He was barely holding on. The sheer speed at which it was descending was threatening to tear him off the rock, to unmoor him from the only anchor he had in his current situation. That would have been pretty bad.
Thankfully, Ray had teleported in time. The rock wasn’t past the line of Auction Island. He could still reach real safety.
Trying to concentrate against the wind attempting to peel his face off his skull, Ray aimed his hand at the distant Auction Island. Aetheric Trace brought a Windbane maw to life around his hand, and he fired its laser breath of blue fire straight at the island. Next up was Temporal Passage, and he was finally free from free-falling.
Ray sighed out a huge, relieving exhale as he struck solid, stable ground. The impact made the last of his breath gust out of him. He didn’t care, though.
Why would he when he was finally safe.
Ray had escaped the death trap set by the Floor Lord. He had once again survived that asshole’s machinations and lived to fight another day. More importantly, he had actually won the Tier 35 dungeon. It was an incredible achievement, if he was being honest.
Well, apart from the fact that Sameer had stolen half the treasure from the dungeon.
That fact didn’t sour his mood for long. Not when the dungeon clearing notification finally appeared in full.
[Dungeon Cleared—Vine-choked Valley]
Rewards
- 25 Aeon Mana shards
- 5 Origin Mana shards
- 3 Aeon Mana Tier Points
- 1 Origin Mana Tier Point
- 1 True Mana Skill Point
- 1 Petrified Vine
- +7,000 Essence
- Reputation: +50 Cooperative
Essence to Level 51: 76,760/262,000
Knowledge to next Threshold: 2,545/3,500
[Reputation Threshold Crossed]
For reaching the 150-point threshold, your cooperation now boosts all your stats by 30 when in a party or Faction.
Ray stared as a petrified vine just dropped unceremoniously un front of him. He wasn’t sure what to do with it, but hey, it might have some use in the auction.
Speaking of…
Ray: I made it.
Gritty: Of course you did.
If there was any note of relief in Gritty, it definitely didn’t translate through the System chat. Ray just liked to imagine she was happy he had made it.
Ray: How’s Marcus doing?
Gritty: He’s unconscious but he’s mostly healed up now. I’m just letting him get up on his own time.
Ray: How considerate.
Gritty: I’m not evil.
Ray laughed. It wasn’t just at Gritty’s answer. As he lay on his back on the ground of Auction Island, he was looking far up at the last remains of the dungeon island he had just escaped. The Floor Lord and his Sylvans were still zooming around, trying to contain the dungeon’s death throes while also probably looking to make sure Ray was actually dead.
Which he wasn’t.
Ray: Could have fooled me. But I’ll come over to the hotel and then we can talk.
Best not to stay out in the open for long, and to stay out of the general eye for a little while. Although… he was now not in a collapsing dungeon where taking the time to save him would put anyone else, especially the Sylvans’ precious Auction City, in peril. He had no reason to hide himself. Screw the Floor Lord but he wasn’t going to hide away.
Though, he supposed being careful didn’t mean he was hiding away. Ray sighed. Getting mad at the Floor Lord was letting the asshole take up more mental space than he was worth.
He got up and headed to the hotel.
Gritty looked like she de-aged about a decade when Ray finally walked into the room he shared with Marcus. “I don’t know if I should insult you or praise you, wingman.”
He grinned at her. “You could do both.”
She snorted.
Ray looked past her to where Marcus was sleeping peacefully on the bed. He really did look like he had suffered nothing in the dungeon, like he was just taking a nap.
“Good job getting him out of there,” Ray said.
“Ha.” Gritty grinned at Marcus’s unconscious form. “Idiot so owes me. Although, I guess he owes you too.”
Ray smiled. “I figure we all owe each other quite a bit.”
“Fair enough.” She turned back to him, her eyes serious and questioning. “You actually beat that thing and got the treasure? Tell me everything.”
Ray’s face soured a bit when he recalled the final moments in the dungeon before he was invaded by the Floor Lord and his squad of hitmen. He schooled his expression and explained how he had beaten the Segmented Titan after absorbing the petrified vines’ Soul Aspect, which fixed the problem of running out of Mana.
Gritty made a face when he mentioned Sameer popping out of nowhere to steal away the treasure. “Shit.” She didn’t hold back from cursing Sameer out. “I had no idea he’d be capable of something like that.”
“Honestly, me neither,” Ray said.
It put a dent in their plans of more or less securing victory in the tournament by the next auction. With Sameer possessing the other half of the treasure, it would be a lot harder to recoup a high profit.
“Unless we get really lucky and the Tower Lord buys us out again,” Gritty said.
“Hmm, I’m not so sure…”
Ray pulled out the treasure from the storage space. It really was blocky. A white cuboid that had a rough surface at the bottom. The top had a notch that made it look like something else fit in there. Probably the other half that Sameer had taken.
He cast Eternal Pulse to check out the item.
[Eternal Pulse]
Eternal Pulse indicates there is an item nearby interacting with Mana.
- Divine Connector: One half of a pair that channels the power of a Paragon, concentrating it into a form that can be compressed into a Tower Node. Required item for creating Tower Nodes.
Ray stared at the item, his eyes widening as he read over the description a couple of times. “On second thought… I think the Tower Lord is definitely going to be interested.”
At Gritty’s raised eyebrows. Ray read out the description. Her mouth gawked open a little. “You can make your own Tower Nodes with that thing?”
“I could, if I had the other half that got stolen.”
“That’s… wild.”
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
He had to agree. It was one thing to find a Tower Node, but to find a set of items that could make Tower Nodes?
Ray was tremendously curious how exactly they functioned. He tried to see if he could activate it somehow. The description said they compressed the power of Paragon. How did it even obtain that power? Maybe that was why Ray couldn’t seem to find a way to activate it.
Or maybe it just needed both parts to function. Maybe it was Sameer who held the “on” switch.
But Ray figured it wasn’t so easy to create a Tower Node from nothing. The part about compressing the power of a Paragon bothered him.
Maybe there was a way he could test it…
“We need to be careful with it,” Gritty said. “You want to drop it off at the bank and register it for the next auction?”
Ray wasn’t so sure yet. “I’ll hold on to it for now. Where are you headed?”
“I figure I’m going to get more supplies from the auction hall.” She smiled. “Neat how they helped save his sorry ass, isn’t it?” She jerked a thumb back to Marcus lying on the bed. “Keeping some more wouldn’t hurt.”
Ray nodded. “Yeah, they did help. Good idea on those. I think I’m going to get some more training crystals from Lyvanse, if he’s still up for it.”
“Good idea. That dungeon was rough.”
“And we have an even rougher one waiting for us.”
“Which we still need to win, now that we don’t have all the treasures from the last one.”
Ray sighed. “Exactly.”
They took a little break for the time being. Gritty was a little worried that the Floor Lord would find some other way to get at Ray, but he convinced her that he ought to be fine in Auction Island. Nevertheless, he would be careful.
There had been no official communication from the tournament admins about the collapsing dungeon. Ray and Gritty figured that they were deciding what answer would benefit them the most. It was also hard to tell if they knew why the dungeon had collapsed, though Ray figured at last the Tower and Floor Lords would suspect something had happened to the Tower Node.
Even when they asked Sridayne, they found nothing. She hadn’t heard any peep from anyone higher up. Things were just a bit too recent. She was glad that Ray had made it out alive, though.
No point in wasting time, so they headed out for their chores.
While Gritty headed to the auction hall, Ray made his way to the spot in the park where he and his team had met Lyvanse. The Sylvan was open to selling Ray and his team more training crystals. Curiously, he also had a warning.
“You caused quite a ruckus in the last dungeon, didn’t you?” Lyvanse said when they met up.
Ray frowned, clutching the ring with the training crystals. “It wasn’t me.”
“Hmm, that would certainly benefit them to know.”
“Sure, but I’m not obligated to tell them the truth. Not after…”
Lyvanse’s thin pupils peered at Ray curiously. The Sylvan didn’t know about Ray’s direct enmity with the Floor Lord. Or rather, they had never discussed it. Lyvanse had to know about it. He had an in with the current Sylvan administration, so it was very likely he was aware.
Nevertheless, he didn’t press Ray about it. Instead, he proceeded with his warning. “The administration is very curious as to what exactly destroyed the dungeon. It isn’t cheap to organize this tournament, you must know. They are not at all happy that their precious dungeon has shattered. As such, they will not rest till they have unearthed the truth.”
“Alright,” Ray said. He figured they already knew. The broadcasts surely had to have shown Pierce destroying the Tower Node. “But how does that affect me directly? Are they trying to blame me somehow, even with the broadcasts still up?”
Lyvanse shook his head. “They cannot. Since the broadcasts worked up until the moment the dungeon started collapsing, and there is clear evidence you did nothing truly wrong. In fact, if the administration had any ounce of honour, they should thank you for your attempt to stop the dungeon’s collapse, yes?”
If Ray thought about it, his actions could be interpreted that way. He had been trying to stop Pierce. Successfully keeping the Tower Node away from him would have ensured the dungeon’s safety.
“What’s your point?” Ray asked. “I thought you were going to warn me?”
“I am warning you, just not warning you about yourself. Rather, perhaps you should keep an eye out for any announcements regarding your little tournament.”
Ray frowned. When he asked Lyvanse to clarify, the Sylvan simply said that he was unaware of the details. Ray would just have to be patient.
Sighing, Ray headed back to the hotel. At least he had the training crystals now. He had a way to get stronger, to be prepared for the final dungeon.
Lyvanse turned out to be quite the prophet. Just as he had warned, the administration had a big announcement for everyone.
Ray had received a notice from Sridayne to keep an eye out and get on the administration channel. She had actually arrived at the hotel. It was that important. Which it did turn out to be.
“We are postponing the second auction,” a Sylvan official was saying through the channel. “I repeat—the second Auction that was to be held in two days is being postponed. The administration is currently undergoing an investigation into the heinous criminal act of destroying tournament property.
“This investigation is likely to take at least a few days. While it proceeds, we are unable to divert resources away to conduct the auction with the appropriate care and professionalism. As such, we are postponing it instead. The criminals must be apprehended. As soon as that is confirmed, we will provide further information.”
Ray wasn’t the only one scowling at the screen where the Sylvan official continued repeating the announcement. Gritty and Sridayne were both unamused by the message.
“Making such a fuss about one dungeon…” Sridayne mused. “Well, I suppose that shows who owns the Tower Lord’s allegiance.”
“What do you mean?” Ray asked.
“The Tower Lord organized this entire Immortalizer Tournament Auction. Successfully maintaining the dungeons is one part of that.” She tapped the curling horn emerging from her left shoulder. “The other part is delivering the entertainment. All of us broadcasters, all the channels he procured, all the tickets he sold and audiences he attracted, they expect timely delivery.”
“Oh, I get it.” Gritty scoffed. “So the Tower Lord decided the ones pulling his strings through the dungeon are more important than his media mogul string-pullers. Kinda sucks for you, yeah.”
Sridayne did a strange shrug-like motion that Ray had seen before. He was pretty sure it was the Sylvan equivalent of a shrug. “It hardly affects me. My horns are tied.”
Gritty blinked at her. “You mean hands.”
She blinked back. “No I meant horns.”
Ray snorted. “Yeah, I guess you just got a small vacation. Enjoy it, Sridayne.” He turned back to the screen. “But if they’re pushing back the auction, they can’t push the next dungeon back too, can they? Since you say there’s media moguls involved.”
It was a little hard to believe that Sylvan politics worked in much the same way that human ones might have, but then again, Ray could see the same lines of logic holding true.
Sridayne that strange shrugging motion. “We will see. The next few days are certainly going to be interesting. Especially now that they’ve publicised the investigation.”
Ray needed a few moments to understand what she meant. “Oh.”
Gritty looked between him and Sridayne. “What?”
“The publicization of the investigation is sort of the substitute to the auction,” Sridayne said. “Or perhaps, more like a peace offering.”
“Yeah, an olive branch to mollify the mad masses.”
“Olive branch? Is that a common peace offering on Earth?”
Ray nodded. “It was historically. I… don’t know if we actually kept using olive branches by the time the System came down.”
They all turned back to the screen, watching the announcer continue speaking. He was now giving out some basic information about what happened at the dungeon and what exactly the administration was going to investigate. Basically, it amounted to the Sylvans seeking to apprehend the culprit who destroyed the Tower Node of the dungeon.
“So,” Gritty said. “We just going to wait till the next dungeon or auction, whichever comes first?”
“The dungeon,” Sridayne said. “That is what will come first.”
“You’re saying they won’t change the schedule?”
Sridayne nodded. “Right. The next agenda on the schedule is the next dungeon. The last dungeon. I highly doubt the Tower Lord would approve of that getting moved. There are many who are looking forward to the penultimate showdown in the tournament.”
That was fair. Delaying the auction was one thing. Moving the final dungeon would be tantamount to destroying the entire media arm of this whole tournament business.
“Then we’ll need to prepare for it with just the funds we have,” Gritty said.
But was that all? The more this went on, the more Ray was starting to think about how he was being targeted all the time by the Floor Lord. It didn’t matter if the strongest being in the entire Tower of Forging, the Sylvan Tower Lord who ran everything, had more or less granted him permission to continue participating in the Immortalizer Tournament.
It didn’t matter. The Floor Lord was enough of a wily bastard to find various ways of killing Ray. It wasn’t going to stop.
Ray had become so focused on winning the tournament, on completing his System-granted Objectives, that he had lost sight of an important truth.
The Sylvans were his enemy.
He was starting to wonder what the implication of the administration’s success in their investigation would be. They would catch Pierce. They would stop him from destroying any further Tower Nodes, perhaps even kill him.
Personally, Ray didn’t care if that asshole died for his own stupidity. But he also understood that the Sylvans had a vested interest in securing the various dungeons’ treasures on the Third Floor. They weren’t mad at the dungeon’s destruction so much as how close they had come to losing the treasures it contained.
After all, the Tower Lord himself had paid ridiculous sums to purchase the items Ray had possessed. Items Ray suspected that he didn’t know the full use of, even now.
“Sridayne,” Ray said. “You recall the items the Tower Lord himself bought off us, right?”
She nodded, frowning at him in question.
“Do you think you could find out more about those items somehow?” Ray continued. “See if anyone knows their full function and what they’re capable of?”
“I can try…” Sridayne said. “See if my contacts know much about it. But why do they interest you all of a sudden? Do you suspect something?”
“The only thing I suspect is that the administration isn’t angry at losing the dungeon itself so much as they’re angry at almost losing the treasures the dungeon contained.”
Both Gritty and Sridayne took a moment to consider that.
“But wouldn’t that mean the treasures are now safe,” Gritty asked. “You beat the Titan, and you and the other asshole got the treasures.”
Ray scowled at her. “The hell you mean other asshole?”
She grinned at him.
“No, you are correct,” Sridayne said. “All the broadcasts closed as soon as the dungeon started falling apart. You killed the Titan and secured the treasures afterwards. Essentially, you had no witness, apart from your teammates, me, and the other team who stole half the treasure. So if none of you have registered the treasures yet, the administration has no proof they exist.”
“Exactly,” Ray said.
“Which means…” Gitty’s grin widened. “The Tower Lord has to be real mad at the Floor Lord for apparently having killed the one person who was inside the dungeon right up to the end.”
Ray snorted. “One can only hope.”
They absorbed that line of thinking for a few moments. It made sense the administration was only using the punishment of the dungeon’s destruction as a cover for their real goal.
Interrogating everyone to see if the treasure was in anyone’s possession.
“But wouldn’t that mean keeping the auction going would be their best bet?” Ray mused. “They would just need to wait and see who ended up selling what—wait, no.”
“No?” Gritty asked. “What do you mean? Cause I was starting to wonder the same thing.”
Sridayne nodded. “I assume they want to prepare their own bids in case they want to purchase the treasures at the auction, so they want to be sure if the treasures will be present or not.”
Ray had to wonder where and how the Tower Lord procured his funds, since his assumption would have been that they could simply be present at auction day. Even if none of them registered the treasures at the bank to keep it safe, they’d be present on auction day.
But it sounded there were more complications to it that Ray wasn’t privy to yet. It didn’t look like Sridayne was either.
“We still haven’t answered my question,” Gritty said. “Do we really just wait for now?”
“Well, I got the training crystals.” Ray tapped his ring. “But there’s something else I’d like to confirm.”
“What’s that?”
“I think it’s time I paid a visit to a friend I haven’t seen in a while.”