Chapter 359. Giving Up Is Not In My Vocabulary

 

R aven was prostrate on the stone surface of the Sky Platform, feeling as though someone had nailed him to it. He couldn’t move a single muscle and every attempt to think brought numbing pain, sending a stream of disarranged images and broken threads of thought through his mind.

Again and again.

A flash of pain.

A wish to stop it.

Another flash of pain.

A vicious circle — or rather a vicious chain his mind was running on, belching curses.

The only thing he wanted was to ease this pressure, even for a moment.

There were different sorts of pain, but this pain was a crazy roller coaster ride, like nothing a person would experience in their daily life. A throbbing, nagging, mind-numbing pain that wouldn’t allow him a single moment of peace and that was slowly driving him insane.

He couldn’t move. He couldn’t even open his eyes. It was as he was suffering from sleep paralysis.

He was drowning. He was burning. He was inhaling poisonous air — and choking in its absence. He begged for salvation, losing himself to the storm of hostile energy that kept washing over him. He could feel it, but he had no idea how to stop it.

Could one think without thinking? Could one come to understand anything when they couldn’t focus at all?

Thought equaled pain. Pain equaled thought. An irresistible current drowning him or... or was he just resisting it in a wrong way?

I need...

“ARGH!”

Fuck you!

“FUCK!!!”

His faint voice came out as his body convulsed — until it finally stopped moving and he no longer made any sounds.

Raven saw a solution emerge like a piece of driftwood. Seizing at it, he reached a conclusion.

If I can’t hide outside, I can try to hide inside.

He was grasping at straws, but it was all he had.

After countless failed attempts, he finally entered his inner world. The oppressive force followed him until he stumbled into the Novice Temple. Once he came in, the pain disappeared. He breathed a sigh of relief.

I did it. I didn’t really expect it to work, but I did it.

This place was his abode of calm and peace. He could take his time here to consider the challenge: why it turned out to be that difficult, and what he needed to do to complete it.

Where there’s a lock, there’s a key.

He knew that. He just had to find that key.

He looked out of the window at the lifeless tree, and then slid his gaze across the dummy, and the cup in the middle of the floor.

Could it be the key?

Sitting down on the floor, he remembered the first time when he had read the words “administrator” and “Mind Level” in Ascension, back when he had opened his mental channels by creating a Destructive-rank skill. According to the system message, that was when he had been granted level-zero administrator rights and obtained the gloves now worn by the dummy. After that, in the process of connecting to his prosthetic arm, he had gotten more messages about his Mind Level being too low.

The last occasion was in the Space Store where he was once again reminded that he had Mind Level One.

But what could that mean?

One hundred percent sensitivity level could stand for Mind Level Zero, so his current one hundred and ten corresponded with Mind Level One. But when exactly had he passed from one to another, considering that he had never increased his sensitivity level at will?

There was only one event that could’ve triggered this change.

Raven opened his eyes and stared into the middle of the room. It was him completing his first practice session in the Novice Temple.

The solution was now clear. But...

He remembered just too well what would happen every time he tried to bring the water to the tree roots. And, considering how complicated his situation was in the outside world, he felt stuck between a rock and a hard place.

But still, he was optimistic. Seeing the way out, he could embark on it... and win.

Actually, there were two ways out. One was to try to water the tree roots, and the other was to leave his inner world and continue his struggle to get the Key.

The small stick next to the cup meant that he had to use it to carry the water. The very thought about it was unsettling.

His outside situation was no better. To reach the Key, he had to stand up, which he probably couldn’t do.

Both tasks seemed equally impossible.

Heaving a sigh, he got up. With no real difference between the two options, he could try either.

A long time ago, he had come across an article about how pain was processed by the human brain. Pain was basically a signal that informed the brain of the damage sustained by some part of the body. If you found a way to prevent this signal from reaching the brain, you could continue to push yourself far beyond your limits.

Such attempts had been made by military researchers. There were even rumors that some people had succeeded in stopping themselves from feeling pain. Raven wondered if they could stop feeling emotional and mental pain, too.

Considering it for a while, he dismissed the idea of trying to find the master switch in his brain and turn it off. Even with his mental evolution, such a task was probably beyond him. Besides, pain was a good teacher. As its diligent student used to accepting knowledge through blood and sweat, Raven stood up and headed for the cup.

With every step he took, he left his worries and concerns behind him. The inevitable was inevitable. From his experience in Ascension, he knew that he couldn’t dodge or avoid the challenges meant for him.

The challenges and the rewards.

He stopped and held his breath for several seconds as if he were getting ready to jump from a cliff.

His fingers touched the cup. His grip was firm, unwavering. Lifting it, he put it down on one end of the stick and grabbed the other.

The water gave a shake. His mind seemed to get electrocuted, the impact casting him back onto the Sky Platform.

Having received his punishment (or experience, depending on how you looked at it), Raven didn’t come back to his inner world. His plan was to alternate between the two challenges until he completed one of them.

***

Skills and spells were flashing through the abandoned streets, either hitting their target or missing it.

In a group of players hiding behind a strong wall that had withstood even the test of time, a female voice said:

“Any news about Raven?”

“None. There’s a lot of people around Darrau’s statue. We’ll know the moment he wakes up.”

“Good.”

The female speaker was Kingmaker who had joined the battle for several personal reasons, but who remained unaware of the consequences of her decision.

When Raven had offered his share of the new continent in exchange for Influence Spheres, she had discussed his decision with the clan’s council. She’d rather not sacrifice the clan and her reputation for friendship, however dear.

Step by step, they came to an agreement that had been considered impossible a year prior: an alliance between Rollin’ Dice and Fortuna. Two mammoths of gaming. And here was the first result of their union: the Messengers and the Faceless Army refusing to surrender, joining forces with the Brotherhood and forming the Alliance that was now attacking them.

The four clans were doomed to eventually come to war, the only question was who would be the one to pull the trigger.

***

Fighting Buckshot in the cemetery strewn with broken gravestones, Crimson Berserker realized that his opponent was somewhat stronger than he was not only in levels (Buckshot was fifty levels stronger, according to the pre-event ranking). As an MMORPG genius ascending to the throne of each game within the past decade, Crimson Berserker could accurately estimate his opponent’s strength after only a couple of exchanged blows. And now he was facing a formidable and unpredictable enemy.

Even though Ascension was Buckshot’s first game, he had made significant progress over the past year. Whatever he had been doing for a living prior to two thousand and forty-four, he had gained some real-world skills that compensated for his lack of MMORPG combat experience.

At some point, Buckshot even reminded him of Raven. But he was different, too. He had a strange power that seemed to spread all over the graveyard, enveloping Crimson Berserker and keeping him on his toes. The word “aura” came to mind, but he dismissed it as stupid psychic stuff.

A military veteran, Crimson Berserker concluded as he ducked to avoid the large piece of stone hurled at him. He waved his ax, summoning a crimson glow that formed a half-transparent figure behind his back, endowing him with special skills for five minutes.

Buckshot put both hands on the ground. As soon as his palms touched the soil, they were covered with pieces of rock filled with earth magic. The stones seemed to resonate with each other and ring with tremendous power.

The next moment, Crimson Berserker and Buckshot charged at each other, both happy to have finally met a worthy rival. The other players watched them from a distance. No one dared to intrude on this thrilling, unpredictable battle.

***

By the end of the day, many Enlighteners realized that their offensive tactic had failed them. The scales were swaying from side to side, and the battle was far from being won.

The most unnerving thing was Evil-In’s absence. They were certain that Rollin’ Dice would use a weapon that powerful but they seemed to be keeping it away.

What’s Mollie waiting for? Queen wondered, watching the battle through her Binoculars from the back of her flying mount. As she was nothing near good at fighting, she decided to keep her distance and ponder over what part of the puzzle she could be missing.

***

About twenty-four hours had passed since Raven had approached the statue. Those who waited for his awakening remained on the platform, darting occasional glances at the petrified rogue, and making guesses about how difficult a Level Ten Challenge could be while staying completely unaware of how much of an understatement all their theories were.

The reality was far more brutal.