Chapter 134- Aftermath (Patreon)

Jiran bucked and thrashed as the challenger density coursed through him. It was his first dose of tier seven density and it came from six sources at once, easily overwhelming his mental defenses. His skin bulged as the energy pushed aside his mana and forced its way into his muscles. The fibers grew as new power was rapidly absorbed before they were condensed back to a normal size.

His nerves and bones were next, their enhancement sending waves of pleasure flooding into his brain. He was lost to the tides of ecstasy for long seconds—each feeling like an hour. Eventually, the last of the challenger density settled into his mana, enriching it in subtle ways that left behind a distinctive, potent intensity that was now his to command.

His aura lowered him to the ground as he panted, momentarily exhausted from the agonizing loss of sensation, like an addict whose high ended far too soon. He wanted more and he wanted it now! He was used to the high and subsequent crash from his previous tiers. That, along with his Remalonian physique’s tendency to mute his emotions coming into play, left him feeling completely normal within a few seconds. Jiran shook his head, almost chuckling at the ease with which he recovered.

Meanwhile, his aura was busy collecting the remains of Ravenna. After the Remalon vanished, the sphere containing her had burst. A flash of heat from Elemental Castigation turned them to ashes. He scooped up two handfuls of dirt and used Mana Confluence to reform the molecules into a metal urn.

She's really gone. I… No. Now isn't the time. I need to find the others. Once I know they’re okay, I’ll have time to process everything that happened.

Jiran put aside his thoughts and conflicting emotions, setting off toward the flare still burning brightly above Mortan. A trail of blazing gases propelled him toward the top of the city's high walls. He took one last look behind him as he passed over its edge. There was not a single trace of the Graymin that once stretched to the horizon, only kilometers of the filth they left behind told the tale of their ever being there.

With the help of Mana Omnis, he spotted Mayalyn the second he looked toward the thousands of beacons that were the cluster of shining manapools at the center of the city. She was dashing across the rooftops heading right for him. He flew toward her and she leaped into the air, crashing into him with a ferocious hug.

As Jiran lowered them to the ground, he opened his mouth to talk but she shushed him. “No talking, please! I need a minute.”

He nodded and they stood in the darkness of a random alley, each taking solace in the other's embrace and appreciating that they were both alive. He closed his eyes to remove the annoying flashing notifications in his status. A small part of his brain couldn’t help but analyze the changes while the rest of him focused on what was most important; the smell of her hair and the feeling of her pressed against him.

STRENGTH: + 9

AGILITY: + 9

ENDURANCE: + 9

DURABILITY: + 9

WISDOM: + 9

INTELLIGENCE:  + 9

Only half a percent from each kill, that’s a quarter of the gains from previous tiers. I’m going to have to kill two hundred tier sevens to complete this challenger series.

Mana Confluence: + 5

Elemental Castigation: + 3

Mana Omnis: + 5

Enthralling Touch: + 1

Identify: + 1

Further upgrades delayed due to lack of density

No surprise there, after how many Graymin I’ve killed at tier four, I could probably cap my attributes if I would stop converting density to mana long enough to gain any growth.

NAME: Jiran of Madra

RACE: Remalon

AGE: 0

WEIGHT: 3244 kg > 3296 kg

Can’t ever let them know.

ACCLAMATIONS: Remalonian Constitution / Scion of Mana

TIMER: 119:58:03

Looks like this tiers timer started at four days and increases by four hours with every kill. Good to know.

TIER: 4

EXP: 200/200

GROWTH: 6%

MANA: 54

CONCENTRATION: 18

STRENGTH: 185.8 > 196.6

AGILITY: 185.8 > 196.6

ENDURANCE : 185.8 > 196.6

DURABILITY: 185.8 > 196.6

WISDOM: 185.8 > 196.6

INTELLIGENCE: 185.8 > 196.6

CHARISMA: 61 > 65

SKILLS:

Mana Confluence: 67 > 73

Elemental Castigation: 42 > 45

Mana Omnis: 1 > 13

Enthralling Touch: 0 > 15

Identify: 12 > 17

Making decent progress with my new skills. Still so much experimenting to do. I wonder if I’ll get a subskill at level fifty castigation.

OTHER:

Adaptive Translator

Affinity System

Designation: Keynote Prime

Interface Map

Intermediary User Interface

Party System

Sanctuary 100%

UNIQUE - Foresight

“I thought you were dead,” Mayalyn mumbled while rubbing her face against his shirt.

“I was worried, too. I didn’t know where it sent everyone or if you were still alive. I think I did di—never mind. I’ll tell you once everyone’s together. Looks like they're headed this way. Can you tell me what happened before they get here?”

Mayalyn nodded, “We were helping with the retreat when that… thing arrived. I couldn’t move, I couldn't even breathe. Then, in a blink, we were all together in the middle of the city. There was a dome around us that we couldn’t break through no matter what we tried. Everyone was panicking and I could not understand all of what was said, but when Reihnhardt mentioned you were most likely dead… I should probably apologize. Thankfully, the dome fell a minute after we arrived and I left to find you.”

She must have made quite the scene if she feels the need to apologize.

Reihnhardt, along with Olive, Niya, and Cameron dropped down to meet them before she finished speaking. Jiran wrapped them all in a sound barrier the second they were in range. Mayalyn stepped behind him, bashfully looking at the ground. All four of them looked no worse for wear, besides Reihnhardt whose armor and clothes were still trashed from his close encounter with the aberrant tier seven slayer.

Reihnhardt glanced in Mayalyn’s direction, his finger tracing a fresh scratch along his jaw. If he was upset by her actions, his voice revealed no sign of it, “Do you think it will come back?”

“I doubt it. Something that powerful wouldn’t waste time on us by coming back. It got what it wanted and left. If it wanted something else, I think it would have taken it before leaving.”

“Agreed. What of Ravenna? She wasn’t brought here with the rest of us.”

Jiran handed him the urn. “It’s all that's left of her. It must have thought she was important to me because it took her hostage.”

Reihnhardt raised his hand, forestalling Jiran’s explanation, ”It’s best if I don’t hear any more. I’ve learned when to stick my nose into other people’s business and when to beat a hasty retreat. This entire situation reeks of the latter. The last time I pushed too far, I lost a decade's worth of merit. Besides, anything you have to tell me, I’d only be reporting to the very people who are going to be questioning you all too shortly. Something like that showing up in the empire will not go unnoticed. They are going to cause major waves all too shortly and I want no part in it.”

“What people?”

Reihnhardt’s smile was sorrowful as he shook his head, “You’ll find out soon, and don’t bother trying to lie or hide anything from them. I’m sure you’ll understand when the time comes.” He bowed slightly to both Jiran and Olive, “I’ll send her remains to her brother in Morothin. The empire has lost a stalwart defender this day, thankfully it has also gained many allies,” He nodded to Mayalyn. “Even if some of them can be slightly short-tempered. Ahem, I left those documents we spoke of in your suite. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a few understandably cranky officers to placate and several dozen members of the nobility to cajole. Not to mention the state of the wards. Good day, Master Mortemer, Princess Oliviala, Ambassador Mayalyn.” He then took to the air without waiting for a response from any of them.

“Sorry,” Mayalyn mumbled from behind him and Jiran shaped his aura so the words reached the man before he was out of range.

Olive’s no-nonsense princess tone was on full blast as she filled the silence, “I, for one, would very much like to know what happened out there.”

“Right, I think it was here for me,” Olive’s mouth fell open slightly and her jaw jutted forward as she gave him a deadpan glare that let him know to skip the obvious points of his story. Jiran coughed sheepishly and continued, "It took Ravenna hostage, probably thought she was important to me because I was in the middle of healing her when it showed up. It stuck her inside a sphere while it pitted me against several groups of Graymin. The first wave was my tier and the last was… Well, it must have liked what it saw enough to bring me back to life after I couldn’t beat the tier eights it summoned.”

Their surprised responses all came at once, “It stuck her in a sphere, is that how she died? Wait, you died for real?! You beat a whole group of tier sevens?! There’s definitely more to it than that, keep talking!”

I probably shouldn’t mention I was the one that killed myself.

Jiran answered Olive first, “The sphere was shrinking the whole time I was fighting. I wasn’t fast enough to save her and failed in the end anyway. Even if I beat those tier eights, it would have just summoned tier nines. I don’t think it ever intended to let her live, or for me to ‘win’. Ravenna seemed to realize it, too. She barely put up a fight, she just… smiled at me.”

Mayalyn was there first, wrapping him in another hug. Olive joined her, taking up his other side while Cameron’s hand came down on his shoulder. Niya stood back, sending her support with a nod of understanding and an expression that spoke of remembered pain from her own past.

“Thanks, everyone. It wasn’t easy watching someone die in front of me like that. I-I think the worst of it is that it was a Remalon. I had my suspicions about them, but seeing one for real, and knowing that they’re even more evil than I thought is… discomforting.” Jiran sighed, releasing his tension into the support around him before trying to change the subject, “Any idea what people Reihnhardt was talking about?”

Olive and Mayalyn’s eyes bulged at the revelation of the entity being a Remalon. Though Olive’s expression quickly shifted into deep thought.

Surprisingly, it was Cameron who managed to respond to Jiran’s question first, “The people he was talking about are probably my old man or one of his underlings. Though, considering the enormity of what happened here, it could even be one of the emperors coming in person. You can’t expect them to sit still when something that powerful comes knocking. And what’s a Remalon? Some kind of beast?”

“That’s right, you two were still trapped inside your auras when we talked about that. I’m not human anymore. That egg I was in changed my race to a Remalon. When it popped, a wave of energy was released and the Remalon that showed up today probably found me because of that.”

“You’re… not human… anymore?” Niya trailed off, completely unable to lift her jaw from the ground.

Olive tapped her chin as she worked through her thoughts aloud, “That certainly explains why it was curious about you, and why it brought you back to life. I think that also supports your theory about it not coming back any time soon. If it wanted to take you, it would have, if it wanted you dead, you would be. Do you have any idea what tier it was?”

“No, and it didn’t talk enough for me to translate its language either. Do you really think an emperor will come?” Jiran turned to Olive with a cringe, “I saw your dad for a second when we were kids, can’t say I’m looking forward to another visit.”

“What are you going to tell him?” Niya took a step away from them, her back running into Jiran’s aura as a bead of sweat trailed its way down her forehead.

“I don’t know. Olive, Cameron, what do you guys think?”

“Well, everything, obviously,” She rolled her eyes. “They’ll know instantly if you try to keep anything from them. If you can help it, try to keep the conversation from steering toward your insights into molding until we know why they haven’t spread that knowledge yet. As far as your race evolution goes, you won’t be able to keep the fact you're not human from them, so don’t even try.”

Jiran sighed again, exhausted from dealing with people more powerful than himself before they even showed up, “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind. In the meantime, I should leave the city. It's not safe around me anymore. That Remalon may have satisfied its curiosity but who’s to say another won’t show up. Also, my timer is ticking. I have slightly less than five days to find another tier seven.”

Mayalyn’s eyes narrowed and she stepped forward while her hand cut through the air. Her anger made her uncaring if the others couldn’t understand a word she said, “No! You can not justify separating yourself from me because of a natural disaster! It has always been dangerous to be around you and that will never change. I accept that. I am coming with you.”

“Not positive what she said but I’m sure she’s right,” Cameron chuckled, “Safety and security has never been a guarantee. Even living in the same palace as an emperor, the end can come at any time. If Madra chooses to send a beast to challenge them, that’s it for everyone nearby. We understand that reality all too well.”

Olive nodded, “We’re a party of ascenders, danger is a foregone eventuality. There is still much we can learn and discover, together. I’ll not be leaving your party without significantly better reasoning than potentiality.”

Niya scowled at him, “Don’t think for a second I’ll let you out of my sight before you help Shara. You promised and I’m not going to let you wriggle out of it because of something completely outside anyone's control.”

Jiran patted the air between him and the several sets of determined eyes glaring daggers, “Alright alright, I get it, you’re all suicidal. I wouldn’t take your choice away by running off alone, no need to get so worked up. What’s our new plan, then? We have no idea how far away it teleported the Graymin. We could go check, or we can go help Shara. Personally, now that I’m on a timer, I don’t want to waste a single second. I think we should leave for Lordstone immediately. The sooner we finish there, the sooner we can go somewhere we are guaranteed to find more tier sevens.”

“I’ll second that. The city doesn’t feel the same. I really don’t like it here anymore,” Niya grumbled while rubbing her arms.

Olive and Cameron shared a quick glance before they both nodded. Mayalyn was bouncing from foot to foot as she spoke in broken imperial, “Yes, together now-go.”

“Together,” Jiran agreed.