Chương 124: Uriel and Resources

Once Joe was washed up, he noticed that Uriel had been humming at the edge of his thoughts for a while now. He glanced around to make sure no one was within earshot before speaking to her.

"So. Uriel? I have a question."

'For me? Kakakaka. Go ahead.' He could practically feel her excitement.

"Where are you? Like, are you on a planet somewhere in the Multiverse?" It took her a long moment to respond.

'I don't know. Everything is black.' He had expected something along those lines. Ever since she had shown him that vision of her past, he'd grown more convinced she wasn't simply a person somewhere far away.

"Do you remember how you got there? What is the last thing you remember?" he asked, hoping to get even a sliver more information about who she really was.

'I… don't remember. I'm sorry.'

"No need to apologize. I'm sorry if these questions are difficult. I just wanted to get to know you better. How about you tell me something you do remember?"

'I can do that,' she replied, voice picking up again.

'I can also show you something amazing.' A surge raced through Joe's mind as he was whisked into another of Uriel's visions. This time, he saw her again, but older. The wonder in her youthful eyes had been replaced by calm experience and quiet authority. She stood atop a mountain, staring up into a bank of clouds as she waited in total silence. Moments later, something descended through the shifting mist. Joe couldn't make out its form; whatever it was, the vision deliberately concealed its shape from him.

But then it spoke… and he understood why.

"What have you child?" the system's voice boomed across the mountain.

"I want to explore the stars." Uriel announced.

"Why?"

"Because I'm bored. I have seen everything this world has to offer. There must be more to life," she replied.

"What's out there? Are there other lifeforms? Where did you come from?"

"Hahahahaha," the system laughed, amused.

"Interesting child. I shall grant your wish." The shrouded figure pulsed, and a skyboat materialized beside it, an early, rough version of one similar to those Joe had seen before. Its deck was encased in a protective bubble, with plants and tools scattered across it. Uriel danced with pure joy atop the mountain as the skyboat drifted down. She leapt aboard, exploring the medium-sized vessel as wonder lit her face.

She touched leaves, inspected glowing stones, and traced her fingers along simple controls as if each one was a treasure.

"In order to traverse the stars. I will teach you how to fly this ship," the system declared. Uriel's eyes glazed over as knowledge poured directly into her mind, instructions settling into place like pieces of a puzzle. Joe watched, struck by the clarity of the scene. This felt ancient, so ancient that he couldn't begin to guess how many lifetimes separated that moment from the Uriel he knew now. The vision shimmered, then jumped forward. Uriel now stood at the ship's bow, gazing into a vast ocean of stars.

Her skyboat drifted through open space, silent and steady, its bubble glinting with specks of cosmic dust. Joe stared at the older-but-younger Uriel, and then felt a light touch on his shoulder. He didn't have a body in this vision, not even a shape, yet he felt it all the same. He knew it was the current Uriel, watching the memory with him.

"You look like you're enjoying yourself," he said.

'I was.' she replied softly.

'This was the true beginning of my story. Everything before this was only a prelude to what I would become.' The vision shifted again as a planet came into view, its surface glowing with swirling blue clouds and floating landmasses.

'This was the first world I encountered on my journey,' Uriel continued.

'Here I discovered £$%&$ which led to me creating my very first footwork." Uriel described more scenes, guiding Joe through her early exploits and discoveries on that first world. There was no sentient life there, only plants and simple organisms drifting in peaceful cycles. Her story moved on. Soon, during her journey through the stars, she reached her first world with intelligent life.

The inhabitants were in the earliest stages of mana infusion, still bewildered by status screens, strange messages, and the sudden strength of the Beasts that roamed their lands. Uriel descended from the sky and chose to help them adapt. She guided their youth, culled Beast hordes, and taught them how to survive. She spent nearly fifty years on that world, growing stronger before setting off again in search of new races and new horizons.

Joe watched with quiet fascination as Uriel visited world after world, each one shaping her just a little more, until she reached a planet overflowing with volcanoes, lava flows, and magma beasts.

'This was the point where I ascended the second great realm and created my £%&*$,' Another blocked word pressed into Joe's mind, this time accompanied by a faint pull, as if she were trying to share something profound that he simply wasn't ready to grasp. Then her earlier line resurfaced in his thoughts. Second great realm?

"Realm? Is that the same as grade? Are you talking about ascending grades?" Joe tried to ask, but the words dissolved as everything went black. The scene returned a moment later. The vision had shifted; Uriel now stood aboard her ship once more.

'Are you okay?'

"Yes. What happened?" he asked.

'You tried to touch something you are not ready for,' she whispered.

'All I can say is yes. Now the vision ends. My strength is fading… but I wanted to show you one last scene.' Joe gazed down as her ship descended toward a vibrant world teeming with mana, forests, rivers, and a multicoloured race with pointed ears. Vries Mortifi. Joe opened his eyes. He was back in Landradad, sitting on the ground outside his house. He rubbed at his temples, wincing at the dull ache as a faint voice drifted through his mind.

'I will be asleep for a while,' Uriel purred before fading into slumber. Joe rose quickly and stepped inside his house. Those were definitely Mortifi in the final scene of her vision… an entire world of them. Was that Eludia? Before the Empire existed? And was Uriel connected to Rose… or someone else? This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. His understanding of Uriel had grown in leaps from the long vision.

Seeing her story firsthand made him realize just how ancient those memories were. Perhaps they were from the earliest days of the Multiverse itself. Maybe future visions would answer that. But for now, reality took precedence. The second Resource Grab was looming. Joe spent the next five days adjusting to his strengthened, faster body. He cleared two Gates, pushing both his classes to the bottleneck at level 170. He was well and truly stuck; no more levelling until he shattered that wall.

He had a few theories, but they would have to wait. World Ten's challenge demanded his attention. He still had over five billion credits sitting idle on his status page, so he stocked up on arrays and asked Corel for some boosting pills. His decision to handle the Resource Grab alone came down to two reasons. First, he needed a warm-up and preferred not to explain the sudden spike in his strength to any questioning gazes. Second, he wanted to fight without worrying about anyone else getting hurt.

The protections in the last Resource Grab were easily circumvented, which he was starting to think was intentional. This Integration was ruthless; only twelve worlds surviving from the original fifty said enough in his eyes. So he wouldn't play nice this time. He intended to end this challenge with a show of force unlike anything he'd displayed before. Travesty's overwhelming power was still fresh in his thoughts. The lion-man hadn't held back and walked away with the first Star Shard through sheer dominance.

It was Joe's turn to do the same. And so the Resource Grab began, with Joe as the sole representative of Thropia teleported off-world. Joe stood at the centre of the arena as the first competitor's body dissolved and vanished. He hadn't expected the fight to last only five seconds, so surprise didn't cover what he was feeling. Were they truly this weak? Or had he simply surpassed them to such a degree? He looked up at the bubble above, packed with nineteen more challengers. This was taking too long.

His Mana Stream pulsed and flared outward like a banner of light as one end lashed into the bubble. Joe poured a torrent of mana into it until… Pop! He Space-Jumped inside before it reformed. As he appeared at the bubble's centre, the Gorilla-men spread out, surrounding him in a loose ring. He barely acknowledged them as he searched for someone, anyone, with enough strength to make this challenge worth his time. But he sensed nothing. No pressure, no danger…

nothing remotely comparable to the monsters he had faced before.

"Really? This is the best you have? What a waste of time," Joe sighed as he began dismantling the encircled group, not even bothering to draw his quarterstaff. Congratulations Thropia, rank 11. You have won the Resource Grab. Due to the overwhelming victory, you can now challenge World Ranked 10 to a Resource Grab. Do you accept? Y/N Joe mentally clicked no and teleported home after what amounted to barely ten minutes.

"You're back already? How was it? Are you okay?" Corel fussed as soon as he appeared inside the house. She cupped his head between her hands, searching his eyes as if expecting hidden injuries.

"You said that memory thing you do works both ways?" he asked. She nodded and pressed her forehead to his. It took him a few minutes under her guidance to locate the memory and pull it forward for her to receive. Her eyes widened as she watched the memory play out, then she smiled"You're a lot stronger now," Corel said, shaking her head. Joe caught the flicker of worry in her eyes before she smothered it.

"But… you did look very handsome when you teleport into the bubble," she added in a tone he knew far too well. When her eyes deepened into that blood-red, moonlit hue, he wasn't remotely surprised. He simply scooped her up and carried her to a private room. As the days passed, Joe found his thoughts drifting back to the end of the Star Shard competition, and the message that still echoed in the back of his mind. The Devourer stirs once more. Soon it will wake. He needed a plan.

Something, anything, to prepare for whatever that thing was. But what could he possibly do about it? The vision of the giant eye in the void flickered across his thoughts, a being so massive it dwarfed anything he had ever fought. Dragons, Beasts, bosses… none of them came close. Against something like that, what was the smartest move?

"To run," he muttered. Right. That was the obvious answer. But how did one run with millions of people? As he wrestled with the question, Esha strode up beside him.

"Farmer. We're heading out to the race competition. Are you coming?"

"Race?" Joe blinked.

"The team-of-four group races. We have two full teams and two standbys."

"Oh. Not this time. I have too much on my mind," Joe stood, stretching absently. Maybe he needed a bit of running himself to clear his thoughts. But before that…

"Hey, Esh. Are you at the bottleneck?" Esha narrowed her eyes.

"I've been stuck for months. Even my profession has almost hit level 170," she huffed.

"Wait, you haven't been leveling your profession? I thought we talked about that," Joe teased.

"Shut it Farmer. Not all of us can level our profession by just growing trees. Some of us have to work hard." Esha growled.

"Touche," Joe replied.

"Well I'm also stuck. Any idea how to break through?"

"When did you hit 170?"

"Just before the Star Shard competition." Esha shook her head.

"I have a couple ideas. But your timing is terrible. We'll go over it when we're back."

"Sure. Give Gao a kiss on the cheek from me," Joe teased. Esha froze, slowly turning her head toward him with murder in her eyes before she picked up a rock and launched it at his face. Joe vanished with a hearty laugh. When he reappeared in the village, he strolled toward the bakery run by a Volduran family and took a seat at one of the outdoor tables, enjoying the cool breeze. He pulled out his personal pillar and began scanning the upcoming competitions.

Maybe inspiration would strike and help him crack this bottleneck. Nothing caught his eye. The next Star Shard competition was five months away. The next Empire Meeting was scheduled for three months. As he mulled that over, a small Voldura padded up with a plate stacked high with pasties.

"Hey Alea, Is that for me?" he asked, smiling.

"Momma said to bring them to you. She said she is busy. She'll come say hi later," Alea said, dropping the plates a little too quickly. Joe caught them before they toppled.

"Thanks. Tell your momma not to worry about me," he said, pulling a small ornate disk from his storage and handing it to her. Her eyes lit up, and she ran off grinning. Joe took a bite of a pastry as he returned his attention to the pillar. The Empire Meeting… Maybe that was the angle he needed for this Devourer problem. He tapped the screen, bringing up the list of representatives. Twenty Empires and organizations were attending, no Gods this time, but Eludia had five reps listed under active recruitment.

That sparked an idea. He sent a pulse toward Rose for the first time in a long while.

'Good afternoon princess. May I have a moment of your time?' Joe smiled to himself as he sent the message. He was getting good at this, almost as natural as speaking aloud.

'Hello, my pet. How can I help you?' Rose pulsed back, a ribbon of mirth woven through her words.

'Do you know if it is possible to move an entire city, or continent, into the multiverse?'

'Are you planning something crazy again?'

'Yes and no. I was just wondering if there is anywhere in Eludia I could move my friends to if things get too crazy here.' He waited a few minutes before Rose replied.

'A city is possible. But a continent is too big.'

'Do you think your mother would be okay with me sending a city to Eludia?'

'No, but I'm sure I can convince her… for a price. You might have to beg.' She followed with a long, musical chuckle. Joe groaned. Of course, it wouldn't be easy, but if begging meant keeping everyone safe, he'd do it.

'Can you whisper into her ear for me? The next Empire Meeting is soon.'

'I can't promise anything. But I will try, my pet. Will Corel be coming? Is she there now?'

'She will, and she's not here right now.' Joe felt a faint relief; he wasn't sure he had the mental stamina for a Corel, Rose round-table today.

'Shame. Let me know when she is around. I need a nice little chat.'

'Oh? Am I not enough to entertain a princess?' he sent with a chuckle.

'You are not.' The sarcasm practically oozed from the message, and Joe laughed.

'I will let her know. Sorry to take up so much of your time, princess.'

'You are forgiven, pet.' The connection faded. Joe exhaled. That had gone as well as he could have hoped. The real difficulty would come later, convincing the God who openly hated him to help him in a crisis. He shoved the thought aside and finished the baked goods Alea had brought him. Then a pulse shimmered through his mind, Corel.

'Are you in the village?'

'Yeah. What's up?'

'Don't come back too soon. Tevenny and I are… having a talk,''Got it. I'll see you later.' Joe decided it was best to stay well out of the way. And if there was ever a perfect time to vanish for a few hours, this was it. A moment later, he slipped from the village, and soon after, his skyboat was seen streaking north, heading toward Rarohenga.