My return to the barracks is going smoothly, and I have not had any issues with the Flare Loop so far as it hovers lazily behind my back.
The trip itself is slower than when I had first headed for the aberrant plains, but I don’t mind the extra time spent as I make my way back to the city. My worries about the mana construct’s stability have also been unfounded so far, as the high speeds I move at don’t seem to upset the delicate balance of the counter-rotating flywheels.
Overall, the temporary solution I created is more useful than I had thought. Even when a few stray monsters come to bother me on my journey, they are swiftly taken care of thanks to the constantly swirling energies inside the loop. One such monster approaches me even now, yet I don’t slow my stride at all and move the Flare Loop toward the monster while carefully letting a small outlet open up on the construct.
< You have defeated: Vile Wanderer - Level 32 >
The left side of my vision is encompassed in a flash of heat for a moment before nothing but cooked meat and ashes remain of the cat-like creature that had been heading my way. The sudden release of energy makes the loop spin like a coin for a moment, but I quickly get it back under control and re-seal the outlet.
It took a bit of tweaking after the first attempt at using my newest invention to kill a monster, but now I have the strategy down to a relatively safe science. Including the outlet panel that allows for controlled expulsion of the stored energy, I also stopped using a mana tendril to fill the creation. Now, I just my excess radiation straight into the loop with a touch, and the rest takes care of itself with the guidance of my control skills.
The Flare Loop does a spectacular job at storing my excess energies in a safe environment wholly dependent on my ability to keep the construct together. All in all, it takes roughly half of my ongoing mana production just to hold the thing together with all of my skills while continuing to make sure the mana barrier remains whole. This isn’t too bad though, as my unbalanced PWR attribute likely makes it to where even half of my production rate is still higher than the average level 28’s.
There could be a small issue for when I end up hitting the limit of how much raw energy can be contained in the loop, but as of right now, I don’t feel any real strain on the mana barrier so it should be alright for the foreseeable future. It takes a certain amount of expended energy just to keep the rotation going, so that alongside the occasional heat dump I can provide manually should be enough to keep my creation in check too.
I’m a little worried about getting the storage ring past the entrance guards when I get to the city, but that’s something that Future Sebastian can worry about, so I ignore the upcoming confrontation for the time being.
The happiness provided by my small outing to the aberrant plains is truly unmatched, and I am pleasantly surprised to find that I am looking forward to showing the gains off to the others as well. I don’t have to tell them about the specifics of my class or anything, but the glowing hula hoop behind me will probably be an inevitable topic of conversation when I get back.
A bit of anxiety douses the bonfire of delight in my stomach as I remember that first and foremost, I will have to deal with Vince. Not even bothering to check my Status, I already know that my horrible tardiness will most likely earn me an earful as soon as I get back. It’s pretty annoying really, as I’m almost positive that I could beat Vince if it came down to fighting, yet I know it’s not worth the trouble of doing so.
The group currently revolves around Vince’s rule, and fighting against his leadership won’t benefit me in any tangible way. Everyone seems to trust him, and I begrudgingly find myself feeling the same way for the most part. The man’s calm demeanor and cool head during times of stress is honestly a boon, especially at this stage in The Pillar since I haven’t seen how everyone acts in the face of real danger.
The monster wave’s arrival is imminent, and I’m sure it will be an event that will be the key to me seeing everyone’s true selves. I’ve grown to like the group over these past few weeks, but the way this wave is handled will most likely be the deciding factor on how I want to approach their existence for the rest of The Pillar.
This is only Floor Two. With six entire years on the line and a lack of information on how many floors there actually are here, my best bet might just be to leave the group behind and advance myself.
If I’m not certain that they can go the distance, then I will not hesitate to keep going with Pawl just like I did on Floor One.
…
By the time I have finally arrived back at the city, I’ve gained one more level overall as well as three additional points in BDY. It was an annoying comprise, but I promised myself to throw the occasional free attribute point in BDY until I have a permanent fix to my attribute imbalance problem. As of right now, my allocations will be two PWR and one BDY for every level I gain. To start off on a good foot and show my ability to control myself, I decided to leave out the PWR allocation for level 29. It was hard to see my dear PWR stat only get one pity point from the System from my level up, but I stood strong behind my decision.
No, I’m not crying. My eyes are just naturally puffy after a level up. Leave me alone.
Strolling up to the city entrance while mourning the lost PWR I could have gained instead; I find myself being blocked off by two guards in heavy armor.
< Mana-Enhanced Brawler - Level ??? >
< Brawler - Level 54 >
“Where do you think you’re going?” The one on the left speaks up, the woman’s voice heavily muffled by her helmet.
Looking at the two class identifiers above the guards, I am struck dumb for a moment. Not only can I see one of their levels finally, but the two’s classes are almost identical.
“Cat got your tongue, boy? Speak your business or run along.” The man on the right says while waving a gauntleted hand to shoo me off.
“Oh, um, I’m sorry. I’m just trying to get back in the city.” I say after finding my wits.
“I don’t think so. Get rid of that thing behind your back and then you can come in.” The higher leveled woman says.
My heart drops a bit as the exact situation I had been worried about is taking place. The initial confusion of being able to identify the man’s level threw me off a bit, but I had prepared some excuses in advance just for this situation.
“I apologize, but I can’t do that. I’m taking this Kinetic-Mana-Counter-Rotating-Flywheel-Accumulator-Battery-Cell to my Master. Perhaps you have heard of him? His name is Master Lirin, and he has a workshop just down the street at Garfield’s Tavern. Would you like to run over there and confirm with one of them?”
A full five seconds of silence follow my words as I watch the guards try to piece together what I just said. I tried to make it where it has just enough nonsense sprinkled with a few important people’s names to make it sound like a real errand. The loop’s impromptu new name is also hopefully complex enough in nature that they don’t bother trying to notice that half of the name is just synonyms of batteries. Another couple seconds pass as the guards stare at each other as if waiting for the other person to say something.
“You said this was a task given to you by Lirin Pentalgon and Garfield Maxim as their delivery boy?” The woman finally speaks up.
“Yes!” I agree immediately.
“Erm- I suppose you can enter then. Just please tell Mr. Pentalgon or Mr. Maxim that we should be notified for deliveries of such…unusual nature.”
“Will do!” I say while ignoring the attempt from the woman to try to keep some measure of command over the situation.
Strolling past the two guards, I make my way back toward the tavern.
And just like that, with some choice wording and a bit of acting, I successfully smuggle a bomb into the city.
…
It takes a little while to get back to the tavern since I am forced to weave through the crowded streets despite it being damn near the middle of the night. Even while packing an explosive for all to see, the city remains as dickish as usual, and I continue to get bounced around by the bustling bodies of random citizens going about their night without a care in the world.
Part of me really wishes I didn’t pick the Mana Protective Shell so that the unidentified radiation from my body could poison them all. I think everyone here is a high enough level that they probably wouldn’t be affected, but it would still make me feel a bit better about the entire situation.
The time I spend navigating around everyone isn’t all bad though. After moving the loop above my head so it has less of a chance of being damaged by any careless onlookers, I spend most of my time looking around at the citizens’ identifiers.
< Locksmith - Level 50 >
< Silk Tailor - Level 48 >
< Hypermobile Laborer - Level ??? >
< Baker - Level 53 >
With my recent outing, it would seem the average citizen’s level is finally within my ability to identify. From what I can gather, it would seem most people are around level 50-60 if I had to guess. This is a little surprising given the fact that the guard I just talked to is a lower level then some of the figures I see walking around. For some reason, I would have expected combat class individuals to have a higher level normally, but it would seem this doesn’t always have to be the case. In reality, the people with normal classes like baker or seamstress are probably still weaker than those with a combative type.
Thinking further on the matter, I wonder if each city ring also plays a part into the average level of each citizen. I could easily see some of the inner rings having a higher level average than what can be found around here. Realistically, this could also explain why one of the guards was a relatively low level in comparison to some of the people milling about. The best fighters are probably consolidated in the inner rings, as well as the Veil gates where they are needed most.
Somehow, I doubt that the two men who brought me to the city at the beginning of the floor were anywhere near level 50. If I were a betting man, I would say the tall and skinny Tobias, as well as the short and wide Brian, are both a higher level than the guards here. If I remember correctly, their classes had a bit more flavor too in comparison to the ‘Brawler’ and ‘Mana-Enhanced Brawler’ that were dumb enough to let me waltz right into the city without any real confirmation required.
The names of their classes convince me that their classes must have been of low quality. I don’t know the skill gap required to be a ‘Mana-Enhanced’ brawler rather than a normal one, but I assume that both classes are still unimpressive in nature.
Clearly, [Irradiated Conjuror] has wayyyy more style than their classes.
This must mean my class is just that much more powerful!
Right?