Day 17

My body ached. I stared at the ceiling for several seconds, then turned my attention inward.

-Other me.

-Yes, other me?

-No matter how hard it is, we need to learn from whipman. We need to understand this strength he has. It may seem distant now, but the only way to survive is to kill. We climb upwards on the bodies of the challengers. And someday soon, we will lose this safe haven and be forced to ascend. Our opponents won’t remain so weak as this.

-I agree. Survival is everything.

Sitting forward, I rubbed my neck. More impressive than my healing ability was the fact that whip man inflicted injuries that still ached, even today.

-Oh, those aren’t injuries. We are gaining muscle. It’s strange. Although our statistics have stayed the same, you were a hair faster by the evening battles than you were in the morning. I mostly let you do the fighting and watched the performance.

-How very scientific of you.

-No need to thank me. Well, I’ll spend most of today repressing Timeless Perception, so keep up the good work.

Shaking my head ruefully, I walked out of the door to find an already smartly dressed Jerry with his little clipboard. I rolled my eyes, but began summoning today’s undead. But after I summoned the second skeleton archer, there was a pleasantly surprising notification.

Congratulations! Due to your actions, your skill has improved to “Summon Lesser Dead Lvl 4”: Mana costs have decreased slightly. You may now raise “Corpse Hunters.”

Figuring there was no harm in trying them out, I spent the remaining 485 of my mana summoning 4 Corpse Hunters, 115 mana each.

They turned out to 4 foot tall dog-like zombies with thick forelegs and a wide snout full of rotten teeth.

Their mangled tongues panting, they licked my hands and knees and covered me in the terrible smell of their breath. Still, they had a certain sort of loyal charm about them. Seeing I had a bit of leftover mana, I summoned one Skeleton Drudge for old times sake, and then accepted the report from Jerry.

I planned on barely reading it, but what I found made me frown.

TurnipArcher of the Blood OwlLvl 15Yellow SkeletonAncient Skeleton DrudgeLvl 13Gerard KiefhartReanimated AntphoLvl 9*Corpse Hunter (x4)Lvl 8Skeleton Archer (x2)Lvl 7Zombie ScavengerLvl 7*Skeleton Archer (x2)Lvl 6GhoulLvl 6Total Minions: 14Skeleton DrudgeLvl 2

“I’ve marked the freshly summoned ones with asterisks,” Jerry said hopefully, but I shook my head.

“Why is there a ghoul here?” I pointed to the report.

Jerry shrugged. “One of the Zombie Scavengers evolved into it.”

“Yea, I figured, but…why was it that one? Don’t the scavengers start at Lvl 6? It’s still level 6. Why didn’t the one who made it until lvl 7 evolve into a ghoul.”

Once more, Jerry simply shrugged. “Perhaps it has something to do with diet?”

Sighing, I gave the report back to him. Still, 14 minions huh. It helped that 2 of the Skeleton Archers I summoned yesterday had survived. And now that the drawbridge was working, the patrols wouldn’t have to range so widely…

But the more I thought about it, the more my head began to throb. Turnip had reported that there were at least 2 challenger

settlements on the premises, each with at least 30 challengers. If something wasn’t done about them today…

Then I smiled. Time to go shopping.

*****

After paying off my various debts-

-Totalling a ridiculous 130 Towers. Can that grey lunged lizard even count?!?!

I had 170 towers remaining, enough to purchase three Heart Murmer Shrooms, which came in the form of wizened seeds. I stared at them dubiously when the woman working the counter gave them to me. It just made her laugh.

“Don’t worry, Lazza’s poisons always work. Almost TOO well, if you ask me. Jump put them into the ground and run away as fast as possible.”

I hurriedly teleported away, afraid to handle the seeds for too long. Sprinting, I left the castle, placing the three shrooms in a cluster around the river, hoping to restrict access. I then hurried up a nearby hill, and turned and looked at one of the spots.

Within minutes, a purple headed mushroom with white spots popped up. Within the next 10 minutes, it swelled to be 10 feet across, and 4 feet off the ground. A strange purples cloud began to form around it.

-Oh god, what have we done.

-The biological apocalypse has come.

Tinier little purple shrooms were popping up in the nearby area. Fearful but curious, I threw a knife from where I was, hitting one of the tiny purple shrooms. It instantly exploded in a poof, spreading more spores in the surrounding few meters. All in all, I would say each seed planted made it impossible to go within a 50 m diameter area within inhaling the poison. I suppose it just depended on how deadly the poison was.

Remembering the lizard’s voice cracking from excitement, there was no way I was curious enough to risk testing it.

*****

“We are going to start with thunder stance, because I believe it will come most naturally to a meathead like you. Have you suppressed your precognition? Good, because it will only get in the way of training.”

Whip man walked with his arms folded behind his back to a wooden pole that I had watched Yellow Bones smash deeply into the ground.

It was strange, I reflected, how much Whipman’s persona had changed since he had decided to train me, but then I realized that he was likely imitating his master. The strange remnant of an impression stirred inside of me.

‘Pity…’ It murmured.

Whipman patted the pole. “The exercise is simple for your level. Later I will teach you the footings and stances, but first you must learn the cadence of each stance. When you have the cadence mastered, you should learn the skill for each.

“For thunder, you will simply squat in front of the pole and punch it whenever I say “punch”. Easy, undoubtedly a man of your stature shall handle it splendidly. We will start will 10 minute sets.”

…

…

…

My legs began to burn slightly as I squatted there without moving at all. I idly reached up and scratched my cheek.

Whipman hit me in the back of the head with my cudgel. “No! You cannot move at all. Thunder is stillness before the storm! Be still!”

Gritting my teeth, I breathed in-

“Punch!”

And breathed out, and then threw a punch. But before I even hit the pole I was hit in the back of the head with the cudgel again. “No, no, no! Much too slow. Have you ever seen thunder creep? Does it stroll? Does it approach!?!?!?!?! NO. It strikes! So strike. Punch!”

My fury drove my punch, slamming it into the pole.

“Good! Thunder rumbles all the time. Use your anger. Let the storm build.”

....

….

….

My legs were REALLY starting to cramp at this point. Sweat ran down my forehead, itching something fierce. But I resolved myself to do nothing to allow him to crack me on the back of my head again with the cudgel.

…

…

…

…

...Why was I doing this anyway? I was plenty strong. My stats seemed high for my level, and I’d been able to manage along fine before this piece of shit came in here with his stupid power trip games.

…

…

…

So why…

…

…

…

So why…!

…

…

…

…

…

SO WHY DO I CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE LIKE THIS. THERE IS AN EASIER PATH.

-An easier path leads nowhere. Could you win against the satyr creature in a fight? The lizard woman? Even Jen? You are weak. You are a metal full of impurities. But every moment here…

-Every bit of pain…

-Every drop of sweat…

-Every second of struggle tempers you, forges you.

-Every moment sculpts the future.

-Every moment forges a path to power

-Every-

Whipman tapped me on the shoulder. “Alright, the first set is finished. You have a one minute break. A poor first attempt, but-”

I punched him directly in the face, satisfied by the feeling of his nose shattering.

*****

The following 10 sets were nothing but squatting. He didn’t say punch once. So I just squatted, repeating my mantra over and over. I couldn’t even tell whose voice it was at this point, me or other me, it just blended together.

-Every drop of sweat tempers you.

-Every second of struggle sculpts you

-Every bit of pain forges you.

It became my whole existence as I remained there.

-Every drop-

“Punch!” My fist flashed out, but I knew it was a second too late. The cudgel rapped against my thigh, the pressure almost sending me tumbling to the ground.

“Not good enough. When the storm breaks, it breaks!”

-Every drop of sweat tempers you.

-Every second of struggle sculpts-

“Punch!”

This time I was ready, but he continued.

“Punch, punch, punch, punch, punch, punch, punch!”

Thump, thump.

I slammed my fist against the pole, my hand growing slightly sore. Pausing, I wonder if I had performed to whipman’s satisfaction.

A blow to my other leg confirmed my fears. “You punched one two many times, idiot pupil. Honestly, why do I even bother…”

-Every drop of sweat tempers you.

-Every second of struggle sculpts you

-Every bit of pain forges you.

-Every drop of sweat tempers you.

-Every second of struggle sculpts you

-Every bit of pain forges-

“Punch!”

*****

Lunch was the promised land and Jen was a beautiful angel. No sooner had she set down the drums had I thrown myself at one, devouring the larva within. After my second drum, she jellied over towards me.

“So… I wanted to ask… if you don’t have a race… what happens when you level up?”

After swallowing a mouthful of larva, I answered. “I gain a few bonuses to stats. Sometimes I get a new skill.”

Jen’s body wiggled, and a human head emerged, surprisingly detailed.

-Honestly, this is a pretty good human face. I bet it is paired with good birthing hips.

-Shut up, other me.

-Says the guy who has been mumbling to himself mentally all day…

Very deliberately, the human face scrunched its eyebrows together and the mouth bent in a frown. I laughed; I couldn’t help it, the exaggerated nature of the process was sorta delightful.

Jen’s body collapsed back into a blob, wiggling with pleasure. But when she spoke, her voice remained serious. “But… don’t stat gains from levels come from your race? Skills too. How do you get them?”

“Oh, that’s easy.” I said around another mouthful. “I basically get a random growth rate for every level.”

“Everyone’s growth rates are random.” Whipman said dismissively. “They just usually have bound levels between which the bonuses usually come out.”

I scratched my head, struggling to explain correctly. “No, not just that. I get a randomly assigned racial growth rate for each level, and so I get different sorts of stat gains. For a while I got the growth rates of a boar, so I got mostly Vit, End, and Str. But then for a couple I had the growth rates of a Lich, so I gained Wis and Mana. I learned how to summon the undead from that race too.”

They both just looked at me, Jen completely still and Whipman with his jaw hanging open.

“Uh...okay. Just…” Whipman blinked rapidly. “Just tell me what it says next time you level up, okay?”

Jen whispered something to Whipman and then poofed away.

******

I looked at the notification was a bit of pride.

Congratulations! Due to your actions, you have learned the skill “Physicality Lvl 1”: Your body’s durability has increased. Strenuous activity will tire you out slightly less. You can more fully utilize your body’s natural strength and agility.

But unfortunately, as if he noticed my distraction, Whipman called for a punch, and I was very late in throwing one out. After he smashed both of my thighs with enough force to bruise even me, I fell, strength finally giving out.

He looked down at me disdainfully. “Get up, the set isn’t over.”

It took me a full 30 seconds to struggle back up into a squatting position. Settling down was an agony, but I gritted my teeth and glared at the pole.

I don’t believe I have ever hated a piece of wood as much as I was growing to hate that one.

-I mean, you are only 17 days old-

“Punch!”

***POV Change***

Dekker glared at the files in front of him, willing their contents to change. Gillette had made a lot of bets recently, but he couldn’t found out on what. But Dekker’s stock had been in decline ever since that Kiefhart had failed, and if this latest bet didn’t pay off…

Dekker wanted desperately to believe that Gillette saw the same potential and was betting on the same challenger he was, but the fact that no one would tell him saw set off his paranoia. Even when he had Kettle ask around…

He turned and gazed out of his office, considering Kettle. Her long black hair was pulled into a side ponytail that fell over her left shoulder. Her delicate nose, covered with a light dusting of freckles, was scrunched as she focused on the display in front of her. Kettle, ever so professional, ever so rarely smelling of fear these days… Perhaps…

Kettle’s phone rang, startling them both. She answered, rapidly recovering her poise. She mouthed something at Dekker and pressed a button, shifting the call to him.

He paled, realizing what she said, and picked up the phone. “C-Chairwoman! How lovely….”

Dekker grew silent, listening. “Well yes, it has been a difficult quarter… But I think…”

The voice on the line continued to talk. Dekker’s jaw went slack. “You want… you are willing to lend me that money?”

Chuckling, the voice laid out the details of what the loan would entail. Dekker gritted his teeth but did some quick calculations. Kettle, who had remained on the line, wrote something down on a paper and held it up. Dekker’s eyes went wide. If his bet paid off, he would still have that much left over?!?!

“Of course, chairwoman, that perfect. I have absolute confidence that this challenger will make an excellent storyline for The Great Tower.”

“That’s good to hear,” The voice answered, and the line went dead.

*****

***POV Change***

Whipman was in luck, and I also received an answer to a question I had been wondering about all day: whether I would receive experience for those who died to traps. Whether it was because I was the one who set them or because I controlled the path, some portion of the experience came to me. I looked at my 930 Biomass with glee as the notification rose.

Congratulations! Due to your actions, you have reached Lvl 15. All Biomass has been consumed.Due to your special circumstances, you have the choice of retaining the previously earned Racial Growth Rate of “Carniverous Dusk-Wing Owl” or use the Biomass to receive another randomly assigned Growth Rate. Note, retaining a Growth Rate will allow you to learn Racial skills at the typical level they are learned. Note, if a Growth Rate is retained, the Biomass will instead be converted into random chances for improvement.Do you wish to retain your previous Growth Rate? Y/N

I clicked no.

-Spin the wheel~

Due to your special circumstances, you will receive the racial growth rates of a random race based on the amount of biomass consumed.Congratulations! You have received the racial growth rates of a “Murloc Champion.”Vit +9End +4Str +9Agi +7Dex +3Timeless Perception +3Mana +219Since you have reached Lvl 15 as a “Murloc Champion”, you have the chance to learn the Racial Skill “Song of the Murloc People Lvl 1”. Would you like to learn it? Y/N

Slightly bemused, I clicked yes.

Congratulations! You have learned the skill “Song of the Murloc People”. Murloc champions are beloved by the people, and are often the explorers and pioneers of their race. When a Murloc Champion locates a new land for his people, he will sing their song, summoning them from the distance corners of the world to come settle. Amount of Murlocs summoned depends on level. Can only be sung underwater.

So I can start a Murloc colony…?

Setting aside my slight disappointment at the skill usage and the relatively bland level up gains, I called Whipman over. Luckily, the level up had occurred during a break.

-The mana is a nice boost though.

-True. Maybe the previous owl thing just spoiled us…

“What is it?” He asked, his hands folded behind his back in the pompous manner he had adopted.

“You want to see my level up, right? I just leveled up. Someone must have been enjoying my shroom traps.” I explained a bit about biomass, and how I randomly received the growth rate Murloc Champion, and the gains I got.

“That…” Whipman seemed stunned. His eyes went wide. And then even wider. And then they rolled up into the back of his head.

He had fainted.

*****

When he woke up, we resumed training. Instead of answering my questions about what happened, he simply shook his head and yelled punch.

The undead minions, those remaining, began to limp back. It seemed that all but one of the Corpse Hunters had died, and the Ghoul had perished while the unevolved Zombie Scavenger somehow survived. I shook my head.

Only Yellow Bones seemed fine, and in fact seemed better than ever. He seemed to be growing a second, smaller set of arms beneath his more club like first set. Five skulls now sat atop his shoulders.

I received one last pleasant surprise during the final set of training.

Congratulations! Due to your actions, the skill has changed to “Physicality Lvl 2”: Your body heals from injuries slightly faster. Strenuous activity is slightly easier. Flexibility improves.

With that last set, Whipman finally spoke. “You are completely without talent. It has been a disgust guiding you today. See you tomorrow." With that, he walked away.

I retired to my room, cursing myself for forgetting to ask about a bed. I resolved myself to bite the bullet and contact that lizard woman again for one. Then I laughed, realizing that if the trend continued, today would be my third day without letting anyone through. I would be promoted again.

That would make me… the 8 path layer?

I shivered. Surely, the paths below me would stop more challengers, right…?

Before falling asleep, I opened up my Status and considered myself. At least the gains were primarily physical, and included a mana boost. Even if they were a bit underwhelming…

Name:PredatorLevel:15Race:Biomass:0Health Regen:x2Mana:529/904Vit:47 (+2)End:29 (+2)Str:31 (+2)Agi:40 (+2)Dex:35 (+2)Memory:242 (+2)Processing Power:271 (+2)Parallel Computations:2Wis:99 (+2)Luck:33 (+2)Timeless Perception:50 (+2)TitlesA Creature Which Named Itself PredatorRacelessNurturer of the UndeadSkillsLesser Air Affinity Lvl 3Endless StomachWeapons Mastery Lvl 2Knife Throw Lvl 9Path of the DragonAura of the Predator Lvl 3Summon Lesser Dead Lvl 4Bile Emission Lvl 2Unholy Bestowal Lvl 1Physicality Lvl 2Song of the Murloc People Lvl 1

***POV Change***

Gillette laughed into the phone receiver. “I know what you are thinking; calling in all of my favors so soon? It’s foolish. But yes, I would like you to double promote him again. Yes, the same path boss. Thanks.”

After he hung up, Gillette filled a crystal goblet with an azure liquid and sipped at it. He walked to the window of the office, and looked out at the sprawling mechanical artifice that made up the ugly underbelly of the tower. He looked upward, considering.

“I hope you’re right,” He whispered. Then he finished the drink all at once.

**********AUTHOR'S NOTE*************

Well I wrote a bunch today, even though I meant to take it easy and put out probably the same number of days, but have the days be much shorter. Ha, it probably feels that they are short from a reader's perspective, but still...

Things just kept happening *shrugs*. Juggling this many things while rushing headlong forward is sorta enjoyable. I hope that's part of the appeal, but let me know if it starts to feel disjointed.

Suggestions and corrections are always appreciated~