Monarch of Profound Toxin [Progression, LitRPG]

With the sudden appearance of one of the mythical X-ranked Awakened in the middle of Forest, despite the emergency situation that the possible reawakening of the Lord of the Moon had become and the numerous urgent matters that would follow, Eik's current primary objective, at least for now, was to ensure Chop's cooperation in the upcoming conflict.

It had only been a few hours since Chop had first revealed his identity but the news had already gone around like wildfire.

Numerous requests from various organizations, clans, civilizations, private individuals, guilds, and a multitude of other interested parties had already flooded Mission Central which had become the de facto host of the X-ranker during his collaboration with Eik and the Nidafjeld Alliance.

The administrators at Mission Central were working in high gear in order to have even a chance of responding to all of the communication heading their way. In addition to all of the requests for meetings with Chop, as well as offers of employment, naturalization to various nations, and much more, Mission Central was receiving a staggering amount of credits to be handed over to Chop with no strings attached.

No one except Eik, Andihar, and Gul really knew why this legendary figure whose existence had more or less been hallowed as one of the greatest warriors of the past now suddenly agreed to help out. It was obvious that they were all hoping to somehow match whatever Eik had offered the X-ranker to help and thus earn the man's aid for themselves.

Eik's identity as the creator of the Legendary Mystery Medicine was widely known at this point, so the assumption was likely that he had offered a number of the pills to the X-ranker as well as whatever other concoctions he might have thought up that hadn't been revealed to the public yet.

The amount of money Chop had received within a couple of hours alone was similar to the entire budget of a civilization. It probably wasn't an overstatement to call him the wealthiest individual in the Unified Mass. Nobody would have thought he only got one pill of Legendary Mystery Medicine in return for helping. They would be kicking themselves if they knew.

Chop had lived such an elusive life until then that few had even believed that he was still alive somewhere out there in the Unified Mass. And now that he had reappeared, he was the talk of the town—or the cosmos, rather.

"How does that mask work?" Eik asked the old man as they moved through Gimleh. A reverent Mikla had secured them passage to a more or less empty world from a random fracture hall in the city, allowing them to travel unbothered.

A mask which obscured his features and made it difficult to focus on his face sat firmly on his face, held fast by an unseen power.

Chop shrugged. "I don't have a clue how it works. I've had it for a long time though, and it seems to just work. I can't even remember where I got it, now that I think about it. As a matter of fact, I can't remember where I got most of my possessions."

"How can you not know how your own gadgets works? Aren't you an X-ranker who's supposed to know how everything works?"

"Oh, give me a break, lad," the man said and chopped the air with a hand. "My name is Chop. Chop. All I care to know about is my blade. Nothing else matters. If I have a good piece of metal to swing, that's all I need. I don't need to understand all this hocus pocus."

Eik chuckled but didn't make any further comments. They had made it a good distance away from the fracture hall holding the Earth portal by now but even here, there was a virtual horde of people in various uniforms and clearly associated groups. And the streets immediately in front of the fracture hall had been absolutely swarming with people hoping to gain admittance to Earth.

As supreme high-rankers, with one of them donning an identity-concealing mask, they hadn't had too many issues passing them.

"People go kind of crazy wherever you go, huh?" Eik noted

Eik had thought the demonstration of strength he had asked Chop for might be a couple of days in the future, but the old man had finished his seventeenth slice of cake, slapped his thighs with finality, and headed for the door, ready to get to it.

"It's one of the reasons why I don't really my identity to people," he said with a nod.

"I can imagine."

"Do you know how long it has been since anybody talked to me like how you're talking to me right now? Like, not with the hope that I will teach your son the sword, or enslave myself as your family's guardian for some kind of meaningless sum of money. You just think I'm some old fart. It's pretty refreshing."

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Eik chuckled. "Well, you're right that I do think you're a weird old geezer. But you did agree to fight for us."

"Yeah, but… that's different, you know."

"Do I?" Eik asked with a smirk and a raised brow.

"All right, smartass. If you want me to say screw it and leave, all you had to do was ask me."

Eik stomped the ground and stopped briefly to perform a half-hearted military salute. "Sir, I would never say such a thing. Your reverent presence here is one that fills me with near uncontrollable awe and relief."

"For how much you've achieved since Awakening, I would have thought you would be better at groveling in front of your betters," Chop grinned.

"That's never been my thing. And who are you to call yourself my better? Who do you think made that cake you worshipped back in the café?"

Chop actually did look surprised at that. "That was your creation? Master alchemist and master baker, I see. Most impressive. I suppose I will have to retract my insults then."

"I will happily accept master baker, but master alchemist might be a bit of an overstatement. To be honest, I barely have a grasp on the basics."

Chop frowned, confusion clear on his face. "So you're are not actually the creator of the, uh… of the Legendary Mystery Medicine?"

"Oh, no, I am the creator, it's just that I kind of stumbled into that one. I have yet to figure out how to make the S-ranked pill."

The air suddenly grew heavier around Eik's shoulders as Chop's entire being intensified. "Do you think it's possible?"

Eik just shrugged. "As I said, I'm very far from a genuine expert in general alchemy. I'm only an expert in my own stuff, so I honestly don't know if it's possible, but Potions of Mighty Strength, Potions of Magical Empowerment, Potions of the Metal Body and the like tuned for S-rank exist, right?"

Chop nodded, jaw tense.

"Then I'm pretty sure I can make a version of my Legendary Mystery Medicine at the same level."

"Then…" the old man breathed with the hunger of an ancient warrior. "Then you could theoretically make one such pill appropriate for X-rank?"

"I mean, do these normal portions exist for X-rank?"

"Presumably," the old man said cryptically.

"Then, theoretically, yes, I could. But I'm not sure I'm strong enough to handle the Ak'ki of the ingredients. Eventually I might be able to." Eik was deliberately making his uncertainty as clear as possible. He needed to hook the X-ranker's interest with the possibility of overcoming the wall he had hit, but the risk of breaking a firm promise was too dangerous. Even if the old fart seemed goofy and amicable now, they really didn't know him at all yet.

Even with all those 'maybe' words, the light of hope shone brightly in the old man's eyes. "When we get back to your company, I have something to give you!" he exclaimed with childlike excitement and ramped up the pace.

Five minutes later they entered the fracture hall from which they would reach their destination—a mostly abandoned world where Chop didn't have to be nearly as careful as he would in the Alliance's backyard.

"You know there are people tailing us, don't you? Quite a few too," the old man noted as the portal mage nodded knowingly.

"Yeah, some of them should probably learn how to conceal their auras if they're hoping to follow us unnoticed."

"Something you want to do anything about?"

"Nah, what's the harm? If anything, the knowledge that you really are who the rumors say you are will greatly bolster morale across the Alliance as we face this calamity together."

"Good thinking," Chop acknowledged.

"Plus," Eik continued. "I'd be willing to bet that there are agents among them of a certain civilization that has been fucking with me and my people since before we even knew what the hell all this Unified Mass crap was. I really wouldn't mind if they realized just what kind of pet I now have on my side."

"The pet's me?" Chop deadpanned.

"If you want an X-ranked permanent stat boosting pill, then yes, as far as that matter is concerned, you'd better believe it."

The geezer sighed. "Great... Where do I bark?"

***

"If you want to stay hidden, you're going to have to do better than that," Eik shouted toward the trees as Chop checked out the location. "Just come out and watch in the open. It's annoying to have a bunch of mice scurrying around the tree line like this."

One after the other, more than two hundred individuals stepped out into the open. Most of them Eik couldn't identify them at all, but there were a few whose appearances were familiar. For one was a Gohkamorian scout whose eyes were hard and hostile. That pissed Eik off.

Since Eik had been such a crucial part of the recent string of operations, the trial had ground to a standstill, but the Gohkamorians hadn't dropped the charges. Stubbornly, they wanted a win. And while he might not be able to accommodate such a wish, Eik would be more than happy to grant them a few more losses.

"Where are the Gohkamorians?" Chop suddenly shouted, taking Eik by surprise.

With hesitation, the Gohkamorian stepped forward, all eyes on him. "Here."

"That one of 'em?" Chop asked quietly, leaning in.

"Yeah."

"Good," he said with a nod and then raised his voice to a shout. "Screw you, punk!"

Thoroughly confused, the Gohkamorian stepped back in line when nothing more seemed forthcoming. Not even one of those ornery assholes would dare to go against Chop the Blade. "That was… not necessary," Eik said, blinking.

The heated feud between Gohkamoria and Eik's Earth was a well-known fact at this point and all of the other scouts watched the exchanges closely. If Eik Magnasen had such a firm grip on the X-ranker that he would call out his opponents publicly like this, then there was more than just a sack of cash between them.

Could it be that Eik Magnasen had some dirt on the old man?

"Well, if you get a pet, you should remember to train it or it might act out," the old fart said sagely. "Now, shall we show all of these bastards what we've got to work with?"