Chapter 233: Assembling in the Battlefield

Chapter 233: Assembling in the Battlefield

After a little guidance from Index, I reached into my mind, and

Anchor Point has been placed.

Unplaced Anchor Points remaining: 0

There was a faint sensation in my body, like energy had left through my chest and been focused into the world. There was also a soundsome sort of crystallization, like a rock was forming in front of my face. Though, I couldnt actually see what was happening, since I was still in the midst of meditation.

Woah, what is that? the woman driving the carriage said, and I felt the floor beneath me shudder as we slowed down.

Alright, first, can you just reach your hand out in front of you? Index asked as I tried to ignore the outside distraction.

I did, and found myself bumping into something floating midair. It was hard and small.

Hey, dont touch that! the woman shouted. I vaguely heard Erani speaking, trying to calm her down.

Good, Index said, grab the Anchor Point and push Mana into it.

I did that as well, gripping my hand around the floating objectit was small enough to fit into my palm, a rough stone-like textureand went through the familiar routine of pushing my Mana into the item.

Anchor Point is charged with 1/1k Mana.

I frowned. Okay, so, it didnt seem like Id be getting that charged up in this timeline.

Its okay, Index said, you dont want to. Ugh, finally I can talk about this.

A hand touched my shoulder, but then was yanked away. Id tuned out the conversation going on between Erani and the merchant woman, but clearly there was a disagreement going on right now.

Right, so get talking then.

Okay, so what the Beacon actually does is that its a teleporter. Once you charge it or any of its Anchor Points with Mana, you can teleport to any of the others, bringing anyone in an area with you, and then its cost gets multiplied by 10 for the next week.

Hold on, hold on. It lets me teleport?

Yes, as well as everyone with you. And I know what youre about to askthe base requirement is 10k, so if you use it once, youll need 100k if you want to activate it a second time during the next seven days. At your current Mana regen, itll take 8.88 minutes for the 1k requirement, which means itd take 1.48 hours to do it a second time, 14.8 hours for the third time, and itll be probably impossible to find the 148 hours necessary to do the theoretical 100k requirement if you do it four times in seven days.

So, the Beacon itself is currently back in the forest by Salvation. That means I can travel between here and there freely?

Well, not freelyI literally just said eighty-eight words specifically detailing the cost of travelbut yeah, its definitely much cheaper for you to use the Beacon than to use this whole teleportation network the empire has set up. Though, you cant exactly let other people know about it, since the cost goes up with use. Dont want others jacking up the price when you need it.

So thats why you said it needed to be

Hey! a voice came from outside, and I got jostled again, this time by a couple bodies rustling around, it sounded like. Were they fighting?

Yeah, things are getting pretty intense out there, Index said. That woman seems to think youre about to blow up a bomb, or something.

Ah. Well then, guess I should probably go ahead and make my Upgrade choices before I get knocked out of my meditation.

Do you know what youre going to pick?

I looked over my options again, considering them.

What are you two doing?! she shouted exasperatedly.

Im actually about to go and get in a fight with those monsters you said to never under any circumstances get into a fight with, and get all of us killed.

What?!

Stop messing around, Erani said with a sigh. You know thats not a good habit to have.

Yeah, yeah, I guess, I said. Anyway, I did get everything done that I needed to get done, so you should prepare for some combat.

You dont want to take them all on yourself? I wouldve thought youd want to maximize XP gain.

Will someone please tell me whats going on?! the woman pleaded. You two arent being serious about fighting the Sand Hive, right? This is some sort of joke? A-also, I wont let you distract me! Whats that crystal you have floating in the air! You cant hide it from me!

I absent-mindedly released my hand from the Anchor Point, looking at it as I continued speaking with Erani, ignoring the rest of the womans words. I definitely do want to maximize XP gain, so I guess that would mean doing most of the combat myself. But if we know Im going to die eventually, then our goal is to just prolong my life for as long as possible, so having someone to play defense and keep me from getting hit by an unseen strike would be much appreciated.

She nodded. Thats fair. So Ill just hold back and try not to steal any XP unless it looks like youre about to die?

Yeah, lets just try to postpone that as long as possible. You mind asking Ainash to help out with that, too?

II get it, the woman muttered, stumbling back. Erani, with her high physical Stats, hadnt been having too much trouble with keeping her at bay, though, so it wasnt like the woman stopping in her attempts to get to me and the Anchor Point actually meant anything. Regardless, she continued, staring at us, You two are insane. This-this is some sort of suicide pact, right? Ive heard of people like you, religious fanatics who take the teachings of Jedan too far. Youre just trying to get as many Levels as possible and then kill yourselves so you can enter the afterlife.

Sure, sure, I said, waving my hand to her. I hopped off the back of the cart. You can go ahead and leave, if youd like. Probably dont want to stick around for the next part.

You wont kill me?

Nah.

She instantly took off, Erani being forced to step off in a hurry once the cart got moving with her still on it. Ainash was graceful as ever in her leap from the back.

Anyway, I continued to Erani, did you make your decision for Firebolts Upgrade?

No, she said. Well, yes, technically. I did the Upgrade before you activated that Beacon thing, but since thisll all get reset, I didnt actually pick the option I wanted. This is just the option I wanted to try out, so I can see if I like it before going back and choosing for real.

I chuckled. You sure are making this into a whole process.

Im just using all the information available to me. Plus, this option did seem like itd at least be the most interesting one; quite the spectacle. Im sure youll be excited to have me defending you.

Oh? Whatd you take?

Well, I dont want to ruin the surprise.

Not telling me how youre going to be defending me doesnt seem like its strategically viable.

She rolled her eyes. Just let me have some fun. This timelines gonna get reset anyway, so the worst-case scenario is that my excitement costs you a few points of XP. I only get new Spells and new Upgrades on rare occasions, unlike you, mister Spells galore. So let me have my moment, why dont you?

Thats fair, I guess. Does Ainash know?

Of course not. Shes the one Im most excited to show off in front of.

Well then, I said, gazing off into the distance, where at least a hundred monsters roamed the dunes. Lets not keep her waiting.