Pioneer of the Abyss - Book 3 - Chapter 28 (Patreon)

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Table of Contents

Click the following link for the 1366 word chapter 28:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pHaG9zHQ9ybz9fATJBXBnk9gVv9OgzrE3ZIxO8TrUv4/edit?usp=sharing

Or you can read the unformatted version below:

Aqua

The commentator has the rules that I saw before display at the center of the stadium as he explains them. The same rules and description I saw when deciding to join the game.

Sky Conqueror

Description: All Official Pioneers will be dropped into an endless sky on an airship with nothing but clouds above and below them, and countless bird monsters scattered across the skies. Each of the bird monsters will have a ribbon attached to them that is worth points for the Official Pioneers, and can be used to upgrade the Official Pioneers’ airships. The Official Pioneer with the most points by the end of the game wins.

Participants: 300

Game Duration: 3 Hours

Rule 1: Ribbons grant the Official Pioneer points according to the following colors upon claiming them and placing them within their ship’s storage: Common White – 1 point, Uncommon Green – 2 points, Rare Deep Blue – 3 points, Epic Purple – 5 points, Legendary Orange – 10 points, Mythical Red – 25 points, Catastrophe Black – 100 points.

Rule 2: Ribbons can be consumed, reducing the Official Pioneer’s points by placing them inside of the airship’s engine to upgrade the Official Pioneer’s airship into the following upgrades: Enhanced Speed – 100 points, Enhanced Durability – 100 points, Enhanced Recharge – 100 points, Enhanced Battery – 100 points, Airship Cannon – 250 points.

Rule 3: Official Pioneers may attack other Official Pioneers to eliminate them from the game and steal the ribbons in the Official Pioneer’s storage. Slaying an Official Pioneer automatically adds a permanent 100 points to the killer’s score that cannot be stolen.

Ruler 4: Once only thirty minutes remain in the game, a level 1500 dragon will appear with a crystal clear blue ribbon tied somewhere on its body that is worth 5000 points.

Victory Condition: The Official Pioneer with the most points at the end of the 3 hours wins.

Reward Pool: Planetary Mana Increase, Planetary Air Quality Increase, Ownership of the Planet Toxicalla, Introduction of New Wildlife, Ownership of the Pseudo-Planet Skyfa, etc…

“This game is a very simple one,” the commentator states amidst the cheering audience. “All the Official Pioneers have to do is collect ribbons. It doesn’t matter how they collect them, all they have to do is get them. The participants can steal them from other Official Pioneers, they can take them from monsters they kill, or they can even kill other Official Pioneers to take them from their corpses. And the Official Pioneer with the most points from the ribbons at the end of the three hour duration game will be victorious!”

I can’t help but notice that the other Official Pioneers here don’t seem to be too wary of me. Which I’m guessing is because there isn’t any water in the skies of the game.

At the same time, while the commentator is explaining the rules to the audience, I also see quite the number of Official Pioneers already discussing amongst themselves about teaming up to fight me.

I raise a brow at the sight, but none of the level nine hundred and ninety-nine Official Pioneers in the game are amongst those discussing working together.

If anything, I wouldn’t be surprised if they are just planning on sitting back watching the others fight. Simply to see how I fare outside of the water.

A rather interesting plan comes to mind for dealing with these Official Pioneers working together to face me.

If I can just lure them all in at once, then I can force them into the water of Call of the Abyss. And the moment they’re inside, it’ll be the perfect chance to tear them all to shreds.

Not to mention the perfect chance to test my strength against regular Official Pioneers.

The corner of my lips quirks upward at the thought. Meanwhile the commentator finishes up explaining the game to the audience. At which point he returns his focus to us, the Official Pioneers.

“Now, it is time for the Q&A session with the Official Pioneers!” the commentator, Jules, declares while spreading his arms to his sides. “Please ask any questions you may have about the game!”

“Is there a Unique Title for this game?” Ray asks without missing a beat.

Jules breaks out into a grin and says, “Of course! Whoever manages to slay the dragon that spawns within the last thirty minutes of the game will be granted the Unique Title of Dragon Slayer! With that title, all rewards given for Pioneer Games from the Reward Pools will be increased for the holder of the Unique Title by five percent for life!”

Whispers break out amongst the Official Pioneers, and I can tell immediately that a lot of the Official Pioneers who originally weren’t intending to face the dragon are now beginning to reconsider. And I don’t blame them, considering how good a Unique Title that is.

I wasn’t really thinking about the Unique Titles until now. Simply because they’re extremely rare and difficult to obtain.

There is a single Unique Title for every game, and most of the time no one ever obtains it. Just the fact that an Official Pioneer has to kill a monster at least five hundred and one levels above them at the minimum to obtain it in this game shows just how difficult it is to obtain one.

And that’s only for the Official Pioneers at the max level for this level range. The lower level Official Pioneers here are even further away from the dragon in level. By a couple hundred levels even.

What’s more is that only a single Official Pioneer can claim the Unique Title in each game. So an AI will determine which Official Pioneer contributed the most to the requirement to claim it if it’s a Unique Title requirement like this one in the case of Official Pioneers working together. Where it’s to kill a specific creature.

And that ends up complicating things as the Official Pioneers begin to compete with each other, which decreases teamwork and gets a lot of them killed in the process.

On that note, I wonder… can I face the dragon and win on my own?

That sounds like an interesting plan.

A couple other Official Pioneers ask other questions, but none of them are of particular importance to me. And it doesn’t take long before the commentator concludes the question and answer segment. At which point he declares, “It is now time to begin the game!!!”

Then all of us are teleported away amidst the roaring audience. And I find myself appearing on a relatively large airship in the middle of seemingly endless skies.

All I can see are clouds whether I’m looking below or above. With the occasional bolt of lightning visible in distant lightning clouds.

I step up to the railing of the ship as I look out at the skies around me. Only to find a large bird rushing straight out of a cloud towards me.

Without hesitation, I use Abyssal Kraken’s Embrace to summon a few large tentacles on the bird’s path. Then I have those tentacles grab the large bird and crush it. Which is pretty easy to do, considering that the thing is only level five hundred and six.

That’s one way to kill the monsters.

I wonder if this is what fishing is like? Just using tentacles to grab the birds.

It’s just that it’s fishing in the skies instead of the water.

I purse my lips for a moment when I notice several other birds beginning to fly towards me. And, after a brief hesitation, I nod towards Vir, who appeared with me in my ship and is the only one of my abyssal servants who can be active outside of the water. Making Vir jump into the air with wings bursting out of his back.

This will be an interesting way to figure out exactly what Vir is capable of.

With that thought in mind, I drag the corpse of the bird I killed with the tentacles and bring it to me before reaching out and grabbing its ribbon with my own hand. All while Vir begins to attack the other attacking birds.

Time to play the game.