increasing weight and attributes were beyond his ability to control. Her brows furrowed as she guessed he was about to use revelation, a skill she had asked about the first time he shared his status with her.

All it took to get him to talk to her again was a little fear for my well being? That is certainly flattering, though his fear is warranted. Grandmother’s face was never so serious as when she talked about the lost knowledge. Is it really so terrible to know things that make us more powerful?

That is not it. Jiran knows many things that make his skills far greater than normal and he has not vanished. Great Grandfather lived with his knowledge as well. Grandmother only warned about the passing of knowledge, not the possession of it.

Is that what happened to the Great Grandfather? Did he try to teach Grandmother only to vanish? Is that why she would not teach Pepa or me more than the basics?

So be it. If Jiran speaks to her and she says I should not learn more, then I will refuse to hear him. I will not risk him vanishing over something like this. That would be beyond foolish. He is far too valuable to me and to Madra.

He has been working so hard to overcome his guilt too. I must keep pushing myself as well.

Mayalyn sat next to the gently crackling fire and latched onto her determination to match Jiran’s progress. The swirl of emotions moved through her body and when they reached her chest, she tethered them to her core. The bead made entirely of her mana leaped in response to her call as it began to thrum. Mana and blood pumped through her body creating a soothing, steady humm in her ears to match the gurgling of the nearby creek.

With manual control of her core and the mana that steadily flowed through her, she pushed and pulled, causing parts of her body to twitch in response. She allowed some of her mana to leave her bloodstream and sink into her muscles. That mana brushed against the caged lightning stored from her enhancing skill. It waited patiently, ready to be released. As she always had, since the day she absorbed it, she left it there and painfully retracted her mana back into her blood.

With my circulating so much higher, I can absorb a great deal more lightning. How will it feel to carry that much power within me? Hurry up, Jiran. I cannot wait to begin!

The popping and sizzling of fat reminded Mayalyn of the dinner cooking in front of her. She hopped up and spun the spit, her thoughts spinning right along with it.

Soon, I will be strong enough to go with him when he hunts. Hiding here in camp with an obfuscation draining my mana is not the best use of my time. Though, now that I can claim density, I can spend many more hours practicing!

Excitement churned within her at the thought of how much stronger the People would become when she showed them what she had already learned.

Oliviala Le’Cruex

Olive’s boots crunched with each step as they crushed dried twigs and fallen leaves. Cameron grumbled under his breath behind her. She knew he was close to exploding at her again, his mood swings were always so predictable.

Her eyes scanned the barren valleys that stretched around them as they breached the crest of the most recent hill on their journey south. Her map clearly showed how close they were to the outlands and the Undead Barrens beyond. If they kept on at this pace, in mere days they would be swimming in tier five beasts.

Cameron sucked in a deep breath behind her.

Any moment now.

“This is insanity!” He finally snapped with flared nostrils as he stopped following her determined strides.

Olive turned to face him, her arms folded across her breastplate. Her argument had long since been prepared and she wasted no time in launching her first attack.

“No, it’s not. Both our fathers have preached about trusting our skills. I am merely trusting mine.”

“It's not even a skill!” He bellowed while throwing his hands into the air.

“That hardly matters. Technique, skill, or acclamation, they should all be trusted with your life.”

Hopefully, that is the end of it. We are close now. I can feel it.

Just as Olive turned to begin marching once more, Cameron spoke again. This time his voice was calm, collected, and thoughtful.

“Okay, how about sending Fahnald away, Disbanding the party, or spending days sitting in place only to randomly change directions and set out again? If those are not signs of insanity, then I don’t know what the word means,” Olive blanched as his argument planted the smallest seed of doubt in her seemingly-chaotic actions over the last two weeks.

No! I will not be swayed!

The tight control she maintained over her temper snapped.

“That is quite enough, you promised you would see this through, now stop complaining!”

“That was when I thought it would be a few days at most. We are so close to tier five! Disbanding the party means we now have to trek all the way back to Cruex to form another. It has cost us months. Two more forts have fallen… Hundreds dead. I cannot and will not remain silent!”

Their matching scowls were suddenly punctuated by a howl in the distance. In less than a second, their weapons were drawn as their backs came together. Olive whispered over her shoulder as they both warily searched for signs of movement.

“I’ve asked my acclamation what is the most good I can do for the empire and the answer is the same every day; to follow this lead. I trust it, and it has never been wrong, not one single time. Yes, the signal was bouncing around chaotically for days but it’s been steady for a week. We are almost there, I know it!”

Olive dropped her veneer of royal serenity and allowed her emotions to seep into her next words.

“Two more days. Do not quit on me now, cousin. I need your protection, I cannot do this without you.”

Cameron’s growl was so deep it caused their touching armor to vibrate.

“This would be so much faster if Fahnald was still with us. Did you really have to send him away? I know you don’t like the way he looks at you but that’s no reason to discard his help. We are close to the Outlands. What are we going to do if we run into a tier five?”

If I tell him my acclamation insisted I send away everyone but him, he’ll just argue even more.

“All the more reason to stop yelling at me every five minutes. C’mon, let’s go before whatever beast that was decides we’ve been in its territory too long.”