Chapter 202

Chapter 202

Reactions were mixed as they left the challenge room. All of them except Aster had gotten far more Genesis Energy than theyd put in, who only got close to fifty percent extra, and a tea set that allowed everyone drinking from the five cups to share their perceptions of taste. The tea pot itself could store different pots full of tea by twisting the top, which was a fun effect to play around with.

A handful of skill shards also appeared after a few seconds of the crystal pulsing out Genesis Energy, almost like it was reluctant to give them anything more. Susanne identified one as [Broken Ground, Broken Core], a Sect skill which destabilized the earth below a targets feet.

Liz picked up [Pike Block], a spear skill that made multiple floating mana copies of the users weapon that could act in concert for a potent defensive ability. It apparently had some history to it that Liz said she would explain later.

Finally, there was a Tier 20 light aspected skill that no one recognized. It was their second Tier 20 skill drop from Minkalla, about as expected from getting to the sixth floor. Any skill of that Tier would sell well, and if it wasnt in any of their databases, it had a good chance of being quite valuable.

Matt was slightly unnerved, though more rested than he had felt in weeks. Unending boredom wasnt pleasant, but it certainly wasnt that bad. Nowhere close to the vacation he had somewhat hoped for, but it was at least a welcome relief from the tension and soreness he had been feeling.

Susanne was mad about something that she wasnt talking about, and while Liz definitely looked better, Matt could tell she was still a little shaken about whatever her trial had been. Though, if he hadnt seen her earlier, he might not be able to tell.

Aster, of course, was ecstatic, having lived out her grandest dream for over a year, but she was at least courteous enough to keep her excitement to herself mostly. When they exited the now disordered space ruin, they found themselves in the desert, and were immediately attacked by scorpions that burrowed out of the sand.

Matt brought his sword down on the carapace of the first one, and with its newly increased weight, it shattered the hard chitin and cut cleanly through the monster before its large stinger could descend on him.

Susanne appeared next to one of the others and removed its stinger off before slicing through its body in seconds.

Liz, who had finished off two more of the monsters, said, First actual monsters of the floor. Should mean this ruin is mostly normal, but still, watch out for copies of others.

She ended up being correct, as the ruin was a standard kill monsters collect loot affair.

Though, the boss was a little new.

It was some hybrid of a scorpion and man, with the upper humanoid half seemingly welded onto a scorpion's body.

Armed with a long spear, the boss used its weapon along with pincers to try and pin them down. It also had the ability to control time around it, allowing it to dodge most ranged attacks through a combination of slowing the projectiles down and speeding itself up.

If any of the four of them were alone, they might have struggled, but with their varied skill sets, they were able to take the boss out without much fanfare. And its loot turned out to be quite interesting.

It was a small hourglass that created an area of accelerated time at the cost of spiritual strain for everyone inside it, along with a boatload of mana. Considering Matt, the latter cost might as well not exist, but the former was a fairly harsh condition.

The hourglass only sped up time by a factor of two, so they couldnt abuse it and completely remove their healing cooldowns, but it did let them rest completely in just an hour of real time, allowing the rest of them to recover mentally, albeit not spiritually, from the challenge they just cleared.

As it turned out, that was a good thing, because just minutes after entering the second level of the sixth floor, they felt a familiar someone else flaring with Genesis Energy not far away.

Despite the signal almost instantly vanishing from their Genesis Energy perception, they were close enough to easily catch up to the lone fighter.

Long Zhiyuan looked almost as surprised to see them as Matt was to see him.

Given their previous enmity, Matt didnt hesitate to send a burst of [Cracked Mana Spear] at his fleeing back. But just like before, his robes rose up and blocked the neutral mana attack.

Not willing to let such a strong enemy Young Master live if they could help it, the four of them chased him down.This chapter made its debut appearance via N0v3lB1n.

It immediately became obvious that he had already fought his way through this portion of the ruin, as there were no monsters present. He was seemingly intimately familiar with the layout of the ruin and was able to run, fly, and dodge his way through the rocky cavern leading them on a chase to a portion of the ruin he hadnt cleared trying to lose them on the copies of other delvers still lurking in the forest.

They chased him to the neighboring ruin which turned out to be a winter one, which Long Zhiyuan smartly refused to enter, and forced him to take a [Wind Cutter] to the leg from Susanne after she cut her way closer, reappearing in a different spot while already invisible to land the blow. Blood flew, and the Young Master pulled back for a moment, interposing a physical shield between himself and Susanne. She instantly broke the shield with her next attack, and the man lost what looked like half of his left hand.

He tried to use his Concept to fly away, but Matt threw his own Concept against Long Zhiyuans, shattering the working and sending him tumbling to the ground. Aster hit him with [Kartan Greets His Foes], which only resisted his movement for a moment before he smartly spent a large chunk of mana on a [Cleanse Corruption] to remove the effect. Before too long, his mana would be exhausted, and he would be easily crushed.

Liz was the closest, and lashed out with [Blood Whip], but Long Zhiyuan sprang back at her with a skill enhanced lunge and slashed out with his trademark flaming claws, catching Liz in the face despite her attempted dodge.

Her helmet crumpled in, and Matt winced as he saw the double break on her jawbone. It was healable, but Liz would be in pain whenever she ate for at least the next week.

Long Zhiyuan took advantage of Liz staggering back to continue his retreat, but Matt cut him off with a [Crescent Sweep] combined with a quick [Mana Charge], throwing the sword with everything he had.

It spun through an arc to blow through the latest shield that Long Zhiyuan had thrown up before biting deeply into his back.

As Matts blade completed its arc and returned to him, he caught it and raced forward.

In theory, he could use the skill while moving, but it was his first time casting the skill in true combat, and he didnt have that level of control yet, forcing him to pause.

Still, Aster was right there and picked up the slack, catching Long Zhiyuan in his good leg with a burst of [Snowbank] to cover him in clinging frost.

Susanne reappeared from somewhere, with her sword inches away from bisecting the Young Master when lightning flashed around the man. He teleported just out of range, and he narrowly avoided falling on his face as he redoubled his speed.

Liz was already back on her feet, and threw her spear at his fleeing form, guiding it with [Blood Manipulation].

Long Zhiyuan proved he was a top-tier Young Master as he dodged the attack at his back, and in his roll, sent out an enlarged claw strike empowered with earth mana at Aster. Matt retrieved and triggered a talisman to block the strike without breaking stride, allowing Aster to land an [Ice Spear] on the Young Masters chest.

Aster jumped on Susanne's shoulder and started pulling ice and snow from the adjoining ruin, throwing it at the fleeing man and encasing him utterly, literally freezing him in place. It didnt hold for very long, as Long Zhiyuan erupted from captivity in a burst of flames, using the explosion to boost his speed and further the distance between them. He looked fairly singed and still had some ice clinging to him, but wind and fire whipped around him, lengthening his stride tenfold.

Matt redirected most of his mana to the combination of buffs that boosted his physical speed, sent the rest to [Air Manipulation], and took off after the Young Master. Just as he got close enough for an attack, ten new points of Genesis Energy appeared in the distance.

With the newfound urgency of needing to kill Long Zhiyuan before they entered into a larger melee, Matt swung a glowing sword at the Young Masters neck, only to have it blocked as he raised his left arm between the blade and his head.

Whatever skills and equipment the man had was enough to stop the strike cold, but given the way his arm fell afterwards, it was at least broken. A good wound, and the man shouted in pain and annoyance as his defensive robe was torn. Then the new team of ten reached them, and Matt lost the opportunity to finish off his opponent.

Between their gear and the way they composed themselves, Matt recognized them as akin to the team of ten theyd encountered in the previous floor. Perhaps they were part of the same training regiment, or some Guild was trying to optimize their participation. In either case, Matt wasnt too concerned about the risk they posed as they struck.

He was wrong.

Very wrong.

They focused on him, since he was somewhat isolated from his team, but didnt seem worried about hitting Long Zhiyuan in the crossfire. The Young Master used the opportunity to retreat to the portion of the ruin he had already cleared, scrambling on three limbs- and cradling his mangled arm- to escape.

Matt brought up a [Bulwark] to block the first pair of attacks- a white spear and a tiny fireball that his spiritual sense veritably screamed was dangerous.

The white spear partially penetrated [Bulwark] without breaking the spell, but got stuck before it could pass all the way through. The fireball wasnt even slowed down by the shield, passing through it as though it were a mirage. It didnt strike- Matt had already shifted to dodge it- but as it detonated against part of the scenery behind him, it felt less like a [Fireball] and more like a miniature sun flickering into existence.

He responded with a flurry of [Fireball]s himself, like so many glittering stars, but one of the teams mages deflected them upwards with a dismissive wave of their hand. Given just how quickly theyd been wrenched from his grasp, Matt assessed that mage as a dedicated pyromancer, and a good one at that. They may not have had quite the same finesse that Liz did- Torch could steal a fireball from him without him even noticing- but they had the power to more than make up for it.

He sent his assessment to the rest of his team and started pouring willpower into his AI. Minkalla lifted its restrictions on it, and it sped up accordingly, swiftly creating, discarding, and improving battle plans about as quickly as he could think.

Both attacks showed substantial armor penetration capabilities and were about as strong as hed seen at his Tier. All of their gear was high quality, but not mastercrafted, and definitely seemed to prioritize some level of visual conformity, favoring a particular shade of royal blue that Matt didnt recognize as associated with any major factions. However, there were definite concessions made to individual functionality. Four had enchantments that were more mage-like in nature, five were more geared towards physical defense, with heavy armor plates that more than likely indicated warrior combat styles, and the tenth Matt couldnt quite pin down. His outfit was decorated with more silver buttons than his peers, while the fabric itself shone and shimmered in a way he couldnt quite follow. Their gear was similarly mismatched- two carried swords, one was unarmed, one had only a shield, one wore spiked gauntlets, and the final attacker carried a glaive with a handle that doubled as a potent staff. The mages also had their own gear- two staves, one wand, and one crystal orb that floated at head height.

Their gear was exceptionally well-maintained in a way that spoke to the degree of reverence they held for their tools, but Matt could pick out the faint traces of blood left on some of their weapons that spun tales of a lot of bloodshed, not that he expected anything else.

Despite having a broken jaw and hand, as well as missing massive strips of skin from her forearm, which were temporarily patched up with [Bandage], Liz crawled over and assisted him. In just half an hour of frantic work, they had Susanne closed back up.

He couldn't do much more than dump a healing potion over the charred portions of her head and neck, but it wouldnt be hard to keep them from getting infected. And with that taken care of, the rest of her burns were fairly superficial.

Aster had gotten it much worse. The only reason shed been able to keep fighting was a newer use of her Concept that she had developed, which let her freeze her sense of pain. It didnt provide any healing, but it did make cleaning out her newly-textured hide less painful for the both of them. Once she was relaxing in a sink full of ice water after the worst of her burns had been cleaned out, they dug through their supplies for salves to heal burns and delicately applied them to the ravaged skin. Only after she had been properly treated and medicated did Aster release her hold on her Concept, and Matt felt a dull wave of pain through their bond.

With the worst of the injuries taken care of, he turned to Liz and helped her remove her helm and then carefully examined her jaw.

Long Zhiyuan had done a number on her, and had shattered her jaw in two places.

It wasnt pleasant, but he helped Liz set the bone before casting [Ranged Heal] and [Bandage] on the wound, allowing her to work her own magic with relative ease.

Her hand and arm werent quite so bad, but it was unfortunately her left arm, which was still on healing cooldown from when it was regrown just a few weeks earlier. They couldnt do much more than wrap and splint it to keep it from getting any worse, but Matt was no healer, and he felt like he might have aggravated the entire limb with his clumsy efforts with [Ranged Heal]. Liz was also burning some of her blood to regrow the skin shed lost, but she simply didnt have enough to spare to do much more than encourage it to scab over.

After helping her, Matt returned to Aster, who had curled up underwater, licking the stump where her tail once was.

She looked up to him with watery eyes and asked, Are you ok?

That caused Matt to choke up, and he forced out a smile- realizing a moment later that the gesture may not have been reassuring- and said, Ahm fine. How abo you?

Hed adjust to the missing teeth soon, but talking would feel weird until they left the planet and he got them regrown.

Aster shook her head. They burnt my fur and killed my tail.

Through their connection, Matt could feel how devastated she really was, and despite her trying to put up a brave front, he could tell this was getting to her. She had been burnt before, with damage worse than this, but they were always near a healer, where they could fix the damage and then Liz could pour a hair growth potion on her to get her good as new.

But inside Minkalla, using a potion like that was both frivolous and dangerous. A hair growth potion was technically a healing potion, and would add some healing cooldown to her already stressed body.

Essentially, Aster was going to have to stay like this.

He reached out to pet her, but she flinched away and said, Im not pretty enough to pet.

Matt ignored her as he scratched the top of her head, careful not to disturb her burns, and pulled her out of the sink to work more healing lotion into her leathery and charred flesh.

While he worked he murmured words of comfort to her, which eventually put her to sleep.

With her taken care of, he got to his feet and stumbled to the bathroom, and proceeded to pull out the remaining lumps of enamel that remained from his front teeth.

It was excruciatingly painful, but he suffered in silence. The others were all passed out and needed their rest.

After downing a healing potion and casting [Bandage] on his ribs, he put his armor back on and stood guard while the others rested.

As he sat there, he meditated on the disastrous fight. Without his AI able to record, he couldnt review it directly, but Tier 11 memory was essentially flawless for short-term situations.

Long Zhiyuan likely hadnt meant to lead him into an ambush, but it wasnt impossible. Meanwhile, the ten were definitely connected to the ones theyd fought earlier and that Claude had warned them about, but they were still substantially superior to the previous group. Any two of them were easily a match for anyone on Matts team. In an even fight, Matt felt like his team probably would have a slight edge, but they were outnumbered more than two to one, so they never really stood a chance.

Their coordination and teamwork had been exceptional as well. Not flawless, but for such a large team to perfectly weave spells and attacks without ever once interfering with plans or blocking lines of attack was extraordinary, to say nothing of the gear theyd been using. Their bodies were tougher, their magic was extraordinarily powerful, and they almost seemed to move as a single unit.

He wasnt sure if it was a new type of death squad, but he shuddered to think of what they could have done if they were Tier 14 instead of alleged Tier 12s.

The four of them would have almost certainly died if that had been the case.

Again, he thought about Tiering up, but he shied away from the idea.

Had they come this far just to fail and Tier up at the last possible moment?

Matt rejected that notion.

It had just been one bad fight, after a long string of victories through Minkalla. There had been setbacks of various degrees, less than total wins, but they had conquered everything set before them until now, and profited enormously from it.

Except that was how it almost always was, wasnt it? There was no gradual increase in challenge until someone found their limit, with the option to leave before they got overwhelmed. For fighting other delvers, most people fared just fine, one way or another, until they ran into one of the big fish in this small pond, and were promptly eaten. Matt had personally ended the lives of dozens without giving them any chance to retreat when it became obvious he would overpower them, to speak nothing of the people who had died near instantly to his more powerful abilities.

They had lost this fight, convincingly, and they had come close to losing much more than that. He could prepare, make items or plans to help counter the group, but they could do the same against him. The biggest change in relative power that might occur in the near future was for members of the opposing group to fail their Folded Reflections challenge, and have their Concepts replaced with ones that were worse and unfamiliar to them.

It was something of a distant hope, but always possible.

Better skills and items for escape were feasible though, and that was something he could definitely work on before any more encounters.

Even if it meant they would just run away faster next time, instead of standing their ground. Long Zhiuyan had proved the efficacy of that strategy, and it was something theyd outright practiced for. Minkalla was eminently survivable, so long as you were careful to not overextend. It was a hard thing to balance, since he didnt want to escape from his fight against his copy at the end of the floor. He needed to win, and without serious injury.

Still, Matt was worried.

They had taken serious injuries during this fight that would take weeks, if not months, to recover from. At least for the injuries they could heal.

Asters tail wouldn't be regrowing until they got her to a proper healer, and while Lizs enhanced healing meant that shed have basically full functionality within a few days, he wouldnt be surprised if it would be sore for months, or effectively the entire rest of the time they were in Minkalla. His own teeth were gone as well, but that felt less important for the time they had.

Thinking of time, he pulled out the hourglass from their earlier delve and sent mana into it.

The spiritual strain was instantly noticeable, but he pushed through it and focused on meditating through the growing uncomfortableness. The others would be dealing with the same strain, but he was the only one with a skill that seriously stressed his spirit, which limited how much he could use the item right now.

He wouldnt be able to keep it up for long, but it allowed his team to recover that bit faster, which might mean the difference between life and death in the next encounter.

Pain was nothing new to Matt.

Discomfort was an old friend.

Seeing his friends so badly hurt was unacceptable.

He was durable and hard to kill; he should have been the one to take those blows.

Despite knowing how unrealistic it was, he wanted to be the center of the battlefield. If everyone was focused on him, they wouldnt be attacking Liz and Aster.

He hadnt even seen the attack that had so badly burned Susanne and Aster, and that ate at him.

Matt didnt have an easy answer, but he was used to working through problems and started figuring out ways to draw all the attention, and therefore attacks, to himself.

His gravity gauntlets were a good start, and with the cultivation core of the black hole, he had a few ideas sparking. He also really needed to improve the second set of enchantments on his sword, and seeing Long Zhiyuans armor in action today had given him some interesting prospects.

While the others slept, he started tinkering.