Chương 230: Chapter 221 - Interlude 21

There were many things Clarissa liked about Magic Unbound and many things she didn't, she mused sitting in her small hut and proceeding to heal the next unfortunate fool who either decided to get some break from the construction work by "having an accident" or actually had the bad luck to have an accident. Most players had at least a modicum of skill to take care of themselves with some basic healing skills.

The players who accepted being construction workers for the guild in exchange for monetary compensation (not that she could blame them, she saw how much they were paid) were doing it for the steady paycheck and the knowledge that when they logged out the work wouldn't damage or destroy their spine for years to come. Plus, these people weren't the best at the game, so they decided to make money when they saw that they held no candle to the truly big gamers.

And now that the threat of the giant spider was over, she was simply relegated to healing those players who didn't know how to heal themselves – and didn't want to waste potions – and the NPCs who were amazed that the company was providing healing for free. Granted, she wasn't the only healer around, but after the battle, both Lara and Lucy asked her to stay back and make sure that accidents didn't bottleneck the construction.

It was rather tedious work, but the skill experience points were going up slowly and surely. Also, it was useful to practice some of the mana control exercises that Sam had shared with her. When spending time out of the game she sometimes looked into the gazillion number of tutorials, manuals, and instruction videos littering the net about mana in the game, but every time she was dumbfounded.

The information she saw was either wrong, based on her own knowledge, or was completely invalidated by everything that Sam shared. And it wasn't like she believed everything Sam told her. She did her due diligence. She took notes of what she found, made sure to cross-reference instructions, watched videos carefully, and then got back to the game and tried them out.

Being the suspicious person she was when her boss handed over a complete guide to an aspect of the game that seemingly nobody understood properly, she smelled a rat. Maybe the way she would learn control mana would allow Sam to do… something later? Or maybe he stole it and all the people who used his "teachings" would get banned? Or maybe he was some kind of evil mastermind that relished in fucking up people's skills? She didn't know, but she vowed to figure it out.

And now, weeks later, she was still in disbelief over her own conclusion. Her boss, Sam, just knew more than anybody about mana and mana control. No amount of training manuals scraped together from the internet – or shamefully bought from online 'trainers' – were as useful as a percentage of the manual that Sam had thrown at her when she officially signed up. Still suspicious as fuck, but at least Clarissa knew that they weren't cheating, as the system didn't mention anything about it.

And based on how Future Unknown handled the actual cheaters… well, she was sleeping much better nowadays.

"Miss, ready for another patient?" asked one of the assistants that Lara assigned to Clarissa's part of the building as they stuck their head through the door. Clarissa took a deep breath and nodded.

"Send them in…"

'At least the money is nice…'

"Sis! Hi!" her sister yelled as she walked into their parent's home. Clarissa was doing her biweekly visit to make sure everything was all right with her parents. Those health scares worried her, and to see that her sister was keeping up with her studies. Clarissa herself chose the gaming profession because she liked it and brought in enough money – especially with Magic Unbound – that she could live comfortably and support her family.

Furthermore, she always felt constrained and dazed by any systematic education process. She could never really sit down and just learn something because somebody told her to learn it. It felt stifling and confusing. But the moment she was behind a character, directing it and healing people, it was as if somebody turned on the lighthouse amidst great darkness. Suddenly, things made sense, and she wasn't bored, confused, and afraid.

Thankfully, her little sister didn't have the same issues and managed to fully embrace education. The problem was that Clarissa was suffering from success. She was making so much money with the salary from the AFK, and the investments Lucy advised that her sister was trying very hard to give up her education and join Clarissa in her adventures. Which both Clarissa and their parents were vehemently against. Well, that was before her little sister became devious.

She used the small amount of money she got for allowance to invest it and somehow be successful. Clarissa, personally, blamed Lucy and Sam.

"Hello, Clarissa!" her mother smiled at her as she went to hug her. Clarissa returned the hug with relish.

"Your father is in the living room, trying to put together that bedazzled contraption!"

"The what?" Her little sister had the temerity to smirk at her.

"I bought a gaming pod!" Clarissa could already feel the headache coming. Lara was in her element. Dan was standing around, looking very strong and hot, both literally and figuratively. And the construction was heading in a good direction. Adam was still supervising the people who came from the city and beyond and were dismembering the corpse of the titan spider, making sure they got what they were owed, but otherwise, she only had to focus on the city they – or rather she – was building.

The old walls had been excavated, and the first stones were ready to lay down into the giant holes that the player workers and NPCs had dug. The building materials were waiting to be used in the warehouses and the first set of wards was ready to be erected. Usually, in the real world, when a project like this was started, and the cornerstone was placed it was surrounded by enough media drama that it would outdrama a soap opera.

But this was the game world, and their enemies were looking for every chink in their armor, every opportunity to waylay them. Thus, when the cornerstone, placed exactly under what was going to be a small building in the middle of the city, was lowered, the only people present were her, Dan, and a few guards trusted from the guild. Lara also suspected that Tim was sneaking around somewhere, but she couldn't really spot him.

The cornerstone was a project between the crafters of the company, made from a very specific alloy, merged with some special crystal, and then enchanted by several people before finally, Sam went over it and etched into it enough runes to make it look like some ancient cursed object being excavated by a plucky team of archeologists intent on saving the world with it only to be stolen by the bad guys.

'Maybe I could pitch a movie about it…' she mused as she grabbed the rope holding the cornerstone and began lowering it down while the others watched. Based on her research, and Sam's instruction, it was a ritual to ensure the prosperity of the construction and the building it would be attached to. And because the cornerstone wouldn't just be part of a building but would also act as one of the first anchor points of the magical defenses, using the proper ritual process was incredibly important.

THUD The stone reached the bottom of the hole and she let go of the rope, relieved. Then she reached into her inventory and brought out a ritual knife, loaned to her by Sam, and cut her hand in the most stereotypical way. She let the blood collect a little in her palm, then held her hand over the hole and let it drop. She also simultaneously began to murmur the magical words of the ritual that would kickstart the process.

Then three minutes later, there was a brief pause and a small pulse of light appeared around the stone deep in the hole. Lara looked down, bandaged her hand, and reached for the shovel to cover the first cornerstone with specially prepared soil. As she was finishing up and stomping down the soil, she had an idea… Reaching into her inventory, she plucked out a seed from some tree that somehow found its way into there.

She leaned down, pushed the seed into the ground, watered it from her waterskin, and patted it gently.

"Go and grow into a mighty tree!" She straightened out, cracked her spine pleasantly after the shoveling, and headed for her office. She had dozens of new notifications to go through. Lara was safely ensconced in her office, Dan off doing something with magic, and the rest of the guild doing their usual jobs. She opened her system screen and quickly began to sort through, looking for the important ones. A few minutes later, she was grinning from ear to ear. [You placed the cornerstone for your first mega project!] [You were successful!] [You gained the title, Mega Architect!] [Mega Architect: You are an architect working on a mega project. And everybody knows the most important part of any project is the logistics. Decrease the chance of logistics failing by 5%!] [Thanks to your connection to the cornerstone and the burgeoning wards you gained the skill, Construction Overview!] [Construction Overview: Level 0/100 (0%) You have a sense of the constructions. As the construction is happening you get feelings about errors, faults, and future problems. The higher the skill level, the bigger the chance you will sense these things.] [You destroyed a lot of forested areas due to your ambitions, but have taken the first step to heal the world!] [You gained a quest!] [Green world, brown world!] [You harmed the world with your plans, but you also understand that what you take, you must also return. Make sure to leave the world a better place than you found it. Or not. It's up to you…] If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. [Time Limit: Until the construction is finished] [Reward:???] [Penalty:???]"Well, that does not sound ominous at all…" she murmured as she read and reread the odd quest she got. Then she shrugged.

"Eh, who cares? We always planned to build a green city…" The titan was terrifying, but Lucrecia knew that the loyal soldiers of her father would protect her, and even before that, her beloved was surely out there, making sure that the titan stomping around and causing quakes with each lumbering step would be taken down. Even though there was a very clear danger to her, her surroundings, and hell, even Ironwood, she still wanted to see the fight.

Thus, ignoring all the protestations from her guards, she took Fortuna and began hiking toward a spot she knew would have a good overview of the quarry as they had used it before to survey the land. To her pleasant surprise, she found the wise visage of Master Fitzgerald already standing there, while not far from them a gaggle of adventurers from her knight's guild were standing guard, watching the battle of titans and also – presumably – watching out for other dangers.

"Master Fitzgerald," she greeted him with a curtsy befitting his station, then turned her attention to the battle, trying to find one specific person.

"Miss… Silvercrest," came the reply, accompanied by a pleasant smile as the man nodded at her. Now that she had a moment to observe the older gentleman, Lucrecia had to say that the man was rather handsome. The salt and pepper hair gave him a distinguished air that she saw sometimes on older nobles when she accompanied her parents to some of those balls she had hated with passion. And with the intense look on his face as he observed the battle, Lucrecia had to say, it was doing things to her.

Not as much as her knight in shining armor, but well… a girl was free to look around. Then, before her thoughts could wander around, she was distracted by a giant explosion in the battle. At first, she was elated, as no matter what her mother said, giant explosions were the best, but then she had a moment to notice that a fragment of the stone exoskeleton was flying straight at their position, the explosion accelerating it to extreme speed.

She, and the surrounding people, had maybe a moment to blink, then the fragment of material exploded once again, against a slightly shimmering shield, filled with a countless number of rapidly appearing, disappearing, and shifting runes. Lucrecia woodenly turned her head to the side to see Master Fitzgerald standing, with the same serious look on his face, but one of his hands outstretched and shining with the same light as the spell that saved her.

She had to swallow and could feel her legs shaking as she slowly realized how close she came to becoming a small smear on the cliffs. The Runemaster stepped over to her and offered his arm with an understanding smile.

"Come now, dear. I think it would be best if we moved to some more defensible place." She could only nod as she thankfully grabbed onto the offered appendage. They had been walking for a few seconds already when she managed to find her voice.

"T-thank you, M-master Fitz-gerald for…" she managed to stutter out before the man interrupted her.

"Call me Lauren, dear. And it was no trouble. After all, I was standing in the same spot…" She gave him a hesitant smile.

"O-of course, Lauren. Thank you for saving us, then," she declared with a little more force as she found her courage returning.

"Pray tell, how you managed to accomplish this deed?" Master Fitzgerald, or Lauren, looked at her with an impish smile that caused some remnant butterflies in her stomach to do some acrobatic moves and began to speak.

"Well, fundamentally, it was no different from conjuring a shield, all I did was…" As the man continued to explain things, there was only one thing going through Lucrecia's mind.

'Oh no, he is hot…'

"What do you mean you can't find him? You have his account name and general description! Hell, you even know where his guild headquarters is!"

"Yes, well, we can't really get into the headquarters…"

"And? You must have sources, right?"

"Well, yes, but they are expensive."

"So? This is about achieving the first level one hundred! Just the prestige alone…"

"That means you're going to pay my expenses?"

"Yes, yes! Get on with it!"

"Fine. My sources told me that he left the headquarters almost immediately."

"What? You knew that all the time and didn't tell me?!"

"I want to know if you were willing to pay for it…"

"Unbelievable… Anyway, where did he go?"

"Fucking vanished like a fart in the wind. We tried to follow him, but he has too many skills or artifacts to hide himself."

"What about bugging him or placing a tracking spell on him?"

"All of them failed so far."

"Divination?"

"Either images of total destruction of the world or fluffy bunnies frolicking…"

"What?"

"That was my reaction too. So I made sure to level up my scrying skills. Checks out."

"What the hell is that guy?"

"It's Solar. Probably the richest guy in the Emerald Kingdom and the top ten on the entire continent. Leads the AFK Company, owns the Heavenly Forest, and co-leads the Chrysalis guild. There are rumors that he is the backer behind SummerRose. Silent Step hates him. The government in the Emerald Kingdom loves him."

"What? He is behind SummerRose? The crystal chick?"

"Our analysts extrapolated that based on his ability to collect extreme talent, and the fact they saw SummerRose walking around with Solar's chief assassin…"

"That…fucker. How does he do it? Have we tried to report him for cheating?"

"Three hundred and seventy-two times just this month."

"And?"

"We were told if we don't stop, they're going to ban us."

"Holy fuck… So, is he like a plant by the company?"

"Well…"

"What's the hesitation?"

"Look, I had to burn a favor for this, so you're going to be paying for this info."

"Fine, fine, just get on with it!"

"I contacted a friend who knows somebody – you know how it goes – and they checked if Solar works for Future Unknown."

"Holy shit! You have friends like that?"

"Had. As I said, I had to burn a favor for this."

"What was the answer?"

"A first strike warning on all of our accounts and a strongly worded legal letter telling us that Solar is in no way or shape affiliated with Future Unknown."

"That's…"

"I know…"

"But you know… that still doesn't help us find him."

"Do you think I don't know that?"

"What now?"

"Canvass the area?"

"The entire Emerald Kingdom? What if he left it?"

"We could outsource it to Silent Step. They already hate him for some reason…"

"No thanks. You're already too expensive. I don't want to explain to my boss why I spent this year's intelligence budget on one briefing."

"My savings account thanks you."

"I hate you."

"What the hell? How did he suddenly jump to ninety-nine and now he managed to get to one-hundred-and-one?"

"He must be cheating!"

"The forums are already full of people complaining!"

"What about the company?"

"They put out a statement congratulating Solar and everybody who participated. They closed down the event, but they also stated they were planning to do similar events later for newer players or new characters."

"So they are ignoring the cheating allegations?"

"Totally?"

"You know what this means?"

"Hell yeah! We get to make another drama video!"

"Oh yeah! I had my eyes on a new car!"

"How is the Forward Team?"

"They're a bit depressed…"

"Can't really blame them. We spent so much effort and material to make sure their farming wasn't interrupted to see them being defeated like that…"

"What do you want to do?"

"Put out a hit on Solar."

"We already put out three. With all the others I know about, there are at least two hundred separate hits on the guy."

"Don't care. Put out a hit and advertise it. Our guild won't take this lying down!"

"As you wish. What about the Forward Team?"

"Give them a week off and then they can continue. We need those upgrades."

"They already told me they would refuse any break. If they can't be the first, they still want to be in the top ten. The list on the website wasn't deactivated…"

"Really?"

"Yes, sir."

"That means there are still things up for grabs…"

"It seems so…"

"Good. Tell the team good luck and have the rest of the guild focus on shielding them. I don't want any accidents. Understood?"

"Sir, you wanted to be notified when the event ended." He looked over at the man reporting to him, idly wondering what his children were doing, before nodding. The man, understanding the unsaid instruction, began talking.

"Solar jumped to ninety-nine after the battle with the spider titan, then vanished from our observation teams."

"And he reached a hundred just in this short time?" he asked, slightly incredulously. He had, after all, seen the math. That was not a small amount of experience points. The man, however, shook his head.

"Oh?"

"He immediately jumped to one hundred-and-one."

"How curious…"

"Yes, sir. Our researchers think that the upgrade happens not at one hundred but at hundred-and-one. That's why Solar went directly there."

"Why?" he asked, confused. Even with his sparse experience with video games – mostly from his youth – he knew that level one hundred was one of the most significant and traditional numbers to…

"Oh, so that's why. The developers are making fun of the players."

"That's what we thought, too. The highest leveled teams have already been informed. Do you want to do something with this information, sir?" He waved his hand dismissively.

"No need. No doubt people are going to realize this."

"Should we inform…"

"No need," he repeated himself.

"I'm sure Katherine already knows and she would tell my son as soon as she found an opportune moment."

"I see, sir. What about Solar?"

"Just put out another hit on him. Then forget about him for a moment. Focus on leveling up. I want to know how the upgrades work!"

"Yes, sir!" The entire operation room was silent as many people, some who had no need (or even permission) to be there, watched as one of the most famous – or if you asked select people, infamous – players started on the path of ascension. While there were several screens that showed the player from all sorts of angles, there were many more that were streaming every kind of data about the change. There were occasional wows and exclamations, but the silence permeating the room was almost total.

In the middle of this tense atmosphere was one of the lead developers who was in charge of the security of the game. One of his hands was gripping a coffee mug that totally didn't contain coffee and the other was clenched in a fist so tight that the fingers were turning white.

"Selene," he muttered as the face of the AI appeared near him on a screen and gave him a questioning look.

"Set up a meeting with him."

"I'm afraid that's against the rules."

"Not even with… that?" he asked, gesturing generally at the multitude of screens on the wall, in the cubicles, on the floor, and even the ceiling.

"We have been over this. He is not cheating."

"Nothing?" he asked, voice tinged with desperation.

"Not even a tiny itty-bitty little bit? With a cherry on top?" Selene rolled her digital eyes but stayed silent for a moment, indicating she was running some kind of software.

"No outside connection. No active connection to any known high-risk parties. No active communication with anybody. Tapped communication lines reported nothing beyond active interest in experience hunting. The gaming pod is in nominal status. His alterations to the settings have been examined and pose no risk to the game. Background check is still negative," she rattled off before her voice changed to slightly mischievous.

"Albeit, no checks for psychic, magical, or alien powers have been performed so we can't disregard those possibilities. The current chance of Player Solar to be cheating is less than 3%, which includes such things as actual alien intervention, coordinated dimension fuckery, and the fact he is a wizard." She let that hang in the silence for a moment before continuing.

"Based on all available data we can confidently say he is not cheating." He stayed silent, processing the information before opening his mouth again.

"But are you really sure?" Selene glared at him.

"Sir, if you don't stop with this line of questioning, I will be forced to recommend you for psych eval!" He snorted.

"Damn, that fucker!" However, in his haste, he turned his attention back to the many screens dotting the room from Selene's grinning visage.

"You distracted me! What the hell is he doing now?" One of the people sitting at their desk spoke up.

"Er, sir, it seems, he somehow managed to figure out how to direct the process to acquire…" he explained, the last few words drowned by the murmur that broke out upon hearing his explanation.

"Speak louder, man!"

"As I said, sir. He managed to get a Perfect Mana Core!" Instantly, the room was silenced.

"C-can you repeat that?"

"He…uhm, managed to get a Perfect Mana Core?" came the hesitant answer.

"Selene!"

"Yes?"

"What percentage did we set Perfect Core at?"

"According to the database, the chance of anyone acquiring a Perfect Core is a maximum one percent based on their actions, skills, and mana control."

"Then how in the nine hells did that fucker manage to get one? As the first person to do this? With no experience? And apparently, by not cheating?"

"That one percent is only if they are hands-off with the process as you know…" came the explanation from the artificial intelligence.

"If they manage to trigger the 'prompts' during the 'cutscene' then it can be more than one percent."

"Don't tell me…"

"He managed to hit almost all the triggers. Enough to raise the chance to over eighty percent." Instantly, there were many exclamations around the room as people were going over the data and seeing what players would need to do to reach that kind of percentage.

"Are we super-duper sure that the fucker didn't cheat?"

"It seems, he is a natural, sir."

"I hate you."

"And I relish it. The boys down in the lab are going crazy from the readings they got from the guy," replied Selene without missing a beat.

"They think they can refine the entire function thanks to him."

"Which would mean what?"

"Increased efficiency, sensation feedback, and control. Which in turn would lead to more people managing to get mana control to a higher level." He just grumbled.

"Currently, our research shows that around seventy-five percent of the player base is compatible with the mana system. Of that, only fifty percent can activate it properly. Of that, only one percent does things like Solar does. According to the smart people that seventy-five could be raised as high as ninety."

"I hate that fucker… Even when he fucks with us, he helps our company."

"Something like that, sir. The rewards for the event were already sent out." She told him as he continued to grumble.

"But anticipating your desires, I added a disguised small glitter bomb to it." Instantly, his head snapped at the nearest screen.

"Really?" he asked, his eyes moistening.

"Yes," Selene nodded with an exasperated smile. The man's smile grew and he clasped his hands together.

"You know I love you, right?"

"I relish it, sir."