Pioneer of the Abyss - Book 3 - Chapter 22 (Patreon)

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Table of Contents

Click the following link for the 1431 word chapter 22:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1l5D8ftAcJv33TPlrFDCMzFUxCKdQ-7aUKkvvgF8zdCI/edit?usp=sharing

Or you can read the unformatted version below:

Aqua

“Revaldo has used his special blood control skill to rip Aradna’s arm clean off right when the countdown is about to hit zero on the wall shift! Will she still be able to finish the puzzle before the wall shifts?! Or will she sacrifice another point?!” the commentator of a Pioneer Game that is currently occurring right now echoes from my terminal as I sit on Churro’s back watching the game. “And the time ran out! The wall is shifting once more, pushing Aradna to and even lower ring of the labyrinth! I doubt she’ll be able to recover from this! Meanwhile Revaldo is moving up to the next ring!”

Roaring applause comes from the terminal alongside the commentary, but I ignore that to focus on the game itself.

This particular Pioneer Game is called the Labyrinth of Blood and Puzzles, and it’s a pretty brutal Pioneer Game out of the different types of Pioneer Games out there.

From what I’ve researched, Pioneer Games are divided into several different categories. And amongst those categories, some of them give better rewards than others, and they also all give specialized rewards focused a bit more on the category itself.

There are combat puzzle categories like this one, where Official Pioneers have to fight to survive deadly puzzles with other Official Pioneers trying to stop them in a race to first place.

Then there are more peaceful puzzles that don’t have the combat.

There are sports categories where they are competing in a sport, albeit with combat and the ability to use skills allowed making it so that plenty of Official Pioneers die during the sports. Although, just like with the combat puzzle categories, this is all in a sort of magical virtual reality. So no one actually dies.

After the sports ones, there are also plain combat categories where the Official Pioneers fight. Like king of the hill, or even tournament setups.

Lastly, there are lifestyle categories where Official Pioneers are competing in some sort of lifestyle game like fishing, mining, or even chopping wood. They can steal what others have fished or gathered from the game’s ‘lifestyle’ method, and even kill other Official Pioneers to stop them from advancing in the game.

Then there are team versions of each category on top of all that.

Generally, the categories that focus on combat give more combat oriented boosts to the Official Pioneers who win along with their planets. Meanwhile the lifestyle categories give more gathering and resource based rewards.

The puzzle categories give intelligence and item based rewards, and the sports categories give more economical rewards.

Overall, there are quite a lot of options, both for the types of categories and the rewards from them.

Also, the Pioneer Games are split up into specific level ranges. Since Official Pioneers at level one thousand obviously shouldn’t be fighting Official Pioneers at level nine thousand.

So Official Pioneers can’t just compete in every single Pioneer Game that happens once a week.

The Pioneer Games tend to cycle through the level ranges once every month.

As for the level ranges themselves? They focus around those with the same number of traits.

And I would be considered in the weakest level range for Pioneers, which goes from level five hundred through nine hundred ninety nine. Since I’ll be getting my next trait at level one thousand, and I got my last one at level five hundred.

There hasn’t ever been an Official Pioneer beneath level five hundred, though, so there aren’t any level ranges beneath it.

After that level range, there’s the range of level one thousand to level two thousand four hundred and ninety nine, followed by two thousand five hundred to  seven thousand four hundred and ninety nine, and, finally, the range of seven thousand five hundred to fourteen thousand nine hundred and ninety nine.

Since all of the next traits after one thousand are two thousand five hundred, seven thousand five hundred, and fifteen thousand.

There aren’t any active Official Pioneers above level fifteen thousand, though, so that’s where it ends.

I narrow my eyes at the screen on the terminal as the Official Pioneer named Revaldo – one with blood magic skills – rushes into the next ring of this labyrinth game. Only to find a rather difficult looking memory puzzle in front of him. One where he sees a brief flash of an entire essay that he has to memorize in that time, with the essay occasionally flashing again every minute. Then he needs to type out the entire essay himself to clear the puzzle within the timer that has already started ticking on him.

“Oooooh, it’s a memory puzzle! Revaldo, as we all know, has never been the greatest at these!” the commentator says. “What do you think, Jules? Will he lose his lead thanks to this?”

“Nah, his lead’s grown pretty large now that the second place user, Aradna, is missing an arm and was pushed back a ring,” Jules, the other commentator besides the man named James, comments with a shake of her head. “The gap should close, but not by a lot.”

I rest my elbow on my knee, sitting with one foot on Churro beneath me and the other lying flat on the ground as I watch the broadcast. Meanwhile the chat in my own broadcast goes on and on about which categories I should try to aim for.

[Lifestyle!!! Do lifestyle! You don’t have much experience fighting out of the water, so lifestyle games are the best choice to get used to it!]

[Screw lifestyle games, I want to see her fight in arenas! Give us the tournaments! Give us King of the Hill games! Flood the battlefield and drown all of your opponents!]

[She could probably do well in sports games. Aqua is very active, and if she uses that skill that floods the area with water, she could definitely interfere with the other players.]

I can’t help but feel an imaginary vein twitch on my forehead at the fact that I don’t see anyone suggesting puzzle games.

Do they think I’m stupid or something? Or is it because they have never seen me do any puzzles?

Probably the latter.

Anyway, the game I’m watching right now is a pretty simple one. It’s a race through the labyrinth, with each ring having a general labyrinth structure the Official Pioneer has to navigate through until they reach the puzzle room. At which point they have to solve a puzzle within a certain amount of time.

If they fail, they are pushed down a ring to the previous ring of the labyrinth. If they succeed, the door to the next ring opens and they can proceed through the next ring, traverse the labyrinth again, and try their hand at the next puzzle.

The game has a total of twenty-five rings, and the first Official Pioner to reach the end and solve the last puzzle wins the game.

Also, Official Pioneers can interfere with other Official Pioneers through sending attacks through bubbles that appear in their puzzle room. These bubbles will transport their attacks straight to the puzzle rooms of other Official Pioneers who are at the same ring, one ring beneath them, or any higher ring than they’re at.

They can’t attack Official Pioneers on rings lower than their own, however, except for the one ring directly beneath theirs.

So that Aradna lady is now out of range for the first place leader to target anymore. But he isn’t out of range for her to target.

Hence why the guy is currently struggling hard to type out the essay as not only Aradna, but all of the other Official Pioneers – which number two dozen – target him with skills to slow him down. While they also attack those directly in front of them, splitting their attacks up, of course.

From what I can see, the best way to do this is for them to attack both as they are currently doing. Attacking the leader in first to extend the game while also attacking those directly in front of them to be able to push them forward in ranking.

Overall, I’m actually rather enjoying watching this game myself. And it looks pretty interesting from the standpoint of a potential player as well.

It should help me get rewards while also adjusting to fighting on land.

Now I just have to figure out which category of game to try first. Not to mention to see what categories are even available for my level range over the next couple months.