Markets and Multiverses (A Serial Transmigration LitRPG)

<Have they responded to our presence, or are they just talking?> asked Anise.

<It looks like they're talking right now. I imagine they're reporting what happened,> I said.

<Do they have another Mark, or something else that shields them from the laws of reality here?> asked Felix.

<I see another couple Marks. It looks like they have three in total. One of them is held by the strongest-looking soul, and then there is one backup on the second strongest, and a final one hidden in an average-looking member's backpack. If the scavengers already heard about our original attempt to deal with them, I doubt the one in the leader's possession is going to be easy to steal.>

My friends frowned, and I also fell into thought. Removing the Mark and letting the Market handle our enemies was the easiest way to deal with a larger force. It didn't risk any of my friends, and it allowed us to remain mostly safe. The only real point of danger was when we were fleeing from the people we had stolen from - but since my portals allowed us such a massive range for 'pickpocketing,' we had still been very safe.

However, now the enemy knew exactly what we might try, I was worried. Opening a portal where one end was right in front of us, and the other end was right next to a guy with a laser pistol and heroic-grade {Shooting} just seemed like a poor decision. I had a sneaking suspicion that no matter what kind of portal I tried to use to remove the marks, the heroic-grade gunner would have a way to deal with it.

On the other hand, we couldn't give up, either. The splinter of tree bark was too important to us. If it was a high enough grade of crafting material, than even if Felix could barely make use of it, it would provide us with a real chance. We hadn't seen very many members of the Market during our time here, and I was willing to bet that a big part of that was due to the power of whatever guardian protected the ability to purchase more lives. An overwhelmingly powerful item could single-handed give us a chance to succeed - or if we were lucky, it might completely turn the situation around, turning the impossible into the possible and directly crushing the guardian.

We needed this material. I had no idea whether we would get a second chance at this, so we had to take the opportunity in front of us. However, with a heroic grade shooter barring our path, I couldn't see an easy way forward.

Finally, after several seconds, Felix was the one to break the silence in our communication bracelet conversation.

<We could try setting a bunch of traps, in order to test the abilities of the Heroic Grade skill user?> said Felix. <I think a big issue is that we don't even know how strong Heroic-Grade skill users are. At the end of the day, none of us have ever reached heroic grade before - at least, not during any of the lives we remember. Similarly, at least as far as I know, we haven't encountered any people with a heroic grade Skill. I'd be willing to bet that some of the more powerful monsters we've encountered, such as the Eye from Anise's world, had heroic-grade skills… but those were also creatures with very different biological abilities than humans. Furthermore, some of them, such as the Eye, certainly had abilities far, far beyond heroic grade. We don't even have a reference point for what might work against this guy, and what might get us counterattacked and killed. I doubt the traps will really accomplish anything - but at the very least, it'll help us test the abilities of the strongest scavenger. That's valuable in and of itself.>

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<That's a good point,> I said. <We really don't know enough. We can't even formulate a proper strategy to deal with the Heroic-Grade if we don't know what he's capable of. Traps are a good way to run some tests without exposing us to direct counterattacks.>

<I think our situation isn't as bad as it looks, either,> said Sallia, after a few more seconds of contemplation. <There are a lot of different skills that can reach Heroic grade in the multiverse, and some of them are definitely more scary than others. My Master-grade swordsmanship ability still gives me less power than my keyword ability after its most recent evolution. I think this is a good sign. From all of the other weapon-related skills we've seen during our various lives, I think we can safely infer that weapon-related skills are much weaker than skills and abilities related to primary magic systems.>

I smiled. Sallia's words made sense. It really did seem like among heroic-grade enemies, this one was the least threatening type we could face. Heroic-grade shooting was still terrifying, but if our enemy had access to some sort of heroic version of my extinguish spell and soul-sight, our group would have already been wiped out.

<So we're going with traps. Miria, can you give me an update on what they're doing?>

<They're still talking. It looks like some of them are sitting down. I think they might be having a strategy meeting, just like us,> I said. <It also looks like the four injured scavengers are getting medical treatment. Their candles of life are getting stronger at a visible pace. I can't tell whether they're using technology or magic to heal up, but either way, they'll be ready to move again in a few hours. Not as fast as my healing spells, but still quite effective.>

<Let's assume the enemy will only move out once the four we ambushed are healed up,> said Felix. <That gives me a few hours to design some traps. Sallia, Anise - can the two of you run to the kitchen hall we found earlier, and then grab me absolutely everything that looks useful? I want to get as much variety as possible, since we're trying to find weaknesses, not commit all of our resources to one type of trap yet. Miria, stay with me and use your soul sight. You're definitely the best at long-range scouting in our group, and I don't want the scavengers to come attack me while I'm working on my traps. Also, can the four of you find a few electronics? If this is a school, I imagine that at least some of the students from the Universal tree brought gadgets or other bits of technology into the area. If possible, I'd like cameras, or some other way to observe exactly what happens when the scavengers enter our trap field. Even though Miria can use her spatial sight to spy on them as well, I'd prefer to have a backup plan, just in case they disrupt her spatial sight. They could disrupt electronics, too… but I'm at least hoping they'll miss one type of surveillance.>

Once we had a solid plan, we got to work. Felix decided to trap the hallway that led from the ball room to the dorms. The scavengers, for their part, moved into the dorms, disappearing from my view. I was a bit uneasy about the fact that I had totally lost sight of our enemies, but at the very least, it meant that they should have a harder time noticing us, too.

We spent the next two hours setting up traps. Anise and Sallia constantly moved through some of the corridors and rooms connected to the ball room. They scavenged old classrooms, labs, kitchens, and other long-defunct chunks of the school for any part that Felix could use. With more time and resources at his disposal, Felix actually managed to whip up several decent traps. Each one targeted different weaknesses. Even more importantly, I couldn't detect most of Felix's traps, despite my Skill that specifically helped me locate traps.

An hour and a half later, we finished setting up our trap field. After that, we fled to the ball room, and positioned ourselves right next to one of the other hallways. If need be, we could play a game of hide and seek with the scavengers, since Sallia and Anise had mapped out at least a few of the hallways in most directions during their scavenging.

Two hours later, true to our earlier assumptions, the Heroic grade cultivator and the other scavengers stepped out of the dorms and back into the hallways. I held my breath as I watched them move around… but luckily, the began walking towards the hallway Felix had just spent the last hour trapping.

Soon, the scavengers approached our trap area, and I started to smile.

It was time to see what made Heroic grade so special.