Chapter 234: Onsen of the Dead

And a second chapter less than twenty-four hours after the first!

I'm pretty proud of myself haha Next chapter: Tuesday 28/05.

We're heading towards a part I'm really enjoying, so I'm excited for what's to come, and I hope you will be too!

Without further ado: enjoy!
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Lvl Up: [Revelation Resilience] lvl 42
MEM +3
META (Affinity) +3
META (Authority) +3
Lvl Up: [Spear Throw] lvl 36, 37
DEXT +6
Lvl Up: [Physics - Forces] lvl 6
VIVA +3

The length of a massless projectile didn’t affect its accuracy or aerodynamics; that was one of Priam’s conclusions. Another was that creating spears solely from the Pyro Concept was foolish. Gas lacked a fixed form, making the spear's structure dependent on his willpower. It was a waste of resources when a solid could naturally retain its rigidity.

This idea had prompted Priam to create hybrid ice-fire spears. The result was both deadly and magnificent.

His previous research had culminated in the creation of four forms—teardrop, shell, bullet, and kinetic energy penetrator—that he infused with his Fire Concept. During the initial tests, the flames melted the ice, causing mid-flight explosions.

Despite these failures, Priam persisted, inspired by a comment from the phoenix. According to it, the Symphony bonus of one Concept could be utilized by another. The Symphony of the Mist Concept was particularly intriguing:

Symphony - Your Mist is both present and absent. It’s up to you to decide who can feel it. 

As the Fire Champion, Priam tried to tame his flames, not to make them docile but to make them absent. He struggled for several minutes before realizing that mist and fire reacted differently.

Mist was always more or less present as long as there was gas. On humid mornings, the horizon sometimes disappeared into a white blur, without anyone declaring that a haze lingered. Evasive, the mist was as poetic as it was physical.

Flames, however, were different. When a flame was born, it fought fiercely to burn the world before it extinguished. Yet, Priam knew a fire could be rekindled; all it took was a breath. This truth was a breakthrough.

The solution to using the Symphony with his Fire Concept was not to make the flames elusive but to put them to sleep.

Priam created a mist spear, condensed it into liquid, and then solidified it into ice. He then used the spark in his soul space to infuse dormant fire into the projectile. The flames poured into the weapon, giving it a luminescent quality. “Awaken upon impact,” Priam whispered to his Concept.

Firing the projectile at an unlucky enemy, Priam watched the hybrid spear streak across the battlefield, striking a Tier 2 necro. The projectile pierced the thick hide of the hippopotamus-like creature before shattering inside its body. In the next instant, the flames awakened, and an explosion tore the beast apart from within.

“Nice,” Priam grinned.

He briefly regretted not being able to use a hybrid ice-Pyro spear, but since Pyro hadn’t yet reached Symphony, the Concept refused to cooperate.

Over the next few hours, he continued refining his projectiles to maximize their penetration coefficient and reduce air friction losses. He eventually hit a wall where further improvements became negligible. The next step was to enhance his mastery of the Concepts or to engrave runes on the projectiles. 

Progress was never-ending, and it was a good thing.

Lvl Up: [Spear Throw] lvl 38, 39
DEXT +6
Lvl Up: [Revelation Resilience] lvl 43, 44, 45
MEM +9
META (Affinity) +9
META (Authority) +9

Despite the unyielding presence of the Necromoon in the sky, time flew by. New craters appeared as tens of thousands of undead burned. Gradually, a cloud of smoke created a black roof over the battlefield. Thunder rumbled, drowning out the screams of the necro soldiers. The battle raged on, and the flood of creatures seemed endless.

Seeing his fingers tremble, Priam realized his exhaustion. How long has it been since the start of the Wave?

[11 hours 14 minutes 12 seconds.]

A grimace twisted his lips as Priam looked down. Esmée was writing in her grimoire without uttering a word. Her red eyes and ash-covered hair were the only signs of her fatigue.

In front of her, Jasmine staggered as she gutted some corrupted that weren’t drawn to Priam. After an hour of wrestling and two hours of guerrilla warfare, she had defeated the Tier 2 Earl, earning the title of Duke. Her opponent had been less powerful than the necro legionnaire, but Priam was proud of her. 

Now, she no longer had the strength to decapitate a Tier 1.

Realizing he was the last one capable of finishing the Wave, Priam used his attributes boosted by Conquest and transformed into a living gatling gun. Every second, he summoned and fired dozens of explosive ice spears, accelerating some with [Kinetic Control].

He eventually slowed down as a headache split his skull. He had overtaxed his willpower, and using his aether to compensate wasn’t enough anymore.

Beneath him, the waves of corrupted began to wane. Low on resources, Priam flew up to the cloud hovering over the battlefield and took control of it with Mist Concept. He injected his entire Conquest Aura into it and guided it to the ground. The last thousands of undead were silently dissolved.

Event: Necromoon

Third wave:
Victory!

You defended your home against a horde of corrupted!

Reward:
300 Sun points

24 hours of respite

*

Priam found Esmée and Jasmine by the edge of the cenote. The two young women sat a few meters apart, trying to catch their breath.

“You guys okay?” Priam asked.

Esmée coughed. “I have got ash in my throat, my lungs, my eyes, my hair, and even under my clothes,” she said, shaking the sleeves of her robe. This action released another cloud of ash, causing her to cough again. “I am most displeased.”

Priam smirked at Esmée’s formal language.

“You mean, ‘fuck this shit,’” Jasmine mocked, pulling a piece of bone out of her hair. “You’ve just got ash. I don’t even want to imagine what I’m covered in.”

The assassin had been in close contact with the undead and was therefore coated in various semi-coagulated fluids, ash, bone dust, and charcoal.

“It is nothing personal, but you make me feel like vomiting,” Esmée said, inching further away. The physical distance between the two rivals wasn’t just a matter of affinity.

“Yeah, me too. I have to use Micro to cut off my sense of smell and focus on my future bath.”

Esmée looked sadly towards the cenote. “I saw at least a hundred corpses fall in there...”

“I’m covered in shit, blood, and rotting flesh because I went with you,” Jasmine said to Priam. “Can I have a hot spring as a reward?”

Esmée’s eyes lit up with hope.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea…”

“I propose a democratic vote,” Esmée smiled, turning to Jasmine, who raised her hand. “Two against one, we win.”

“You didn’t even know what democracy was before I taught you,” Priam pointed out.

“I still think it’s a stupid idea—why should I let idiots decide my life? But I’m willing to be a hypocrite for a hot spring.”

Priam opened his mouth to protest but noticed Jasmine was already dispelling her boots.

“You’ve got thirty seconds before I take off the rest,” the young woman smiled.

*

Leaning against the rock, Priam sighed in contentment. Giving in to the girls' demands, he had dug two large, shallow holes and filled them with forty-degree Celsius water. Seated on a polished stone bench, he was submerged up to his neck, gazing at the false night sky.

Jasmine had created a massive dome of shadow to mask the cursed light of the Necromoon, and Esmée had summoned thousands of tiny light runes to replace the stars. The firmament was as artificial as it was fantastic.

A thick mist separated him from the second bath behind him, preserving the girls’ privacy. They had been soaking for thirty minutes, and so far, silence reigned as they all enjoyed the calm and serene atmosphere.

Yet Priam wasn’t idle. Half his attention was reorganizing his meridians to prepare his temperance, while the other half created small water currents. The experience was pleasant—he enjoyed the sensation of warm fluid caressing his legs—and instructive as he felt his mastery of mist and [Kinetic Control] increasing.

Not every training has to be torture, he thought with a smile.

“Have you decided where to place the rift?” Jasmine’s clear, strong voice woke Priam from his thoughts.

He nearly turned around before remembering the girls were bathing naked, and he could see through his own mist.

“In Log-a-rhythm,” he replied. “When I feel the aether seeping from Valaryth, I think of a tree growing tall to withstand the storm. Log-a-rhythm needs a Concept to endure its High Tribulation so it fits. At the same time, it will allow me to offer the hoplites training in Valaryth and thus defend the other side of the rift.”

If a Wave came to destroy the rift on Valaryth’s side while Priam was occupied... It was a stupid way to lose access to an entire world. All this without even mentioning a potential invasion into Concepts Archipelago.

“A shame for your inner world,” Jasmine noted.

“It should not be neglected.” Priam recognized Esmée’s melodious voice. The princess must have trained hard to achieve such a pleasant voice. “Mid-Tiers are based on cultivating an inner world. If you could start at Tier 0, you would gain time and a solid foundation.”

“By mid-Tiers, you mean..?”

“Tiers 4, 5, and 6. I don’t know the details, but low Tiers are about creating your own Concept, and mid-Tiers are about creating your own world.”

“Béchar—the supervisor of humanity’s Colosseum—told me all Tier 5s have an internal world,” Priam recalled before sighing. “I know Concepts Archipelago is currently underutilized, but I lack the time to use it properly.”

“You could use Bastard’s fulcrum for the upgrade,” Jasmine pointed out. “You don’t really need to exchange it for an aether puzzle.”

Priam still remembered the desire Concepts Archipelago had for Sumstreh’s fulcrum shard. He had to carry it by hand, fearing his inner world would consume it.

“An aether puzzle is never useless,” Esmée interjected. “Direct aether manipulation grants you a flexibility that skills will never achieve. It’s a talent too powerful not to cultivate constantly.”

Having unlocked [Ideal Aether Perception] and [High Aether Manipulation], Priam couldn’t agree more with the princess.

“We’ll loot other shards from Bastard’s body,” Priam vowed. “I was thinking of trading this one for something useful at the Auctions.”

“What kind of thing?”

“I have a few ideas,” Priam admitted. “However, suggestions are welcome.”

“If you didn’t already have a method of temperance, I would have said to buy one,” Esmée replied. “That’s what I plan to do.”

“I’m looking for an item, a core, or a bloodline that contains one of the evolutions of the Shadow Concept,” Jasmine said. “My Shadow Heart is a first step, and one of the rewards from the Skull Temple interests me too, but I want several points of comparison to create something unique.”

Both of them have a plan to become more powerful.

“If you need Sun points, let me know,” he told Jasmine.

“...Thanks.” Priam smiled, hearing the note of joy in Jasmine’s voice. His offer was purely pragmatic—the assassin was a part of his strength—but if it made her happy, all the better.

“You are not offering me?” Esmée asked playfully.

“Do you want to be my subordinate?”

“In your dreams,” Esmée laughed. “Besides, I can earn my points on my own.”

The provocation was evident, and Jasmine groaned. 

“Are you implying I need Priam’s charity? I earned nearly seven hundred thousand Sun points with my kills.”

“One million three hundred twelve thousand Sun points.” Esmée’s voice was full of pride.

Priam froze at the number. He had seen thousands of undead perish in various accidents during the Wave, but he hadn’t realized the extent of Esmée’s impact on the battle.

“You tripped up a lot of monsters over those fourteen hours,” taunted Jasmine.

“Without me, the cenote would be filled with corpses, and the rift would be in the hands of the Necromoon forces,” Esmée retorted.

“Without me, bosses would have roamed the battlefield, and I don’t see how you could have dealt with the centipede.”

“You’re just mad I won.”

“Won what? You were writing in your diary while I was saving your ass.”

Priam smiled, hearing the rivalry in the voices of the two Champions. He found them cute, but he wasn't suicidal enough to tell them so. [He Who Eludes Death] didn't cover that kind of mistake.

“By the way, how many points did you get?” Esmée asked the young man.

“One million two hundred ninety-four thousand. Less than you, but I consider my main contribution to be these two hot springs,” Priam joked.

“...You’re the MVP,” Jasmine sighed contentedly.

“I agree,” Esmée acknowledged.

*

The three rivals passed through the protective dome and headed towards the rampart. They had relaxed for an hour before retrieving the rift. It had collapsed on itself, much to the dismay of Priam and Esmée. They had hoped to observe and emulate the System’s technique for transporting the rift later. Instead, his System interface now had a new tab for creating a rift to Valaryth.

Dodging the bio traps, the three young people greeted the hoplite sentinels and jumped onto the rampart walk.

“I’m going to find Kazuki,” Jasmine informed.

“Thanks,” Priam replied.

“I need to buy some things to help your Moon Wyrm’s mutation.” 

Priam glanced at Esmée. Her white robe had been ruined by the battle and ash, and Jasmine had created an outfit for her from her own shadow.

A form-fitting black biker suit now covered the empyrean’s body. The outfit contrasted with her royal demeanor, giving her a rebellious look.

“Is there a problem?” the princess asked, noticing Priam’s gaze.

“None. This leather-like outfit suits you.”

“...Thanks,” she blushed. 

“See you later,” Priam smiled, reaching the base of his tree.

Log-a-rhythm opened a portal, and Priam stepped through. The passage led to the heart of the magical oak’s foliage, and Priam took a deep, satisfied breath. The air, saturated with life aether, made his cells vibrate with joy. He could almost feel his lifespan lengthening.

“Did you get the rift?”

Kazuki landed on a branch without making it crack. It was a testament to the tree’s strength, as the hoplite warrior wasn’t light.

“I did, and I’m considering installing it here. What do you think?”

“Could there be an invasion from the other side?”

“Hard to say,” Priam replied. “I don’t think so, but I don’t know enough about the Rehms to be sure.”

Kazuki nodded. “Then it’s better to err on the side of caution. A rift here would be hard to defend since we can’t establish an omnidirectional fortification.”

“I wanted Log-a-rhythm to benefit from the Concept leaking from Valaryth,” Priam grimaced. “It could help it grow. Can we install the rift inside it?”

The hoplite was the defense expert, and Priam would defer to his judgment, but he wanted to ensure they got the best solution.

Kazuki hesitated before shaking his head. “I have another idea,” he said, pointing downward. “Underground.”

"What do you mean by that?"

“The bedrock is almost indestructible, but Log-a-rhythm can pierce it with its Underground features. With the rift under it, its roots would benefit from Valaryth's special aether. Moreover, if an invasion occurs, the enemies would find themselves in an underground bunker with no exit.”

Underground was part of the first generation of upgrades offered to Log-a-rhythm. Priam had never purchased it before, but the idea of a subterranean bunker appealed to him. The only way to leave would be to ask the tree to open a passage between its roots and trunk.

“With the Sun Shop and some enchantments, we could even isolate it from the outside world: we could hide the rift from the tribes,” Priam thought aloud. “That’s a great idea!”

“Glad you like it,” Kazuki smiled. “Any other good news for me?”

“Well, I’ve unlocked several quests I can share with my army. How would you like to explore a new world?”

*

Status:

PHYSICAL:
Strength 707
Constitution 1 105
Agility 614 
Vitality 1 040
Perception 760

MENTAL:
Vivacity (D) 570 (+4)
Dexterity 652 (+12)
Memory 819 (+25)
Willpower 1 134
Charisma 661

META:
Meta-affinity 779 (+15)
Meta-focus 405
Meta-endurance 608
Meta-perception 342
Meta-chance 274
Meta-authority 207 (+12)

Potential: 13 517 (+22)
Tier 0

Sun points: 1 979 223 (+1 081 412)

[He Who Eludes Death] charge: PRIMED

[Tribulation]: Five Tribulations pending.
Future Tribulations delayed until:
Time: 156 days 18 hours 33 minutes 59 seconds.

Next thresholds: 12 attributes > 600 / 6 attributes > 900 / 1 attribute > 1 200 

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The image is a little too sexy, but I don't know how to edit it. Imagine it better closed!