We still had five more minutes before the wheel and our cabin reached the bottom, where we could leave. My Mana was only at 20% after all my work—inside the cabin, the Aether density was quite low and limited. It seemed this space was indeed separated from the outside world by Space Mana, which made sense; otherwise, people could just force their way outside.
As our group gathered in the main hall of the cabin, I checked the System notifications.
[You have contributed to killing a Blood-Bound Ravager Level 500] x2
[You have contributed to killing a Blood-Bound Ravager Level 400] x3
[You receive additional experience for contributing to killing monsters of a much higher level]
[Reach D Rank for the experience to be distributed]
[Sixth Rotation Challenge Completed]
[You receive 200,000 System Points for completing the challenge (+2,000 SP)]
[You receive 100,000 System Points for completing the challenge without casualties (+1,000 SP)]
[You receive 100,000 System Points as a bonus for entertaining Mr. Chuckles with your cruelty (+1,000 SP)]
Funds: -3,100+2,000+1,000+1,000=900 SP
Oh, I'm finally out of debt! Cool... I mean, out of my second debt, the System doesn't even show me the first one and how much I still have to pay it. But of course I keep track of the numbers, so this doesn't matter.
This challenge was definitely harsher than the challenges of the exhibition, and if there had been ten monsters instead of five, I wouldn't have had enough Mana to complete my mission, especially not after losing more than half of it just getting to the cabin while resisting the anti-flight barrier. Of course, I still had one last trump card to use, but it wasn't something I wanted to recklessly employ. The challenge wasn't easy even for me—the way I made it look effortless was just an illusion created by my competence.
You have unlocked new Archetypes:
Butcher (Uncommon)
Sadist (Uncommon)
Bloody Torturer (Rare)
Not even any Ultra Rare or Epic types. The System sure was stingy. But could I blame it, really? And I wouldn't be able to use even the Rare Archetypes for a while, anyway.
"This is crazy! I gained enough levels to reach level 20 in just one go!" one of the men said excitedly as we all stood in the hall, all traces of the bloody mess here completely gone.
Now, Sarah and the other two guys were at the peak of E-rank after just one kill. By a cultivator's ranking, that would be a top Initiate. But of course, their fighting power, even with the System's help, could hardly be compared to the Initiates from Luminosa, most of whom had been training since early childhood. Most likely, even all three of them together wouldn't be capable of defeating any single one of the Initiates I had trained with, let alone Lia. Thoughts of that bright girl made my chest ache; her bloody image resurfaced in my mind, making me want to kill something. Or someone.
Endure, Clinton, endure...
"Considering how little we contributed, I didn't receive half as much experience as I was supposed to. And I actually liked my previous level more; it was a nicer number," Adriel said. Checking his level, I found he'd gained 3, now standing at 336. The System really was stingy.
And of course, this also revealed that I required way more experience than normal users to gain the same number of levels, while also having an unfair advantage compared to those who had their full power converted into levels the right way. If I were A-rank, as they called it, with my level above 500, I probably wouldn't have gained even a single level for contributing to the deaths of all five monsters. This was just speculation, but I had a hunch it wasn't far from the truth.
"I am really grateful to you, mister handsome maintenance guy. I, Grogar the Furious Tomahawk, am forever in your debt," the orc declared, placing his right fist over his heart.
"Wow, you sure don't sound very sincere considering you can't even call me by my name. I do have a name, you know?" I said with a theatrical sigh and an exaggeratedly sad expression.
"Sorry, I'm not very smart, so I forgot it," Grogar admitted sheepishly.
"No, no, it's okay. Here I am, working my ass off to save you guys, and none of you can even remember my name."
Adriel shook his head, a hint of amusement in his eyes. "And why is that, I wonder? Maybe because you didn't tell us? You just introduced yourself as a 'handsome maintenance guy.'"
"Oh, no way! I would never do this!" I protested. "Do you agree, my pink sword friend?"
"Agree my ass!" the sword complained. "Stop fooling around and give me your Mana already! I don't want to look like this for one more minute!"
I ignored his protests and turned towards the group. "Okay, guys, I think you deserve to know my name after all. I am Clinton, Clinton Wyatt, at your service." I performed an elaborate curtsy like a noble lady. If there was one advantage to being tutored by that bitch Saella, it was that I eventually learned proper manners. I just hated showing them.
"You really saved us," Adriel said with genuine gratitude. "Clinton, without you, the challenge would have been different—not so absurdly difficult perhaps, but I have no confidence we would have completed it without casualties. And beyond that, we owe you for fixing our cabin."
Of course, I didn't tell them my suspicion that the cabin's malfunction was the System's attempt to put my geese in danger even before I could find them.
"By the way, what happened to the NPCs in the fifth challenge?" I asked. "Grimweld, in particular?"
"Grimweld ended up being one of the wolves, so we had to sacrifice him," Adriel explained. "He was also the most dangerous of them all. So now he's dead for the time being. Most likely he'll revive like normal later. After all, when an NPC is used for a challenge, they get free revivals."
"What about the surviving NPCs?" I asked.
"They just return to their home, or to the closest restroom if they haven't set a location for their return."
"I see. That clarifies some things." I smiled grimly. "I guess I'll pay our announcer friend another visit, see how many revivals he has left in his sleeve. Though I doubt it's enough to last until my anger expires."
After exchanging more pleasantries, the time had come for us to leave. The System notified us that the cabin would be open for one minute—we could either exit or stay and continue with the challenges. My five companions didn't want to stay for even one more second. As for me, I had no reason to wait and see how the System would try to scam me again with its challenges. After all, I had different objectives to complete. There were still five more cabins to fix, and I needed to recover my Mana.
Our group now stood outside at the bottom of the Ferris wheel. Interestingly, there were other people gathered outside—some Tutorial participants and some original inhabitants.
"We really were celebrating too early," a large woman said. She looked very similar to the guy I had questioned as I entered the Ferris wheel zone, likely from the same race.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Because we entered the attraction in the middle of its working cycle, it's already halfway through its challenges," the woman explained. "So even if we enter now, we will have to deal with far harder challenges than we're supposed to. On the one hand, if we survive, we get rewards worth six or more rotations without completing the previous ones. But on the other hand, as you can guess, most of us aren't confident enough to complete those to begin with."
I understood the situation a bit better now. "So everyone who entered was confident in their power, risking it even while knowing how dangerous it could be?"
"No, no. The first wave had no idea how it worked. After all, nothing like this has happened in a while. But some of us have ways to communicate, even if one of us is behind the space barrier. Information travels quickly."
I nodded, processing this new knowledge. Sarah's group decided to stay with the crowd and wait for the attraction to end—which would be after the wheel's ninth rotation. The gates were now closed anyway—there was no way to leave this place. Even outside the Ferris wheel, there were other challenges and secrets in the zone, as well as some eerie cafeterias scattered about. But people seemed more interested in waiting for the remaining participants to escape their cabins, and there was safety in numbers—unless those numbers included potential enemies.
"Well then, see you later!" I waved to Sarah and Co.
"I'll be waiting for you, Clinton!" The girl sent me a kiss... which I dodged skillfully, of course.
I jumped onto the roof of a passing by cabin and took the lotus pose. Before looking for the next cabin to fix, I had something else in mind. Leveling up using the System wasn't the only path to power known to me, and it was definitely not the most familiar one to me. Elements were cultivated fastest when there was an abundance of their corresponding Aether around. Another lesser-known secret was that having most of your Mana exhausted actually improved cultivation speed, rather than decreasing it, at least if you knew what you were doing.
Even as I sat idly on the cabin's top without actively flying, the anti-flight barrier still worked. Its other—and possibly primary—objective was likely to prevent anyone from having a free ride without entering the cabins. The pressure would be completely impossible for most others to endure. Even Sugar would have experienced trouble trying to replicate my current feat, unless his invincible barrier nullified the anti-flight effect.
The System's barrier was quite different from pure Gravity Mana, but it was still a resource of sorts. The strange, perhaps even corrupted, Aether here had great compatibility with my Gravity Mana—it would be foolish not to take advantage of this opportunity. Of course, I would also recover some of my Mana in the meantime. Just resisting the barrier so it wouldn't crush me was much easier, almost effortless, compared to trying to defy it and fly. I could fully focus on absorbing both the abundant Aether and the Space emanations of the barrier itself.
I created a field of attraction that pulled upon the surrounding Aether. Every Supreme Element had a trick that allowed for increased cultivation speed. The Time Element, for example, could distort time in a way that accelerated absorption—at least according to the books I'd read. I didn't know about Space and Energy Elements, but my Gravity allowed me to create a sort of gravitational field, like that of a planet, that pulled Aether towards me far faster than any normal cultivator could manage. Now I could fully focus on both recovering and growing my powers at the same time.
"Are you sure this Aether is safe to cultivate?" Antipucker asked. He could also feel the peculiarities in the Aether here.
"I make sure to filter out that strange energy. What should I call it? Yeah, let's call it Chuckle Mana," I replied. "It has the same type of resonance I felt when watching Mr. Chuckles' Time. I don't want to go crazy and laugh for no reason."
"Ah, so you know what's wrong with this Aether? And who's Mr. Chuckles?"
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
"You were sleeping inside me when it happened, so you don't know. This place has a chipmunk mascot named Mr. Chuckles, and even without meeting him directly, I can tell he's some damn dangerous creature. I'd rather face the Demon Queen again than him, but if it's just some Aether fluctuations from him, I can deal with them well enough."
"Huh, so this place has something more terrible than the greatest threat of Luminosa? You really can't catch a break, buddy."
"Yeah, right." I sighed.
Some people thought meditation required having their eyes closed, but that was a rule for beginners. True masters of meditation and cultivation didn't need such crutches. In fact, enjoying the glorious view from the Ferris wheel as it slowly but surely lifted me higher and higher gave me aesthetic pleasure—the type of emotion that would only improve my results. And the results I had. While I compared the Aether density here to the Demon Queen's castle, I'd never had an opportunity to cultivate there. Moreover, since I'd already reached the peak of the Fifth Tier once before, doing it again was much faster and easier.
One rotation of the wheel, as far as I could tell, took 66 minutes—nothing unexpected from this theme park. It would take me a bit more than half an hour to reach the top from the bottom. Half an hour of cultivation wasn't much, really, but it depended on the place. I created a vortex of Gravity Mana in my solar plexus that would attract both Aether and energy from the barrier while filtering out Mr. Chuckles' Mana. After I calibrated the process, the rest was pretty much automatic.
As I continued with the cultivation, a System message suddenly appeared. I checked to see if anything new had unlocked, and sure enough:
System Installation : 93%
Now I could finally choose my Skills, get a second Archetype, and advance to the next rank. My adventures so far had shown that I needed to grow my abilities if I wanted to handle everything the System threw at me, as every new side quest and objective was becoming increasingly dangerous. It was a time as good as ever to do this now, I didn't need to interrupt my cultivation for this.
I opened the Skill screen and examined my options. Some of what I saw surprised me; other, not so much. There was a brief explanation:
Skills are your bread and butter. Starting from E rank, you get two skill slots for every Archetype you choose. All Skills have Rarity and level—some start at level 1, but others at level 5, and all can be advanced to a maximum level of 10. The same Rarity limit that applies to Archetypes also applies to Skills, so for the two slots opened by an Archetype, you can't choose any Skills of a higher Rarity than it is.
To choose a Skill for your slot, you first have to buy it. Rarer and more powerful Skills cost more, though even at the same rarity, the price can differ depending on how much complexity the Skill requires as well as its potential. Usually, the costlier Skills apply more complicated effects and are more powerful at higher levels.
Each Skill comes with a Rarity and level—some start at level 1, others at level 5, and all can be pushed to a glorious level 10. After your Skill reaches level 5, you can choose to advance it to a higher Rarity but start from level 1, or continue leveling it up. When at level 10, you can upgrade the Skill yet another time by two Rarities, but an already upgraded Skill can't be upgraded a second time. Usually, a level 10 Skill would be more powerful than a level 1 Skill even if it is two Rarities higher, so this option will temporarily make you weaker overall. So think before you leap if you don't want to become a joke.
Each new Rank unlocks a set of basic Skills available for purchase—the same for every user, because fairness (we're very fair, we swear!). You can also buy Archetype Skills, which are usually more specialized. Some Skills are mutually exclusive, and choosing one will prevent you from acquiring another.
I nodded to myself as I finished reading. So, I could get two Skill slots for every Archetype I had. This was finally something that would potentially give me an edge, as the stats from levels so far weren't that significant.
Of course, the fact that I had raised my Mind significantly wasn't without effect. Now I was sure that if I had to learn elemental spells, it wouldn't be very hard. My ability to understand runes had increased as well, and being better at math, while not directly improving my fighting abilities, was still a pleasant surprise.
As for the Skills, their usability was yet to be seen. First, I examined the Basic Skill Shop:
[Mana Boost] (Common) The most basic way to physically enhance your fighting capabilities with Mana. Because sometimes, punching harder really is the answer.
Cost: Low
Duration: Sustainable
Scaling: Might, Grace, Tenacity
Requirements: 50 Might, Grace, Or Tenacity
Price: 100 points
[Mana Bolt] (Common) The most basic spell in your arsenal. Uses concentrated Mana to manifest a bolt of piercing kinetic energy to attack enemies from a distance. What, you want fireballs? Try leveling this up, first!
Cost: Low
Scaling: Mind
Requirements: 75 Mind
Price: 500 points
[Mana Wave] (Common) The basic way of direct Mana control. Use your Mana to create a wave that can be controlled at will within a short range to push or attack enemies with kinetic energy. What, you think its price is a rip-off? It's not our problem that you're broke, loser!
Cost: Medium
Duration: Sustainable
Scaling: Spirit
Requirements: 100 Spirit
Price: 5,000 points
I didn't know if I should be surprised or not. These three Skills were basically the respective basic abilities of Fighters, Casters, and Primalists. The difference in cost was staggering, as were the attribute requirements. The descriptions were also less detailed compared to the Archetypes and their innate abilities.
One might think the Mana Wave Skill, with its much higher cost, was absolutely bonkers—something only the luckiest people could buy. But let me remind you that Primalists were one in 1,000 among cultivators back on Luminosa, and here, using the System, anyone could become a Primalist. Of course, that would be just Mana control without an Element imbued into it. I could actually use both the Boost and the Wave with only pure Mana, and these two Skills likely wouldn't be as effective as what I already was capable of. On the other hand, there was the possibility that my natural abilities and the System's Skills would stack together. But I could just invest more Mana into using pure Mana without an Element, which usually provided only half the effect. So even if that was the case, it wouldn't be very useful.
Next in line were the Archetype Skills. After checking them, I could only shake my head. They were quite costly, despite being more creative and interesting than the Basic ones. In any case, I still lacked the funds to buy the Archetype Skill I was curious about I wanted, and I still needed more points to advance to the next rank.
Finally, I smirked as I chose the Mana Bolt option. After all those years on Luminosa, after reaching the peak of human power as a Primalist, I still couldn't cast a single spell, despite hearing that some Primalists were capable of using basic spells of their element. And why? Most likely because I lacked the Mind attribute—if I had to guess, the minimal requirement was around 75 points. This was why so few could become Casters. With the System, though, I was sure that wouldn't be the case anymore. Anyone could just invest all their points into Mind and by level 13 they would have enough points in it even if they started from the average 10 Mind.
Funds: 900-500=400 SP
So why did I choose a Skill that would use my lowest stat? Because if I could figure out how spells worked, how they used Aether to empower themselves, perhaps I could replicate the same effect with my Primalist Waves. Even with my memory, I only roughly remembered the spells I'd tried to learn back on Luminosa. I inspected their descriptions and runes from the scrolls Casters used, but to no avail. It would take me a while to master them from zero without help, but now I had the System's assistance.
Now I only had 400 System Points left, but so what? Before using the spell, I waited for the cabin to reach the very top of its rotation. That's where I felt the Aether density suddenly flare. It seemed the peak of the Ferris wheel was a sort of center for the entire zone. The anti-flight barrier, which had reached its limit long ago, suddenly became ten times more powerful. If I'd reacted even a second later, even my enhanced body would have been crushed. Of the 80% Mana I now had, 20% instantly went into countering the pressure. That was the power of Gravity—using any other element, even a Supreme one, wouldn't leave me unscathed.
The Ferris wheel stopped for exactly 66 seconds, as usual. I was at the core of both Aether and the barrier that maintained this entire place. As dangerous as it was, it was also an opportunity. I focused entirely on the vortex inside my core to assimilate this powerful force.
I brought my utmost focus to both keeping myself safe and using this chance to get stronger. You see, whenever a cultivator found a good place for cultivating their respective element, the first time was the most important. While the power was still new and unfamiliar, it had some mysterious quality that increased results manifold.
By the time the cabin moved again, and I left the peak point, I had less than 10% of my Mana left. However, as I dissipated the vortex of my Gravity Mana, the leftover energy spread through my body, and a final wave of Mana filled my core, recovering all my energy in one go. It was a hint of a certain technique—my ultimate trump card—but only a hint.
I checked my status screen, and sure enough, both my physical attributes and Spirit had increased—66 points in total, which was a bit suspicious.
Status Screen
Race: Human*
Level: 20 (100%)
Archetypes: Gamer (Common)
Skills: None
Attributes [2669]
Might: 490
Grace: 630
Tenacity: 426
Mind: 86
Spirit: 1037
Free Attributes: 70
What a nice number of total points! I noted.
It didn't seem like much, but in perspective, it was crazy progress in such a short time. In fact, even the attributes I gained from the System represented progress that was normally unthinkable on Luminosa.
Even without my help, Sarah, for example, had almost reached E rank with her level 15, in just three days. I hadn't asked her how exactly she managed to level up faster than most others, but if I had to guess, she was one of the lucky people with a bunch of temporary points for her life achievements. I wondered what kind of achievements she had—cheating on her boyfriend a hundred times without being caught seemed like her style. And it would totally be something the System would approve of with its bonuses.
Mind: 86+70=156
Without thinking much, I put all my gained attributes into Mind. Why not? It was time to check my first spell ever, after all.
"You're a wizard, Clinton!" I chuckled to myself.
"No, you're a Primalist," Antipucker corrected me.
I could intuitively feel how to use the Mana Bolt spell, just as I knew how to use the Virtual Interface. I mumbled the incantation that appeared in my mind, as the runes formed before me, and between my hands appeared a bluish dart-like cone.
Of course, I could feel how truly weak the power was—even attacking someone with pure non-elemental Mana in the most barbaric way would have been more dangerous. The System didn't lie—it scaled only with the Mind attribute. However, what my extremely high Spirit attribute did was improve my control over the end result of the spell. So while a normal user would only have to use the spell in its intended way and send it straight as the runes programmed, I could use my Mana Sense and ability to manipulate Mana to control it in more creative ways.
But what was the most important part of any spell? As it formed, I could feel how it absorbed Aether from the surrounding air. And since this was an Aether-dense place, by my estimation, the attack would be at least twice as strong as if I used that spell outside the Ferris wheel zone.
"What's the big deal about it?" the sword scoffed. "Those Casters are nothing but show-offs. Their spells may be stronger than your Waves, but I've seen a fair share of them among humans, demons, and worse. Spells are so slow, I would cut those Casters a thousand times before they finish casting."
"You are not wrong, my friend, but imagine what if we achieve the same results and learn to reinforce you or my other abilities with Aether."
"Isn't this the same thing you already can do with your... trump card?" Antipucker expressed his doubt.
"Not exactly, my friend, not exactly. There is always a path to greater power. And I intend to explore all avenues. After all, who knows what challenges await us in this place?"
After these words, I created another set of Mana Bolts and sent them all at the cabin's roof. The end result was non-existent, of course. After all, the Ferris wheel itself was protected by the same barrier that surrounded the zone and its gummy guardian. But I still gained a better understanding of the Skills' properties.
Now that I had fully recovered and even gotten stronger, I had to complete my mission and search for the broken cabins. Thankfully, the System would notify me when I encountered one. So what I did was jump from one cabin to another clockwise as the Wheel rotated in the opposite direction, checking each one for new notifications. Of course, some of the outside malfunctions were evident to the eye as well. Soon enough, I found another cabin that required fixing—this time the System notified me my job was done as soon as I took care of the giant bolts. I didn't even have to enter the cabin.
[Congratulations! You have fixed your second cabin out of six.]
One cabin had its roof in need of repair, so my maintenance tool changed to a glue gun. Thus, another cabin was fixed, with three more to go. I had already passed the top of the wheel and was now down to the cabins that were descending. It was likely that one of those would be occupied by people who had entered after I opened the path, rather than from the beginning.
[Congratulations! You have fixed your third cabin out of six.]
Regarding the people in the cabins, if I had to guess, those whose cabins weren't broken would just leave when they felt they couldn't handle the challenges ahead or would decide to risk it on their own will. Then there were those who entered together with me without realizing they would have to deal with the sixth rotation challenge. However, if anyone had survived so far, they would have left already—unless they were confident they could handle the seventh rotation onward, or the System had ruined their cabin in the same way as Sarah's, making it impossible for them to leave.
My fourth cabin was exactly one of those I couldn't fix from the outside... As I moved between the cabins clockwise I would have to deal with the next challenge as the cabin reached the top. I hadn't forgotten that one of my bonus objectives was to deal with the ninth rotation's challenge. Now would be an opportunity to see if it was worth trying or certain death—which depended on how difficult the challenge of the seventh rotation would be...
