Chapter 929 - Exceeding the expected range
A bolt of lightning crashes from the sky, and Tess steps out of it.
She is about to say something, but I hold my hand up. “It's nice to see you without you trying to stab me with an arrow, but I've got a lot of notifications to go over. And I'm way too curious about them, so if we don't have all the kaiju gathered somewhere nearby to jump me, I don't care.”
Tess still opens her mouth, and her eyes make it obvious she has many questions, but at the last moment holds herself back and closes it.
After that, she just slides down onto the grass and combs it with her fingers.
I drop down as well and close my eyes. Just for a few minutes, I don't want to see anyone from Group 4. At least until what just happened doesn't feel so fresh. Otherwise, I'm going to keep getting this annoying feeling.
So, to distract my overthinking self, I open the notifications and go over them chronologically.
[Selective Adaptation - lvl 59 > Selective Adaptation - lvl 60]
[Selective Adaptation - lvl 60 > Selective Adaptation - lvl 61]
[Selective Adaptation - lvl 61 > Selective Adaptation - lvl 62]
***
[Selective Adaptation - lvl 69 > Selective Adaptation - lvl 70]
Well, this is nice.
[Attunement - lvl 43 > Attunement - lvl 44]
[Attunement - lvl 44 > Attunement - lvl 45]
[Attunement - lvl 45 > Attunement - lvl 46]
***
[Attunement - lvl 49 > Attunement - lvl 50]
These two are the only skills that have been leveling up during the thought acceleration, and it kind of makes sense as I have been using them directly to help me stabilize my mind. It happened before with Lissandra as well, so I'm not surprised. But mixed in with all of it, I see a few different level-ups, even though they shouldn't be here.
[Manifestation - lvl 72 > Manifestation - lvl 73]
[Weave - lvl 58 > Weave - lvl 59]
My best guess is that it happened when thought acceleration ended, or when the time in the mental space equaled the time outside.
And then there is this thing. Honestly, I did not expect it and would probably have liked to do it differently. The result is also unexpected, so I don't know how to feel about it.
Congratulations, you have successfully combined [Selective Adaptation] and [Attunement]! A new skill has been created.
You have acquired [Calibration]
[Calibration - Level 0 > Calibration - Level 9]
Well, one of my subminds is already experimenting with it, so I can get angry or happy later. There is also an obvious message about the kill, though it makes me wonder how the System grades gods and demigods and decides on their levels and such.
I think there is a lot of room for getting scammed, as they aren't as common a target as monsters, so the System might be giving me fewer levels than I deserve.
Before going through further notifications, movement on the edge of my senses brings my attention to the small group. Sophie, Blackie walking on tiptoes while carrying pieces of red armor, and Izzy cradling a sleeping Noodle. Each of them seems battered, and both Izzy and Sophie are almost entirely without mana.
Couldn't be me.
They all sit down around after Tess gestures for them to stay quiet and keep glancing between me and the blonde.
Peacefully, I continue delving into the status window in front of me.
[You have defeated Essian Nightmare Lion - lvl 649]
[Lvl 469 > Lvl 470]
[Lvl 470 > Lvl 471]
[Lvl 471 > Lvl 472]
[Lvl 472 > Lvl 473]
[Lvl 473 > Lvl 474]
[Lvl 474 > Lvl 475]
[Lvl 475 > Lvl 476]
[Lvl 476 > Lvl 477]
***
[Lvl 486 > Lvl 487]
Congratulations, you have defeated a Demigod!
Congratulations, you have become the highest-leveled tutorial attendee in the past 1,000 years.
Congratulations, you have become the highest-leveled tutorial attendee in the past 2,000 years.
Congratulations, you have become the highest-leveled tutorial attendee in the past 3,000 years.
Well, well, well. I'm glad and disappointed I didn't level up past 500. Getting my mid pristine Synergy Feed upgraded to upper pristine could’ve been really bad.
Actually, how sure am I of that? Just because of that message from the system about complete bodily destruction? I bet I could tank that with some effort. Maybe I'm just too cautious. After all, why shouldn't I get my rewards? I can take it on. I feel fresh, in a good mood, my steps are light, and my body is in a state that I like to call peak performance. Yes, I can do it! 3rd-floor Nathaniel would do it, I'm sure.
What? What is that feeling of my cowardly subminds trying to hold me down? Is it because they crave what I crave and don't want me to have it?
Or are some of them... maybe, just maybe, a bit like... that man? That beauty-mark-under-the-corner-of-his-left-eye, overly patient man? I apologize for using a slur.
I also have a question. What had Adrian been doing for me to end up as the highest leveled tutorial attendee? Or is it possible he is excluded from the rankings? And if he isn't excluded and is in them, is there a reason not to get the highest level possible? I will have to ask Ruby.
Sometime during all of this, Maya gets back too, carrying Lily and Dennis over her shoulders like two sacks of potatoes. With care corresponding to that title, she drops them onto the ground.
I know that with the way our bodies are, even a fall from a multi-story building wouldn't so much as cause a bruise, yet it feels a bit wrong.
I give the two human-shaped potato sacks a glance, confirming that they too are almost without mana, but otherwise fine. Though, if your mana reserves are so pathetically small, can you even call yourself "fine"?
Sometimes it is difficult for me to imagine having a problem such as running out of mana. I must continue to do my best to never end up like them.
Once again, I glance at the window and scroll down. The notification about the completion of this floor isn't here, but I can see the portal to the 13th floor next to me. I know the notification about clearing it and the rewards will appear only after I enter the 13th floor, along with all the rewards.
So that should be it, right?
Yet I have even more notifications appearing anyway.
Alert: Narrative irregularity confirmed. Progression has deviated from the floor’s designated parameters. Floor completion greatly exceeds the expected range of completion.
All Rulers assigned to this cycle of the tutorials have been notified.
A warning given to the attendee Nathaniel Gwyn has been noted.
The use of a disciple summon token outside of its intended function has been noted.
No additional external interference has been detected.
The Ruler of Diligence has rejected a request for evaluation and verification.
The request has been resubmitted.
The Ruler of Diligence has rejected a request for evaluation and verification and terminated the line of communication.
The Ruler of Wrath has validated the assessment and dataset.
Notice: Despite irregularities, the main quest objectives for Floor 12 have been fulfilled. Completion is officially recognized, and the rewards have been increased in accordance with performance.
The weight of the Warning has been increased.
That doesn't sound too good, I can't help but think. But it is what it is.
What I also don't like is my Constitution. There might be a small problem with it.
It currently sits at 9, where previously it was 10. It just decided to drop by one point, and I wonder how worried I should be.
I don't think the System did it because of a warning, and it's more likely a reflection of the state of my body, but it just dropped, and that brings a bigger worry.
If Constitution can go down, Mana likely can as well, and we can't have that.
Using my trademarked brand of humor, I decide to think about it later while I turn back toward the volcano where the city and the skeleton of Tariel the Undying used to be.
That kindred city is more or less still there, but the damage to it is noticeable. I don't even have to run my scans to know that thousands are likely dead. And even though I know they are just recreations of the tutorial, I think I would still feel bad for some of them.
While looking that way, I open my status, and instantly the notification popup attacks me like so many times before.
Additional personalization parameters unlocked. Four options generated for selection.
You can select one of the following:
Passive skill combination token
Three active skills combination token
Active skill evolution
Trait evolution
Note: Any of these options will be influenced by your Mana Primarch (Unique Pristine) Primary class.
I cancel it out before it even loads in full resolution and wonder if there has ever been an attendee so blindingly fast at closing System popup windows. Then I go to put the stat points I have gained into Mana, only to notice that they are already used.
At this point, I begin to wonder if I have made a submind that instantly puts acquired stat points into Mana before I can even entertain the blasphemous thought of raising my Constitution.
[Calibration - lvl 9 > Calibration - lvl 10]
Oh, here we go.
I shift my thoughts to my new skill and to the bits of information my submind has gathered about it.
It seems that I'm able to calibrate myself. Duh. Unlike [Selective Adaptation] or [Attunement], it is a more... well, active process, though all of these skills are active skills.
[Calibration] requires more knowledge, even with the fact that I can rely on the System to take on most of the effort of using an active skill. Though I don't like doing that and try to do it as personally as possible to increase my mastery over my skills.
Plus, I have a suspicion that Lissandra would climb out of whatever hellhole she went to chill in if I even thought of relying on the System to that extent.
So, judging from that fact, I would say that [Calibration] is quite high-level. But I wonder how it would compare to the [Adaptation] that I actually wanted. Is there still an option to get it? Is [Calibration] a lower or higher tier? Or maybe the same, just different?
My decision to celebrate or complain is still postponed, but so far, [Calibration] seems to allow me to "calibrate" myself toward the things I can perceive and at least partially understand.
There is a slight distinction from [Selective Adaptation], which seemed to allow me to adapt to a bigger range of things, while [Calibration] requires some base knowledge from me, but in exchange seems to be able to calibrate myself to an even greater extent. I can also calibrate myself to multiple things at once, as much as my mind is able to endure to keep up.
Another advantage is that this [Calibration] seems to be able to last longer, and it kind of makes sense. [Selective Adaptation] worked more or less on its own, and [Calibration] is a more active effort from me.
I also might be able to calibrate my senses, not to mention my constructs and who knows what else.
My theory is, and always was, that if someone else used the same skills for a combination, the resulting skill would be different. I just think this sort of stuff is always personalized. I have been told many times that the System likes to evolve and strengthen, so it's possible [Calibration] just fits me more. Even if I kind of dislike the System being the one to decide that.
These are my current rewards, with me having a fun time trying to imagine what I would get if I passed through the portal onto the 13th floor. After all of this, it is likely something else.
Plus, there is something else. Bits of the Demigod's mind that I have torn into.
Yes, I made copies of some of that asshole’s memories. Flashbacks that I currently keep quarantined. Just these three memories.
It strongly reminds me of the situation from not that long ago and the trouble it all caused, yet, so what? I have faced that guy already, even if it was wounded and weakened. These three memories are so incomparably weaker. I wouldn’t mind round two.
The last member of Group 4 to come back is Min-Jae. Even in the state he is in, he pulls himself along with [Telekinesis] in that jittery, twitchy way that shows his exhaustion. A few times it even looks like he might drop, but he still pulls himself up by the bootstraps and lands nearby.
It is a bit cool, I have to say, as I watch him take a few steps. But then his body shuts off, and before he falls to the ground, Tess catches him. She says something about a good job before the boy dozes off.
Then he goes onto the potato pile.
Since I'm done with the notifications, I look at Tess with a question, and she speaks, "I wonder. What would you say if we stay on this floor a while longer and do something that you would call a perfect clear?"
Comments (99)
Damn his next upgrades and class especially when it comes again are going to be crazy. I would think killing a demigod is something the system would reward highly.
system be like it's fair to have a level 649 killing you but cheating to survive !!!!! kill this boy
At the rate group 4 is going...N8 will exit the tutorial almost an absolute and Christoph will just be another weak Champion he folds. Ps dont they have like 2 more years in the tutorial, another Competition sequence and just 2 more floors of the tutorial? I wonder how the author will pull off the ending... hopefully we still get a long of post-tutorial content and it doesnt end as disappointingly premature as the Cradle series did...
"calibration" sounds like its a better skill in terms of effect and results but its harder to pull off as it depends on the users skill, knowledge and perception. Its like comparing a sniper rifle with a shotgun.
My guess re a reason people don't just blast as many levels as possible is active skills. Since they get harder to level the higher your constitution, they probably just equate higher level to slower skill level rate and try to balance their growth
has he just used his body so little the stat is falling like he hasn't exercised in years or is he already calibrating his body for more mana, and that's the result of it...
Guys is there anyone keep track what and how Nat’s skills went through? Like floor 1 get focus, mana manipulation later get the skill of maya armanent etc. I wanted to see how much he progressed and how his skills evolved/combined
Yes, there’s a flow chart pinned to the discord chat.
Hmmm highest level attendee only for the last 3,000 years....we need to get these numbers up! Highest level in entire history of tutorial!
Maybe he hits 500 after the kaiju are cleared and he gets the all time record
Looks like Nat is going to hit 500 after all...
With all of the craziness going on, I can imagine that Pride may take such an interest in Nat, that he chooses to strike a deal with Ruby. In doing so, he intervenes and makes a unique 14th Floor instance, just before Nat completes the 13th Floor, in order to test Nat and force him to grow.
If there isn't already a hidden 14th, I like this idea as well. Actually, it would be hilarious if the "Warnings" are actually Pride warning that if he continues to do what he does, he'll test him 🤣
Lol couldn't be me lmaoo😂
I miss biscuit.
My guess is that nat lost constitution through calibration. The submind started to calibrate Nats body towards a higher mana to constitution ratio.
Nat just using mana to refine his body to naturally get the perfect single point of gumming bird con. It'll be fine
Group 4 is scary.
Thank you!
Bro is slowly dying and he still doesn't get it, or at least taking it way too easily.
He definitely gets it. He had the option to reset and lose his constructs and balance himself out and said no. Now he's stuck trying to develop so fast that he finds a fix even Liss doesn't think is possible, but that was what ge wanted and chose to do
Vega's first class upgrade offerings including the line 'contributed to the slaying of a Demigod' is gonna make the system lose it again isn't it
Did they kill the undying guy? Why no reward for killing a demigod? Also Calibration must be a high rare skill if it's so low leveled.
Calibration seems to be equal to weaving and manifestation and extremely high quality. Nat will get the demigod bonus when he leaves the 12th floor.
He still has a year and half left in the tutorial. Question is will he become highest leveled attendee since the beginning.
Well that Felix Maro guy who is Temperance's vessel started in beyond, and we know it happens every few thousand years. Anyone who survives 5 years in beyond probably has a good chance of getting really highly leveled. I do wonder who is the anomaly with the highest level ever in the tutorial
How many levels did minion get? Bonus achievement for a no damage run? XD #What'sAGodToAMinion
What's a minion to a master? 😂
Notice the "warning" to "Warning" change. Capitalized after.
[Calibration] turned 1 constitution into 1 mana?
Kaiju bond incoming? Kaiju drift! Please, Pacific Rim the shit out of this short arc, Cerim.
Yesss! I was hoping they clear all the Kaijus!
I imagine Nat and Maya will make a giant mana robot (regalia) to fight one of them 😁
I cant wait to see this perfect run😁, tftc!!!
Anyone have any theories about the hidden skill? I wonder if it's related to his constitution dropping.
Maybe it's turning constitution stats into mana stats, that's why he's missing one? 😁 Or, more likely Calibration can do that? Given the name, it would make sense.
> What I also don't like is my Constitution. There might be a small problem with it. It currently sits at 9, where previously it was 10. It just decided to drop by one point, and I wonder how worried I should be. Didn't he say he was going to actively temper his Constitution up a bit before the ~1-month timeskip after getting his Primary class? Did he just decide not to? Obviously I would never suggest something as heretical as putting stat points into Constitution, but gaining a little via non-level based means might not be a bad idea. At this point his mana and physical stats are so much relatively higher that he could probably go to like 50 or even back to 100 without it meaningfully slowing anything down re: the low-constitution plan of letting skills seep into the body.
Maybe Calibration turned 1 const to 1 mana?
The system is going to need to find a new Ruler of Diligence if Dili keeps shirking responsibility like this...
He's not diligent anymore. Fake Ruler. Imagine how annoyed at Nat he must be to shirk his very core purpose.
Highest level in 3,000 years means he's on par with Adrian. Sweetness
Above Adrian. Adrian had his tutorial within the last 1,000 years, it's why he is still on the Beyond leaderboards
I mean, there Are kaiju still left afoot; can't leave all that juicy exp just lyin around? 😆
That could mean he will have to solve the lvl 500 problem, maybe. Or maybe not, if they do it together, the xp will be shared and lower, plus each new level requires more and more xp to level.
He just gained a few decades to centuries worth of levels with a few hours of work lol
TFTC. I'm sure sub-minds doing stuff autonomously won't end badly at all.
At some point he will have to fight all the subminds and put them in their places. All hail manathaniel!
Group 4 is about to ride into earth on the back of kajiuu mounts
Blessed be thy mana stat for its magical blessings in automatically increasing itself.
Time to [Calibrate] Nat's body to [Mana Manipulation]. Could it speed up how fast the skills affects the body?
Calibrate it to not take damage from mana
The submind in charge of applying the stat points should be called Manathaniel btw
No, it should be called Clippy 😁
Tftc
TFTC
Sooooo our dear ManaManiac™️ is by far the strongest attendee, would probably curbstomp Nyssa and still has one year and a half of tutorial to go I really think if there isn't a hidden 14th floor for pride he'll go as far as the 8th floor of beyond on his own,or he won't have any challenges left There's a very interesting set up from the 4th tournament with the sneaky power up for the opponents, but apart from that I can't really get anything that would make him sweat for now He'll probably get all the requirements skill wise for Champion (btw here it said five skills over 85, but on RR it dropped to three) and lacks only the Master of Pride, so basically if he does that he's a Champion as soon as he gets a foot on Earth He's not running downhill, he's dropping from the stratosphere like a redbull stunt
We need another fight with Nyssa now. She didn't exit the tutorial yet, did she?
I wonder if with enough skill combination tokens he can get down to just one skill "Mana"
I got the impression that after he combined perception and mana manipulation to get attunement there weren’t any more combinations available unless he makes them himself
Can you imagine how screwed the poor poor other worlds Tutorials’s are in the upcoming tournament? He’s going to solo all 7 of them at this rate without even the slightest issue!
I can’t wait for the tournament, I bet every other tutorial all pile on earth and get stomped
Thank you for the chappie!
geetting 18lv for killing something 180 levels above you is just out right scam! And yes abusing the token is a skill that should not take away from the reward imo. like manipulating people or crafting items. It takes skill, knowledge and strategy. he used it by himself.
Post scriptum: But yess, ofc i think he would have dies if reaching level 500. Maybe its just so difficult to level at these highlevels. and thats why he has the gighest level of anyone in 3k years ...
What does it cost to give him the Adaptation Skill, doesn't he deserve it? I knew you should never trust the Ruler of Diligence! Finally, Nat broke the tutorial.
Uh. What warning is he referring to? I am a little lost on that.
End of chapter 924, warned by the system for using the minion token to deal with the demigod
100% completion to prepare for wrath to try and tear Nat, Limb from Mana infused limb.
He is also about to get back his knuckle from wraths hand that he bargained for on floor 10 when he tried to take the hand to beyond.
Thanks for the chap. My guess is that Calibration is a better skill than Adaption because it's not reactive. The fact that he can use it however he want instead of waiting for the skill to activate is huge. Also according to Darwin's theory of evolution, Adaptation never goes for the "best" evolution in terms of changes, only for what's good enough to survive, Calibration should completely bypass that simply because the choice is in the hands of its user
It definitely lends itself to Nat getting more and more active control over all of his abilities. Everything he does makes him better at control and precision
So its confirmed, that he will choose one of the evolution reward option. the other 2 are tokens, so no need to delay
Absolutely, my guess will be either evolving the unique skill that I won’t try to spell or evolving a trait. I think his passive skills are finalized unless something crazy comes up later and I don’t think he’ll get any more options to combine active skills
It really is a David/Omega direction we're going with Omegamindthaniel. How many constructs is he going to have and subminds? I wonder if we're going to get to a point where mana has special ..specializations, where he makes subminds to ...specialize in them, and use them based on the appropriate situation. Black Mana...white.., gold, red.. maybe elements or other stuff.
I like that he combined all the constructs into 1 that he can tinker with and optimize as he wants instead of the big clutter before
Man diligence not being diligent has to be a red flag maybe a bonus to our favorite chaos factor is in order🧐
Maybe he refused because that way the System will be forced to apply the full force of the Warning to the rewards.
I like the "***" leveling notification trimming; removes bloat.
Yeah, but sometimes it's satisfying to see so many lines after an epic fight. Having just a few lines makes it seem less.
Diligence refusing to evaluate/verify makes me wonder if he was already observing the absolute insanity of Group 4 and thought he couldn't give a fair assessment. That or he's tired of getting System notifications with the name "Attendee Nathaniel Gwynn" in them 😂
He totally created a submind of his own just to deal with nat lmao
I’m kinda surprised that Nat’s constitution is still so low. After the primary class upgrade I assumed that he would go back to tempering his body and using the training marks from before to drastically boost up his stats
He does cerim mention it it took him awhile to gain 1 point because 1 point of constitution is doing a lot of work and his skill is too high level for his body or something forgot which chapter but it’s before the 4th tournament
Ofcourse....
Lets go for that divine Heart!!
I kinda wonder if Empyrean Ichor Purity 100% -> trait upgrade does this?
The trademarked brand of humor of 3rd-floor Manathaniel would definitively want to be as petty as possible and give Diligence an heart attack if he knew he copied memories from a Demigod... Perfect run it is.
I wonder if Nat gets anything for being the highest level in 3,000 years? If not, why note it? I am guessing it will just influence his rewards and such going forward.
I imagine his final reward for completing the tutorial will be enhanced so much that the system will need all the rulers involved in the tutorial to provide witnesses testimonies
"The Ruler of Diligence has rejected a request for evaluation and verification and terminated the line of communication." Lmao Diligence is just so done with Nat's bullshit
There he goes the ruler of petty laziness, probably mad since the bestest boi got an achievement
Nat's response: 'Yes. You mean you were thinking about not doing that?'
"If constitutuon can go down, Mana likely can as well, and we can't have that." Brooo😂😂
The funny thing is we have already seen evidence of that. His last class evolution in particular, when the system took away his class he lost 500 mana for a little while until he resolved the queries about his new class active skill situation. It clearly shows the System can very, very easily take away power. The only thing stopping it is the agreement it is bound by
Killing all Kaijus, let's goo
oh my... are they going to exterminate all the kaiju??
TFTC
TFTC!!! Tess the completionist has arrived! This chappie kinda makes you wonder... how many other attendees have killed a demigod?
I got the impression that it’s never happened before