Chapter 862 - Glass House

As the name hints, the second game is set in what could generously be called a Glass House. It is just a huge cube-like maze entirely made of walls of transparent glass, through which you can perfectly see the positions of the other participants. There are many hallways and many floors as well, with everyone set at the same distance from the black-walled room in the middle of the cube.

Even now, Vic and I aren't split up, and around us are eight more participants who are to be our teammates, randomly selected. Of course, Melek uses some fancier words, something about our bloodline or the like.

There are just a few things I care about. First, you have to control your powers, physical stats, and all that. If you let out too much, you will damage this Glass House. When you damage the house, the others from your bloodline can vote to have you exiled, meaning you have to find other exiled people to form a new bloodline. Once exiled, you remain next to your former teammates, but you cannot attack your ex-bloodline for one minute, while they can attack you without any consequences.

Three bloodline members are needed to pass certain doors. Some require five, and later you need ten of them as you get closer to the center. In addition to that, there are the hunters. According to Melek, who somehow doesn’t seem like the most trustworthy person, ten percent of the participants were “randomly” chosen for that role. They started alone and can not form or join any bloodlines to progress. Instead, they need to eliminate the number of participants each door requires to pass through it.

Also, their progress resets after every door. So even if they have 100 eliminations and then open a three-person door, they won't have 97 remaining, but will reset to zero.

I really wanted to be a hunter, and I expected they would make me or Vic one, but surprisingly, we now stand here with a few weirdos. There are a few more rules that I know somewhere in the back of my mind, but I care only for these few main ones.

After all, it all still comes down to personal strength. I also find the idea of an entirely transparent cube interesting, as I can see everyone, their positions, and the shapes of the hallways, which are currently quite narrow but become wider, with there already being spaces that are quite big.

Some attendees are already using some skills to turn invisible or fill the hallways with smoke and such. Meanwhile, some others do not care at all and head toward the closest opponent.

I move closer to my sister and, in a whisper, ask, “What happens if you attack someone from your bloodline?”

"Eliminating someone from your bloodline triggers an automatic exile and a one-minute period where you cannot deal damage to them," she answers.

“We should exile that Griffin fucker,” someone from our bloodline says out of nowhere, and multiple heads turn toward me.

“Wording, please,” I say.

“Or what?” That man, a velnar, says as he pushes his way through the others. “When they announced you, I expected more, but so far you are just a tricky, little, cowardly ass,” he growls at me.

“Oh my, let me get you a handkerchief you could sob into. How old are you? 50, 100? Not even a Champion yet, and who even declared you to be a candidate? Some blind grandma? Was there a system error? Or maybe your mommy, who was always proud of her special boy?”

“For someone who has been offered the great opportunity of the tutorial, but has instead squandered it, you talk big.” He already towers over me as I look up at him.

Not breaking eye contact, I reach behind my back and reinforce my body. Then, I knock on the glass wall, causing it to crack. Right then, a popup window appears in front of everyone, Vic included. Unlike system windows, it is visible to everyone, not just the owner.

"Go on, exile me. I’ll stand right here for that minute, and the second it ends, you are out of this game."

The velnar narrows his eyes, but his gaze slides toward Vic.

It is obvious what he is thinking.

“Oh yes, you bitch, my sister will help me,” I tell him.

“Have you no pride?” he growls at me aggressively.

“Vic, this guy isn't trying to exile me and fight me. He clearly has no pride himself, so why is he talking to me about that?” I ask my sister, who has been waiting here patiently the entire time, seemingly not even getting ready to fight.

Instead, she seems to be observing the bloodlines and hunters close to us. I am doing the same, as I begin to find it more and more fun, meeting the gaze of someone passing nearby and trying to guess if they will head somewhere else or choose a path that will lead to a clash with us.

“If a fight starts, we can always find someone more capable who is already exiled and join forces to unlock the doors,” she says.

“So how about we calm down and just roll with it for a while?” An extravagantly dressed vyssari man from our bloodline nimbly jumps from the ground and lands sitting on the velnar's shoulder.

And to my surprise, the velnar doesn't throw him off or complain. Instead, he stands there frozen in what seems like fear.

The vyssari man taps the velnar's head. “Good boy,” he says with a smile, then jumps down, stopping in front of Vic and me. “I'm Prince Kip! Tell me, humans, did you meet a vyssari called Lyraen during your tutorial?”

“Yes, we did,” Victoria says.

Kip turns to her excitedly. “How is he? I only saw a few records my master shared with me, and she said some Handlers claim it's been quite a long time since they saw a wyvern bloodline as pure as his.”

“He is a womanizer,” I say instead of Vic.

That causes Kip to switch his gaze to me. “A womanizer?”

“There are rumors he has sixty wives outside of the tutorial,” I say, observing the guy. He is short like all vyssari, but weirdly, even though his legs are scaly like the rest of his race, they are slimmer than most I've met, even ending in what looks more like talons than human-like feet.

There are even some scales on his shoulders, which are revealed by round holes cut into his ornamented shirt. Overall, he is wearing all black with golden embroidery.

“It is interesting indeed,” he smiles, “but you know I meant his powers and not something like that.”

I face him and recognize that, from his point of view, he is giving me a second chance to answer his question, even if I dodged it the first time. He doesn't threaten me or seem insulted, even though I provoked him.

This forms a better opinion of him in my mind, so I answer, “Not as strong as Nyssa Volare, but quite powerful. White lightning, long range, really good at hiding. All that stuff.” I think for a bit. “Maybe the fifth strongest of the current attendees?”

Prince Kip nods seriously, but playfully. “Let me guess, you and your sister are second and third?”

“Obviously.”

“And who might be fourth?”

“There is one really fast girl who scares me. I think I could win if I fought like an absolute coward, but if she catches me with my guard down, I could lose.”

“It is nice to see a man brave enough to be so honest!” Kip keeps nodding in satisfaction. “How about your sister and you stay in a bloodline with me?”

“Vic?” I ask her.

“I do not mind,” she says.

“We do not mind,” I confirm.

“Very good!” Prince Kip claps his hands together, turns back to the rest of our bloodline watching us, and scratches his chin. “What about them now?”

A few of them are raising their defenses, having drawn their weapons. The rude velnar from earlier is already running away too, though he isn't all that fast.

After the filtering, the average quality of the people here is much better than during the first game, but I continue to have a hard time telling if they are truly powerful. I mean, I know Beyonders are the best of the attendees, S ranks are the best of the Beyonders, and the people here are mostly Absolute or Champion candidates.

But even though I can sense their presence and it tells me they are strong, it doesn't feel all that threatening.

"I apologize for my rudeness, and this might get a little dirty, but I hope you'll understand!" Prince Kip says, and his brown eyes light up.

A concentrated white lightning flickers around his eyes, intensifying until it even burns his eyeballs. But before they are entirely gone, he uses his eyes like pointers and shoots out of each of them a finger-thick, uninterrupted, laser-like stream that doesn't even resemble lightning anymore.

That stream cuts one of the participants in half, and the guy disappears as his bracelet activates.

Meanwhile, Prince Kip stands there, smiling politely even though his eyes are gone, totally burned out. Then they start healing at a rapid speed, and a moment later, the vyssari blinks a few times to reveal they are back to normal.

Both Vic and I move against the group, each of us using the opportunity to eliminate one of the participants before we are kicked out of the bloodline and unable to attack them anymore. I shoot the fleeing, panicked Velnar with my lance while Vic gets close and personal.

For the following minute, the three of us defend ourselves. I continue to throw in random attacks to test how the invulnerability works, and truly, I do nothing to them at all. The way this thing is set up likely means someone at the level of an Absolute keeps control over it, defending against the attacks and maintaining the rules. Or, at least, it is some array created by them.

But even during that minute, they don't kill any of us, and after it ends, it takes just a few seconds for the three of us to get rid of the remaining four.

Of course, there are huge explosions, flames filling the hallway, and attacks powerful enough to destroy a city or two, but it is nothing we wouldn't be able to handle with a little bit of elbow grease. In the end, even as I hold the wound on my side and watch my burns heal while feeling my sister's judgmental gaze on the back of my neck, I don't feel too bad about it all.

The Glass House around us is entirely undamaged, making me believe the organizers can switch the durability on and off at will. A part of me wonders what kind of stories they are playing to the audience. Big betrayals, hunters and hunted, bloodlines unsure if they can trust each other. Short zoom-ins on a smirk or some suspicious gesture as current colleagues move, just to keep the audience on the edge of their seats. All while every participant can see everyone through the glass.

I watch as Prince Kip stands there, his eyes regenerating to the point that he looks at me. He must have noticed my curiosity. "You spoke to me honestly, so as a man, I will too! My lightning is far too powerful for my eyes and body, but I've developed a workaround through localized super regeneration."

"Is that an official term?"

"Probably not, but it sounds impressive, doesn't it?" The vyssari smiles brightly at me, and I think I begin to like him more at that moment.

"I declare you my temporary companions and promise I will warn you in case I decide to kill either of you!" Prince Kip says proudly, looking at us with expectation.

"Well, why not? I also promise to warn you," I say.

"In order to be more efficient, I give the same promise, which will apply as long as yours does," my sister says.

"Great! Now, let's head toward our next target!" Prince Kip points his finger in the direction of the man who is rumored to have been declared an Absolute candidate by a wyvern. Euris, a human man entirely covered in shadow with a glowing red dagger and a shadowy crown over his head, is passing through the glass hallways alone.

"Let's hunt the hunter!" Prince Kip adds excitedly, and his eyes glow with white light.