Chapter 186: I Try to Find the Truth, But That’s Your Hiding Place (1/2)

The city of Jayapura featured a vast mirage chamber complex that was larger and more sophisticated than the Geller family’s private chamber. The higher magical density of Jayapura meant that more advanced magical effects could be used and supported. This included potent dimensional magic that allowed the replication of vast spaces, as well as multiple, concurrently-operating chambers in the same complex.

In addition to hiring out spaces for training, It was the premier entertainment space in the city. Essence users would pit themselves against one another or illusionary challenges, all for the entertainment of a paying audience. This produced more than enough funding for the frequent upgrades and regular maintenance required of a top-tier facility.

The organisation that owned and operated the chamber had close ties with the Magic Society, Adventure Society and local government. Important for both the amenities and the revenue it provided the city, the Mirage Chamber Association enjoyed significant power and influence within Jayapura.

Rather than a dome, the mirage chamber was a flat, circular building at the edge of the Mystic Quarter. Very large, it spilled into the adjacent theatre district, which was appropriate enough. Most people came looking for entertainment, rather than to use the facilities for themselves.

“There are whole essence user teams who never become adventurers,” Hester explained as they arrived. She had met up with them after they were done at the Magic Society, leading them to the site of their evening’s entertainment. They joined the crowd likewise heading in through the large public entrances.

“They make all their money here in the arena, and use monster cores to rank up.”

“They can make enough money for that?” Belinda asked.

“They have competition leagues here at the arena,” Hester explained. “Teams facing off against one another all year, leading up to the grand championships. There are two leagues a year, in silver, bronze and iron divisions. Obviously, silver is the big draw, with the largest following and the biggest prizes.”

“No gold division?” Neil asked.

“Even with the money running through here, getting to gold rank using monster cores is a tough ask,” Hester said. “They just don’t have the numbers to make a gold division, which is why the handful of professionals successful enough stop using cores before they hit gold. Being at the peak of silver keeps them at the top of their game.”

“And because they used monster cores to get there,” Jason realised, “they’re well-past their abilities advancing through regular use and training.”

“Exactly,” Hester said. “They keep going until silver-rank longevity is no longer enough, at which point they retire and make their way to gold for the extended life span. This whole place is run by former participants who are all gold rank, now.”

“Is this common practice in big cities?” Jason asked.

“It is,” Humphrey said. “I’ve travelled to a number of large cities and seen the same thing in each.”

“Is it all PvP, or do they mix it up?” Jason asked.

“PvP?” Hester asked.

“Hot adventurer-on-adventurer action,” Jason clarified.

“There are three events, but the big one is the team-against-team arena battles,” Hester said. “They’re fast and exciting, with plenty of powers flying around. There’s also monster hunts, but they aren’t as popular. That tends to bring in competitors who are also active adventurers, but people prefer to see people go up against one another. Lastly is team conflict again, but in larger, more complex environments, with roaming monsters. It’s a slower, more complicated event that doesn’t interest the public as much. It mostly gets attention from the professional adventurer crowd.”

They went inside with the crowd but instead of the large viewing rooms for the general public, a member of the area staff took them upstairs to a private viewing box. It was a large lounge, with a front wall made of dark, impenetrable glass. Luxurious chairs and couches were arrayed in front of it and several low tables were filled with food and drinks.

“Aside from the more comfortable environs,” the staff member explained, “these private rooms differ from the public areas in that you can choose what you want to be looking at any given time. Any event, any division, any match, at your leisure. The projector is controlled from the tablet on the table there, which can also be used to order any food or drink you might want from our comprehensive selection and it will be brought right up.”

“Who do we pay for the snacks?” Neil asked her.

“All costs are included with the room,” the attendant told him.

“Then how are Clive and Belinda going to pay for them?”

“Us?” Belinda asked.

“Clearly you lost the bet,” Neil said.

“No way,” Belinda argued. “‘Mine is the shadow of death’ is way worse than the other chant.”

“You’re clearly wrong. The other one talked about killing gods. Gods!”

“It didn’t mention doing it personally. Don’t forget about that ‘final road to the end of all things’ bit.”

Clive went up to reassure the attendant, who was starting to look a little nervous.

“Don’t worry,” Clive assured her. “They’re just talking about our friend’s new familiars. We’ll be fine here; you can go.”

“Honestly,” Sophie said as she left, “The blood-drinking apocalypse beast is more sinister than either of them. I bet that incantation was the worst of the lot…”

The attendant hurried out, closing the door behind her.

“Am I mistaken,” Neil said, his eyes glued to the viewing screen, “or are these people really good. As in, really, really good.”

“They’re good,” Humphrey confirmed.

They were watching one of the iron-rank monster-hunt events, where teams would take turns hunting identical monsters in identical circumstances and be judged on their performance.

“How do you think we would stack-up against teams like this?” Clive asked.

“Poorly,” Jason said. “These people are at the top of their game in a city with a lot of game to climb over to get there. They’re obviously practised and work effectively together. My guess would be that they’re all closing in on bronze rank.”

“They are,” Hester said. “These are the best Jayapura has to offer and they are, indeed, closing in on bronze rank.”

“We’ll get there,” Humphrey said. “Training and experience, that’s all it is.”

“The only people on our team operating at this level right now,” Jason said, “are Humphrey and Neil. The rest of us have our strengths, but also critical flaws. Clive has been out of the game a long time and his power set is all about judging the circumstances and picking his moments. It’s the kind of thing only experience can improve. The same goes for Belinda but even more so, given she’s been an essence user for about an hour. She isn’t even ready for the Adventure Society field test.”

“We’ll get you there, Lindy,” Sophie assured her friend.

“Yes, we will,” Jason said. “Wexler has skills to match anyone out there but has too many abilities she hasn’t had a chance to get a handle on, yet. The same is true for all of us, to a degree. As for me, my power set doesn’t give me the margin of error Humphrey’s or Neil’s do, with armour and self-shields. I can be dropped in one hit if I get blind-sided and I’ve only been in this world half a year. I still have a lot of blind spots where the rest of you would see danger coming.”

“So, all those people who went into the astral space with us,” Clive said. “They were all this good?”

“No,” Hester said. “These people we’re watching today have already fulfilled whatever potential they had. When I was selecting people for the Reaper trials, Emir had me looking at unfulfilled potential. These people here are good, but the people who went through the trials have at least the potential to be as good or better.”

“And we beat them all,” Sophie said with satisfaction.

“That was luck,” Jason said. “Sigrid was almost as fast, and she wasn’t the only one to jump through that final ring.”