Weapons of Mass Destruction

Chapter 398: Heading inside

About a third of the way up the pyramid I signal Myrra to stop. Then, while keeping my mana in check, I send my senses out, probing the area around the Veil Ignition Station.

I find my suspicions confirmed, the temperature out there is dropping rapidly. And not just the weather; no, the pyramid is absorbing heat at a scary rate, pulling in energy from a huge area. All that heat is being absorbed by the metal and sent somewhere inside, part of it radiating from the surface.

The drop in temperature is so huge I’m sure I would die out there without the use of my thermal energy, not just because of my stats either. I don’t even think Myrra would have much of a chance. Especially seeing how effectively and hungrily the station devours any heat in the area.

Myrra notices it as well. She herself has a taste for fire and ice based attacks, so I’m sure she can sense that much.

“So that means the Ignition Station is at least partially functional,” she notes.

"Seems like it."

What really surprises me though is that we see a group of about 100 people at the bottom of the pyramid putting on something like a space suit with a number of mana stones connected to them. I can’t exactly puzzle out what purpose they’re meant to serve from up here, but my best guess is that they serve as insulation against the extreme elements outside.

These weirdos are planning to head out.

Most of them are carrying a number of big baskets, while others are left to pull even bigger ones, connected to ropes.

Myrra and I take a break to watch them work. After a few minutes of preparation, they head out into the darkened field before the pyramid. They walk quickly, and when they get far enough out, they take out tools and start scraping frost from the metallic surface surrounding the pyramid.

They then proceed to throw the resulting clumps of frost into the baskets behind them, and once one place is cleared, they move on.

That begs the question though, is this where they get their water?

As I look around, I keep finding more and more groups like that, spread all around the pyramid, each crew containing at least a hundred people who work quickly to harvest the ice.

Once in a while, one of them starts panicking, touching the suit he is wearing. It seems like it must have taken some sort of damage. Maybe a broken mana stone, damaged suit, anything.

At which point it only takes a few seconds for that man or woman to die, their bodies ignored by the others. Left behind to be collected the next day, if only to recover a suit that could still be repaired or the items the person in question happened to have on them.

“They don’t drink the water from the area, and there isn’t any source in the pyramid, so this is probably the best method they have,” Lissandra says, appearing out of nowhere, also looking down at these groups of people.

“Don’t they have people with skills that could help with that?” Myrra asks. It’s a naive question.

“People like that tend to be grabbed by the ruling factions and used as a means of control,” I explain.

“Such childish games,” Lissandra chuffs, probing Myrra and me with her senses before nodding in an affirmative manner. “We’re spitting up again. Pup, you’re heading into the pyramid. Kitten, you’re going to the top. Do whatever you want, and we’ll meet here in 24 hours.”

For a moment, it almost looks like I’m getting some time off. Time I would, of course, use to train. But Lissandra doesn’t disappoint as she turns to me and grabs the bits of mana my body is leaking.

She forms a small orb out of that mana and makes it float over my shoulder, “Keep that orb from breaking down for the next 24 hours. If you use too much mana, it will burst. If you use too little, it will disappear. The amount required to maintain it will change over time.”

Of course, it will. I don’t respond, already turning my attention to the orb. Right away, the orb almost bursts, and then while I lower my mana, it almost disappears as the requirements change.

A few seconds later, they change again, and then a minute later it happens again. There is no rhythm or consistency; the changes seem to come at random. Sometimes it happens after half a second, sometimes it takes a full minute. Even then, the constant and unique changes make the experience far from simple.

What an evil thing. How do I make one?

At least Lissandra did have just enough common sense to weaken the inscriptions on my body, just a bit, the added disruptions to my mana easing off a bit. Of course, they’re not entirely silent either. The amount has been perfectly calculated to leave me just capable enough to do anything else.

Myrra also gets a similar task, and then both women disappear on their way, leaving me on my own as I try to grasp the orb and stop it from bursting open. It takes ten minutes before I’m used to it to the point I can use kinetic energy to force my body to move.

For a moment, I almost feel like just sitting down and laughing. I need to use kinetic energy to move, I need to take care of the orb, and I need to take care of my mana which is constantly being disrupted.

What amuses me is that I’m not even that angry. I’m caught up in the sheer humor and absurdity of my situation while I can barely walk like a drunkard.

I could probably use my domain or crown to make it easier, but that would ruin the point of training. So I continue with some more normal methods.

It’s in this state, that I walk through the platform, terrace, whatever it’s called, and head towards the skeletal remains of the snake. It takes me a while, and as I make my way over, I’m already growing used to it.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Of course, five men stop me just as I get to some of the more broken parts of the pyramid and the huge bones.

They stare at me, I stare at them. No one says anything until a man with a level of around 200 smirks, his eyes shining a bit, most likely a trait.

All five of them attack me at once, their similar lightning based attacks working together, as they link through the man with the highest level.

Not knowing what would happen to the orb Lissandra left to me if I used [Tether], I use [Resonance], and the attack dissolves into nothing just as it’s about to reach me.

I boost my body closer to them with an external application of kinetic energy, and the air resonates, letting out a high pitch as I get within effective reach.

Two men die immediately, their heads exploding as a result of their terrible defenses.

The third one shoots a lightning burst at me which I block with a barrier. I immediately reform it into a spike that pierces through his heart, destroying his shield as it takes form.

The fourth one starts running, my mana projectile piercing his knee before lashing its way through the back of his neck.

The leader charges me with lightning surrounding his body, short bursts of lightning shooting towards me in quick succession.

Just for a moment, my eyes activate, and then I disrupt his armor, and he staggers, surprised. Even so, he lifts his arms to protect his head, and the armor starts to reform. But not in time.

A spear made of mana pierces his chest, and the wound starts healing thanks to some kind of regeneration skill he seems to have, so I change the spear’s shape, tearing his chest apart from the inside.

When he falls down dead, I take some time to calm my mana and the orb that changes frequencies multiple times in three seconds. Then, moving my body with kinetic energy, I kneel down in front of the man and send my senses towards his eyes, examining his traits.

Like me, he does have some inscriptions, but most of them are too detailed to get any useful information They work a bit differently in the body than they do in weapons.

I noticed a long time ago that traits just tend to be that way. And I’m sure the system’s doing everything it can to make it much more difficult to obtain traits. It would also be possible for me to emulate Min-Jae and my minion in this matter, but even then, the traits were far weaker than the original.

It would be nice if I could steal traits in a similar way sometime in the future, but if it was that simple, everyone would be doing it. There must be some sort of trick up the system’s sleeve.

So, taking my time, I pull out one of the eyes and check the connections and nerves, and at some point, I cleanly cut it in half, examining it visually from the inside.

There are a thing or two I notice but nothing too interesting. The trait also seems to be much weaker than my eyes, so in the end, I just give up and let go.

I clean my hands on the man’s clothes and stand up, quickly checking their pockets for goodies. And of course, I take a few small mana stones, along with some pieces of metal and bone that I failed to identify, before continuing on my way towards the skeletal remains.

I find more on the other side of the pyramid than the skeletal remains of a huge monster. though it wasn’t really all that visible from afar there is still some flesh remaining. And I do find it interesting that the bones suck in the heat from the pyramid seem to be allowing that energy to flow through them.

After ten minutes of watching people work, I come to the conclusion that that’s part of what allows all these people to carve out the flesh and scrape the bones for materials, shaving them into some kind of bony dust.

It seems like they also waited for the night. I know I didn’t see them during the day. They wait for the pyramid to absorb heat, some of that heat is absorbed by the bones and warms them up, boiling hot in some places. Which, in exchange, allows them to scrape the bones of a very high-level being and separate out some tiny pieces of its flesh.

It probably represents the work of generations among these people.

So fascinating. Generations of people over hundreds of years. Thousands of people eating the flesh of the same monster. Trying to come up with ways to use the bones and the other parts. Coming up with ways to get more out of it.

It’s something I would never see if I was on Earth. Something I would never even think of. Yet here it is, thousands of people crawling over that humongous corpse just to dine on the scraps.

I could sit and watch this for hours, but I have to remind myself what I’m here for.

Before entering the pyramid through the hole in the side, I take out my voidsteel blade and use [Resonance] to make it even sharper. Then I carve out a few pieces of bone, which I stash neatly away.

Lily can check it out for me later. Our project to make my bones stronger and improve my mana conductivity seems to be going well.

Now that I think about it, it might be weird for me to keep giving her pieces of bones, not to mention the human remains, she is a teenage girl after all, but I’m sure she doesn’t mind.

A few people shout at me and others even throw some attacks my way, but I ignore them mostly, only blocking the ones with a chance of connecting. Then I slide through a hole in the wall and into the pyramid.

The hallway I find myself in is extremely smooth, and there are no inscriptions anywhere to be seen. There aren’t even any lights. More than a hallway, it looks like a vent to channel heat through. I even have to lower my head a bit as I enter.

In front of me, I create a single thermal orb that lets out soft yellow light.

Once again, I pause to concentrate on the mana orb which is in the process of changing its parameters multiple times, each worse than the last.

Once it calms down, I continue on, feeling the warmth from the walls now even more than before. Soon enough, I might find myself being forced to fight against that heat; it’s getting a lot warmer really fast.

It takes me five minutes to find a way through, but I do eventually find the entrance to a much bigger one, and I increase the size of the orb.

The light falls upon the smooth surfaces of the tunnel. It’s hot here and very quiet. My only light comes from the orb, the pyramid has, thus far, proved itself devoid of any other sources of light. As always when I find myself in a place like this, I feel my excitement spike, the experience further enhanced by the fact I’m alone.

It’s been a long time since I’ve truly had an opportunity like this. I’ve had my Minion, Duplicaniel, and the tournament, with its abundance of people to get in my way. And after that, I wound up with Lissandra and Myrra. I think I’ve been handling things well, and if need be, I’m perfectly capable of dealing with it.

But now, I'm on my own, exploring this place that once served as a channel for the traits and skills of a Champion. I find myself feeling quite pleased with the situation.

Yes, I think pleased is just the word for it.

As I head deeper into the pyramid, I ignore the fact that not one of the natives tried to follow me in.