Hell Difficulty Tutorial

Did he just say deer? Archdeer? Oh my, surely nothing wrong will happen if I buy it? I can't strengthen Bambi’s curse, and I'm sure Biscuit would like that piece of meat a lot.

“We have the first offer, one Star Stone!” the auctioneer shouts. “Surely we won’t end up at one only!”

One Star Stone is worth around 100 thousand dollars.

“Two Star Stones from an older gentleman in the audience!”

“Three Star Stones from a beautiful lady in a red dress on the balcony!”

The price quickly climbs higher and higher. “We have a Sun Stone from a young Lynthari gentleman!”

Half a mil, damn, they might be bigger foodies than Biscuit. But it doesn’t matter; that piece of meat is mine. For a moment, I imagine Biscuit’s thankful shouts and him impatiently tippy-tapping while waiting for the meat.

“What do you think, Biscuit?” I move Eris a bit to the side and look at the corgi nestling by my leg.

(Sustenance,) he says, and there is a hint of determination in his eyes.

If I don't buy this meat, he will go and get it himself.

(I require sustenance,) sounds in my head, but this time it's different. The voice is quieter, like a gentle whisper, and I feel goosebumps all over my skin.

When I look at Biscuit, I notice that his eyes are glowing slightly in a pale purple color.

“Leave it up to me!” I tell him quickly and send a signal through the bidding stone.

“Oh! We've got two Eclipse Stones from a young gentleman with pretty eyes!” the auctioneer calls attention to me, and I just nod.

Damn, how does this thing work? I wanted to bid only one Eclipse Stone.

After a few moments of silence, the auctioneer shouts, “Calling once, calling twice?”

The silence that fills the room makes a few more people look towards me, and they also notice Eris sitting on my lap. Her strikingly red hair and blue eyes.

Now that I think about it, rich or powerful people probably recognize her as the Matriarch’s granddaughter. Does it mean it might make them scared to bid against someone who is in such a good relationship with her? Am I indirectly bullying them?

“Good job, boss!” I whisper to Eris.

The young Lynthari clearly doesn't know what she did, but she nods and smiles, lifting her nose a bit higher.

“Sold for two Eclipse Stones to the young man!” the auctioneer finally ends the bidding, and his eyes meet mine for a moment.

The auction afterward is quite boring.

Eris buys me some weird mana stone that she says has a similar color to her eyes, and in exchange, I buy her some ancient toy based on mana that helps to improve control.

Obelia bids a few times and buys some nice items for either herself or her guild.

Tess and Hadwin also point me to buy a few high-rare items that can be spread to our group members, some mana batteries, and other stuff.

Buying all of it barely makes a dent in the amount of money we hold, so I just keep buying and buying, as we end up with two dozen items. That brings some attention to us, but at this point, I'm not that worried. The only person that I found could threaten me is the Matriarch, and maybe a few more Lynthari. And Calamities, of course. Otherwise, there isn't much to threaten my life here on the 4th floor.

As the night progresses, Eris leaves to play with someone else, and I notice Tess joking with Obelia and Jenna, while Hadwin sometimes joins in.

I spend my time continuing Mana Cycling, which I do constantly, and observing people on balconies, with some showing interest in me. Mostly, it's simple to guess from their gaze what they want. Most of them just straight up want a good relationship with someone rich, others looking for a connection to Eris and the Matriarch, some recognizing me as the guild master of Angry Kittens, which is now one of the five big guilds thanks to its fighting power and not the size of the guild.

I just straight up ignore them, and when they reach out to me with their mana, I obliterate it, often doing so in a way that will sting them a bit.

“This crest is something we were unable to identify nor even scratch! It's made of a material that reminds of wood, but it's extremely heavy!” sounds from the podium.

That makes me curious again, and I look at the auctioneer, and the item inside the glass box reminds me of something. I didn't notice it while checking the other items sent to auction, so did they just add it, or did I miss it while trying to avoid people? The material seems to be the same as the extremely heavy chest we got from the Champion's house and were unable to open it, no matter what we tried.

The bids start at a Sun Stone, and I bid a few times until I win, ending up paying three Eclipse Stones and one Sun Stone.

“The next item is something extremely exciting; we are getting to the last ten items!”

The lighting changes, and the fake night sky on the ceiling as well, with stars disappearing and being replaced by soft, aurora-like blue lights that mix with white ones.

“Allow me to show you this extremely precious mana stone inscribed by the rising star of Virelia, someone said to be even more talented than Mister Elydor when it comes to inscribing!”

The stone they put out, I know very well; I inscribed it just a few days ago.

“The master inscriber's identity is a secret, but the skill is real, as confirmed by the Craft guild multiple times. I do not dare to be able to say what the stone contains, but our experts told me that they have never seen anything like it, and the Craft guild master confirmed it as well. Simply, the ones that know understand how valuable it is, and the rest of us can only look at it with amazement!” he opens up both of his arms and lights spark off under the glass box, allowing the stone inside to be seen better.

“The starting price is three Eclipse Stones!”

I watch as the price climbs higher and higher. There are even a few Lynthari bidding and plenty of older men similar to the inscriber that is helping me.

At some point, they get outbid by Lynthari, so they group together and probably join their money to continue bidding.

“...once, twice, sold for 7 Eclipse Stones, one Sun Stone, and three Star Stones!”

The final amount is $7,800,000.

Easiest money of my life.

I bid on a few items from the top 10: a shield for Haddy, light armor for Maya, a lump of heavy and extremely conductive metal for Kim, a weird set of bracelets for the twins.

“Finally, the main course of tonight! A mid-epic item we have received from Storm Brigade, one of only 5 big guilds of Virelia!”

The tension can be felt in the air as they bring the weapon to the middle of the room, the glass box around it densely covered in inscriptions and housing a beautiful spear made from a single piece of metal-like material.

It's as long as the man auctioning it and gray of color, with a blade inscribed with pale blue symbols. The weapon is beautiful yet deadly, and that also makes me wonder, is the Ethercrystal shortsword also a mid-epic item, or is it of low rarity?

“Starting price is ten Eclipse Stones!” the moment the auctioneer shouts that, I can hear people sigh, and bids come flying.

“Eleven Eclipse Stones from the lady in a red dress, twelve from a young man in a pink suit!”

The bids keep flying.

“Fifteen from a young Lynthari master with a beautiful gray tail!”

And climbing.

“Twenty Eclipse Stones from a Lynthari lady with pretty orange eyes!”

“We should be able to buy it, right?” Tess moves closer to me.

She is not even trying to hide the hint of greed in her eyes.

“Did Obelia let you check the spear before she put it into the auction?” I ask.

Tess nods, “It's amazing, Nat. I want it.”

“No problem,” I tell her.

I'm rich.

“Thirty Eclipse Stones from a young man with beautiful eyes,” the auctioneer gets out of himself, and even the whispers stop, with dozens, hundreds of eyes turning to me.

“Thirty-one Eclipse Stones from a lynthari gentleman in a black suit!” he shouts again, getting another signal.

So I send one as well.

“Forty... FORTY Eclipse Stones from a crazy... from a handsome young man with pretty eyes!” he shouts.

I heard it, you asshole.

After that, there is nothing, just silence.

“Calling once, calling twice, calling thrice… sold to the rich young man!”

As if on cue, everyone starts talking, and I turn to Obelia, remembering that I bought it from her.

She is trying to hide it, but even I can see her surprised expression, and it's so funny that I remember it. I can laugh at it a bit later.

When I check the card, we still have close to 100 Eclipse Stones on it, even when I count the ones from the sale of my mana stone.

How do I even spend it all?

 

---

 

The way back home is refreshing. It's still dark outside, and I breathe in the colder night air as we slowly walk there. Most of the things we were unable to carry were already sent to our house with plenty of guards, and Hadwin went with them.

Me, Tess, and Lily just slowly walk. Tess is happily holding her spear, and the smile can't disappear from her face.

Gravitas Javelin (epic): Crafted from a metal known for its ability to alter its mass, this spear can be as light as a feather or extremely heavy based on the wielder's intent. Its dark gray surface is unmarked by battle, always appearing as pristine as when first forged.

That reminds me that we still didn't decide what we will do with the epic bow we got from the Arcane Archer. Seeing how many epic items we have and remembering how some people from the community complain about how hard they are to get makes me feel cozy inside.

I wonder how difficult it is to get epic items on Hard difficulty and if it's even possible on Easy and Normal. I will have to ask during the tournament.

“So now the tree?” Lily joins me, leaving Tess slightly behind us.

I nod, “Yes, the tree. In a few days, and we will be ready.”

“You still won't change your mind? I would be helpful.”

“I told you before. We either kill it in one hit or bail; there will be no fighting, no healing,” I resolutely tell her, and she probably sees it and doesn't try to change my mind.

The plan is simple, and only a few people will go. Me, Obelia to get us there, Myrra and her bodyguard, Hadwin, and a few of Obelia's members that are good at enchanting or disrupting mana.

 

---

 

A few days pass. We split the items, we eat a few pieces of Archdeer meat, and as expected, Biscuit is extremely thankful and keeps letting me boop his nose without doing anything to fight them.

He doesn't even shout 'Bitch' every time someone mentions Obelia, nor use his creepy mana arms.

We spend a few evenings eating pieces of Archdeer meat that Hadwin grills, cooks, or tries to smoke. Everyone seems to like it and they start liking it even more when they hear how much it cost.

They enjoy the company of each other. Something very different from the 1st Floor.

Izzy seems a bit off, different from before, now without her sister's skill affecting her. She is a bit shy, but she didn't change. It's still the same Izzy we know, even though she's a bit less brave at times.

I think Sophie might have removed or weakened some of the memories that could traumatize the little girl, but I can't confirm it, nor do I want to stick my nose into this. It's something the sisters both agreed on and did together, so it's up to them.

At first, Sophie seemed worried that her sister might hate her, but the moment the little girl hugged her after a day of removing the [Geas], Sophie started smiling again and kept apologizing to her sister.

I also examined most of the items we got from the auction and stored most of them in the room under the house for further study in the future.

The chest didn't open even with a piece of weird heavy wood we got during the auction, but Min-Jae said he felt something with his skill, so I leave it up to him. I swear I will open this chest no matter what or destroy it in the process.

A bit later, in the room under our house, I finally decide to finish creating the Tree Obliterator 9000.

The man named Cael, an older enchanter whom I met one night and who helped me with inscriptions, is here with me. He is here just to observe the process as promised, something he judged to be well worth the help he gave me.

I clear my mind and look at the items in front of me, I've gone over it multiple times and know how it should go, so I do not hesitate and consolidate my [Focus].

First, I take the Ethercrystal Shortsword and put it into a densely inscribed, mana conductive holder. The thing reminds me of the shaft of a spear and it connects to the sword by holding its handle. It fits perfectly, and when I activate the inscriptions we made, it almost seems as if it connects with the sword, holding it strongly.

I activate set after set of inscriptions, all of them in preparation for the next step and to work together with the epic weapon.

It takes hours and a lot of mana, but soon I'm ready and into the slot that we prepared, I put the Mana Core Sphere, my other epic item that can disrupt mana and leave a lasting disruptive attack.

The core perfectly fits in, and another set of inscriptions secures it inside.

So there it lies, a long shaft made of silver metal with its entire surface covered in inscriptions, and the epic sword as its blade. Near where the handle of the sword is imbued, there is also the Mana Core Sphere.

"Now, onto the hardest step," Cael smiles, his eyes shining as he observes the process, careful not to interrupt me.

Huh, I almost forgot he was here.

I shake my head and after a few deep breaths, I close my eyes, and [Infusion], [Redistribution], and [Mana Manipulation] all activate and I get to it.

It's time to connect them and change the inscriptions on the epic items ever so slightly. For that, a lot of mana is required, so I force my skills into overdrive.

[Redistribution - lvl 38 > Redistribution - lvl 39]

[Infusion - lvl 13 > Infusion - lvl 14]

[Infusion - lvl 14 > Infusion - lvl 15]

When this step is done, I use [Resonance] to inscribe circuits into the handle of the sword, connecting all three parts in front of me together with a web of circuits.

The weapon, handle, and sphere, are all interwoven together, the shaft connecting two epic items and forcing them to work together.

[Resonance - lvl 31 > Resonance - lvl 32]

[Resonance - lvl 32 > Resonance - lvl 33]

I take a step back and give myself a moment to calm down and to get back to the real world. My mana has taken a noticeable bite into it, and I even used some from the reservoir, actually, quite a lot of it.

It means we will have to wait a few days longer before hunting the tree, just so it can be restored, and so I can create a few orbs, just in case. And fill batteries… yeah, I need to let Obelia and Myrra know.

Finally, I take a look at my creation.

Ethercore Javelin (epic): Javelin that combines the Ethercrystal Shortsword and Mana Core Sphere, connected by an Arcanadium shaft intricately modified for enhanced mana flux. The Ethercrystal blade rapidly absorbs mana, funneling it into the Mana Core Sphere, which has been altered to continuously change the frequency of its emitted disruptive field, affecting a single target. These constant frequency shifts make the field unpredictable and highly effective against a wide range of magical defenses.

The weapon in front of me is the strongest epic item I've seen, surely upper epic without a speck of doubt.

I step back and let Cael examine the item. He looks just like a kid getting a new toy and doesn't ask anything. Instead, being the craftsman he is, he wants first to examine it all by himself without asking questions.

Now then, I wonder how big the disruptive field will be with all the mana the tree possesses.

And I wonder what will happen when the weapon disrupts its mana flow and how much it will destabilize the integrity of the tree that surely uses some mana just to stop itself from crumbling due to its sheer size.

 

---

 

It takes a few days longer, but we are ready and standing in front of the array.

“So, for the last time,” I turn to the group in front of me, “We get there and everyone will use their disruptive skills to block our presence and other fields as well.”

That's why I'm taking Hadwin with me.

“After that, we will get a bit further and set the circle where I can collect my mana and prepare the attack, all while you block it all so the tree can't sense us. Meanwhile, Obelia and a few of her members will keep the array running so we can use it in case anything suspicious happens.”

Myrra is also quiet, but she and her bodyguard are both fully prepared. They have plenty of powerful items, and I have a suspicion that one or two might be epic. She will go there mostly as an observer, and the amount of trust she puts in my plan is almost scary.

She truly is a weirdo.

Well, the one facing the most danger will be me; if the tree senses me preparing my attack, it might defend itself or attack me as well while others use the array. That would be unfortunate.

“All ready,” Obelia says, and I nod.

We went over the plan over and over again and even practiced the formations so there is no need to hesitate anymore.

It will work.

After one more check, all of us step in. The air feels heavy, as well as my body. My heart is beating wildly, and I can hear the breathing of some members of this expedition. Shaking hands, nervous glances, squeezing hems of their cloaks, last checks, and attempts at carefully controlling their mana.

We are going against the Calamity, a being that years ago wiped out the old capital on its own before it got weakened.

The light flashes and the feeling of falling hits me but quickly disappears as we get transported though the array.

Immediately Obelia gives orders, “Quick, the fields.” She is whispering, even when she doesn't have a reason to do so.

I notice that her voice is shaking.

Multiple fields pop up around us, and I join in as we step outside. I carefully move my mana as we layer disruptive fields around us to avoid detection. We even avoid looking at the Tree as it could detect that.

It takes a few seconds and everything goes smoothly, just as we practiced, and I feel my confidence growing.

Then it all comes crashing down when I hear Myrra, “Oh no,” she says, and her tail is frozen, not moving at all.

I break the rule we set and follow her gaze towards the old capital, and then I understand the tone of her voice.

Gradually, more of us notice, and eventually, everyone is staring towards the direction of the old capital.

The Calamity called the Living Tree is gone.

Its colossal shadow doesn't tower over the city anymore.