I looked at the list and decided the only things I wouldn’t enable were cutting my level beyond one-half or removing my armor. Further deleveling still seed too risky to win the fight. If I screwed up and didn’t have any of my added resistance and shielding, I risked burning my brain out for nothing. In a last-second change, I also realized I needed my vision. I had no idea how the shield worked, and I had a feeling I was going to need to see it. I took a deep breath and decided it was now or never.
“l, I’m going to press start in ten seconds,” I said, starting the countdown in my head.
“Good, don’t screw this up and ruin all my plans before they even really start,” l said. Ignoring the burning curiosity of just what the man was planning, I instead hit start on the wasp dungeon and saw the lava flash around briefly before my new shell popped into existence.
I imdiately put my new shield magic into use, and while I couldn’t see it, I could feel it. My stone cocoon was rapidly cooling. Before it had a chance to fully harden, I rapidly flexed and shook my body enough to break so of it away and then slamd my wrist into the chunk on my face, breaking that off as well. I gulped down the strangely cool fresh air as the world around the shield was lightened from the magical energy that currently protected . I only had inches of space, but it felt like infinitely more oxygen than I had the last ti I did this.
I could make out so of the wasp queen's bodies pressed to the outside of the shield as they slowly lted away from view. For the first ti since starting these simulations, a thought arose in my mind. How real were these constructs? Did they feel pain? I hoped not. I didn’t need a new philosophical guilt on my mind.
I watched as my mana levels rapidly dropped. I knew it wasn’t the end of the world if I lost the shield, as I still would have my own regular defenses that would hold for a while longer, but that didn’t an the wasp queens didn’t, too. Just because the ones in front of were gone didn’t an that held true across the board. There were also the starvation and poison effects taking their toll on my body, but I didn’t think those were likely to beco a problem before I was burnt to a crisp anyway.
The tail, though, that was an odd sensory experience. It was like having a new limb with a single big finger. That likely ant it was prehensile, but it wasn’t like I had any experience to know that for sure. Would a zoologist be able to tell the difference from feel alone? I doubted it, as you’d generally need a personal basis to compare without an actual test.
Did my mind always wander so much as it waited for the possibility of death? I didn’t have the answer as this wasn’t sothing I had ever had a chance to experience back ho. All my near-death experiences had been incredibly recent, with no ti to waste pondering them before they had entirely passed. My life had certainly taken a strange turn.
I saw a large crack appear in the front of the shield. My mana was still over a quarter full, so the shield must have been quickly reaching the maximum damage it could handle. Could I just put up a second shield behind the first? It was too bad I hadn’t seen the original co to life. I wanted to know how it had drained the lava from around . Another crack appeared in the shield, and I decided it was now or never to try the second shield.
A film of pure mana seed to form around and then slowly grow out until it covered the inside of the nearly failed first attempt. With it ca a new burst of fresh air and a pleasant cooling feeling. I really liked this new mana orb. Was it possible to expand beyond the six I had in my system now? I know I had read about people with two orbs per slot. Was that a possible future for ? I had no idea, but if I wanted to push this experint as far as I could, I’d likely need to find out. Did I want to? Was that where my life would go once back on Earth?
A ssage popped into my view just as that thought ended.
Monsters Defeated
Wicked Wasp Queen x9,720
50 Experience
Experience Gained
486,000 Points
Multipliers Applied
No Weapon
x1.1
I Stand Alone
x1.5
All At Once
x1.5
So Many Bosses
x5
Even More Bosses
x10
5 or More Modifiers
x5
10 or More Modifiers
x10
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit for the authentic version.
Total Experience Gained
3,007,125,000 Points
Modifiers In Effect
Remove Weapon
x1.5
Randomize Starting Locations
x1.5
x2 Opponents
x1.5
x3 Opponents
x2
x4 Opponents
x2.5
x5 Opponents
x3
x2 Opponent’s Level
x1.5
x3 Opponent’s Level
x2
x4 Opponent’s Level
x4
x5 Opponent’s Level
x8
All Opponents are Bosses
x1.5
The Floor is Lava
x4
The Air is Lava
x8
The Walls are Lava
x2
Remove Sense: Auditory
x1.5
Random Mutation
x2
Poisoned
x2
Starving
x3
Lose 5 Levels Per Modifier
x19
Modified Total Experience Gained
479,827,450,080,000,000 points
My head scread in pain, and the blackness threatened to engulf . The sudden feeling of a thick liquid in my throat seed to force back into reality. It hadn’t done much for the pain, but I was at least aware. I could see a fuzzy form in front of , lifting sothing to my lips. I felt another liquid burn its way down my throat. This ti, my vision started to clear, and my head cald down enough for the sounds I was hearing to get through.
“Well, ya look like shit, but yer still alive, so I ain’t complaining,” l said. My head wasn’t sure it agreed with l’s claim. Was this really what being alive felt like?
Chip leapt onto my lap as l forced another bottle of liquid down my throat. Between the two of them, I felt my mana finally start to fill back up in my body. Movents were becoming easier again. The pain hadn’t gone down much, but I knew if I could get enough mana back into my system, I could switch on the Pain Managent.
“Don’t think I can do that again,” I managed to cough out the words as the world started to swim yet again. My body was fighting to use every bit of energy as fast as it could be replenished. The searing pain within my chest refused to die down. If I didn’t know better, I’d assu this was a heart attack. Then again, who said it wasn’t on top of everything else?
“Yeah, yeah, stop yer bellyaching and work on getting yer recovery skills turned on. Start with regeneration, do not waste any mana on killing the pain just yet; first, we need to get ya past the point of dying,” l said, forcing so of the food from earlier into my mouth. Forcing it down my throat was a herculean task in my current state, but down it went.
I enabled regeneration and sohow felt my body scream in agony while simultaneously feeling parts of my brain start to reattach. Things I didn’t realize had broken were coming back together. The room was in color now, a thing that hadn’t even been a concept for to realize was missing only monts ago, had returned. I lifted my arm and reached for the plate of food near l, grabbing several things resembling sandwiches. I forced them down in large gulps. I was gaining more mana than I was losing, finally.
“Okay, I think I might be in the clear now,” I said, this ti managing to do so without a single cough.
“Good, if ya can do it, go check what level ya managed to hit,” l said.
I closed my eyes again and swallowed, trying to clear my throat. I then brought back up the mobile interface. I opened my status, and imdiate joy swept over my body. The newest near-death experience had been worth it. I had been pushed to level two hundred and fifty. I hadn’t gone any further, but for now, this was all l had wanted. Just before I closed my status screen, a new option caught my eye.
Fortify Core
“l, what does fortify core an?” I asked.
“So ya hit two fifty then? Perfect, that is exactly what we needed ta do,” l said, explaining nothing.
“That didn’t remotely answer my question,” I said in return, a little annoyed he hadn’t just told already. I was growing tired of whatever secrets the man was holding, whether he thought they were for my own good or not.
“Right, I suppose ya do deserve an answer. Boys, you know anything about core fortification?” l yelled to the Twinoges.
“No, what’s that?” Elicec asked.
“Yeah, didn’t think ya would. It’s not a thing most newbies live ta see anymore, but it’s not strictly an Arena topic, so yer in luck. Ya already know that ya ain’t stuck with the core grade it starts at. What ya don’t know is how exactly the process ta move up a grade works. Well, what ya gotta do essentially is get yerself enough added power through levels so that ya can reinvest it all back into yer core,” l said.
“Wait, what happens to the levels?” I asked, interrupting his speech.
“They’re gone,” l said.
I have witnessed a core graded lower than F, I did not know it was even possible, nor how the poor creature had managed so pitiful a core. Had I not seen it with my own eyes, I’d have never believed it possible. How did this core co to exist? Would the creature even be capable of progressing past the first-level gate? I wished I had more ti to study it, but as with many new to the Spiral, they quickly t their end in an ill-advised Arena match.
System Paths, Careers in the Spiral by Glarppp
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