Chapter 391: What is a stone?

Chapter 391: What is a stone?

Its fair to say hes gotten a bit of an upgrade recently, we havent really had the opportunity to show it off to many people yet. What do you think? Looks good, right?

Michael teleported away to get a better view then back in. Its Huh What kind of creatures skeleton is this?

Oh thats a custom-bred hybrid, a senior necromancer made it for me. Or for him, rather. You wont find anything like this in the wild. I was worried it might look weird with the three heads but it ended up fine.

The three heads arent even the weirdest part Astelia commented.

Can he see through the three heads at once? Michael wondered aloud.

He can and he does. I have a way to see through his eyes, and its quite disorienting, honestly, especially considering how the three heads are arranged to look in different directions in the kind of triangular formation. He got used to it pretty fast, though, so it worked out well, Sofia explained.

Michael nodded at the explanations, and kept on looking.I cant decide on what I find most disturbing between the hooved legs and the oversized hands and claws.

Its the hands, Astelia chimed in, Clearly the hands.

I dont find them so bad? The skulls actually are a bit creepy if you look at them from the front, cant really see from below though. But if you want my expert opinion, the really weird part is the bone structure. Just look at the arms, five main humerus bones instead of one. I cant even begin to understand how the muscles would connect in there, Sofia told them. And also, if you look closely, the tail is not actually a continuation of the spine, and thats really strange.

You say that But I dont even understand how the thing would have looked alive, with all the bone spikes and these armor plate-looking things Michael continued.

I didnt get to see it when it was still alive, actually, but it must have been quite the beast. The result speaks for itself, just look at the six meters high mountain of bones it left behind.

Its quite impressive But does he not use any equipment?

Well, he could use a storage ring but then he wouldnt be able to go hide in mine, so I just do all the carrying. As for armor and weapons, hes got skills for this. The only real piece of equipment he has is a float ring I just bought for him. Its inside the main skull.

Float? Michael asked.

Yeah, he cant fly, and hes too big for most of the flight items spells to work for him, and making a custom one would be a pain. So we just went with float. Not as good, but enough for some additional movement. He can jump really damn high with those goat-like legs too, so its not like he lacks verticality.

And hes still got the air step enchantment too.

And the bones are soooooo much tougher than any other bones Ive ever seen. Its no Dragon Scale but it was almost as good as pure mithril even before putting Pareth inside. Truly a premium skeleton.

A smile formed on Sofias lips as she pulled up the old and new status sheets she had made for Pareth.

///

Name : Pareth

Age :3(?)

Class : [Holy Eclipse Skeleton] /Boneplate mauler Edition/

Level : 249

Health : 995 100 / 995 100 (2 905 692 With sanctified grounds and halo)

I could, but its customary that we take things slow here. Used to be that the tower needed a while to gather the energy for the launch, but now its more about theatrics, Kyle explained, I like the tension the slow ride creates. You should revel in that downtime, you will not be getting much during the trial.

Astelia looked over the edge of the platform, but she couldnt see the bottom, Can you see anything, Sofia?

Yeah. Theres like a big pointy thing in the middle down there. No idea what it is. Oh, I see a door on the side. Its some kind of tiny metal tower inside the tower, I guess.

A pointy metal tower you say? Michael repeated with a smile, I can already guess where this is going. I have to say, I admire the admins sense of taste. Truly immaculate.

Astelia turned to Kyle, and with a sigh, he explained, Way to spoil yourself. This is the vehicle that will take you to the real trial grounds. Codename IPS, for Interplanetary Shuttle.

Yeah of course youd call it a weird name Michael commented.

Is there something weird about it? What I find weird is the shape, not the name

How does it work? Astelia asked Kyle.

... To make it very simple, we wait until the destination planet and the tower are aligned, then the tower uses a crapton of mana to send the IPS there like a giant arrow. Thats it. And this shit is very noisy, thats why the tower is in the middle of nowhere. Youll have to use something similar to come back.

Is teleportation not an option? the small vampire continued to ask.

Not that its impossible with enough mana, but its a hassle to target the planet even with proper preparation. The flux of mana out there also makes the landing destination unstable, and most people would experience severe soul damage from a teleportation this far away, Kyle slowly explained.

Once at the bottom, Kyle had everyone get inside the IPS, which was a lot larger up close, and more than wide enough for Pareth to fit in without going back to the storage. There was even a seat for his size prepared inside.

There must be other big races taking the trial. Do they have special Dragon-sized accommodation for the level 450 trial?

Besides the four seats turned toward the center of the shuttle, the interior of the IPS was a rather bland mix of different metals all covered in enchantments. There were no windows, and after Kyle closed the door behind them, only the weak red lights on the ground lit up the interior of the shuttle.

Alright, sit tight. The seats will latch onto you and keep you in place, thats how it works, dont freak out, make sure that youre properly secured in there, or youll be in for a displeasing ride.

Michael was the first to sit down, and the bottom of the large steel chair opened up and gobbled his lower-body while elastic black straps latched around his torso, sticking him to the chair. Only his arms and head were left relatively free.

Oh wow.

Soon enough, everyone except Kyle was in a similar situation.

More comfortable than I thought it would be.

Looks like youre all ready. Now this trial has officially started, and leaving the premises will be counted as forfeiting. I will explain first, you may ask questions at the end.

Kyle walked to the center of the four seats and a floating image of a large green sphere surrounded by three strange gray disks appeared beside him.

This is Cerberus-beta, the planet of rebirth. Situated much farther from the sun than our planet, this was originally a frozen, rocky hellscape, with no air on the surface, until the admins appropriated it for the purpose of this trial. Three thousand years ago, the actual trial grounds were only a small enclosed space, but it has since expanded to the entire planet. From its sky to its underground, its debris fields and its three moons, the entire thing is the trial grounds. If you were to leave the trial area, you will get a warning message, and should you fail to quickly re-enter the zone, you will be automatically forfeited.

Kyle took a second to catch his breath and continued, As explained, the mana currents out there are a bit messy, because most of the mana on the planet is sent there from here, so to reach the Moons and the debris field, assuming you have the capabilities to survive in their environment, you will have to use small IPS towers scattered across Cerberus-beta. They can be hard to find, so be on the lookout for them. If you were to enter a failstate or want to forfeit, the way to leave will be to return to this very IPS we are using right now, so take care to remember where we land, as no one will be coming for you otherwise.

Again, Kyle paused, letting everyone digest the first set of instructions before he started again. Now, Im sure you are all wondering, what is it that were going to do on this planet?, and this, friends, is what youre going to be doing, Kyle said, holding up a rugged glassy stone between two fingers above his head, I present: an empty mana heart!