Day 28

Yawning, I sat up in the extremely tiny room and looked around. Our rooms had been rearranged since being assigned to teams, but we still dealt with the completely featureless walls. I knocked on the opening wall, and it obligingly parted, letting me out. I spent all of my Essence and increased my maximum amount. I was now up to 20, which was pleasing in a way, but I wouldn’t be able to use it until I left this god forsaken floor and it’s annoying boss-

“Good morning all~ Oh, some of you weren’t awake? Well now you are, so why complain? Please report to the main viewing area in an hour for the official rules of round two.”

-Smug little bastard.

Ignoring that grating voice, I stretched and tried to imitate the forms that Whipman had shown me yesterday. I was still struggling to find the right way to do Water and Earth stances, but Thunder Stance was making more and more sense.

Although Whipman generally derided my form, my center of gravity, my momentum, the position of my feet, where my eyes were looking, the speed of my strikes, and my moral integrity, he did at least say that I had some understandings of the uses of the 4 forms that he had taught me.

“Just like a pig knows where to find food,” he had whispered when he thought I wasn’t listening.

-Is that really the praise we want to hang our hat on…?

-What else is there.

Stillness, and then surging power. Wrath.

I spent that next hour practicing, then headed towards the viewing area.

To my delight, most of the viewing area had been taken up by a giant buffet table full of food. I rushed over and immediately began gobbling things up.

-They even have larva

The larva bowl was promptly picked up and devoured in its entirety by me. Several other strange creatures were standing around, picking at food, but I had arrived with 10 minutes to spare, and most of the people hadn’t arrived yet. I continued eating food, vacuuming around half of the dishes clean before everyone else arrived, and began worriedly eating, noticing that most of the food had been devoured already.

As everyone settled down, a screen flickered to life, fuzzy and shuddering. But then it twisted and flickered, and a perfect picture appeared of rather fat man in black and white striped clothes. He appeared to have an unassuming body, two arms, two legs, no extra limbs, but he didn’t have a head. The neck connected to nothing. Air hung over his body like bad news in a hospital waiting room.

The body began doing cartwheels. “Welcome~ I’m glad to finally see you all up close!”

The voice giggled.

-So, this is the all-powerful floor controller, huh…?

“Now that everyone has arrived….ah? Not everyone is here…. Well, they can just figure out the rules on their own. Now then…”

Rolling my eyes, I tried to imagine what idiot would ignore the summons from the voice. My face fell as I scanned the crowd. Notable absences included Whipman, Jinka, and the creature who was the captain of my team, Jester.

***POV Change***

Jester strolled along the path from his room, thinking. Then, for no reason that a spectator could tell, he stopped. “Why are you following me?”

A figure detached itself from a wall, resolving itself into a grinning young man with white hair and fox ears. “Jus waiting for my captain. Where were ya off to this morning?”

‘None of your business. I’ll rip your eyes out and suck the bloody sockets dry.’

But Jester just tilted his head to the side and said in a merry voice. “Exploring our living quarters! This is a veritable treasure trove of knowledge and adventure to be found, right outside our door.”

The fox creature laughed. “Yanno, decent folk won’t trust you if you constantly deflect like that. Aren’tcha worried about the public’s opinion?”

“Aren’t YOU worried about annoying your captain…? I’m sure I have the power to punish you, If you’ve been naughty.” Jester tittered.

Shaking his head, the fox creature said, “Nah, I’ve watched you for a while. You might play around a bit, but everything you do is deadly serious. That’s why I’m excited to see why you arranged for those two humans to be on your team. I wanna see em in action~”

There was no pause in Jester’s gait, but an extremely high tech thermometer would have detected that the air around him abruptly became exactly 13 degrees more cold.

“Indeed? You so casually dissect my actions? Aren’t you afraid of a...hasty reaction?” Jester said casually.

The fox creature bobbed his head in a cheery manner. “That’s why I went outta my wait to impress ya. If I getcha attention, prove I’m valuable, indispensable even, you’ll keep me around.

“Not that I think ya will ever like me.” The fox creature laughed. “But ya value strength. I’ve shown strength. You won’t toss me aside.”

Jester considered for several minutes as they walked towards the viewing area. Then he reached out and touched the fox man’s shoulder. “Honestly, you’re right. Thanks”

“For wha-”

But the fox man abruptly lost his ability to talk. His strength drained from him, and a deep chill crept into his body. He looked up at the blank grey mask with mounting horror.

“Still, you miscalculated.” Jester said lightly. The next to phrase Jester injected into the fox man’s mind with enough malice and grief to drive a man insane.

‘There are two things I hate more than any other:

people who say they understand me and being seen as ‘

A long pause.

‘Predictable.’

Jester let go, letting the husk sucked of all life fall to the ground. He walked towards the meeting area, whistling.

***POV Change***

“Now then… Round two. This game is a bit more involved~ It’s multi-team capture the flag! If you look at this map, you will see that there are 9 circles on the map.”

The display shifted from the floor controller to a map that looked like it was drawn by a child. In the center was a yellow circle, surrounded by a blue circle with crayon blue waves to indicate water. Outside that were trees of various sizes, spreading out to a huge black circle, which seemed to be the end of the area. Spread throughout the badly drawn trees were 8 more yellow circles. 4 were deep with the forest, near the edges of the arena, at the Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, and Southwest edges of the circle. The other 4 were at the cardinal directions, slightly set back from the lake, but nowhere near as deep within the forest.

“One on the platform, 8 in the forest! Each yellow dot has Deed sitting in a small fort at its center. A team member must sign his or her name as owner of the deed, then put down his team as part of the property. Anyone who is not on a deed either as owner or property at nightfall will perish! Painfully~ Every morning, there is a slight chance that some of the deeds will stop working...it’s a work in progress.”

-To force us to fight against other teams for their deeds.

“A Deed owner may not leave the fort! When the deed owner dies, his/her name disappears from the Deed, and it may be signed by a new owner! And everyone who was listed as property under that Deed must now obey the heard orders of the new owner~ The game will continue until all remaining people are listed on one Deed under one person, or dead. Oh, and one last thing. There is a special rule… The Deed owner of the central island will have an unlimited mana pool! Now we just need to randomly select who will be teleported where....”

***POV Change***

Jester tapped his grey mask, looking across the crowd who was gazing seriously at the map. He was barely able to resist the urge to roll his eyes.

‘Of course, based on the rules, there is a hidden way for us all to survive… We simply all agree to go forward under 1 leader to the 4th tower, but…’

A bit of madness warped his next thought. ‘Where’s the fun in that?’

***POV Change***

“Well, actually no, I have one more, special, rule…” The voice said with a sinister air, and the belts on all the competitors began to change, alternating between blue and red. I grimaced, but watched as the color of a lizard next to me settled on red with no real harm befalling him. A slight pixy had his belt settle on red. A huge ogre woman got blue.

Mine settled on blue.

“Okay, this part’s real simple. If your color is red, you can only punch and use physical attacks. If you are blue, only mana based attacks. Hahaha, I’m sure all of you have reached some level of mastery in both, so what does it matter which you are limited to, right?”

The gathering became deathly quiet.

-Only mana based abilities…?

-And he, or really it, will destroy any minions summoned...

“Now on to the random location selections...Oh!”

I blinked. This time the voice seemed genuinely shocked.

“It appears that… an unfortunate accident has already befallen one of the challengers. Perhaps a lovers quarrel? Either way, since that team only has 4 people… I’ll reward you by letting you start on the central island!”

*****

To my annoyance, mine was the team that suffered an accident. We appeared on the central island instantly. I looked over our team members. The kid I knew from our brief battle together, but the others…

The team captain was named Jester, and looked just as creepy as the floor controller. He had a grey mask and dirty black clothes. The other member was an old, bald woman with green skin and a hunchback. Strangely we had received balanced colors: bald woman and Jester were red, the kid and I were blue.

What was even more shocking is that Jester immediately told the kid to sign the Deed as the owner.

“But we must swim to shore quickly,” Jester added, immediately jumping off into the water. Shrugging, I followed suit. The bald woman belly flopped, giggling. Then she shot forward like a cannon through the water, leaving me flabbergasted.

“Wait, why?!?” The kid was plainly scared.

“We are planning an ambush of course. The allure of that infinite mana will pull all of the teams this way to start. Just sign the lease and we will have to obey you, so just yell ‘help’ when you are in trouble, alright?”

The boy hurriedly scribbled his name down, and then yelled. “Don’t leave eye shot!”

Jester nodded amicably, and we resumed swimming.

*****

Within 5 minutes, the first of the other teams showed up. They stayed on the shore for long enough that another team showed up. The first team was lead by the Female Ogre who had a blue belt, the second team by a centaur with a red one.

After they began fighting, it quickly became clear that the Ogre’s team was severely limited by the colors of their belts. The ogre, unable to use her well muscled body, threw rather puny fireballs and breathed poison gas.

Just as the last of the Ogre’s team were getting slaughtered, a huge rumbling emerged. A giant horned demon, formed entirely of shadow, appeared and slashed at the centaurs team with vicious claws, killing two of the team members, including the centaur. The rest turned and fled.

“About time he used the mana,” Jester mumbled to himself.

****

It took another half hour for another team to arrive. This team was lead by an extremely tall creature in midnight blue robes. A blue light came from his belt, complementing the whole ensemble. Standing next to him was an even taller golden golem with huge fists. That creature’s belt was red. The rest of the team waited on the shore while the robed man raised a staff and the two floated towards the central isle.

“Stand still, this is painful, but necessary.” Jester abruptly appeared in front of me, then slapped both ears, rupturing my ear drums. I frowned at him. He pointed towards the two people floating towards the isle.

-Is he saying it’s so we don’t hear the order us to help the kid?

-That doesn’t make sense. We never were listed on the Deed as property, so we didn’t have to obey the child’s orders anyway.

-Are we abandoning him?

-Seems so. At least he eliminated two other teams.

-Well, he’s not dead yet.

The huge shadow creature surged into existence, its mouth wide. But the scene was slightly devoid of gravity without sound. The robed man soundlessly raised his staff and began shooting green lightning bolts at the demon. The demon rushed closer, not phased in the slightest.

Grimacing, the robed man chanced tactics, shooting glittering beams of light. Although much less powerful than the bolts, these could actually hit the demon. The demon began bobbing and weaving, surging closer. Then abruptly a 2nd, 3rd, and 4th demon emerged, manipulated shadows controlled by the boy. They lashed out, striking the duo from every side.

The fists of the golden golem began spinning, and a strange energy surrounded its body, dispersing the encroaching darkness.

A tap on my shoulder distracted me. Jester was pointing towards the three members of the group left behind, miming killing them.

-Ah, because he can’t use magic.

-This brings up the real issue. Do we follow this Jester? He seems…

-Unbalanced? Cold? Cruel? Perhaps. But also-

-But also strong. But also decisive. But also knowledgeable about the Tower.

Narrowing my eyes, I nodded slowly and created a few dozen wind blades and threw them towards the unsuspecting members of the team.

Congratulations! Due to your actions, your skill has changed to “Wind Blade Lvl 5”. Damage has improved. Control over thickness and length of the blade has improved.

They died flailing and soundless. It was almost tragic. But they had been just enough for me.

Congratulations! Due to your actions, you have reached Lvl 19. All Biomass has been consumed.Due to your special circumstances, you have the choice of retaining the previously earned Racial Growth Rate of “Frost Fang Packleader” 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 ignored the notification for now, eyeing Jester’s featureless visage. It was not a good idea to reveal weakness in front of this creature.

There were a dozen shadows, leaping and striking, and the two approaching figures were starting to stall out in their advance, barely able to fend off the harassers. But then the shadows dispersed.

The robed figure gazed around, shocked. The boy was floating, slowly rising over the middle island. Even from this distance, the bags under his eyes were incredibly noticeable, and seemingly growing. A huge swirling rift of sulfur and hellfire formed above his head and gleefully, he pointed towards the ground. Shards of that hellfire rained from the swirling vortex, smashing into the ground and resolving into similar demons to the shadows he controlled, but these were physical manifestations of that demon.

Those demons immediately aged, withering and dying.

-No belts…no minions.

Other me almost sounded sorrowful. I kept my eyes on the boy, watching his glee turn to slack-jawed shock. While the boy was using his mana for the ultimately useless spell, the midnight robed figure and the golden golem made it to the platform.

Too late, the boy began to summon shadows again, rushing to harry them, but the robed figure raised his staff and shot out green lightning bolts. On sizzled past the boy’s head, singing his hair. Another shattered his left leg. A third ripped out the boy’s throat.

Nothing more than a lump of meat, he fell to the ground.

Without waiting to see more, the three of us turned and retreated into the trees.

*****

“Why the eardrums?” We had all healed, and were heading towards the Southwest Deed. It was the direction that the first teams had come from, and Jester suspected it would be currently abandoned.

“Gemze, the golden automaton, has a skill that let’s him detect anyone who can hear him. Incredibly useful, I wish I had it…” Jester started muttering to himself for a while, then turned back to me.

“Are your delicate sensibilities miffed that I let your fellow human die?” Jester seemed genuinely concerned.

Rather than correct his assumptions about my race, I simply shrugged. “I’m more confused why we just let the middle point go. If we held it, it would be rather easy to control for the next few days. They would likely eventually mob us, but that’s going to be messy no matter what side you are on; better to be on the side that has infinite mana.”

Jester just looked at me with his blank mask. Then he turned to the bald woman. “Toddie, did you hear that? The human spoke words and arranged them in a reasonable sequence. Was it just a fluke?”

Toddie remained silent, bobbing her head. Turning back to me, Jester said. “You… are right. If that’s all we wanted, to be the last team in round 2, then we would stay there. But it’s not what we want. Because you know what the final round of Floor 3 always is? You fight against the Floor Controller, who has access to infinite mana. Why do you think no one ever survives this floor?”

I shrugged. “It may be unlikely, but-”

“No. I didn’t exaggerate. Since this headless individual was installed as the floor controller, no one has survived this floor. No being, no spirit, no bionic, no sentient existence even debatably alive has made it. This is the one true trash grinder. Anyone deemed to be slightly in possession of potential is able to skip it. Path bosses from the first floor wait until they have enough money to bribe their way up past it.”

-Whoops.

Jester patted my cheek. “I already called dibs on the first position, and Toddie is second, but you are welcome to be the third individual to survive.”

*****

Jester refused to talk after that, his muttering overtaking him, and we continued through the trees. We finally reached a squat little tower. Inside was nothing but a wide room a table, and an unsigned Deed. He signed the controller portion, then watched me with as held the pen and hesitated.

“Oh? Having… second thoughts?” Jester’s voice changed, becoming soft, velvety, and sweet like poison.

“Uh, no. I just don’t know how to write my name.”

*****

After that was handle, I retired to a large treetop some distance away, above the vine layer. I turned back to the notification.

-We have a growth rate that benefits mana, agility, and the mental stats. It’s likely worth it to stick with it for another level.

I shivered, eyes scanning around in the darkness, my perception stretched to its limits.

-If I get caught in the middle of a mutation…

Other me just seemed to shrug.

-No way we would be that unlucky.

-...if you say so.

I clicked yes to retain the growth rate.

Growth Rate retained!Vit +1Str +6Agi +22Dex +19Processing Power +36Memory + 13Wis +9Timeless Perception +30Mana +398All Biomass has been consumed! Due to consuming 1001 Biomass, 0 chances at improvement gained. 1 chance at a greater improvement gained.

-Greater improvement….?

-Sounds painful.

Chance One: … Genetic Entanglement!Due to the chance being a Greater Improvement, Evolutionary Leap applied to Racial Growth Rate. Racial Growth Rate has changed from “Frost Fang Packleader” to “Warden of Glacier and Moon”. Due to receiving the Growth Rate of a unique figure, Genetic Entanglement’s effectiveness will be reduced to 20%.

“Ah. AHHHHHHHHHHHH.”

I thought a mutation was painful. But that was nothing. That was heat building and building within my body until I was either refined or I began to cool. This was a force running through me, systematically erasing my previous existence and reconstituting it. I felt the strangeness in me growing, as something foreign was added, and my two sides began to war with each other.

Cells were ripped apart, reconstructed, and then began to tremble as the incompatibilities grated. The vibrations shook me, and I fell to my knees. I dry heaved, but all Biomass had been consumed; nothing remained in my stomach. My teeth were chattering so badly that I bit off my own tongue. The bloody hunk of flesh fell on the ground.

Groaning, I lost control of my muscles and fell on it, the still warm piece of me still vibrating from the damage done to its cells. By stomach was rolling and every bit of me was on fire. I was dying, slowly but surely. I couldn’t withstand the agony.

Initialization complete. Beginning Entanglement.

The next three seconds were several eternities. I was the sun, and I was combustible, and I was fire, and then I was ash, and I was blown away by the wind, and I knew no more.

I passed out.

***POV Change***

Although Jester knew that men had their needs, he disapproved of Predator being so vocal about his climaxes: after all, some individuals were trying to sleep.

Jester leaped lightly up through the trees, approaching Predator’s location, which had gone quiet. Tiptoeing dramatically to amuse himself, Jester rode a vine to a position overlooking Predator.

What he saw made him frown.

The figure below him groaned, shifting his weight, shakily pushing himself off the ground.

Predator, Jester assumed, was human. 2 m tall, yellow eyes, part of his one ear missing, messy looking black hair…

But this figure… He was at least ¼ a meter taller than that. The hair was now down past his shoulders. He pushed himself up, and Jester caught his silhouette. A luminescent yellow eye glowed in the darkness. But it was still recognizably Predator. Just a slightly bigger version of him.

Predator stood, swaying, and looked at his hands, long marbled nails sticking out from the edge of his fingers like claws. Jester hopped down, inspecting him. The movement caught Predator’s attention, and he turned to look at Jester. While the left eye was glowing yellow, the yellow was a burning clear blue.

“Well,” Jester commented after a moment of looking at each other. “You seem a bit different.”

***POV Change***

Congratulations! Due to your actions, your skill has changed to “Pain Tolerance Lvl 8”. Ability to handle pain improves. Only pain fundamental to your very existence will phase you.Congratulations! Genetic Entanglement Successful. Gained the Title “Warden of Glacier and Moon”: All stats +10. Max Essence +5. Gained the Skill “Lesser Ice Affinity Lvl 1”. Gained the Skill “Lunar Affinity Lvl 1”. Gained the Skill “Implacable Will”.You feel a voice calling to you from the 34th Floor of The Great Tower.Warning! System Solicitors have been notified of your existence, but not your location. Exercise caution.

“Uh, yea. I feel different too.” I stretched my arms and legs. Although my muscles were still sore from spasming, that was quickly passing. I hopped up and down experimentally. I examined my claws. I brought up my status and looked at it.

Name:PredatorLevel:19Race:Biomass:Racial Growth Rate:Warden of Glacier and MoonEssence:12/25Health Regen:x2.1Mana:1692/1897Vit:80 (+15)End:57 (+15)Str:82 (+15)Agi:89 (+15)Dex:78 (+15)Memory:256 (+15)Processing Power:330 (+15)Parallel Computations:2Wis:127 (+15)Luck:33 (+15)Timeless Perception:116 (+15)TitlesA PredatorRacelessNurturer of the UndeadSinger of the Dark CadencesBringer of WarMaster of Throwing KnivesWarden of Glacier and MoonSkillsLesser Air Affinity Lvl 9Endless StomachWeapons Mastery Lvl 2Silent Kill Lvl 1Path of the DragonAura of the Predator Lvl 4Summon Lesser Dead Lvl 5Bile Emission Lvl 2Unholy Bestowal Lvl 2Physicality Lvl 7Song of the Murloc People Lvl 1Thunder Stance Lvl 2Cadence of EarthCadence of WaterWind Stance Lvl 1Wind Blade Lvl 5Pain Tolerance Lvl 8Greater Resistance to Fire Lvl 1Sneak Attack Lvl 1My Heart is the Bellows, My Body the Metal Lvl 1Lesser Ice Affinity Lvl 1Lunar Affinity Lvl 1Implacable Will Lvl 1

Then I turned to Jester. “Who are the system solicitors?”

Jester froze. Then, after a long moment, he doubled over, laughing. It took several minutes for his giggles to settle to the point where he could speak.

“Oh my, Predator. I was so right to pick you. Haha!” And after slapping my back, he walked away. "Always such an amusing fellow..."

-That asshole gets off on being mysterious, doesn’t he...

***Author's Note***

Well it seems like you guys weren't super psyched about.... Spud. Was it bad that I couldn't remember the name for a few seconds? Haha, I could explain the rules blind folded, but the name xD. I might try and make a mock up and force some friends of mine to play with me, see how it works in practice.

Long story short, I won't keep it to the minimum for a while, give you some more typical adventury nonsense... (Basically, I"m upset because Spud was the vehicle with which I could finally be the type of author that drags on something pointless for 20 chapters, then follows with a super hype chapter that is entirely reactions, which has always been my dream...)

Anyways, we finally have system screens again! I forgot how annoying they are to add to the chapter. Such a time sink...

Still, the plot waits for no one, not even me, and we need to move forward!

Whoops, had to edit because I forgot to add his status at the end xD. I'm so tired...