Name/Nickname Ellis Vincere / The Last Winner

Race

Human

Class

Monarch Master (Rank A)

Level

140 (601m/650m)

Titles

Proud Owner of a Rock, Fell the Mighty, Heptad Attuner, Indulger… ▽

~

~

Health Points

15,447 / 15,447 (+280% bonus)

Mana Points

1400 / 1400

Armor Points

0

Might

285 (200 +10% + 15 + 50 )

Agility

245 (200 +10% + 10 + 15)

Vigor (P)

813* (630 + 10% + 25 + 45 + 50)

Mind

280 (175 + 75 + 30)

Spirit

370 (245 > 305 + 20% + 10)

Perception

45 > 50

Charisma

95 (40 + 15 + 40)

Attunement

100

Luck

12 (2 +10)

Unused

0 > 270

~~~

Name / Nickname

Flash Gordon

Species

Elemental Stone Elemental (Legendary)

Level

162 (460m/870m)

Evolution Requirements

Not Met

~

Health Points

5420/5420

Mana Points

255/255

Armor Points

362 (181 x 2)

Might

0

Agility

0

Vigor

1084 (705 > 790 + 25% + 15 + 81)

Mind

51 (36 > 41 + 25%)

Spirit

203 (145 > 162 + 25%)

Luck

13 (10 + 25%)

~~~

Name / Nickname

Duchess / Thisss one

Species

Couatl B (Legendary)

Level

162 (460m/870m)

Evolution Requirements

Not Met

~

Health Points

1450/1450

Mana Points

2465/2465

Armor Points

0

Might

146 (100 > 117 + 25%)

Agility

209 (150 > 167 + 25%)

Vigor

290 (150 > 167 + 25% + 81)

Mind

493 (360 > 394 + 25%)

Spirit

246 (180 > 197 + 25%)

Charisma

146 (100 > 117 + 25%)

Luck

13 (10 + 25%)

~~~

Name / Nickname

Khan the Exile

Species

Calamity Man-eater B (Unique)

Level

162 (460m/870m)

Evolution Requirements

Not Met

~

Health Points

1480/1480

Mana Points

1045/1045

Armor Points

493 (284+209)

Might*

455 (330 > 364 + 25%)

Agility

215 (155 > 172 + 25%)

Vigor

296 (155 > 172 + 25% + 81)

Mind

209 (150 > 167 + 25%)

Spirit

209 (150 > 167 + 25%)

Perception

209 (150 > 167 + 25%)

~~~

Name / Nickname

Prometheus / Endling

Species

Fire Glutton B (Unique)

Level

140 (601m/650m)

Evolution Requirements

Not Met

~

Health Points

1680/1680

Mana Points

625/625

Armor Points

0

Might

255 (149 > 204 + 25%)

Agility

150 (70 > 100 + 25% +25)

Vigor

336 (149 > 204 + 25% + 81)

Mind

125 (70 > 100 + 25%)

Spirit

125 (70 > 100 + 25%)

Everything seems to be in order. Rob is still in the graveyard and the rest of my beasts are on standby.

The [Venomous Void] is being held with all the other hazard fractures... in the containment branch of the FIB building. A secret underground passageway connects the two facilities. After riding their convenient tram, I'm in a secure room with the fracture.

My captain of subsidiaries is supposed to confirm that my physical, mental, and spiritual health is in top order before I'm allowed to go in, but I don't have one. I declare myself good enough.

I have everything I'll need for the foreseeable future, so I hop into the ominously green fracture. I'm used to vertigo, so the transfer is easy on my body.

It's dark. The air itself is attacking me. Clouds of gas bathe the surroundings with their deadly and corrosive toxins. Some are visible, some not. I can't hear anything over the sound of my ears drums pounding.

The fumes make my eyes water. I can feel them eating at them through my tears. My skin is slowly changing colors since the air is dyeing my flesh. I scratch my hand, and my skin flakes off. I'm like a sick gecko or someone with really bad dander. Something is weakening me, slowing me, hurting me, paralyzing me... But that's not the worst.

My chest is going to burst. I held my breath while entering the fracture, and once I touched ground on this side, I had the feeling that my lungs were going to burst out of my chest like fleshy balloons. It's a gamble whether the feeling would pass, but I unfortunately subconsciously exhaled.

The feeling of suffocation is almost immediate. It was the first time I felt such a feeling... It's uncomfortable. Regardless of the toxic air, my body is attacking itself. An internal instinct to survive and gasp for air would only make things worse.

I choke on fumes or gasses that are definitely not oxygen. I'm gagging and sputtering. I can feel my nervous system buzz alive, sending danger signals to every inch of my body.

Before I could die stupidly, I [Bolster Resistance] and drink a potion I aquisitioned. I have to force it down, but it brought momentary peace. Then I start choking again.

I got things other than nutrient sticks because ordering only those seemed silly. The potion I just drank was called a [Gill Potion], which allows me to breathe water as a substitute for air. That wouldn't be much help if I didn't have a mana organ that continuously generates water.

I take a hit of water like it's an inhaler.

Finally... peace. I'm no longer suffocating. When I first read what the potion did, I misunderstood and thought that it would physically augment my anatomy. Fortunately, it's just magic.

I also acquired nutrient sticks, an extra small air generator, and the cheapest personal habitation device from acquisitions.

It was a pain in the ass to get just these. They wouldn't give me a nicer air generator or a better 'habitation device.' It's a plastic bubble. The habitation device is a plastic bubble. The only reason I relented was because it had an actual door on it.

The people behind the desk at acquisitions were weirdly apprehensive about me. I usually don't bother to care, but they were weird enough for me to notice. They kept rejecting proposals, and once I started to give reasonable requests, they still shot me down.

I had to keep pushing until I got what I could, even if it wasn't much.

I take a hit of my water.

Side note. I wanted a water-to-air converter. They either don't have any or purposely ignored me and offered air-to-water converters.

The fracture's exit sits behind me, content to stay there. That makes things easier.

I only have five minutes until [Bolster Resistance] is over before I'll have to spend hundreds of mana to activate it again. I pull out the habitation device from my pouch and slit my wrists.

Although I could do something I've done before, which is [Martyr] for inanimate objects, which has concerning implications if I think too deeply about that, I'm already doing that for my other items to keep the corrosion away. I'm covering it with my blood as a simple test.

If air contact is a problem, having my habitat not touch the air solves that issue. If only I had a ludicrous amount of a substance resistant to toxins and acids.

I liberally coat my plastic bubble with my blood, turning the cheap, simple habitat into something that looks straight out of a slasher film. Blood is smeared with sprays, mists, and handprints.

I subconsciously lick my wrist after it's done healing and recoil as I almost forgot that my blood is shockingly good-tasting. Then I also recall that it's exceptionally nutritious... I hope this doesn't attract the wrong attention.

I'm doing all this while gargling water out of an organ. I check and spot-repair the bubble where there wasn't enough blood with my healing and give myself a pat on the back for a good job. I can hear the hissing and sizzling of my blood as it makes prolonged contact with the bubble.

I go inside and check the air quality with [Scientific Insight].

[Trace amounts of at least 13 airborne toxins. Low oxygen levels.]

Good enough. I open my mansion using the habitat door and grab Flash Gordon. I set up the air generator, and Flash Gordon slowly floats into position right when I turn it on.

As an A-rank stone, their air is clean and plentiful. Eventually, the entire bubble is a safe place to breathe. It took mana from Flash Gordon, something he doesn't have a lot of, but he doesn't need to stay in it all the time if it's just this bubble the generator is providing for.

I grab Duchess from my mansion and show her the surroundings while explaining the fracture and why we are here. I already told her and my other beasts about our agenda and what to expect from this hazard branch. They weren't vocal if they had any expectations or concerns.

[Thisss one is curious about how you will take thisss one around without suffering.] She creates a mote of light with her magic, lighting the area significantly.

"I won't need to [Martyr] for you if you use your [Wind] magic, right?"

[Thisss one should have stayed outside the manor and been with you rather than working on my solutions. Wind needs air to work. It's [Wind] magic. Wind.]

"...Can you keep the air Flash Gordon generates around you with one of your barriers. Wouldn't that keep breathable air around you? Plus, your magic should be able to push the toxic clouds away."

[Thisss one will test it out. Thisss one believes thisss one could theoretically shield this entire structure. Your solution was... resourceful, to say the least.]

Duchess' eyes glow while a shield combining her [Radiant] and [Mind] magic encloses the bloody bubble. Her eyes flash with light a few more times before she stops and speaks to me.

[Thisss one is struggling slightly. Wind is thisss one's weakest magic. Give thisss one thirty minutes, and thisss one will complete the spell. Thisss one has all the necessary components and experiences.]

"I'll be out then. I'll keep the mansion open as an escape route in case my blood, your shield, and the bubble fail before the thirty minutes are over."

[Okay.]

I leave the bubble, and Duchess has to deactivate the shield for a second. I take a hit of water and look back. With the light inside the bloody bubble, it appears even more gruesome.

I take this time to examine the ambient air and the more noticeable gas clouds. The smell of this fracture is more unbearable than I thought. It's like dozens of perfumes lingering in the air at once. It's a lot of sensory information at once.

And that makes sense as my [Scientific Insight+] tells me that the ambient air has dozens, close to a hundred distinct poisons in small quantities. The clouds consist of dense groups of a singular type of toxin.

The most prominent poison is corrosive, but there is practically everything here. Coagulators, blood thinners, things that numb you, things that make you feel more pain, poisons that make you feel hot, cold, etc.

My [Bolster Resistance] ends. At the same time, the resistances I should've gained during that time shows up as a notification.

[Resistance: Poison 600 > 699 (839)]

[Resistance: Acid 600 > 699 (839)]

Even before this gain, as long as I wasn't standing in a cloud of 'take damage over time,' I would be fine. However, the various poisons that afflict me with 'conditions' are so numerous it's annoying. Since I'm not actively dying, I'm just going to tough it out.

...There's a puddle of liquid right there. It's dark, and I almost missed it. Thankfully, my perception stat is high enough, and I can see my immediate surroundings decently enough. I analyzed it, and it's what I thought it would be. Concentrated poison with acidic properties.

What makes it poison instead of pure acid is that it has secondary characteristics beyond its corrosive nature. Apparently, this puddle also has the property of enhancing the pain you feel when afflicted.

I grab an empty potion vial and dip it in the liquid to take some. Nothing below the rim survived. It's completely eaten away.

Huh.

The puddle doesn't seem to be the source of the poison. I look up, and something drips on my face. It eats through the flesh on my face before eventually losing its potency once it reaches the bone.

FUCK. That hurt.

[Resistance: Poison 699 > 700 (840)]

[Resistance: Acid 699 > 700 (840)]

I check my health retroactively while backing up. A single drop did roughly 1000 health pre-damage mitigation. I look back at the puddle of what seems to be this stuff. Damn, and to think I was about to drink it.

Since I wasn't pounced on from above, I assume it's not a drooling monster. At least not one who notices or cares about my existence. I mentally note this location.

I walk for a few minutes before finding a wall. It seems like I'm in a naturally forming chamber underground. The rock is firm and tastes of poison. I walk up the side of the wall with my magic boots.

After a hundred feet, I notice that the air is getting denser. The clouds are more plentiful... which makes sense since I'm higher up now. Sticking to the walls only gets me so far before I would be forced to plunge myself into the toxic clouds.

I head back to the shelter without caring for fall damage.

~

Duchess was finished with her spell by the time I got there. Together, not forgetting Flash Gordon, we head off. The potion I took started running out, so I'm glad we managed a workaround.

After hacking up all the loose water in my lungs, Duchess activated her new spell, and an air bubble surrounded us. The wind magic keeps circulating, pushing back toxic fumes. Her mind magic keeps the breathable oxygen in an area around us.

I pack up everything, keeping the air generator out and Flash Gordon handy in case the air gets stale, and with Duchess' light magic, looking around is much easier.

There are numerous puddles I missed the first time around. Luckily, I didn't step in any. Curiously, they seem to be different types of poison. The ceiling of this place should have some answers.

Instead of b-lining it straight up, I want a good mental image of the area around the fracture's exit.

[Can you handle a brighter light?]

"Sure."

Duchess maximizes her output, creating something akin to the light of a lighthouse. It only lasted a moment, but it was bright enough that I went momentarily blind, regardless of my high resistances. My eyes burn, reminding me of when I first met that goddess.

I should've taken the hint and looked away.

To rub salt in my wounds, that did not increase my resistances. It just inconvenienced me while I healed myself.

"Ow."

[Thisss one estimates the wall in front of us is farther than three miles. This requires height. Thisss one will do the test again at a higher elevation. Potion me.]

I reach to my waist and pull a mana potion from my bag. Duchess opens her mouth, and I pour the liquid for her. At least she isn't making me drink it myself, then making me 'bestow' it to her.

Duchess shape changes into her larger, original form and flies us up to just below the 'cloud layer' 100 feet up. She uses her magic again, and this time, I look away.

[Ten miles. Give or take.]

She turns around and does this again, and a few more times before she gets dangerously close to getting potion sickness from all the mana she's consuming.

[Ten miles all around. Give or take. Cylindrical chamber.]

"If we want to walk the entire circumference, that's over sixty miles... It's more than doable. With a less intense light, we can spotlight this place and get a real good look at this entire area."

[Thisss one is tired. Tomorrow at the earliest.]

"You know I'm martyring your exhaustion. I'm martyring everything."

[Set your colleague's expectations. Surviving for an hour where people wouldn't dare to stay for a minute is well enough to make an impact. Milk their resources and what else they can offer while doing the minimum and making it look like you're excelling ahead of the rest. Cause them to doubt their abilities while you stroll from a malignant land and into their break rooms with information and bounties they wish they could've captured for themselves.]

"Okay. What's up?"

[Thisss one is trying to make you think as a king.]

"You know more kings than me? I know one."

[Thisss one has met the same monkey as you.]

"I'll take your advice, but I should at least find the creatures they mentioned before heading out for the day."

[An exceptional compromise.]