NOVEL NEXT 64 - Ring of Fire
"Back so soon?" asks the Phoenix construct.
"Yes," I reply.
"Then let's-"
"Wait!" I say, halting her mid-wind-up.
"What is it?"
"What exactly is this first challenge?" I ask.
"Are you stupid?"
I blink, a bit taken aback.
"You fight me," she continues. "That's the first challenge."
"But what's the win condition?" I ask. "Do I just have to defeat you, or are there other ways?"
"This is a trial to prove you are worthy to inherit my Legacy. What better way to prove that is there than to defeat me?"
"That wasn't a 'no.'" I say.
"Your time for questions is up," she says, punching forward.
From then until she defeats me, neither of us say another word. I didn't really expect to gain much out of asking, but I figured it was worth a try on the off chance that she would just share it freely. Clearly, that didn't happen, but her non-answer to my question just confirms what Sam said. There is more than one way to complete this challenge. I just need to find out what it is.
I brace myself against the oum wind, then start running away. I'm sure it looks cowardly with me running around the circular room, just barely dodging her strikes, but there's a method to my cowardice. Mostly, I'm just inspecting the room, trying to find clues. Maybe a hidden door, or a hint carved on the wall, but unfortunately, there's nothing, and my attempt ends with me limp on the floor, my back broken. It hurts like hell, but the Phoenix construct heals me within a few seconds, and I stand back up.
"Ready to go again?" she asks with a smile.
"I need a few minutes to recover."
"Then you can use those minutes out there."
She picks me up and slings me over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes, then tosses me out of the room. I think I might have made her angry. Or maybe I broke some kind of rule by asking about other ways to complete the challenge. She at least gave me the option to escort myself out last time.
I sit down right where I landed and start cultivating to replenish my oum as I think about what I know, and what possibilities there are for alternate challenge completion methods.
Now that I sit down and think about it, what Sam said earlier is a little strange. He said that the Phoenix in the room was the Phoenix as she was when she left the first Floor. However, at Peak 2 star, that puts her far, far ahead of the top Ascendants currently. She is the one who holds the record of quickest Ascent, and by a wide enough margin for her record to be functionally unbeatable, but this level of difference still doesn't quite make sense. Even if she is that talented she shouldn't be this far ahead.
It might make sense if she got a 10,000 year ginseng or something similar, but that can't be right because her oum is too stable. I noted earlier that it's too sloppy for her to be an Ascendant, but it's also much too clean for her to be someone who forced breakthroughs with miracle medicines. No matter what, I don't see how it's possible for her to have gotten to this level in four years.
That leaves two possibilities. Either she is so absurdly talented that she's beyond the realm of humanity, or she spent more than four years here. Actually, I suppose the first one might be possible if that's what the Great Sage wished for when he reached the top of the Tower. But barring that, that would mean she was a Stray. I'm not sure if that's a clue toward beating the challenge, but it's certainly interesting.
Her skill level aside though, earlier, she also said that this first challenge was the hardest "because I'm the one giving it," which implies that there will be other constructs for the other challenges, and I can only assume those constructs will be different versions of the Phoenix. I don't think that's useful information here either. Not directly. Maybe tangentially? I have a feeling it's important, but I have no idea why.
Moving on, if I look outside of that room, there are the mushrooms. Maybe they can be considered a reward for finding this place, or a cultivation resource for those staying here and trying to get stronger. If it's the latter though, why those particular mushrooms? Why only fire-attributed?
Wait, hold on.
This feels important. The Phoenix was famed for her use of fire-attributed oum, but the one in the room hasn't used any at all. In fact, she hasn't done anything beyond ordinary oum use. By this stage in her cultivation, she should have already been using it if it was going to become a staple of her style. That means that she's either holding back, or that this is a hint somehow.
I finish my cultivation and march right back into the room. This time, we don't exchange any words, and the fighting begins immediately. Rather than running away, I focus all my attention on her oum and the way she uses it.
She throws the familiar opening punch, sending a gust of oum my way, and when I charge inward, she throws the same hook as before too, which I dodge. I kick at her leg again, and she dodges and kicks at me in return. I dodge this time, and duck under the followup punch to try to go in for a takedown. I realize this was a bad idea almost immediately when I collide into her and it feels like hitting a brick wall. Before I can pull away, she bends over and grabs me around the waist from above and squeezes, crushing my abdomen and spine.
I vomit a mouthful of blood, and struggle for breath for a moment before her grip loosens and I'm flooded with healing oum. A second later, I'm standing back up in front of her, and she's smiling just as before. She opens her mouth to speak, but I beat her to it.
"Again," I say.
We fight six more times, and I try different attack angles and combinations, but every time, she only uses the most basic of attacks and oum use. There's not a hint of fire or life or anything other than raw oum in her attacks. She doesn't need any of it, but it still feels weird for her to not use any of her signatures, even to beat up on someone as weak as me.
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I let her kick me out once again, meditate back to full, then return. This time, after the opening gust, I try something different. If she's not going to use fire, I will.
I dodge attacks until I have a small opening, then send as much oum as I can to my fist and transmute it to fire. My flame-covered fist flies toward her exposed side, and just when it's about to make contact, she makes a barrier of oum that breaks my fingers and splits the fire to either side of her. The edges of her robes get singed, but that's it.
However, while the attack did no damage, I clearly triggered something. There's a new look on her face. Beyond the normal arrogance and brattiness, there's now an excitement in her eyes, and for the first time, she makes an attack that's not basic. She raises her own fists, both now covered in flame and warping the air around with their heat.
I manage to dodge the first punch, but the fire flares out, burning my cheek and blinding my right eye. I think my hair is also on fire now. I jump back away from her second punch, but the fire once again shoots out from her fist and hits me right in the stomach. My robes disintegrate in the heat, and the fire burns halfway through my body. The blinding pain makes my vision go black, and I stumble and fall to the ground. When my vision clears, she's kneeling next to me, healing my wounds. In addition to healing my flesh, her oum also somehow repairs my robes. It feels similar to the way the butler construct in my room works, which I guess makes sense, considering that the Floor Lord made both constructs.
When the Phoenix construct helps me to my feet, I'm smiling. That was painful as hell, but it was also progress. Those attacks she made just now were not basic oum attacks. They weren't even basic oum attacks with a bit of fire transmutation. Those were proper martial techniques. That makes her much more dangerous, but I believe it's also a hint.
These challenges are to determine if I am worthy to inherit her Legacy. If I'm understanding correctly, her "Legacy" is more or less her techniques and insight into oum. Since she focused so heavily on fire, of course I would need to be able to transmute fire in order to inherit the techniques. Once I proved that I could do that, the techniques suddenly appeared in front of me. That can only mean one thing: I need to copy them.
"Again?" she asks.
"Not yet," I say.
That single attack I made burnt through more than half my oum. I wouldn't last very long if we fought again, especially not now that she's actually trying. More importantly though, even if I was full, I wouldn't be able to take full advantage of this chamber. I need to be able to make more than one or two fiery attacks if I want to be able to learn those techniques, and that means I need more oum.
I walk out of the room before she can toss me out again, and instead of meditating in the hallway, I walk back out to the antechamber. Timmy is back to looking at the mushrooms, and barely notices my return.
"Timmy," I say, gently shaking his shoulder.
"Yeah?" he asks, looking up at me.
"I'm going to be in my room for a few hours. Do you remember the two places you're not supposed to go?"
"Uh huh," he says.
"Point to them."
He points to the two double doors.
"Very good," I say. "We're going to have to spend a few days here, and I won't be able to spend much time with you. We're a little bit crunched for time."
"Okay," he says.
"Remember, don't go through those doors, and don't eat the mushrooms unless I'm with you."
"Okay."
"Alright, I'll see you in a few hours."
I turn and walk back to my room. There's another plate of food on the table, and Trinity reappears to chow down on it, but I ignore it and instead grab the mushroom. Unlike the snow ginseng, Trinity seems to have no interest in these mushrooms, which is good, because otherwise, she'd probably be in a lot of danger. Though maybe she recognizes that, which is why she hasn't eaten any yet.
I take the mushroom back to the bedroom, and sit down on the bed. A moment later, Trinity pokes her head through the door, steak juice dripping from her whiskers.
"Mraw?" she asks.
"Want to cultivate with me?" I ask.
"Mraw!"
She jumps up onto the bed and settles herself in my lap as usual. I pet her a few times, then close my eyes and pop the mushroom into my mouth.
The day after Bella and Timmy disappeared, Vanessa and the others tried to stay positive. Their names were both still on the rankings, so they weren't dead, and they hadn't gone down, so they assumed they hadn't been crippled or anything either. They had most likely just gotten stuck somewhere, and were on their way back.
That falsely positive mood vanished instantly when the other group arrive though. It was the same group that they had encountered at the previous oasis, and it looked like they had come to claim this one as well. Jacob elected not to try to fight for it. Vanessa thought it might have been possible. They were outnumbered, but every single member in their group except herself and Jenny was stronger than every person in the other group, and Vanessa and Jenny weren't entirely incompetent. However, she agreed that it wasn't worth the risk. Not without Bella.
The other group was gracious enough to let them vacate the oasis peacefully with their things, so no conflict arose as they departed, but now they were stuck deep in the desert with limited water and no Bella to bail them out of extreme trouble.
They moved with extreme caution as they made their way to the nearest oasis marked on their map. They had already been drawing near it in their own expeditions, so the way was mostly clear of spirit beasts, but they did have to fight the oasis guardian, an enormous black and orange lizard with venom dripping from its fangs and a tongue like a frog's. It took longer than any of their previous battles because they were perhaps a bit over-cautious, but they felled it eventually, and after collecting its fangs as a trophy, they found a relatively shady tree to rest under. For a few minutes, they all sat in solemn silence until Jacob finally broke it.
"We're in danger."
"No shit, Sherlock," said June.
He shot her a glare, but didn't respond.
"Do you think they're the ones who attacked Bella?" asked Jenny.
"No," said Jacob. "They couldn't touch her. And we don't even know if she's been attacked. We don't know what happened. What's important is that right now, we're on our own. That doesn't mean we're screwed though. Even without her, we're still one of the strongest, if not the strongest teams. We'll be fine as long as we don't panic.
"That said, I do actually have a way to make this easier for us. I didn't want to have to this just yet, but…"
He rummaged through his bag for a few seconds before producing a small wooden box that Vanessa recognized as the same type that had held their cultivation pills. It wasn't identical though. It was slightly more ornate, with metal lining the edges and patterns carved into the wood.
"I just need you guys to protect me for a few hours. Do you think you can do that?"
"Where did you get that?" asked June.
"My sponsor," he said. "I'll explain later. But now's not the time. Just a few hours. Can you all give me that? This will push me out of Early 1 star and halfway through Middle. If those people come after us, they won't be able to touch us once I use this. I just need a few hours."
June eyed him with obvious suspicion, and even Vanessa felt like there was something off, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
"Sure, sounds doable," said Kat after a few seconds.
The rest of the group voiced their somewhat hesitant affirmation after her, and Jacob nodded and smiled.
"Alright. I'm trusting you all. Four hours is all I need."
"Not a problem!" said Kat confidently. "You don't have to worry."
He nodded again, then he closed his eyes and popped the pill in his mouth.
And of course, four hours was a problem.