Chapter 141: Fighting for First
Rainer woke panting as he checked his body, before quickly looking at the [Leaderboard] and [Void-walking] to Sarah’s location. It was to his relief that Sarah had revived and that he wasn’t still blocked from his cla.s.ses.
“Are you alright?”
“I should be asking you that,” Sarah said with a sigh, looking at their party’s new point total.
Rainer’s eyes widened as he checked his body. Other than the resources he had put in his Spatial Ring, everything was there as it should be, enchanted items and a certain Fairy on his body included. And cla.s.ses were functioning as usual. He let out a long sigh of relief. Luna had already moved to his head, expressing her displeasure at the death by pulling on his hair.
“I killed the person who killed you,” Rainer said, leaving out the part where he was quite sure he went beyond ‘lives’ for now, “There were too many people around though.”
“Good. Let’s go meet up with everyone else.”
“Agreed.”
While there were some battles to be had, it was only a few minutes later that Rainer had managed to gather the whole party. He took some time to explain things for those who hadn’t really looked at the [Leaderboard] as well as his recent lost life.
“So let me get this straight… you got us targeted by the whole Dungeon, and then lost all your points?” Amer asked, more amused than anything resembling angry.
“That’s one way of looking at it.” Rainer certainly wouldn’t admit that he might have risked losing his access to cla.s.ses for the whole Dungeon for ‘breaking the rules’. It was good the system didn’t hold grudges or that he didn’t truly break a rule in the first place. He didn’t think the t.i.tle loss had anything to do with the system. Simply that he clearly failed to ‘Hold’ onto what was Transcendent Power. He had ‘died’, after all. He stared at his hand for a while, reminiscing over the power itself.
“He killed the guy that killed me,” Sarah defended. Dying in [Sleep Learning] had prepared her mostly for that ill-effect, but not for the shame of having lost so easily. Nor the fear that she might die so pointlessly in the future. It had been a fear of hers for a long time back on Earth, that she wouldn’t be able to even struggle, though the ending would be far more unfortunate for her. Advances in Earthen magic meant there was little that could be done to an experimental subject that would actually kill it.
“Good,” both elder Nvos’ said and nodded at the same time.
“Most likely permanently,” Rainer mentioned, explaining for a brief moment, mostly for Talvara’s sake, that he had managed to create the impossible light once again. Maybe the name might help him get something about it from her. He couldn’t imagine how the man’s Soul survived that. Then again, the methods of the system were beyond his knowledge as clearly his own Soul was fine.
“I gained a t.i.tle as well, though the messages seem to be gone.”
Other than the few disturbed looks, and a thoughtful one from Talvara before she left Aurora’s body, no one had anything to comment on his ability to truly kill someone despite the seemingly all-powerful system’s efforts.
“We should find a place to hunker down and then give me all the spoils. I’ll go take a moment and see if the place where I died has anything left. It won’t protect you guys, but it should make you a far less appealing target.”
Rainer knew it wouldn’t take long for people to realize he was a powerful teleporter and that perhaps using someone from his party as a hostage would be a better idea than trying to catch him. But, at that point, many would give up on the idea of taking his group’s points; they would view the usual way as a far more appealing choice.
Everyone nodded in agreement, especially since a few of them had already lost a life. With Amer’s help, they headed to a mountainous area that also had Mana in the air. Perfect for the defensive magics of Tian and the semi-living poison of Art. Combined with their complete lack of points, there would be little reason for anyone sane to try and a.s.sault their position. They would be free to relax as Rainer rushed around trying to gather as much as he could now that he confirmed with his party the items they were collecting were, in fact, quite valuable.
“Maybe we should try and form a team with whoever ends up on the [Leaderboard] next?” Rainer said, his real motive involved getting another [Soul-Mark] out there. With his [Void-walking], the benefit of forming a team was minimal. Of course, hunting through the [Leaderboard] was just as appealing. Defeating a single person and gaining a substantial amount worth was hard to resist.
“We’ll leave that to you,” his Arcane-affinited grandfather said. As Rainer would be doing the lion’s share of the work in this scenario, the decision would, of course, be his.
Carrying with him all his party’s points, Rainer used his memory and [Void-traveling] to appear at the site of his ‘death’.
To his surprise, the scenery was unchanged. And all that was left of the carnage created was many different piles of resources. He dashed over, sensing with [Soul Detection] that others were coming here.
s.p.a.ce and time seemed to warp as he drew closer. Not only was the s.p.a.ce looser, but something had definitely happened to time as well. It seemed not even the Dungeon could easily repair the damage that occured here. Paying it little mind, he grabbed every item and put it in his Spatial Ring, quickly bringing his party back up to and beyond 1,000 points. The added bonus resources from all those who died in the explosion certainly didn"t hurt.
He spared one more glance at the people coming this way before vanishing again. He would wait to hunt another until more parties joined the [Leaderboard].
Rainer, with Aurora as his traveling partner, spread his reach as far and wide as he could, occasionally visiting his party to work together with Aurora to clear out the surroundings. An ambushing [Void Hold] from her and a descending [Arcane Blade] from him proved an unfairly deadly combo. There was simply very little to be done against it. It was only a shame, from Rainer’s perspective, that just like [Void Call], he couldn’t use [Blade of the Void] too near a [Void Hold]. At least not without breaking it.
Only through being stronger than the pair could someone really escape the technique. Even then, that was only Aurora’s [Void Hold], and not her occasional pa.s.senger’s. Perhaps only someone of the 3rd Tier or in large number could really do anything. It meant the pair had complete freedom in searching for resources.
It wasn’t long before Rainer helped his party reach 2,000 points. Every kill now tended to bring far more points, though he gave them the option of emptying their inventory when he could. He regretted his blow-up from earlier; after all, Sarah had three lives. Unfortunately, he saw how easily she was handled and a large part of him worried it was her last. Not even her system-like disappearing body helped with that thought. And the Arcane that had been enhancing him at the time had only made it worse.
Despite his training, he was nowhere near completely immune to its effects. Especially when Arcane was flowing through him so intimately.
He didn’t particularly regret killing the man who might have permanently killed his sister, but to so stupidly fight the system or whatever was in charge of the Dungeon itself... The result could have been far worse for him.
It wasn’t long before others realized the futility in attacking this group. Despite a lack of communication, when the group’s points only increased, it wasn’t hard to guess what was happening. Especially as other options started rapidly appearing on the [Leaderboards]. No doubt seasoned Dungeon [Pioneer]s would be aware of the extra rewards for those who finished earlier and were confident enough to try and claim those rewards. Rainer himself hoped there would be an advantage next round to whoever was earlier and higher on the [Leaderboard].
Rainer walked along with Aurora, the pair of them traveling on a narrow mountain path. They were each using [Void Seer] to run through the now dozen parties on the [Leaderboard] and find one that was most viable.
And valuable.
“One has already gathered together, [Faraan’s Children], though the single spatial mage they have taxed himself. It should be some time before he recovers. From what I can tell, he is the leader. The rest are Magi; so long as you distract some, it would be easy enough for me to pick them off.”
Rainer nodded, knowing [Void Call]s, and in general Void abilities, were harder for Mages to deal with. Even more so if they’d never faced it before. He would have felt a bit bad simply attacking them for being on the [Leaderboard], especially given the possibility of a lone mage losing multiple lives. But when Aurora told him what strategy they were discussing, he lost any sympathy.
A hunter can’t complain when his prey kills him instead.
Gunthar stared at the acquired resources relating to dragons while his father sat nearby, tapping the stone table they’d had someone manipulate for them. These were things they could only dream of having for the Wyverns they once raised. And some beyond even that. This was truly a Dungeon of treasures.
Normally, rich resources such as [Marrow of a Frost Dragon] would cause issues if too much was given to a Wyvern, or perhaps even a Dragon, but with Tiamat’s unique origins and strength, he wondered if there would be an upper limit to how many of these resources they could feed her. At least from legends, she was far too strong at her young age. Dragons were quite weak for some time after birth.
Legends could, of course, be wrong, but he was sure her strength was abnormal.
“Have you thought about how to raise another cla.s.s to the Second Tier?” Theodore asked from the side.
Gunthar shrugged his leather-covered bones. “I only have this single cla.s.s to gather Souls in such a manner. I wouldn’t even know where to begin. Though with access to the Sorcerer’s place of magic, I’m sure I might find a cla.s.s with a path forward.”
Theodore sighed; he had no answer either. Monsters advanced without Trials through absorbing world energy, consuming the stronger, time, or through their bloodline. None of which likely applied to himself. He had long wished to raise his second cla.s.s to the 2nd Tier, but knew of no path forward. From what he knew of raised undead, there was no advancing their Tiers. Even if he and Gunthar were special in that regard. But Gunthar had given him some hope in that.
“I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” Elru said from Theodore’s right.
“You should listen to mother, father,” Gunthar said, returning focus to organizing the resources while Elru blushed deeply.
Theodore stared at his skeletal son before sighing. Why did his loner son’s first friend have to be such a bad influence?