M ore and more messages were coming, as though he had looted a house crammed with treasures. But however stunning the moment was, Raven was no longer there to witness it. His mind was jerked out of his body, preventing him from fully enjoying his rewards.
The transition was as abrupt as waking to a bucket of cold water being poured over your head.
While his body remained on the spot, holding the Key, his mind was sent flying toward the boundaries of the known world. The speed of the visions that flashed past him was beyond description. All he knew was that he was on the threshold of something unimaginable.
His journey seemed to last several hours, but in truth, a second and a half had passed before it ended just as abruptly as it had begun. A piercing pain akin to his brain being poked by red-hot needles came and went, casting him out into the virtual reality of Ascension.
He needed no system messages to know what had happened.
I’ve reached Mind Level Two, he thought, accepting this knowledge as if he had always had it. That must be the one sensitivity percent I got as my reward.
He closed his eyes and, taking a slow breath, listened to the energy coursing deep inside his body. Sensing a trace and following it, he soon came to the tree that no longer looked as if it had stood under the desert sun for ages.
He raised his brow and tried to follow the energy again, but the trace disappeared into the tree.
“Interesting. I need more information.”
He looked at the shack and was startled by its transformation.
The building was no longer a decrepit hut with narrow slits for windows. Still made of wood, it looked like it had been rebuilt from scratch, this time from healthy and sturdy logs. The windows now had glass, and the entire structure had gained about seven feet in height.
“Is that a reflection of my mental development?” He shifted his gaze back to the tree and scratched his chin. “Then what’s that?”
Taking a look inside the house, he stopped meditating and, before reading any system messages, saw the timer count down the last second.
Leaving the Sky Platform of Challenges in: 1...
A sudden hum descended upon the mountain plateau. The players looked around in confusion until they saw that the source of the sound was the cracking stone shell that had enveloped the rogue.
The sound slowly grew in volume until it stopped abruptly as the shell crumbled to dust.
“Did... Did he do it?”
“Did it really take him that long?”
“Outta the way!”
“Don’t let him get away! We gotta find out what happened.”
The players moved toward the disoriented rogue, surrounding him, their screams of curiosity piercing the air like banshee screams. The spies were messaging their leaders and waiting for new orders.
When the situation seemed to have gotten out of control, the statue came to life again, and the familiar pressure stopped everyone in their tracks.
Darrau looked straight at Raven, his red eyes blazing like coals.
“I see you found that which you sought.”
Raven felt like he wasn’t completely present, but what Darrau said next brought him back to reality.
“I hope to see you again under better circumstances. There’s nothing else that I can do for you right now.”
Attention! You can offer no more Influence Spheres to Darrau, the Messenger.
Having not expected another conversation with the hero, even less losing access to his statue, Raven stood flabbergasted for a moment. But he quickly regained his senses and replied with a small bow:
“Thank you for this opportunity.”
After that, the statue froze again. Then came a thin popping sound and Raven disappeared, a quiet curse rolling off his lips.
“Shit.”
The players looked around in confusion, wondering where — and how — the rogue had escaped.
***
In the meantime, the smiling Raven appeared amidst the swamps, having used the recently gained Fatalist. He appreciated the instant activation and the state of confusion he had left the crowd in. A skill like this was as useful as a legendary artifact would be when it came to escaping from a dangerous situation.
Still, things could’ve gone awry had the skill dropped him somewhere else. But he would’ve rather have to fight a horde of mobs than stay a moment longer on the plateau, surrounded by the crowd.
However great his new skill was, it still had a downside. Now that he knew that he couldn’t offer more than ten thousand Influence Spheres to any statue — and probably none after the event — he estimated his profit to be several times smaller than he had hoped for.
Fucking fuck.
Thinking how hard and unfair the game was on him, he examined the location he had been teleported to. The place was silent except for an occasional croak and splash as the frogs jumped into the water. Because of the faint rays of sunlight that just barely penetrated through the lilac crowns looming above him, he felt like he was in a cave rather than outside of one.
Finding a more comfortable place, he sat down to read the messages, hoping that he’d be adequately compensated for all his pain and suffering.
Reward:
+ 10 Diamond Keys (level 10)
+ Sensitivity level increased by 1%
At least I got all ten Keys... He shivered at remembering how gut-wrenching the challenge had been and then checked the settings. Is there any way to see my Mind and sensitivity levels?
Reading the next message, he was surprised to get an answer to this question, though not the one he expected.
You have completed a Level 10 Challenge with an increased difficulty level.
Title awarded: Bound by Destiny X
For killing an enemy with a level higher than yours, you get +10% XP for each extra level.
He whistled, both in surprise and in gratitude. Such an XP bonus was every high-level player’s dream.
The crossbow regime of the Diabolic Hand of Treason has been unlocked.
“The what now?”
He found the answer once he had remembered and gone through the torrent of messages about the arm’s hidden properties. Initially, it required Mind Level Five to use all of those. Since he now had the crossbow, he had probably achieved Mind Level Two.
“How did I forget?” he muttered, opening his inventory to check the arm’s properties.
DIABOLIC HAND OF TREASON
Type: Artifact (Inter-Class)
Rank: Silver (Progressive)
Sealed: 9/10
Characteristics:
+ 25% character speed
+ 25% spell/skill activation speed
+ 25% attack/recharging speed
Properties:
Skills:
SUN IMPULSE
Active skill: Apprentice
You can send a blood-boiling impulse into your opponent’s body.
+ 50 magic damage per second
Cost: 500 mana
Duration: 3 minutes
Cooldown: 7 minutes
Oho, my own magic spell. What’s next?
Skills:
BLIND SHOT
Active skill: Apprentice
Description: A powerful shot at an armored target that has a small chance of bringing the target’s physical resistance down to zero.
+ 1,000 physical damage
+ 3% chance of nullifying the target’s physical resistance for 10 seconds
Cost: 500 energy
Cooldown: 3 minutes
Reading the descriptions, Raven tried to estimate how useful the new skills were — and concluded that he could’ve fared much better in some of his past fights if he had had these back then.
A five-percent bonus to his speed was another good news.
Now for the main course.
His heart missed a beat as he checked the amount of Influence Points — and he flashed a broad smile at seeing a seven-digit figure.
“I need some rest. But first...”
Before heading to another statue, he checked the map with marked locations of hidden chests. Turning toward the nearest one, he spread his Wings, itching to see what they hid.
***
The deadline for Kingmaker’s assassination had almost expired but Queen still received no message about Raven completing the mission. Her spies only reported seeing the rogue at two hero statues and that he had spent a considerable amount of time next to each.
“Is this son of a bitch trying to trick me?” she hissed at getting another report about Raven completing another challenge and disappearing in front of the crowd. “Should I send him a reminder?”
Checking how the battle was progressing, she was about to join it and use some royal artifacts of tremendous power to even out the playing field, but reconsidered her decision because of Evil-In still wreaking havoc around the island.
Evil-In’s arrival was extremely ill-timed for the Allies, plunging their lines into chaos. Queen used to believe that the Brotherhood could have killed this beast easily, but now she looked even stronger than back then in the Abode of Silence.
Weird... Having watched the video of that fight many times, Queen had seen a pendant around Evil-In’s neck, but none of the later videos depicted her wearing it. It was supposed to be her source of strength. Did they replace it with something?
Another discouraging event was the arrival of Dullahan, the former guard of Floor Two. Despite its brief stay, it had used this time to kill Scarab, Alien Body, and forty more TOP players. The dead rider seemed to know exactly where to find its next target, as if someone were pointing them out to it.
The sudden loss of fighters made the attacking forces proceed with great caution, slowing the battle down, and the opposition to strengthen their lines of defense.
Even the cold-blooded Coffee Addict who had escaped death by a timely retreat was now seriously considering the possibility that they had severely underestimated their opponents.
Another message arrived.
Queen’s eyes opened wide as they slid over the lines.
[They’re leaving the game in great numbers. What should we do?]