Chapter 933 - Large-scale Beyond event

As I am about to leave the Black Tower outpost, I find one person blocking my way out of the building.

That annoying catboy stands there, twitching his ears while, as always, wearing his white lab coat. After looking around to see if we are alone, he gestures for me to lift my hand. I do so, and he presses something into it before closing my fingers around it.

He gives a few winks and, while giggling maniacally, walks away towards his basement.

I quickly decide that if it is something nasty, a bug, a love letter, or similar stuff, I will order to have his lab bricked up with him still inside.

Once he is fully gone, I open my hand, finding a single pill in it and a small piece of paper.

Not wasting my time, I exit the building while unrolling the paper and reading a few sentences written on it in letters I can barely read because of how terrible the handwriting is.

5% manasol concentration + concentrated leviathan spine fluid + purified griffin blood + a few extra things I managed to snag. Refined by an Absolute that owes me. No idea what the effects are, report to me later.

I set the piece of paper on fire and watch it burn while I observe the pill.

With a sigh, I then inspect it further and come to the realization that the five percent of manasol it is made of does not count as mine. It has been entirely turned into a physical material, and I wonder if it is due to the process by which the pill was made, or because this exact sample of manasol was separated from me long enough for me to lose ownership over it.

Pushing myself into the air to fly towards one of the entrances to the second floor, I take the time to coat the pill in my mana entirely, creating something akin to a second layer over it. I am fairly confident it could survive an explosion or two this way.

Then I swallow that pill, and by observing the mana I used for the coating, I use it to halt the pill inside my body, not allowing it to go any further into my digestive tract.

When I need to, I can just dissolve the coating and see what it is all about.

Fiona, Dame Vesta, Brich, and I meet in Rookie City on the second floor, also called the third city. This time, Brich wears his full armor and even more items. There is even a helmet covering the entirety of his head, though the ant antennae headband is now connected to that helmet instead.

The redheaded duchess, meanwhile, has a different outfit too, one that surprisingly seems even more formal than her previous attire in a way. She wears brown and red leather chest armor with a single black shoulder guard that is inlaid with golden metal.

From that leather chestplate hangs a short red mantle that reaches slightly below her waist. She is wearing a single light brown glove on her left hand, too, that seems to have a red metal wire woven through it. She also has a belt with a few items, along with a few more strengthened plates on her legs, forearms, and such.

Dame Vesta is hiding somewhere in the bit of fur that goes around her shoulders, and after a bit of observation, I judge most of the pieces to be upper arcane.

For a moment, I am almost surprised at not seeing any low pristine gear. I mean, Brich has some for sure, and even Morwag left the tutorial with a spine chain and that armor we took from the Eternal Clowns, which he stole from our guild in the end.

Well, maybe it is just my standards that are too high, or there is a chance she will get some later. As an S rank, her odds are pretty good.

Meanwhile, I came dressed just in pale green sweatpants and a black shirt, the sort where the sleeves reach just slightly over the elbows. I am truly running out of my clothes, and there is only one ant whose fault it must be.

“Do you have your equipment stored somewhere around here, Guildmaster Gwyn?” the duchess asks me, much to my momentary confusion. I almost begin to think I have forgotten something we will need for the beyond event, but I quickly realize why she has said that.

I don’t carry a single item, nor did I bother creating a crown or halo to store mana. There is only my scarred, slim body, my pale left arm with a fragment of the Nameless Tree embedded in the back of it, and multiple keys to the sixth beyond floor resting on my right forearm. That is all.

As of late, my defensive layer has reached such a state that I even stopped my development of clothes woven and manifested from my mana. Now it is something I work on only when I am bored, though I am still confident that with some effort, my mana-woven clothes could be as durable as arcane armors.

I don’t even have to answer as Fiona nods understandingly. “Oh my, that was a rather silly question of me. My apologies. You suppress your presence so flawlessly that it is easy to forget you are the most powerful attendee currently in Beyond, Guildmaster Gwyn.”

I allow myself to ponder over her words and come to agree with her. With Nyssa now being done with her tutorial, I likely am. Well, after Vic, and possibly some incognito attendee waiting for their moment.

Damn, I am jealous. Who wouldn't love the idea of hiding their power and having everyone underestimate them, just to prove themselves and have multiple people shouting, “That should not be possible!”

“How long do you have until the end of your tutorial, Fiona?” I ask her, and then add, “You can call me Nathaniel too, if you do not mind such a breach of decorum. And you...” I turn to Brich.

The helmet turns to me, and I barely see his eyes through the visor, but I hear his echoing voice from inside, “Brich is fine, Fiona! Or Brichant if you catch yourself in a good mood. Titles like Lord and such do not fit me too much.”

“How delightfully scandalous! What on earth would my father say if he knew how casual S-ranks are?” Fiona gives a smile during which she covers her mouth as she does a “hoho” laugh.

Dame Vesta, in a sudden break of decorum, leaps from the fur and rears up on her hind legs, placing both front paws against Fiona’s cheeks before rapidly slapping her bonded partner.

“My tutorial will end in slightly under one year... Nathaniel. I would be much prouder of that experience if I hadn't heard of the Gwyn siblings and their exploits.” Fiona says, unbothered.

“Have you met Victoria already?”

“I only saw her from a distance once. She has quite a terrifying atmosphere around her... oh, please do not take it as an insult!”

“It is okay. Brich, you do not have that much time left either, right?”

“Just two weeks. It is sad, but we old guard of S ranks are mostly all gone. Nyssa, Lyraen, Mormor, Weslin, Kaari, Hela... I might be the last, though Quintan might have a few more weeks after I am gone.”

After that, Fiona asks him a few questions, mostly inquiring about the previous S ranks, while I wonder if I should have someone from the guild compile a list of new S ranks for me.

Most of the time, there are ten or so of them. That number isn't limited, so there could be a hundred of them. It is just that it isn't that easy to become an S rank, so out of all the attendees currently going through the tutorial, on average, around ten of them reach that highest rank.

As much as Brich seems like an unserious person, he is one of those individuals, and Fiona herself must be one of them as well. I can tell why, too, since our first meeting I have sensed the heat she keeps suppressed inside of her body.

Interestingly, it isn't even primordial thermal energy or some sort of fragment. It is just a combination of passives and skills, and a glance I was able to take at them makes her flames seem comparable to either of those things.

We move lazily through the city, and I have a feeling of déjà vu regarding the attention we are getting. It is almost as much attention as three S ranks of the Primordial Knights moving together, with Morwag being included in that group.

Actually, the attention I am getting with this group of S ranks might be even higher. I can sense this city's king, the local Champion, observing me from the mountain that pierces through the middle of the city. He isn't even trying to hide his senses, using it as a reminder to me that I am being watched. But unlike the previous time, I do not let myself be pushed around.

I also expand my senses in that direction, making sure he can sense me observing him.

Winning a confrontation could be troublesome, as he is more powerful than the Champions of the fifth floor, but he wouldn't be able to push me around however he wishes.

And if I got close enough to touch him...

“Is everything okay, Nathaniel?” Fiona stops walking and asks me, causing me to turn my head away from the mountain.

“It is okay,” I say. “Why don't we go this way?” I point my finger.

Fiona looks that way, slightly confused, but Brich begins to energetically walk in that direction in his clanging armor.

And not that far away, we meet Victoria and her team.

My sister sports her usual casual look, though unlike me, she doesn't mind adopting the clothing favored by locals in Beyond or picking up pieces from the tutorial floors. Even so, her outfit almost always boils down to a classic mix of black pants and a gray shirt.

That is exactly what she is wearing now, with both of her sleeves rolled up to her elbows. She doesn't even try to hide her arm, which is entirely velvety black with a hint of indigo, bearing the stigma of the Starless Sky.

I know she has a skill called [Intent], so I highly suspect that she is using it for detection too. It allows her to feel the intent of people in her area, especially picking up on any intent to hurt her. It is similar to what Nyssa was doing with her [Weapon] skill, which allowed her to sense when someone “lifted” a weapon against her, and through her understanding of that skill, a weapon could mean the body itself.

Now, Victoria seems to recognize my [Intent] earlier than her companions and stands up, turning in my direction. Her eyes sweep past Brich and Fiona before we share a brief hug, during which she remains mindful not to touch me with her right arm.

“It seems that we are both here with the same goal,” Victoria says.

“It seems so.” I nod. “A bit of competition is fine, but if you get a reward I need, we can trade. I promised mine to my handler.”

“I do not mind that,” Victoria says.

“What do you mean!? We didn't come here to-” one of her teammates begins to complain, but my sister just glances back, which causes her to shut up immediately.

Victoria also has two teammates with her. One is a feylith woman who my sister just shut up and who currently has golden curly hair and golden eyes. Her wings are bigger than what is usual for a feylith, and she is wearing full silver metal armor with white cloth pieces.

The other teammate is a broad, heavily built velnar man who sits in complete silence, observing us from behind a pair of round wire-rimmed glasses.

Both of them seem to be S ranks.

We have no further time for introductions before a deep chime rings out, echoing through the entirety of the second floor.

In an instant, all of the fake sky inside this enormous dungeon turns red, causing waves of scared screams from the locals and attendees in the city. All the wind stops entirely, and right in front of everyone, a notification appears.

Congratulations. Your presence on this floor grants you eligibility to take part in the large-scale Beyond event.

All floor access points have been sealed, and the event will officially begin in one hour, at which point further information will be given.