Pioneer of the Abyss - Book 3 - Chapter 21 (Patreon)

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Table of Contents

Click the following link for the 1389 word chapter 21:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BTEedbogMhArkG8erahOnVNIv944u-xq1-3VuXBxSJY/edit?usp=sharing

Or you can read the unformatted version below:

Aqua

This time I don’t select the message. I just put the message as ‘read later’. Which is a feature of the System Rhett told me about at some point that lets a user put off a reward from the System for something to claim at a later date.

Now that I’ve cleared the Special Dungeon, I can claim this Special Core at any time. Including emergencies, or just plain in the future when my average stats are significantly higher than they are now.

Because free stats are great.

A smile spreads across my face at that thought before I begin to make my way outside of the boss’ corpse in a bit of a hurry.

Fortunately, there are quite a few holes in the boss’ corpse that I can travel through. So it doesn’t take me long to get out.

Then, after turning off the livestream to the viewers immense displeasure that I ignore, I immediately get to work using Abyssal Ruler on it to extract its blueprint.

Only to fail over and over again. Repeatedly. All the way until I rather quickly reach my last attempt.

I grit my teeth, beginning to wonder if maybe this boss might just be too high a level for me to extract a blueprint from it. Until I finally succeed on my fifth and final try.

Whew…

That was close.

My smile returns, and even wider than before at that. Especially when I see the blueprint automatically manifesting into a brand new abyssal servant version of the starfish special boss.

The Churale, which was the name of the starfish boss when it was still alive and a boss, looks rather intimidating in abyssal servant form. Like some deepsea demonic creature of the depths.

I summon my Abyssal Lord, Vir, before asking him to command the starfish’s abyssal servant form. But even when he tries, the creature doesn’t obey him at all. It just stares at me as if waiting for my commands.

Out of curiosity, I try to give it a mental order to obey Vir, but it doesn’t follow that order. Then I try to order it to do various other things. Like attacking the wall, or attacking its own original form’s corpse. And it does obey those orders.

It just won’t listen to Vir.

Is it because Vir is too low a level?

Vir is still several hundred levels beneath Churro – which is the name I’m giving Churale because I don’t feel like saying that name every time I think about it. So that could well be the reason it won’t obey him.

Which leaves the question of how many levels above Vir can an abyssal servant ignore his orders? Since I’ve had him commanding abyssal servants who are higher level than him before, and it always worked.

This is the first time it didn’t work.

Of course, it could also be because of Churro’s identity. Since Churro is the blueprint of a Special Boss, so it could be different from other abyssal servants in that regard.

I wonder if I can somehow improve the blueprints of monsters summoned by Abyssal Ruler? That would be interesting.

And there’s the matter of the other four special types of abyssal servants like the Abyssal Lord. I at least know, or think it’s safe to assume, that one of them comes about from infecting and turning an Ancient Monster. But I don’t know anything about the others.

Part of me hoped that the Special Boss would end up turning into some sort of special abyssal ruler, simply because of how powerful it is.

Still. It’s fine.

I can figure things out as they happen.

Plus I did still get an abyssal servant whose level is hundreds of levels above me, even if it can only be summoned underwater like my other non-Abyssal Lord abyssal servants. Which is still a win.

I can’t help but grin at that thought.

Now it should be very easy to hunt the monsters on Kanall. Considering that this planet generally only has monsters weaker than not-so-little Churro.

After testing some things out with Churro, I lie on top of Churro’s shark head before taking a nap. Then I wake up the next morning with my mana completely reset, ready to leave the Special Dungeon.

Only to find a rather bizarre sight greeting me the moment I step outside.

“She’s here! Get pictures now!”

“Keep your distance and don’t let anyone get close!”

“But I want to hear the answer…”

“Do you think she’ll participate soon?! I want to know!”

I blink at the sight of a couple hundred people surrounding where the Special Dungeon’s entrance was. Which, in hindsight, actually kind of makes sense. Considering that the thing has been here for a while now, and there must be some sort of technology capable of discovering it.

Probably.

Maybe.

It could also just be that someone somehow stumbled on it for all I know.

Anyway, it doesn’t really matter to me since I cleared the Special Dungeon and it’s vanishing now. What does matter is what these people are all talking about.

After listening for several more moments, I get my answer.

The Pioneer Games?

They’re wanting to know when I’ll compete in the Pioneer Games?

I stare blankly at the people – some of whom include reporters – only to briefly wonder what the heck they’re talking about. But only for a moment.

It eventually comes back to me.

Right. I forgot about the Pioneer Games entirely.

Oops.

Maybe I should compete in a game soon? It sounds like it could be fun, and there isn’t any real danger to it.

Plus money is always nice. It can be used to fund Oceana. Not to mention help that old grandmother lady who I put in charge of Oceana.

I’m sure she’d love to have more money thrown her way.

Absolutely love it.

The corner of my lips twitch upwards ever so slightly at that thought.

Anyway, I was always too poor to watch the Pioneer Games in the past. Since it costs quite a bit to get a subscription to watch the games live. Hence how they earn so much money.

That said, there are places that allow public viewing of the games.

Live stadiums with commentators, Virtual Reality Pods that let people go and experience it as if they’re there watching personally to a limited degree, and even some public squares in big cities that have the Pioneer Games playing regularly. Which attracts some rather large crowds to those big city squares and brings business to the businesses around the squares.

Of course, none of these things existed for the most part on the planet I was raised.

The planet’s too poor.

Or it was to poor. Now it’s not, thanks to me.

Anyway, it’s not only a sport that brings together the most popular people in the Alliance – the Official Pioneers – in battles and other competitions, but it also determines benefits to be given out to the various planets under the Official Pioneers banners. So a lot of people tune in.

Some to see their favorite celebrity Official Pioneers compete with other Official Pioneers, others to see if their own planet will be getting any benefits.

There are even people who specifically move to planets that are owned by the top Official Pioneers just so that they can get the benefits the Official Pioneer gives their planet.

I always wanted to watch those competitions myself when I was a kid, but never could. Which was very saddening back then.

Putting that aside, I am very interested in the Pioneer Games for another reason aside from just earning money and rewards.

It will give me a chance to test out my combat abilities outside of an ocean or aquatic dungeon. Something that I really need to do.

And, at the same time, it lets me test out other Official Pioneers at my own level to see how I fare against them, since they make the specific games designed around Official Pioneers at the same level range.

Still. Testing out Churro on the monsters of Kanall comes first.

I take a single moment to move far out of the sight of those reporters and other randos thanks to us being underwater.

Now it’s time to hunt.