Chapter 877 - Four requirements (Patreon)

As I watch yet another corporate ship leave, I begin to wonder where all these promised to me Champions and even the two Absolutes are. I am curious about them, honestly.

I strongly suspect that the mora, Raga, might be a Champion, maybe even an Absolute, though it is hard to say. That mora also moved on her own shiny ship with no one else on board other than an Adjudicator, even if it is possible she had more of them there.

Otherwise, the corporate rats we meet aren’t that powerful. Well, I mean, they are often over level 400 or have multiple guards of a similar level, but I never felt pressured by them. Sure, combat would be dangerous; after all, I have merely three years in the system, while they most likely have centuries or more. But there is something to be said for growing up by being thrown into danger, often caused by the tutorial or myself.

Plus, Tacita.

Yup, I bet that dexterity lunatic would wipe the floor with most of the people we meet without them even noticing. Unlike me, they might be aware that she is fast, but not aware of how fast. And if I threw her Veto… well, let’s say I think killing a Champion together wouldn’t be such a problem.

Of course, that applies only to a fresh or average Champion. Some proper mid-grade or peak Champion is likely something entirely different and closer to an Absolute than a weak Champion. But even there… if they had a weakness I or Tacita could exploit…

If. If. If. If my corgi had wheels, he would be a bike.

I let these thoughts amuse me as I endure Sophie’s still angry gaze, as she burns holes into me ever since Izzy immediately told her what I did. I also got shouted at. Maybe the blood on my clothes told on me as well.

These Martinez sisters stick together stronger than ever before, and it makes me wonder if Sophie really told Izzy the thing she told me when she was trapped in my mental space.

That reminds me, it has been a while since I had an intruder in my mental space, and it feels nice. Though with the amount of jinxing I have done as of late, something is bound to happen soon. Be it corporations kidnapping me for my trait or a new intruder in my mind.

While our group 4, also known as the Angry Kittens, as Aaron telepathically reminds me, begins to work on the substitute floor quest, I feel a hint of sad nostalgia. That is the best I can describe it.

Every one of them went off to do their own stuff in a way that shows they know where they are best suited and what role fits them. They often use inside jokes I am left out of, as I wasn't there when they were created.

We find an area where multiple ships of different corporations have landed and begun to dig a hole to create a large underground structure to bring Easy, Normal, and some Hard difficulty attendees into.

All of it feels like it is not a permanent solution, as it doesn't have to be, and it is only Diligence giving us something to work on so we do not think too much. Because he likely thinks everyone is a workaholic like him.

The Angry Kittens join the corporate staff and other attendees who gathered here to help with the construction, sometimes going to meetings to plan out how to bring the attendees here. Some even run or fly around to map out the locations and such.

Trading starts too, with each side trying to scam the other, and I notice there are a few places where even Hell difficulty attendees can move into for a rest.

I am reminded that not everyone is able to stay in this heat for hours or days, even if they are from Hell. Either they begin to run out of mana to keep up their skills, or the mental wear of constantly using them begins to show. Some even wear special clothes with tubes and cooling liquid flowing through them.

Standing on one of the dunes with the heat all around me, I watch them move into dome barriers or sometimes even into the hangars of the ships. I look down at my scarred arms and my casual clothes.

I don’t even remember the last time I wore proper armor or any sort of gear, yet almost everyone here has some.

However, even as I think that, there are monsters with incredible defenses that don’t even have to pretend to try to defend against the heat. Their bodies just endure it all.

Lily, and to a point, Dennis, with his doubled stats, handles it better than most. Izzy, too, thanks to her evolved trait that must serve as some sort of coolant flowing through her body. Noodle also seems to enjoy the heat, always moving where it is hottest, and Blackie, encased in that red armor, just stands there like a statue, scaring people.

As Lily gets pulled into the barrier and Maya puts her in a chokehold to Lily’s confusion, and Dennis gets into yet another fight with Min-Jae over something they found while I was in the Beyond, I just stand there.

There is a feeling that I don’t belong here until Tess climbs onto my dune and taps my shoulder.

When I look at her, she seems to read my mind. Like she is some Izzy 2.0.

She grabs my hand, pulling me towards the others.

“Sometimes, you think way too much,” she says simply, and then I hear Dennis complaining about where I was slacking off and telling me to inform Kim that, since he and Aaron are now combined, he is, for some goddamn reason, counted as twice as tall as previously because of some weird logic.

While sitting inside the barrier, I open my eyes and look at the training pyramids floating all around me. It is the evolved version of the training I called “evil orbs” that Lissandra taught me so long ago.

Ever since then, I have been training mana shaping with them as much as possible. Now, my effort is interrupted by a notification.

[Mana Manipulation - lvl 84 > Mana Manipulation - lvl 85]

It feels almost weird to read it out of combat, though cases like this are more usual than what I am doing.

“Anything happen?” Min-Jae asks, with hundreds of metal orbs floating around him in dizzying patterns. Uninterrupted, they continue to move even as he talks.

I shake my head and reread the notification before closing my eyes and concentrating on my mana sense and the pyramids I train with.

It is impossible for me to become a Champion inside the tutorial. One of the requirements is to complete the tutorial, something the system forced in since the start, that has not changed, even as the Rulers, led by Ruby and their own intentions, replaced the original tutorial with the current version.

I think it kind of makes sense. After all, you are a Champion, a Champion of somewhere or something. That title stays even if Earth were destroyed and that connection severed. The system just likes this theme. Connecting, I mean. Connections between master and disciple. An Absolute connected to a planet. Connecting two planets together in a pairing, and so on.

Another requirement to become a Champion is five active skills at level 85 or higher, which I almost tend to consider an easy task, rarely realizing how ridiculous that feat is.

The third requirement is to become a master of your subclass.

The fourth is a level over 450, meaning you must have your primary class upgraded.

And that is it. How simple, isn’t it?

Becoming a master of your subclass is difficult on its own, as you do not even get an idea of how. You just have to hope you lucked out, picked correctly, and can enjoy the support of your subclass in everything you do.

A level 85 skills… that is what a Champion must have. I have been told by Doc that most beyond attendees do not even break through the level 69 to 70 bottleneck during the tutorial, and it sometimes takes them decades back on their home planet to raise a skill up to 80, if ever.

And even then, 5 to 10 is the usual number of people on each planet that get to fulfill the requirements to become a Champion.

Of course, the older the planet, the more time people have to reach that level. But that also means the planet is powerful and likely has no true danger forcing such growth. These people then often leave and become Champions somewhere else, as that is also somehow possible. Then there are internal strifes, pairings, and other situations that often reduce the number of Champions or candidates per planet.

5, 10, 20, it does not matter that much, honestly. But it is interesting to think about.

I open my eyes, knowing that I will not be able to fully concentrate again because of how giddy I am about the skill level-up. So, I separate a part of my mind to lounge around and let the bulk of my mental capacity focus on training.

“Lily,” I call to our healer.

Sitting near us, with her back resting against Maya’s, she lifts her eyes off the Fuci in her lap, who is biting her fingers, and asks, “What?”

“Starting now, you breathe manually,” I say.

Even without turning, Maya groans, annoyed.

“I bet I could hold my breath for hours if I wanted,” Lily says with a smile.

“Of course, air is there mainly to supply the brain,” I answer.

Min-Jae chuckles, but Lily does not even hesitate as she continues to brag, knowing how to hurt me.

“Did you know there is a chemical your body releases when it thinks you should feel tired? And some other stuff built into your muscles that can run out? I met a few attendees with traits that suppressed those things and supported the generation of some other chemical. At least, that’s how I think they tried to explain it at the Academy. I bet if I tried, I could mimic it.”

“That isn’t even a reaction to what I said.”

“Also, what do you think of this?” She smiles, and quickly her eyes change color. Her left one turns gray, and the other turns brown.

“Show-off.”

“And this?” Lily’s hair turns white, and two horns grow from her forehead while her eyes switch color to red. The fake Demon heart she has been working on beats, distantly mimicking a real thing.

At that, the golden ferret on her lap freezes and twitches, quickly squirming out of her hands. Fuci hops a few paces away, stands on its hind legs, and looks at Lily in confusion.

All the changes revert back, but even as Lily reaches out her hand, Fuci refuses to come back to her. Instead, the ferret jumps in that way they move, not directly straight, but with its body turned slightly diagonally, and it comes to Tess, climbing onto her and up to the top of her head to nestle into the blonde hair it has been amazed by since it first saw her.

Tess doesn’t even move or let it bother her, and instead continues to watch something far up in the sky.

“Maybe if you learn to turn into a ferret, Fuci will come back to you,” I say.

Lily rolls her eyes and leans back, pushing Maya, who reaches back and playfully hits Lily’s head a few times until they settle.

Five minutes later, the surface under the barrier ripples as a signature I recognize pushes its way inside. The not fully accepted, but honorary member of The Boys.

Savant, of course, already knows about us, so he makes his way toward us and sits on a boulder nearby, entirely ignoring the manablock chair that is now free, as Sophie went away a while ago.

The cowardly man must know I would have unmanifested it the moment he tried to sit on it.

“How good are you at deciphering stuff?” I ask him.

“Decent,” he answers.

I throw him a mana stone Tacita stole from the first corporation we met, and Savant catches it.

“Me and Sophie tried, and both of us left some notes there so you can try as well. Just make sure no one sees you with it. You are an accomplice now.”

Savant looks at the stone, then at me, and for a while, outside of the barrier.

In the end, he stays where he is and gets to work.

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