Chapter 516: A mercenary group called Angry Kittens

The setup of the 7th floor is fairly interesting, especially since we can leave at any time. Taking into consideration there are two ??? rewards in the floor quest it surely means these rewards may even end up being 1 shard, knowing the system.

It’s been a week since we returned from our Beyond expedition and we’ve taken the time to gather enough information to know that we should be able to move and do stuff without much chance of a Champion rank monster popping up and killing us all in a single attack.

The event here isn’t even a Pairing, rather, a powerful Absolute grade monster apparently managed to move to this planet without the local Absolute noticing. And while I would like to bash the guy, this planet seems to be fairly new in the system and their Absolute hasn’t been around very long. With the enemy being more powerful than him, all he can do is to protect what territory hasn’t been taken by monsters and stop the monster Absolute from wiping it all clean.

There’s clearly more to it than that and I still have questions, but it’s nothing that would be available to lowly chumps like us.

Around 20-30% of the planet has been overrun by monsters, and that’s where we come in. Mercenaries are being hired from the surrounding planets to help in the battle against the unending horde. This planet seems to be a member of a coalition, making this response possible.

There are limits to it likely and the question comes to mind, why wouldn’t an Absolute from a different planet just come by and fuck up the invading monster, 2 Absolutes vs one? Is it because something like that would run the risk of destroying the planet? If so, wouldn’t that just make it easier for them to suppress the monstrous Absolute? Is there some rule forbidding it that the system enforces? Or would it be too much trouble for the average Absolute to bother?

Damn it, I want to know.

One day I will find some friendly Champion or Absolute and pull from them all the information I can. The kind of guy who would randomly spoil the ending of a book mid conversation without ever noticing. Then I will drag as much information from them as the system will allow.

And then I’ll be angry at myself for spoiling it all.

Yup, that’s how we roll.

Anyway, we’ve registered a mercenary group. We call it Angry Kittens.

I don’t have the energy to fight it anymore and sometimes I notice myself thinking of us as such. We made jokes, back on the 4th Floor, when we first created our guild, that Angry Kittens would rule over the Earth, but the more floors we pass the more likely it seems.

Part of me thinks it’s hilarious, but obviously, I can’t let it show. I have a reputation to uphold.

I’ve actually been in a good mood lately. What with the satisfying fight I had with Jean, my new class, making some breakthroughs, acquiring a new active skill and a new passive skill, and now I’ve unlocked another small reward just waiting for my decision. There are four amazing options waiting for me. This time, I won’t rush. This time, I’ll take my time to think it through and choose the one that elevates my build as much as possible.

Though these options did take the place of the 2nd Active skill my class would have granted me - I do still have to thank my class’s “unique” feature for allowing me to personalize my growth a bit more.

It also makes me wonder how the system will deal with the others when they reach level 300 if they don’t get offered a unique class. Will it give them something else? Will it pick on its own - or will they have options based on the performance of the attendee?

I know that even now there aren’t a lot of people who have 10 active skills. The average for someone around level 250 seems to be around 6-8 active skills. And group 4 is no exception, despite their high performance compared to most of the other Hell difficulty groups.

Is it just me collecting active skills like that? Are you supposed to be more careful about what you train to avoid filling your slots with unwanted skills? Do generations after the 1st, who have no idea what they’re doing, follow a more focused path of gaining skills to reach certain builds?

At this point, I’m sure of it. Every generation after the 1st will have the advantage of our advice.

We are the most talented people in our world, handpicked by the system to be future leaders, teachers, and protectors. Future possible Champions and Absolutes. With that come advantages - access to the system shop, more options to decide our paths. But there are also disadvantages like a lack of information and a higher potential to make mistakes that cannot be undone. Like filling slots with useless active skills, choosing unfitting traits, or opting for classes that don't suit you.

We’re essentially forced to rely on our natural talent to push us through, but overall I would say I prefer this over having information and a clear path to follow. It’s exciting, it’s more fun that way, and there’s always this great sense of exploration and adventure. Some of us even have access to Beyond where we have the opportunity to meet some of the people we share the system with, along with the chance to form future alliances, and take beyond quests to visit places out of the tutorial to collect these bits of information.

The setup is well executed, at least in my opinion, focused on growth, but damn, we’ve been here for almost 2 years, with the 2nd tournament just a few months away and I’m still thinking about this stuff. There just aren’t many clear answers.

Glancing at my lap I pet Biscuit who’s still pretending to be asleep anytime I’m nearby. He only moves around when I’m outside doing my training as if he thinks I don’t know.

I have no idea why he even bothers but I won’t complain.

Reaching down I boop his small nose and pull gently on his whiskers. I grab one of the ears and flop it around and then lean closer to blow into it weakly. Using kinetic energy I sense him trying to keep his hind leg from twitching in annoyance, so I repeat the action and give his belly a poke. The skin there is very soft, and it feels nice.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

As I bully him, I can sense more and more signs of annoyance through my kinetic senses.

Just when I have a feeling he will stop pretending and bark at me, I stop.

Refreshed, I close my eyes and appear back in my mind space, once more finding myself on the desert planet. Whitey’s already sitting at the top of the dune and looks down at the oasis below.

There, a young crippled demon is getting beaten by a girl a head shorter than him. She moves incredibly well for someone so young, attacking an older demon who has his hands full trying to keep his broken heart under control while using kinetic energy to move his damaged body. Over and over again he takes his beating, as the girl refuses to hold back and inflicts him with a number of bleeding wounds.

It takes five minutes, but she gets bored and leaves him there on the ground, unable to move, as the painful wounds cover his figure.

“You know what?” Whitey starts out of nowhere. “I always thought Jaen was much more talented than me. I thought she was strong as fuck and though it may seem pathetic now, I looked up to that tiny girl just a little bit.”

“You should’ve asked her to take you in as a disciple back then.”

“Oh, you think you’re so funny, don’t you, dickhead.” Whitey smirks, and I know I will pay for my comments during our sparing match.

Looking after Jaen he continues, “Seeing her now, like this, I realize how dumb I was.”

“Let me guess, she sucks at using kinetic energy.”

“Exactly. Some of it can be forgiven based on her age, but it’s irritating to see someone using the same two moves over and over and using them wrong. When our tutorial started she ended up in Hard difficulty and died in the 1st year. I never learned how.”

"Does it make you sad?"

"No. The weak die and the strong survive." Whitey says as he stands, brushing the sand from his clothes before settling into his stance.

I know this will be a tough fight. Whitey has been a lot more fired up lately after witnessing my fight with Jean through my memories.

Quickly sliding into a stance I face him.

As has become a habit for Group 4, we find ourselves in our small, sitting room. It’s a bit too cluttered for my taste with the twins and Min-Jae sitting near me on the couch and me in my manablock chair. The others have taken their own seats around the room and there are a bunch of mana stones loaded with information laid out on the table.

“So, every mercenary group received some form of pay even before they arrived on this planet - something to prod them into coming here,” Tess begins.

“Let me guess,” I ask, “We won’t be getting any of that because of the system’s settings.”

“Exactly.”

“Knew it.”

“We all did, Nat. That’s just how the system works. So, starting at that moment it’s up to mercenary groups to make themselves useful. Each gets registration and a 1 year entrance pass, with the chance to leave once a month during scheduled interplanetary teleportations.”

“I have a question.”

“Yes, Min-Jae?”

“Can we move to one of these planets? Stay there while ‘waves’ pass and reap the rewards?”

“There are a few ways that could play out,” Tess responds. “In the 1st scenario, the floor’s setup stops us from leaving that way. While in the 2nd we can leave but we can’t return and possibly end up on a peaceful planet stunting our growth and forcing us to leave for the 8th floor.”

“What if we could learn more that way? Gain some knowledge, that kind of thing?”

“It’s possible, but I personally would prefer to follow the default settings of the tutorial. So far it’s helped us progress in a number of ways on each floor. But if any of you want to try, we can come back to it and go on from there, what do you think?”

“Sounds reasonable!”

“Thank you, Min-Jae. So as I said, it’s up to us to make ourselves useful. We can go to one of the fronts, we can enter monster territory on our own, and hunt while getting paid for each kill, we can stay in the outposts and do things here like trading, crafting, training, and the like

She reaches out and picks up one of the mana stones, “There are 6 fronts. The 1st and 2nd are not recommended, Champion grade monsters appear there pretty often. The 5th isn’t really a good idea either, a monster of similar rank was spotted nearby. The 3rd front is doable but it’s also one of the most dangerous and it’s pretty close to the place where this planet’s Absolute and the Absolute monster clashed for the first time. The 4th front is having a lot of trouble with a myriad of weaker monsters. As for the 6th, it’s the newest so there’s not much information to be had about it.”

After looking through the stone for a bit longer, she sets it back on the table, “Healers are highly valuable here, so we could become Lily´s bodyguards and make our way through the fronts while getting paid for her healing. We could do something similar with Nat and have him make items to sell. Or we could combine those strategies.”

“It sounds good, but I’m worried that Nat didn’t say anything. He didn’t even try to suggest that we go to the 1st front to check out the Absolute monster or something equally ridiculous.” Dennis complains, pointing at me.

“I’m focused on training and improving my skills, I can level up on the front later when the floor’s difficulty increases and things go to shit.”

“Yeah, that sounds more like him,” Dennis says, turning to Tess. “You seem to have a plan.”

Tess smiles. “I do. There’s a rumor that Champion Feroy is coming to this outpost on his way to survey the newly opened 6th front. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind having a skilled healer as powerful as Lily and someone capable of creating mid-arcane items.”

Oh my, that’s more daring than I thought.

And Sophie seems to mirror my opinion. “Staying near a Champion? Like the ones we just escaped back on the 6th floor? You know, the assholes capable of destroying entire continents?”

“Yes, Sophie, exactly - someone that powerful, with plenty of knowledge and resources to spare,” Tess says, tapping on the table. “Apparently, he has a specialized team dedicated to maintaining his war armor. It’s called Exoria, and some of the technicians responsible for its creation just died on the battlefield. And now the ones who remain need assistants to take care of the smaller tasks. Getting that information and a means of contacting one of the technicians cost me materials worth ten thousand shards, but I feel like it was well worth it.”

My curiosity, which Tess had been carefully and deliberately stirring, finally reaches its peak, and I sit up straighter in my chair. “Tell me more about this Exoria.”

I know she has me right where she wants me, but I don’t care. This is far too interesting.