Chương 62: Limitless Path Chapter Sixty-Two

It was getting a little late, and Beth was tired after an entire day of what was essentially dueling someone far stronger. She was finding out that her high Endurance wasn't actually nearly as high as she thought; she just hadn't actually been in strenuous enough combat for long enough to be heavily impacted before today. She had already cleared staying in her rented room with her mother, and she made her way into the underbelly of the arena.

She keyed the door open, holding it for Blood to get inside, making sure it was closed after them before taking care of their nightly routine and going to bed. The next morning, she tested herself a bit, trying to feel out if she could open her gate again. She could feel that her spirit, soul, or whatever it was that she had been warned would be stressed by using the gate was still a little overtaxed, so they couldn't do any beast fighting any time soon.

Not unless they found another Trial or a random high-level dungeon in the area, but Beth didn't think that kind of luck quite likely. They would just have to train in the arena and the practice rooms for a few days, honing their skills. Beth found Baelvyr in the usual spot, nobody else currently in the room this morning. She sat and waited for a few minutes while he ate a meal, allowing time for her to fully wake and get her focus dialed in for the day.

Baelvyr wasn't long, his appetite not commensurate with his massive stature, consuming only a single plate of meat and bread before he was ready. The morning was much the same as the day before, Baelvyr summoning the same phantom for her to fight. She found the challenge just as difficult, actually putting Baelvyr's instructions into practice as a sword was swinging for her throat proving to be rather arduous.

She at least tried to remember his advice about not becoming aggressive when outmatched, her average fight time steadily increasing all morning. It wasn't thrilling, but going from surviving seconds to surviving minutes was great progress, Beth somewhat happy to at least accomplish that much. She had a fabulous lunch of nutrient packs and water while Baelvyr gave her some instructions based on what he had seen in the morning, Beth noting that Blood had wandered off somewhere during the time she had been training.

Baelvyr said, "Gonna be a long process, just gotta keep going as ya are. Fightin' more defensive is goin' well for ya; good to see ya slow down a little and think. It won't always be the case, but at yer current level and skill ya need to take the extra time and analyze what's happenin'. Other than that, yer still too predictable with yer movements. Ya should especially remember what I said about attackin' from different angles, including yer non-dominant side a lot more."

"I think I'll just focus on it taking longer to get impaled for right now. I can't think about swinging left-handed at the same time," Beth grumbled in response.

"Well, that's gonna be the challenge for ya. Yer gonna hafta learn to think about stuff like that, and learn to think about multiple things as ya fight. Ya can't just think about one thing, think about one move. Ya gotta plan several moves in advance, think about yer skills and abilities, figure out what yer opponent is doing best and how to counter it, and even learn to focus on the bigger picture of what's happenin' around ya," he replied, thumping on his huge stomach to emphasize the point.

Beth took a minute to hit the restrooms before returning to training, fighting all afternoon, still focused on the same opponent. By the early evening Baelvyr was done with her for the day, offering a little advice about how better to position her feet and move around before he headed out. Curious, Beth decided to check the interface by the ring to see what opponents she had available to fight, having remembered Baelvyr had said he had unlocked four in the system she could use as 'training' partners.

She navigated the menus for a moment until she found the training section, most other sections locked off to her at present. Much of what was in the training section was locked as well, but she could still see a list of opponents she could fight in a standard duel in a standard arena layout.

The four choices were the longsword user she was familiar with, some kind of warrior that used a sword and shield, a nimbler fighter using long knives, and some type of swordsman using two one-handed longswords curiously labeled as a mage in the system. Beth just couldn't resist the temptation, and she picked the weird mage swordsman as an opponent. The settings had an option to allow the arena itself to provide the referee duties, which she selected before moving over to the circle on the ground.

The simulacrum of the mage appeared across from her, at first Beth assuming him to be a human male. Upon closer inspection, that certainly proved not to be the case, as he had two sets of horns growing from the top of his head as well as what looked like finely trimmed claws instead of fingernails. There were several other differences too, including his eyes, though Beth was already getting used to strange eyes, and those didn't necessarily register for her.

She recovered from her slight daze when the circle she was standing in flashed, realizing a voice had been speaking to her from the arena's systems. It was asking her if she was ready and warning her delays at this point in the process could cost her points. Since Beth had been told earlier by Baelvyr that these practice spars didn't really count for anything, she assumed the voice was going through the standard referee's speech.

She quickly looked around, seeing there was a holographic ref in the ref box to the side. She bowed to the hologram to signal her readiness and it turned to query the simulacrum. Once both had indicated readiness, the referee had them bow to each other before counting in the start of the match. It used a standard five count with its arm raised before dropping its arm and shouting "Begin!" on zero. The simulacrum darted towards her as it drew both its swords, approaching her at a surprising rate.

Beth reacted as she had been practicing, swinging her greatsword in a tight arc to block his first attacks. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Unfortunately for her, as the simulacrum made its first swings, it charged both its blades with a massive shot of electricity. As the two longswords smashed into her more massive blade, a huge blast of electricity shot up her arms, through her torso, and out through her legs into the floor.

Beth seized up almost entirely, able to take only a half-step back as every muscle in her body clenched and spasmed, feeling her heart judder and jump at the amount of electricity coursing through her. She didn't have long to attempt a recovery, as the familiar yet still horrifying sensation of having her neck sliced apart soon greeted her. She fell to one knee, clutching at her neck as she gasped for air.

The wound almost instantly closed, the referee declaring the bout for the simulacrum as she struggled to regain a little of her equilibrium. After a minute or so she had recovered a little, standing back up and making her way out of the ring and to a section of the arena nearby where there were waters and sports drink-like consumables open to fighters of at least Copper Emblem rank.

She took a water bottle and drained it completely, holding her throat with her left hand as she did so, as if afraid the water would leak out while she drank. She finished the bottle and tossed it in the recycler chute, pulling out a second one before she walked back to the arena and sat on the bench. She started going over the fight in her mind, wondering if there was anything she could have done differently.

She recalled the power of the lightning the man had put on his blades, shuddering at the thought of how it had almost stopped her heart immediately. She assumed the only reason she hadn't died straight out from it was due to having a few levels in Lightning Resistance thanks to her and Blood's foray against the salamanders. She sighed heavily before getting up and heading down to her room to clean up and eat.

She found Blood sitting in the hallway outside the door, Beth letting the two of them into the room with her key before making her way into the restroom. Cleaned and fed, the two watched a bit of fighting on the wall screen before heading to bed for the night. They slept rather soundly and were up early the next morning, ready for the in just a couple minutes. Heading out of the room, the two made their way up to the lounge, finding most of the senior Emblem holders sitting at various tables.

For a surprise change of pace, Tazeen was actually in the lounge, while Elana was absent, presumably forced to cover front desk duty for once. Beth walked over to Baelvyr's table and sat down, leaning back in her chair with her arms at her sides, not even feeling the weight of the gauntlets dragging them down. Beth waited again for Baelvyr to finish breakfast before they proceeded to the far end of the arena, taking up the farthest dueling rectangle.

She failed to mention her extra attempt of the previous night, and Baelvyr didn't seem to have noticed, or care. Not as if she had done anything wrong, either, just that she felt rather embarrassed at her performance. Likely a better idea to sweep it under the rug than have her instructor laugh at her for it. The morning and afternoon went the same as the day before, Beth still struggling just to last a minute before getting diced up.

She was a little frustrated at what she was now considering her lack of stamina, not having enough energy to do more after an entire day of training in the dueling arena. She hadn't seen the other girls for a while, and she wanted to do a dungeon clear for the convenient couple silvers, so she showered and ate quickly in her rented room before heading out with Blood.

The two of them made rather quick time getting back to the neighborhood, circling around the back of the development before Blood quite easily leapt the ditch and berm. They landed in the Bell back yard after the sky had already grown dark, the area lit by the back porch lights and the light coming out of the kitchen windows. There was nobody outside tonight, and Beth entered the house through the mudroom, leaving her equipment therein.

She headed up to bed and slept at home tonight, waking earlier than anybody else the next morning. Once everyone was up and moving, they headed out to the dungeons, starting with the ant dungeon, which went mostly the same as it always did. They started to run into problems when they hit the third floor. Well, perhaps problems was a little bit of a stretch, but they certainly ran into unexpected changes.

They found three level nine ants in the very first room of the third level, which was a bit of a difference as compared to the last time they had gone through the dungeon a few days ago. Beth and Blood let the girls take care of this group, as it was at their level, and they needed to put to use the skills they had been training in the CRA Hall. They found even more differences further in, however, prompting Beth to grow a little concerned.

She wasn't too worried about herself or her group handling the dungeon; she was much more worried about the implications of what it meant for her home nearby. Where the boss room was supposed to be was instead a regular room. It had two level ten and two level nine ants in it, and a passageway that was clearly leading down to a fourth floor below. Beth didn't really feel like wasting any time today, and she charged into the room ahead of the group.

The four ants were standing about thirty-five feet from the entryway, and Beth reached them in three powerful stomps, each thrust of one of her legs propelling her forward a dozen or so feet. She slammed into the level ten ant on the left like a freight train, her accumulated speed and massive Strength stat causing the ant to literally blow apart upon impact. She quickly pivoted on her foot after the first ant died, taking a step and smashing apart the second level ten with a quick jab.

Another three quick steps, one forward and two back, as well as two more quick, sharp jabs later, all four of the ants lay dead. Beth moved back over to the group at the entryway, noting the lower leveled girls' eyes were a little wide after she displayed just what pumped up stats could do.

"Wait, wait, wait," said Kim suddenly.

"Hold on. When did you get to level twenty-eight?!"

"Blood and I have been busy training," Beth replied blandly, waving aside the question.

"We need to see what's changed in here and try to figure out what that means. I doubt Blood or I will have trouble with whatever's down there, but you guys need to keep your heads on straight. Got it?"

"We'll be careful, but I really don't think we need to worry about it," Kim replied calmly for the group. Beth led the way down the new ramp towards the brand-new floor of the dungeon, finding the curve of the ramp to be much sharper. They arrived on the fourth floor, about the same distance down as separated the previous floors, in a much quicker time than previous floor transitions.

They found a room ahead of them that was similar to the ones previous in the dungeon, but with one rather critical difference Beth noted immediately. There were four doorways. The room was a circular area of packed dirt with the familiar glowing moss on the walls and three ants standing idly in the center. The doorways were the key difference here, with there being one centered on each 'side' of the room, as much as a circle could have sides.

It looked like the dungeon had not just grown in the past few days; it had grown substantially. Beth did a quick inspection of the three ants in the middle of the room and found all three to be level ten. She figured today would be a bit of a babysitting day, these ants able to provide good experience for the other girls while not being too challenging. She took her old place, leaning against the tunnel wall near the doorway and crossing her arms over her chest.

She lifted her left arm to gesture at the other girls before re-crossing it on her chest and watching.