Chương 68: Chapter 66

Water mastery (Common) - While swimming, running, or standing in water: Gain increased movement speed, waterbreathing, clearsight, enhanced stamina efficiency, and immunity to barotrauma and nitrogen narcosis.

"Goddamn it, what the fuck is this?" Play started to laugh, "Oh heads up, the Mithril Sea isn't actually a sea -sea, so doubt your boon will work for that one. Good luck~" On the surface, the boon could actually be quite great. Assuming there was water nearby. A beach day would be excellent, or a pool party. Azdrial likely had some places that were overfilled with water.

Hell, the more he thought about it the more he realized some excellent use cases for this, like salvaging operations for shipwrecks, or finding sunken treasure chests. The ones that didn't have mimics living inside them. There's only one problem with all this however: "How much water is in hell?"

"Don't worry buttercup." Zin answered.

"I'm sure you can find a few puddles to splash around in if you look hard enough." He had a cryptic smile on his face that Wade did not trust in the slightest.

"Gets progressively toastier the further down you venture. Fire's a universal theme." Figures. Wade sighed, then sat down on the couch with a small bounce.

"What's the first circle actually like under the mithril sea? Assuming I can't find a way to float, I need to prepare for what I'll run into under it."

"What do I look like, the Hell Tourism Bureau?" The butler waved a gloved hand.

"I'm not running a charity here. You're looking at premium content from me, and unlike a certain divine pain-in-my-neck I could mention, I actually value my expertise."

"Zinny…" Play waved a hand.

"Be nice to the mortal, or else." An eye twitched on the butler.

"Did I say premium content? I meant free educational seminar! Complimentary! On the house!" He turned to look at Wade with a you-better-pay-later look.

"Look, I'm not asking for a full travel brochure here." Wade raised his hand, placating.

"Just, what can I expect on the first circle of hell? Is it a waterpark, desert, or actually hell -hell. With brimstone and fire?"

"First circle's quite lovely actually, very temperate climate. You got sand, sandstone, and more sand." Zin shrugged.

"Vegetation only happens around the mountains, only place water condenses down. Used to be a few demon tribes building castles around all those, fighting each other for territory and souls to snack on. Think mad max feudalism, except less cars and more mounted lizards. Who are also demons, just for your information before you stick your foot in your mouth. They're very smart. Overall, excellent tourism potential if you ignore the, ah, screaming and eternal torment.

These days that's been replaced by a delightful blanket of blackrot. Really ties the whole aesthetic together. No idea how the castles and wild tribes are doing, as you probably guessed, I don't keep in touch."

"Inspiring speech Zin." Wade deadpanned.

"Michael, you don't need a speech." Play said.

"You're the mortal who figured out how to kill a level 122 golem with some rocks and random junk in your pocket. You'll find some way to exploit anything. And there's a looooot of XP running around under the mithril sea. Plus, it's probably not a desert anymore, you saw how wet it's gotten everywhere. Go on, do your thing."

"Sure, fine, fuck it. I'll just buy a goddamn spray bottle and hope for the best. Maybe the blackrot creatures down there all ate cats." Zin started laughing, "I can sell you a few pool noodles if you're looking for a good unified theme to all this. At a discount even."

"I might hold you to that." Wade said. Pool noodles did float, and he did have a long shopping list of items for that. He really couldn't be angry, considering he'd be selling pool noodles too in the butler's shoes. What he'd probably end up getting was a lot of balloons. He'd read buoyancy was more a matter of displacing mass or something, he'd look it up on google.

And despite the boon here being mostly useless on the surface, he had already narrowed down three possible use cases to get it to work even in the desert. Which would require some testing on earth just to verify. Now he needed to figure out how much time he had on earth to work through all this.

"How's the time zone work out?" Wade asked.

"I bought stuff, you promised you'd say." To that Play shrugged.

"All I know is my internet connection and TV channels still work while you're off back in my old home, so time on earth probably continues. And I can see around you, since I'm your sponsor. Couldn't see anything of your room when you were out, and after you went through the door, it took a little while before you reappeared in my sights back home." She rolled on the couch until she stared at Wade upside down.

"Wouldn't discount time dilation shenanigans, the System really could do that if it wanted to." Wade considered it.

"You mean we all reappear on earth at the same time, even if I left early?"

"Would be the most fair thing, wouldn't it?" Play asked. Not particularly, there were still some things off. For example someone intentionally quitting a round early to get more time on Earth would be penalized hard if he showed up on earth still at the same time everyone else did.

"Is this a fixed time, like the round is over after a certain amount of hours, or is it when the last player's dead?" She grinned at that.

"Sounds like a question. Maybe you should buy one more thing before I answer~" Wade rolled his eyes and looked over to Zin. The butler gave him a perfect retail smile.

"Buddy, pal. I live with this divine disaster 24/7. So if you even think about complaining to me about five minutes of her 'charming' personality, I might just have to strangle you with my own tie."

"Zinny, stop bullying my mortal, that's my job." Play said, rolling again like a sushi on the couch. Now she had her feet up in the air while she flicked through the TV channels absentmindedly.

"Fuck you both, thank you." Wade politely said, then opened up his storefront interface to fish around for something else to buy. First, he locked in the dodge roll boon as his pick for tomorrow's round. Because if the flotation plan didn't work, he'd go splat at the bottom of the sea and that'd be that. Water mastery wasn't exactly a great boon, but it had a lot of cheese potential due to the amount of stacking buffs it offered. That had to be explored and tested out.

He was convinced most of these buffs could be useful outside what they were intended for. Plus, if he ever needed to actually go underwater for something, then he was already set here. As for his coins, five had been used to get the dodge, and one had been paid for the early-access. Which meant he had two more coins. Play wanted him to buy one more thing, and his eyes flickered over the other 1-coin options: Questline, or Challenge mode unlocks. Both sounded like an economic engine.

The minimap was also an option, but Wade was certain now that Illy or Leon would get that, if they had leftover coins after whatever they'd been up to while he was gone. One coin vanished and Play gave him a thumbs up, approving the choice. Three choices came up for him to select one. The search for more loot - A bronze lootbox has spawned under the mithril sea. Seek it out. Rewards: Two Storefront coins. Bronze Lootbox. Further quests offered in this line.

Recover an artifact of power - A weapon of great potential lies within the Nathir Shelter city. Seek it out. Rewards: Two Storefront coins. Nathir Officer's Pistol. Further quests offered in this line. Locate the Alchemy Lab - Among the demons of the floating city of Dalrithi, locate the abandoned lab ruins of the notorious Alchemist, Xan'Phane. Rewards: Unlock Potion Crafting. System Alchemy Recipe (Rare). Further quests offered in this line.

"Potion crafting's three coins to unlock outright." Wade said, looking over the options.

"Basically saving two coins straight up. Plus it offers more quests after, maybe having to do with potions?" The 'Rare' rank on that recipe made him think it would be worth it, though he wasn't sure how far above uncommon that was. So far he'd only seen one System potion - Leon had gotten it from a bronze lootbox, and it doubled one of his stats for a few hours. What if he could make things like those? On the other hand, this was the only quest that didn't offer any storefront coins.

The rest of the questline might follow that same pattern. The search for more loot was also interesting. Mostly in that if the quest continued, then the next would be a silver lootbox, and after that a gold one. Right? It could be worth starting that up. And last, was the artifact of power. Which asked him to go back into the Nathir city, and he wasn't sure he could do that with just the dodge boon and watermastery. That might be too difficult to handle until he could get his Skyviper archer boon equipped again.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. There was one danger to all this however:"Play, if I die before my quest is complete, do I lose it?" She nodded. Finally settling on an anime show she was currently watching with her head on the floor and feet still kicked up.

"Yep. So don't get greedy. On the other hand, if you complete even the base quest, looks like you get your spent coin back plus an extra, along with a free follow-up quest and all the loots." Well. In for a coin, out for a bag of them. He considered the options. Going back into the city was too much risk, he'd die easy this time. Going under the mithril sea was possible, but it would also take them off the path to helping Selena.

He'd probably need to seperate from the group to get that done, and run a huge risk under without a team. He was either going to carpet bomb the first circle of hell from high above in the safety of a boat, or he was going back down there with a few dozen guns and bullets, along with the skyviper archer boon. That would actually get him results.

"Zin, could you get me a gun?" Wade asked.

"Or a rifle. Shotgun?" The demon grinned.

"Mmmmerhaps... Driving around to different states to pick up goods is a little off the doordash delivery path, y'know?"

"All right, fine." Wade sighed, "What's the deal for those?"

"How about you see what I can get my hands on first, and we'll talk the details then, eh champ?" Wade narrowed his eyes. He could tell the demon already had something in mind, and he wanted to spring it on Wade last second, but he couldn't guess what exactly the demon wanted. A mana crystal was a safe bet, and he did still have those mana potions. But Zin would have mentioned them already.

"... fine, show me what you can get and we'll talk shop then." Then he locked in on the alchemy questline. They'd probably need to go to a city anyhow in order to scale up. If he could bring something to trade with him, he might be able to get mana crystals with him and bring it back this time around.

"Good pick~" Play said, looking over his selection.

"Your part of the bargain now." Wade asked.

"I am a goddess of my word," Play said, rolling once more on the couch until she was back right side up.

"Only four hours or so passed overall before you appeared on earth in your bed yesterday. Sounds a little too short for a full round to me. I'd take a guess the System sends you all back when everyone's done." As in dead. The ones stuck in the Nathir city probably all died quickly, but that could mean the rest of the players sent outside the city to other parts in the world also died rather fast. How dangerous was Azdrial in general?

"Or the rounds really are only four hours long." Wade said, thinking. Was it a shorter round due to it being a tutorial round or something, or were all rounds at that fixed time? Play winked at him.

"Try to stay alive for longer than four hours maybe? Best way to find out~" Wade looked over his final coin. He could save it. Or… The challenge mode option waited for him. One single coin. He was level 7, and it required level 5 to unlock. As far as he could understand, it would give him a challenge to complete? Or some additional hardship. But it gave no information on what the rewards would be, or how difficult the challenge might end up. This game was all about snowballing and options.

The more options he had to work with, the better he could grow. He took a deep breath, and made his final choices. Wade woke not to the familiar beeping of his alarm, but to an insistent shaking of his shoulder. Groaning, he rolled over, mind still foggy with sleep. He almost woke up then, thinking he'd be late for a shift, but then some part of his head reminded him that it was okay to sleep in this one time. He was going to quit later today, so why not just sleep in for once?

So he rolled over, then pulled the blanket over his head. The shaking continued, more urgently now. His mind woke up again, annoyed at the interruption, and then realized one detail: He lived alone. Roommates would reduce the rent, but the chance that they ruined Ann's room or messed with her stuff before she got back was too high. And he hadn't lived with Ann here for two years now. So what was shaking him? Wade cracked one eye open, expecting to see his alarm clock showing some ungodly hour.

Instead, he found himself staring into the empty eye sockets of a skeleton looming over his bed.

"HOLY SH-" Wade jerked upright, tangling himself in his sheets and tumbling to the floor with a soft thud. His heart hammered against his ribs as he scrambled backward until his back hit the wall. The skeleton tilted his head and made a series of gestures that somehow conveyed both confusion, heavy laughing, and mild apology. But only mild. Difficult to show that in Nathir.

"Eri?" Wade said. The Skeleton gave him a flat stare and a small set of jaw clicks.

"Okay, no need to be sarcastic." Wade said, getting up from the floor. That was Eri all right. The skeleton looked exactly as he had before. Even his healthbar showed 100%. So had he been completely healed when he traveled over, or had the crew helped him?

"How are you here? On Earth?" Eri shrugged his bony shoulders in an unmistakable "beats me" gesture. Then stopped, as if surprised. Shoulder shaking was an english body-language gesture, it didn't exist among the Nathir body language. Market's buff had really worked out.

"Did you get yanked off the boat, or did you continue for a few hours with the others after I was gone?" Another small click. The former. Which meant Eri had landed on the boat, and then vanished real fast after. Wade looked around, "And the backpack with all the loot?" As in the mithril golem parts he could potentially sell for a fortune here. The skeleton shook his head. He'd only appeared here with his greatsword, his leather belt and nothing else. The System had probably dropped his sack right on the boat.

Goddamnit, it was day two and Wade still hadn't been able to grab and bring back anything from Azdrial in order to start a trade empire here. Plenty of ideas, a ton of potential he could almost taste, and each time thus far he'd died or been robbed of his destiny. He had managed to get mana potions and a healing ring at least, that was a start to his base of operations, but it wasn't the same thing as actually pilfering an ancient death-dungeon filled with tech and sellable treasure.

Hilarious that he managed to bring back an entire walking skeleton to Earth before he'd even so much as brought an actual piece of sellable loot. Round three, he vowed he was bringing something back home or die trying. On the other hand, Wade was now wide awake. Said walking skeleton on Earth was going to be difficult to hide.

"Hold on, we gotta cover our asses first." He stood up, going straight for the window blinds to make sure they were all closed.

"People will freak out if they see a walking skeleton." Wade paced frantically, mind racing through impossible solutions.

"We need to hide you next. Maybe a hoodie? Full-face mask? Gloves?" He yanked open his closet, rifling through limited options.

"Sunglasses might help with the... eye socket situation." Eri wasn't listening. The skeleton had wandered across the room to Wade's window, bony fingers pressed between the hastily shut blinds, slowly peeling them to the side. Then looking up through the window. Wade paused mid-panic, looking over. Eri's skull was tilted back, empty eye sockets fixed on the expanse of dark sky stretching above the apartment complex. His skeletal frame stood completely motionless, standing in awe.

"Shit," Wade whispered, realization hitting him like a punch to the gut. This wasn't just any skeleton. This was Eri LE-10, a slave who'd spent his entire existence underground in the Nathir mines. After the Nathir had just left them to starve. A human who'd lived and died without ever seeing the sky, who'd known nothing but stone walls and darkness his entire life. Someone who had fought every inch of his life, and then died trying to give whoever came next just a little extra push forward.

And now here he was, transfixed by something Wade took for granted every day.

"You've never seen the sky or stars before, have you?" Wade asked softly. Eri shook his head slowly, never taking his gaze from the window. How could he possibly tell Eri to stay locked inside just waiting for Wade to come back? With all the blinds closed up and told to hide from even the windows? After a lifetime of imprisonment underground, to finally reach the surface only to be confined again... it would be unimaginably cruel. Yeah, Wade couldn't do that. Which meant...

"Gahhh, fuck, this is a terrible idea," Wade muttered, running a hand through his hair.

"Like, spectacularly bad. Fine! Fine, give me a moment to figure out a way to get you outside again." What time was it even? Wade patted his pajamas, and realized something: He'd died in Azdrial. All his shit was left behind. Which meant... A spike of pure adrenaline raced through his spine as he patted down his pockets, and then he felt something solid. Square. Comforting. His hand reached into the pocket and pulled out his cellphone. How had it come back with him when everything, including his clothing, hadn't?

Only thing he could think of was that he'd paid for this cellphone from the System storefront. It hadn't just restored the phone to full, it had also fixed it up and made it far more durable. He looked it over. Identify. Soulbound Smartphone (System Quality) Ah. Well. That explained why this little brick was so fast all of a sudden. Last time he'd handled something System Quality, it had brought Eri back to life. And the other time it had been used as a indestructible cudgel. One less thing to worry about.

He moved to stand beside Eri, looking out at the dark sky. Clock on his phone showed him it was two in the morning, so that meant Play's theory on a fixed time was incorrect. The round had lasted a total of five hours or so since he'd gone to sleep somewhere around 8 to 9pm yesterday. One more hour than the prior round. He'd figure out the time thing later. He had another issue he'd need to deal with real soon now, especially once it was daylight out there. What could possibly do to hide an entire skeleton?

He needed to cover Eri completely head to toe, no exceptions.

"Fashion statement?" Wade muttered, pacing the small apartment.

"No, nothing covers the entire face." He paused, a thought forming.

"Wait, cosplay maybe?" That's how Illy had done it with Selena. Pretended it was for a photoshoot of some kind. He mentally scrolled through superhero options.

"Spiderman would work. Full mask, full body suit." Except he didn't have anything even close to being spiderman. Even the budget starting spiderman costumes.

"Superman? No, face exposed. Ironman would be perfect, but..." But that would cost money. And a lot of time. Ironman made of cardboard boxes? Like a joke costume? Minecraft? That'll work right up until the first gust of wind. Wade rummaged through his closet, pulling out random items.

"I need something from normal clothes. Maybe like a spy?" He held up a hoodie, examining it critically. He needed something to cover up the body, like a trenchcoat. Then he'd need gloves too.

"But the face is the problem." Eri had turned from the window, watching Wade's frantic search. He clicked his jaw a few times.

"Don't give me that." Wade said.

"You try hiding an entire skeleton in broad daylight." A few more jaw clicks. A lot of them.

"I'm trying here. I don't need a peanut gallery laughing at me." Trenchcoat, gloves, a hat maybe. Team fortress spy costume? No, he needed something more socially known and accepted. Something from the movies… Suddenly, Wade froze, a perfect solution crystallizing.

"Rorschach." he whispered, then louder: "Rorschach! From Watchmen!" It was goddamn perfect. In his budget, easy to get together, and recognizable by most normies.

"Comic book fans are weird enough that nobody will question it." Eri tilted his skull questioningly.

"Trust me," Wade said, opening up his laptop and booting it up.

"This is perfect. Rorschach barely talks anyway, so your whole silent thing works. And he's known for being creepy and intense, which, no offense, but you've got that covered naturally." Wade held up his phone, showing Eri a quick image search of the character. Eri took it in hand, looking over with interest.

"See? We just need to find the right pieces. I think I've got most of it, and we can hit a thrift store for anything else." The skeleton nodded slowly, examining the coat and hat on the phone's display. He probably found it very strange fashion compared to what slaves had to wear.

"It's either this or you stay locked in here while I'm running around getting things done," Wade said.

"And I'm guessing that's not what you want." Eri shook his head emphatically as Wade sat by the laptop, opening up chrome.

"Rorschach it is, then. Should be able to get you some stuff within the hour, the moment everything else outside starts to open up." But first, he had to make a social media account. It was probably early morning over in england, and a certain Scot was going to be upset if he didn't send a friend request soon.