Weapons of Mass Destruction

Chapter 506: Lake City

Even though I don't have time for a full lesson, I make sure to visit the guest who’s taken up residence in my mental space.

This time I find Whitey seated in a well-kept garden, surrounded by towering, elegant bonsai-like trees. Nearby, cherry trees scatter their pink petals. In the distance, the bamboo thing fills with water before emptying itself with a rhythmic thunk as its base collides with the stone beneath it.

The scream of cicadas even serves to round out our exceptionally cliché environment.

Additionally, Whitey’s dressed in a white and black kimono. And even these clothes seem to fit him very well, as always.

"Are you having fun going through my memories?" I ask, sitting next to him, wondering exactly what anime, movie or show he got it from.

"At least as much as you are going through mine. By the way, that human girl, I like her."

"Tacita?"

"Yes. She moves very well, and even though her technique is lacking, her instincts balance things out favorably. Back then you would have lost against her with kinetic energy alone, you know."

"Bullshit. So why don't you point out what I did wrong."

Whitey, always excited to put down my abilities and make fun of me, reaches into his pocket, pulling out a smartphone, and brings up a video of the fight from my point of view.

"First, she is, in fact, using some sort of 'field' as you refer to it, but until she deploys it over a wider area, there still should be signs of movement. Look here and..."

A few minutes later, I open my eyes and nod at Lily, who’s been keeping watch over me, and she nods back, unable to say anything as she continues to stuff her mouth with some sort of dried fruit.

"Noname, I was asking the others, but how many Stay Tokens do you have?" Leticia asks, taking notice of my freshly opened eyes.

"I could stay longer than the others if I wanted, but we’ll see. We just started the 7th floor, so I'm still curious about that. So I’ll probably only stick around the next 3-5 days, same as them, and just hope we reach the second safe zone."

"Seventh floor is pretty good! Luna, I, and the rest of our group are still on the 6th! I think Jean and Lucien are still on the 6th as well."

The aforementioned CarrotCake doesn't seem to be disappointed, and in fact, chooses to clarify. "There are a lot of fun opponents to fight. Plus there is nothing I can do about the Floor Quest, so the others have to deal with it."

Lucien, the annoying little twerp, also seizes the opportunity to speak up. "Jean just likes to punch people. And that’s not going to help him get out of the Astral Prison."

"That's true," Jean doesn't have a problem acknowledging that and grabs the back of Lucien's neck, shaking him. "That's why I have you and the others, right?"

"Fucking brute, let me go!"

That causes Jean to shake him even more.

Leticia turns to Gareth. "And you?"

"We are on the 6th but might be able to clear it soon. I would love to tell you more, Leticia, but I worry the system would only censor it."

I don't say it out loud but I bet Gary here is busy performing countless human sacrifices to free the eye and to escape the floor or something. He might’ve even joined the Mind Mages willingly or started bringing deathtraps full of people into the Mana Desert to feed to the thylarin Champion and his bond.

"Noname," Lucien calls out to me, seemingly from nowhere, once Jean finally lets go.

"What?"

"Did you meet Lissandra Hawthorne back on the 2nd floor?"

Just like that, we reach the place, and I have to wonder if I really had an authentic experience with my previous expeditions or if we just got lucky or our party was just too strong this time.

The safe zone we find ourselves in is simple.

An island on an enormous lake full of dark water, too murky to see past the surface. Despite that, something does seem to be swimming beneath the waters, and when Sophie makes her lurkers move closer, the surface ripples, and whatever it is pulls the lurkers down below.

We had already heard about it from Leticia, given that she and the others had already made it to this safe zone, so it should be safe - but still, let them move in first. They also mentioned something about fish or fishing, but I’m not sure how that connects to anything.

Leticia takes a step onto the surface of the dark, almost black lake, and stands on the surface of the water, ripples of blue light pooling under her feet. Jean takes a step as well and confidently continues to walk, his ripples much bigger, reflecting his weight.

It’s not them using an ability that makes it possible, but rather one of the lake’s properties.

Out of the corner of my eye, I catch movement - a slim figure darting across the surface like one of those crazy lizards back on Earth that run on water. The lake is massive, and the island lies far off in the distance, yet Tacita crosses it swiftly.

Something in me wonders if she could pull it off just as easily even without the strange effect that allows the rest of us to cross.

I let my eyes activate and take a step, watching the ripples of water, mana, and moving mana signatures under the surface. No monsters attack us, and despite the fact that we’ve been walking for a few minutes, no lurkers try to approach. The contrast with the situation, even a few moments earlier, is striking. And it’s taking us a while to get used to not constantly feeling lurkers prowling just out of sight.

"Given the number of attendees and the first floor’s size, there’s quite a few safe zones. This one is called Lake City," Leticia starts explaining.

"That's very original. It also seems too small to be called a city."

"I know, Sset," Leticia flashes her a smile. "There are fewer people inside than you might expect, probably a few dozen at most. Though sometimes that number rises to just over a hundred. It changes according to 'season,' and more natives and attendees come to this safe zone when it's time to 'fish.'"

Tess asks, "How do natives get here and what are they fishing for?"

"Once or twice a year they pay a lot of shards to the top 100 guilds who send them a few B or A ranks who help them fish and to get here safely. They even share part of the catch."

"Are you going to tease me longer?"

"Hehe, it is fun, Sset." Leticia ignores Luna who quietly bumps her leg. "They’re hunting for a fish that eats mana. These fish also tend to eat weapons and items from the lurkers who get pulled into the lake, but more importantly, when they eat mana it crystallizes inside of that fish's belly and makes mana stones favored by the larger guilds!"

"Is the fish tasty?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know, Jean."

"I understand."

"By the way, Sset, are you guys planning to join any guilds? Luna and I are still on the fence, and we’ve got a few offers, but we might also be waiting a bit longer for a better one. Apparently, the better guilds don't tend to bother with newbies until they’ve made it to the second floor. It’s pretty rare for them to take an interest in anyone from the first."

"We’re going to wait and see as well. Is there any reason to? Noname told me a few things, but he only had one source so I want confirmation from someone else. I remember something about longer stay tokens, better prices, and salaries."

"Well, that's mostly it," Leticia giggles. "Top 10 guilds can double the duration of your stay tokens and top 3 can probably triple it? But don't quote me on that. Then there’s the salary, you can join Beyond events as a guild member, better prices in certain shops, you can also find new party members and get information on the floors which can help you a lot, and they usually keep things restricted to guild members only. Bonuses, salary, items. And occasionally they run expeditions to the surface as well."

"Thanks for telling me, Leticia."

"No problem, Sset! I’m sure you’d do the same for me. And no matter how grumpy Luna can get, she’d share too, right?"

Luna stays quiet, glancing away without denying it. Then lets out a bark as Leticia tugs on her tail, which only makes the young woman smile even more.