Chương 131: Limitless Path Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Six

Beth was fully exhausted, but held on, not passing out as she surfaced from the inky depths of her fugue. She saw there were only a handful of beastlings left alive, looking off to the east to see the sky begin to burn a rose pink, the sun just starting to break the edge of the horizon. They had been fighting continuously for twenty hours or so, and Beth felt as if her soul was leaving her body, but she looked to the wall to see if they had held.

She saw the wall still standing, the members of the defensive squad still atop it, the captain looking to where she was. Beth strode over, wobbling a bit before clamping down yet again, not wanting to appear soft before the unit. She leapt up when she reached the gate, the enchantments on the wall complex enough to recognize friend or foe, not impeding her as she landed next to the captain. The captain was giving her a bit of a strange look, Beth able to tell that even through her bone-deep weariness.

She looked around the area, seeing two of the mages sitting in the yard on chairs, which they had clearly dragged out from the building. The archers were all looking at her with faces split somewhere between awe and terror, Beth just shaking her head as she turned back to the captain.

"How'd we fare, captain?" Beth asked.

"Well…" the captain replied before pausing, the normally assured man seemingly at a bit of a loss.

"I have to say, ma'am, I didn't have much hope for our chances in quelling this tide. I had thought we were going to burn out on a last stand to thin the numbers and leave it for someone else to finish up." Beth shrugged, "I told you we'd give you a surprise, captain."

"Ah, well, that you certainly did. Despite a few injuries, we're mostly intact, even though it took a lot out of our mages. I just can't believe you and your companion managed it."

"It was tough, captain, but it's what we do," Beth replied with a nod.

"Respect," the captain replied simply, giving a form of salute that Beth was unfamiliar with. As the captain finished, the stage seemed to freeze before Beth and Blood witnessed a screen appear in front of them For extraordinary performance beyond the stage condition, additional rewards are granted. For fully defeating the beast wave, additional rewards are granted. Reward of compounding experience granted. Applied granted reward.

As the message finished, Beth felt a highly condensed stream of energy enter her body, flushing her with power for a brief moment. It felt as if she had just killed multiple powerful bosses at the same time, and the results certainly seemed to mimic such. Her level increased once, then again, and again, before finally settling a full four levels above where she was at when the stage ended.

She noted that the same effect seemed to happen to Blood before she staggered a little as they suddenly appeared in the array room. One of the Warders on duty motioned for them to clear the area, though she did give them a nod, Beth too tired to do more but nod in response before dragging her tired body back to their room. They still had a little more than a full day for this stage, and Beth was sure they were going to use a bit of it to recover from that ordeal.

Once they were in the suite and had the door secured, they barely managed to strip out of their gear before Beth led the way back to the bed, where the two promptly passed out without a second thought.

It was almost nine hours later when they awoke, perhaps the longest sleep Beth had done in several months, and something they had sorely needed. Their mana was fully restored and, while she still felt a little bit tired, she knew they could take some time to relax, hopefully allow them to get back close to one hundred percent before they started the next stage.

As Beth rolled out of bed and stretched, she checked their stat pages and was rather surprised to see where they were at, having quite a handful of free points to distribute. Once she had finished allocating all the points, she gave their screens an inspection to see what other gains they had had.

Name Elizabeth Anne Bell Class Brawler Level 72 Strength 200 Dexterity 102 Endurance 120 Intelligence 40 Wisdom 40 Free Points 0 Titles Silver Flame Empress' Inheritor Skills Ancient World Gate[1] Beastly Body Copper[9] Blacksmithing Apprentice[6] Crush Silver[0] Earth Resistance Copper[1] Flame Resistance Copper[2] Focused Meditation Copper[9] FrostFlame Eye Copper[8] Ice Resistance Copper[7] Lightning Resistance Copper[7] This story is posted elsewhere by the author.

Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Lordly Reconstruction Copper[9] Monstrous Blow Copper[9] Pain Tolerance Silver[5] Swift Copper[9] Swords Journeyman[4] Toxic Resistance Copper[5] Unarmed Journeyman[6] Wealth 19g 25s 87c Emblems CRA Copper Badge Bonds Blood Name Blood Race Red Wolf Queen Level 72 Strength 128 Dexterity 200 Endurance 100 Intelligence 40 Wisdom 40 Free Points 0 Titles - Skills Earth Resistance Copper[2] Flame Resistance Copper[1] Ice Resistance Copper[6] Identify Copper[9] Lightning Resistance Copper[5] Meditation Copper[9] Regeneration Copper[9] Rending Bite Copper[9] Swift Silver[0] Toxic Resistance Copper[4] Wealth 19g 31s 26c Beth had to do a double-take after seeing her stats, assuming at first she had opened the wrong page.

The levels themselves weren't necessarily surprising, but the skill levels certainly were, especially the fact that she had managed to push Crush into the start of Silver. She wasn't sure how she had done it, other than the strange and hyper-focused fugue she descended into for part of the battle, but she was ecstatic that her main damage dealer was upgraded. Not only had its power likely gone through a sizeable jump, but she could finally, finally level it again.

She decided to bring up the description to check just what the jump to Silver had done. Crush Silver[0] {Add a crushing force to your attack. This force is capable of pulverizing armor and penetrating defenses.} The second sentence seemed to have changed a little, talking about pulverizing instead of crushing armor and also mentioning defenses. Since the move was already quite good with its ability to break or bypass heavy physical defense, she was interested to see just how good it would be at the new rank.

She also noted that Blood had managed a big upgrade herself, pushing her tried and very true Swift into Silver. Apparently, Beth wasn't the only one who could achieve extreme focus under extreme duress, and she was excited to see just what Blood could do with the new stage of the skill. She also noted their gold reserves were much better than they had been. Thinking back to her reading and the bits of memory she could tap every now and then, it seemed like that actually made quite a bit of sense.

Once beasts were in the fifty-one to one hundred range, they would have a chance of dropping a whole silver coin when killed, the chance being higher the higher the level. Killing a massive number of beasts in the seventies, few of which the defensive squad actually assisted with, generated a huge amount of money, even if the chances of whole silver coins was still not more than maybe one-in-eight. The last bit was less significant, but they had both gained new resistances and some levels in the old ones.

Some of the elites had been able to enhance their attacks with elemental damage, and the girls had taken enough hits to get and/or level resistances over the course of the stage. The levels were nice, but Beth would rather avoid the strikes or have her armor take the hit before she had to worry about her body mitigating the damage. With their newfound wealth, Beth decided she could definitely splurge a little, especially if any one of the remaining stages was anything close to that one.

Calculating what she could and couldn't afford, she led Blood into the bathroom first to get cleaned up. Though the stages were simulated and none of the gore transferred over, it seemed a bit of sweat did, and besides, after wading knee-deep through blood and entrails, Beth wanted to really feel clean again. When they were showered and kitted up, they made their way to one of the eateries to scarf down enough to feed a small, though perhaps not that small, army.

Once they were satiated, and Beth had let the hallway know about her satisfaction in customary style, they headed to one of the counters in the main atrium. Beth approached the man standing behind the counter, giving him a nod as she stopped just opposite him.

"Trial taker," the main said warmly.

"How may I assist?"

"Yes, sorry, I was told when I started this thing that one of the counters in here was set up to buy and sell. Would you happen to be able to do that?"

"Certainly," the man replied with a firm nod.

"What is it you're interested in?"

"The main things would be gauntlets and boots," Beth said, taking off her gauntlets with a quick, practiced motion before removing her boots.

"These are sized perfectly for me, I just need something stronger. Heavy gauntlets of this type that are good for someone who punches and often blocks with their arms. Heavy boots of this type that are the same, good for someone who is very active in kicking and even redirecting attacks with their legs. I think its time to upgrade to mana steel, at least." The man picked up the boots and gauntlets while Beth spoke, continuing to examine them as she finished.

He seemed to take a few measurements before gesturing at the boots and a spot behind the counter. Beth nodded, getting what he meant immediately, and the man took the boots to the spot and put them on something like a scanner. When he was done with the scans he did the same with the gauntlets, speaking as they were inspected by the machine.

"We have plenty of options that could replace both of these sets, including good mana steel. I suppose it would be about what you are interested in, exactly, and more so what your price range for these upgrades sits at." Beth frowned slightly as she started tapping her chin, the gears whirring on just what she was willing to commit here. Finally, she simply asked, "Can I see what you have and what the prices are?"

"Of course," the man replied, placing the gauntlets back on the counter by the boots now that the scan was done.

"For boots, I recommend these." He pulled from behind him a set of boots made of a blackened mana steel with a few gold accents. They were obviously forged by a quite skilled smith, looking to be all of a piece but still having the flexibility necessary at the ankle to allow for a good range of movement. The feet were solid and heavy, with a thick heel and extra steel melded over the toes to provide a thick wedge.

The shin parts were made in a way that melded two heavy plates at a seam in the middle, though the seam was hidden and likely welded in a way to heavily reinforce it. The calf sections were made of heavy bands of the same metal interspersed with two thin strips of a light mesh, which would give the calf and lower leg some room for movement. Lastly, the knees were covered in the front by a thick, heavy hexagonal plate that was made to absorb a huge amount of force without bending or denting.

It stuck up and a little out from the top of the shin sections on each boot, giving some room for even an armored knee to flex and bend fully.

"May I?" Beth asked, the man immediately gesturing to the boots and her legs. Beth picked them up, noting that each boot was probably more than fifty pounds, a weight she would have struggled with pre-Path, but now something she could toss around with one hand without strain. She set the boots on the floor and slammed her legs into them, stomping slightly to settle them before lifting her knees up high to test them.

She flexed her legs and twisted them, feeling how the boots responded before she gave a small jump, though small with her stats took her five feet off the ground with just a flex of her ankles and slight bend of the knee. She landed solidly before turning and starting to walk around the lobby, making a half-lap before returning to the man at the counter.

He had rummaged about for a minute while Beth was testing, having moved some things up for her to view, but he had put most to the side in favor of a pair of gauntlets that were clearly his pick. He gestured to them as she stopped across from him.

"Based on what we know of your fighting style so far, what you have said about what you desire, and the design of your old gauntlets, I would recommend these," he explained.

"Before we try and overawe the country girl with all the glitz, let's talk price," Beth replied with a slight smirk.

"What are we talking for these boots?"

"The pair is priced at four golds," he replied calmly.

"Che, easy come, easy go, I guess," Beth grumbled, plopping the coins on the counter. The man smiled and made the gold disappear before gesturing at the gauntlets. They were very similar to her 'old' gauntlets, even down to the fingers having slight claw tips. These were, of course, made of the same blackened mana steel with gold accents, and they weighed quite a bit as well. Beth was even surprised, actually, considering the size of the boots and their weight, but the gauntlets appeared to top them on the scale.

If the boots were about fifty or fifty-five pounds each, the gauntlets had to be more than seventy. They appeared a little thicker than her mana copper ones and had a different type of padded underlayer than what she was used to. Still, she picked them up and slid them on quite easily, locking them into place with satisfying clicks as they morphed just slightly, adjusting to her hand and forearms for a perfect fit.

She went through some quite extensive testing, jabbing and punching, moving her arms around in wide gestures before making sharp and quick motions, and finally drawing her sword and moving through some forms with it first in two hands then in one. She was really satisfied with how they felt, thinking they almost fit like a glove. Smiling at the bad pun, she turned back to the man at the counter.