Chapter 446: The Hayner Clan (1/2)

The mental defense skills available to either of his classes were of no help against the Splinter. For example, [Indomitable] formed a formidable wall around Zac's soul, but it didn’t help when the threat was already a part of him. The [Nine Reincarnations Manual] might help, but he still hadn’t found anyone who could create the second Array Disk required to practice it. Having just one of the arrays was useless, and he couldn’t even begin to practice the first reincarnation.

The Fragment of the Bodhi did seem to be able to stabilize the situation somewhat at least, just like his Seed of Trees had constrained the Draugr-bloodline that had been implanted in him. It was a losing battle though, and it was probably only a matter of time before something went wrong.

The only solution that Zac could think of for the moment was to keep the energies in check best he could, and hopefully he’d find something to use during the last day that had been allocated for the Base Town. Or perhaps he was worrying over nothing and his soul would slowly grind down the infected parts since the main body of the Splinter was still locked away in its cage.

Thirty minutes quickly passed as Zac almost went into a trance-like state where he tried using his new fragment to the utmost while absorbing E-Grade Miasma Crystals and Healing Pills. Some fresh hell was no doubt waiting outside his special zone, and he needed to be at his best.

He was still far from top condition, but it should be enough for him to survive the initial chaos and properly rest somewhere else. He would have rather stayed inside the black dimension for a few more hours, but the whole zone had started to shudder, indicating that it was time to leave.

The problem was what reward to choose, as all of them were extremely tempting. He knew that evolution of the weapon wasn't something as simple as an upgrade from Middle to Peak E-Grade, but it was rather more akin to a bloodline evolution of a beast. It might provide Verun with a matching attunement to his own, or swap out the materials with ones of far higher quality.

The somewhat humble origins of his axe hadn’t been a problem so far, but it would sooner or later start to fall behind, or even get stuck in a bottleneck. It needed fortuitous encounters just like himself, and this was a great opportunity to improve his companion to something with greater potential. It would probably also help during the final remainder of the climb, and he would need every advantage he could get.

As for the Specialty Core Upgrade, it spoke for itself. He already had the [Pathfinder Oracle Eye] in his possession, so it was not completely needed in his case. But the eye was an amazing treasure that could be used for almost anything it seemed, and upgrading his core this way would free up the treasure for other uses.

As for upgrading Port Atwood to a World Capital, Zac wasn’t as clear what it would entail. It would no doubt come with a slew of advantages to his force in general, and it would probably also give him some sort of title for being the one who founded the capital after integration. It would provide access to all kinds of new businesses and other beneficial buildings as well since it was a common requirement in the Town Shop to have the World Capital.

Indecision gnawed at him for a minute, but he knew he couldn’t stall forever. His eyes eventually went to the middle option, and he picked the Duplicity Core upgrade. His reason was simple; his core was a unique mutation, and there were no guarantees the eye would be able to upgrade it even if he ate if after evolving.

Meanwhile, the System termed it as an upgrade, and there shouldn’t be any chance of the upgrade failing. Evolving Verun would have been nice as well, but Verun was ultimately a pretty common Spirit Tool, and finding other opportunities to improve it shouldn’t prove impossible. Even his Pathfinder-Eye could upgrade the Spirit Tool if need be.

Besides, Verun was still keeping up at his current power without a problem, especially after he had managed to light up another fractal on its handle. He would probably need to reach level 100 or so before the axe started to fall behind.

As for the World Capital, he had great confidence in accomplishing that on his own, provided that he didn’t get himself killed first. Taking that option would ultimately only speed up the process, and he felt it wasn’t worth it. It would perhaps have given him a better title for getting the World Capital while still in F-Grade, but he wasn't lacking for titles.

The choice was made, so Zac waited for him to be teleported to the start of the 8th floor. But nothing happened for a few seconds until a startling change took place in the empty space. A densely inscribed circle appeared beneath his feet, and it illuminated him in golden luster.

A volatile surge of energy entered his body the next moment, and Zac had to force himself to stay still instead of rolling around in pain. The colossal amount of power streamed straight toward his core, and he didn’t dare make a move in fear that he would ruin what was happening.

Who would have known that the system would force an upgrade immediately, rather than handing him some pill?

The pain thankfully only lasted for less than a minute, and Zac could only guess it wasn’t a big deal for the System to upgrade a simple F-Grade Specialty Core, even if it was a mutated version. Zac wanted to immediately inspect the upgraded Specialty Core, but the surroundings changed as he was teleported to the next world.

The massive Bulwark from [Immutable Bulwark] was conjured within a second of arriving as he hefted the somewhat restored [Everlasting], and [Indomitable] defended his mind from taking another hit. The cherry had worked wonders, but he guessed the soul was still a bit vulnerable after having almost crumbled to pieces.

It was lucky as well, as a massive blade slammed straight into his shield just as Zac appeared in the new world. A pained roar followed as [Deathwish] retaliated the strike. But even then he didn’t get any respite as his danger sense hollered in the back of his mind, forcing him to jump to the side as the air itself where he stood was ripped open.

[Seize the Hayner Clan’s defining treasure before the invaders.]

Zac sighed in disappointment even though he saw the quest was related to a defining treasure. He had been down this road before during the past floors, and he knew things weren’t so simple. First of all, he was thrown onto some desolate beach without any civilization nearby, and he had no idea where this Hayner Clan was located.

But that was just the start of his problems. Right behind him was a massive pillar that stretched into the sky, and one warrior after another appeared around him. The soldiers were immediately beset with attacks from a defending force that didn't ask any questions but rather tried to immediately kill anything that appeared.