Chương 191: Limitless Path Chapter Two Hundred Fifteen

Beth and Sabs both laughed, and both complied with the command, Sabs stroking Blood up and down the spine. The two finished their drinks and relaxed for a minute before Sabs had to get up, nearly entangling herself in Blood's legs. She eventually worked free and took her mug to the kitchenette before slipping into the bedroom, coming out a minute later fully dressed. She pulled on her gear, strapping quite a few knives about her person, which Beth took note of with interest, before she was ready for the day.

"Are the two of you going to just lay here like this?" she asked amusedly as she gave Beth a warm kiss.

"Maybe," Beth replied once her mouth was free.

"I've got more stuff I want to study today. I think we'll head back out to take care of the stuff we have to work on tomorrow."

"Sounds like a plan," Sabs said, stealing another quick kiss and ruffling Blood's ears before leaving, making sure the door closed fully behind her. Beth lounged, leaning back into the plush couch and spreading her arms along the back. Blood grumbled a little and wriggled against Beth's lap, finding a more comfortable position before settling back down and dozing off. Beth, meanwhile, pulled up the first of the books that Tazeen had recommended for their Silver test.

She spent the morning reading through the material, Blood sitting up while grumbling at some point, leaning back into the couch beside Beth and slouching down. Beth ignored her and focused on the book, reading through materials on combat basics. It was a lot of what she already knew, but it was always nice to have a bit of a refresher, especially when it was delivered from a source that was recommended reading for a big test.

She paused when her stomach rumbled, realizing that she never actually got up and ate anything for breakfast. She corrected that rather quickly, making a ton of food for a slightly late lunch, being joined by Blood, who preferred to just heat up pre-packaged meals. Beth wasn't much better, and they alternated using the microwave to heat food before returning to the couch to eat. Beth ate a little absentmindedly, still reading as she ate, not even noticing that Blood had a vacant look as well.

She eventually realized all her dishes were empty, cleaning up both hers and Blood's before resuming her study. Sabs returned in the evening, Beth having worked through an entire book that day, and she served as a welcome interruption to all the studying. They ate again before relaxing for a time and once again showering and bathing in the massive tub. Beth still wasn't really a bath person, but she was starting to see the appeal, especially when she had a cute girl in her lap.

They finished the bath and got ready for bed, assuming the same positions as the night before. Blood flopped on the couch before the other two were done, Beth only able to tell she was still awake by the ear twitches.

The next morning they were all up early, a little more serious than the morning before. They got ready fairly quickly, and Beth informed Sabs of where they were going and that it might be a while before they returned. Beth and Blood didn't bother with the lounge that morning, instead exiting the building and heading almost due south. They made great time to the field that had the passage to the kobold area, finding a decent number of kobolds wandering around aboveground.

Beth signaled to Blood, and the two of them quickly split and slaughtered the kobolds. She was starting to become a little concerned at the accelerating rates of spawning of the kobolds, particularly when it came to their movement aboveground and slow spread. It wouldn't be long before that slow spread wasn't so slow, and Beth worried about what that would mean.

The field was fairly isolated from everything other than a somewhat close farmhouse, but considering stats, it wasn't actually that far to the nearest cluster of buildings that still housed people. It was especially concerning considering that the lowest level kobolds were in the low seventies, far above pretty much anyone else other than the Enforcers. If they spread farther and faster, they would present a very serious threat to the entire area.

The two moved downward after clearing the field, finding several more kobolds at the base of the shaft. They killed all of them rather quickly and started heading down the lefthand hallway, killing anything they came across. It didn't take long for them to reach the maze-like area, and Blood was able to very quickly and accurately lead the way through the labyrinth, taking them back to the room with the array. One thing that Beth noticed on a second visit was the fact that no kobolds were in or entered the room.

It lent some credence to the theory she had that the kobolds going out of control was more related to the labyrinth-type dungeon changing or going wild versus something from this teleportation formation interfering. Beth's study had given her a small bit of knowledge, combined with Lyrissa's help, and she was able to identify several of the runes. Not just the few that Lyrissa had pointed out, but there was a rune that had something to do with moderating temperatures as well as one that controlled mana flow.

She wasn't exactly sure what all the runes did and certainly couldn't get a picture of what the combinations meant, but she could figure out a few basics, including how to power the whole thing. It mainly gathered ambient mana, but a jumpstart of a bit of mana from a sentient being would allow said being to 'start' the array and briefly control it.

Even if she wasn't an expert on runes and couldn't figure out everything that was happening, she could still get the gist of the controls, considering they weren't that complex in the first place. For all that the array had a massive amount of energy at its command and did something pretty incredible, long distance teleportation, it wasn't all that complex. Beth spent a little time inspecting it, her greater understanding meaning she now knew that just getting close wouldn't cause anything untoward to happen.

She spent some time inspecting several of the pillars while Blood paced the room, making sure that no kobolds entered or nothing strange occurred from the outside. Finally, Beth was ready, saying to Blood, "You ready?"

"I suppose," Blood replied hesitantly.

"You don't look thrilled," Beth said with a small chuckle. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"I don't like diving into…the unknown nearly as much as you do," Blood replied.

"You were fine with the Trial of Celestial Awakening," Beth said.

"Some risk is good," Blood said.

"All risk is not good."

"Thanks for the wise words, chief," Beth said with an eyeroll.

"Just do it," Blood snorted. Beth grunted and placed her hand on the center of the pillar in front of her, pushing mana into it. She felt a connection immediately snap into place in her mind, able to sense something like an object. It was like her link to her necklace, but it was more tenuous, and she could tell her necklace was both far more complex and more powerful. Beth sent some energy into the connection and started basically the only 'function' she could access.

There was a slight shift and a loud humming sound, followed by a loud snapping noise and a flash of bright blue light. When the light faded, Beth looked around to see that the room they were in was decidedly different than the room they had been in. She looked up… and up… and up to find the ceiling of the cavern they were currently in. She saw that they were at one end of the cavern, with a wall behind them just outside the circle of the teleportation array.

That wall appeared to be made of granite, and Beth could see it was heavily carved with some kind of images. Before she could look much closer at the images, she heard a heavy thudding noise echo out, bouncing around the space with a booming thump, and she spun around to see a metal giant walking towards them. Beth quickly Identified the being just to be sure of what was happening before they did something stupid.

Level 250 Ancient Titan Mechanicate"Yeah, we're fucking leaving," Beth said, pumping mana back into the array and triggering the sequence again. Luckily for them, the array had enough mana stored on this side to fling them back across space to where they had started.

It was with a brief flash of light and a fraction of a second of disorientation later that they found themselves back in the kobold area, the two girls practically diving out of the array and running to one of the three tunnel openings that led into the room with the teleportation pillars. They waited in the tunnel for several minutes, watching the array to see if any level two hundred-plus, metal beasts of unimaginable strength stomped their way out, but it looked like they had gotten rather lucky.

After another ten minutes of observing the pillars, they decided discretion was the better part of valor and took off.

"CRA Hall first," Beth said, leading the way back up the tunnels to the shaft. They found two kobolds at the base of the shaft and killed them quite quickly before ascending the spiral ramp at a trot. Back out in the light of the morning sun, they turned north and took off at a run, using Swift to make their way up toward the Hall. At the speeds they could now reach, it was only a handful of minutes for them to be back in the Hall, making their way through the halls to the lobby.

Beth wasn't sure where the others would be, but she knew where Tazeen basically always was, and he would be just as good as any Enforcer to report the situation to. Entering the lobby at a fast jog, they moved around to the main counter and stopped in front of the aforementioned elf. Beth leaned against the counter and took a few deep breathes, getting her breathing back under control and her mind re-centered.

Tazeen gave them the time they needed, merely giving Beth a slightly raised-brow look as she got herself fully under control.

"How may I help you today?" he asked in his usual calm voice.

"Got something to report," Beth said, twisting slightly to the side so she was leaning against the counter in a more casual manner.

"And what would you like to report?" he asked calmly.

"Kobold area," Beth said.

"We went underground, moving down one of two tunnels it's possible to go through, what we call the 'left' tunnel. That tunnel branches out more than it used to, but the big change is that it dumps out into a maze. Not a dungeon, just a maze of tunnels that is pretty complicated to navigate.

"The important part is at the center, though. There's an array formation in a room in the center of the labyrinth made up of eighteen pillars that are engraved with a bunch of runes. We checked with Lyrissa to get some help in figuring out the runes, and she basically pointed out that it's a two-way teleportation formation. She recommended we stock up on supplies and just go for it, which seems kinda dumb, but I don't always make smart decisions, and Blood tries to keep me safe.

Anyway, we stocked up and went down and used the teleporter, which took us to some huge room somewhere else. There was a bunch of carving on the walls of the room, but I wasn't able to get a good look at any of it because of what else was in the room. I noticed the floor shaking slightly and turned around to see a huge metal golem walking at us across the room. The crazy part is, when I inspected the golem it showed as a level two-fifty Ancient Titan Mechanicate.

"So, I activated the formation right away, and luckily there was enough juice to pop us back here. We waited for a while to see if the beast would come through, but it never showed up, and then we ran back here. I'm just worried about something over level two hundred popping out of that teleportation formation and wrecking everything."

"And you are quite sure it was a titan? And that it said it was a Mechanicate?" Tazeen asked, his normally stoic face having adopted an even more serious expression.

"Absolutely; that's what it said," Beth answered with a nod.

"Well, the good news for your explorations is that beasts and even monsters basically never used established formations," Tazeen explained calmly.

"The bad news is that you are not going to be able to fight something like that for a very long time, meaning your progress is rather stalled."

"Well, that's pretty obvious," Beth replied with a sigh.

"We've got some good experience now from that Trial, and we know just how crazy stuff at two hundred or more really can be."

"I'm sure you have some idea, but until you actually fight at that level, you won't really understand the difference in strength. I will say, however, that based on your progress so far, as long as you continue to work hard, I foresee that the two of you will be able to handle it when the time comes," he said.

"Well, thanks, Tazeen," Beth said.

"It is no problem. I will have John go down and investigate at some point," Tazeen said.

"We still have more to explore down there," Beth commented.

"Let me contact him now and see if he is free, then. I will see if he can go down with you today so you can show him where it is. Then you can be about the rest of your work," Tazeen said, holding up a finger as he sent a message to John. They waited for a moment, Tazeen saying he would be up shortly. John wasn't quite as flashy as Jaq was sometimes, though his appearance was surprising in another way, as he literally just appeared standing next to Beth.

No noise, no visual sign, and no movement of wind or disturbance in the air.

"What?" John asked grumpily.

"Investigation," Tazeen said.

"Maze area. Two-way teleport to unknown location, level two hundred and fifty ancient titan enemy at destination. Scouting mission."

"Got it," John said.

"These two?"

"Guide," Tazeen said.

"That was fast," Beth commented.

"Brevity is often necessary," Tazeen replied.

"Let's get this done," John said, indicating for Beth to lead the way with a hand gesture.

"Yeah, yeah," she said, hopping up from where she was leaning against the counter and walking further back in the building, leading the way to the door they usually took out of the arena section. She took the lead in heading back to the kobold area, Blood trialing along at the back while John walked beside her. And it looked like he was walking; despite her and Blood jogging quickly, John looked like it was an easy afternoon stroll, not seeming to be doing any more than slowly walking yet easily keeping up.