Chapter 187

Matt fell to the ground, the sudden disorientation of returning to his body overwhelming him as he was wrenched out of the theme challenge and found his limbs in all the wrong, or was it all the right places. He fell to the ground with a thud, trying to recover his sense of self.

It didn’t take him very long to notice the ongoing fight, a pair of cultivators attacking the rest of his team, most of whom were likewise on the ground and desperately trying to avoid being skewered.

Drawing on the mana in his belt and his Endless regeneration, something he had missed so very much these past few years, Matt brought up a [Bulwark] to give them a moment of reprise.

The wall of glowing mana surprised the attackers, and though it forced them to slow down and change their angle of approach, it didn't stop them.

That was all the four of them needed, though.

They were on their feet and launching attacks just a second after entering the safe room.

Susanne, the closest to upright out of all of them, rolled to the side and slashed out with her greatsword. It was only half the size it normally was, and growing, but that didn’t affect the strength of her [Wind Cutter] in the least.

Aster’s legs gave out from under her as she tried to jump into the air, but she didn’t need to even be standing to conjure and launch a wall of ice spikes in the general direction of the man Susanne hadn't attacked.

Liz pulled herself up with a tendril of blood that then flicked out to intercept the nearest man, busy dodging Aster's ice attack.

Rage at the two attackers flooded Matt as he got a good look around the safe room.

It was empty.

If they had still been so far ahead of the competition, that wouldn't have been surprising. But with someone attacking them as soon as they appeared, the emptiness told a different story.

These two had murdered anyone who came out after themselves.

Matt gathered his Concept and pushed off the ground.

Power flooded into his body in a new way, telling him Minkalla had already rewarded him for his struggle in the last challenge.

A portion of it was dedicated to his body, but while it was noticeable, it wasn't the majority.

He had succeeded in directing most of his reward to his mind and senses. The world went sharp, and details he hardly noticed before were clear as day, even without using his AI. It was like the sharpening of reality he always noticed when calling upon his Concept, but multiplied a thousandfold. He instantly readjusted to his body, and his vision broke down into components, and his mind automatically categorized and classified everything within his awareness, painting a vivid story of their attackers.

Blood spattered their attackers' armor and blades, which spoke of recent kills. He also saw that the rightmost attacker was a woman that was using her blank mask to change her body in a limited way. It spoke of cheaper masks and weaker enchantments, but with the limitations Minkalla put on items over Tier 14, that didn't mean much.

Matt activated his AI and felt the world further magnify.

Even more so, minute details came to his attention.

The man was using a rapier with a specific hilt design generally only seen in the Monster Collective. The woman’s left hand was held at an odd angle, as if it was hiding something.

As more details flooded into Matt's brain, and his Concept's empowerment allowed him to parse and analyze all the information without getting overwhelmed, he felt something else.

His willpower was trying to flow into his AI.

Following his instincts, Matt allowed it, and with his spiritual perception, he watched as his head started to emit light as if a white hole was behind it.

At the same time, his willpower fed into his AI, and it started running as smoothly as it did outside of Minkalla. It wasn’t just because of his Concept, he realized. Minkalla seemed to be lessening its grip on the skill, perhaps recognizing that he’d ‘earned’ it.

The rapier that the first man was using wasn't his own. Or at least, it wasn’t made for him. The weapon was heavier and the length of the thin blade was longer than someone of his stature would generally find comfortable.

All of that information flooded into Matt in less time than it took Aster's icicles to form, launch, and reach the attackers.

That all came at a cost, though. Matt felt his willpower draining rapidly. It was neither a final floor reward nor a part of his Concept's natural abilities; the internal boost was inefficient. Still, he believed that he could keep both his body and AI empowered for close to five minutes at full power, which was more than enough for this fight. His willpower would be close to totally exhausted afterwards, but that was nothing that a good night’s sleep couldn’t take care of.

Seeing Susanne moving at a speed beyond what she normally could, he changed the trajectory of the [Mana Slash] he was sending out. Instead of landing where her opponent was going, he attacked behind them to cut off their path of retreat.

Aster and Liz were even faster.

Without hiding her blood abilities, she was able to quickly ensnare the man despite his slashing and cutting at her tendrils. He tried to use what Matt believed was [Dash] to escape the encirclement, but Aster had already frozen the outer layer of Liz’s blood to prevent that.

Seeing that she had him well controlled, Matt activated his gravity gauntlets to help Susanne and prevent her attacker from leaving so quickly, who was trying to flee despite losing an arm.

Except, when he activated the gauntlet, neither opponent moved under the sudden change in gravity.

His AI churned through mana and scanned everything his six senses could pick up.

From ten feet behind the two attackers, Matt saw two patches of dirt move.

Footprints of people invisibly sliding through the loose ground of the safe area.

Cursing their sneakiness, Matt called out through his AI, “Sweeping!”

Murderers who ambushed people in the safe area got no sympathy from him, and he activated [Cracked Mana Spear] as his allies hit the floor.

The beam of energy lanced out and cut through two bodies, but Matt didn't stop there. He swept his attack across the entire safe area, looking for any more hidden attackers.

He didn't find any, but two bodies fell to the ground. They were identical to the people they had just been fighting, save that they weren't damaged except where Matt cut them in half.

They were both still alive, as he had bisected them across the gut, missing the heart or anything immediately lethal.

The woman on the right pulled a throwing dagger out of a spatial ring and threw it at him, but Susanne’s greatsword knocked it out of the air without Matt even having to move.

At the same time, the blood they were lying on rose up and drove into them, tearing their surviving limbs apart and rending their flesh into carrion.

“It's what you fucks get for ambushing us.” Liz spat as she directed their own blood to kill them, red thorns bursting from their skin.

There was no rush of Genesis Energy or even essence, but there was no way the duo was alive after Liz put them through a blender.

Matt ran over, putting all of his mana into [Cracked Phantom Armor]. They could never be too sure. He started pulling the armor and spatial items off the slain assailants as Minkalla started to dissolve them.

Minkalla didn’t give them extra time to loot delvers inside safe rooms.

By the time they were gone, Matt was pretty sure he had gotten most of the rings and bags out safely, but he had to give up on their gear.

He also noted they had been running away when he had attacked them. It seemed after their first attack failed, they tried to run away through the pillar in the center of the room rather than fight.

Susanne pointed her greatsword at Matt’s head. “That's new.”

Aster chimed in, “It looks like you're a cartoon that’s having a bright idea. Did you figure something cool out?”

Matt stopped channeling his Concept into himself and kicked at the disappearing bloodstains. “I was in a good mood, but these fucks ruined it with their ambush on us.”

He looked at the central pillar. He had washed it with his strongest attack, but it wasn’t even charred at the edges. Neither were the walls, but they were made out of that inviolate material the interior of the planet was made out of, so it wasn't as surprising. The pillars in the safe rooms just looked like normal crystal.

Liz was in an equally foul mood and nodded. “I vote we drop the house and take a break with the shields up before we go to the next layer. I need to recover from my adventure, and with the shields we have, no one should be able to surprise us.”

Matt nodded back. He had been dreaming of a bathtub and well-cooked food in the last few years.

Matt dropped their house with a spiritual and physical thud, and the four of them trekked inside.

The first issue came up immediately. They only had one shower, and it wasn’t big enough for two of them, let alone all four of them.

Sighing, Matt waved. “I'll shower last and get something cooking.”

Aster sent him a thought of him cleaning her in the sink to avoid the rush for the shower, and he accepted gladly.

Liz and Susanne settled the issue with a round of rock paper scissors, which Susanne won with scissors, giving her the first shower.

Matt was jealous at the thought of hot water. He didn't actually have four years of grime on his body, but he sure as hell felt like he did.

Filling the sink up with cool water, he scrubbed Aster down to her contentment as they shared their experiences inside the last test with Liz.

“I stuck to our plan, but wasn't able to push past the third summer. My backup base also got flooded after my first one got flooded, ran out of food and wasn’t able to make the right potions to push past even with Minkalla giving me monsters I could use as reagents. I might have been getting close to fall, though. What about you two?” Liz smiled despite that while watching Matt scrub Aster.

Aster spoke through her AI since she was completely submerged as Matt worked the shampoo through her fur.

“Having a human body was really fun!” Her tail wagged, accentuating her point and splashing Matt at the same time. “Though I learned that I definitely want a body with fox ears and tail. Not having them was awful. Also, you humans smell so bad, but you hear even worse than I expected. Have either of you thought of growing fox ears when you reach Tier 15? You really should.”

Matt pulled his bond out of the soapy water and held her up while the sink drained into their gray water storage, before dunking her under cold water to get her suds free.

Liz laughed and responded, “When I get Tier 15, I’ll get my phoenix form, and then I'll be able to see a lot better as well as smell better. I’ll even smell better myself, assuming you like cinnamon.”

Matt repressed a chuckle as he snarked, “Yeah, well, I'll just be over here being all human and stuff. See these thumbs? They’re why I’m able to wash you and cook you food.”

Aster, with a quick pulse of [Water Manipulation] on herself to dry her fur, pranced over to the island table with her nose up, already getting herself dirty again by burying her snout in ice cream. “Who needs thumbs when I can use my mind?”

The two of them started bickering good-naturedly while Matt started cooking.

It was good to be back in his kitchen proper with all his tools and a well-stocked pantry.

Spices. He'd conquer a planet for spices after his last ordeal.

With his sink clean of fox fur, he chopped an onion, a pepper, and some carrots before dumping them into a pan to start cooking down. Meanwhile, he pulled out one of the rabbits he brought along for Aster.

They all deserved a special meal after that test and all their suffering.

Throwing in garlic and a bit of wine, he had a nice glaze reduction going by the time he put the rabbit in, which coincided with Liz coming out of her own shower.

Getting his food to a point where he could leave it, he went to take his shower.

Standing under the stream of hot water, he sighed.

He felt dirty after years of being in a civilization-free setting that only got worse and worse as time went on, illusion or no.

The hot water was a salve to his mind, spirit, and body as they came back into sync.

Even though he was basically clean, he still scrubbed himself down before getting out.

Through his bond with Aster, he could tell that the rabbit needed to be flipped soon, and he didn’t want to ruin their dinner. He had reached his limit with bland and badly cooked food in the last year, when he had no wood for fires and needed to eat the produce from his garden raw.

Coming back out of the shower, Matt felt a lot better about his time inside the simulation. After all, he had accomplished what few ever had, and he should have been able to enjoy that, but he was still irritated at the attack that followed it up.

The duo had taken advantage of the disorientation of people's minds returning to their own bodies to rob and kill people.

As they ate, Aster was finally able to explain her own adventure inside the simulation. “I lasted until the third spring, but it was close. A stupid wolf took me when I was hunting it that winter. Snapped my leg at the knee, and I was forced to hide the rest of the season.”

Matt was proud that his bond did as well as she had. With a new body and no actual practice, she had been at a massive disadvantage. He had been confident that she would survive until the six-month mark, where she could give up or die without really being in danger and still receive a noticeable reward. That she managed the standard goal of two full years was great.

Everyone looked at Matt next, and he smiled while trying not to seem arrogant. “Crop domestication worked well enough for me that I made it to the third winter. From there, I managed to get the mana harness set up properly for the elementals, and while I never want to work with that low-tier of runic formations again, the Daedalus Formation did help me did get enough of an underground garden set up that I pushed through a full extra year, mostly bunkering underground, until what I think was the start of the fifth spring.” He frowned at, tossing the rabbit leg onto his plate. “Then Minkalla decided I needed to deal with a massive, sudden flash flood made out of water elementals. Barely had a chance to fight them, and I ended up drowning between the new ones and the ones I did kill.”

Liz recounted her own adventure for Susanne. “Made it a few days into the third summer, after the floods of that spring destroyed my main base. My backup base wasn't as well stocked, and I think I must have messed something up with my last nutrition potion. I definitely wasn’t in top shape when brewing it, and drinking it is the last thing I remember.”

Susanne finished. “I made it most of the way through the second winter. Almost hit the third spring but just couldn’t make it. The snows that year, along with the rains, triggered enough avalanches that I just couldn’t find enough food.”

Everyone turned back to Matt, and he explained what they wanted to know. “Yes, I got an additional bonus for making it into the fourth year. That was the light bulb thing Aster saw me do. It allows me to spend willpower to supercharge my AI. It's useful, but even more expensive than my repulsion ability by a long shot. Might have other effects too, but I haven’t found them yet.”

Matt turned to Susanne and asked what he wanted to know. “So, how does your growth armor stack with the new bonus? Is it multiplicative, like the managers expected? I saw how fast you moved earlier.”

Their temporary teammate smiled around a mouthful of carrot. When her mouth was clear, she responded, “It's even better than that. Before, when I used my armor, I got an additive effect from my Concept, yes. And despite however Minkalla works its magic, my Concept still works with the armor, but it’s a multiplicative effect now that my Concept has an internal element and the armor and Concept multiply off each other giving me an even stronger effect.”

She scooped another mouthful of food up before chewing and adding, “I’m just happy we got this floor. Lower would have been better, but getting anything is more than enough for me to be content.”

Liz smiled and stretched out her finger, and from her glove, a drop of blood came out and hovered smugly. How a drop of blood could look smug, Matt wasn’t entirely sure, “As the only one with an internal Concept prior to this, I can confirm that it’s great. My blood regeneration definitely seems like it’s about three times as strong as it was before, which makes all that pain so worth it. The durability boost is making my blood that much denser and stronger, all for practically no extra willpower cost. But, if I want to, I can push just a bit harder to get the boost to my body as well, not just my blood.”

Aster huffed and froze the bit of floating blood. “No need to brag.” Matt was going to join her side in teasing Liz and agree when she continued, “I deserve the bragging rights! I might not have lasted as long as all of you, but I had to do it in an unfamiliar body. Clearly, that’s more impressive.”

Matt rolled his eyes and flicked her haunch. “Yes, yes, we’re all very impressed that you managed to be apart from your fur for a few minutes. What's your Concept do for you, dummy?”

Aster flicked her tail at him in retaliation but answered anyway, despite being muzzle-deep in her bowl of ice cream. “My body is a bit stronger and more flexible. I won’t see too much out of it until I get my human form, but then I'll show you all!”

“Ah, so then you do admit that human form is best,” Matt shot back as she blundered.

“No!”

The four of them relaxed as they chatted and talked amongst themselves, just enjoying the comfort of having others in their presence for a change. They had all spent far too long alone, and craved the feelings that the others gave them. After four years apart, Matt had seriously missed holding Liz, and Aster was torn between her endless bowls of ice cream and Susanne’s lap providing pets and scratches.

They could press on, but Matt’s willpower was still a bit weak from pushing it to its limits with his new Concept ability, and all of them could really use a good night’s sleep.

Before bed, they decided to check the items they had scavenged from their attackers.

There were four spatial rings that spoke of a number of people who had been wealthy and well-equipped before they had been killed, and when they looked inside, they were proven right.

The first one had an assortment of armor and weapons that, while made from Tier 14 materials, were made with exquisite craftsmanship. Matt had seen Tier 35s produce gear that was made for Minkalla. Liz’s armor from her winning spot in the Tier 10 Pather’s tournament was one such piece, but even its craftsmanship paled in comparison.

The other three went through the armor and weapons while Matt started inspecting the enchantments on each piece of gear.

While none of it was directly useful to them as more than a backup, in case their own armor or weapons were broken beyond repair, he was impressed. Each piece had obfuscation runes, so while he couldn't see what runes the items were enchanted with, he could tell what they did.

The armors all had a reflective property that would send any attacks back at the caster, and would absorb a portion of the reflected energy to fuel a shield spell that could be activated at will.

The necklaces and other jewelry were enchanted with a variety of quality-of-life enchantments that would clear the wearer, keep them refreshed, or even remove the need to use the bathroom as much.

Matt put a special note on the last one to see if he could figure out how to make a rune that did the same thing, as that would have been incredibly useful during their delves, and he wanted one for everyone.

Susanne ended up taking the necklace as her portion of the loot, but agreed to let Matt inspect it whenever he wanted.

The next spatial ring had an assortment of tables and chairs, which was just odd. They were completely mundane, with only enchantments to their durability and one to keep them polished.

They had no idea who or why anyone would bring such useless items into Minkalla, but that entire ring's contents went to their junk pile.

The third ring surprised them.

It was another portable house.

They obviously didn't take it out inside their own house, but they noted that it was smaller, though more opulent than their own.

Susanne asked after she handed the ring to Aster to inspect. “Who the fuck did they kill? All that shit they have is the best available, if not custom-made. Some heir to a noble house or equivalent of from the other Great Powers?”

Liz, who had the ring after Aster inspected it, said, “I agree, but don't see anything that could be a family crest, Sect badge, or even a common company logo, so it’s definitely not from the Guilds, Sects, or Corporation. But it's exactly the stuff my parents would have sent me in with if they could.”

The final spatial ring was clearly someone else's, as it had a camping set that was of a much lower quality, despite being completely serviceable. There was no armor or weapons, but if the attackers didn’t loot them off the body, it would have been absorbed by Minkalla.

The nine spatial bags were more of a mixed haul, with most items being survival based for a team or individual. Most were just quickly skimmed, but then they found the jackpot in the fourth bag.

This one was absolutely full of natural treasures, herbs, ores, and other valuables looted out of Minkalla.

Aster let out a slow whistle. “Now that's a haul. Who knew robbing and killing could be so valuable?”

Susanne nodded but said nothing, just digging through the items to pull out a chunk of familiar iron.

Blood Iron.

Matt whistled, seeing it once again. It looked like normal iron, but the energy it radiated was unmistakably the same thing Liz had once absorbed all those years ago.

Liz asked Susanne, “Thinking about using it?”

Susanne looked to Aster and Matt before putting the natural treasure down on the coffee table. “I’d really like it, but not if anyone else wants it. With my armor and new Concept boost, I think it may well keep me from bleeding altogether, like Duke Fury. Actually, can you use it to upgrade your own Blood Iron?”

Liz shook her head. “I only need to absorb regular metals when I Tier up to get my body to create that Tier of iron.”

Matt passed on the Blood Iron. “I don't need it, but thank you.”

He pulled out a shiny white leaf and handed it to Aster before getting the prize he wanted. The needle was an inky purple and as long as his finger.

A Sliver of Night's True Sight. Once absorbed, it would allow anyone to see mana.

While the blood iron was useful for a melee fighter, and he could use it without issue, he would rather have an item that could help him as both a mage and a melee fighter.

It wasn't perfect, as it had a limited effective range and relatively low resolution, but it would mean that he would almost never need an item to see mana again, and that would be useful for all sorts of things. In a fight, he could see his enemy casting spells, or find things that used mana that were hidden from spiritual perception. When he worked on enchanting, it would allow him to see where the flows went awry better than just relying on instruments or his spiritual perception. He’d still need extra instrumentation for anything detailed, but the treasure would expand his freehand enchantment capabilities a fair amount.

A Sliver of Night's True Sight was an extremely versatile natural treasure, and he wanted it far more than the Blood Iron, which would only help him be more durable.

Liz pulled out a small marble that had a leaf inside, taking it for her own. He actually knew what it was on sight. It was a Distilled Essence of Nature, and consuming it would convert the person’s mana to be nature-aspected. With a bit of processing, an alchemist could produce a liquid that would match the natural magical properties of any herb it was dripped on.

It couldn't create an endless amount of the copied herb's properties, but it would give Liz a way to expand the amount she had of any number of rare materials already in her lab. Aster was the easiest, and had already absorbed her Final Leaf of Winter. It was an ice natural treasure, but it was still good for her, as it added a faint clinging effect to any ice spells that she cast.

When they were all done going over the items they wanted to take or use immediately, they tossed everything into their Vault of Holding, AKA the house’s spatially expanded crawl space. Technically, the crawlspace only existed to serve as their loot vault, and had been one of the things they’d made sure to add when customizing their house. They’d come a long way from only filling buckets with skill shards.

Unfortunately, whatever item the pair had that allowed them to go invisible and project illusions of themselves had been lost with the bodies. It wasn’t a skill he recognized, and with both of them able to do it, it couldn’t have been a Talent. It would have been a very useful tool in their arsenal, but it didn’t seem like they were that lucky this time.

With that, they bid one another good night. Aster summoned herself a miniature igloo in one corner of the living room, Susanne excused herself and went to her room, and Matt and Liz, after a couple more minutes of just holding each other on the couch, relocated to their bed to continue enjoying being reunited after the longest ‘break’ in their relationship that they’d yet had.

Matt roused himself from sleep with a start, and blinked his confusion away as his surroundings were not, in fact, a shoddy clay and wood hut holding a mat of woven reeds. Rather, he was in an extremely comfortable bed in a very nice room, next to an adorable redhead with hair splayed out every which way that was clinging to his arm, still sound asleep.

After a few more minutes of enjoying the presence of his girlfriend, Matt extricated himself from her grip by teleporting out of bed. She roused slightly, but a few gentle words for reassurances helped her settle back to sleep shortly thereafter.

He got dressed and ventured into the living room. Susanne was already awake, drinking from a mug of tea and staring ahead with a faintly vacant expression. As physical-based cultivators, they naturally needed less sleep than their mage teammates, but that didn’t really change whether or not they were morning people.

There was something amusing to Matt about seeing the woman he’d met as an implacable swordswoman, wearing a literal stony mask associated with betrayal and despair, sitting in his living room with messy hair and green pajamas.

He nodded good morning, and started making breakfast.

Pancakes seemed right. Warm and soft. Comforting.

Aster was the next to wake up, and she emerged from her little ice-block nest, looked around, and promptly jumped up onto Susanne’s lap for scratches. Matt finished making pancakes not long thereafter, and the three of them ate their food in silence.

Not long after they finished, Liz stumbled out of their room, bleary-eyed and messy haired. She came over to Matt for a hug, and he pulled out a plate of food for her to eat.

It was a quiet morning, but those were the best kind.

When they finally left their house, they found seven other teams resting or eating in the safe area, but none of them were from the Empire or the Guilds, so the four of them made their way to the central pillar and descended to the next floor.

As the world stopped spinning, Matt looked around to find the four of them in a medium sized room with four other people standing inside.

Two pairs of men and women took in a line with the same placid expression on their faces.

Matt thought they might be other delvers, but immediately discarded that notion as he noticed their attire and actual appearances beyond that they were humanoid.

The men and women seemed to be twins in physical features, but their coloration was vastly different between the two.

Matt cursed internally. He had just dealt with these assholes in their most exaggerated forms during the last floor's test.

They had a Courtly Warfare on the fourth floor, with the seasons as the factions.

First in the line was a man with a dark brown body seemingly woven out of twigs, along with bright green dots like the year’s first growth slowly appearing all over his armor. Spring.

Next in line was a woman dressed in green and vibrant leaves that seemed to grow directly out of her dusky skin. Summer.

Third was the man's twin, but with a twig body adorned with brown and red leaves on his foliage. Fall.

The last in line was Summer’s opposing twin. Skin that looked chiseled from ice, and the twigs that made up her body were bare and covered in a layer of frost. Winter.

Matt could feel Aster's excitement grow, and grow, and grow as she realized what was going on, but just as she was about to run over to Winter, Summer spoke. “Welcome, brave adventures. We seek your assistance. The seasons are locked in eternal struggle, all four seeking to stand tall above the others, their glory shining resplendent. Yet for us all, our power is but dawning, none shining brighter or duller than the others.”

Fall started speaking next. “To those who lend their aid, we offer boons of power. Assist us in whatever manner you are capable, and your boon shall be as a bountiful harvest, plentiful and mighty. The greater your contribution, the greater your share.”

Winter followed up immediately, “But should you fail to provide aid, the boon thus granted shall wither and die.”

Spring finished up the explanation. “Once one season stands victorious, the gate shall open and you may proceed as heroes, standing proud with the rewards well earned. Should you leave when not standing triumphant, you will find your newfound power melted away, never to return.”

Matt nodded internally.

All was as their managers explained. Courtly Warfare was a multi-sided war where only one side could be victorious at any given time, but a comeback could happen, and those who managed it were well rewarded.

At the same time, any of the delvers in Minkalla inside the floor at the time of any side's victory could exit when one side had what the floor considered victory. Victory was usually determined by controlling the majority of the floor's territory, but they wouldn't know for sure until they chose a side and entered the floor.

In theory, that meant any of the people to enter after the initial side had won could just enter and immediately skip the floor, but unlike the other floors, there were no open ruins or monsters to kill to gather Genesis Energy.

Courtly Warfare could be one of the fastest floors if everyone was willing to skip its reward. If you wanted to take the reward from the floor— which, considering it was the ability to have a growth item gain a new effect, they absolutely did— you needed to fight to gain Genesis Energy. The same thing applied if you wanted the exit reward, which considering this was the fourth floor, meant everyone looking for a Concept would be strongly incentivized to get more Genesis Energy. And that usually led to the factions that had been defeated ganging up on the winning side, removing the victory condition of one group holding the majority of the floor, thereby closing the exit to the fifth floor.

Courtly Warfare generally worked in cycles where one faction would win, most everyone would leave so they didn’t fall behind, and then, the newcomers would defeat the now weakened side. This would seal the floor from more people entering Minkalla’s deeper floors until one side managed to defeat the others.

For them and the others, it was a disastrous floor, as it was incredibly unlikely that one side could gain control in just a few days or weeks, with other delvers trying to earn both Genesis Energy and increase the strength of their boon.

For the people slower than them, it was a blessing, as it allowed them to catch up to the front runners.

The advantage they had from a fast Eternal Darkness, an average Genesis Cultivation, and a speedrun of Back to Basics with Matt abusing his Talent, was going to be wiped away by this floor.

Still, for all of the negatives, Matt was happy to see the floor. He really wanted either his gravity gauntlets, his mana concentration stone, or the seeker compass, to finish bonding to him and turn into a growth item so he could upgrade them with Courtly Warfare’s reward.

The reward as a fourth floor should make their growth items gain a new ability right away instead of Tier 25 as was normal, and he could see an infinite amount of amazing possibilities for all of those items. It also scaled future power growth by a similar amount, so they’d get abilities normally obtained at Tier 50 at Tier 25 and the Tier 75 ability at Tier 32 or Tier 33. Halving the requirement for the item to get a new ability in half the normal time was just as strong as his doubling if not more.

Even if none of them completed the bonding process before they won the floor, he would happily upgrade his sword or one of his rings.

That was before the boons, which were separate and depended on how much they assisted their side in victory.

This floor had an amazing reward that they couldn’t pass up.

And neither could anyone else, which meant they would be in a life-and-death struggle with all the best delvers of the eight Great Powers who entered the floor at the same time as them.

Matt cursed as he realized that they were on the fourth floor, which only made everything worse.

All of the old cultivators would need to gather enough Genesis Energy to finish their Concepts here, which meant they would be fighting with their immortality as the stakes. They might not care about the boons, but they would be on the front lines killing anyone and everyone they could, whether they be the embodiments of the seasons or the other delvers.

A fourth-floor Courtly Warfare might not be the worst theme to have on that floor, but Matt couldn’t imagine anything worse at the moment.

This promised to be a bloodbath of epic proportions.

But that was where they excelled. Especially Liz.

After five seconds of silence, Spring opened his mouth to speak. “Your boons shall grow greatly as you advance and foster favor within our courts, yet from each of us we offer a seed, from which a mighty power can grow. Spring is the season of new growth, fresh energy, and recovering from a long winter. The season of setting up for the year ahead by sowing fresh seeds into the ground. Should you join me, your seed shall be that of the earth, and your spells of earth and wood shall strike harder, yet shall harm you less in turn.”

Summer spoke next. “Summer is the season of action and passion, and my boon will attune you to the flames and light so common to both.”

Fall was next, and didn’t hesitate. “Autumn is the season of preparation and harvest, creating protections for the harsh winter ahead, celebrating the good year past and planning for the year ahead. My boon will render you more aligned with the harsh winds and decay of the late year.”

Winter finally spoke, and Matt felt Aster go rigid. “Winter is the season for waiting and planning, for subtle and quiet actions during the long nights and ceaseless storms, yet also for enduring the cold to survive. My boon will bring you to be one with winter, the ice and darkness which accompanies it. Furthermore, so long as you serve me, you shall not know the bite of frost.”

With Aster veritably whining behind them, it was an easy decision.